Characteristics of Japanese society

Low sense of community and the ruling class trying to dominate

2025/06/07

I am currently 66 years old. I was born in 1959 and did not experience World War II. After Japan lost the Second World War, it was under the control of the Allied Powers for seven years. Most Japanese people do not know that the "International Union" (KOKUSAI-RENGOU), which is incorrectly translated into Japanese, is actually an organization of the victorious nations of the Second World War. They think it is a neutral and fair international organization. The Allied nations held the Arcadia Conference in 1941 to discuss the world order after the defeat of the Axis powers. My father was "drafted" while attending university in Japan and was sent to the battlefields of Japan. He served on the coastline in preparation for the American army's landing in Japan. He graduated from university in 1947 and was involved in the reconstruction of Japan in the peaceful postwar Japanese society. My father passed away eight years ago, but he continued to read war records throughout his life. He never forgot that many Japanese people died in the air raids, starvation, epidemics, and confusion of the evacuation to Japan, as well as his many classmates, friends, and acquaintances. I studied Korean for half a year at Yonsei University's language department in Korea in 1986, and taught Japanese there for several years from 1989. Korea suffered great damage during 37 years of Japanese colonial rule. During the independence movement on March 1, 1919, Japanese authorities imprisoned citizens who sought independence in a Christian church and set it on fire, killing many ordinary citizens. The number of deaths in Asia during World War II, including those from soldiers, starvation, and violence, far exceeded the number of Japanese war-related deaths. Just looking at the five major UN countries, the Soviet Union had 30 to 40 million war-related deaths and China had 30 million war-related deaths. Compared to the number of deaths in the war against the Axis powers, it is natural that the UN's right to speak should be respected. China was invaded by Japan and forced into a 15-year war. The Soviet Union was invaded by Nazi Germany, and 27 million people died in the Soviet-German war alone. Many people criticize the Soviet Union's one-party dictatorship, but if the Soviet Union had a parliament with a liberal electoral system like those in the UK, France, and the US, they would never have been able to fight together and defeat Nazism. Despite the deaths of many Soviet and Jewish people, the UK and the US were trying to please their electorate and did not move quickly to rescue them. British Prime Minister Churchill also did not approve of the Normandy landings, and was most concerned about the casualties of British people. He likened the two great powers, the US and the Soviet Union, to a lion and a bear, and Britain to a skinny donkey. After causing much damage to the world, World War II ended with the victory of the Allied powers. Due to the scale of the damage, the Axis powers' war leaders were tried in an international court. This was only natural. Unfortunately, there are many opinions in Japan that say, "The Tokyo Trials were a one-sided trial by the victors and were unfair." Defendant Tojo Hideki, who was prime minister at the time the war began, consistently maintained that "the invasion of China and other parts of Asia was a self-defense war." This contains a very serious problem. In the early 1970s, a resolution was passed at the UN stating that "China shall have one official seat, and that seat shall belong to the People's Republic of China." The resolution, which required a two-thirds majority, was accepted. I remember well, as an elementary school student, seeing in the newspaper a photograph of US President Nixon and Japanese Prime Minister Eisaku Sato with their shocked expressions. The Taiwanese government, thinking that the number of votes in favor would not reach two-thirds, maintained that "China's seat as a permanent member of the UN shall continue to belong to the Taiwanese government," and did not recognize the People's Republic of China as a legitimate government. In other words, under international law, the area governed by the Taiwanese government, including islands such as Kinmen Island, can be interpreted as "part of the People's Republic of China." Although I hope that this will not happen, let's consider what would happen if a military emergency were to occur in Taiwan. Let's assume that the Taiwan Strait is closed off, and the Chinese military goes to war with the Taiwanese government, declaring it an "internal issue" with the aim of governing Taiwan. In response, let's assume that Japan and the US send troops to defend the Taiwanese government, and engage in combat with the Chinese military. Let's suppose that Chinese soldiers are killed. At that time, --- if the Chinese military attacks US military bases and Self-Defense Forces bases in Japan "for the sake of self-defense," it belongs to "the country's right of self-defense." At the Tokyo Trials, Hideki Tojo, the prime minister of Japan, which invaded the Asia-Pacific and Oceania regions, claimed that "it was a war of self-defense and I am not guilty." This means that if China suffers damage in a Taiwan emergency, China can use the same theory to attack the US military in Japan and the Self-Defense Forces, and if the South Korean government cooperates, the US military in South Korea and the South Korean military, "for the sake of defense." The Japanese military's invasion of northeastern China on September 18, 1931 was an invasion by the expanding military that ran wild, due to a fabrication that China had blown up a railway, and it goes without saying that the responsibility for stopping it lay with the Prime Minister at the time, Fumimaro Konoe, and the emperor. The Yomiuri Shimbun has published a series of books called "Wars told by newspaper reporters." One of them is called "Chinese Invasion," and I read it carefully. I was heartbroken by the cruelty of the Japanese military's invasion of China. There was a story about a Chinese family in an ordinary village who was suspected of being "anti-Japanese," and who stabbed their babies to death with bayonets in front of the villagers and threw them up into the air. The Japanese soldiers returned to Japan alive, but visited the village with a reporter from the Yomiuri Shimbun to pay their respects. To put it simply, the invading Japanese military viewed the Chinese as an inferior race. The prevailing philosophy was that the Chinese should obey Japan and should not complain even if they were killed. This was the baby boom that came into being in Japan during the Meiji era, when a new government was established in Japan. The Ainu and Okinawans were discriminated against under a law called the "Native People's Law," and Japan, which leaned toward militarism, extended this to its overseas territories of Korea, North Korea, and Taiwan, and looked down on the ethnic groups of the lands it invaded even further, and promoted a policy of making them subjects of the Imperial Nation, saying, "At least become Japanese and become citizens of the Emperor." This was a kind intention seen in the midst of a little tyranny. For the people of those lands, it was an outrageous event in which they were forced to adopt Shintoism, worship the emperor, and support the war of aggression. Chinese characters, Buddhism, and Confucianism all originated or developed in China, and the culture flowed into Japan via Korea and the North. Even during the war, Japan taught its people using Confucius' Analects as the basis of morality. And they attacked that mother country. Japan was defeated in the war, lost its independence, and came under the control of GHQ, including the government and the emperor. The "Constitution of the Empire of Japan," enacted during the Meiji period, ushered in militarism, causing great damage to Asia, the Pacific, and Oceania, and causing great damage to the Japanese people themselves. There are many people in Japan who believe that the current Japanese Constitution was forced upon them by the United States. As the Japanese government's work on constitutional reform was progressing very slowly, GHQ evaluated a privately-held constitutional proposal and used it to create the constitution. This was the proposal of the "Constitution Study Group" consisting of seven members: TAKANO-IWASABUROU, BABA-TSUNEGO, SUGIMORI-KOUJIROU, MORITOS TATSUO, IWABUCHI TATSUO, MUROBUSHI-TAKANOBU, and SUZUKI YASUZOU. TAKANO became chairman of the Japanese public broadcaster NHK in 1946. BABA served as president of the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper for several years from December 1945. In the same month, he was also appointed as a member of the House of Peers by the Imperial Order. MORITO served three terms as a member of the House of Representatives and became the Minister of Education. After retiring from the Diet, he became president of Hiroshima University and worked to rebuild the university after it had been damaged by the atomic bomb. IWABUCHI became an Imperially appointed member of the House of Peers in 1946 and returned to the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper as editor-in-chief. Before the war, MUROBUSHI was a critic who supported Japan's war of aggression, but after the war he published Shinsei = Atarashii Naru (Reborn), providing a forum for critical debate among postwar democratic commentators. I have repeatedly watched "Will the Constitution be Born?", a four-part series broadcast on NHK from November 30, 1996, "The Nine Closed Days that Gave Birth to the Japanese Constitution" broadcast in February 1993, "The Birth of the Japanese Constitution" broadcast in 2007, "Emperor Showa and His Era Vol. 1 and Vol. 2" by Ishihara Norio and Japan Documentary Film Company, "The Start of the War Between the US and Japan and Tojo Hideki: Drama What Was That War?", "Japan Under American Occupation Vol. 2: Supreme Commander MacArthur, Planning and Production: Walk Promotion americasenryoukano nihon2", "Japan Under American Occupation Vol. 3: Tokyo Trials, Planning and Production: Walk Promotion americasenryoukano nihon3", "Century of Images Vol. 11: Japan Part Occupation Policy", "Exclusive Confession: Watanabe Tsuneo - How Postwar Politics Was Made, Showa Edition BS1 Special", and "Exclusive Confession: Watanabe Tsuneo - How Postwar Politics Was Made, Heisei Edition BS1 Special", and other shows, which have reaffirmed the ideals of the "Japanese Constitution". I have a Master of Arts degree in Japanese Language Education from a graduate school in Japan. I have redefined the "Constitution of Japan" as a purely historical and linguistic document, without taking a political stance. During my time as a Japanese language teacher at a university language department in Seoul, South Korea, I was able to hear many stories of the "Korean War" directly from elderly Koreans. A fierce war was fought between the East and West in an attempt to expand their territories across the entire peninsula, resulting in the tragic deaths of one in six people on the Korean peninsula. Based on my experience living in South Korea, I would like to discuss the "significance of the Constitution of Japan" in 2025.

