The article in The Atlantic introduces Aeba as “one of the leaders of Japan’s right-wing Happiness Realization Party” and a “charismatic” person. His communication with the leadership of the GOP led to his appointment as official advisor to the RNC (Republican National Committee) on Asia-U.S. relations. The article describes the purpose of his visit to the CPAC as to absorb principles of American conservatism: “small government, low taxes, and free enterprise.”

Why does Japan need conservatism? According to Aeba, cited in The Atlantic, “Japan has been suffering from a bad economy for many years. What is worse, at the moment, the current administration is aiming to raise the [sales] tax again, from 5 percent to 8 percent, and then 10 percent. If we allow them to do that, the Japanese economy will end.”

Providing an overview of the new Japanese political party, The Atlantic states that the HRP is the political division of Happy Science, a new Japanese spiritual movement, whose leader identifies himself as “a reincarnation of the Buddha.” According to the column, the party has a “muscular” posture in its foreign policy agenda with a proposal to revise the war-renunciation clause of the Japanese Constitution while it aims to promote religious values domestically. “The best analogy would be the Christian Coalition, Buddhist-style,” explains the American political consultant accompanying Aeba at the CPAC.

Aeba also comments on the GOP candidates for the US presidential nomination in The Atlantic. According to Aeba, as cited in the article, Rick Santorum lacks toughness despite his popularity while Newt Gingrich has the advantage of his “strong” personality. And finally, Aeba describes trust-building as the main weakness of Mitt Romney: “The more he tries to explain, the more doubt I have in my mind.”

Finally, The Atlantic outlines the recent impasse in Japanese politics. The liberal coalition took power after the 2009 election by defeating the half-century rule of the conservative LDP. However, the new government has been caught by the familiar cycle of revolving-door political leadership by having already welcomed its third prime minister. According to the column, “Now the country’s continuing economic difficulties seem to be stirring up a sort of populist sentiment rarely seen in Japan.”

Overall, the article introduces the HRP in a way which goes beyond the stereotypical image of Japanese politics, in positive tone with a flavor of humor and surprise. This provides the probability that the HRP and its policies will become more widely known in the U.S.

Soji Suzuki,

COO of Hitotsubashi Research Institute

Soji Suzuki was born in 1951 in Shizuoka Prefecture. After graduating from Hitotsubashi University, he worked at Mitsui & Co., City Bank, and Chase Manhattan Bank before he began serving in his current function. Some of his most significant works are “Declaration of War – A Japanese Economy that Can Say No” (co-authored with Shintaro Ishihara, published by Kobunsha), “Together with India, Japan can Be Re-built” (co-authored with Ashok Roy, published by Gentosha) etc.

To ensure Japan’s safety, preventing China from becoming too strong is a crucial issue that must be addressed.

With its huge population, China is suffering food and energy shortages and is desperate to maintain its sea lanes. In this way it plans to continue its long term military expansion, and build aircraft carriers.

If China gains control over Taiwan, everything West of the First Island Chain will be under Chinese control. This would seriously endanger Japan’s energy situation.

Why Japan, India, and the U.S. should be Partners

The best strategy for Japan would be to cooperate with India. India and China are the two strongest countries in Asia, but Japan has better relations with India.

There are no territorial disputes between Japan and India. In historical terms, Japan helped India become independent. After the Pacific War, Justice Radha Binod Pal supported Japan. Finally, China is a totalitarian state, while India is a democracy.

In terms of economy, Japan excels at the hardware industry, while India excels at the software industry, which makes the two countries good complementary partners.

In India, the average age is 25, which is extremely low and means that at least over the next two decades, the working population in India will be on the increase. In the next 10 years, India will use 1 trillion dollars to improve its infrastructure, and substantial economic growth is expected.

In 2007, the U.S., which is already Japan’s ally, concluded the U.S.-India Civil Nuclear Agreement with India, marking the beginning of increasingly friendly relations between these two countries.
So rather than building alliances between Japan, China, and India, or between Japan, China, and the U.S., we should give more serious consideration to an alliance between Japan, India, and the U.S. These three countries share the same values and are not divided by territorial disputes. Their naval forces are already training together.

It would also be beneficial to include Australia and New Zealand in this alliance, which were both formerly associated with Britain.

Three people close to me have cancer. One has acute leukemia, one has a rare cancer called malignant liposarcoma and one has uterine cancer. I think that to cure cancer with the power of faith, there first needs to be effort on the part of the person who is sick, but other than that I’d like to ask for Master’s ideas on those around that person using their collective power of faith and making cancerous cells disappear, as well as the mechanism for making that happening.

