June 16, 2020
Revised and republished version of a chapter originally posted on February 28, 2020.
The following is a direct excerpt from the February 26 issue of the monthly magazine WiLL, titled "Behind Rikken Ishigaki Noriko's Questioning Lies That Man", a truly outstanding piece of journalism by Takayuki Hikawa.
Hikawa reveals the true nature of Ishigaki Noriko—elected by the people of Miyagi Prefecture, my own hometown.
As I’ve pointed out repeatedly, the result of last year’s Upper House election was:
Ishigaki – 474,692 votes (48.6%) vs. Aichi Kazuo – 465,194 votes (47.7%)
The difference: a mere 9,498 votes.
And yet, Ishigaki has completely forgotten this.
She seems to have no awareness that half of Miyagi Prefecture rejected her.
Her utter lack of humility as a human being is likely why she can so brazenly engage in acts that betray the nation.
She was raised reading Asahi Shimbun (as was the Kahoku Shimpō, which is no different),
educated at a university staffed by professors shaped by the same worldview,
and went on to work at a TV station filled with people just like her.
It’s the perfect example of how a worldview of self-denial and anti-Japanese sentiment is manufactured.
In any case, we people of Miyagi now find ourselves—for the first time in history—feeling shame for our beloved homeland, just as we do over Azumi from Ishinomaki representing us in the Diet.
The proud spirit of Miyagi Prefecture, whose capital is Sendai, the “City of Trees” and “City of Learning,”
is, for the first time in history, being wounded on a daily basis.
Ishigaki Noriko is utterly disgraceful.
Every time her actions are reported, I feel as though I’ve had filth flung in my face.
And the party she belongs to—led by Edano Yukio—
even after reports emerged at the end of last year about a new coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan,
did not once propose comprehensive defensive measures as elected representatives of the Japanese people.
There was no bipartisan effort to urgently discuss national protection.
Instead, they endlessly attacked the government with malicious allegations like the "cherry blossom viewing party" scandal—
a pathetic and ridiculous fabrication meant solely to undermine the administration.
They tied the administration’s hands and feet when urgent action was needed.
And who led this malignant crusade?
As always, the culprits were those who control the editorial departments of Asahi Shimbun and NHK.
As I’ve said repeatedly, NHK never once said something as basic as “This is no time for such distractions.”
On the contrary—they gleefully reported the opposition’s attacks under headlines like,
“Debate Begins in the Diet,” with Arima and Kuwako cheerfully presenting this narrative every night on Watch 9.
June 16, 2020
It would be no exaggeration to call Edano Yukio a traitor or betrayer of the nation.
That this embodiment of evil could nonchalantly and triumphantly attack the government in the Budget Committee two days ago, accusing it of being "slow to respond," is matched in wickedness only by the regimes of China and the Korean Peninsula.
The following is excerpted from journalist Takayuki Hikawa’s article, "Behind Rikken Ishigaki Noriko’s Questioning Lies That Man."
(Emphasis within the body is mine.)
[Excerpt begins]
“Bringing down Prime Minister Abe by pursuing the 'cherry blossom viewing party' scandal will increase public support for the opposition.”
Just imagining it made Azumi smirk to himself.
But Azumi’s scheme quickly fell apart.
The new coronavirus, which began spreading from Wuhan, China, was first confirmed in Japan on January 16.
At first, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare was optimistic, saying that human-to-human transmission was unlikely—but the situation worsened daily, and the virus rapidly spread across the globe.
With over 9 million Chinese tourists visiting Japan each year, the Japanese government was now facing a serious national crisis:
How to block the virus at the border and protect its citizens’ lives.
Amidst this, Constitutional Democratic Party leader Yukio Edano took the podium for the main Diet session’s representative questioning.
But rather than addressing the national emergency, he wasted most of his allotted time attacking the government and ruling party over the 'cherry blossom party' and casinos, never once mentioning the crisis facing the nation.
And when the Budget Committee convened on January 27, the opposition continued to fixate on the “cherry blossom” issue.
On January 28, a bus driver in Nara Prefecture—who had transported a tour group from Wuhan—became the first Japanese national confirmed to be infected with COVID-19.
As masks grew scarce and public anxiety spread across Japan,
on January 29 the government’s first chartered flight brought 206 Japanese nationals back home from Wuhan.
And yet, on that same day, when Rikken MP Noriko Ishigaki rose to speak in the Budget Committee, this is how she began:
“Originally, I had hoped to question matters directly tied to the lives and property of those living in our country—such as the novel coronavirus and the deployment of the Self-Defense Forces to the Middle East.
However, I believe we must first address the sloppy handling of official documents and public funds, and the utter lack of accountability of this administration, which constitutes the greatest obstacle to our nation’s safety.
Therefore, I will focus mainly on questioning the 'cherry blossom viewing party,' a symbol of the moral decay of this administration.”
Her remarks were met with an outpouring of criticism online:
“At a time when Japanese people are facing life-threatening danger both at home and abroad, she’s still asking about cherry blossoms?”
“I’ve gone past shock—I’m just sad now.”
Only from the following day did the opposition reluctantly begin to dedicate some questioning time to the novel coronavirus.
Incidentally, a party insider revealed who actually wrote Ishigaki’s question script:
“The truth is, the one who wrote Ishigaki’s script was Makoto Kanno, who became infamous for acting as if he were the proxy for former Moritomo Gakuen chairman Yasunori Kagoike.
Kanno, who was hired as Ishigaki’s personal secretary, is now fanatically pursuing the ‘cherry blossom’ scandal through her.”
Indeed, Kanno’s presence has recently been frequently spotted at CDP meetings in the Diet, prompting some lawmakers to frown and ask, “Why is that guy attending our meetings?”
That such a controversial figure is being used as a political strategist likely explains why the public continues to turn away from the CDP.
To be continued.
