Originally published on April 18, 2018.
This chapter examines Kiyomi Tsujimoto’s past remarks denying the legitimacy of the Imperial institution and her reported statement about “collapsing the framework of the state,” sharply questioning whether she truly possesses respect for the Constitution and the will to serve the nation as a member of the Diet.
Based on her past writings, statements, and the secretary salary fraud case, it argues that she should hold a press conference and fulfill her responsibility to explain herself to the Japanese people.

2019-04-16
In order to answer this series of suspicions, should not Ms. Tsujimoto hold a press conference and explain her views on the Imperial institution and her stance as a member of the Diet?

This is a chapter I published on 2018-04-18 under the title:
“After reading this article, I could feel neither any will to respect the Constitution nor any will to serve the entire nation as a member of the Diet.”
While searching the internet, I found the following article.
KSM WORLD NEWS 2017/06/17 (Sat) 10:30:18.18 _USER
No matter how much “freedom of speech” is guaranteed by the Constitution in Japan, there are limits.
“Don’t you find it physiologically disgusting?
I mean those people, that system, that family.
I do not want to breathe air anywhere near where they are.”
Before founding the private international exchange group “Peace Boat” and entering politics, Kiyomi Tsujimoto, then later a House of Representatives member of the Democratic Party, wrote this about the Imperial Household in Kiyomi Surude!! The New Breed Sets Sail! (Daisan Shokan), published in March 1987.
It is said that she even described the Imperial institution as “the root of evil.”
The Sankei Shimbun reported this on the 9th.
This was taken up by Yasushi Adachi, a House of Representatives member of the Japan Innovation Party, at the House of Representatives Commission on the Constitution on the 8th.
Mr. Adachi also cited Ms. Tsujimoto’s past remarks calling for the abolition of the Imperial institution, and criticized her by saying, “It is inappropriate for a person who has repeatedly made such remarks to serve as a secretary of the Commission on the Constitution.”
In response, Ms. Tsujimoto admitted, “About 30 years ago, when I was a student, I made the remarks you are referring to,” and then said, “Under the Constitution of Japan, Japan was reborn and became a nation that renounced war.
We must respect the symbolic emperor as provided for in the Constitution.
I keenly realized that my thinking had been one-sided, and I deeply regret it.”
But when was it that Ms. Tsujimoto deeply repented?
According to the Sankei Shō column of the 10th, in a book she published in 1998 after becoming a House member, she reportedly wrote the following.
“The provisions concerning the emperor from Article 1 through Article 8 of the Constitution should be deleted.”
“As for the emperor system, I am personally opposed to it.
I still feel resistance to it.”
Also, according to Shukan Shincho (October 13, 2005 issue), when Ms. Tsujimoto appeared as a guest at a women-only adult event called Onna Matsuri held in Shibuya, Tokyo, she reportedly said, “People say that members of the Diet are supposed to protect the lives and property of the people, but that is not why I became one.
I am a lawmaker whose role is to figure out how to collapse the framework of the state.”
After reading this article, I could feel neither any will to respect the Constitution nor any will to serve the entire nation as a member of the Diet.
The term “destroy-the-state lawmaker” came to mind.
Because Peace Boat also visited the People’s Republic of China and North Korea, one can find descriptions on the internet pointing to a relationship between it and Ms. Tsujimoto.
In July 2003, Ms. Tsujimoto was arrested by the Second Investigation Division of the Metropolitan Police Department in the secretary salary fraud case and received a guilty verdict of two years in prison, suspended for five years.
She has already paid for that crime, but would it not be natural that her responsibility to explain herself regarding public doubts should be heavier than anyone else’s?
In order to answer this series of suspicions, should not Ms. Tsujimoto hold a press conference and explain her views on the Imperial institution and her stance as a member of the Diet?
And while she is at it, if she were to say something like, “Do you not find the existence of the Kim family in North Korea physiologically disgusting?” the resentment of the Japanese people might well be eased.
■Kent Gilbert
Attorney in California, United States, and television personality.
Born in Idaho in 1952.
First came to Japan in 1971.
His books include The Tragedy of Chinese and Koreans Ruled by Confucianism (Kodansha + Alpha Shinsho), The Tendencies and Countermeasures of Japanese People Mocked by President Trump (Sankei Shimbun Publishing), and Japan Awakens (Takarajimasha), among others.