经济学人下载:无望的日本政治

Nuclear options
核的选择

The uncanny stickability of Japan’s prime minister
日本首相超长的忍耐力

Jul 30th 2011 | TOKYO| from the print edition

ALREADY enduring its sixth prime minister in five years, Japan is overdue a seventh. Naoto Kan, the man at present on the inside of the revolving door, only stayed there by promising at the beginning of June to step down soon, in return for a stay of execution at a parliamentary no-confidence vote. For both the opposition Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and his comrades in the ruling Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) the way he is lingering over his departure is exasperating.

尽管五年之内日本经历了六位首相，但是任然期待新首相的上任。现任首相菅直人在处在旋转门之间，之所以还在位，是因为六月初称其在不久就会下台，以换取国会终止不信任的投票。无论是反对党自民党还是同僚的民主党，都对他这种迟迟不愿卸任的方式感到愤怒。

For rival politicians (a category that includes virtually all of them), it is also rather frightening. As Japan struggles to cope with the disaster at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear-power plant, Mr Kan has nailed his colours to the anti-nuclear mast, arguing that Japan needs to reduce its dependence on atomic energy. Oddly he later watered this down, by saying he was only expressing a personal view not a government policy. But other politicians fear that, rather than quit, he may call an election, campaign on the future of the nuclear industry and (such is the popular hostility to it) win. Goshi Hosono, an avowedly pro-nuclear DPJ technocrat whom Mr Kan appointed as minister in charge of the nuclear mess, says it is “not a good idea” to test the public on this issue.

对于对手（事实上包括所有人）来说，这十分可怕。日本正在全力应对福岛第一核电站泄漏灾害，菅直人坚持反核的立场，表示日本应减少对核依赖。随后又弱化其态度，称仅代表个人观点，而非政府的政策。但是其他的政客们则担心他不会弃权，而会继续参选，借反对核工业发展（大家都反对这点）而获胜。菅直人任命的公开拥核的民主党技术官员Goshi Hosono称，用核问题测试民众态度，这个想法的确不怎么样。