From a Q&A session at the Yokohama-Totsuka branch office of Happy Science, February 6, 2011.

Three people close to me have cancer. One has acute leukemia, one has a rare cancer called malignant liposarcoma and one has uterine cancer. I think that to cure cancer with the power of faith, there first needs to be effort on the part of the person who is sick, but other than that I’d like to ask for Master’s ideas on those around that person using their collective power of faith and making cancerous cells disappear, as well as the mechanism for making that happening.

From a Q&A session at the Yokohama-Totsuka branch office of Happy Science, February 6, 2011.

A guardian spirit’s opinion (subconscious) is the person’s true intention and their belief, with their vision actualized as the years pass.

This was confirmed in an interview with Obama’s guardian spirit immediately after the November 2008 presidential election. On diplomacy and the military affairs, Obama’s guardian spirit said, “First we will get rid of Taiwan. Then we will get rid of Japan.” and “I want to shrink the military budget.” and on economic policy, “I want to tax the rich and give it to the poor.”

Obama’s dramatic battle of revenge on America

Reuters/Aflo

Obama’s guardian spirit emphasized revenge on America, a Christian nation. The picture of Montezuma, the Aztec Emperor destroyed by Spain.

These last three years, the Obama administration has worked to achieve just that. Defense spending will be reduced by 1.05 trillion dollars over the next ten years.

According to a high-ranking officer with the U.S. Navy, this means “retiring two aircraft carrier fleets.” The nuclear-powered George Washington aircraft carrier, which has its home port at Yokosuka (Japan), is already waiting to be retired with cuts to its fuel budget from 2016. The budget for nuclear weapon maintenance will also be cut, putting the “nuclear umbrella” that protects Japan into doubt. Development costs for the next generation F35 stealth fighters will also dry up.

Even though President Obama has announced that the U.S. military will shift its focus towards Asia, cutting funding is cutting ties. Fearing China’s mid-range missiles, Okinawa’s U.S. Marine Corps will “retreat” to Guam, Hawaii and Australia. As same as Japan, Taiwan is also “abandoned.”

The amount by which defense spending is reduced will be completely absorbed in social security costs. Over ten years 940 billion dollars will be injected into the health insurance reforms introduced by Obama.

These had already been “predicted” over three years ago.
Further, the core message of Obama’s guardian spirit was “now is the time for revenge.” In Obama’s previous life there were many people, such as a native American chief and an Aztec emperor annihilated by white people, who died regrettable deaths in battles with Christian civilizations. We are seeing a “revenge battle” on America, the Christian superpower.

Does Romney revere Mammon?

AP/Aflo

Romney’s guardian spirit said that he “loves Mammon (the god of material wealth)”. The picture is “The Worship of Mammon” by British artist, Evelyn de Morgan.

The selection for the Republican candidate may be a prolonged event, but the current front-runner is Romney. His spirit’s core message was that he is “rather fond of Wall Street” and “loves Mammon (the god of material wealth).”

Mammon is a demon that presides over greed and instills a desire for money in humans. The Bible states in the Gospel of Matthew, “Ye cannot serve God and Mammon (worldly riches).”

Experts have pointed out that Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism, which Romney embraces, and his successor, Brigham Young, brought Mammon worship (worship of material wealth) to Christianity.

Romney was, in fact, a manager for a corporate rehabilitation fund and is criticized for being “greedy” and a “vulture”. There were many cases where staff were dismissed despite he himself making a massive fortune by cutting off the troubled department of a failing company that had been bought, increasing its value and then selling it.

What if the U.S. reduces its aircraft carriers, nuclear weapons and stealth fighters?

Wall Street greed is apparently distancing itself from the ethos of America’s successful. Even after oil baron, Rockefeller, became a billionaire, he followed through with his promise to his deeply religious mother to continue donating money.

Putting into practice Jesus’ words that “it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God” (Gospel of Matthew), steel magnate, Carnegie, maintained his belief making full use of the wealth he had acquired for the benefit of society.

In contrast to the mentality of America’s truly successful people to “give back to society”, if Romney is “greedy” and “idolizes Mammon”, it will be difficult to revive the country’s whole economy even if he restores the Wall Street.
Regardless of whether Obama is reelected or Romney becomes president, the decline of the U.S., a reduction in defense spending and a “withdrawal” from the “world’s police” will be inevitable.

