Last Monday, TBS's noontime show "Hiruobi" was covering Kim Jong Un, the son of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il and presumed successor. One commentator on the show, an editor for an entertainment magazine, wondered what the citizens of North Korea really thought of this dynastic system. "In Japan right now, seshu is really unpopular."
It's difficult to tell if he was being naive or facetious. The Japanese public's disgust with seshu — positions inherited by offspring — is based on the fact that the last two prime ministers, both seshu politicians, resigned abruptly. The current prime minister, Taro Aso, is another "junior" (or, more precisely, "grand-junior"), which is why he is loathe to quit, even though everybody, including many people in his own party, wishes he would.
Nevertheless, what is going on in North Korea now has parallels in Japanese history. After Japan was forced to open up to the world in the 19th century, its leaders grew nervous when they saw how the West was exploiting Asia, particularly China. They created the emperor system as a means of establishing Japan's legitimacy as a power to be reckoned with by constructing a myth of an unbroken 2,500-year bloodline.