Japan Poem Lover, an English news editor for over 20 years who covers developments on Japan’s political and economic scenes, has a new challenge for Japan when he asks: "Who is truly qualified to serve the public, bureaucrats or citizens?A friend of mine was close to the woman Japan Poem Lover writes about. This woman desired to do for her hometown as the locals in her adopted home did for theirs.I am not sure if the average citizen of Japan is qualified to serve the public at large (in the political arena). However, I am curious to see the average politician serve his/her constituents and the public keeping the politician in check.

The nature-loving woman died of a recurrence of cancer last year after living an exciting but simple life as an interpreter for U.S. artists and a member of a citizens’ movement in her hometown. She was 56 and survived by her husband and a 17-year-old son. She died while watching the sea of her hometown facing the Pacific from her bed. It was about two weeks after she returned from the United States to live her last days with her family and friends in Japan.Members of a local citizens’ group organized against a high-rise condominium project tried to field the woman, who was one of its leaders, as a candidate for a mayoral election believing she was qualified to do jobs to preserve the nature of the town. But her poor health and other reasons prevented them from realizing the idea. The group won a half victory in their movement against the project. They succeeded in getting the local government to pass a law to ban high-rise structures in the scenic seaside area, but they failed to do so for smaller buildings. Read the rest of the story here.[ad#468x60-ad]