Regarding the April 16 article "Diet members dine on whale meat in defiance of ICJ ruling": Symbolizing the blatant bare-faced aggressiveness of the government, the report that Liberal Democratic Party members fed on their own hostility leaves a bitter aftertaste in the mouth.
It's no coincidence that, synchronously, the fisheries minister defended Japan's right to butcher whales on the basis of its "food culture," basically admitting that all the decades of excusing whale hunting as a "scientific exercise" were nothing more than a charade.
How many other policies of the LDP are lies shrouded in the rhetoric of cultural arrogance. Japan has earned itself a reputation as a duplicitous nation at the top levels of its leadership.
Next on Japan's agenda is making profit from death and fear by turning its tech savvy into the production of weapons for sale to other countries.
Meanwhile, survey after survey reveals that public opinion strongly opposes many of the Abe administration's policies, and the prime minister's refusal to consider this opposition points to an even murkier future.
The opinions expressed in this letter to the editor are the writer's own and do not necessarily reflect the policies of The Japan Times.