In his Dec. 27 letter, "Give young blood a chance," Tatsushige Shigure blames the stupidity of the Japanese public for believing various lies told by politicians, including new Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Yet, Shigure says he left Australia because he was tired of the nonstop lies from Australian politicians.
The aim of his moving to Japan is not clear, nor is his concluding remark that it's time the "Japanese public started voting in younger new blood who have the honor to do what they say they'll do."
Why not just say that we should vote in those who have such honor? Age does not matter. What is important is to support high-principled politicians of good character.
In the 1920s and '30s, a number of young people — in their 20s — tried to topple the government. They virtually led this country to militarism and disaster. Many experienced elderly statesmen were assassinated by them.
In the Dec. 16 election, we saw a 94-year-old man run for the Lower House. Although he lost, there was a lot of "young blood" in him — plus the kind of character that you don't see in young ones subject to political manipulation.
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.