The following is from Yoshiko Sakurai's regular column on the front page of today's Sankei Shimbun.
This paper proves that she is a national treasure, a supreme "national treasure," as Saicho defines it.
This paper was the first paper in a long time in which she was perfectly in her element.
It is a must-read not only for the Japanese people but for people worldwide.
The part where she mentions the military cooperation between China and Russia reveals a fact that has never been known to the people who read the Asahi, Nikkei, and other newspapers and watch only the news programs of their subsidiary TV stations and NHK.
A fresh start with an aspiring president
There are growing calls in the U.S. for President Biden to step down.
On June 28, the Wall Street Journal editorialized that he should give way to his successor out of "patriotism, not partisanship."
The decision is that the United States cannot hold out with Biden in a position of significant decline.
We say the same thing to Prime Minister Fumio Kishida if he fails to revise the Constitution and establish stable (Japanese) imperial succession legislation.
The LDP must elect an aspiring president to replace Mr. Kishida, thoroughly discuss the nation's state, and make a fresh start.
That is in the national interest.
In October 2021, shortly after becoming prime minister, Mr. Kishida won a landslide victory in the Lower House election.
In July of the following year, he won a majority in the Upper House election.
The Cabinet approved three historic security strategy documents in December of the same year.
Combined with his pledge to revise the Constitution, the public perceived Kishida as determined to carry on the legacy of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and as understanding the essence of national security.
That is why they overwhelmingly supported him.
Constitutional reform and legislation for a stable (Japanese) imperial succession, which Mr. Kishida has repeatedly pledged, are essential to restoring Japanese values and national identity.
For LDP politicians, completing both of these tasks should be more than a mere pledge; it should be a mission that stems from the founding of the party.
However, when Abe was assassinated and the issue of the Unification Church emerged, Kishida's true nature began to spill over.
At the heart of the incident was Abe's assassination.
How will the prime minister, in concert with the people, bury Japan's most significant loss, grief, and resentment?
How would the prime minister respond and overcome the situation legally and socially?
It was the subject.
However, when the media reported en masse on the former Unification Church issue, Mr. Kishida turned his attention away from the substance of the matter.
He focused on the liquidation of the relationship between the former Unification Church and the LDP.
He needed to have the ability to see the true nature of the issue.
It is no wonder that his approval rating has declined.
After Abe's death, the Ministry of Finance's influence over Kishida strengthened, and the public dubbed him "the tax-hiking spectacle.
Bitterly criticized by the public, Kishida proposed a flat tax cut in October 2023.
Many took this as an election ploy, and his approval rating fell further.
It was an impossible phenomenon that a tax cut measure would cause a drop in the approval rating.
Mr. Kishida needed help understanding the nature of the fishy smell that the public perceived.
The subsequent incident involving the LDP faction's failure to report party income was a formal crime in which the LDP failed to report political funds that should have been reported.
However, when the Asahi Shimbun wrote about "under-the-table funds" and other media followed suit, Kishida again strayed from the point and found himself immersed in a quagmire of debate.
During the more than six months he was mired in the mire, the proper relationship between politics and money was neither discussed nor understood.
Mr. Kishida has remained distracted from the essence of the issue until today.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida cannot read the essence of the situation and also lacks a sense of the big picture.
Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe often spoke of global diplomacy.
Surrounded by authoritarian states such as China, Russia, and North Korea, this strategic thinking is especially essential for Japan.
Aware of its importance, the Institute for National and Fundamental Studies has sponsored the Comprehensive Security Studies Group.
The co-sponsor of the study group, Kiyofumi Iwata, former chief of staff of the Ground Staff, is increasingly concerned that "our side" will be defeated in Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine under the circumstance that the "new axis of evil" of China, Russia, the DPRK, and Iran is strengthening its cooperation.
Never before has the United States faced four adversaries at the same time: China, Russia, the DPRK, and Iran.
With the strengthening of cooperation among the four powers, military support to Russia has reached an extraordinary level.
Since this spring, the Russian military has concentrated on:
- Scattering concrete anti-tank obstacles.
- Digging trenches.
- Burying land mines in anticipation of a reversal offensive by the Ukrainian army.
The thoroughness of the work was so great that the Ukrainian army, which has launched a reverse offensive, is now struggling.
Mr. Iwata points out that China supports Russia's military actions.
According to September 2022 statistics, China's exports of digging equipment to Russia increased more than fourfold over the previous year. With China's provision of entrenchment equipment, Russia has been able to build defensive fortifications the likes of which have never been seen before.
The Russians also spread mines at a density more than ten times greater than that of conventional military landmines.
It made any reverse offensive difficult.
China is showing its strength in everything, whether providing arms, ammunition, and equipment or supporting its military industry.
Integrated circuits, semiconductors, ball bearings, machine tools, and almost all military and civilian components go from China to Russia.
As a result, the production capacities of the military industries of China, Russia, the DPRK, and those of the Western democracies are too wide open.
One example is the 155 mm howitzer.
Russia produces 2.1 million rounds a year, and North Korea 1 to 2.3 million, for a total of 3.1 to 4.4 million rounds.
In the West, the United States has 300,000-400,000 rounds, Europe 1.4 million, the Czech Republic and others 500,000-800,000, for a total of 2.2-2.6 million rounds.
The overall strength of the authoritarian camp is increasing, and if this trend continues, domination by force will become an established fact.
It is the warning of the NKRI.
Russia's nuclear threats will continue.
Our nation's politicians must think night and day about a crisis of a dimension never before contemplated.
In addition to concrete measures on the ground, we must correct the distortions in the shape of our country as a nation.
Constitutional reform is at the top of the list of "issues that cannot be postponed," as Mr. Kishida likes to say.
If he were to put it off, he would have no choice but to step down as prime minister.
Let us remember.
Mr. Abe became prime minister by bringing together like-minded people who share his values, regardless of faction, on issues such as abduction and married couples having separate family names.
He fought with the powerful bureaucracy of the Ministry of Finance to achieve economic growth and pave the way for overcoming deflation.
All of this is the result of cooperation with colleagues who share the same values and policies.
That is why politicians with ambition should raise their hands now.
Create a policy group.
Those hiding because of their youth, inexperience, or lack of name recognition stand up and make Japan a strong and honorable country with a single-minded determination.
2024/6/29 in Osaka
