Published on August 29, 2019.
This article continues a serialized dialogue between Ishihara Shintaro and Kamei Shizuka published in the monthly magazine WiLL.
It discusses Taro Yamamoto of Reiwa Shinsengumi, Takashi Tachibana of the Party to Protect the People from NHK, Yuriko Koike’s Tokyo administration, the former Seirankai group, and politicians such as Etō Takami, while examining modern political populism, the decline of politicians, and the hard-hitting statesmen who once existed.

August 29, 2019.
There is no need to drag vulnerable people such as the disabled themselves into the Diet.
Able-bodied people should do it on their behalf… that is what I think.
He is skillfully using them.
The following is the continuation of the previous chapter.
＊Regarding what the media, journalists, and so-called opinion leaders have written and said about Taro Yamamoto and his actions, I had thought that one day I would have to denounce them harshly, but because of fatigue I had not felt like writing.
This chapter, and the words of the great senior Nobuyuki Kaji that I will introduce later, express what I want to say.＊
The cutting edge of populism.
Ishihara.
I am also concerned about the political world from now on.
In the House of Councillors election, a man named Taro Yamamoto, representative of “Reiwa Shinsengumi,” who seems to be at the cutting edge of populism, swept the world.
Kamei.
There is no need to drag vulnerable people such as the disabled themselves into the Diet.
Able-bodied people should do it on their behalf.
Ishihara.
That is what I think.
He is skillfully using them.
Everyone probably voted for him thinking it was humanism, but in fact I think it is extremely inhuman.
Kamei.
He is putting them on display and treating them as tools.
Ishihara.
They say it is epoch-making because the Diet became barrier-free for the first time, but is that really so necessary?
Kamei.
If that is the case, the money should be spent for disabled people across the country.
To forcibly spend money so that they can conduct Diet activities is putting the cart before the horse.
The rest is omitted.
Kamei.
Actually, Yamamoto came to me twice asking me to run.
He said he would nominate me in first place.
But I refused.
Ishihara.
Well, for Taro Yamamoto to place Kamei Shizuka under his command would be outrageous.
It is far too presumptuous.
Kamei.
He should make me the general.
It seems he also approached Ichiro Ozawa.
The rest is omitted.
Ishihara.
The way he speaks is somehow overly familiar.
Omission.
What on earth is Takashi Tachibana of the “Party to Protect the People from NHK”?
Kamei.
It is a truly strange party.
It seems to be under the pretext of protecting the people from NHK, which collects reception fees.
Ishihara.
Does that mean that because it is a national broadcaster, they should let people watch it for free?
Kamei.
If that is the case, the national budget would have to be increased.
Ishihara.
The idea of destroying NHK is mistaken.
There are many programs that only NHK can broadcast.
I am impressed by them.
I like watching mountain footage, and there are specialist mountain cameramen who follow dangerous climbs.
They have outstanding ability, to the point that I wonder how they managed to get such shots.
In order to train such excellent staff, an organization like NHK, using national funds, is necessary.
Kamei.
If there were only commercial broadcasters, television would not be watchable.
Ishihara.
They only take up trivial things such as celebrities’ marriages and divorces, drug use, and the Yoshimoto issue.
Omission.
Kamei.
Yamamoto and Tachibana are merely stirring things up in order to gain popularity among the masses.
Come to think of it, there also seems to be a rumor that Yamamoto will run in the Tokyo gubernatorial election.
Ishihara.
I see.
If things remain as they are, Tokyo will die.
It has become a state of terror politics in which bureaucrats cannot function.
Kamei.
That is serious.
Ishihara.
Even if knowledge and opinions from the field are submitted upward, the upper levels do not take them up at all.
Even if they are brought to the Liberal Democratic Party, it has lost its majority, so it is in a dysfunctional state.
Kamei.
Before, Yuriko Koike and Ozawa approached me about returning to politics.
Ozawa tried to persuade me to run on the proportional representation list for the Party of Hope in the House of Representatives election, but I refused him immediately.
“At this age, I no longer feel like crawling under a skirt,” I said.
Ishihara.
That is a terrible story, looking down on a person.
Kamei.
If it were with Mr. Ishihara, I would not mind forming a new party, but we are already old.
A hard-hitting man.
Ishihara.
I have done many things together with Kame-chan.
There are no longer politicians who, like in those days, would open a path with their own bodies on the line.
Kamei.
We carried a lazy man named Mr. Ishihara and launched a run in the party presidential election.
Mr. Ishihara at that time was burning with passion.
Ishihara.
It was the same at the time of Seirankai.
Even Keizo Obuchi said, “Let me join.”
I said, “You had better not.”
Everyone burst out laughing.
Obuchi, too, as he himself joked that he was a ramen shop in a valley between buildings, was fighting in the same electoral district as Nakasone and Fukuda, so he probably wanted somehow to leap upward.
However, we were an organization founded in opposition to the money-politics faction, so if a person from the Tanaka faction joined, things would not go very well.
Ichiro Nakagawa, Michio Watanabe, and Masayuki Fujio all had troubled looks, saying, “Obuchi, huh?”
It might have been interesting if he had joined.
Kamei.
The Seirankai of those days was like a gathering of fifth- and sixth-rankers.
Ishihara.
That is not true.
We even signed in blood.
However, there were about four people who were frightened by that and declined.
Everyone burst out laughing.
Kamei.
There were many spirited fellows.
It would be good if there were politicians like even the fringe members of Seirankai, but I do not see any.
Ishihara.
Etō Takami was a hard-hitting man.
Kamei.
He truly was.
When I thought of asking Mr. Etō, after Mr. Murakami, to serve as chairman of the Shisuikai, which I had founded with Mr. Masakuni Murakami, Mr. Etō said, “Kamei-kun, I have no money.
I cannot do it.”
I said, “I will take responsibility for all the money, so do not worry,” and had him become chairman.
In my dealings with Mr. Etō, I never once had an unpleasant experience.
Ishihara.
He was a man as straightforward as split bamboo.
Kamei.
He had zero sex appeal.
Ishihara.
In Miyazaki Prefecture, Etō’s electoral district, there was an experimental maglev line.
I was transport minister at the time and went to see the site, but it was a short section built weaving between pig sheds and chicken coops.
Thinking, “Nothing adequate can be done with such a low-class experimental line,” I had it transferred to Yamanashi Prefecture.
Then Etō became furious.
“You betrayed me.
A wife who shared hardship should not be cast down from the hall.
You have betrayed that trust,” he said.
It means that a wife who shared the poor times when only coarse food could be eaten cannot be divorced and driven out of the house after one rises in the world.
I replied, “Etō-chan, think about Japan.
The maglev Shinkansen is an experimental line for connecting Tokyo and Osaka.
If it remains in Miyazaki Prefecture, it cannot reach its true speed, and it will not serve the country.
I want you to look at it from a broad perspective.
I have already decided.
You may strike me with your friendship if you wish.”
Then Etō said, “All right, fine!” and cooperated.
Kamei.
Yes, he was a pleasant man.
Ishihara.
Politicians like Etō have completely disappeared.
This article continues.