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His manner and his mode of living are Western. Brought up on John Wesley and Adam Smith, he worshiped for years as a Christian, and still devotes several hours a week to robust singing of Christian hymns. But when the militarists took over in the '30s to pursue their dream of empire, Hatoyama accepted it, endorsed it on a tour of foreign capitals, wrote a book praising Hitler and Mussolini. He was not close enough to the team to be completely trusted, so before war's end he was nudged into retirement; but he was not clean enough to pass the occupation's purview, and was purged (along with 201,815 other Japanese) after he had formed the postwar Liberal Party and was about to become Premier.
Until he could return, Hatoyama entrusted the Liberal Party to his good friend Yoshida. By the time he was de-purged five years later, Hatoyama had been laid low by a stroke, and tough-minded Shigeru Yoshida had grown too attached to the job to relinquish it. Hatoyama bided his time until the conservatives and their business backers began chafing under Yoshida's leadership, and the public began showing its irritation with the remnants of U.S. occupation and those who cooperated with it. All that was then necessary was a shrewd deal across the game tables. Overnight last fall, a chunk of the Liberals broke off, styled themselves the Democrats, and chose Ichiro Hatoyama as their leader. Another convenient arrangement with the Yoshida-hating Socialists knocked the Premier out and brought Hatoyama in.
Wearing his purge record like a boutonniere and his physical handicaps with a winning courage, the temporary Premier overlooked no opportunity to nail down his job. In the tradition of prewar Premiers, he hurried to the great Ise shrines to notify the Shinto gods of his election—a gesture of nationalism and a studied slap at foreigners who had tried to reduce the chauvinistic role of Shintoism. He distributed promises—cheaper fertilizer, lower taxes, more jobs. But most of all he appealed to Japan's reawakened pride as a nation, able once-more to stand on its own, free to make foreign friends and commitments as it pleased.
This strategy has made Hatoyama's newborn Democrats the dominant party in Japan. Last week they won 185 of the 467 seats in the Diet. Yoshida's Liberals (now guided by Taketora Ogata) were reduced to 112 seats. With nowhere else to go but into coalition with their fellow conservatives. Ogata promptly announced that the Liberals would support Hatoyama. Hatoyama may not be in charge for long, but he talks confidently of carrying on for two years. Out of this alliance may come one strong, conservative party, and with Right and Left Socialists also talking merger, a two-party system may emerge in Japan.