The Maverick of Japanese politics of the Cold War era (Commemorating the 100th anniversary of Nakasone Yasuhiro)

On May 27, 2018, Nakasone Yasuhiro, a distinguished Japanese politician of the postwar period and former Prime Minister of Japan, celebrated his 100th anniversary. The personality of Nakasone attracts special attention because it was a new type a politician, who left a remarkable trace in the political history of Japan. The success of Nakasone on the political arena is arguably associated with his phenomenal ability of political maneuvering, his talent for acquiring support of stronger political opponents and for creating temporary alliances. It is not accidental that people gave him the nickname “weathercock”. Unlike his predecessors on the Prime-ministerial position, Nakasone actively used media capabilities for creating a favorable image in the eyes of the public and for direct appealing to voters. Nakasone actually became the first leader of the LDP, who transformed his personal popularity among the electorate into a powerful intra-party political resource. Nakasone was an example of a successful reformer, whose initiatives for many years ahead set the vector for the development of administrative, tax, educational and social spheres of Japan. The Nakasone reforms have been included in many textbooks of public policy and public administration as extremely successful and effective ones, in contrast to the unsuccessful reforms in some European countries of the same period. In fact, in the heart of Nakasone neo-conservatism laid economic nationalism - Japan's self-assertion as a global economic leader capable of dictating its rules to the whole world. One of the main messages of Nakasone neo-conservatism was the idea of the need for Japan to stop following other nation’s patterns and to become completely independent in political and cultural meaning of the word. In addition, Japan, in his opinion, should not only adopt foreign experience, but also provide an attractive model to be followed by others. In this sense, it was an impressive call for the internationalization of Japanese cultural and spiritual values. Nakasone's institutional reforms faced fierce resistance from the government bureaucracy and, despite partial success, were not fully implemented. In the field of diplomacy, many initiatives Nakasone aimed at increasing the political role of Japan on the world stage remained unfinished during his Premiership.

Nakasone, Maverick, “weathercock”, neo-conservatism, privatization of public corporations, “unsinkable aircraft carrier”, populism, «флюгер», «автономная оборона», «непотопляемый авианосец»

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