The Showa era is far behind us
In my last article I wrote about the Japan-US Joint Statement, but as I was writing that, another subject came up that I really wanted to write about.
If it's so important, why isn't there more talk about it?
I WENT TO AN AMERICAN LAW SCHOOL AS AN LLM STUDENT IN 1994. AT THE START OF MY FIRST CLASS, I WAS SITTING AT THE BACK OF THE STAIRWELL, LOOKING BLANKLY AHEAD, BECAUSE I DIDN'T HAVE ANY FRIENDS YET AND I WAS THE ONLY JAPANESE AROUND. A COUPLE OF AMERICAN STUDENTS SAT IN FRONT OF ME, BUT THEY SEEMED TO NOTICE THAT THERE WAS AN ASIAN STUDENT WHO LOOKED LIKE AN INTERNATIONAL STUDENT ALONE IN THE BACK SEAT, SO THEY APPROACHED ME.
"'Hi, I'm 00. Where are you from?"
"Hi, I'm 00, from Japan. From Japan."
"Oh, you're Japanese. Nice to meet you. By the way, now that Japan has a coalition government, how will things change?"
"Eh...
It was a time when the LDP, unable to maintain a single government, formed a coalition with the Socialist Party and put up Prime Minister Murayama. But how do you know all this? Why are we suddenly talking about politics? My head was spinning. What really struck me was that here, politics is a hot topic that is always talked about casually. I then realised that in the US, university students and even younger children have their own opinions about the parties and policies they support. As for me, I didn't care about politics or elections from high school until I graduated from university, and I don't remember ever talking about it. I wonder where this difference comes from.
The story goes back to the 1960s. It was the height of the student movement, and students demonstrated, struck and held sieges with various demands such as "no to the Security Treaty", "no to the Vietnam War", "no to the increase in school fees" and so on. Not only university students but also high school and junior high school students actively participated in this student movement. They raised their own arguments against the management and the system and tried to reform the management system. This culminated in the Yasuda Auditorium Incident of 1968-69. In the end, the students were defeated by the riot police, who used water and other means to remove them from the Yasuda Auditorium at the University of Tokyo. After that, they were labeled as student activists, i.e. illegal violent groups, and disappeared from the stage. However, if you read various records, you will find that the more serious and well-educated people at the time were the ones who were seriously involved in the student movement, dreaming of improving society. The best-selling Akutagawa Prize-winning novels, such as Shibata Sho's " Sarada ga waga nichi- " and Shoji Kaoru's " Akatsukakin-chan kawarete ", show the seriousness of the student movement at the time and the struggles of students in the midst of it. The song "Kanda River" sung by Kaguyahime also has the student movement in the background, and the refrain
When I was young, I was not afraid of anything. I was just afraid of your kindness.
The film is about a man who is a student activist and is afraid that the kindness of the woman he lives with will make him give up his activism. It's a pity that the students, who at that time were serious about Japan and its future, were murdered by the society.
On the other hand, the Ministry of Education (at that time) was thinking. On the other hand, the Ministry of Education (at that time) thought: "We don't want to let this kind of student movement go unchecked and have another political backlash in the future. From now on, students should not be allowed to engage in political activities and should be allowed to study only. This is why the Ministry of Education came up with the notice. Officially, it was called " Political Education and Political Activities in Higher Education (Notification of the Director-General of the Elementary and Secondary Education Bureau, Ministry of Education, October 31, 1969). The first sentence is amazing. The first sentence is amazing.
It is regrettable that, partly as a result of the university conflict, some high school students have recently been involved in illegal or violent political activities, disrupting classes or blockading schools.
As this says it all, high school students are banned from political activities. Moreover, this was still in force until 2015, when the voting age was lowered to 18, and a notice was issued with slightly different wording. In other words, for 50 years since 1969, high school students have been banned from political activities by the Ministry of Education.
The power of education is frightening. When I joined the university, there were still some senior students who knew about the student movement, so there were some signs on the campus, and sometimes you could hear the speeches. Some of them even joined the Narita struggle, saying "I'm going to Narita for a picnic". This gradually disappeared and by the time I graduated, the campus was completely "peaceful".
