Social Justice and Education Principles

My name is Yuki Honda.

I study education, work, and families

in Japan and other countries, collecting

various kinds of data

as part of my work.

I collect data

and, so to speak, inspect how society

functions.

That is the kind of checking

work I do, but

for that, a benchmark

is needed.

What serves as that benchmark

is something that has already

come up many times

in today's speeches:

something very obvious,

an obvious principle.

It is whether the society we seek

is one

in which all people's

lives and livelihoods,

and dignity are protected,

or not. That is the perspective

from which I check current conditions

in my work.

If we abandon the principle of a

society protecting lives, livelihoods,

and dignity,

what remains is

where people's existence is denied

and they are told to die—a hellish society.

War is its ultimate form.

It is destruction that tramples

lives, livelihoods, and dignity.

What is happening now in Gaza and elsewhere

is precisely that.

And upholding the principle

of protecting lives, livelihoods,

and dignity

requires

several conditions.

First,

substantive fairness, meaning

not harming or discriminating

against others,

second, procedural fairness,

meaning compliance with

rules, and third, rational,

intelligent social system management.

All three are indispensable.

And these matters,

as I have just said,

are almost all written in Japan's

Constitution.

However, these principles

have yet to be realized,

and all of us must

inch our way

toward their realization.

That is the situation we are in.

So far, this has been obvious.

And next,

a situation that is anything but ordinary

is what I would like to discuss.

The principle of protecting people's lives,

livelihoods, and dignity—

far from seeking to uphold it,

the exact opposite

kind of conduct

has been continually carried out

by the LDP, and its ugliness…

A prime minister who seemed to stare at that part

was Shinzo Abe,

and now it is Sanae Takaichi.

First,

regarding substantive fairness,

externally, they have used the LDP as a puppet

to serve

the United States, which has continued

to fawn over, flatter, link arms with,

and be leashed by it.

Domestically, they pander to the deeply biased

cults and far right that cling

to gender roles and family values.

Conversely,

toward neighboring Asian countries,

they behave in an extremely arrogant

and rude manner,

while domestically,

they recognize neither optional separate surnames

for married couples, same-sex marriage, nor female emperors,

and they continue to trample on people

who wish to live as themselves.

That is the LDP,

and Sanae Takaichi.

As a result of this continuing

for so long, this country has maintained a nauseatingly

enormous gen-

der gap.

It continues in this country.

Regarding the second,

procedural fairness,

there was the sudden dissolution of the House of Representatives,

the mass distribution

of illegal videos, which is being discussed now,

as well as

accepting illegal donations,

all of which are unjust

and evil acts.

They desperately seek to protect

their own positions,

and while they hold power,

they are rushing to pass outrageous bills enabling

the repression of people

and war,

and to alter the Constitution itself,

which ought to be an immutable

principle.

The same is true of Ishin

and Sanseito, which trail along

behind the LDP.

And regarding rational,

functional system

management,

most recently,

an utterly needless gaffe cut off resources

from China,

and then they fawned over

Trump without even properly

negotiating with Iran.

They have even depleted crude oil and naphtha,

both essential to daily life.

Moreover, they insist it is not depletion,

but merely a bottleneck,

and make scarcely any diplomatic

effort.

This country is dotted with nuclear plants

and fault lines.

Its food self-sufficiency rate is extremely low.

As the population declines

and ages,

there is no way this country has the capacity

to wage war.

And yet, and yet,

in part, from the United States

In order to meet demands,

while diverting shortcomings in governing

and people’s discontent toward

fabricated emergencies and

threats from abroad,

they are only transforming Japan

into a nation that wages war,

zealously and single-mindedly.

A National Intelligence Agency, the existence of a national flag,

emergency provisions,

all of these lead to outright repression

and control.

The LDP is trying to push forward

policies solely to suppress anger

at their own foolishness.

That is what they are doing.

To begin with, long before Takaichi

became prime minister,

this country’s number of children kept falling,

and its economy, science, and technology kept declining.

That kind of situation has continued

over the long term.

People’s lives only

keep getting harder,

yet rather than correcting this,

they cut welfare benefits so unfairly

that the Supreme Court ruled the cuts

were illegal,

while further increasing taxes

and social security contributions,

and fomenting division

and hatred among the people.

Even toward those who come from abroad

to support Japan’s declining population

and workforce,

they impose policies that literally take lives

through immigration administration

and sharply raising the requirements

for business visas,

treating them in ways that could be called

abuse and bullying.

What I want to say about

all of this is,

what on earth are you trying to do?

Nothing works properly.

It is the LDP that is doing things

that destroy the very foundations

of this country,

and it is Takaichi,

along with Ishin and Sanseito,

which cling to them,

and now at the center of it all is

Sanae Takaichi.

They cannot protect lives, livelihoods, or dignity,

and do not intend to protect them.

Why should we let people like them

run rampant

any longer?

We, the sovereign people,

have the right to say,

“Get out of there.”

You keep doing things

that harm countless people.

You keep doing them.

You have no right

to be there.

Much less will we allow you

to tamper with the Constitution

with those filthy hands.

Get out of there,

we will keep saying from now on at the top of our voices,

and

and take action.

Everyone, please join

in this action.

That's all.