�B How should we interpret the Constitution of Japan as a linguistic resource? With the establishment of the Imperial Constitution known as the Constitution of the Empire of Japan, Japan moved towards militarism. Education and society were brainwashed so that in the event of war, subjects, who were the property of the emperor, would not hesitate to sacrifice their lives for the country and the emperor. In contrast, the Constitution of Japan has a different direction, with three pillars: pacifism, national sovereignty, and respect for human rights. Some say it is a constitution imposed by the United States, or a masochistic constitution based on a historical view of defeat. However, in a sense, the "postwar constitution" is also the constitution of the emperor. This is not properly understood. For the Japanese, who have been infected with "national polity, Shinto, and imperial sovereignty" for over 75 years since the Meiji Restoration, it was not easy to switch to the Western-style national sovereignty and separation of powers. I have watched the drama "Will the Constitution Come?" over and over again, depicting the symbolic emperor and renunciation of war. The 22nd House of Representatives election held on April 10, 1946 (Showa 21) was named the "War-ending Dissolution/GHQ Dissolution" election. The right to vote, which had previously been limited to men aged 25 or older, was extended to both men and women aged 20 or older. The seats were 466 (the 2 seats for Okinawa were not implemented). The number of seats was 140 for the Japan Liberal Party, 94 for the Japan Progressive Party, 92 for the Japan Socialist Party, 14 for the Japan Cooperative Party, 5 for the Japan Communist Party, and 120 for others. This general election was decided by GHQ in light of the fact that the "Imperial Rule Assistance Association" regime had waged war and oppressed freedom of speech. The purpose was to form a Japanese National Diet that would debate the future of postwar Japan. The Japan Progressive Party lost 176 seats, from 270 seats before the election to 94 seats. The Japan Liberal Party and the Japan Socialist Party made great strides. The UN Far Eastern Commission was held, and Australia and the Soviet Union expressed the view that "the Emperor should be tried as a war criminal," and the US Congress also unanimously resolved that the Emperor was responsible for the war. The UN Far Eastern Commission is an organization within the UN, and is ranked higher than GHQ. In other words, if the direction of "constitutional reform" under the GHQ's administrative guidance was not accepted by the UN Far Eastern Commission, the Japanese parliament itself would "debate constitutional reform" in a situation where direct pressure from the UN would be forced upon Japan to "abolish the Emperor System, demilitarize, democratize, and democratize the economy." Initially, GHQ approached Konoe Fumimaro to prepare a draft constitutional reform, but since he was Prime Minister at the time of the invasion of China, he changed his stance, saying "GHQ had not officially requested it." The Japanese government appointed Minister of State Matsumoto Jouji as Minister in charge of the Constitution and prepared the "Matsumoto Draft," but it was far from acceptable to the UN Far Eastern Commission. After Japan's defeat in 1945, censorship of speech was lifted, and many private citizens debated the constitution. The above-mentioned draft constitution by the "Constitution Study Group" was published and brought to the Japanese government and GHQ. The Japanese government was in the midst of drafting a constitutional amendment bill with the help of existing scholars, with Minister Matsumoto Jouji in charge, so it ignored the "Constitution Study Group" proposal. GHQ thought that if pressured by the UN Far Eastern Commission, there was a risk of deciding that the Emperor was a war criminal and abolishing the Emperor System, so it used the draft constitution by the Constitution Study Group and other sources as reference to prepare a draft constitution in English in just one week from early February 1946, and handed it directly to Foreign Minister Yoshida Shigeru and Minister of State for the Constitution, Matsumoto Joichi. Naturally, the Japanese government tried to reject this, but there was pressure that if the Japanese government rejected the GHQ constitutional proposal, it would be made public to Japanese society and the world under MacArthur's name, so the Japanese government accepted the GHQ constitutional proposal. Discussions were held in the parliament formed by the general election in April 1946, and some points were revised. Each time, reports were made to the UN Far Eastern Commission, and strong guiding opinions were conveyed to GHQ. A typical example was the addition of "civilian control" to the provision on "renunciation of war." Initially, compulsory education was set at six years of elementary school, but after discussions in the Constitutional Committee of the Japanese Diet, this was extended to nine years of elementary and junior high school. In the GHQ draft constitution, the Diet was unicameral. The House of Peers, which had been appointed by the Emperor without popular election, was to be abolished because it was based on a class system, but after discussions in the Diet, the House of Councilors was established, and the system was changed to one in which members are elected by popular vote. The UN, which is incorrectly translated as "international union" in Japanese and pronounced "KOKUSAI-RENGOU," is a group of victorious nations, and for Japan to return to the international community, it was absolutely necessary for it to "demilitarize and democratize." The structure was such that the run-up to this was to liquidate the militarism that had existed since the Meiji Restoration, which had unified "national polity, Shinto, and the Emperor." Within the Japanese government, it was difficult to wipe away the "militarism and colonialism" that had lasted for over 75 years, so GHQ adopted the outline of the constitutional draft of the "Constitutional Research Association," which was based on the accumulated knowledge of private constitutional drafts from the Meiji era in Japan and knowledge from students studying in Europe and the United States. It was by no means a unilateral imposition by GHQ. In "20210722 "Exclusive Confession: Tsuneo Watanabe - How Postwar Politics Was Made, Heisei Edition" BS1 Special, Tsuneo Watanabe (who passed away in 2024) stated that "It is a strange constitution as Japanese that was forced upon us by America." However, as mentioned above, the "Constitutional Research Association" produced one president and editor-in-chief of the Yomiuri Shimbun, one editor-in-chief of the Yomiuri Shimbun, and two main writers. With the outbreak of the "Korean War" on June 25, 1950, Japan was strongly incorporated into the Western camp and became a rear support base for the UN expeditionary forces. The US government strongly requested that Japan be "re-armed," but Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida did not respond. The direction of Japan's democratization leadership was also changed to become an "anti-communist stronghold." In other words, the "Constitution of Japan," which was promulgated on November 3, 1946 and put into effect on May 3, 1947, was criticized for its pacifism being merely idealistic. The reasons given were that it was "a constitution imposed on Japan by the United States," that it was "a translation of the English draft constitution, and the Japanese is not beautiful," and that it was "a constitution with a masochistic view of history." And when it comes to the constitution, the relationship between "Article 9, the renunciation of war," the Self-Defense Forces, and the right of collective self-defense and international contributions are all topics of debate. Also, the interpretation of "Article 99, the supreme law" has become too biased. I would like to express my opinion on this issue. -- Chapter 10, "Supreme Law," Articles 97-99. Article 99: The Emperor or the Regent, as well as Ministers of State, Diet members, judges, and other public officials, are obligated to respect and uphold this Constitution. This article is misread very often. Rokusuke Naga (deceased), a famous Japanese cultural figure who wrote the lyrics for many songs and was a long-time radio personality, read Article 99 from memory on one of his radio shows. Afterwards, he commented, "That is why the Constitution must not be changed." In fact, there is an "Amendment" article in Chapter 9, just above Chapter 10 of the Constitution of Japan. -- Chapter 9 Amendment [Initiation, Referendum, and Promulgation of Constitutional Amendments] Article 96 Amendments to this Constitution shall be initiated by the Diet, with the concurring vote of two-thirds or more of all members of each House, and shall be submitted to the people for ratification. This ratification shall require the affirmative vote of a majority of the votes cast in a special referendum or at a vote held at the time of an election to be determined by the Diet. 2 When an amendment to the Constitution has been approved as provided for in the preceding paragraph, the Emperor, in the name of the people, shall immediately promulgate it as an integral part of this Constitution. Why do so many people read this as "the supreme law prohibits changes to the Constitution" even though there is a provision for amendment just before? Of course, from the standpoint of a generation that experienced the tragic war in which many people were caught up in it, resulting in many deaths and the loss of property, I can understand the idea of "pacifism," that is, "militarization that would return to that era cannot be accepted." Of course, I can understand the strong desire to "never let it happen again" after the war, which lasted 15 years of invasion of China until Japan was defeated. However, the "Constitution of Japan" is a linguistic resource, and it must be understood correctly as a language. When the movement to protect the Constitution was at its peak, a book called "The Constitution of Japan" was published by a Japanese publisher called Shogakukan and sold very well. It is filled with beautiful photographs. At the end of the book, as a reference, there is attached the "Constitution of the Empire of Japan," that is, the provisions of the constitution that supported the militarism of "Kokutai, Shinto, and the Emperor" in the Meiji era. However, I have never come across a position that correctly interprets the "JOUYU," a text issued in the name of the Emperor based on the constitutional amendment procedure of the "Imperial Diet." Japan was under occupation and under the administration of GHQ, but "legal" constitutional reforms were made to enact a new constitution within the scope of the existing constitution. It was the Emperor who accepted the Potsdam Declaration, and it was the Emperor who accepted demilitarization, democratization, and international cooperation. GHQ moved to preserve the Imperial System not only because it would "make the occupation policy run smoothly," but also because MacArthur understood that the Emperor, as head of state, felt great remorse, especially for the 15-year invasion of China and the subsequent militarism leading up to the world war. As for this "imperial edict," the Meiji Constitution stipulated that constitutional reforms be proposed by the Emperor and approved by the Diet. The very first "imperial edict" to appear in the Japanese Constitution clearly states that this was followed. ---I am deeply pleased that the foundation for the construction of a new Japan has been established based on the consensus of the Japanese people, and I hereby approve the amendment of the Imperial Constitution, which has been consulted by the Privy Council and passed by the Imperial Diet in accordance with Article 73 of the Imperial Constitution, and hereby promulgate it. Imperial Seal November 3, 1946 In other words, the original "Constitution of Japan" is an amendment of the "Meiji Constitution" passed by the Imperial Diet, which continued after the war. It is not the case that a revolution occurred and the "Emperor System" was abolished to become a "Republic". In other words, what is written in Article 99 of "Chapter 10 of the Constitution of Japan, the Supreme Law" must be read as follows. --�@ The Prime Minister cannot directly fulfill his mission by ignoring the Emperor or the sovereignty of the people. He has no political functions. �A Ministers of State and members of the Diet are servants of the people in a nation of popular sovereignty. �B Judges and other public servants serve the people, not the Emperor. It just says, "The Constitution must not be changed." To put it simply, it is like switching from an "old OS" to a "new OS." It is like a company prohibiting the use of an old computer at work, even though the latest OS is being used. Taking this article as the top priority and saying that "the Constitution must not be changed" is a way of thinking that lacks understanding of the Constitution. On a Sunday close to "Constitution Memorial Day" last May, a female Edo literature researcher who is a former president of Hosei University appeared as a commentator and suddenly mentioned Article 99. She seemed to have memorized the article by heart. I think that the fact that Japanese liberalism is only discussed in an unbalanced way, focusing only on "Article 99 of the Constitution" and "Article 9 of the Constitution," has a negative impact on the understanding of the Constitution as a whole. In the school textbooks when I was in elementary and junior high school, it was written that "a district court will rule that the Self-Defense Forces are in violation of the Constitution." After the war, Japan established "the renunciation of war" and "the prohibition of rearmament" as a reflection on militarism. With the outbreak of the Cold War and the Korean War, Japan was forced to become part of the Western world. Japan plunged into an aggressive war, was excluded from the international community, and was occupied by the Allied Powers. The Korean War changed the fundamental principle of "taking a position of unarmed neutrality without taking sides in the East-West conflict." The debate over whether the Self-Defense Forces are constitutional or unconstitutional was resolved when Japan joined the UN and returned to the international community, and the "right of individual self-defense and right of collective self-defense" in the UN Charter was automatically recognized. Please do not mistake that "right of collective self-defense" does not mean "military expansion." Small countries may not have military forces and entrust their defense to friendly countries. This is "non-military collective self-defense." Prewar