#2 of the images The Unexpected Face of Former Prime Minister Kan and the Merits and Demerits of His Administration | FRIDAY DIGITAL

Mr. Samejima’s recent book, “The Asahi Shimbun Political Department,” has sold more than 40,000 copies.Samejima: When Mr. Kan planned to extend the retirement of Hiromu Kurokawa, former chief public prosecutor of the Tokyo High Public Prosecutors Office, to make him attorney general, it turned into a big scandal when Mr. Kurokawa and the reporters were playing “betting mahjong” during the criticism.Mochizuki: That appointment was so bizarre that even former prosecutors voiced the opinion that it violated the Public Prosecutor’s Office Law. The Abe administration even made a cabinet decision without regard to the fact that it was clearly intended that politics would control a post that is at the heart of the separation of powers. Some of the reporters who were in close contact with the administration and Mr. Kurokawa wrote in defense of the appointments, which were a violation of governance. The existing media only appreciate the importance of lining their pockets, and the basic principle of journalism as the final stab in the back has been lost. I have criticized the Prime Minister’s Press Club, but the evil composition of the club is the same in both the political and social sections.   Samejima: That is why I think that not only the Political Affairs and Social Affairs sections, but even the Economics section should be destroyed. I think the only way to recover is to establish a system of investigative reporting that breaks away from the press clubs. I think the role of the media in the future is to create a system that allows reporters to report independently from the perspective of monitoring power. Samejima: In the first installment of our dialogue, I explained that politicians hate being called “weak” more than being called “bad”. From your point of view, what kind of politician was Mr. Kan? Mochizuki: Hearing Mr. Samejima’s explanation made sense to me. I knew that Mr. Kan was a politician who did not want to be called “weak”. That is probably why he strongly opposes my criticism. Strong pressure on the author Samejima: Lacking confidence in his language skills, he collects questions in advance and reads out the answers prepared by the bureaucrats. And yet, he answers Mochizuki’s questions in an intimidating manner. On the other hand, he controls the bureaucrats with his personnel power and has the breakthrough power to break through the walls of bedrock regulations. Mochizuki: This attitude sometimes spins out of control and gives the opposite impression of being “weak”. For example, at the end of last year, a book titled “Who Was Solitary Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide? The author is Takashi Yanagisawa of NTV, a former reporter on Kan’s watch. The book is a candid account of Prime Minister Kan. In a sense, it is a book of revelations, but at the same time, it is a glimpse into Kan’s human side, beautifully expressing his loneliness and anguish. However, when Mr. Kan found out that the book was to be published, he apparently became furious, saying, “Let me see the manuscript,” Mr. Yanagisawa refused to censor the book and it was successfully published.   Samejima: Mr. Kan must have felt betrayed and betrayed by being exposed to his weakness. Mochizuki: That’s what I think is small. According to this book, Mr. Kan sat down on the sofa and said, “You can write my book.” Mr. Yanagisawa worked for the Metropolitan Police Department and as a correspondent in New York before becoming Kan’s number one. He is not a so-called purely cultured political reporter, but he himself writes that “getting into the news is a means to an end” and that he should be evaluated based on the results of what he has conveyed to the public. It is because of this feeling that he was able to write. It is the true nature of a reporter, but Mr. Kan does not understand this. Samejima: Perhaps Mr. Kan thought that Mr. Yanagisawa was his protégé. Therefore, his feeling of betrayal must have preceded him. I have always declared to politicians that I would “write” about them, and my style differs from Mr. Yanagisawa’s because I am a political analyst who keeps a close watch on their actions.

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The Unexpected Face of Former Prime Minister Kan and the Merits and Demerits of His Administration

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