LAUSANNE, Switzerland -- The results in the first round of the French presidential elections on April 21 hit like a seismic shock. Veteran rightwing extremist Jean-Marie Le Pen took second place. There are many reasons why. Some are statistical: Sixteen candidates across the spectrum split the votes of the mainstream parties. There are, however, far more profound and worrying reasons. Racism is a feature, especially in working-class areas where immigrants tend to congregate. Crime is rising, and there is a good deal of insecurity. The proportion of immigrants in France is high, and they have not been well assimilated.
There are also many problems in France that are familiar to Japan: corruption, the traditional political class' loss of credibility and legitimacy, the absence of reform and a general social malaise and introversion fostered by rapid changes brought about by technology and globalization. The French establishment tends to be contemptuously aloof and arrogant. A good deal of Le Pen's vote, therefore, was motivated by protest. People are disoriented, frustrated and angry; there is a leadership crisis, and finding scapegoats is tempting.
Le Pen is roughly to France what Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara is to Japan. Both have been on the political scene for a long time; both are mavericks; both are quite charismatic, intelligent and manipulative; and both are xenophobic rightwing extremists and racists.