Breaking Free from the Spell of “Japan is Amazing,” Without Facing Reality.
There's No Future for Japan - Hoping Not to Be Sacrificed as Pawns in a New World Cold War.
The phrase "Japan is amazing" is a source of pride and confidence for many Japanese people.
However, becoming too ensnared by this magical phrase could hinder Japan's future.
Recently, many Japanese people have a misconception about themselves, thinking that they are like "rulers, capitalists, or the wealthy."
It seems that a lot of Japanese individuals are not aware that they are simply ordinary workers.
Furthermore, they don't seem to realize that in the event of a war, they are nothing more than foot soldiers.
Indeed, Japan, where each citizen has the mindset of a prime minister, a CEO of a major corporation, a billionaire, or the Chief of the Joint Staff, is remarkable.
It's remarkable that no matter what the government does, they don't complain.
It's remarkable how they patiently endure even when their lives become difficult.
It's remarkable how they seem ready to fight on the battlefield if the need arises.
In any case, their willingness to unquestioningly follow the rulers is remarkable.
Thanks to such remarkable citizens, Japan's rulers, capitalists, and wealthy elite act according to their values and for their interests with impunity.
This is the greatest tragedy of this country.
Japanese people should wake up to this reality.
Zero-interest-rate unconventional monetary easing is akin to sacrificing many Japanese people to supply low-cost funds to global investors.
It might have turned Japan into the world's ATM.
Global investors use Japan's low-interest rates to raise funds and invest worldwide.
However, Japan, burdened with issues like an aging population, natural disasters, and geopolitical risks, is unlikely to be their investment destination.
Taiwan crisis, South Korea crisis, Japan crisis - Japan has become a place where it's uncertain when it might become a battleground.
There's no reason for capitalists to return to a Japan that now bears the risk of war.
The wealthy have also fled overseas, partly for tax evasion reasons.
Export companies that supported Japan's trade-based economy have become multinational, with their principal places of business located abroad, and the majority of their shareholders are also foreign.
Japan is just one of their destination countries.
Japan's monetary easing policies have been detrimental to the lives of ordinary people, but Japanese citizens don't seem to care.
They even tout the benefits of monetary easing, acting as if they were capitalists or the wealthy, just because they made some profit from investments.
Ordinary people, who are neither rulers, capitalists, nor the wealthy, seem to love the government's unconventional monetary easing policies.
They are indifferent to how these policies might affect their lives.
Despite the prolonged unconventional monetary easing, the economy stagnates, and inflation has appeared.
For ordinary people, the situation is getting tougher, yet they remain indifferent.
For the financially vulnerable, low-interest rates caused by unconventional monetary easing are a serious issue.
They hardly receive any interest on their deposits, yet they remain indifferent.
If this continues, Japan will become a nation that merely supplies funds to foreign countries and cannot build its own future.
What's even more concerning is that recent Japan, no matter what happens, tends to follow America, believing that as long as they do so, everything will be fine – this subservience to the United States is remarkable.
If this trend continues, in the event of a crisis involving Taiwan or South Korea, it's likely that the Self-Defense Forces will have to fight in place of the American military.
This is because it seems there's an implicit rule, as demonstrated by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, that nuclear-armed countries do not engage in war with each other.
If Japan were to engage in a crisis in the Far East, Western nations would undoubtedly applaud and praise Japan, exclaiming, "Japan is amazing."
However, the phrase "Japan is amazing" only represents a remarkable Japan in the eyes of its rulers, capitalists, and the wealthy.
It's unfortunate that Japan has become such a country.
