ESTABLISHING A TWO-PARTY SYSTEM IN JAPAN ICHIRO OZAWA AND HIS DREAM OF ‘NORMAL NATION’

Abstract: In the 1990s, since the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has dominated Japanese politics for nearly forty years, making Japanese politics more democratic became a hot issue. Many politicians and political organizations in Japan had joined the debate. A bestseller book, Blueprint For A New Japan, written by Ichiro Ozawa, arguing that establishing a two‐party system is the best way to make Japan more democratic. The two‐party system is the key factor of being a ‘normal nation’ that Ozawa has dreamed of. In 2009, the LDP was finally replaced by the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ). The two‐party system was thus established. Ozawa, currently the Secretary‐general of the DPJ, has contributed the most to the DPJ victory. This article explains that how Ozawa has contributed to the establishment of the two‐party system. I argue that Ozawa uses three strategies to establish the two‐party system: the single member district, party realignment, and Ozawa’s electoral successes. It is significant to see how Japanese democratization has developed in the last two decades through tracing Ozawa’s endeavors.