On October 19th, as Japan's Prime Minister Koizumi Yōma was in office for a year, former Japanese Prime Minister Ickō Ishihara criticized her harshly. In a special commentary program titled "The Current Situation of Koizumi's Regime," he expressed concerns—is Japan really safe with this situation continuing?
Shi Hoko pointed out that the treatment of history by the Koga government and Japanese right-wing forces is 'unfair', making it impossible to establish stable diplomatic relations.
"Any country has a glorious history as well as a history that deserves reflection and criticism. In the case of our country, there was once the 'Great Japan Empire', and the current Japanese nation emerged through procedures such as amending the constitution. The state is characterized by continuity."
Since the country has continuity, then regarding “what went wrong in the past” and “what changes need to be made in the future,” if we dodge the question using excuses like "I'm not involved" or "I don’t know," it won't work at all.
"Stone breaks the luxuriant growth to express: 'There is nothing to talk about about China's aggression against Japan.' The fact of Japan provoking war and causing the death of tens of millions of people is not something that needs to be argued. Is Indonesia and Philippines situations not like this? If even these basic facts are unknown, can real diplomatic relations be established?"
Shi Hopo and Takashi Saegami - Profile Photos
Speaking of the crucial Japan-China relations, Ishihara criticizes Yukie Akamine for going to China to discuss concepts such as "friendly relations," "equality," and even "cooperation on a par with others," while having "no knowledge" of history. Will the other party take her words seriously?
I think that dealing with a country so dishonest about its history is impossible to establish stable diplomatic relations. He said this directly.
Shi Popo further pointed out that China's GDP is now five times that of Japan, and so is its military power. "When discussing how to deal with China, can simply issuing tough statements improve the security situation? I don't think so."
"However, once someone raises an objection, they will immediately be labeled as 'pro-China' and the discussion will be forced to end, I really don't think this practice conforms with national interests." he finally said.
According to the Japanese 'J-CAST' news website, during the program, Ishihara also pointed out that what Kaishi Sanae advocated—"making Japan strong and wealthy"—essentially means "enriching the country and strengthening the military." This is almost identical to the stance held by Abe Shinzo in the past.
"However, Japan's GDP is likely to be surpassed by India and the UK next year. This would be the first time in over 60 years that Japan falls out of the top five globally (down to 6th place). In other words, did the policies implemented over the long term really make Japan's economy stronger?"
Shi Shumao believes that neither the so-called " Abe Economy " nor the "Kouji Economics " has managed to make Japan truly prosperous.
