VOX POPULI: 'Father's advice' cannot always be dismissed

Stories about self-indulgent fathers reprimanding prodigal sons are a typical example of human comedy. A kamigata rakugo story called "Oyako-jaya," traditionally performed in the Osaka-Kyoto area, belongs to this genre.

In the story, the father, who is worried that if both he and his son idle away their lives they would eventually use up their family fortune, hopes his son would die first. Surely no ordinary father would have such thoughts.

Land minister Seiji Maehara may have felt like a son being told off by his spendthrift father Monday in the Lower House Budget Committee. When former Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura of the Liberal Democratic Party asked him about the controversial Yanba Dam project, Maehara angrily retorted: "Who are you to complain when you have done nothing to clean up your own mess?"

As soon as he took office, the minister clearly stated that the project would be canceled. I have heard that he regrets not having used the term "freeze" instead.

On Sunday, Maehara visited the dam site in Gunma Prefecture to talk the matter over with local residents. Perhaps he was so frustrated about the meeting that Machimura's question caused him to vent his anger on a small scale.

Maehara's comment reminded me of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's reaction to LDP President Sadakazu Tanigaki's question in the Diet. Hatoyama shot back: "I don't want to be criticized by you. After all, who created this financial mess?"

By apologizing later, the prime minister seemed to acknowledge that using the opposition's former ruling party status to dismiss questioning--in effect, treating it like advice given by a spendthrift father--would stifle proper debate.

Before World War II, a heated debate over "national polity" occurred in the Diet. Since it was a delicate issue, then Prime Minister Keisuke Okada (1868-1952) kept dodging it repeatedly, saying, "It is clearly spelled out in Article 1 of the Constitution."

I heard that his reply angered the opposition, which said nothing could be done when the prime minster escaped into the trench of Article 1.

The Hatoyama Cabinet should ban the use of the trench called "a mess left behind by the LDP government."

As Tora-san, a character in a popular comedy movie series, used to say, such a phrase puts an end to all discussions.

"Advice from one's parents and cold sake really kick in after a while." If I remember correctly, this is another popular maxim often used by Tora-san, who knew a thing or two about life.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Jan. 27

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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.