LONDON -- "Seen it all before" and "the more it changes the more it remains the same" are phrases that immediately spring to the mind of the foreign observer of Japanese politics in the runup to Saturday's election of the president of the Liberal Democratic Party.
Japanese reporters whose job it is to follow the maneuvers of the different personalities and factions may express fascination with the intrigues and jealousies that constitute pre-election politics, but there are not many foreign journalists who attempt to follow the developments in any detail.
Political observers in foreign embassies desirous of keeping their capitals informed of the likely outcome must perforce study the various machinations. The outcome of the election will be important for the future course of Japanese politics and will have implications for Japan's role on the international scene and for the development of the Japanese economy.