The following is from the "Foreword" by Ms. Kawaguchi, co-author of the following book.
Ms. Kawaguchi's assessment of Masayuki Takayama is precisely the same as that of many others, including myself.
It is a must-read not only for the people of Japan but for people all over the world.
"Ms. Kawaguchi used to be a bit more pro-German," Mr. Masayuki Takayama recently pointed out.
Indeed, my suspicions about its credibility have been growing since I have been following German news closely over the past ten years.
In Germany, there is always a marked difference between principles and real intentions, whether public or private.
Moreover, the principles are so splendid that they easily fool honest Japanese people.
I used to be an honest person myself, so I understand this.
Come to think of it, the Volkswagen emission-cheating software incident is an example of how the true intentions of the Germans were unintentionally exposed.
If it had not been exposed, it would have been settled as "an excellent German technology that has perfected the clean diesel engine with an emphasis on environmental protection.
Even Germans make mistakes from time to time.
What shocked me the most recently was that the Japanese media was happily spending all its time reporting on the Rio Olympics, even though hundreds of Chinese ships were pouring into the area around the Senkaku Islands.
The Olympics were also a big story in Germany, but that did not mean that other news was pushed to the corner.
National defense is more important than Olympic gold medals.
And in the Senkakus, national security is seriously threatened.
And yet, for some reason, it is not a top priority among the Japanese.
Is there any medicine for this "peace idiot"?
We must not forget that not only China but also Germany and other countries that are "concerned" about Japan's militarization are all military powers.
Mr. Takayama's long-running column in Shukan Shincho, "Henken Jizai," is one of my favorite columns.
His ability to cover events in various parts of the world, occurring at different points in time and seemingly unrelated to each other, and his analytical ability to uncover the commonalities between them are amazing.
He is also able to uncover history that ordinary people do not know.
He rags on the major powers and adults, but there is a sense of humor that doesn't leave a sour aftertaste.
Moreover, there is no moralizing.
No one can imitate this sense of humor.
This is why, when Mr. Takayama once wrote an anonymous column in a magazine, his face immediately popped up in the reader's mind as soon as he read it, and he did not remain anonymous in the end.
It is a great pleasure to have this opportunity to discuss with Mr. Takayama.
I moved to Germany in 1982.
Amid the Cold War structure in which the U.S. and the Soviet Union faced off against each other, Japan was bashed as an "economic superpower" that overreached, and China was simply an "impoverished superpower" in Asia.
How much has that changed in the last 30-odd years?
The world is now in an era of upheaval.
The EU, which was created with ideals in mind, is on the verge of disintegration, and war could break out at any moment in the Middle East or even around the EU's eastern wall.
In the background, the U.S. and Russia are pulling the strings, albeit a little rickety.
Asia, of course, is also in turmoil.
Amidst all this "turmoil," only the Japanese are watching the Olympics with complacency.
The grand theme of this book was "Japan, the U.S., and Germany: Which country will survive ten years from now?
Fortune-telling does not always come true, but to be allowed to practice with a partner of higher skill, Mr. Takayama, I would like to use my imagination to the fullest.
In any case, I secretly believe that Mr. Takayama has unknowingly influenced my current attitude of questioning everything.
September, 2008
In Stuttgart, on a clear autumn day
Emi Kawaguchi-Mahn
