Japan as an American Protectorate and Collapse of the Hatoyama Administration

Abstract

This paper deals with Japan as an American protectorate or vassal and a power struggle between the Hatoyama-Ozawa group of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) and the bureaucrats-major mass media coalition over Ozawa, the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), and United States Forces in Japan (USFJ). It is not just a power struggle among them, but a battle between those who supported vested interests represented by the bureaucrats, the major mass media, the business people, and the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) backed by the United States and those who tried to carry out reforms represented by the Hatoyama-Ozawa group. It is also a conflict over democracy or who really governs Japan.