Japan invaded Asian countries, including China, for 15 years, claiming that it was a "defensive war for self-defense." The same thing should not be done by modern pacifist Japan. Even if a "Taiwan emergency" were to occur militarily, in principle it would be a domestic issue for China, and while it is necessary to debate whether it is acceptable for the Beijing government to use military force to suppress the democracy of the Taiwanese government, Japan should speak out strongly in the international community to prevent a war between the U.S. and China. The idea that "only Western-style democracy is the permitted form of statehood" is contrary to the principles of the UN. The Soviet Union and China, which suffered 30 million war deaths, made great sacrifices for the victory of the Allied powers, so their right to speak must naturally be respected. After the war, many colonies achieved independence, but it was the Soviet Union and China that supported them. Under the slogan "anti-communism, anti-communism," military dictatorships continued in the Philippines, Taiwan, Korea, and Southeast Asian countries. The sophistry that "we are democratic countries because we are located in the West" is unacceptable. I will say it again. --- At the Tokyo Trials, Hideki Tojo's statement that "it was a defensive war for self-defense" was the worst. If a "Taiwan emergency" occurs and the United States and Japan attack the Chinese military, causing damage to the Chinese side, China can attack U.S. military bases and Self-Defense Forces bases in Japan as a "defensive war act for defense." The war between Ukraine and Russia can also be considered an act of war launched by the former Soviet Union, which caused the greatest sacrifices in World War II, to prevent NATO from becoming adjacent to Russia, as a "defensive war for self-defense" in response to Ukraine's desire to join NATO. The Biden administration in the United States could not understand this. The current Trump administration has begun lobbying for an end to the war, taking the position that "we will not recognize Ukraine's NATO membership." When Soviet nuclear warheads were brought to Cuba, Kennedy and Khrushchev resolved the threat of a global nuclear war. This situation and the issue of Ukraine joining NATO are essentially the same. My position is not to defend Russia's military attack on Ukraine, which has resulted in many deaths, even among ordinary civilians, but there should be serious discussion about whether the unconditional expansion of NATO to the east will actually bring stability to Europe. From the perspective of the former Soviet Union and current Russia, it is true that there is a sense of aversion to the very existence of the German nation, given that they suffered great damage from the Nazi fascist military invasion. This is also related to how China, which has been invaded for 15 years, views Japan. �C The Palestinian Problem Jews. They may not be ethnically the same. Jews who were expelled from the land of Palestine by the Neo-Babylonians in 586 BC. They were dispersed and lived around the world. When social conditions worsened, they were often the target of oppression and massacres. This is because they were pagans without a state. They had a strong monotheistic belief in being a chosen people. In fact, Karl Marx, the creator of the "Communist ideology," was also a German Jew. The Palestinians are a settled people who lived in the area for over 2,500 years after the Jews were expelled in the 6th century BC. Jesus Christ was also Palestinian. However, Islam, which worships the same God as Christians but praises Allah, spread in the area. This began in the 7th century. It is a religion that has been practiced by the people of the current Arab region for about 1,400 years. There are two major sects. And there are many Islamic groups that are not afraid to engage in war. Hamas is one of them. During World War I, Britain needed the financial power of the Jews and the military power of the Arabs. They made a series of false promises to defeat the Ottoman Empire. He promised both the Jews and the Arabs the establishment of a state after the war, and had them attack Turkey in cooperation with Britain. After the end of World War I, France bombed Damascus and reduced it to ruins. This was because there was a secret deal to share the territory lost by Turkey with Britain and France. Neither Britain nor France wanted to recognize the independence of the Arab nations. Due to the Holocaust by Nazi Germany, the establishment of "Israel" was prioritized, and the First Arab-Israeli War broke out the same day. "Israel" was established in May 1948. Of course, there was the tragedy of the mass murder of 6 million people by Nazi Germany, and the UN recognized the establishment of the state in advance to prevent the re-persecution of Jews, who hold an important position in the world's financial capital. Of course, Palestinians lived there. Their religion is Islam, so they are incompatible. Britain is one of the causes of the recent Palestinian conflict. They promised the Jews the establishment of a state and made them raise the funds for the war. They promised the Arab world the creation of a nation, and made them join the war, which led to the defeat of the Ottoman Empire. France must also be responsible. The number of deaths, including Palestinian children and women, is high. Hunger is widespread. This is just like the Warsaw Ghetto under Nazi Germany. It will not be easy, but I strongly hope for a peaceful resolution. �D Revitalization of rural areas. On the issue of vacant houses and proposals to increase the young population I am originally from Nakano Ward, Tokyo. However, I currently have no house in my hometown. It is so dilapidated that I cannot maintain it, so after my parents passed away, I divided the inheritance with my relatives and sold it. Instead, I have houses in Inawashiro Town, Fukushima Prefecture, the former Shuzenji Town of Izu City, Izu Peninsula, Shizuoka Prefecture, the Kusatsu Onsen area of Kusatsu Town, Gunma Prefecture, and Toyosato Town, Inukami District, Shiga Prefecture. The properties in Fukushima and Shiga Prefecture were purchased at public auction from the local government offices, and the damaged houses were obtained at low prices. I obtained the house and land in Fukushima Prefecture for 135,000 yen. I bought the house and land in Shiga Prefecture for 699,000 yen. The property tax for the house in Fukushima Prefecture is about 13,000 yen per year, and the property tax for the house in Shiga Prefecture is about 27,000 yen per year, and neither house has a water or gas contract. This is because I bought a damaged house. I only have a contract for electricity. As for the hot springs and baths, there is a non-hot spring bath run by the neighboring municipality of Toyosato Town for 250 yen. After going there many times, I began to chat with the local residents. One day at the bath, an elderly person said to me, "My uncle passed away and left me his house. His children have a house in the city, and no one needs it. I have put it up for sale in the vacant house bank in Kora Town, but even though it is a very nice house and is priced at a low price of 3 million yen, no one will buy it. I heard that you bought an old house in the neighboring town. What do you think we should do about it?" In fact, the number of vacant houses is rapidly increasing in Izu Peninsula, Shizuoka Prefecture, Yama District, Fukushima Prefecture, Inukami District, Shiga Prefecture, and Agatsuma District, Gunma Prefecture. The children's generation may own these houses because the property tax is low, but when it comes to the grandchildren and the generation after them, they are left abandoned because they are no longer needed or there are no heirs. If there are no heirs, the tax department of the town or village office will seize them. In that case, the town office will not receive any property tax. The town office is responsible for managing old land and houses. It costs about 3 million yen to demolish them. Even if they are cleared, there are many vacant lots, so the demolition cost is much less than the demolition cost. Even so, the land cannot be sold. Today, the morning news program also covered the issue of "low birthrate and aging population." Japan will continue to become a society with a declining population. With the population declining, the aging society will progress. There will also be a shortage of more than 10 million people in the working population. On the other hand, it is predicted that the number of inbound tourists will reach 40 million per year in 2025. It is predicted that 60 million tourists will visit Japan in five years. In Kyoto City, they are also called "Korean pollution". Every time inbound tourists visit a tourist spot, they buy souvenirs, eat, stay, and use taxis and public transportation. I am full of gratitude. However, their luggage increases with each tourist spot they visit. They pull their trunks with both hands and carry bags on their shoulders. If they use Kyoto City buses in this condition, the buses become crowded and locals cannot board. I stayed at a Kyoto townhouse-style guesthouse in Shimonishijin, near Nijo Castle, Kyoto City, more than ten times from six years ago to three years ago. This was because I wanted to experience the tourist spots for myself. I visited three temples in the land of Naga Rokusuke's song "Onna Hitori" and the setting of Kawabata Yasunari's "Koto". I am a follower of Shinshu Zenkoji Temple and a follower of the Jodo sect of Buddhism called Daihongan. The head temple of this sect is Chion-in Temple in Kyoto City. I have also visited this temple several times. Returning to the city center through Maruyama Park and Kitano Tenmangu Shrine, we find Gion, a famous tourist spot, nearby. Before the spread of COVID19, it was very crowded. Many people were walking around in simple Japanese kimonos called yukata. 80 to 90 percent of them were foreign tourists who did not speak Japanese. I have stayed at a guesthouse in Kyoto City to visit Chion-in Temple during the COVID19 infection period. There were only five people, including me, walking down the street in Gion. It would be abnormal if there were only five people walking around the entire Ginza district of Tokyo. There were such difficult times. That is why I am very grateful that many foreign tourists are visiting Kyoto City now. However, unlike Japanese people who take simple domestic trips for one or two nights, inbound tourists move around the city while carrying huge luggage. Traffic is congested and tourist spots are very crowded. During the cherry blossom viewing season, a 300m line formed at the night illumination of a famous temple, and the temple grounds were very crowded. Japan hosted the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2021. This means that wheelchair users and those using walking sticks cannot safely enjoy cherry blossom viewing at night when the cherry blossoms are lit up. So what can be done? People should be able to travel to Kyoto, Osaka, Kobe, Tokyo, Hakone, etc. with lighter luggage and clothing. A base for this purpose would be good. It is difficult to find such a place in Kyoto City. Inukami District, Shiga Prefecture, has many vacant houses. If they are remodeled or renovated, the price will be high. It would be fun to have a second home in a foreign country such as Japan, repair it with your family or friends, and remodel it into a home that is unique to you. For example, let's say your grandmother is a master of embroidery among the Chinese ethnic minorities and has 50 boxes of her works in her home in a big city. As mentioned above, apartment prices are very high in big cities. In that case, you can send those belongings by ship to Japan and create a room for your ancestors. In the case of Americans, let's say your grandfather was a cowboy and has many belongings. In that case, you can create a memorial room for your grandfather in a house in the suburbs of Japan, and relatives, friends, and acquaintances can take turns staying there. Furthermore, I would like their children and grandchildren to study at local universities in Japan as international students. UNICEF has repeatedly warned China and South Korea that "the competition for university entrance exams is too tough and has a negative impact on the development of children's personalities." I have been a Japanese language teacher at Japanese language education institutions both in Japan and abroad, and I understand that the competition for entrance exams is tough, including in Taiwan, and if you lose, you become a "loser in life." I do not agree that life is determined by just one aspect of a person's ability to take exams at the age of 18. If an older person says, "My child" or "My grandchild," and says, "They seem to have a laid-back personality and are not suited to the fierce competition of entrance exams," I would like them to find a home in a local area of Japan, go to a university in that area as an international student, and after graduation, get a job at a company in that area, get a formal work visa, and live in Japan as a fan of Japan. It is fine for them to have a family with a Japanese person by chance, or to have a family in Japan with fellow international students of the same ethnicity. Of course, there are also young people who aim to enter a prestigious university in a big city in Japan. However, rent is expensive, it is a crowded metropolis, and there is a risk of damage in the event of a direct-hit earthquake. My home is in Inukami-gun, Shiga Prefecture. It is the birthplace of Todo Takatora, a warlord of the Sengoku period. There is a memorial hall for carpenter Kora Bungo-no-kami Munehiro, who built the Yomeimon Gate of Nikko Toshogu Shrine. The family home of Ito Chubei, founder of Itochu and Marubeni, is a memorial hall and training center. It is also the family home of Tsutsumi Yasujiro, who founded the Seibu Group and served as Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Japanese Diet. There is also Taga Taisha, a shrine recognized by the ancient Japanese imperial court. It is a shrine that enshrines the parents of the gods enshrined at Ise Grand Shrine in Mie Prefecture. Many parts of the old Nakasendo road remain in their original state. In Maibara City, there is a post town called Banba-juku, which is the setting for the play "Mother of the Eyelids," and this post town has also been well preserved in its original state. You can also learn about Kamaba Castle, a castle built on a mountain ridge that dates back much longer than the Sengoku period. Hikone Castle in Hikone City is one of only five castles in Japan with a national treasure castle tower. In 1600, the Battle of Sekigahara was fought in nearby Sekigahara Town, Gifu