(Jiro Ayaori)

Mirai, Inc. CEO Shigeharu Shimamura,

graduated from Tokyo University of Agriculture, Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Forestry in 1996.

After completing the first half of a doctoral course in the Graduate School of Natural Science Research at Chiba University in 1999, he tackled the development of a plant factory. He established “Mirai, Inc.” in 2004.

“In the world today, there are nearly 1 billion hungry people. If the population of the world continues to increase toward 10 billion, the world will inevitably face a food crisis.”, says Shigeharu Shimamura, CEO of Mirai Inc., who leads the cutting-edge technology as a researcher of a “plant factory.”

What kind of challenges is agriculture now facing, when we are going to see 10 billion people in the 21st century? “Chemical fertilizers developed in the 20th century increased productivity by leaps and bounds, and it seemed that we could overcome the food crisis. However, production has hit the ceiling. It is due to lack of sufficient water”. Shimamura says that water for agricultural use is running short all over the world. A plant cannot absorb any fertilizer that is not dissolved in water.

“If the land is watered, 97 to 98% of the total volume will not be absorbed by roots of plants and will sink into the ground or evaporate. This is the largest bottleneck of the present agriculture. Moreover, the present agricultural technology cannot sufficiently cope with unexpected climate changes.”

“Even if the present economical gaps are leveled, an estimated 2.5 billion people will suffer from hunger when the world population increases to 10 billion. 50 years ago, there were only 2.5 billion people living in the world. Now, the population has tripled. I believe that the new era needs a new agricultural technology.”

The “plant factory” can solve the difficult problem of water shortage.

Plant factories can grow crops anywhere. They were introduced in the Showa Station in the Antarctic two years ago.

The “plant factory”, which artificially makes an environment suitable for growing plants using artificial light, has attracted the attention of those concerned with finding a method for overcoming the food crisis.

“I tackled the plant factory because vegetables and plants are at the very “base” of the food supply. It is plants that occupy most of cultivated acreage. Plants need water and labor to grow. They are also hard to preserve. The plant factory can undertake these difficult factors to control in agriculture and we can increase the production of grains in the vacant arable land. That is the idea.”

So what kind of merit does the plant factory have? “We can only harvest a certain amount from an area of a farmland fundamentally. But in the case of the plant factory, one floor can produce up to 50 times of farmland production by controlling growing speeds of the plants and by piling up stages utilizing space. We can produce 500 times more if it is a factory of 10 stories. The products are safe, as agricultural chemicals are not used and there is no damage caused by continuous cropping.”

As the factory is a closed space, water usage can be greatly and effectively improved. “Usually only 2 to 3% of water used is absorbed by plants. But here, more than 80% of water is actually absorbed. Water shortage, which is the largest bottleneck, can be solved.”

“Reproducibility is the best point in a plant factory. We can produce similar products anytime, anywhere. A plant factory has been operated for the past two years at Showa Station in the Antarctic. It is a technology which can also be practiced in a space station or a submarine environment. Moreover, although the taste and nutritive values vary with the seasons in garden farming, the products produced in a plant factory are stable in the quality.”

Satellites are now used for estimating a harvest index. But in a plant factory, we can control what and how much to produce. The plant factory products are just like “industrial products”.

We cannot yet see the final result of all this, but “the revolution for freedom” wants people in every region of the world to determine the fate of their own countries and societies as free human beings.

China is the worst prison state in history

This great force seems to be heading towards North Korea and China.
The North Korean government stole the lives of thousands by abducting them, hundreds of thousands have been forcefully imprisoned, and escaping from North Korea is considered a major crime.

In China, too, some people are being forcefully imprisoned, and if somebody criticizes the Communist Party in public, they almost always go to jail. The same happened to Nobel Peace prize winner Liu Xiaobo, and world famous artist Ai Weiwei. The Chinese government silently disposes of countless political and religious activists who get dragged away to jail and tortured to death leaving no witnesses or accounts of their fate. Tibetan Buddhist monks and nuns burn themselves alive one after another to protest the Chinese government’s rejection of religious freedom.

Over 40 million people are supposed to have died in the prisons of the former Soviet Union, but China surpasses this gruesome number by far, doubtlessly making it the worst prison state in history.

In 2020 China’s military budget will surpass the national defense budget of the U.S. China’s rule over the Korean Peninsula will become stronger, and begin to affect Japan, as well.

