On March 20, 2011, Japan’s political response was condemned as “looting amid disaster.” This essay denounces Asahi Shimbun’s commentary, the political deception of “money and politics” that cost the nation ¥450 trillion, and the vulgar obsession with power, contrasted with the people’s selfless struggle for the nation.

From the perspective of March 20, 2011, this post harshly criticizes the Naoto Kan administration’s “looting” behavior, as it sought to consolidate its own power during the chaos of the Great East Japan Earthquake. The author attributes Japan’s 20 years of deflation and lost national wealth to the “fiction of politics and money” perpetuated by certain politicians and the media. The post expresses strong disgust for politicians who prioritize personal gain while the nation’s people unite to face the crisis.

I have no objection whatsoever to the description “looting amid disaster.”
March 20, 2011.

This is about last night.
From the very beginning, the film gave me the sense that it would be excellent.
And when I finished watching, I thought: it was indeed a superb film, and because of its subject matter, the commentary in this morning’s Asahi felt like a Nazi newspaper.

The thick skin of the man who wrote that column disgusted me.
Over the course of twenty years of deflation, I have encountered two genuine villains.
He is no different from them.
I was sickened by that realization.
Perhaps I should stop subscribing to the Asahi.

Why?
Because in these twenty wasted years, Japan should have increased its national wealth by 450 trillion yen.
In the same period, America increased its GDP by nearly the same amount.
Because Japan failed to do so, our government issued an additional 450 trillion yen in national debt.
Ninety-five percent of this was covered by the personal assets of the Japanese people.
And these assets were created by the ninety-five percent of the population who are workers—through their diligence and decency.
It was the deception of “money and politics” carried on by men like him that caused the loss of this 900 trillion yen balance.

Not only that, he even praised someone whom many citizens find revolting—someone they bear in silence during this crisis.
Why do people feel such revulsion?
Because at a time when the people are risking their very lives, showing selfless devotion for the nation, this man exploits even the state itself as a tool for maintaining his own power.

Note: the proof of this lies in the fourth page of this morning’s Asahi.
Excerpt:
“Behind the Liberal Democratic Party’s refusal to accept cabinet posts lies deep distrust of the prime minister. On the afternoon of the 11th, immediately after the earthquake, Mr. Tanigaki phoned the prime minister to say, ‘We will fully cooperate with the government’s measures,’ and later reiterated this in a party leader meeting. He promptly agreed to the establishment of a joint ruling–opposition countermeasures council. Yet the Kan administration requested cooperation not on earthquake measures but on unrelated bills such as the child allowance ‘bridging bill.’ Within the LDP, dissatisfaction mounted, calling it ‘looting amid disaster.’”
End of excerpt.

As for the result of the article I mentioned in the morning’s Nikkei, it appeared in the evening news.
It was, of course, the entirely natural outcome.

I am thoroughly sick of men whose vulgarity leads them to such sudden, reckless actions.
As for the current executive leadership, and those who effectively created them, I believe that Lord Ieyasu would have regarded them as treacherous retainers who harmed the state, and exiled them to places like Sado or Oki Island.