A reaction to a puzzling political remark reveals a deeper disconnect between language, culture, and responsibility. Reflecting on a statement by Masaharu Nakagawa, this essay questions how such rhetoric could ever have governed Japan.

2016-02-18

Among the friends who read the following article, there were two women.

One said she had read it in the Asahi Shimbun, which she subscribes to.
The other said she had read it in an online article.

What both of them said, respectively, was this:
“Just the fact that such a party once held power is horrifying.”
“It is a hopeless party. It would be better if it disappeared.”

So I read the article myself, and when I saw the name Masaharu Nakagawa, I remembered.
“Ah, that man,” I thought.

When the Democratic Party was in power, I had already thought, in response to the incomprehensible nature of his remarks, “How can someone like this function as a politician?”
I once wrote about that at the time.

I instantly felt that this man’s way of thinking was not aligned with the sensibilities of the Japanese people.

Even so, there are far too many in the Democratic Party who lack the spirit of the Japanese people, who have cultivated philosophy and culture for at least 1,400 years.
Some even go so far as to use names that are not Japanese names.
It is truly a chilling group of people.

The following is the article in question, from a small boxed item on page four of yesterday’s Asahi Shimbun.

“‘Win the Prime Minister’s Sleep Disorder’ Says Democratic Party’s Nakagawa”

Comment related to Amari’s absence.

Akira Amari, former Minister for Economic Revitalization, who resigned over a cash receipt scandal, was diagnosed as requiring one month of home rest due to a “sleep disorder.”

On the 16th, the Liberal Democratic Party revealed this at the House of Representatives Steering Committee directors’ meeting.
Since resigning on the 28th of last month, Amari has not appeared in the Diet, and when opposition parties questioned the reason, the LDP explained his absence based on a medical certificate dated the 15th of this month.

While the opposition is calling for Amari to be summoned to the Diet, an LDP parliamentary affairs executive said, “It would be impossible to forcibly bring him to the Diet.”

In relation to this, Masaharu Nakagawa, former Minister of Education and a member of the Democratic Party, said at the party’s delegates’ meeting on the 16th, “This is the time to go on the offensive. Let’s win the Prime Minister’s sleep disorder.”

Nakagawa later told Asahi Shimbun reporters, “If it caused misunderstanding, I must reflect on it.”