Hatoyama needs to think before he tweets

Somewhere there is an affable, chatty person who wants to run a coffee shop or similar establishment some day. Serving customers is not always an easy job, however. But if one can turn a profit, it's not such a bad idea to talk politics while serving coffee.

With the start of the new year, Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama launched his "Hato Cafe" blog. The first posting carried a photo of the sky on New Year's Day that Hatoyama took himself.

The same day, the prime minister began tweeting short comments on Twitter, and now does so whenever he has time.

On Wednesday, he tweeted: "I decided to walk in the garden of the official residence in the morning while the weather is good. ... The only spectator was a pigeon."

Hatoyama says he intends to spread his messages directly on the Internet, aiming to reduce the distance between himself and the public.

However, unlike a cafe owner's chitchat, no matter how small the voice, words spoken by the prime minister carry weight and take on a public nature.

Given this background, one can hardly expect Hatoyama to honestly speak his mind. Like an unsociable cafe owner, his tweets will probably end up being nothing but a repetition of boring remarks.

How many people would feel closer to politics if his tweets were issued only after consulting with his aides?

Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker Koichi Kato had harsh words to say about Hatoyama's move: "If he has (extra) time (for Twitter), he should use it to think more seriously about what to do about Futenma. If there is anyone in Japan who should not be using Twitter, it is the prime minister."

While the prime minister has been twittering, Finance Minister Hirohisa Fujii decided to resign for health reasons.

Did pressure from the work of drafting the fiscal 2010 budget take its toll on the 77-year-old? Some say he simply got fed up with having to deal with another prime minister outside the Cabinet (Ichiro Ozawa).

The ordinary Diet session will soon convene. Even for Deputy Prime Minister Naoto Kan, who has been appointed to succeed Fujii as finance minister, it will not be easy to suddenly bear the brunt of an opposition attack in the Diet.

It is all fine and well for the prime minister to keep the door of his office open, but there are too many things that need doing before that.

First, he should take up the reins of administration. Running a carefree cafe is more appropriate as a "post-retirement" pastime.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Jan. 7