Japan: Dour slogan best reflects 9-11 poll, activists say

Dour slogan best reflects 9-11 poll, activists say
The Japan Times: Sept. 8, 2005

Columnists and human rights activists have selected seven winning entries in a competition to find choice slogans that they reckon best characterize the public's view of Sunday's general election, contest organizers announced Wednesday.

The prizewinning slogans were selected by the panel from some 190 submissions from the public.

Winners included "Is Japan heading toward Wall Street, Iraq or New Orleans?" and "A mud-boat election."

Ritsuko Ito of Tokyo came up with "Is Japan heading toward Wall Street, Iraq or New Orleans?" She said Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's administration, with its insistence on postal reform, is only helping Wall Street, threatening peace by keeping troops in Iraq, and ultimately leading Japan to disaster -- thus the allusion to how by Hurricane Katrina ravaged the U.S. Gulf Coast.

Sex columnist Minori Kitahara chose Ito's slogan as her favorite, saying the Koizumi administration is creating a society that ignores the weak, just as in the hurricane-hit U.S. city.

"A mud-boat election," which was entered anonymously, apparently reflects concerns about Japan's future, implying the country is like a boat made of mud that will eventually sink.

Submissions were accepted between Aug. 30 and Sept. 5.