In the context of the anti–security legislation movement, Hayao Miyazaki, Jiro Yamaguchi, and Aki Okuda directed verbal abuse at Prime Minister Abe. In a Sankei Shimbun column, Sekihei argues that Japanese liberalism has lost reason, restraint, and a basic sense of human rights.

Since the anti–security legislation movement began, film director Hayao Miyazaki has hurled abuse at Prime Minister Abe, calling him “stupid,”
2016-11-19.
Today, a friend of mine informed me of the following article. 2015-09-02.
Today, a friend of mine informed me of the following article.
While the combined subscriber households of the Asahi and Mainichi total about ten million, the households subscribing to the Sankei Shimbun are only one third of that, meaning that many people across Japan have likely not seen the following commentary.
That Mr. Sekihei was a genuine elite in China goes without saying.
The following is from today’s front page of the Sankei Shimbun.
Japan’s “Liberals” Are Already Dead.
Contribution by commentator Sekihei.
“Irrational Personal Attacks.”
On August 30, at an anti–security legislation protest rally in front of the National Diet Building, Hosei University Professor Jiro Yamaguchi hurled the abusive remark “You are not human” at Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
It appears to be borrowed from a catchphrase in period dramas, but by contemporary standards of human rights it is clearly verbal violence directed at a single individual, Shinzo Abe.
Since the anti–security legislation movement began, film director Hayao Miyazaki has abused Prime Minister Abe as “stupid,” and Shingo Hirowatari, former president of the Science Council of Japan and professor at Senshu University, insulted Prime Minister Abe at the end of July by presenting a false dichotomy, saying he was “either a fool or a liar.”
Then, Aki Okuda, a core member of the student group SEALDs, openly hurled the abusive words “Are you an idiot?” at Prime Minister Abe at an August security legislation rally held in front of the Diet and organized by Rengo.
In this way, the anti–security legislation movement deviated from its proper purpose, lost reason and restraint, and transformed into nothing more than “resentful personal attacks” against Prime Minister Abe.
Such a “peace movement” no longer deserves its name.
Where is the qualification to speak of “peace” among people who casually wield verbal violence?
“Numbness of Human Rights Awareness.”
Even more problematic is that, regarding the statements described above, not a single internal criticism or self-reflection can be heard from within the anti–security legislation movement camp. Newspapers that claim to represent “liberalism,” positioned opposite to Japan’s “conservatives,” have also failed to treat this as an issue at all.
Such an abnormal situation instead indicates that basic human rights awareness has become numb across Japan’s liberal camp as a whole.
Can something that condones verbal violence truly be called liberalism?
On the day when the abusive remarks of Mr. Okuda and Mr. Yamaguchi were uttered, and when they were tolerated, Japan’s “liberals” were already dead.
“Pride at Tiananmen.”
Twenty-six years ago, many Chinese youths of my generation carried out a life-risking democratization movement in Tiananmen Square in Beijing. However, even against the genuine dictator Deng Xiaoping, we never hurled abusive remarks such as “You are not human.”
We simply appealed for the ideals of democratization.
Therefore, even though the democratization movement was suppressed by Deng Xiaoping’s People’s Liberation Army, pride remained with us.
Should not those participating in Japan’s anti–security legislation movement—who face no risk of being “suppressed” within a democratic society—also possess such pride?