It may lack the juiciness of the U.K.’s Lockdown Files, but leaks from central Government are giving us here in Japan a glimpse of what went on behind the scenes during the last three years, and it is all rather interesting. The Pravda-like Japan Timeshas, for once, published an almost readable piece full of interesting snippets about the tensions that existed and power struggles that were played out during our various phases of restrictions. The key takeaway, for me, is that it is not at all clear whether any of the three Prime Ministers who were in office believed in the measures they imposed on us and in some cases were acting in bad faith. Were we just used? It looks like it.
The incumbent PM when the Diamond Princess was in dock at Yokohama in February 2020 and when the first action was taken was the late Shinzo Abe, Japan’s longest serving PM who was assassinated last summer. From the leaks, it seems that his priority was to get emergency legislation through that would have allowed Japan’s U.S.-imposed constitution to be bypassed, allowing all kinds of draconian impositions. Abe’s lifetime goal was to revise the pacifist constitution, so his appetite for emergency laws and additional powers sounds alarm bells.
Read more: The Japanese Would Be Perfectly Happy to Do the Pandemic Again
