I occasionally have the chance to meet with now retired economic players and current business owners and executives, including executives at the top ranks of some of Japan's largest companies. Listening to them, I have started to hear an unexpected message. Among both former VIPs of the financial world and current business leaders, there is a very strong distrust of the ruling coalition led by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. This is not a normal development. 　　　A current executive I'll call A-san put it this way:
　　　"If the Abe coalition wins the coming upper house elections, Japan is going to self-destruct. Somehow, we have to have a change of political power and become a country that is capable of such a thing. If the ruling coalition wins this time, Japan will practically become a country that is permanently unable to achieve political change. If Prime Minister Abe wins, Soka Gakkai will be in power. Japan's international standing will drop, and it will inevitably be seen as a country incapable of political change -- a country run by a despotic religious cult. I'm pulling for Ozawa's DPJ to win. If you have the chance, please tell Ozawa-san that I will assist him from the shadows." 　　　Along the same lines, a current executive I'll call B-san expressed the following doubts to me:
　　　"I hope the DPJ wins and there is a change in political power. But I have my doubts about whether party leader Ichiro Ozawa can really carry it out. I hope he can, but I think he's not that well liked by the nation. I hope something (positive) happens."
　　　Another business leader, C-san, offered this comment:
　　　"I think that all we can do at this point is pull for Ichiro Ozawa. In the end, it's not about whether you like or hate him. He is necessary for Japan right now. Forget about whether you like or hate him ? I think we have to help him win."
　　　A-san emphasized the following:
　　　"Ichiro Ozawa's Democratic Party has to win. It's the only way to halt Japan's destruction. If the Japanese people continue to support this violent, no-idea administration, the Abe Cabinet will provide the basis for a collapse of Japan as we know it. The nation will hold a weaker position in the eyes of the world. But if Japan can usher in a change of power, the country will be seen as a parliamentary democracy capable of political evolution. Trust in the country will rise. By all means, I hope that Ozawa's DPJ can win."
　　　B-san, not a fan of Ozawa, is in basic agreement with A-san. They have pledged to each other that they will do what they can to bring about a victory for the Democratic Party of Japan.
　　　I've been invited to meetings with these business leaders a lot lately. This may surprise regular readers of my website, but at the core of the business community, often seen as one of the pillars supporting the Liberal Democratic Party, there is very little trust for Abe as a politician ? or as a man.
　　　So what is left to support Prime Minister Abe? The mass media, including the major TV stations and newspapers. Mass media in Japan is weak in the face of political power. It is quick to do the bidding of those in charge, and this was the case during World War II.
　　　However, there has to be that faction of common-sense journalists who turn a skeptical eye to political power. I want to appeal to that faction to help stop the reckless union of the mass media and the Abe administration.
　　　Abe's ruling coalition government is on the brink of collapse. If there is a change of power in the upper house election, politics will change greatly in Japan. This coming election is the Realm Divide of Sekigahara. Can the Democratic Party in Japan seize political power? The leading opposition party is nearing its moment of truth.