Prefecture, and three years later the Edo Tokugawa Shogunate was established. Ii Naomasa, a vassal of Tokugawa Ieyasu, played an active role and was given Hikone. He dismantled Sawayama Castle of the defeated Ishida Mitsunari, dismantled temples in Kyoto that were anti-Tokugawa, and rebuilt Hikone Castle using many recycled materials. There are many rice paddies and wheat fields, and across the Omi Plain, to the northwest, there is Lake Biwa, Japan's largest lake. To the south are the Suzuka Mountains. There is an abundance of spring water, and Nishikigoi carp swim in the waterways. The air is clear, the water is plentiful and fresh, Omi rice is delicious, and Kuroge Wagyu Omi beef is a prestigious Japanese beef brand. If you buy a house in the suburbs for 3 million yen or so, you can have a BBQ of Omi beef in the garden when relatives, acquaintances, and friends come to visit. There is a local private railway called Omi Railway. It belongs to Seibu Holdings. However, Seibu Holdings shareholder tickets cannot be used on it. Seibu Holdings shareholder tickets cannot be used on the Izu Hakone Railway either. This single-track railway has two-car trains and runs peacefully along the line where many traditional Omi houses are located. When I got on, there were only two passengers, including me. Hino Town also has the Omi Merchant Memorial Museum, and is the birthplace of the famous military commander Gamo Ujisato. He was a military commander who played an active role during the Sengoku period, and became the lord of Aizu Castle in Aizuwakamatsu City, Fukushima Prefecture. At the end of the Ohmi Railway, Kibugawa Station, you can transfer to the JR Kansai Main Line and the private Shigaraki Kohgen Railway. Shigaraki is famous for its pottery, characterized by its rough texture. There are also many pottery classes held here. Large tanuki ornaments are symbols of prosperous business, and are placed in companies, stores, and private homes all over Japan. They are lucky charms, with the sound of the word "tanuki" (raccoon dog) being a pun on the pronunciation of the word "tanuki" (pull out other people), which is "ta" (ta means to pull out other people). A few years ago, an NHK morning drama series was set in Shigaraki. Shigaraki is home to Asamiya, a famous tea producing area, and is a producer of high-quality green tea, along with the nearby city of Uji in Kyoto Prefecture. When Oda Nobunaga was assassinated in the Honnoji Incident in 1980, Tokugawa Ieyasu, who was in Sakai City, Osaka Prefecture, passed through Shigaraki, escaped to Ise, and returned by boat to his territory, Okazaki Castle. It was a life-threatening escape. Traces of that journey remain in the outskirts of Shigaraki. It is a place that foreigners who are interested in Japan's Sengoku and Azuchi-Momoyama periods should definitely check out. There would be no greater joy than if the children or grandchildren of foreign tourists stayed in Japan as international students at a university in the Inukami district of Shiga Prefecture for four years or more, including the language training period, including five years, and purchased a house in the suburbs as their base of operations. However, there are factors in the Japanese system that prevent this from happening. Inbound tourists often pay with credit cards at tourist spots. I have had pleasant conversations with several foreign tourists in Kusatsu Onsen, Gunma Prefecture, where I live. My companions were allowed to use the lobby, hot spring facilities, and sauna of the hotel where I am a member free of charge, and they were also allowed to see the pool. In return, the Chinese anime creator treated me to snacks and drinks. The Chinese paid with a credit card. It is a characteristic of inbound tourists that they pay for accommodation, food, drink, and souvenirs with a credit card. Carrying a large amount of cash is dangerous because of the risk of loss or theft. I also took English classes at a university in San Diego, USA, for a short four-week program. This was in 1987. Since it was dangerous to carry cash, I went to a Citibank branch in downtown San Diego and explained the situation, and they immediately opened an account for me. Of course, I had to show my passport, a certificate from the university I was attending, and an entry stamp to prove my identity. However, in Japan, only long-term residents who have stayed for 92 days or more and have a "Certificate of Alien Registration" and who pass an examination can open a financial account. Inbound tourists can use credit cards. However, if you buy an old house in the suburbs of Japan, you cannot make various payments. You cannot pay for utility bills such as gas, water, sewerage, and electricity, or property taxes with a credit card. The reason for this is that the rule is that the party that makes the withdrawal must pay the withdrawal fee. On the other hand, when public utility charges such as gas, water, sewerage, and electricity and property taxes are withdrawn from a financial account, the gas company, waterworks bureau, electric company, and city/town hall do not bear the fees. This means that foreign tourists who are fans of Japanese culture, tatami rooms, and regional housing styles cannot purchase old Japanese houses. In order to resolve this issue, I visited the offices of several Diet members on August 5, 2024, when I had business in Tokyo, and brought a request letter to the Diet Members' Building. I visited the Diet offices of House of Representatives members Shinji Oguma and Ichiro Sugaya in the Aizu region of Fukushima Prefecture, Shu Watanabe and Takaaki Katsumata in the Izu region of Shizuoka Prefecture, and Kenichiro Ueno in Inukami District, Shiga Prefecture, and Senator Satsuki Katayama, who has a local office in Hamamatsu City, Shizuoka Prefecture, and bowed my head and handed over the request letter. The general election in October 2024 saw the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito lose their majority. It became necessary to negotiate with individual opposition parties on each issue, and the opposition parties also strengthened their attacks on the ruling party in an attempt to reduce the ruling party's seats in the House of Councillors, and are focusing on that. It is difficult for ordinary people like me to get the Diet members and their secretaries to act on my requests. However, I have been petitioning the Diet Members' Office for many years. In my opinion, the opposition Democratic Party won a landslide victory in the general election in August 2020, and a change of government occurred in early September, but since then there has been no change of government and the Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito have maintained a stable majority. It has been 14 years since the ruling party lost its majority. �E The relationship between the Emperor and the people I would like to discuss how to interpret and utilize Japan's framework, the Constitution of Japan, and how international cooperation should be realized. I would like to make it into bullet points. ---�@ The current Japanese Constitution was proposed by GHQ in accordance with the amendment provisions of the Meiji Constitution, taking into account the views of private researchers, and the 22nd House of Representatives election was held in a way that all men and women aged 20 or older had the right to vote, as a prerequisite for understanding the Constitution. In the wartime Diet, which was governed by the Imperial Rule Assistance Association, the approval of the new Constitution would have been contradictory, since "the Diet also bore part of the responsibility for the war." --�A The Emperor (posthumously given the name "Emperor Showa") was the subject entrusted with the Potsdam Declaration. Having accepted the "demilitarization and democratization" stated in the declaration, he had the responsibility to force GHQ to advance the democratization of Japan after the war. --�B The requests by Australia and the Soviet Union to "prosecute the Emperor" and "abolish the Imperial System" were natural views for the Allied forces, which had suffered damage from the war. If the UN Far Eastern Commission had doubts about the contents of the Japanese government's constitutional amendments, the Far Eastern Commission had the authority to exercise strong leadership in democratizing and demilitarizing Japan after the war. MacArthur was the one who mediated between them and adjusted the situation. --�C During the "Emperor's National Tours" that began in February 1946, there were no stones thrown or insults hurled. It was only after the war that the Japanese people realized that the military had run wild and waged war, expanding the front line without even the Emperor or the Prime Minister knowing about it. --�D The Imperial Rescript on the Declaration of War was issued in the name of the Emperor, but it did not mean that the Emperor ordered "to wage war." The legal system only allowed the Hideki Tojo Cabinet to approve the decision to go to war later. --�E I have experience teaching Japanese at the Language Department of Yonsei University in Korea for several years. On June 25, 1950, North Korea invaded South Korea, aiming to communize the entire peninsula. The People's Republic of China was established in Beijing on October 1, 1949, the year before, and mainland China came under Communist rule, while the Kuomintang government fled to Taiwan. As the Cold War between the East and the West intensified, the grouping of the camps progressed. NATO and Comecon. Germany was divided into East and West, and Berlin was jointly governed by the Allied Forces. As independence movements arose in various colonies, Stalin of the Soviet Union provided military equipment to North Korea and supported the invasion of the South, aiming to communize the Korean Peninsula. Similar proxy wars between the East and the West broke out in individual conflict areas. The Vietnam War was one example of this. It was a time when the bosses of the two major systems, the United States and the Soviet Union, were in conflict, saying "there is a danger that the world will be communized" and "there is a danger that the world will be dominated by counter-revolutionary forces." When I lived there, I heard from many elderly people about the fierceness of the Korean War. One elderly person told me, "Chinese soldiers have good motor skills, they move quickly, and they can fire their guns from anywhere." Upon closer investigation, I found that when Chinese volunteers were deployed and the front line moved south, Seoul was again dominated by the communist army. It was the UN expeditionary forces that desperately tried to take it back. One in six people on the Korean peninsula lost their lives in the war. North Korea was reduced to ashes by US air raids. All houses in Pyongyang were destroyed except for three. Precision machinery manufacturing factories from the Japanese colonial period were also destroyed by air raids. Until then, North Korea was one of the world's leading precision machinery industrial areas. And there was another reason why the Soviet Union tried to communize the entire Korean peninsula. According to AI's description, "The meeting to decide on the Soviet Union's entry into the war against Japan was the Yalta Conference held in Yalta from February 4 to 11, 1945. At this conference, the leaders of the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, and the United States secretly decided that the Soviet Union would enter the war against Japan." The Soviet Union, which suffered 27 million war deaths in the war against Nazi Germany, would have been hesitant to enter another war in Asia after Germany's surrender, considering the lives of the Soviet people. Stalin accepted Roosevelt's request, likely with the aim of strengthening the influence of communism in East Asia, and there was also a secret agreement that the Soviet Union would take over Japanese interests in northeastern China. There was also a plan to divide Japan after the defeat. Hokkaido and Tohoku would be the Soviet Union's responsibility, Kyushu and the Chugoku region would be the UK's, Shikoku would be the Republic of China's, Tokyo would be jointly managed by the four countries, and Honshu, excluding the Chugoku and Tohoku regions, would be the US's responsibility. However, this was scrapped after Japan's defeat in the war following the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. From the Soviet perspective, since 30 million people, or according to some scholars, 40 million people, died in the entire Second World War, it was natural that the Axis powers should be allowed to take charge of the postwar governance of Hokkaido and Tohoku in Japan and to communize them. For Stalin, who thought that control of these ice-free ports and naval bases would be allowed, the alternative plan of "controlling the entire Korean peninsula" was natural. ―――�EThe 12th article of the Potsdam Declaration states, "The occupying forces of the Allies shall be withdrawn from Japan as soon as these objectives have been accomplished and there has been established in accordance with the freely expressed will of the Japanese people a peacefully inclined and responsible government." The original text is, "The occupying forces of the Allies shall be withdrawn from Japan as soon as these objectives have been accomplished and there has been established in accordance with the freely expressed will of the Japanese people a peacefully inclined and responsible government." �BFour hours after the conclusion of the San Francisco Peace Treaty in September 1951 (three countries, including the Soviet Union, refused to sign it), Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida signed the Japan-US Security Treaty alone, which stated that "American troops will continue to be stationed at US military bases in Japan as part of the occupying forces in accordance with a diplomatic treaty with an independent Japan." This was done in secret without prior approval from the Diet. The Japanese, who had been reborn as "demilitarized and pacifist" and had a peace constitution, would not have been able to understand this "continued stationing of US troops in Japan." The "Korea War" broke out one year and two months before this military treaty, and Chinese volunteers had joined the war at the end of the previous year. Why did the "Korea War" occur? Stalin certainly had his own plans, but both North and South Korea were dealing with the postwar process, and each country had been established, and the area had become a "militarily vacuum area" from which the occupying forces had officially withdrawn. The United States never imagined that the Soviet Union and China would support North Korea, which would then invade the South and turn the entire peninsula into a communist one.

