＜prologue＞
I started a blog called “The Baby Boomer Generation’s Miscellaneous Blog”（Dankai-sedai no garakutatyou:団塊世代の我楽多（がらくた）帳） in July 2018, about a year before I fully retired. More than six years have passed since then, and the number of articles has increased considerably.
So, in order to make them accessible to people who don’t understand Japanese, I decided to translate my past articles into English and publish them.
It may sound a bit exaggerated, but I would like to make this my life’s work.
It should be noted that haiku and waka （Japanese short fixed form poems） are quite difficult to translate into English, so some parts are written in Japanese.
If you are interested in haiku or waka and would like to know more, please read introductory or specialized books on haiku or waka written in English.
I also write many articles about the Japanese language. I would be happy if these inspire more people to want to learn Japanese.
my blog’s URL:団塊世代の我楽多（がらくた）帳 | 団塊世代が雑学や面白い話を発信しています
my X’s URL:団塊世代の我楽多帳（@historia49) on X
<Added October 5, 2020> Prime Minister Suga’s Refusal to Appoint Six Members Recommended for the Science Council of Japan (SCJ)
The SCJ, also known as the “Diet of Scholars,” is up for election every three years, with half of its 210 members up for reelection. Prime Minister Suga’s refusal to appoint six of the 105 recommended members who expressed opposition to government policies has become a hot topic.
The question is whether this is within the prime minister’s discretion in appointments. Since the council’s founding in 1949, there has never been a case in which a prime minister has refused to appoint a recommended candidate. Former Prime Minister Nakasone also stated in a Diet response that “appointing SCJ members is merely a formality.”
The six are scholars who opposed the Act on the Protection of Specially Designated Secrets, the Conspiracy Act, and security-related bills, among other things. They claim that this “infringes on academic freedom.”
I previously read an article stating that, while a candidate for the LDP presidency, Suga stated that “bureaucrats who oppose government policies will be demoted.” Since SCJ members are also “special public servants,” could this refusal to appoint them be part of that?
I previously wrote an article about Sun Tzu’s “The Art of War,” but this time I’d like to provide an easy-to-understand introduction to Machiavelli and Machiavellianism, who also advocated “strategic intrigue.”
Former Chief Cabinet Secretary Suga Yoshihide, who became prime minister in September 2020 following the sudden resignation of former Prime Minister, is said to have read Machiavelli, so I think it’s worth learning more about him.
1. What is Machiavelli?
Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527) was an Italian Renaissance political thinker and a diplomat for the Florentine Republic. His diplomatic missions brought him into contact with rulers of various Italian cities, but he was particularly impressed by Cesare Borgia (1475-1507), Duke of Valentino, a renowned politician of cunning and manipulative power.
Machiavelli most highly praised Borgia’s “ruthless tangentialism,” and considered the powerful, unified state of ancient Rome to be an ideal example.
Machiavelli viewed politics as being purely about the relationship of power, independent of religion and ethics, and became known as the “father of modern political science.”
His major work, “The Prince,” published in 1532, analyzes various historical monarchs and principalities, discussing what a monarch should be like and the qualities and virtues necessary for a monarch to gain and maintain power.
His political ideology was characterized by an extremely cold-hearted realism, which has led to this aspect being exaggerated and “Machiavellianism” being synonymous with “political intrigue.”
After the fall of the Medici family, who had ruled Florence, he became Chief Secretary of the Florentine Republic at the age of 29, but was dismissed when the Medici family was restored to power in 1512. He then retired to a mountain villa and devoted himself to writing, with the ambition of returning to his position in mind, leaving behind many works including “The Prince,” “Discourse on Politics,” and “Trial.”
However, his ideas were criticized as “idealism” and “armchair theory,” and he was unable to return to politics, dying in despair.
Machiavelli lived in Italy in the 15th and 16th centuries, during the Renaissance, but in the midst of the conflict known as the “Italian Wars” (1494-1559).
The Italian Wars were a conflict over Italy between the House of Habsburg (Holy Roman Empire and Spain) and the House of Valois (France), triggered by a dispute over the succession of the Duchy of Milan and the Kingdom of Naples. Most Western European countries participated in the conflict, including the Papal States, Italian city-states, the Republic of Venice, England, and Scotland.
At the time, the Italian peninsula was divided into various countries, including the Republic of Venice, the Duchy of Milan, and the Republic of Florence, which were all effectively independent within the Holy Roman Empire. It was likely against this turbulent backdrop that the political ideology known as “Machiavellianism” was born.
Sun Tzu, who, like Machiavelli, advocated the art of war based on “strategy and trickery,” lived during China’s Spring and Autumn Period, a time of warring factions, with numerous states competing for supremacy. It is believed that Sun Tzu’s Art of War was born out of this historical backdrop.
The policies of Shang Yang, who participated in the construction of the great Qin Empire in ancient China, the ideas of Han Fei, author of “Han Feizi,” and the Warring States period’s strategies of forming alliances and making friends with distant countries while attacking nearby ones clearly have something in common with Machiavellianism.
Looking at the international situation surrounding Japan today, the United States, Russia, and China are competing to become hegemonic powers, and Russia, China, North Korea, and South Korea also pose a threat to Japan. Conflicts and civil wars have not yet ended in the Middle East and Africa, and with the persecution of ethnic minorities in Myanmar and China, we can say that we are living in an “age of warring states with endless conflict.”
In that sense, I believe Japan should face up to the severe international situation and never become a “peace-blind Japan.”
2. Machiavellian political tactics
“Machiavellianism” is the idea that any means or immoral actions are permissible if they ultimately promote the interests of the state.
Backed by 15th-16th century Italy, Machiavellianism advocated a realistic approach to rule by monarchs. While he acknowledged that “it is admirable for a monarch to be a good, pious, and compassionate person,” he also argued that “if a monarch were to act according to this ideal, he would surely fall into ruin.”
Frederick the Great of Prussia wrote “Against Machiavellianism” (1740) to criticize Machiavellianism for its anti-humanitarian nature, but the great king himself is said to have put Machiavellianism to good use.
It is ironic that Machiavelli’s ideas, criticized as “armchair theory,” were put to practical use not by his own contemporaries but abroad some 200 years later.
3. Machiavelli’s Famous Quotes
(1) A monarch does not need to possess all the various good qualities. However, it is necessary to “make people believe that you have it.”
(2) A prince should learn to be evil, yet master the skill of using or not using it as needed.
(3) Laws, contracts, and agreements serve to maintain good faith among individuals. But among those in power, good faith can only be maintained by force.
(4) Experience has shown that princes who have not cared about maintaining good faith have accomplished greater things.
(5) Benefits should be dispensed in small doses so that the people can enjoy them for a long time.
(6) A prince has enemies both within and without. A well-prepared defense and friendly relations are the only defenses against these enemies.
(7) No nation can hope for independence and peace unless it is willing to defend its own security through its own strength.
(8) The best way to assess a ruler’s wisdom is to look at the people he surrounds himself with.
(9) Making concessions to avoid battle will not avoid it in the end. This is because the enemy will not be satisfied, will lose respect for you, and will seek to take more.
(10) Those who believe that the virtue of humility will overcome the enemy’s arrogance are stumbling into error.