The Choice of the Unmoving Rock - The Future of Rural Politics (1977)

The Choice of the Unmoving Rock - The Future of Rural Politics (1977)

Elections have long been believed to be a force for change. However, the 1977 election in Nagano Prefecture once again highlighted just how unreachable that power is.

The rural vote is like a rock that cannot be pushed or pulled."

This was said by a candidate who was not elected in the current election. He tried to bring a new political wind to the election, but in the end he was defeated by the conservative vote, which is deeply rooted in the community.

Nagano Prefecture was a region in Japan with particularly strong electoral district characteristics. Here, "which house has supported which party" was more important than "who is the candidate. One could tell which faction a house belonged to by looking at the roof of the house, and the political will of the individual had little meaning.

In the end, this became the foundation of postwar politics, and it still underpins today's politics."

After the war, local politics in Japan seemed to undergo a transformation with the collapse of the landowning class. In reality, however, a new political structure was formed, one that did not replace the old structures of rule. Especially in rural areas, conservative values were strong and the percentage of floating votes in elections was extremely small. Therefore, no matter how attractive the new candidates' policies were, they were powerless in front of the deep-rooted support base in the region.

We live on this land and we die on this land."

Unlike the fluid society of the cities, rural youth assumed that they would live in the same community for the rest of their lives. As a result, there was little interest in new politics, and the call for change did not spread. Elections were a formality, and the atmosphere prevailed as if the outcome had already been decided.

Nevertheless, the candidates did not give up.

They said, "Winning the election with a broad base of free votes is never going to be a decisive force."

The strategy of gathering floating votes in urban areas did not win rural elections. Rural politics was too stubborn a barrier for those who wanted change.

The outcome of this election symbolized more than just one defeat. It was a problem with the deep-rooted structure of rural politics in Japan, and the rural electoral culture as an "unshakable rock" that has persisted since the postwar era.

And in the midst of this stagnation, we were reminded once again of the difficulty of changing the course of politics.