Heavy Burden on Novice

Minister of State for Okinawa and Northern Territory Affairs, Tetsuma Esaki, told the reporters that he would answer the questions in the Diet discussion strictly along with the lines prepared by bureaucrats, because he was a novice on the issues he would be in charge. Apparently, Esaki is not an expert on the issues like military bases in Okinawa or negotiation with Russia over Northern Territory at all. Surprising enough, he simply admitted it. Well, why did Prime Minister Shinzo Abe appoint him to such an important post?

Esaki must have been in a state of euphoria after he had joined the Cabinet for the first time in his political carrier. After a meeting with the supporters in his electoral district in Ichinomiya, Aichi, on Sunday, Esaki insisted on the necessity of accurate answer to the questions from the opposite parties. “I will exactly read the paper made by executive offices. May be reciting answer papers, rather than making trouble with wrong answer,” told Esaki.

On the issue of Northern Territory, he admitted that he was a novice. “They will color me with their wisdom,” told Esaki. It has been a typical mistake for a Prime Minister to appoint someone to a Minister, who does not have necessary knowledge on the job, for promoting to carrier path to be a leader. For the appointment of Esaki, Abe blindly accepted a recommendation of Secretary General of Liberal Democratic Party, Toshihiro Nikai, to include a member of Nikai group in the Cabinet. “I was weighed by it,” revealed Esaki to the reporters.

Esaki realized his failure and tried to make it up next day. He apologized on his careless statement the day before. “I will read through the paper from the offices, check it out, edit it if needed, delete some parts if needed, and use it for reference. It was what I wanted to say,” told Esaki on Monday. To a question about his intention to stay as the Minister, he said “Yes, absolutely.”

In the administration of Democratic Party of Japan, a Minister of Justice resigned when he said that Minister of Justice had to know two answers: “I don’t say about specific matters” and “I’m doing according to law and justice.” A Minister of Defense stepped down when he said “Although I am an novice on security issues, it is a real civilian control.” The statement of Esaki can be paralleled with those gaffes in the past.

It must be a major damage for new Cabinet led by Abe. It is likely that Esaki will be a soft target of the opposite parties in Diet discussion. Abe has been failing in supporting his Ministers, such as former Minister of Defense Tomomi Inada, who made wrong statement. If he fires Esaki, it should be an evidence of wrong choice of Abe. Prime Minister is responsible for the choice anyway.