Landmark Reforms Gain in Japan : Parliament: The lower house passes bills that could bring political realignment. Vote is a victory for Hosokawa.

In a major victory for Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa, a landmark set of bills that could help usher in the most sweeping political realignment in postwar Japan won approval Thursday in the powerful lower house of Parliament.

The four bills to change the electoral system and beef up anti-corruption laws passed by a 270-226 vote, bringing the popular Hosokawa a major step closer to fulfilling his pledge to enact reform by the end of the year.

Many analysts doubted that the package would do much to clean up Japan’s endemic corruption. Failed attempts at reform brought down the last two prime ministers.

But the provision to redraw the nation’s electoral districts for the first time since 1947 could set off far-reaching political and economic changes. By giving new clout to Japan’s long-suffering urban voters and speeding the drive toward deregulation, the proposed change could bring about new policies to cut farm subsidies, lower prices, alter land use, redistribute tax burdens and increase consumers’ disposable income--all of which could help boost economic growth.

(Rural votes now count three times as much as urban votes under an electoral system put in place when half the population lived in farm areas.)

Redistricting could also clear the way for new parties and alliances, while further weakening two mainstays of the Cold War era: the conservative Liberal Democratic Party, which ruled Japan for 38 years before being ousted this year, and the Socialists.

“When you start redrawing the district lines, a different Japan will be represented” in the Parliament, said Robert Feldman, director of economic research for Salomon Bros. Asia Ltd. “The voice of the people will be heard more clearly.”

Still, many experts cautioned that the bills will not change longstanding political practices overnight.

“It’s too early to call this Bastille Day,” said Robert Orr, senior research fellow at Temple University. “The system is too entrenched. The bureaucracy is too entrenched.”

The bills now go to the upper house, which faces a deadline of Dec. 15 to enact them. Because Hosokawa’s seven-party coalition has a majority in that chamber as well, the bills are expected to pass.

Still, no one was predicting victory--especially the prime minister, who remained poker-faced despite the successful vote just one day before departing for the APEC meeting of Pacific Rim leaders in Seattle.

“There’s a proverb that when you walk 99% of a path, you’ve come halfway, but I don’t think we’ve come halfway,” Hosokawa told reporters shortly after the vote. “My feeling is that we’ve reached one-third.”

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In a foreshadowing of the political shifts that could occur, 13 LDP members defied party orders and voted for the reform proposal amid rumors that some of them would defect to the governing coalition. Seven others declined to vote, including former Justice Minister Masaharu Gotoda and former Prime Minister Toshiki Kaifu.

Five Socialists voted against their coalition’s proposal, and one walked out.

Although most analysts Thursday hailed parts of the proposal, especially the redistricting, nearly all of them challenged some of its fundamental assumptions. In particular, few seemed to accept the assertion that it will eradicate the corrupt system of “money politics” that has produced 18 major political scandals since 1975.

Under the system now, three to six lower house representatives are elected from each of 129 districts for a total of 511. The multi-seat system has aided the survival of small parties, but it has also forced parties to run their own members against each other, increasing demands for campaign cash.

The reform proposal would reduce the number of seats to 500 and make 274 of them single-seat districts (the rest would be elected by proportional representation). Backers say this would reduce the need for campaign contributions, as well as hasten the move toward a two-party system.

The proposal would also ban campaign donations to individual politicians, toughen reporting requirements, introduce public financing to cover about one-third of all annual party expenses and deprive violators of the right to run for office for at least five years.

But Kenichi Omae, head of the Reform of Heisei political group, said the proposal would lead to a greater concentration of political power--especially by Japan Renewal Party leader Ichiro Ozawa--and invite more corruption. To truly make politics responsive to the public, he said, Japan should slash the number of seats by 50%, introduce the referendum process to allow voters direct policy-making power and initiate voting by telephone.

“These guys aren’t serious,” he said. “It’s just a politician’s game.”

Orr said the most important aspect of Thursday’s vote was the boost it gave Hosokawa, strengthening his hold and giving him momentum to pursue his other reform themes of deregulation and reining in the bureaucracy.