MUSINGS / Feb. 2, 2012

The Yomiuri Shimbun

The following is a translation of the Henshu Techo column from The Yomiuri Shimbun's Feb. 2 issue.

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"The same thing will show a different facet when you view it through 'daytime' or 'nighttime' thought," writes Ogai Mori (1862-1922) in his novel "Seinen" (Young Men). If wisdom stems from daytime thought, machination must be a product of nighttime thought.

Among historical figures, Akechi Mitsuhide (ca 1526-1582), a samurai general, is said to have favored nighttime thought. But at nighttime, you are prone to fevered imagination. You will often make a problem even more complicated at night, instead of finding a clue to solve it.

I wonder if one recent incident was caused by nighttime thought, since it has the aroma of a plot.

The chief of the Defense Ministry's Okinawa Defense Bureau reportedly made a list of bureau officials who live in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, or have relatives there, and encouraged them to vote in the upcoming mayoral election. Ginowan hosts the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station.

He deserves to be suspected of interfering with the election.

A bureaucrat is said to have "honno," or instincts, to wheel and deal. But it looks as if both his predecessor, who was dismissed from the post in November for making an offensive gaffe, and this very bureau chief himself were apparently working hard to infuriate residents of Okinawa Prefecture and make the relocation of the air station even more difficult.

Lawmakers who hold the top three positions at the ministry--minister, senior vice minister and parliamentary secretary--should have used their reason to prevent bureaucrats' instincts from getting out of control. That should be the true meaning of "policy-making led by politicians."

I believe Akechi, a general and expert tactician, left words of wisdom concerning instincts. "Our enemy is in honno," he said--well, not quite. Actually, he said "Honnoji temple."