Gauging the results of the gubernatorial and local assembly elections Of course, both the gubernatorial elections and the elections of local assemblies are important, but when you consider the powerful authority of Japan's governors, you have to put more weight on the gubernatorial races. However, as far as the ruling and opposition parties are concerned, the assembly elections will help them better prepare their strategies for the 21st election of the House of Councillors, scheduled for July 22. That's because the local assembly votes will have a more direct effect on the Upper House votes. 　　　　The ruling Liberal Democratic Party and New Komeito Party have already won the governors' race. That coalition holds a 3-2 edge over the Democratic Party of Japan in recent elections. First and foremost, Shintaro Ishihara scored a big victory in Tokyo. 　　　　But the DPJ made significant progress in all 44 prefectural assembly races that held elections on April 8. New Komeito held its ground, while the LDP saw its seats drop significantly. The Communist Party of Japan and the Social Democratic Party both suffered losses. If you put more value on the local assembly vote, then the winner of the first half of the unified local elections was the DPJ. When compared with the LDP, the Democrats don't have much reach yet, but local DPJ members have experienced a surge in confidence. Anyone saying that the Democrats lost the elections is coming from a very lopsided point of view.

Big Victory for Urban Governors or Local Grass-Roots Reform? While the LDP-Komeito ruling coalition stresses its gubernatorial victories in the urban centers, the Democrats' strategy laid out by Ichiro Ozawa was thoroughly focused on sparking a grass-roots movement in the localities. While the coalition stresses the governors' races, Ozawa's DPJ stresses the local assembly votes. In these elections, DPJ candidates used slogans such as "Reform from the Heartland," "Closing the Wealth Gap" and "Making Lifestyle a Priority" to broaden their appeal. The DPJ especially made progress in urban areas by emphasizing messages like "Reform Starts at the Base" and similar sentiments. It's also true that many of the LDP candidates who committed to closing the wealth gap and helping outlying areas were elected. Local voters chose a different path toward reform than that pushed by former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and current PM Shinzo Abe.

To Win the War or Just One Battle on 7/22 The ruling parties are focused on winning the war, but Ozawa's DPJ is intent on winning one battle: the upper house vote on July 22. The idea is to win the last battle fought. The Democrats are attacking from the base, the localities, the hinterlands. Their plan of using the unified local elections to score a victory in the July 22 upper house vote is still on track. Watching the political ripples from the outlying areas, one can imagine huge waves of change in the summer of '07.