Fukuda Cabinet E-mail Magazine No.45 (August 28, 2008)

Fukuda Cabinet E-mail Magazine No.45 (August 28, 2008)
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"A single scale. This is Yasuo Fukuda."
-- Message from the Prime Minister (Provisional Translation)


A single scale. This is Yasuo Fukuda.

There is a saying that I like very much: "Dragons do not have snake
scales."

"A dragon is covered with hundreds of thousands of scales.
But if even one of them is a snake scale, then that is no true
dragon. It is merely a snake that has turned into a false dragon."

My take on this expression is that no matter how excellent
a certain policy may appear to be, if it contains a single lie,
you will not be able to trick the people into buying into it.


I believe that politicians must constantly feel and fear the sharp
gaze of the people on them.

Unless the people are able to be certain that the political realm
is safe, they cannot be reassured. Only when the people feel safe
and reassured will they definitely come to place their trust
in politics.

Safety, a sense of reassurance, and trust. How can these be shared
with the people? I am confident that the many policies that
I promote from the public's viewpoint will meet with
the understanding of the people.

The Diet session will be convened next month. Thorough discussions
will take place on international cooperation and on policies
to safeguard the people's safety and sense of reassurance,
including bills to establish an Agency for Consumer Affairs and
economic measures to ensure a sense of reassurance in the people's
lives as they face issues such as rising prices. We will promptly
implement the necessary measures accordingly.

Safety and a sense of reassurance are truly the foundations for
faith in the future. I am determined to steadily produce results
one by one, as unpretentious as my efforts may seem. I believe that
it is only by steadily plodding forward on that path that we will
be able to restore trust in politics and the administration.

The Japanese national who was kidnapped in Afghanistan,
Mr. Kazuya Ito, has been killed. The authorities worked day and
night following his kidnapping to gather information and it is
deeply regrettable that his life has been taken.

As a member of a non-governmental organization (NGO), Mr. Ito spent
more than four years in Afghanistan teaching agricultural methods.
He was loved by the children there. I am deeply angered
by the inhumane act of taking the life of this young man
who selflessly put himself in danger in his devotion to bettering
the lives of the people of Afghanistan.

I pray for Mr. Ito's repose and express my heartfelt condolences
to his bereaved family.

At this very moment, conflicts continue to rage in various regions
around the world and many people continue to suffer from poverty,
among other difficulties. By helping those people and regions,
we can carry the torch that Mr. Ito has passed to us. Moreover,
doing so is the role that Japan, a Peace Fostering Nation, must
carry out.