经济困难造就日本政权更迭

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Yoshio Hidaka is a sort of buttoned-up conservative that the ruling party could count on for more than five decades. The owner of a food importing company, he's always voted for the Liberal Democratic Party or the LDP. But with the recession hammering his company's business, he is ready to taste 'change' this election.

"If the same party like the LDP is in power for 60 years," says Hidaka. "Dirt piles up, so I'm welcoming the new change." And he is not alone.

Voters mob Yukio Hatoyama this week, support he's not used to as a leader of the opposition party. Supporters showed up to cheer on the Democratic Party of Japan at a street rally, packing every nearby sidewalk. He is touting an Obama-style message of change by helping the working class. It's a message gathering traction.

"Young people can't find a job," says this woman. "And I'm worried about pensions. I want to see change."

So what's leading to this voter revolt? Japan has been in recession before, but what's difference now is that this recession is the worst the world's second-largest economy has seen since World War II. Voters are angry and looking for somebody to pay.

Politically that person is Prime Minister Taro Aso. His approval ratings dwell in the teens, blamed for LDP failures and for falling short in pulling Japan quickly out of the recession. Polls predict he'll lead his ruling party to a bruising defeat. It will be a seismic shift in change-averse Japan. But it's not surprising if you talk to the unemployed. What it comes down to is that voters feel this recession personally.

"I can't find a job," says Yuichi Yazawa. "I never expected this."

Yazawa is now in a government-run computer training program and plans to funnel his frustration in the voting booth. If he stays good on this threat and polls are correct, the recession's latest victim in Japan would not be corporate earnings but political careers.

Glossary [only for reference]

buttoned-up: informal, someone who is buttoned-up is not able to express their feelings

count on sb [phrasal verb]: to be confident that you can depend on someone

Liberal Democratic Party: frequently abbreviated to LDP; a centre right, conservative political party and the largest party in Japan.

hammer [transitive]: to hurt someone or something by causing them a lot of problems

dirt [uncountable]: informal, information about someone's private life or activities which could give people a bad opinion of them if it became known

pile (sth) up [phrasal verb]: (something bad) to increase

mob [transitive]: if people mob a famous person, they rush to get close to them and form a crowd around them

Yukio Hatoyama: the Prime Minister-designate of Japan and the leader of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) and represents the 9th district of Hokkaidō in the House of Representatives. He is set to become the next Prime Minister of Japan on 16 September 2009, following a win by the opposition coalition in the 2009 elections.

cheer sb on [phrasal verb]: to shout loudly in order to encourage someone in a competition

Democratic Party of Japan: a political party in Japan founded in 1998 by the merger of several opposition parties.

sidewalk [countable]: a hard surface or path at the side of a street for people to walk on

tout [transitive]: to praise something or someone in order to persuade people that they are important or worth a lot

working class: a term used in academic sociology and in ordinary conversation to describe, depending on context and speaker, those employed in lower tier jobs as measured by skill, education, and compensation.

traction: attracting power or influence; attraction.

revolt [uncountable and countable]: a refusal to accept someone's authority or obey rules or laws

Taro Aso: the outgoing Prime Minister of Japan having conceded defeat in the 2009 election. He is also President of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), and has served in the House of Representatives since 1979.

approval rating: a percentage determined by a polling which indicates the percentage of respondents to an opinion poll who approve of a particular person or program.

 dwell in: exist in a given place or state

fall short: to fail to reach a desired or expected amount or standard, causing disappointment

 bruising: difficult and unpleasant, and leaving you feeling tired or emotionally harmed

seismic [only before noun]: very great, serious, or important

change-averse: unwilling to change or not liking change

come down to: if a situation or problem comes down to something, it can be described or explained most simply in that way

funnel:  to send something directly and intentionally