On March 21, 2011, the cabinet’s lack of imagination and reliance on bureaucrats is condemned for failing the people in crisis. On March 22, after hearing violent words at Chion-in, the essay reflects on the corrosive influence of vulgar television and argues that only the coming “age of women” can overcome such violence.

In this blog post from March 21, 2011, the author critiques the Naoto Kan administration’s “lack of imagination and ability” during the Great East Japan Earthquake, citing the stagnation of aid supplies as a key example. The author argues that this incompetence is a direct result of a political class that only follows bureaucratic orders and that this crisis was exacerbated by a “vulgar” media that has influenced society for over two decades. Citing a shocking incident at Kyoto’s Chion-in Temple, the author links the rise of social “indecency” to this media influence and advocates for the swift arrival of a new “era of women” to restore peace and order.

A cabinet that could only do what the bureaucrats told them to do in peacetime is now in a state of emergency… March 21, 2011.

(Titles omitted in text)

The stagnation of supplies was entirely due to the current cabinet’s lack of imagination and ability… I would not call someone with only the imagination and ability that an ordinary person possesses an elite… much less a ruler.

As is well known, this cabinet was already at its end… and even if it weren’t, it’s a cabinet of experts only in self-preservation and the lust for power… One is a man who was always in the fourth row and ran away, and the other is a man who dropped out midway and became a lawyer… It is also a cabinet that has only the bad aspects of the student protest movement in its DNA.

They were already at their wit’s end, and that’s when this incident occurred… It is undoubtedly true that these people, who were originally far from having “mind’s eye,” became even more so. What came to their minds, before the affected areas and the victims, was probably… “This will save our necks.”

A cabinet that could only do what the bureaucrats told them to do in peacetime, in an emergency, and especially this emergency, could not come up with any of their own ideas. Everything was left to the experienced bureaucrats… what was so frustrating for us was that this time was different from before.

For a person who graduated from Tokyo Tech (and was passionate about student movements) and, as mentioned, became a politician after several years of part-time jobs like making yakisoba at college food stalls, to say “I am a nuclear expert”… the nuclear physicists, researchers, and engineers working at the actual sites—the true experts—of whom there must be many in Japan, must find it unbearable.

Why don’t the members of the Diet from the Democratic Party and the opposition parties, who clearly come from universities with higher偏差値 (deviation values) than his, submit a public letter of inquiry asking him what kind of expert he is?

No one can say that there were no lives that could have been saved because of commentators who chose a person like this and, even at this time, expressed sympathy for a sudden grand coalition.

The reason I believe the era of women = the peace of women = should come soon. March 22, 2011.

Yesterday, March 21, was also the equinox, but Chion-in Temple’s main hall was filled with prayers for the repose and recovery from this great earthquake, more so than for the usual memorial services… It would be fair to say that it was the same throughout Kyoto. I found out later that the Higashiyama Hanatouro (Cherry Blossom Viewing) event was also canceled after March 11. I cannot write about these things here… as I have already stated, they are of a nature that can only be written about or revealed in a relationship between a writer and a reader, so please subscribe to my newsletter. This kind of atmosphere permeated everything, especially on the equinox. … I left the main hall with my managing director, who was with me, and went down the stairs on the Yuzen-an side, heading towards Maruyama Park, which was designed by the great Showa-era landscape architect Jihei Ogawa. There were three or four young men behind us who looked like university students. As we were finishing our descent, looking at the magnificent National Treasure Sanmon gate, which Hidetada had ordered to be built and which had its last viewing day on the 21st, one of these young men suddenly shouted loudly, in a way that can only be described as outrageous… “I’ll kill you!” It wasn’t the sound of playful banter; it was a voice that came from the bottom of his heart. … The sound of that voice still remains in my ears.

Hearing a voice like that yesterday, of all places at Chion-in, made me think of the appearance and way of speaking of a certain popular comedian… They talk as if it’s their set routine, occupying “vulgar” TV, and thinking they’re being funny, but who can say that among the young people who grew up watching this for over 20 years, some will not become truly stained with “vulgarity,” and indulge in various evils (because “vulgarity” is one of the three evils of human beings) and even commit murder in the end?

The reason I continue the difficult task of introducing excerpts from the book review columns of the Asahi and Nikkei every week is… to make the public realize just how much information they should know is packed into just one Sunday, compared to the over 20 years of stupid TV. Until the way TV is changes, I will continue this difficult task… sighing, as it is also a task for myself to save the bulky newspapers on my PC.

What will happen when the era of women comes… All the guys who can’t help but want to be violent should be tamed as creatures for combat sports or world strongman competitions.