The following is from a unique feature on the conversation between Nobukatsu Kanehara, former deputy director general of the National Security Bureau, and Taishi Sugiyama, a senior fellow at the Cannon Institute for Global Studies, which opened the monthly magazine Sound Argument, released yesterday.
It is a must-read not only for the people of Japan but also for people around the world.
The developed nations of the world, not just Japan, should feel a pang of gloom about their folly to date.
The monthly magazine "Sound Argument" is full of authentic articles, including this one, and yet it costs only 950 yen (including tax).
This magazine also demonstrates that nothing is cheaper than books.
Every Japanese citizen who can read the printed word must go to the nearest bookstore to subscribe.
Because if you don't, you will be an ignoramus about Japan and the world.
The following is a continuation of the chapter titled "Once GHQ dismantled Japan due to its defeat in the war, its survival instinct as a nation died, and it became a society in a daze.
Focus on nuclear power plants that can be relied on in an emergency
Kanehara
It can say that the people have begun to wake up to the situation in Ukraine.
However, debates on Diet are too weak.
No one discusses the essential security issues, and lawmakers only consider the next election.
No leader can say, "This is the real problem.
The prime minister has the power to spark a national debate.
Prime Minister Abe was excellent in this respect.
He made enemies of the entire left wing, but I believe only a person with that kind of guts can serve in this position.
Sugiyama.
Those who can communicate are enthusiastic about GX, aren't they?
Taro Kono, Shinjiro Koizumi, and former Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga.
Kanehara
I'm not saying that is wrong, but…
By the way, after working as a government official for many years, METI is a special kind of government agency.
Their ability to conceive and act is something that other ministries do not have.
I do not know what decision-making process occurred within METI for GX, but they ran with the prime minister in tow, secured the money, and somehow managed to bring it to fruition.
It is something that other government agencies do not easily do.
Sugiyama
Solar power generation is now causing problems all over Japan, but the wind is changing from a security perspective.
Kanehara
Speaking of security, in 2019, China sent a public ship to the port of Niigata to survey to construct wind power generation in the territorial waters off Yuri-Honjo in Akita Prefecture.
We immediately turned them away, but when we looked up who had brought the ship, we found it was a private survey.
From then on, METI began to think more and more about security.
Nevertheless, the topic of energy security, which Dr. Sugiyama pointed out, still needs to be entirely on the table.
Discussions of the SDF's ability to continue fighting have taken a back seat to discussions of the nation's overall ability to continue fighting.
No matter how hard the Self-Defense Forces do their best if the people rise up and say, "We don't have electricity, we don't have oil," Japan will be at a loss.
Sugiyama.
If the sea lanes are blocked and oil and natural gas imports are cut off, Japan will be in a challenging situation.
In such a case, Japan could secure about 20% of its domestic electricity needs by operating all nuclear power plants, and about 10% could be guaranteed by hydroelectric power generation.
We must be able to channel that into higher-priority areas that are related to our ability to take over.
Kanehara
We need to start discussing this now.
There is a tendency not to discuss such troublesome matters, but a real politician can win votes even by saying complicated things.
In this respect, Prime Minister Kishida is a man who does not run away, although this is only my impression since I have not served him directly.
It takes time to decide on big things, but he has not missed the direction he should go.
He has decided to spend 43 trillion yen over 5 years on defense.
He has also announced the construction of new nuclear power plants.
I also think he is stubborn and will not budge once he has decided.
Sugiyama
Although he made a wise decision to restart and expand nuclear power plants, there are still many more decisions to be made.
On the other hand, the introduction of GX is too hasty.
I hope that the Diet will appropriately debate these issues, which may affect the country's very existence.
(Interviewer: Makiko Takita / Composition: Kenryo Mizokami)
