Is crime justified in the service of good?
It's an ancient question. "Thou shalt not kill," says the Bible — war in God's service being an implicit exception. Then there's Don Quixote, lover of justice, upholder of virtue, who founders on the impossibility of doing good without committing outrages. His name became an adjective — quixotic — for a certain kind of activism that fails to allow for the practical limits life imposes on ideals.
"Quixotic" is a word Shukan Bunshun magazine applies to the self-described "Kantei Santa" — kantei meaning the prime minister's official residence, Santa needing no introduction, surprising though it is to see him at work so far from Christmas. "Kantei Santa" was the signature on a warning note attached to a miniature drone found in late April on the roof of the prime minister's residence. "Radioactive," said the note. The stunt, it explained, was a protest against the government's drive to restart nuclear power stations idled in the wake of the meltdown catastrophe in Fukushima in March 2011. A quantity of earth in a container attached to the drone was in fact found to be mildly radioactive. "Santa" reportedly told police he dug it up in Fukushima.