＜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
A joint funeral between the Cabinet and the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) for former Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone (1918-2019), who passed away on November 29, 2019, will be held on October 17 at the Grand Prince Hotel New Takanawa in Takanawa, Tokyo, and it has been reported that the government has decided to allocate approximately 96 million yen from the fiscal year 2020 general account reserve fund.
1. Spending such a huge amount of tax money on a joint funeral for a former prime minister at this time is questionable.
While holding a joint funeral with a large number of people during the current COVID-19 pandemic is problematic, spending such a large amount of tax money on a joint funeral for a former prime minister is completely incomprehensible. The fiscal year 2020 general account reserve fund should be used for future COVID-19 countermeasures, and I believe this type of ceremony should be kept simple and funded by the LDP.
2. I question Chief Cabinet Secretary Kato’s sense of the “minimum necessary expenses.”
What’s even more surprising is the sense in which Chief Cabinet Secretary Kato explained the approximately 96 million yen as “the minimum necessary expense.” To me, it looks like a “fairly lavish and extravagant joint funeral.”
This may be the financial sense of a highly paid politician, but what is it that costs so much? Is it “the minimum necessary expense” because “we’re not spending hundreds of millions”?
Kato stated in his declaration of determination to “reform from the people’s perspective” and digitize government administration, but before the ink has even dried, it appears he is already putting “outdated politics that lacks a people’s perspective” and “following precedent.”
I previously wrote an article titled “Isn’t the ‘large amount of tax money’ being spent on the ‘Imperial Succession Ceremony’ a problem?” and this joint funeral is a very similar issue.
3. About Former Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone
Former Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone (1918-2019) not only achieved the privatization of the Japanese National Railways, but also improved and strengthened Japan-U.S. relations, which had deteriorated due to trade friction, through his “Ron-Yasu” relationship with President Ronald Reagan (1911-2004) and his “unsinkable aircraft carrier” remarks.
As a young member of parliament, he was known as the “young officer,” and later worked hard to introduce nuclear-related bills. He advocated for the direct election of the prime minister and passionately pursued constitutional reform. While leading a small faction, he was sometimes called the “weather vane of the political world.”