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Paper short abstract:

Former Osaka Governor Hashimoto Tōru's rise to fame has shaken up Japanese politics since 2008. This study analyzes this phenomenon through the lens of populism theory, looking at Hashimoto's discursive strengths, his opponent's weaknesses and discussing implications for current Japanese politics.

Paper long abstract:

Former Osaka Mayor, Governor and Osaka Ishin no Kai co-leader Hashimoto Tōru's fame and success has shaken up Japanese politics since 2008. His brash and combative style has sparked fear of hashizumu (a combination of Hashimoto and fascism) and the reasons for his success have been discussed manifold. This study contributes to the understanding of his success and its implications for Japanese democracy, by taking a close look at one specific policy discourse through the lens of populism theory, namely the so-called 'Kimigayo ordinance' (Kimigayo kiritsu seishō gimuzuke jōrei). This policy concerns the stricter enforcement of teachers' 'correct' conduct towards Japan's national symbols at school ceremonies and has sparked considerable contention in 2011. It exemplifies how Hashimoto's brand of 'regional populism' discursively constructs homogenized collective popular identities for 'the people' and 'the elite'. It further shows, how he does so by binding together various demands (from more patriotism to business-like structures in state-run schools) as 'the popular will' and portrays himself as a mere executor of this homogenized group's will. In this study's mixed-method approach, the qualitative post-structuralist discourse analysis, which finds the pro-ordinance discourse to be populist, is expanded by a comparison of narrative structure with the opposing anti-policy advocacy coalition's discourse. A quantitative content analysis following the Narrative Policy Framework finds that the coalitions show statistically significant variations in narrative character usage (heroes, villains and victims), narrative strategies and plots. Building on existing NPF research, the analysis shows that Hashimoto's populist mode of articulation in fact correlates with high effectiveness in narrative persuasion and highlights the fact that Hashimoto's opponents stay confined within ineffective attacks on his person. It is argued, that on a larger scope, effective populist right-wing discourses, like the one by Hashimoto, can be seen as contributing to the conservative hegemony and therefore, cementing a continuity of rule by the political right of Japan. As regional populism(s) could be able to challenge national LDP leadership, though, the nature of the right could shift. As the quantitative data also indicates, the pro-ordinance coalition's propagation of democracy as majority rule could lead towards authoritarian tendencies if continued.