Abe wins - LDP sweeps both houses of Parliament - hold onto to hat as the yen is going to plunge when he seeks out the inflation he has promised. Japan seems likely to vote in LDP party - watch the rhetoric with China heat up afterwards !

http://www.businessinsider.com/shinzo-abe-wins-2012-12

The Japanese Candidate That Promises Much More Inflation Has Won A HUGE Victory

Joe Weisenthal | Dec. 16, 2012, 8:05 AM | 523 | 

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AP

Shinzo Abe, the former PM of Japan, has won a gigantic victory in today's Japanese parliamentary election.

Results indicate that his LDP party (which once ruled Japan for 50 years) has won a sweep of both houses of parliament.

Although Abe is a conservative, a big part of his platform related to the Bank of Japan, and a mandate that it get more aggressive about specifically targeting inflation, and engaging in easing until it was hit (Japan has undergone many bouts of QE, start and stop, with mediocre effect.

Then yen has been getting creamed the last couple of months, in part (supposedly) because of this expected electoral result.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/asia-pacific/2012/12/2012121563918155390.html

Japan votes in general election

Voters are likely to return long-ruling conservatives to power after a three year hiatus. Last Modified: 16 Dec 2012 00:06 inShare Email Print Share Feedback

Voters across Japan have begun casting ballots in a general election likely to return long-ruling conservatives to power after a three year hiatus. Tobias Harris, an expert on Japanese politics, says voters are not enthusiastic about the choices they face in the election Polling stations opened on Sunday at 7:00am local time (22:00 GMT) across the nation in a lower house election, officials said, with major parties vying for premiership. The electorate were expected to return Japan's conservative Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) to power, giving former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe a chance to push his security agenda and economic recipe. Shinzo Abe appeared set for a return to office, after a campaign in which he has sketched out a harder line on foreign policy, as tensions rise with China over disputed islands in the East China Sea. Abe, whose brief period as prime minister in 2006-7 ended ignominiously, has pledged to right Japan's listless economy, which has suffered years of deflation, made worse by a soaring currency that has put pressure on exporters. Broadcasters' exit polls are expected to give a reasonable indication of the final outcome shortly after the ballot boxes are sealed at 8:00pm local time (11:00 GMT). 'End deflation' "With stronger monetary policies, fiscal policies and growth policies, we will end deflation, correct a high yen, and grow the economy," Abe said in a final appeal to voters on Saturday. "The election is about whether we can move forward or turn back the clock" - Yoshihiko Noda,  Japan's Prime Minister He has also pledged to boost spending on infrastructure projects at a time when large parts of the tsunami-ravaged northeast have yet to see significant rebuilding following the March 2011 catastrophe. On Saturday, some of the over 1,500 candidates running in the poll stood before train stations to make final pleas to voters, while their staff held banners with the candidates' names printed in bold typeface. Japan's Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, who is also the leader of the ruling DPJ, urged voters not to return to the LDP, which governed Japan almost continuously for more than five decades before his party came to power three years ago. "The election is about whether we can move forward or turn back the clock," he said at a train station near central Tokyo, according to the Sankei Shimbun newspaper. Security woes Public unease about a deteriorating security environment - North Korea launched a rocket over Japan's southern islands last week and China sent a plane into Japanese airspace - has bolstered Abe's cause. Infographic: Island row around China  He has promised to boost defences and re-anchor a security alliance with the United States that is widely thought to have drifted under Noda's DPJ. The DPJ disappointed electors who handed it a large majority in 2009 polls. Policy missteps, diplomatic gaffes and factional infighting led to the resignations of three prime ministers in as many years and squander its electoral hand. The confused response to the disaster at Fukushima where nuclear reactors went into meltdown after the tsunami last year did not help their popularity. Opinion polls show that despite a strong anti-nuclear feeling in Japan, an array of smaller parties promising an atomic exit may struggle to get much traction. But commentators say there is little enthusiasm for any party, and the LDP's likely victory will come from their perceived status as the least-worst option. and this doesn't well for China - Japan relations moving forward....... http://fukushima-diary.com/2012/12/rising-nationalism-after-the-disaster-crowd-gathered-for-abes-speech-of-ldp/ [Rising nationalism after the disaster] Crowd gathered for Abe’s speech of LDP, Posted by Mochizuki on December 15th, 2012 · 1 Comment Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on emailShare on printMore Sharing Services Japan is going to have an election tomorrow, 12/16/2012. They presume LDP will dominate majority of the seats to drift to the right-wing more than ever. (cf. [Column] 3 reasons why we must stop loving Japan [Link]) In the evening of 12/15/2012, they had the last speech in Akihabara Tokyo. The crowd gathered with countless Japanese flags. (Comparison : [Reference] Nobody listens to the speech of JP Ex-PM Kan [Link]) ↓ Abe’s speech (The president of LDP) ↓ The speech of an ex-prime minister, Aso and panhandlers get more attention than Ex- PM Nan....... http://fukushima-diary.com/2012/11/reference-nobody-listens-to-the-speech-of-jp-ex-pm-kan/ [Reference] Nobody listens to the speech of JP Ex-PM Kan Posted by Mochizuki on November 29th, 2012 · 5 Comments Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on emailShare on printMore Sharing Services (This is not an article, this is a reference. The source is merely a Japanese forum though the pictures are not fake.) Japan is going to have the next election on 12/16. The ex-Prime minister Kan has speeches on the street but the audience is miserably few. He turned to be anti-nuclear. However, though he was the only one who could have decided to evacuate everyone, or shut down Fukushima plant somehow, he did not do neither of them.