It Is Time to Honor Abe’s Aspiration

This is a continuation of the previous chapter.
It Is Time to Honor Abe’s Aspiration
The Abe faction was dismantled by the Asahi Shimbun, and the conservative wing of the Liberal Democratic Party was left in disarray.
Politicians like Koichi Hagiuda ought to inherit Abe’s legacy, but his words and actions are too ambiguous to be trusted.
In fact, he even aligned himself with Fumio Kishida and Shigeru Ishiba and helped push the LGBT legislation.
Members of the Abe faction now drift about, hesitating and looking both ways.
There seems to be no one fit to be his successor.
Even after becoming ministers, they do not face off directly against bureaucrats.
Instead, they repeatedly compromise just to keep their ministerial posts secure.
Of course, it takes resolve to fight the bureaucracy.
Just look at Sanae Takaichi, former Minister of Internal Affairs, who had to fend off attacks over mysterious documents.
Takaichi fought back earnestly and defended herself, but one cannot help but say that bureaucrats are incredibly cunning.
Looking back on Japan’s history of political scandals, the central figures are rarely politicians—they are usually bureaucrats.
If bureaucrats don’t act, politicians can’t move.
And when bureaucrats do act, it is always to serve their own interests.
When Kakuei Tanaka announced his plan for the “Remodeling of the Japanese Archipelago,” the bureaucracy raised both hands in support.
That’s because they saw the benefits that would come their way if highways were constructed all over Japan.
Tanaka skillfully utilized the then-Minister of the National Land Agency, Hyōsuke Niwa.
Tanaka was a master of understanding and manipulating human psychology.
That’s why the bureaucrats under him worked with relentless energy.
Even in the 1988 Recruit Scandal—where unlisted shares of Recruit were distributed to politicians, bureaucrats, and corporate executives, resulting in multiple arrests and convictions—it was the bureaucrats from the Ministry of Education who first approached Hiromasa Ezoe, Recruit’s CEO.
Seeing this, politicians piled on, and Asahi president Toshitada Nakae, as well as journalists like Keiichiro Hikita and Katsuyuki Honda, enjoyed their share of the spoils.
Bureaucrats and Asahi reporters are alike in many ways.
So what about Abe?
He confronted the Ministry of Finance head-on.
He never believed in their economic policies from the start.
Although he ultimately approved a consumption tax hike, he resisted it by postponing it twice.
It’s likely that the Ministry of Finance held a deep grudge against Abe.
There is little doubt that they colluded with the Asahi to fabricate the Moritomo scandal.
Even the issue of the falsified approval documents related to the sale of government land to Moritomo Gakuen by the Kinki Finance Bureau would not have surfaced without a leak from within the Ministry.
And perhaps all that accumulated resentment was channeled into the bullet fired by Tetsuya Yamagami.
Despite having no proper job, he owned not only his home but a separate villa and a car.
Where did the money come from?
How did he acquire heavy equipment like a milling machine to make his gun?
Strangely, no newspaper company has dared to investigate.
Moreover, even after three years, his trial has not even begun (the first hearing is scheduled for October 28).
Is there something inconvenient they are trying to hide?
The Asahi bears a strong resemblance to the Ministry of Finance.
The Ministry acts like a top-tier authority because GHQ dismantled the powerful Ministry of Home Affairs, but in reality, it’s just a bookkeeper.
Asahi survived as a propaganda organ, and both have lived off the spoils of the postwar order under GHQ for 80 years.
They share the same mindset as postwar profiteers.
Believing arrogantly that they are “handling Japan,” they remained aligned with the Ministry of Finance.
And the result is the current weakened state of Japan.
The only one who stood against Asahi and the Ministry of Finance was Abe, who called for “breaking away from the postwar regime.”
But Abe is now gone, and the conservative wing of the LDP, centered on the Abe faction, lies dismantled and fragmented.
It is an unsteady and disheartening situation.
As the Upper House elections draw near, small parties are springing up left and right, and even conservative parties are divided and fragmented.
The late Shoichi Watanabe once called for a “great conservative alliance.”
Now is the time for conservatives to unite.
That would truly honor Abe’s aspiration.