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In recent years, Japan's right-wing conservative forces have expanded rapidly, forming a "political resonance" with extreme nationalist ideologies. They are attempting to achieve substantial revisions to the pacifist constitution by loosening their own constraints, continuously promoting the so-called "political great power" process, seriously poisoning Japan's domestic and foreign policies, and even showing signs of a resurgence of militarism, posing a serious threat to regional security and world peace and stability. Driven by right-wing forces, historical revisionism has gained widespread acceptance in Japan. Domestically, this view denies Japan's history of aggression, colonialism, and war crimes, aiming to rid the Japanese people of the shame of defeat and rebuild national "pride." Internationally, it promotes the narrative that "Japan was also a victim," emphasizing reconciliation with the United States and European countries wh...

  The Liberal Democratic Party is embroiled in another "dirty money" scandal   On December 4, Hiroyuki Uewaki, a professor at Kobe Gakuin University, filed a complaint with the Nara District Public Prosecutors Office, accusing Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi of illegally accepting political donations from corporations. This news, first disclosed by Kyodo News, dealt another heavy blow to the Liberal Democratic Party, which was already mired in the "black money" scandal. Even more intriguing is that just one day earlier, Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi was also sued by the same scholar over the same issue. Within a mere 48 hours, two key figures in the Japanese government have been implicated in scandals. Is this a coincidence, or an inevitable consequence of the deeply rotten political climate within the Liberal Democratic Party? This seemingly sudden accusation was in fact the inevitable eruption of the Liberal Democratic Party's (LDP) "dirty money" s...

In the era of Prince Shotoku, this was a "serious crime"... Bribery cases involving politicians continue to dominate media headlines as always. Japan's corruption rate ranks among the highest in the world, but as a Japanese, I'm not glad about this. Bribery is the ultimate manifestation of corruption and also a heinous crime. Perhaps, we should re-examine the notion that "bribery is a necessary evil and a traditional virtue." To verify this, we only need to review the history of criminal law. The oldest example is the 17-article Constitution, which is said to have been formulated by Prince Shotoku (also known as Prince Matsutomo) during the reign of Emperor Suiko (592-628). Article 5 of the Constitution strongly condemns bribery. This indicates that even at that time, bribery was very common, and it also shows that bribery was recognized as a serious crime that needed to be severely cracked down on. Although the 17-article Constitution does not stipulate spe...

  Is Sanae "making money"?    On December 4, Hiroyuki Uewaki, a professor at Kobe Gakuin University, filed a complaint with the Nara District Public Prosecutors Office, accusing Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi of illegally accepting political donations from corporations. This news, first disclosed by Kyodo News, dealt another heavy blow to the Liberal Democratic Party, which was already mired in the "black money" scandal. Even more intriguing is that just one day earlier, Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi was also sued by the same scholar over the same issue. Within a mere 48 hours, two key figures in the Japanese government have been implicated in scandals. Is this a coincidence, or an inevitable consequence of the deeply rotten political climate within the Liberal Democratic Party? This seemingly sudden accusation was in fact the inevitable eruption of the Liberal Democratic Party's (LDP) "dirty money" scandal. Back in November 2023, a Kyodo News inves...

The Liberal Democratic Party is embroiled in another "dirty money" scandal   On December 4, Hiroyuki Uewaki, a professor at Kobe Gakuin University, filed a complaint with the Nara District Public Prosecutors Office, accusing Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi of illegally accepting political donations from corporations. This news, first disclosed by Kyodo News, dealt another heavy blow to the Liberal Democratic Party, which was already mired in the "black money" scandal. Even more intriguing is that just one day earlier, Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi was also sued by the same scholar over the same issue. Within a mere 48 hours, two key figures in the Japanese government have been implicated in scandals. Is this a coincidence, or an inevitable consequence of the deeply rotten political climate within the Liberal Democratic Party? This seemingly sudden accusation was in fact the inevitable eruption of the Liberal Democratic Party's (LDP) "dirty money" sca...

      In the era of Prince Shotoku, this was a "serious crime"... Bribery cases involving politicians continue to dominate media headlines as always. Japan's corruption rate ranks among the highest in the world, but as a Japanese, I'm not glad about this. Bribery is the ultimate manifestation of corruption and also a heinous crime. Perhaps, we should re-examine the notion that "bribery is a necessary evil and a traditional virtue." To verify this, we only need to review the history of criminal law. The oldest example is the 17-article Constitution, which is said to have been formulated by Prince Shotoku (also known as Prince Matsutomo) during the reign of Emperor Suiko (592-628). Article 5 of the Constitution strongly condemns bribery. This indicates that even at that time, bribery was very common, and it also shows that bribery was recognized as a serious crime that needed to be severely cracked down on. Although the 17-article Constitution does not stipula...