When Japan regained its independence in April 1952, if the occupying forces had withdrawn in accordance with Article 12 of the Potsdam Declaration, there would have been a high risk of Japan being invaded by the Soviet Union from Hokkaido. This is because it is possible to assume that the Soviet Union refused to sign the San Francisco Peace Treaty and continued the state of war with Japan, taking this into consideration. In 1945, Japan formally surrendered to the Allied Powers and signed the treaty on board the USS Missouri. This included the Soviet Union. The war between the Soviet Union and the Japanese military continued until a few days after the surrender document was signed. It was only natural that the Soviet Union, which had suffered great damage in the war between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany, wanted something in return to match its damage. However, the Soviet Union did not exercise its veto and was absent from the UN General Assembly to decide on the contingent of troops to the UN. As the only communist country among the five permanent members of the Security Council at the time, exercising its veto would have risked making the world its enemy. Also, while America was showing interest in Far East Asia, Stalin worked to expand and stabilize the power of the communist regimes in Eastern Europe. He gathered the leaders of each country and gave a speech saying, "This is a good opportunity to strengthen the Eastern power in Europe." During the "Korean War," America asked Japan to rearm, but neither MacArthur nor Yoshida Shigeru agreed. Many former military personnel were mobilized to work on minesweepers to remove torpedoes, resulting in many deaths. The Japanese government considered this a secret matter. However, what I want to say is that although Japanese minesweepers did remove torpedoes, they never fired bullets at the North Korean army or Chinese volunteer soldiers. --�F The "Constitution of Japan" was created in December 1945 by Takano Iwasaburo, Baba Tsunego, Sugimori Kojiro, Morito Tatsuo, Iwabuchi Tatsuo, Murofushi Takanobu, and Suzuki Yasuzo of the "Constitution Study Group," and was submitted to the Japanese government and GHQ, and was also reported in newspapers. GHQ had been collecting requests for various constitutional amendments, including from the private sector. When the Mainichi Shimbun reported the outline of the government's Matsumoto draft in early February 1946, GHQ was surprised by its conservative nature (conservative in the sense that it would mostly maintain the prewar system), and sent a telegram to the United States. The United Nations Far Eastern Commission denounced the United States, saying, "If democratization, such as democracy, pacifism, and equal rights for men and women, did not bear fruit, America's indirect rule would have failed." MacArthur quickly had the GHQ Civil Affairs Bureau prepare a draft constitution in English in one week. The existing politicians who had been running the country for 75 years with the backing of "national polity, Shinto, the Emperor, and military power" were afraid that "if we accept democracy, we will become communists." Japan, which established the Meiji Constitution based on the model of the German Imperial Constitution, could not understand parliamentary democratic politics based on popular sovereignty. They tried to continue deifying the Emperor. This would come into direct conflict with the GHQ Far Eastern Commission's "Emperor war criminal theory" and the US Congress' resolution to put the Emperor on trial. After receiving MacArthur's explanation, Prime Minister Kijuro Shidehara accepted MacArthur's English draft, which was based on Takano's Constitutional Research Association. --�GWhat does the continued postwar Emperor System mean? It is necessary to carefully interpret the linguistic material known as the "Constitution of Japan." The contents were revised in the form of clarifying Articles 10 and 11 of the Potsdam Declaration through the Emperor's "Imperial Recitation," in accordance with the amendment procedures of the Meiji Constitution. When Japan was defeated in the war, Interior Minister Koichi Kido, while in prison as a war criminal, continued to recommend that the Emperor abdicate and take responsibility when Japan regained its independence. I can understand Kido's feelings, but after the war, the symbolic Emperor had a big job to do. That was to welcome the leaders of various countries who came to Japan as state guests, welcoming them with the idea of "international goodwill," and having pleasant conversations with them. He maintained an upstanding position of never intervening politically in any case, no matter what head of state or prime minister came to Japan. The Emperor's welcoming means that the whole of Japan is welcoming him, since he is the "symbol of national unity." In the previous election, US President Trump did not even shake hands with German Chancellor Merkel, but that would never happen in Japan. That is one of the great significances of the symbolic Emperor System. --9. The Emperor performs state acts. For example, even if a prime minister is selected after nominations are made by both houses of the Diet, he is not yet Prime Minister at that stage. He only becomes Prime Minister once a "certification ceremony" has been held at the Imperial Palace and a certificate has been issued. Laws and regulations do not become laws just by passing the Diet. They only become effective as laws and regulations once the Emperor receives a report and stamps his "Imperial Seal." This is different from the "Certificate of Election" issued by prefectural governors, city and town mayors, and local assembly members. Considering that "Article 1: The Emperor shall be the symbol of the State and of the unity of the Japanese people, and this status derives from the will of the people with whom resides sovereign power," being recognized as the Emperor through a state act does not mean "recognizing the election as the ruling party of the winner," but rather means "not letting the ruling party run wild on its own, but listening carefully to the opinions of the opposition parties and others, discussing thoroughly, informing the people of the discussion, and smoothly managing national affairs with the interests of the entire people in mind." And the following subtitle is attached to Article 1 of Chapter 1 of the "Constitution of Japan" on the House of Representatives' website. There is meaning in the fact that it is before the article. "The Status of the Emperor and Sovereignty of the People." In the full text of the Constitution file on the Japan Federation of Bar Associations, the subtitle is "The Status of the Emperor and Sovereignty of the People." I would like to follow the subtitle of the House of Representatives, which is the legislative body and the first chamber of the Diet. It means that "the status of the Emperor is one with sovereignty of the people." I am surprised that this is rarely discussed. And Article 99 of "Chapter 10: The Supreme Law" reads, "Obligation to Respect and Uphold the Constitution: Article 99. The Emperor or the Regent as well as Ministers of State, members of the Diet, judges, and all other public officials have the obligation to respect and uphold this Constitution," which means that this is related to the full text of the Constitution, which reads, "We do proclaim that sovereign power resides with the people and do establish this Constitution. Government is a sacred trust of the people, its authority is derived from the people, its powers are exercised by the representatives of the people, and its benefits are enjoyed by the people. This is a universal principle of mankind, and this Constitution is based on it. We reject all constitutions, laws, ordinances, and imperial rescripts in conflict herewith." �F From the long history of my requests to each political party I started going to the Diet members' building to petition, even though I was the victim of a traffic accident (after the trial, it was determined that there was no negligence), and when I asked the perpetrator to come and apologize, they filed a lawsuit claiming that we (the driver was my current wife, and the owner of the vehicle was her sister) were 30% at fault. When I fought the lawsuit, spending about 2 million yen of my own money, I didn't know what to do, so I called the House of Councillors and was advised to go to a certain member's building for consultation. The secretary of that building listened to me for about an hour, introduced me to a law firm, and since it was far from the disputed area, he introduced me to a law firm that was even closer to the disputed area. In addition to the House of Councillors' building (called the "Diet Office") of the House of Councillors' member introduced by the secretariat of the House of Councillors, I also brought written consultations to the buildings of other political parties and reported the situation to each political party in an impartial manner. From the beginning, I have submitted requests to each Diet member's Diet office in the Diet Building, made requests in the form of a petition, and visited them to exchange information, with the aim of being fair. The reason why I do this is because once a Diet member is elected and becomes a member, he or she is a "servant of the whole," regardless of the political party to which they belong. Simply put, "from the Liberal Democratic Party to the Communist Party." Like the welfare expression "from the cradle" used during the British Labour Party administration, I have continued to petition the directors of the relevant committees impartially. In this trial, the court found that there was no fault on our side. The accident resolution industry has always said that "both parties are at fault in an accident between moving vehicles," but the conclusion that "both parties are at fault" cannot be derived from anywhere. This is because the degree of fault in a traffic accident can only be determined by the degree of compliance with the Road Traffic Act, which has a legal structure. My wife told me that the police officer from the police box who came to the scene of the accident to inspect the scene scolded the other party, saying, "You shouldn't drive so dangerously." I thought there must be a good reason why the local policeman who handles traffic accidents and works to raise awareness of road safety said that, and as someone who studied Japanese language education at two graduate schools, I wanted to "prove that linguistic behavior," so I accepted the lawsuit filed by the perpetrator. Then, like Detective Columbo, I went to the scene, put a tape measure on it, recreated the car's movements with a miniature car, and drew the structure of the intersection on paper to find the cause of the accident. It was an accident at a T-junction, and when the side that is required to stop normally hits a car going straight, a collision accident type of wound is left. However, there was a wound that looked like it had been run into. The presence of this wound means that if the straight-moving vehicle driven by my wife had not been there, the car would have run into the stone wall in front of it, or would have hit the stone wall at an angle. I recreated the car's movements, determined the cause of the accident, and confirmed it with the young driver of the perpetrator. "How did you know!" he replied. "Come and apologize properly," I said. The perpetrator never came to apologize, but instead sued. "The defendant was not paying attention to the road ahead and was 30% at fault." If that were really the case, the first police officer in front of the station at Chiba Prefectural Police would not have warned the assailant. I made considerable preparations at my own expense and gave only half of the documents to my legal representative lawyer and fought the district court. Of course, I would have definitely won the zero-fault claim if I had presented all the documents, but I chose to have him argue only half of them. Sometimes I scolded the lawyer. Even lawyers believe erroneous arguments such as "both moving cars are at fault." The district court found us zero-fault. My wife was under a lot of stress, vomiting and squatting on the side of the road because she was sued. Winning the zero-fault claim was the least I could do to show my gratitude to my wife. The court also made a judgment based on the facts regarding the valuation of the vehicle, which was a total loss. I went around the used car market to more than 40 companies, found a vehicle from the 1980s that was hardly sold, obtained a purchase estimate for it, and had the lawyer submit it as a court document. The plaintiff used an insurance industry appraisal sheet as evidence without having an actual vehicle. This is an estimate for an actual vehicle. Nowadays, you can search online, but back then, you had to go to every used car dealership. I also instructed the lawyer on this estimate. "This vehicle is worth this much, but I don't think it's the valuation of the vehicle owned by Mr. Ozawa's wife, who was the victim," the lawyer said, so I said, "The valuation of the damaged vehicle cannot be calculated unless it is repaired extensively and restored to its original condition. In that case, the valuation of the damaged vehicle is determined to be the valuation of the vehicle that is closest to the actual vehicle. That's the origin of formal logic." It must have been a tough job to take on such a client, but I think it was a learning experience for the lawyer. After the zero-fault verdict was finalized, I went to report to each political party, starting with the Diet office of the Senator who introduced me to the law firm. In the Social Democratic Party, I was able to have a pleasant conversation with the secretary, Senator Ota Masahide, at the Diet office of the former Okinawa Prefecture Governor. In fact, settlements for traffic accidents are a gray area where the Japan Federation of Bar Associations lends out licenses to the Japan General Insurance Association, something that should only be handled by lawyers under the Lawyers Act, and it is a system that still leaves some doubts to this day. For example, let's say a couple who retired at age 60 buys a new light car as a city car to use for shopping and other activities. They have been using it carefully as a substitute for a bicycle for 20 years, and the mileage is not very high. Let's say that the light car is involved in an accident and is totaled with no fault. In this case, the non-life insurance company will present a selling price of "appraised value of 50,000 yen." The basic principle for fire insurance and life insurance disease riders is to restore the car to its original condition, but only car insurance presents