2024/03/04

Only the Following Day Did the Opposition Finally Begin Allocating Question Time to the New Pneumonia Outbreak
February 28, 2020

The following is a continuation of the previous chapter.
The opening portion is omitted.

If they cornered Prime Minister Abe over the Cherry Blossom Viewing Party controversy, public opinion would rally behind the opposition.
Just imagining Azumi smirking to himself is enough to make one laugh uncontrollably.
But Azumi’s calculations unravel.

Japan’s first case of the novel coronavirus, which had begun spreading from Wuhan, China, was confirmed on January 16.
The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare initially took an optimistic view that human-to-human transmission was unlikely, but the situation grew more serious by the day, and infections quickly spread to other countries.
With more than nine million Chinese tourists visiting annually, Japan had entered a critical phase of crisis response: how to stop the virus at the border and protect the lives of its people.

Under these circumstances, Yukio Edano, leader of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, devoted much of his time during questions on behalf of his party at a plenary session to criticizing the government and ruling parties over issues such as the Cherry Blossom Viewing Party and integrated resorts (IRs).
He did not mention the national crisis.
And even in the Budget Committee, which began meeting on January 27, the opposition repeatedly asked questions about “cherry blossoms.”

On January 28, a bus driver in Nara Prefecture who had transported tourists from Wuhan was confirmed as the first Japanese national infected with the novel coronavirus.
On January 29, the government’s first charter flight returned to Japan after evacuating 206 Japanese nationals from Wuhan.
As masks became scarce, public anxiety and confusion were spreading.

That day, Noriko Ishigaki, a Constitutional Democratic Party lawmaker questioning the government in the Budget Committee, began as follows:

“I would like to ask about the lives and property of people living in Japan, and issues directly affecting them, such as the virus causing the new pneumonia and the dispatch of the Self-Defense Forces to the Middle East. However, the greatest obstacle to Japan’s security is the sloppy and irresponsible management of public administration and public finances, and we must eliminate it.
“To that end, I will focus my questions on the Cherry Blossom Viewing Party, which symbolizes the government’s degeneration.”

Ishigaki’s remarks prompted a succession of online criticisms, including: “With Japanese lives at risk both at home and abroad, are you still asking about cherry blossoms?” and “This goes beyond exasperation—it is saddening.”
Only the following day did the opposition finally begin allocating question time to the new pneumonia outbreak.

Incidentally, a source within the Constitutional Democratic Party reveals who prepared Ishigaki’s questions.

“To tell the truth, Ishigaki’s script was written by Tamotsu Sugano, who became well known for acting as a representative of former school operator Yasunori Kagoike during the Moritomo controversy.
“Sugano, who is employed as Ishigaki’s privately appointed secretary, is desperately trying to pursue the ‘cherry blossom’ issue through her.”

Indeed, Sugano has recently been seen frequently at Constitutional Democratic Party meetings in the Diet.
Even lawmakers from the party have expressed disapproval, asking, “Why is someone with his controversial background attending these meetings?”
If the party continues to give such a person an important role, it is only natural that public opinion should turn away from it.
〔The final two sentences have been supplemented based on the context because the English sentence structure was garbled.〕

This article continues.