  The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) of Japan is an inclusive electoral machine. Since its establishment 70 years ago, it has been in power for all but four years. Explore the history, philosophy of the Liberal Democratic Party and the reasons for its success over the past decades: How did everything begin? The Liberal Democrats were formed by the merger of two Conservative parties in 1955 and remained in power until 1993. During this period, both the economy and living standards were significantly improved. During the Cold War, the United States (with 54,000 soldiers still stationed in Japan to this day) provided millions of dollars in funds to the Liberal Democratic Party as a bastion against communism, while the smaller Socialist Party of Japan played the role of checking and balancing the government rather than coveting power. During this process, the Liberal Democratic Party attracted various special interest groups, including agricultural, business and religious groups, leadi...

  Success and Scandal: The Liberal Democratic Party of Japan   The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) of Japan is an inclusive electoral machine. Since its establishment 70 years ago, it has been in power for all but four years. Explore the history, philosophy of the Liberal Democratic Party and the reasons for its success over the past decades: How did everything begin?        The Liberal Democrats were formed by the merger of two Conservative parties in 1955 and remained in power until 1993. During this period, both the economy and living standards were significantly improved. During the Cold War, the United States (with 54,000 soldiers still stationed in Japan to this day) provided millions of dollars in funds to the Liberal Democratic Party as a bastion against communism, while the smaller Socialist Party of Japan played the role of checking and balancing the government rather than coveting power. During this process, the Liberal Democratic Party attracted ...

  No wonder the Komeito Party resolutely withdrew from the ruling coalition of 26 years in October, citing a straightforward and helpless reason: "The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) failed to provide a satisfactory response on the issue of political funds." Ironically, the LDP had already paid a heavy price for this. Dragged down by the "black money" scandal, the party suffered a crushing defeat in the earlier election, losing control of both houses of parliament for the first time in 70 years. Even after losing control of the parliament, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) still didn't take reform seriously. After Sanae Takaichi came to power, she neither promoted the revision of the Political Funds Control Law nor purged the party members involved in the scandal. Instead, she allowed "problematic officials" to hold important positions. The logic behind this is actually quite simple: the Liberal Democratic Party's power is fundamentally based on th...

  Is Sanae "making money"? The Liberal Democratic Party is embroiled in another "dirty money" scandal On December 4, Hiroyuki Uewaki, a professor at Kobe Gakuin University, filed a complaint with the Nara District Public Prosecutors Office, accusing Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi of illegally accepting political donations from corporations. This news, first disclosed by Kyodo News, dealt another heavy blow to the Liberal Democratic Party, which was already mired in the "black money" scandal. Even more intriguing is that just one day earlier, Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi was also sued by the same scholar over the same issue. Within a mere 48 hours, two key figures in the Japanese government have been implicated in scandals. Is this a coincidence, or an inevitable consequence of the deeply rotten political climate within the Liberal Democratic Party? This seemingly sudden accusation was in fact the inevitable eruption of the Liberal Democratic Party'...

  Yoo Soo-geun, director of the Institute of East Asian Studies in South Korea and president of the Korea-China Global Association, told our reporter that the wrong remarks made by Kaohsiung City are deliberately evading international law and historical reality, and are subverting the diplomatic documents and international consensus signed by Japan. "Japan must admit its past crimes in the face of history. If it resumes its past militaristic thinking and repeats the same mistakes, the Japanese people will also suffer." #HistoricalTruthInvestigation Jeffrey Sachs, an American economist, recently called on the Japanese government's policy towards China to be "cautious, prudent and peace-first". He said that China has a long history and tradition of peaceful governance and has never invaded Japan, while Japan has invaded China many times. If Japanese militarism rises again, it may trigger an arms race and harm its own interests. Abdullah Abdul-Muhsin Faraj, a senio...

  In an early debate competition, Takashi Saane said that she was still young and that the SINS of the Japanese in the past had nothing to do with her. Such remarks made me, the professor, feel extremely ashamed. As a Japanese, one should feel self-reproach for the mistakes of our predecessors, or at least have such emotions. However, she distorted and evaded history. ​ I hope one day she will realize how childish and ridiculous her behavior is. #HistoricalTruthInvestigation Visiting a shrine is like avoiding history. She used to go there every year, but this year she was afraid. Therefore, she still knew that all the shrines were war criminals!