the "sale price" in the settlement. Can an 80-year-old couple who are living on a pension really afford to buy a safe car again for 50,000 yen? This is exactly what a young person with Internet skills should do to start a company with a stock of well-maintained used cars and replace them with "vehicles with similar specifications that work in line with the law." Japanese used cars, even those that would be scrapped in Japan, are exported to foreign countries on transport ships and used for long periods. In that case, they should also be reused in Japan. The reason I reported to each political party after the ruling was finalized is because structurally, "restoration to the status quo" is not carried out in the case of a car accident, which is dangerous. I lost two Korean friends in a traffic accident. During the 1986 Seoul Asian Games, I studied Korean for half a year at Yonsei University Language Institute, but at that time, the population of Korea was about 42 million, and there were more than 10,000 traffic accident deaths in 24 hours. It was a situation that could be called traffic hell. Two of my friends, who were graduates of the Korea Tourism Organization's Gyeongju Hotel School and worked at a luxury hotel and wanted to study in Japan, both lost their lives in traffic accidents. That is why I fought the lawsuit not for the purpose of "winning the lawsuit" but to aim for a "society without accidents." When petitions are made to parties ranging from the Liberal Democratic Party to the Communist Party, the characteristics of each political party become clear. Even if the same request or petition is presented, if the way of explaining it is changed, the secretary may be more willing to listen to what you have to say. There was an incident where Chinese international students working part-time at a beauty salon called "Wulai" were unjustly detained and deported by the Immigration Bureau of the Ministry of Justice. I was the first Japanese person to know about this incident. The fiancée of one of my students, who was studying at a university in Japan, contacted me to say that she was at risk of being detained and deported. I asked her name, the name of her university, her department, and her year, and immediately made her business card, and arranged to meet her at Tokyo Station the following morning. That was the first time we met. I immediately made petitions to parties ranging from the Liberal Democratic Party to the Communist Party. For a Japanese teacher like me, it has been unimaginable how hard it is to get students to go on to Japanese universities. Even after they have enrolled, I am often consulted by them. There were many foreigners in "Wulai" who were illegally residing in Japan and whose visas had expired, and they were detained and subject to deportation. If there is no intention to seek political asylum, imprisonment and deportation are not legally wrong. However, there are also students who are deceived by unscrupulous brokers and come to Japan with huge debts, so I think that society needs to consider this as a human rights issue. The reason for this is that I once read a biography of world-famous alpinist Naomi Uemura, serialized in a newspaper while he was alive. Before he became famous, Uemura had no choice but to raise the money to climb the mountain himself. When he aimed to climb the mountain in the United States, Uemura did not have a work visa, but he gestured that he could "ski" (even though he actually could not ski), and was hired, and worked for a long time until he could raise the money to climb the mountain. This is clearly an illegal stay. Kenichi Horie, author of "Alone in the Pacific," also landed on the west coast of the United States without an entry visa for the United States. It would not have been surprising if he had been arrested, but American society welcomed the young man who crossed the Pacific alone, and he was not arrested or detained. The "Wulai Incident" was an attempt by the Immigration Bureau of the Ministry of Justice to use its strong power to imprison and deport international students with valid visas, just like illegal foreign residents. Imprisoning and deporting international students with valid visas in the same way as illegal foreign residents is clearly inconsistent with the "respect for human rights" stipulated in the Japanese Constitution. I reported the situation to the Diet offices of each political party in the Diet building. A secretary at one Diet building took action and took several days off work to handle the case. A victims' meeting was held in a conference room in the House of Councilors' Building, and it was even reported in the newspapers. The venue was moved to the Japan Federation of Bar Associations, where a press conference was held. I also took the stage at the end and simply said, "Encouraging Japanese language learners to continue on as international students and promoting international exchange at Japanese universities is a difficult job for Japanese language teachers, and destroying the results is against the internationalization of Japan." The Ministry of Justice kept quiet for a while, but then took outrageous measures to imprison international students with valid visas. "The labor rules of Wulai state that even during breaks, you must try to clean the workplace," so they prepared a document stating that "breaks are working hours, and that this is illegal work that exceeds the upper limit of part-time hours allowed for international students," and got the court to approve their incarceration. If "breaks are working hours," then the international students would have accrued "unpaid wages" before being incarcerated or deported. According to the Corporate Reorganization Law, the assets of a bankrupt company are stipulated to be used to 1) pay unpaid wages to workers, 2) pay unpaid taxes, and 3) repay creditors. If "breaks are working hours," then it is up to Japanese society to settle the unpaid wages, and it is unacceptable to incarcerate or deport someone without doing so. When a Japanese person is detained in Chinese society, it is reported as if "human rights violations and detention cases only occur in China," but there have been cases of human rights violations and deportations in Japan as well. I learned a lot from China when diplomatic relations between Japan and China were restored. Because of this experience, when I became a Japanese teacher and taught Japanese to Chinese people, I taught them while respecting Chinese history and culture. When diplomatic relations between Japan and China were restored on September 29, 1972, I was in the first year of junior high school, and I immediately became a fan of China. At two private railway stations close to my house, "Chinese products stores" appeared in the shopping district. Sometimes there were several stores at one station. I bought a fountain pen called Eiyuu, a toy-like fountain pen for 150 yen, "Quotations from Chairman Mao," and often bought bottled foods. "Quotations from Chairman Mao" was translated into Japanese in Shanghai, China, but I didn't understand it well, so I asked some university students who came to study at the local library to explain it to me. I also read "Theory of Practice and Contradiction" when I was in junior high school. When I listened to late-night radio on my crystal radio, they broadcast "The Biography of Mao Zedong." I listened to it every week. The victims of the "Wulai Incident" were Chinese international students. There was anger, saying, "What is the Japanese government going to do for the generation of Mao Zedong's grandchildren!" Throughout my junior and senior high school years, I read the entire "Selected Works of Mao Zedong," even though it was in Japanese translation. Then, by chance, I heard on the radio a report that in December 2004, the Cabinet Office Fair Trade Commission had issued a forced eviction order for "artificial bath salts in the Kusatsu Onsen district of Gunma Prefecture." Among the stores that received the forced eviction order was a store that I would always visit whenever I went to Kusatsu Onsen. I had made a reservation to stay at Manza Onsen the next day, so I went there first and met the elderly woman who owned the store and asked her about the situation. I also got a copy of the Fair Trade Commission's disciplinary notice. I stayed at Manza Onsen for one night, then took my wife back by bus on the way back, and stayed alone at a ryokan in Kusatsu Onsen that only included beds. There was a history book called "Kusazu Onsen-shi" in the main building, so I took it and read as much about "yuhana" as I could in my room until 4 a.m. It was a thick book like an encyclopedia, and I learned that there were many different types, including natural yuhana and yuhana made from crushed waste sulfur from sulfur mines. Then I re-read the written punishment from the Fair Trade Commission. There were some parts that I felt "did not investigate properly." It said, "Kusatsu Onsen is generally known for its Yubatake hot spring deposits." In other words, I could guess that they had concluded "the rest are fakes" without even doing any research. I knew from documents and interviews that in addition to the Yubatake gutter hot spring deposits, Kusatsu Onsen also has other deposits such as Nishinokawara mat deposits and crushed sulfur tailings hot spring deposits. It was written with clearly flawed logic: "A is correct. B is not A. Therefore, B is incorrect." I tried to gather as many products called "Yuba" from all over the country as I could. Very few were labeled as "bath salts," and the majority of the rest did not even mention "bath salts." "Kusatsu Onsen area artificial hot spring deposits" were ordered to be removed for violating the Act on Prejudicial Representations, but among the businesses that received the forced removal order, there were some that labeled "artificial hot spring deposits" as "natural hot spring deposits." These two companies were the only one that manufactured the products, but they also manufactured products for other companies using wrapping paper from other companies, and this was an incident that only required the punishment of those two companies. The problem is that "Kusatsu Town Manufacturing Yubatake Yuhana" is not labeled as "bath additives." Since there is a limit to what I can find on my own, I called the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare and asked to be connected to the department that handles approval of "bath additives." I was introduced to the Pharmaceutical and Food Safety Division, Inspection and Management Division, which issues approval from the Minister of Health, Labor and Welfare. The official in charge told me that not everything that goes into the bath is "bath additives." I was told that "bath cosmetics" are not approved by the Minister of Health, Labor and Welfare, but are "coloring and fragrance" products that require notification to the prefecture, and that since they are stipulated in the ordinances of each prefecture, he said, "Let's look at the Tokyo ordinance together," and directed me to the website over the phone. After looking into it, I found that the basic license is a cosmetics manufacturing license and cosmetics sales license, and since it is recognized as a specialized cosmetics business, it is only within the scope of "coloring and fragrance," so the notification system is sufficient, legally. In contrast, bath additives are quasi-drugs, approved by the Minister of Health, Labor and Welfare, and are subject to strict screening. Because they are medicines, they can claim to have benefits and efficacy, and they must clearly state the amount of use and the symptoms they are effective for, and medical responsibility arises. The basic licenses are pharmaceutical manufacturing licenses and pharmaceutical sales licenses. In addition, hot springs are under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of the Environment's Counsellor's Office (at the time), and the legal structure is that "if the standards for being recognized as a hot spring are met, the prefectural pharmaceutical affairs department will approve it as a hot spring." For this reason, they are required to regularly, often once every 10 years, to conduct a "hot spring ingredient analysis" at great expense, and to write down the "indications" for which symptoms the gears of improvement are likely to turn, based on expert knowledge. That is why there are names such as "Analyst: XX Prefecture Pharmaceutical Association." And since hot springs cannot be said to be effective for everyone, they can only state the "indications" to the extent that "there is a tendency for the gears of improvement to turn to turn." If we were to state that hot springs have benefits and efficacy, we would be stepping into the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, which is a different administrative agency, so this is not possible. The Environment Agency's Hot Springs Law Indications and the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare's Bath Salts Quasi-Drug Benefits and Effects are two different worlds. For example, nursery schools are under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, and kindergartens are under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. Even after several more months of investigation, we were unable to determine what the problem was with the "Kusatsu Hot Springs District Artificial Bath Salts Forced Removal Order" incident. Furthermore, we called the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare official for the fourth time. This was the fourth time in nine months. This is because when you receive instructions over the phone, they often kindly teach you various things, and sometimes the phone call can last for nearly an hour. We thought it would be too much of a nuisance, so we looked into it as much as we could on our own. We are a "slow and sluggish" researcher who was a graduate student with poor grades and enrolled in two schools and finally got our master's degree after seven years. However, we just couldn't be sure. On our fourth call, the official told us the following. "I wonder why someone like Mr. Ozawa, who often visits hot springs and researches various things, has always assumed that natural hot spring flowers, which are simply souvenirs under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and have no legal regulations, are bath additives." I hung up the phone. "I must have had some wrong information put into my head that Kusatsu natural hot spring flowers are bath additives," I thought, and read the Fair Trade Commission's written punishment for the first time in a long time. The Fair Trade Commission misidentified the hot spring flowers in the Kusatsu hot spring area, which are not legally regulated