US President Lyndon B. Johnson used to say of people, "Once you've got 'em by the balls, their hearts and minds will follow."
Such a blunt, corporeal philosophy may have worked for LBJ, but how do politicians capture the hearts and minds of the populace in Japan?
This week and for the next two, I will be considering the emotional and intellectual context of politics in the United States and Japan, and what motivates citizens of those countries to choose one type of candidate over another. What is the effect of political speeches, slogans and sound bites? And why compare the two democracies in the first place?