The growing economic gap in Japanese society under Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's reform policy is emerging as a major national political issue. Critics in the opposition camp as well as the ruling coalition charge that deregulation and intensified competition have divided society into winners and losers in terms of income and employment.
If the problem is left unsolved, prospects will worsen for an economy already beset by falling birthrates and a rapidly aging population.
With Koizumi scheduled to step down as Liberal Democratic Party president (and hence as prime minister) in September, candidates for his job will need to address the issue of the widening social divide while pledging to continue Koizumi's reform agenda through "small, efficient government." Contenders should present a clear vision regarding the government's role in correcting the divide.