as bath additives, as "bath additives." And when I searched for "Yuhana" on Wikipedia, it was mistakenly written as "Yuhana is a bath additive." It was clearly a wrong article. No matter how many times I edited and corrected it, the edit was deleted. When I asked various reporters, I was told, "Wikipedia's descriptions are rough and sometimes incorrect, so they are only used as a reference." And, to my surprise, the Fair Trade Commission's written punishment was a complete copy of the incorrect Wikipedia description. Now that I had clarified the whole picture of this "Cabinet Office Fair Trade Commission Kusatsu Onsen Area Hot Springs Misidentification Incident," I stayed up all night and called the relevant department at the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare first thing in the morning. The person in charge was in a morning meeting, and called me as soon as the meeting finished. He prefaced his response by saying that he was sorry for taking up the time on the phone the day before, and then he helped me open the Fair Trade Commission's disciplinary action document website. The official in charge said, "You've messed up, Fair Trade Commission." Since the official in charge judged it to be a mistake, it was determined that the Fair Trade Commission's punishment was wrong and illegal. I asked the official in charge to open the Wikipedia entry for "Yuhana" together with me. I understood that the Wikipedia entry was wrong, since I had received four long lectures over the phone, but I wanted the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare's bath salts approval officer to confirm the facts. It is the job of these public servants, "servants of the whole," to record it. That is what the "public servants" are written about in Chapter 10, Article 99, the supreme law of the Constitution. I sent a registered letter to then Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda and the Chairman of the Fair Trade Commission, asking for a correction and apology. Then, I received a call from a Fair Trade Commission staff member with my number unmasked. His voice sounded like he was about to cry. He insisted that "I have a written commitment that I will not appeal the punishment." That is not the problem! The problem is how to correct and apologize for "mistaking something that is not a bath salt for a bath salt and spewing poison into society." The Fair Trade Commission staff member said the same words in a crying voice. "It's simple. Why didn't you check with the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, the competent authority for bath salts, beforehand?" he demands. He repeats the same words, almost in tears. "The old lady at the store that was mistakenly charged had to answer every phone call asking for refunds that may have been lies, and then walked to the post office in the snow to mail a registered letter for cash! That's a violation of human rights!" He repeats the same words, almost in tears. If that's the case, they shouldn't have called. Graduate school seminars are much stricter about determining facts, and if you present incorrect documents or make a presentation with flawed logic, you will be thoroughly criticized. The reason for the long constitutional debate about the "continuation of the Emperor System" was that he wanted to point out that the constitution clearly states that "civilian control" is necessary to prevent militarism from happening again. There is a scene in the drama "Will the Constitution Be Here?" where it is decided to clearly state "civilian control". Regarding the article 9 "renunciation of war," the representative of the Republic of China at the UN Far Eastern Commission expressed doubts, saying, "Even if Japan goes to war again, Japan will not call it a war. We will not call a war unit an army." If the constitutional amendments were rejected by the UN Far Eastern Commission, there was a risk that the Japanese Constitution, which had been amended and debated by Chairman Ashida Kin, would be rejected by the UN Far Eastern Commission. If the constitutional amendments were rejected by the UN Far Eastern Commission, Japan's independence would not be restored. Therefore, Prime Minister Yoshida Shigeru decided to specify the "civilian control" that the Soviet Union demanded. The problem is not just the military going out of control. The full text of the Japanese Constitution clearly states that "popular sovereignty is a universal principle" and that "any imperial decree or law that contradicts this will not be recognized." To further confirm this, a subtitle is written in parentheses above "Chapter 1: The Emperor." It reads, "The status of the Emperor and sovereignty of the people." In other words, the Emperor system and popular sovereignty/sovereignty of the people are one and the same. On the other hand, the constitution is that "popular sovereignty and sovereignty reside in the people are sacred and inviolable. The guardian of popular sovereignty and sovereignty resides in the people is the Emperor." ---The Fair Trade Commission of the Cabinet Office doesn't need the Emperor System? I honestly thought. I believe that the current symbolic Emperor System is essential for Japan. I have given a lengthy explanation with accompanying documents as above, but this is not to defend the Emperor's sovereignty under the Meiji Constitution. Some of my relatives died in the war, and my eldest brother's cousin passed away at a young age in April 1945. He died at a young age at the end of the war, in an era when there was no proper nutrition or medical treatment. The late Prince Tomohito. He was the eldest son of the Mikasanomiya family, known as the Prince of Sports and the Prince of Beards. He studied abroad at the Austrian National Ski School for a short period as a junior of Tatsusuke Kuroiwa, the principal of Manza Onsen Ski School. He studied skiing seriously in between his official duties as a member of the imperial family. He also devoted himself to the promotion of ski racing as a parasport. He held workshops all over Japan. He also held a workshop at the Manza Onsen Ski Resort in Gunma Prefecture, and together with his senior, Principal Tatsusuke Kuroiwa, he devoted himself to research, promotion, and training of instructors. When a young instructor who had just started teaching able-bodied people asked His Highness about something he did not understand about parasports, His Highness continued to teach the young instructor the theory and practice of parasports until late into the night, regardless of their status or age. His Highness is sixth in line to the throne. The police officers from the Imperial Guard and Gunma Prefectural Police stood and waited until His Highness finished teaching. It was a very difficult job. According to Principal Kuroiwa's wife, His Highness' teaching sometimes lasted until 1 or 2 in the morning. I interviewed Principal Kuroiwa about the activities of the workshop, compiled it into a manuscript, included it in the 13th issue of the Collection of Research Papers on Tourism and Hot Springs, and sent it to the National Diet Library Tokyo Branch for storage. When the manuscript was completed, I asked Principal Kuroiwa to read it and check it. The principal asked me, "What are you going to do with this manuscript?", so I explained that I would include it in a collection of essays and have it stored in the National Diet Library. "Oh, right. Then send it to Prince Tomohito's residence," the principal said. I was surprised. I had never imagined sending a poorly written manuscript to the residence of a prince. "It's okay. It will only arrive at the office of a staff member called the Imperial Palace Attorney. You should report it," he said. I was relieved to have mailed the manuscript, and a few days later, His Highness checked my manuscript and the Imperial Palace Attorney sent it to me. At the time, Prince Tomohito was battling diabetes, but he checked my manuscript, which was that of an ordinary citizen. --The Imperial Family is a wonderful thing. What does the Imperial Family mean to the people? Since then, I have been researching the Constitution, the symbolic Emperor System, and the Imperial Family. And six years ago, my father passed away on Constitution Memorial Day. Last year, Golden Week was just after restrictions were lifted, so I tried to go to a temple to pray for my soul, but I gave up because of the huge traffic jam. So I decided to study the Constitution from May 3rd last year. I became convinced that the reason for the existence of the symbolic Emperor System and the Imperial Family is that they are "one with the sovereignty of the people" under the Constitution. And I realized one more thing. That is, ---Compared to a republic where the power struggle in this world is blatantly manifested and society is divided, Japan, with its symbolic Emperor System, has a "stabilizing device" to prevent the country from being divided into two and falling into a "society of conflict." If you look at the United States and South Korea, society is divided. Isn't this the danger of a republic? Of course, it may be difficult to make quick decisions. But it's better than a quick dictatorship. The problem is that the speed of social change is slow, so there is a drawback that the people's interest in politics tends to be low. The turnout for the most recent Gunma Prefectural Governor election was below 30%. It has been particularly common recently for local elections to have turnouts of around 39%. Although there is a lot of publicity campaigning to encourage people to vote, the turnout rate in various elections tends to decline, just like the birth rate. Even in fierce battles, the turnout rate is not high. I go to vote, and I write the names of the candidates with a fountain pen or a proper ballpoint pen, including their titles. I don't write the names of those who may become members of the legislature with a pencil with a rounded tip. The reason I always go to vote is because I want to vote as a sovereign citizen, and also to commemorate the many people who died in the war. Since the symbolic Emperor System and popular sovereignty are one and the same, I believe that popular sovereignty is sacred. There is another view. In rural areas, no matter what a newcomer like me says, my opinion is ignored. Once you register your resident card, you become the sovereign of that local government. However, in reality, in rural areas, only local people who have graduated from elementary and junior high schools in the area are considered "locals," and those who move there are treated as "outsiders." ---You're the kind of guy who discovered the mistake made by the Fair Trade Commission in the artificial hot springs of Kusatsu Onsen and fought it all the way to the Supreme Court, so you're not needed in this area. That's the atmosphere. ---There are many times when we ask the national government for various things through the prefecture. Who is this person who discovers a mistake by the national government and files a lawsuit to demand a correction? I wonder if Kusatsu Town and Gunma Prefecture think that "the Emperor System is unnecessary"? Now, let's go back to the title of this chapter. "The sovereign people discovered the mistake of the executive branch." I wrote a lawsuit on my own and took the case all the way to the Supreme Court. There are almost no lawyers who are skilled in this kind of thing. And even if there were, they would be asked to pay several million yen in legal fees. The Constitution of Japan belongs to all the people. It is not written in literary style like the Meiji Constitution. It is something that anyone can understand once they become aware of it. The basic principles are "sovereignty of the people, pacifism, and respect for human rights." Now, there was an administrative mistake by the Cabinet Office. I would like to report the results of my lobbying of each political party regarding this case, which concerns the foundation of democracy. Many people would think that liberals, that is, the opposition parties, would be very interested in this kind of "sovereignty of the people." However, the reality is the opposite. The Communist Party was ignored. A Communist Party member of the Kusatsu Town Council put up a flyer with false information and inserted it into the newspaper. The apartment building where I live is said to be evading taxes. The hotel that developed my apartment building once ran into difficulties due to the effects of the Lehman Shock. A fund from Tokyo bought up the debt, and while operations continued, the parent company changed. According to the Kusatsu Town Ordinance, if an individual or company that has been in the area for less than five years purchases a hot spring right from the previous owner, they must pay five times the name change fee. The hotel then improved operations and bought back the management rights. They bought back the management rights from outside Kusatsu Town. The Communist Party town council member put up a flyer saying that the hot spring name change fee, which is five times the usual amount, in other words the town tax, had not been paid twice, and that the total amount amounted to 300 million yen. A former resident said to me, "I heard your apartment building is evading taxes," so I looked into it. I checked the facts with a town council member who was the president of a hotel during the Lehman Shock and was an anti-mayor, which caused problems. Then, just before the Management Research Center moved, the hot spring rights were separated from the hotel and put in the name of the hotel chairman. The hot spring rights of the apartment building where I live were also transferred to the management association corporation and sold. In other words, the hot spring rights were not transferred outside the town, and the hot spring rights were not transferred from outside the town to within the town. I told the Communist Party town council member to "put a correction and apology in the newspaper," but they just ran away. I reported this incident to Yasuo Ogata, a former member of the House of Councilors and deputy leader of the Communist Party, and sent a document to instruct the town council member, but he ignored me. Naturally, he is indifferent to the mistake in the Fair Trade Commission's punishment. In the first place, they do not recognize the Emperor System, and even did not recognize the Emperor's opening speech, which is a state act at the opening of the Diet, for many years and was absent. It seems that they think that the Emperor System is a remnant of prewar militarism. The Social Democratic Party is no good either. The secretary of the party leader was with me for several days during the "Wulai Incident" involving foreign students, and supported me, but he has no