The eight-member Japanese delegation visited Washington DC, New York, South Carolina, and Washington state from July 12 to 25, 1997. The group spent five days in Washington DC, where it received intensive briefings on the media in campaigns, the Federal Election Commission, and the Democratic Party’s strategy as the minority party in Congress. In addition, Strom Thurmond (Republican of South Carolina), the eldest sitting US senator, offered his observations to the delegation on changes in the Senate over his 41 years of tenure.
The delegation then traveled to South Carolina, visiting the mayors of Charleston and Greenwood. In Seattle and Olympia Washington, the schedule included meetings with Congressman Jim McDermott (Democrat); Ralph Monroe, state secretary of state; the King County Executive; reporters from Seattle’s two major newspapers; and local political consultants.
Participants
YOSHIKI KANAZASHI, Assistant to Katsuya Okada, Member of the House of Representatives (New Frontier Party)
HIROMICHI KAWAHARA, Editor-in-Chief, Komei Geppo (Komei Party)
HIROAKI KAWANO, Member, Yonezawa City Council, Yamagata (Liberal Democratic Party)
TATSUFUMI KAZAMA, Member, Nagano Prefectural Assembly (Kenseikai)
KEIGO MATSUBA, Senior Staff, Party Ethics Committee (Liberal Democratic Party)
HIROAKI SAKUNO, Member, Matto City Council, Ishikawa (Liberal Democratic Party)
HIDEKI TOGASAKA, Staff Researcher, Policy Research Committee (Democratic Party of Japan)
YUJI YAGI, Staff, Public Relations Department, Party Newspaper and Public Relations Bureau (Social Democratic Party)
