There are moments when a single vote changes the world.
I presented this Japanese election to the world as such a moment.
This is not merely one phase of domestic politics.
It is a historic turning point that concerns the very course of civilization itself.
And I defined it as
the moment when the Turntable of Civilization begins to advance again.
This perspective was one that
existing political commentary,
no commentator,
and no intellectual
could have presented at that time.
But I was convinced
that this was the very essence,
and I sent it out to the world.
At that time, the possibility of a victory on a historic scale was already great.
But what was required was not merely a major victory.
It was a decisive and symbolic landslide victory to be engraved in postwar political history.
What made that landslide victory possible was nothing other than the firmly established presence of a leader in whom intellect, insight, and character worthy of entrusting the nation were united as one.
This fact cannot be emphasized too strongly.
It was an election that
restored the ability to decide the course of the nation,
an ability postwar Japan had long lost,
and furthermore,
returned the civilizational order centered on Japan and the United States
once again to its proper path.
I declare this.
This vote
was not merely one vote.
It was a vote
that rightly changed the history of world politics.
An Election as a Turning Point in History
In the history of world politics,
true turning points
do not occur only through
great wars or revolutions.
At times,
a quiet act of voting
determines the course of civilization.
This Japanese election
was precisely such an example.
For many years,
Japanese politics repeated short-lived governments,
and Japan was unable
to show the world
a sustained will as a nation.
This was not merely a domestic matter.
If a nation is not stable,
the direction of civilization is not stable either.
If the will of a nation does not endure,
international order does not endure either.
In that sense,
this election was
a turning point not only for Japan,
but for the world.
History Begins with One Person
For many years,
I have held one conviction.
History
does not begin with the many.
It always
begins with one person.
It is not the state that speaks.
It is not institutions that speak.
Nor is it the media that speaks.
Always,
someone, one person,
begins things.
And that will
eventually moves society as a whole.
In this election as well,
that principle did not change.
One vote accumulated upon another,
those votes became a will,
and that will became the course of the nation.
That chain
set the advancement of civilization in motion once again.
The Call to Action as a Civilizational Warning
Before this election,
I repeatedly issued my message.
This vote
is not merely one vote.
It is a vote that moves the history of civilization.
This recognition
did not exist
in any mainstream discourse at that time.
But I received it
as something close to revelation,
and I sent it out.
And as a result,
many people
recognized anew the meaning of voting.
This was not merely
a political appeal.
It was
a warning toward the course of civilization,
a catalyst,
and a declaration to history.
The Turntable of Civilization
For some time,
I have used the words
“The Turntable of Civilization”
as a concept to explain the modern world.
Civilization sometimes stagnates.
It sometimes moves in the wrong direction.
But
when the right occasion is given,
it begins to advance once again.
This election
was precisely that occasion.
I record this here
clearly.
The Turntable of Civilization,
at this moment,
began to advance again.
It was not accidental.
It was inevitable.
It was the inevitability of history.
A Declaration to the Future
From now on,
the meaning of this event
will become even clearer.
When the course of the nation stabilizes,
the direction of civilization is determined,
and the order of the world begins to be set right once again,
people will look back.
They will say
that that election
was the turning point.
And they will understand.
A single vote
moved the world.
I leave this essay
as a record of civilization.
And I declare this.
The Turntable of Civilization
has now once again
begun to advance.
This Japanese election was not merely a domestic political event.
It was a historic turning point that determined the course of civilization, a moment when one vote moved the nation, and the nation moved civilization.
This essay is a world-presentation thesis that records the moment when “The Turntable of Civilization” began to advance once again, within the structure of the restart of the civilizational order centered on Japan and the United States, and the civilizational confrontation with one of the worst dictatorships in human history.