On October 13, 2010, NHK BS1 reported an error in calculating the average age of the Prosecution Review Board.
For the author, this trivial news epitomized the emptiness of Japan’s “lost decades.”
Awakening the next morning to the lyrics of Arcade Fire’s Half Light II, he declares himself the proxy of the King of Hell and delivers judgment upon those who shaped these twenty years, condemning them to humanity’s greatest torment.
The essay blends cultural reflection, personal testimony, and sharp indictment of society’s failures.

As the Proxy of the King of Hell — A Sentence Upon the Criminal Architects of the Past Twenty Years
October 13, 2010

Good morning.

Last night, after 11 p.m., on NHK BS1 News, a report aired. The Prosecutors’ Office stated that the average age of the members of the current Prosecution Review Board had been mistakenly reported as thirty. In fact, one member was thirty-seven and some months, and this miscalculation had led to the error. As I heard this, what I thought was simply: tonight, I must sleep. Everything else can wait until tomorrow.

This morning, when I awoke, what flowed through my mind was a song I have already mentioned—the work of the champions of the early 21st century, Arcade Fire. From their latest album, released August 10, 2010, which became number one first in the UK and then in the US, the song ♪Half Light II♪.

I am already a man in the latter half of life, and I can now say without hesitation: Gifted—today, concretely, perfectly—delivers the answer to the past twenty years.

As the honorable proxy of the King of Hell, I declare this: to the great criminals who have shaped these past two decades, I pronounce a first-class sentence of boiling in the cauldrons of hell—the greatest torment in human history.

Until I finish writing, I invite you to listen to this wonderful band’s song.

…

♪Half Light II♪ by Arcade Fire (translated by the author)

…
When we watched the markets crash,
The promises we made were torn.
…
Some people say, they’ve already lost,
But they’re afraid to pay the cost for what we’ve lost.
Pay the cost for what we’ve lost.
…