Shinzo Abe’s political base seeks to restore past values of Japan
Likely landside win by prime minister's party has conservatives seeking to revive traditional culture eradicated by post-war US occupation
As Prime Minister Shinzo Abe promises voters a bright future for Japan's economy, key parts of his conservative base want him to steer the nation back toward a traditional ethos mixing Shinto myth, patriotism and pride in an ancient imperial line.
Proponents say such changes are needed to revive important aspects of Japanese culture eradicated by the United States' occupation after the second world war and to counter modern materialism. Critics say they mirror the Shinto ideology, which mobilised the masses to fight the war in the name of a divine emperor.
The legacy of that war still haunts ties with China and South Korea nearly 70 years after its end. A predicted landslide win by Abe's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in a general election tomorrow, called as a referendum on his economic growth policies, and prospects Abe may become a rare long-term Japanese leader have given his ardent supporters their best chance in decades of achieving their goals.
"We really have trust in him," said Yutaka Yuzawa, director of the Shinto Association of Spiritual Leadership (SAS), the political arm of the Association of Shinto Shrines. The group, which counts Abe as a member, is one of a network of overlapping organisations sharing a similar agenda.
"The prime minister's views are extremely close to our way of thinking," Yuzawa said.
Among the key elements of the SAS agenda are calls to rewrite Japan's US-drafted, post-war constitution, not only to alter its pacifist Article 9 but to blur the separation of religion and state. Education reform to better nurture "love of country" among youth is another top priority.