This essay uses remarks reported on NHK by the president of the Astronomical Society of Japan as a point of departure to launch a sharp criticism of what the author sees as the deep-rooted lack of security awareness in Japanese academia and a kind of infantile leftist paralysis of thought.
The author argues that a declaration refusing cooperation with research that might threaten humanity’s future is irresponsibly detached from reality, especially at a time when China is aggressively seeking dominance in space.
While younger generations increasingly show what he regards as a sound and natural willingness to support Japan’s national defense, he sees figures in academic leadership as lacking even basic realism and exposing, in his view, a level of foolishness unworthy of the title of scholar.
He further warns that such people are ideal targets for manipulation by the intelligence services of China and the Korean Peninsula, and that their presence symbolizes the vulnerability of Japan’s academic and intellectual spheres.
The essay thus raises broader questions about the relationship between scholarship and national defense, and about the dangers of naive pacifism within Japanese society.

2019-03-16
There can be no doubt that for the intelligence services of China and the Korean Peninsula, manipulating this kind of man would be easier than twisting a baby’s arm.

While I was brushing my teeth, an NHK news broadcast came on.
The Astronomical Society of Japan will not cooperate in research that threatens the future of humanity…
The man called Shibata, the president of the society who issued such a statement, is surely someone unknown to 99.9 percent of the Japanese people.
What on earth is going on inside this man’s head?
At a time when China is fiercely seeking domination over space, what kind of deluded nonsense is he talking about…?
Among the younger generation, there are many who believe Japan should cooperate in its own defense…
That is an entirely natural and sound national instinct…
indeed, a world-standard instinct,
but this Mr. Shibata too is probably one of those afflicted with the infantile disease of the Left, and he is a thoroughly exasperating human being.
For what purpose, and for whom, is he a scholar…?
It is laughable to see a fool, who has spent his life enjoying himself as nothing more than a thief living off taxpayers’ money, thinking himself to be somebody merely because he bears the title of scholar.
He was a truly shabby man.
There can be no doubt that for the intelligence services of China and the Korean Peninsula, manipulating this kind of man would be easier than twisting a baby’s arm.