|
发表于 2011-12-9 11:19:27
|
显示全部楼层
VOX POPULI: We must beware the smallness of our politicians
Shigenori Togo (1882-1950) was an unlucky man who served as foreign minister both at the time Japan went to war against the United States and when it was defeated. Although he stepped down after the war started, he was appointed to the post again, apparently because of his personal attributes.He put his all into avoiding war, but his efforts were unanswered. After the war, he was sentenced to imprisonment as a Class-A war criminal by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East.
While in prison, Togo often composed tanka poems. He took a harsh view of his fellow Class-A war criminals."When I think/ These people had led the nation/ I am appalled at their smallness." He also wrote: "These people/ Had neither faith nor ideals/ All they did was commit themselves to fever." The poems express Togo's anger toward the military leaders who had wielded so much power but actually turned out to be small men.
Be that as it may, Togo was also a member of the wartime Cabinet. The ones who got the shortest end of the stick were the Japanese people, who single-mindedly fought the war not knowing the smallness of their leaders, as well as the Asian countries that became battlegrounds. Seventy years ago, on Dec. 8, Japan was excited over the outbreak of war against the United States.
While Japan achieved military gains during the early stages of the war, it completely lacked a clear way of ending it. To compete with U.S. material power, it rushed headlong to a fight in which it recklessly squandered lives as if they grew on vines. As we all know, it faced annihilation in the end.
The reason I don't think Togo's poems have faded after all these years is because of today's political situation following the recent change of government. It did not take long for the political bigwigs, who appeared brilliant at first, to show their true colors. The same can be said of our Cabinet ministers. The sense of stagnation hanging over the nation at this time of crisis is strong and recalls that of wartime.
It is said that history repeats itself, disguising itself in the clothes of a new era. The chant "Don't miss the bus" now being heard in connection with the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement, was, I understand, also heard when Japan joined the Tripartite Pact with Germany and Italy in 1940. We are not facing a war, but the world is at a crossroads. We need to learn from the past for the sake of the future. This is particularly true of politicians.
--The Asahi Shimbun, Dec. 8 |
|