http://www.metro.tokyo.jp/ENGLISH/GOVERNOR/MESSAGE/index.htm][/PLAIN]
Truth be told, I was 150 percent set on retiring, but various circumstances led to my unexpected fourth term as governor.
What timing, indeed. Immediately after I announced my bid for reelection, the great earthquake struck—a catastrophe that virtually devastated east Japan. I believe this can be called a national crisis, which, in a way, exacts greater sacrifices from us than a small war could. Recovery and restoration are sure to require an enormous amount of time and money.
At the same time, the nuclear power plant in Fukushima Prefecture also sustained devastating damages. The danger of radiation still continues as well. This plant had supplied the capital region with the power needed to function smoothly and support the lives of the citizenry. Unless we use this as an opportunity for careful introspection, the lessons of this crisis will not benefit the future.
For example, amid power shortages resulting from the nuclear accidents, we are expecting a hot summer again this year. While we do not yet know if we will experience a heat wave on the level of last year, it's a fact that power consumption greatly increases during the summer months.
With the power company unable to supply this much-needed power, it is now up to each and every one of us to do our best to conserve energy. While striving to do so, we must reconsider our way of life in Tokyo, which we have hitherto taken for granted. Our lifestyle of comfort and convenience, for example, relies largely on the supply of electric power. What might perhaps be a phenomenon unique to Japan is our street corners saturated with vending machines. This situation no doubt exists because Japan is a safe country. You wouldn't find this condition abroad because of the risk of looters breaking into the vending machines and stealing their contents. Thankfully, the metropolitan area is safe, and so the installation of vending machines has, in a sense, gone rampant.
Recently, an executive of the vending machine association said, "We are definitely not wasting power. We are consuming power for sure, but not wasting it." This is just a fallacious argument. Those machines are found at all the street corners as a modern-day convenience, but can we truly justify this enormous consumption of electricity? I think this is just a waste of energy, an extravagance.
And then there's pachinko, which so many Japanese enjoy. Pachinko parlors are a source of racket, with their endless music and neon signs. And each pachinko machine also devours power. Moreover, there are people making a living by the money earned from pachinko—is it not time to reconsider this way of life?
It seems that many of the people running these pachinko parlors are of Korean descent. Thinking that pachinko would be popular in their homelands, some introduced the game to South Korea, and it caught on right away. The authorities, however, decided to abolish pachinko, arguing that it will make people lazy and ruin their lives.
Now, I do not altogether approve of this approach. But it is a fact that the machines run all day long, making a racket. Moreover, for a pachinko parlor to be one of the first facilities going up in a major area of redevelopment is probably not what I would call a proud example of society's advancement.
In any case, under the current crisis, I don't think our nation can survive unless we reconsider the lifestyles we had taken for granted and, by extension, the forms our lives should take.
The people affected by this disaster are living in truly tragic conditions. But the interactions between the people there—including the volunteers—reveal how human beings should be; seeing the survivors shedding tears in thanks for a modest helping hand gives me hope that the beautiful Japanese spirit of old is still alive within us. But this does not stop here. People all over Japan need to take up the personal challenge of reflecting on how to live their lives and what form their lives will take, or I fear that the heavens will forsake our country.
I may sound presumptuous and aggressive, but I believe that the immense sacrifice and loss caused by the disaster will be in vain if we do not take this opportunity to practice a little more moderation in our lives and move Japan away from a society where materialism and drives for money and sex are rampant.
We must seriously consider making some more concessions, being moderate, shunning selfishness and personal interests, and embracing a lifestyle that is, if not quite frugal, more solid.
Let us reconsider these things and make a change for the better.
Shintaro Ishihara
Governor of Tokyo
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