Ten years is the total of junior high school, high school and university. After 10 years of banning political activities, it is forgotten that there used to be political activities in schools. The label "student movement = violent activity = dropout" is applied. And if you increase the number of students, including university students, who are not interested in politics, the topic of conversation will become fashion and entertainment. It becomes weird and uncool to talk about politics. After 50 years of this, there are no more students talking about politics, and no one doubts that. It is no wonder that Greta has not appeared in Japan. And since the people who spent their lives as students (myself included) now make up most of the working population, many ordinary people have lost interest in what politicians are doing and are more interested in celebrity gossip and comedy. In order to increase viewership, TV stations show variety shows with comedians rather than news and political programs, which turn people away. Only a small percentage of people who have been in the workforce for a while start to notice how society works and have questions and concerns about it. It is no wonder that students and young people just starting out in the world of work are not interested in politics. I have lamented this before, but it seems to me that the reason for this lies in a Ministry of Education directive from 1969. Many young people don't even know about the Tokyo University dispute anymore.
Here is the main topic. It's been a long time coming. As I wrote in my last article, the Japan-US summit was very important, but the reason why no one is discussing it is because most of the public is not interested in politics. So the government conspiracy of many years is working. So what happens then? When those in power misuse their power, there is no one to criticise or even notice. Former Prime Minister Mori once blurted out that it would be better if (young people) just said they weren't interested in the election and went back to sleep, and I think he meant it. The fact that there are no political or news programmes on TV is exactly what the powers that be want.
Now, this is a big problem. The basis of democracy is healthy debate. Everyone should be given the opportunity to express his or her opinion. What is important is that people get information about the world so that they can think for themselves and have their own opinions. In other words, the right to know. It is the same for politics. There is no need to limit it by age. High school students and university students have the right to know (learn) what's going on in politics. The Ministry of Education has been depriving them of this right since 1969. The result is the current apathy towards politics. The result is the current political apathy, which has allowed the politicians to do whatever they want without being strongly criticised by the people.
This is similar to some other countries.
China.
Although the political system is different, in China it is not legal to go against the government, so there is no discussion of politics itself. Even in schools, they use textbooks that conform to the wishes of the Communist Party of China, so they don't teach anything that is inconvenient for the Communist Party, and access to information from the West is restricted, so most young people don't know about the Tiananmen Square protests that took place 30 years ago. They don't talk about politics, they don't know about the anti-establishment democratic movements of the past. Before you accuse China of being terrible, you should realise that Japan was in the same situation for many years before that.
Hong Kong.
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University incident was like watching the Yasuda Auditorium incident at the University of Tokyo. Students holed up on the university campus, the last stronghold of the student-led anti-establishment democratic movement, finally surrendered to government attacks. The students were later arrested and the curriculum was revised to provide patriotic education. Sooner or later, Hong Kong will be like Japan and China, where students don't talk politics anymore, and the Hong Kong Polytechnic University incident will be a thing of the past. It is sad.
We have been taught that democracy is a very good system of government. We have been taught that democracy is a very good system of government, in which the people choose their rulers, monitor them constantly, and replace them if they are unfit. It is a wonderful system. On the other hand, one-party dictatorships and despotic monarchies are inferior to democracy in that they can only be replaced by revolution if the ruler becomes corrupt. However, if you think about it, all of these systems are about the process of appointing and removing the ruler, not about the ability of the ruler. A country can be a dictatorship or a tyranny and still prosper if the ruler is a good one. Singapore is a good example. It has been a virtual one-party dictatorship since its independence in 1965, but it is a rare example of a country that has continued to enjoy great prosperity thanks to the long reign of a good leader. On the other hand, when a democracy ceases to function as it should, there is no hope of self-purification of the rulers. A democracy elected in name only will reign for a long time and become an absolute power, and "absolute power corrupts absolutely". Isn't this the situation in Japan today? Japanese politicians are setting a precedent for China and Hong Kong. It is ironic.
Japan is in trouble.
See you next time.
