Watch Japan's Politics Now

I've been busy with Thai politics but when I hopped back to read the
headlines in English here we have Taro Aso moving in for the kill to
grab the PM seat.

Sure we care about 19th century politics in Japan but Taro Aso comes
from Okubo Toshimichi's bloodline. Many major Choshu and Satsuma
families survived in the elite political groups *after* WW2. It's
very interesting how everything worked out due to careful reinvention
and "relabelling".

Never ever read Japanese history of any era and take labels like
"liberal" and "progressive" at face value. Those terms have to be
comprehended within the context of the specific era and studied carefully.

Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in Japan has a history of conservatism!

One wonders if Asian politicians pick certain labels or keywords which
translate well into English to fool outsiders. You can find many
examples in Meiji politics. LDP was founded post occupation era but
you can see how good it sounds if the terms are used to keep the
American media happy. LDP's job was to smash the socialists just as
the fascistic pre-war gov. oppressed (often using deadly force) the
socialists.

Erroneous labels applied to the kangun leaders who monopolized Meiji
Era politics have prevented students and enthusiasts from
understanding the complexity of 1868. People say "OMG so and so
claimed to want democracy in the Meiji Era---well by golly they
must've been fighting for that in 1868". And it's false.

What's written in the media and ENGLISH, whether it be on the net or
in dusty history books can be very misleading.

Okay done with being off-topic nowz.