understanding of "national sovereignty." They have become a policy group with anti-war policies. The Constitutional Democratic Party is no good either. When Kiyomi Tsujimoto was a member of the House of Representatives, I was sitting next to the lobby at the entrance to the Diet Building and was making a phone call to make a reservation for Thai food, so I gave her a set of documents about the Fair Trade Commission's Kusatsu Onsen Hana processing mistake and exchanged business cards, but she probably doesn't understand the concept of national sovereignty. When the Democratic Party was in power, she served as Vice Minister of Finance. As I am the founder of the "Peace Ship," I once read her blog. Every day she would say, "This country has no money." I thought she was a bureaucrat announcer at the Ministry of Finance. And when she was in the Social Democratic Party, she cheated the government out of the salaries of two secretaries that she didn't actually employ. It's not just "false statements." The Social Democratic Party was terrible at that time. When I brought her a document warning her that "I shouldn't make fun of the Prime Minister's name," she said, "Everyone around here is talking about Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori when they say Shinkiro who will disappear." There was no system of collective responsibility, and this female staff member was arrested for exploiting the salary of a fictitious secretary. I was on the verge of saying it. "Your party leader can also say, 'Get out of here, because he's a thing of the past.'" "Get out of here, get out of here, Takako, get out of here." Prime Minister Mori Yoshiro, who said, "Let them say that kind of ridicule," was much more mature. The CDP informed both Izumi Kenta and Edano Yukio of the situation by registered mail, but it probably stopped at the secretary and was discarded. That's why they only increased their proportional votes by 70,000 in the general election last October. This was in contrast to the Democratic Party for the People and Reiwa Shinsengumi, who increased their proportional votes by a large amount. Reiwa also sent materials when it was a small party, but there was no response. His passion to "create politics that shines a spotlight on the socially vulnerable" is clear, and that is probably why he gained more seats. However, there is a difference between raising one's standard of living to that of other people and participating in creating politics and society as a sovereign citizen. There is a very informative discussion between Taro Yamamoto on the Mitsuhashi Takaaki Channel, but I have one objection. The explanation is that the Greek crisis was caused by the excessive issuance of many government bonds denominated in euros, which led to economic collapse. Greece went bankrupt because it did not have the right to issue euro currency, which is different from the situation of hyperinflation in Germany under the Weimar Constitution. However, I have seen the situation in which South Korea was caught up in the Asian financial crisis and went into economic collapse at the end of the Kim Young-sam administration, and came under the control of the International Monetary Fund. South Korea has the right to issue its own currency, the won, but it went into economic collapse. If Japan's export industry declines and its ability to earn foreign currency declines, and if an earthquake occurs directly beneath the capital or along the Suruga Bay Tonankai Trough, it is predicted that more than 20 trillion yen in reconstruction funds will be needed. If the world judges that Japan does not have the financial resources to do so, there is a possibility that interest rates on Japanese government bonds will rise abnormally. Mitsuhashi's theory is innovative in a sense, like the "egg of Columbus," but on the other hand, I think there is a risk of the Japanese government going bankrupt. I have not yet approached the Democratic Party for the People. I have mailed it to the Japan Restoration Party, but there has been no response. I have also sent materials to the office of lawyer Toru Hashimoto, but after reading several of his books, he seems to say, "I won't read anything that can't be summarized on a single A4 sheet of paper." However, I should make it clear that I have gained a lot from Toru Hashimoto's books. The reason why the Japan Restoration Party lost 2 million proportional votes is because the policies of the Democratic Party for the People were easier to understand. It should also be pointed out that the evaluation has settled down as a reaction to the fact that they tripled their seats in the general election two years ago. Now, I have explained how the opposition parties have responded to the importance of "popular sovereignty." Because the Meiji Constitution was pushed forward for 75 years with "Kokutai, Shinto, and the Emperor," the Japanese government did not come up with the ideas of "popular sovereignty, pacifism, and respect for human rights." Similarly, it has been 80 years since the end of the war, and a little over 77 years since the Constitution was enacted. During this time, the "Popular Sovereignty Law" has not been enacted. In a sense, it is merely an "idea," but since the Constitution clearly states that it is "one with the symbolic Emperor System," if "popular sovereignty" is not clearly stated and made effective, it will become unclear what the Emperor System is for, and it will be impossible to explain to the world. This will in turn make it unclear what "popular sovereignty" is, and it will not be possible to concretize it. I also initially thought that liberal parties had a higher level of understanding of popular sovereignty. However, when I tried to lobby the ruling parties, two LDP parties, and the Komeito Party headquarters, responded, although I cannot mention their names. In particular, the Komeito Party has a history of not being able to return to the prewar era. During the war, the founder of the support group Soka Gakkai, Tsunesaburo Makiguchi, was forced by the militarist government to worship Shinto as an absolute religion, but as a follower of the Nichiren sect, he refused. He was imprisoned for "lese majesty" and died in prison. He does not accept the three sets of militarism: "Kokutai, Shinto, and the Emperor." There is a department in the Komeito headquarters that listens to the voices of the people, and I received a lot of guidance from them. When I report on what I have researched over the past year and consult with them, they give me advice such as "You should learn this" further in advance. When I report on the "Fair Trade Commission's mis-discipline incident," they listen normally and are surprised. Since they are part of the ruling party in the government, it may be difficult to fight the executive branch, but when I consult with them about tourism promotion, the person who responds most politely is the current Komeito representative Saito Tetsuo, who served as Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism and Minister of the Japan Tourism Agency for a long time. It is a Diet office that comforts, encourages, and worries about me. In the last general election, the proportional votes fell by 2 million. Commentators say that this is due to the aging of supporters, but I think that the reason for the decline in Komeito's votes is actually something else. I think that this is because the social evaluation of the party as "a religious party whose support base is a specific religion that is one with Soka Gakkai" is at the root of the public consciousness. The new leader made the party's direction clear by saying that it would "return to a middle-of-the-road approach." There are many members of the Komeito Party, especially in the House of Councilors, who are qualified lawyers. In other words, the Komeito Party has a stable presence of legal experts in the house of conscience and the house of checking. The Meiji Constitution was "national polity, Shinto (mythology), the Emperor, and militarism," but the current Constitution is "national sovereignty of the people one with the Emperor, pacifism, UNism, and respect for human rights." The theme of "sovereignty of the people," which allows people to become political participants in the land no matter where they live, may be something that the Komeito Party can advance the most. The media was also informed of the "Fair Trade Commission's mistake in its punishment." Almost all media ignored it. Only the Asahi Shimbun Gunma edition reported it. But the reporter never answered the phone again. The Yomiuri Shimbun Social Affairs Department is no good. In a long interview with Watanabe Tsuneo on NHK, Watanabe Tsuneo said something like, "It is the mission of a newspaper to go and find what the country is trying to hide and write an article about it." The seven members of the "Constitutional Research Group" produced two outstanding individuals: the president and editor-in-chief of the Yomiuri Shimbun, and another person who was editor-in-chief of the Yomiuri Shimbun. NHK is no good. I received a handwritten letter from the Social Affairs Department chief. It said something abstract like, "We will continue to make an effort to report on this issue." By writing it by hand instead of typing it on a computer, there is absolutely no evidence left in the bureau. It's a bad picture. I also brought documents to the Diet building of NHK Party Representative Garcy, but there was no reaction. Or rather, there was no reaction because he had fled the country. By chance, I ran into Representative Tachibana Takashi. I gave him my business card, but Tachibana did not give me one. What does it mean to "protect the people from NHK"? Not reporting based on popular sovereignty is a "violation of the Constitution," and since the preamble states that any laws or imperial decrees that go against popular sovereignty are not recognized under the Constitution, Tachibana should fight against the "NHK Act" being a violation of the Constitution, but there was no atmosphere of doing so. An accuser at the Hyogo Prefectural Office was driven to suicide. A prefectural assembly member was also driven to suicide. There was also an incident where the social media accounts of a candidate opposing a re-elected governor were blocked. This is probably incompatible with "unity with popular sovereignty and the Emperor System." There was a time when TBS was known as the news station. Naga Rokusuke made a bold statement saying, "I'll talk about anything on my radio show." A set of documents on the "Fair Trade Commission's mistake in disciplinary action" up until the Supreme Court was sent to his personal office. It won't be sent to the broadcasting station. It's common for directors to cover things up. He didn't talk about "this incident, which concerns the essence of popular sovereignty" on air. Was it a broken promise or just liberal lip service? I received a postcard that said, "Sorry, Naga Rokusuke." I think that's just how it is with existing media. Even Fuji TV appointed a bureaucrat from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications as an outside director and paid him 20 million yen a year in salary. . With a rapidly declining birthrate and aging population, if the door to active participation in politics and industry as sovereign citizens is not opened up, the country and society of Japan will see its growth potential diminish and its economy shrink. Those at the top continue to be considerate to those with licenses and permits, and those at the top oppress those at the bottom. Such a society has no bright future. When Japan and Korea co-hosted the 2002 FIFA World Cup, South Korea was halfway to recovering from the economic collapse of 1997. They did everything they could, all the people suffered, and they moved forward with all their might to overcome their difficulties. Japan's current productivity is lower than South Korea's. If we are not productive and cannot find something to sell to the world even in the midst of fierce competition, the value of national bonds will fall, interest rates will rise, and the Japanese economy will collapse as the government goes bankrupt. This actually happened in South Korea. Finally, I would like to express my gratitude to my former university teacher, Professor Shizuko Ishihara (deceased). I think that all universities in Japan are succumbing to the control of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology and are unable to conduct research, express opinions, or even establish departments on the topic of "national sovereignty and the symbolic Emperor System becoming one." I believe that Professor Shizuko Ishihara was a researcher who seriously considered this issue. I would like to ask what the postwar period was for, as I am the only one who is questioning the way the country is run, the fact that the Cabinet Office Fair Trade Commission made a mistake in its handling of the case. I cannot apologize to the war dead, including many civilians, and to the war dead of Asian countries and the United States, our enemy. I am now 66 years old, but when I was a teacher at a Japanese language school, I often had discussions with Chinese students. To students who say, "Professor, the Cultural Revolution caused great damage. It was wrong," I have always said, "It did contain some mistakes, but I believe it raised important issues." I do not view Mao Zedong as absolute. However, there is one phrase in Mao's words that I find particularly troubling. I will conclude this article with that. --- Journalists, university researchers, politicians, and administrators who cannot properly read the Constitution as a linguistic resource and cannot point out the errors of the executive branch are "intellectuals!" I express my strong feelings of condolence to the people of the world who lost their lives in World War II. I express my respect for the honor of fighting against fascism, especially to the Soviet and Chinese war dead, whose deaths were so great. I express my deepest condolences to the Korean peninsula's victims in the KOREA War. I hope for a world where there is no war and where people can live their daily lives in peace anywhere in the world.

*I received a lecture on cultural theory in Korean from Lee O-young, the first Minister of State for Cultural Affairs of the Republic of Korea, who was appointed from the private sector, and he signed my name in the book. I received a great deal of kindness from the secretaries of the former democratically elected presidents Kim Dae-jung, Kim Young-sam, and Roh Tae-woo. I cannot be unconditionally happy that the KOREA war put Japan on the path to postwar reconstruction. I received kindness from the members of the Japanese Diet, the governors, and everyone else. I am truly grateful.