Lies do not Last
    

     Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi should not tell a lie. He suddenly visited the Yasukuni Shrine
at about two o’clock on January 14. A newspaper reporter asked Yasuo Fukuda, the Chief Cabinet
Secretary, in the morning that day whether Mr. Koizumi would visit Yasukuni Shrine. Then, he
answered, “The story may have been invented by you.”(The Asahi, January. 14, 2003) In spite of
Fukuda’s comment, Koizumi visited the Yasukuni Shrine a few hours later. Why does the Chief
Chabinet Secretary Fukuda tell a transparent lie, and why does Koizumi visit the shrine secretly?
If he has a conviction that his behavior is right, he should visit it openly. Many people will imagine
that he has acted stealthily because he has an unclear conscience.
     Korea and China have been protesting the Japanese Prime Minister visiting the Yasukuni
Shrine where very important war criminals like Hideki Tojo (1884-1948) are deified. However,
Koizumi continued to visit the Yasukuni Shrine for three years as if he ignores their objection.
Visiting the Yasukuni Shrine on August 15 is the worst thing to Korea and China because the day
is the anniversary of the end of the Pacific War. So he visited it in August 2001, in April 2002, and
in January 2003. These visits to the Yasukuni Shrine without notice prove that he has never
listened to the two countries’ protests. That is, his behavior shows that he has not searched his
conscience about the recent world war.
     That is why the Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda had to tell a lie even a few hours before
Koizumi’s visit to the Yasukuni Shrine. Koizumi’s government has committed the same mistake
before. Namely, it was that the government had annulled their agreement on the temporary return
to Japan of the abducted people from North Korea, although the writer cannot understand why
the government gave such a promise to North Korea. If they continue to take such an
incomprehensible attitude, Japan will be regarded as an untrustworthy country.
     In conclusion, Koizumi should not tell a transparent lie even if he has to visit the Yasukuni
Shrine as a Prime Minister. (In fact, the writer is opposed to his visit to the shrine) If Koizumi has
a strong conviction to visit the Yasukuni Shrine, he should go there in a dignified manner and explain
his rightfulness to Korea and China clearly. If he is unable to do this, people in the world as well as
domestic people will not trust Prime Minister Koizumi.
 

Copyright (c) 2003 by Edmond N. Beard