Tokyo Politics and a Green Party (er, Picnic)

Yesterday I was in Tokorozawa and saw this procession of Democratic Party campaigners coming down a narrow shopping street. They're having a special election for a congressional seat, because the LDP party member they elected the first time apparently tried to buy some votes. A couple of nights ago they mentioned the election on the news and showed pictures of the various candidates. One that got extra attention was riding around Saitama on his bicycle. He wasn't showing off his fitness but riding the kind of bicycle that millions ride to work everyday. He was followed by an entourage of men in suits, like himself, all waving enthusiastically beneath the nylon banners waving above their heads. It's a sight you don't often see. Another candidate was driving around in a packed minivan, face halfway stuck out a small window, smiling and waving while a loudspeaker on the roof blared our her name and a few details. You know, the usual. Then there was the Communist Party candidate, a somewhat angry looking woman in her forties wearing large, gold earrings. Finally, the LDP candidate was a young face. At first glance, I said to my wife, "They're sending out a sacrificial lamb." But then the coverage turned to Koizumi (the PM) who had been stumping in Saitama to support the guy. Koizumi was on TV speaking into a cloth covered microphone, and I wondered if he was standing in front of some train station in front of a van with a giant loudspeaker on top blasting hapless commuters. But he was probably indoors speaking to a crowd of cameras. Anyway, the LDP's young guy got more coverage than all the others combined. That's politics.

The other pictures are from the river near my house in Higashikurme on the Seibu-Ikebukuro Line. One shows the river looking like a natural spring (which it is) near the place where it originates. The other picture is from a wide spot (about 10 meters wide, that is) where families gather on weekends when the weather is right. They come to picnic, wade and have fun. Mostly the river is in very good shape and quite natural looking.

Posted by jw at April 22, 2004 10:57 AM