Morinaga Takuro Issues Final Warning: A Reiwa Depression Awaits Due to Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba
An Urgent Interview with "The Wise Man's Legacy" A depressed economic analyst who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and given "only four months to live" speaks while tilling the soil at his farm.
“I do not believe in the existence of the afterlife. This world is everything. Therefore, I was born with nothing and will leave with nothing. Achieving that is what end-of-life activities mean to me.”
Speaking earnestly is economic analyst Takuro Morinaga (67).
On a morning at 7:30 in late September, Morinaga appeared at a “micro farm” near his home in Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture, and gazed happily at the healthy growth of long eggplants, bell peppers, and okra, which were in the final stage of harvest.
“This is part of the ‘Tokainaka life’ that I propose, where one stops being a slave to capitalism and moves to the countryside or suburbs. It’s a social experiment that I started during the COVID period. I’m renting a 20-tsubo field with the aim of self-sufficiency in food as a lifestyle model that counters capitalism. The biggest advantage is being able to live without being bound by money.”
The copy on his T-shirt that reads investment dependency is the title of his book. He is not promoting that he himself is dependent; rather, he conveys the message of escaping investment, stating that the essence of investment is gambling, and that unplanned capital input carries significant risks.
Still working 18 hours a day
His weight, which was nearly 90 kg at one point, is now exactly 50 kg. While his once-massive frame is barely recognizable, he remains in high spirits.
“I’m in excellent health. If you exclude the fact that I’m a terminal cancer patient, there’s nothing wrong with me (laughs).”
In December of last year, Morinaga was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer (later reclassified as “unknown primary cancer”) and received a de facto prognosis from his doctor, stating, “It may be difficult for you to see the cherry blossoms next year.”
However, he has since succeeded in maintaining a stable condition by combining free medical blood immunotherapy with the immunotherapy drug Opdivo.
On September 13, he published a co-authored book with former Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry bureaucrat Hiroyuki Kishi titled “Last Will: Surviving in a Despairing Japan” (Takarajimasha), where he passionately argued for his views on escaping the control of the Ministry of Finance and the theory of a bubble in Japan’s stock market, but it seems there are still many things he wants to say and accomplish.
“I’m still working 18 hours a day. The fall semester at Dokkyo University, where I teach, has also begun, and I’m likely in the final stages of writing a book of ‘chilling fables’ for investors, which should be a first in Japan.”
Morinaga has already sold off most of the stocks he held as part of his end-of-life organization, but he has retained only the shares of Takara Tomy.
“I’m a die-hard Tomica collector, and I want to keep receiving the original Tomica and Licca-chan that come as shareholder benefits (laughs).”
