On March 14, 2011, the author condemned the prime minister’s self-serving inspection that wasted a full day within the critical 72-hour survival window after the disaster. Amid an unprecedented catastrophe and nuclear crisis, politicians and editorialists who elevated such a leader should never again appear on the public stage.

A blog post written on March 14, 2011. The author severely criticizes the government’s response to the Great East Japan Earthquake, particularly the then-Prime Minister for wasting valuable time on an inspection. The author argues that the Prime Minister’s actions, despite the 72-hour window being critical for rescue, were a mere self-promotional act lacking true leadership. The article is filled with anger, holding the commentators and media who supported this incompetent politician accountable and arguing that they should never again appear on the public stage of discourse.

They must never again appear on the public stage of discourse.
2011/3/14

When I returned home and was watching the news, I saw something utterly outrageous.

I truly believe this.
Those people—the editorialists—who obsessed over making such a man, one utterly unfit to be a true leader, into prime minister, must never again come out onto the stage of public discourse.

In a disaster of this scale, with the nuclear plants in peril, it is common knowledge worldwide that the line between life and death for survivors is the first 72 hours.
And yet, he wasted nearly an entire day, insisting he could not make decisions until after he conducted his own inspection.

Just 40 minutes after the earthquake struck on the 11th, the entire nation of Japan had already seen the footage on television.
It was unprecedented—images never seen before.
So why on earth was there any need to conduct a so-called inspection, as if this were a routine disaster?

There can be no other explanation than that he saw it as the perfect opportunity to show the people that he was working hard as prime minister, that he was fit to be prime minister.

For all the victims, one full day of that crucial 72 hours was wasted on this man’s so-called inspection.

On top of that, at a time when the nuclear plants were in such a dire situation, a man who was nothing more than a complete outsider to technical matters appeared on the scene as prime minister.
When every single worker involved should have been risking their lives, they had to spare time for something utterly useless—an inspection.

For this man, it was nothing less than a perfect stage upon which to present himself to the nation.
That, surely, was the true thought in his mind at the time.

Those who revered such a man as prime minister must never again come onto the public stage of discourse.

As for the man himself—he should, with the resolve that he might as well die once his work is done, apply his full mind and strength to the immediate measures required, doing everything possible to make up for his fatal blunders.
And then, without delay, he should step down.

Damn it!