Here is part of his message…

Present Chinese policy is conducted by a three faction coalition regime. Chinese policy reflects the power balance between the three factions. The first faction is General Secretary Hu Jintao’s Communist Youth League also known as the China Youth League. The second faction is the Crown Prince Party whose members consist of Vice President Xi Jinping and the other descendants of early Chinese revolutionaries. The third is a former General Secretary Jiang Zemin’s Shanghai faction.

Within each faction, there are members of “Old Guard cliques” and “Resource cliques”. Old Guard cliques have interest and patronage mainly in dam and railway projects, and resource cliques have interest and patronage mainly in oil and gas projects and are increasingly gaining power.

We must keep a close eye on how the power balance among them is going to change by autumn 2012 when Xi Jinping is nominated as the next General Secretary at the 18th Communist Party Convention.

For instance, after the high-speed bullet train collision in July 2011, the Minister of Railways, who belonged to Shanghai faction, was blamed for the accident by the Youth League. As a result, he was ousted and the railway budget was cut by 40%.

We should keep an eye out to see whether Xi Jinping will win the power struggle and manage to win a majority of China’s highest-ruling council, the Politburo Standing Committee, which currently consists of 9 members.

At least 20 million vacant houses in China

The collapse of the China’s bubble economy is already in the countdown stage. Since the Communist Party leaders can receive bribes from developers each time a building is built, they have ordered banks to loosen lending to the developers in order to advance housing construction.

As a result, the number of vacant properties in China has now been estimated to be at least 20 million. One expert has estimated the figure to be 65 million. Please note that the United States had 10 million vacant properties during the subprime lending crisis.

There are about 10 thousand property developers in China, and Chinese banks have lent approximately 3 trillion dollars in total to these developers. Even an optimistic analyst has estimated at least 0.85 trillion dollars will turn into bad debt. Presumably, more than 1.2 trillion dollars would turn sour and China’s property bubble, which has grown bigger than the Japanese bubble, would eventually burst.

When we look back at the situation immediately after the earthquake on the occasion of the first anniversary, while there is grief over the many lives sacrificed, there are memories of the Japanese people’s enthusiasm to bounce back. There is the dedicated work that was demonstrated by the U.S. military in Japan, as an ally, in assisting the victims and the recovery efforts in the affected regions. This was not only for political or military reasons, but merely selfless acts filled with sympathy and friendship where, as humans, the troops could not ignore the suffering of others and this is etched in the hearts of many Japanese.

The HRP thanked the U.S. forces in Sapporo in February

According to the Hokkaido headquarters of the Happiness Realization Party (HRP), about 25 party members attended the 63rd Annual Sapporo Snow and Ice Festival on February 6. About 20 members of the U.S. 7th Fleet Band performed at this festival, which is famous throughout Japan, to liven it up. The HRP members raised a banner with the words “OPERATION TOMODACHI Thank you USA” and the American flag for the band in a display of gratitude to the U.S. troops for their assistance in the Great East Japan Earthquake.

After the performance John C. Taylor, Public Affairs Officer of U.S. Consulate General Sapporo was interviewed on stage by a female reporter. Asked if he had anything he would like to say in closing, in front of an audience of approximately 300, he said loudly in Japanese, “Tomodachi, Kofuku-Jitsugen-to, Arigato!” (“Thank you, my friends, the Happiness Realization Party!”)

U.S. Pacific Fleet’s photostream
Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC 2.0)

The party, formed in 2009, believes that Japan should prepare to exercise its own defense capability with the Japan-U.S. alliance being extremely important in the meantime. Since the earthquake, the party has placed opinion advertisements in Japanese and American newspapers expressing their gratitude to Operation Tomodachi, repeatedly emphasizing their appreciation for the assistance of the U.S. troops and the importance of the Japan-U.S. alliance. Three days prior to the festival, 17 party members also raised a banner and the American flag welcoming the 7th Fleet command ship, the USS Blue Ridge, when it called at Tomakomai Port. This act was also mentioned on the U.S. Navy website and the Navy Facebook page.

The U.S. Navy website: http://www.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=65148

flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/compacflt/6810596457/in/photostream

Vice-president of the HRP Hokkaido headquarters, Yasumasa Tsukiyama, said, “the assistance of the U.S. troops after the earthquake was very important not only for rebuilding Japan, but also from a national defense perspective. The Japanese people must never forget their gratitude towards the U.S. troops.”