The following is from a paper by Ms. Yoshiko Sakurai, which I have just discovered.
This paper also proves that she is a national treasure, as defined by Saicho, the supreme national treasure.
A must-read not only for the people of Japan but for people all over the world.
https://jinf.jp/weekly/archives/40140
Japanese people, stand up heroically!
Yoshiko Sakurai / 2023.01.16 (Mon)
Yoshiko Sakurai, President, National Institute for Policy Studies
The challenge for Japan and the world in 2023 is to prevent Taiwan from becoming a second Ukraine. China's invasion of Taiwan will inevitably lead to an invasion of Japan. Therefore, we must build a strong deterrent force with sufficient military and economic power. At the same time, Japan must get out of the situation that Mr. Brzezinski, then Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs in the U.S. Carter administration, called Japan "a de facto protectorate of the United States. To do so, Japan must prepare for the outbreak of war as a significant premise for its security and economy this year.
Pacifism that pervades the current Constitution
Constitutional Reform is Indispensable for Postwar Japan
The essence of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine and China's invasion of Taiwan, which the world fears, is that the expansion of China and Russia will not be limited to that. What lies ahead is the ambition of China and Russia to rewrite the world order. Chinese President Xi Jinping has declared that a "community of human destiny" is the way forward for the human world. China has determined that the United States is in decline, that Western democracy has ceased to function, and that Chinese values should form the foundation of the world order.
In the face of the looming Chinese threat, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has declared that Pacifism pervades the current Constitution (absolute Pacifism) and that "no army, navy, air force, or other military force shall be maintained. The right of belligerency of the nation shall not be recognized" was overridden by the release of the three security strategy documents.
It means that Japan has stood on a new postwar horizon, which former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has been advocating, and has begun working on measures to strengthen military cooperation with the U.S. on that basis. So we are finally getting out of the disgraceful position of being called "a de facto protectorate of the United States."
Whether or not we can truly emerge from this position remains to be seen. In fact, we are just getting started. Even if we raise military spending to 2% of GDP, if we end up merely strengthening our military power as a complementary force to the U.S. military, we will continue to be a protected nation in the spirit of the United States. So it is why, in addition to a dramatic increase in military power, it is essential to revise the Constitution and laws as an independent nation.
Do not become a vassal state of China.
The threat from China should be dealt with by strengthening the Japan-U.S. alliance, but this alone is not enough. Instead, an economic and security strategy should be implemented without gaps to avoid being trapped by China.
Our country continues to sell land to China. Even the power grid, the energy source, allows Chinese capital to participate. If Japan continues to invest in China to secure small immediate profits, and if it continues to allow China to seize the key to its economy, it will become a country that can only live in the shadow of China.
Our country is neither a protected nation nor a vassal state.
From the Meiji Restoration until the defeat of Japan in the Showa period, the path taken by our predecessors was marked by a group of gentle yet honorable Japanese who would stand up heroically in the event of an emergency.
The history our predecessors built and entrusted to us contains within it the profound power of the Japanese people.
Now is the time of year to harness that power and contribute to the world. （End)
2023/1/17, at Osaka
