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Prime minister Kishida’s Announcement of not running for the Presidential election

Please note that this article is my personal opinion. (This article is not related to this site.)

Come on out, “Sanae Takaichi!
I would very much like Sanae Takaichi to declare her candidacy for the Presidential election.
We are waiting for Sanae Takaichi, minister of economy and security, as the first female president.

Prime minister Kishida has announced that he will not run for the next presidential election.
The reason is different from that of President Biden’s announcement of his withdrawal from the US presidential election.
I think the direct reason for this is probably the long-term decline in approval ratings and the recent raising off-the-book funds

I have personally been insisting for quite some time that prime minister Kishida should step down.
Prime minister Kishida is a faceless politician. I also felt that his political style which is sensitive to loud voices including those of noisy minorities, would be a betrayal of those who voted for the Liberal Democratic Party(hereinafter called LDP) .
Furthermore, prime minister Kishida’s weak-kneed and subservient diplomacy toward China and South Korea which publicly declare anti-Japanese and implement an anti-Japanese policy will send the wrong message to these countries. It also disparages the Japanese people.

It may be hard to believe, but there are Diet members who shouted “No to the release of contaminated water” together with Chinese and Korean politicians regarding the treated water from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant. It was shocking to me that a Diet members who are paid by the Japanese tax money, would so publicly support the anti-Japanese policies of China and South Korea.
Even though we have freedom of speech, the behavior of a Japanese Diet members spreading harmful rumors and disparaging Japan is a much bigger problem than the current problem of slanderous online comments.
I expected prime minister Kishida as Japan’s head of nation, to take some kind of action against these anti-Japanese Diet members, but I was disappointed that he did nothing.

In addition, China banned the import of Japanese seafood products due to this issue.
The only action that prime minister Kishida and the Japanese government took against China was to ask China to lift the import ban.
I understand that China’s ban on imports for a groundless accusations is because China originally wanted to stop imports.
In other words, what the Japanese government should implement at this time is the enactment of a bill banning the export of seafood products to China.
This will also protect limited marine resources.
Also, even if Japan enacts this bill, China will be grateful to Japan but will not complain.  And China will not be able to appeal a WTO complaint. This is a win-win relationship.
I really hope that the next prime minister will enact this bill.

And that’s all for my personal request.

I am not a supporter of any particular political party.
My criteria for choosing a political party are based on my views on national defense and the economy.

I believe that national defense has two major roles.
“Defense of the nation” and “an important diplomatic tool”.
Of course, everyone has their individual way of thinking, and I do not intend to impose my way of thinking on anyone.
In fact, a friend of mine from my college days once said to me, “ Today, there will never happen a war (already wrong…)” and “Why do we need our own country ? Since war will never happen, it’s no problem if we don’t have our own country.”
When I say to people who have these opinions, “The government must decide its policies considering all possibilities”, they just repeat the same opinions and cannot discuss it.

Defense of the Nation
Today, there is an ongoing war by Japan’s neighbors. Why is Ukraine desperately defending its territory against the military superpower Russia?
Japan has been at peace for a long time, and people are free to criticize the government, it is easy to forget the importance of the nation.
What would happen if Japan were occupied by some other country?
It means that what used to be normal will no longer be normal.
For example, health insurance systems and medical care, pensions, passports, etc. will disappear or fail.

An Important Diplomatic Tool
Japan is geopolitically surrounded by nuclear powers and anti-Japanese nations.
As you are probably feeling, they are pushing military force, including nuclear weapons, to the forefront. This is because this is one of their diplomatic tools.
If Japan abandons national defense as some political parties and civic unions wish, the Senkaku Islands, Takeshima, and even parts of Okinawa may be occupied.
Political parties and civil unions advocating the abandonment of national defense insist that issues between nations should be resolved through discussion. Why do they insist only to the Japanese domestic public?
They are making their claims against the wrong people. I think they should prove that they can resolve the issue through discussions with China and South Korea.
Some of them have politicians who can go to China and say, “No to the release of contaminated water from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant,” but they have not taken any action regarding the territory. Such behavior can only be thought of as supporting the claims of an anti-Japanese state.

I think that economics is a very difficult subject.
This is because the economy not only involves people’s intentions, but also their perception of the economic situation varies.
In fact, it is not unusual for political parties to have completely opposed views.
I think this is not surprising, as even economists can have differing opinions.
Therefore, I will not mention my views here, I just think I would like to support a party that is close to my views.

For other policies, we will make a decision after confirming the policy.

Finally, the prime minister and Diet members should cooperate with the Japanese government to strongly voice Japan’s claims.
These include the Takeshima issue, the rising sun flag issue which has recently been mentioned as an anti-Japanese, the comfort women statue, the forced labor issue, and so on. (What? All some country is involved…)
Simply making claims on a government website will not be effective at all. The necessary budget should be allocated to handle this issue.

Thanks.
2024/08/23