Reading a media report that leading figures of the LDP held a party on the night of record rains and disaster warnings in western Japan, I couldn't help but feel that the LDP upper echelon's grip on reality always differs from that of the nation in general.
Here are two other examples showing this discrepancy:
First, they take April 28, the day San Francisco Peace Treaty took effect in 1952, to be the day when Japan recovered its sovereignty. In reality, however, Japan never recovered its full sovereignty. U.S. Occupation Forces continued to be present with bases kept intact or even fortified while Okinawa was severed from the mainland, obliging it to undergo harsh military control for another 27 years. Yet the Abe government designated the day as "restoration of sovereignty day" and officially cerebrated it with fanfare.
Okinawa protested it, dubbing it a "day of humiliation." Of course, they can make short shrift of Okinawa's protest if they think Okinawa isn't part of Japan and that Okinawa's voice doesn't count.
Second, they colluded with Washington by agreeing to the Futenma-to-Henoko relocation, parroting what Washington dictates to them for justifying the relocation: that it reduces a potential danger the current site poses and that the relocation of the base's functions within Okinawa maintains deterrence against an enemy attack on Japan.
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.