Age seems to matter in politics as well. With the Liberal Democratic Party having set a 73-year age limit for candidates running for Lower House seats under the proportional representation, or PR, system, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Thursday asked two elder politicians -- former Prime Ministers Yasuhiro Nakasone, 85, and Kiichi Miyazawa, 84, to retire from politics. Mr. Miyazawa agreed, saying he wants to make way for younger candidates. But Mr. Nakasone balked, demanding an exception to the rule.
Mr. Koizumi, who last month appointed the 49-year-old Mr. Shinzo Abe as LDP secretary general, is committed to rejuvenating the party through a generational change. And he wants to apply the age limit without exception. His leadership will be called into question, indeed, if Mr. Nakasone sticks to his guns. Mr. Nakasone has suggested he might run from a single-seat district if the party leadership does not allow him to run as a top-rated PR candidate.
Both Mr. Nakasone and Mr. Miyazawa are living witnesses to Japanese politics in the post-World War II period. Moreover, both have a solid track record as prime minister. So the LDP has much to gain from their historical insight and keen judgment. But it is also true that the LDP needs more input from younger politicians.