Political stagnation and a feeling of powerlessness are often cited among the reasons that Japanese hate politics.
"Japanese are unable to voice their concerns to politicians or receive (any) form of concrete policy response that would improve their lives," said one political analyst recently. According to him, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partners are only just beginning to realize that they cannot simply call for greater expenditures on public-works projects because many citizens know that one day the bill for those projects will come due.
Popular resentment toward the old political establishment is a defining feature of the runup to the June 25 general election, campaigning for which does not officially begin until June 13. There will be 1,278 candidates running for office.