Preventing elections
This is a close-knit, friendly place. According to Fackler, “Islanders cheerfully greet passing strangers. Roads, parks and even public toilets are immaculate. Doors are left unlocked, and the island has only one policeman.” Hime is about half the size of Key West, Florida.
Mr. Fujimoto has been elected to seven four-year terms as mayor of Hime. The lack of change can be attributed to an election held in 1955 that split the island right down the middle politically. It created “ill feelings that took a generation to heal,” writes Fackler. Since that time, the island has decided to elect its mayors by consensus, choosing the man everyone can agree upon ahead of time.
“My job is to prevent elections by keeping everyone equal, and thus happy,” said Fujimoto, 65. He claims he would “resign immediately” if a serious rival ever presented himself in a general election. "That would be a sign the village has lost confidence in me," he said.
A triumph of liberalism to support conservatism?
How is it that Akio Fujimoto has remained in power for so long? Clearly it is not because he rules Hime with an iron fist. Fackler suggests that many islanders believe he has remained popular because they hold the previous mayor - his father, the subject of the island’s status - in high reverence. Post-World War II, Japan’s poverty reached extreme levels. Yet Fujimoto Sr. boosted Hime’s station out of poverty by allying it with the Liberal Democratic Party. This is turn brought a steady flow of public works projects to the island. ... click here to read the rest of the article titled "Japan's Himeshima Island | Happy Without Competition (Pt. 2)"
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