At a House of Representatives Budget Committee meeting on Feb. 13, Shizuka Kamei, leader of the People's New Party, was the last speaker to ascend the podium. And rightly so, because his speech was a masterpiece. He delivered advice to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe persuasively and powerfully. The people attending the Budget Committee meeting and the television audience listened quietly and attentively to Kamei's message. His speech touched the hearts of the nation, especially the elderly. A baby-boomer friend of mine told me that his octagenarian mother was deeply moved by Kamei's passion.
"She sympathized deeply with his message; she listened attentively, agreeing with him all the way," he said. Kamei showed us in his speech the ideal direction for Japanese politics.

"Are we really OK with the way Japan is now?"
This is what Kamei asked our prime minister.
"We Japanese didn't always have a capitalist economy. We managed with our way of life for thousands of years ― is there a reason to drastically Americanize all this right now? The Japanese people should have their own distinct way of living," he said, adding, "Prime minister, I believe this is a truly serious situation. What way of life will lead to happiness for the Japanese people? I would like you to make this the starting point for your economic and social policies." Prime Minister Abe needs to answer this request.

Relations between the LDP and New Komeito/Soka Gakkai Kamei made two points about the dangers of the coalition between the Liberal Democratic Party and the New Komeito Party.
The first point he made was about how the LDP must cooperate at election time with New Komeito and the lay Buddhist organization Soka Gakkai. He pointed out that an LDP candidate on the proportional representation section of the ballot in a given electoral district is forced to appeal to New Komeito to win the seat. Kamei asked the prime minister whether this didn't just bring about the degeneration and self-destruction of party politics, but the prime minister didn't give him an answer.
Second, Kamei asked whether the prime minister had met Daisaku Ikeda, president of Soka Gakkai, after Abe was elected president of the LDP, as was rumored in some newspaper reports. To this question, Abe replied, "I have never met him."
However, the people believe the newspaper reports. Abe's people have not pressed the newspapers for proof of their claims. The prime minister just keeps repeating, "We didn't meet." If he stays on this course, he will not alleviate the citizens' doubts. This is not something to be vague about. The problem boils down to the prime minister's remarks in the Diet. If there is really nothing to this story, he needs to make that clear by issuing a firm denial.

END