
Compass of the Times 251
Compass of the Times 251
To Create an Unwavering Center
Keiko Takahashi
Turbulent Times
It has already been a month since the new year 2025 began. How did you start the new year?
The time we are living in is indeed a turbulent time.
In the early days of computer development, back in the 1960s, the equipment required enormous space. However, around 1980, the personal computer was born. Laptop computers became popular in the 2000s and infiltrated into many people’s lives, primarily because of usage for business. The smartphone (iPhone), which could be called a computer that fits in the hand, appeared in 2007, and it has become an indispensable part of our lives over the following decade. As of 2023, the percentage of people using smartphones worldwide is about 69 percent with approximately 6.7 billion subscriptions.
In this way, taking computers as one example, we can feel that drastic change is occurring. What we must accept above all is that, during such major volatility, conventional wisdom, assumptions, and the way we see things in life are all going to change dramatically.
When It Is Difficult to Know What Is the Truth
Looking at some aspects of our current society, it seems to me that there is a great calling there. One of these may be that we have lost sight of what is true and what is certain.
For example, many people are beginning to feel that the mass media, which has long been the foundation for our thinking and judging, has become untrustworthy.
This is because the media is no different from ordinary companies that put their own convenience and profit before facts and truth.
They only report facts and statements that are in line with their own claims, and they do not even cover what is inconvenient, even if it is true. One of the most prominent examples of this is the Johnny & Associates Scandal1 in the Japanese entertainment industry. In 2004, the Supreme Court ruled on the case, and it was clear that there were serious problems. Even so, the major newspapers and TV stations continued to remain silent about the issue for another 20 years, thus continuing to encourage criminal behavior.
The same may be said of the attitude toward the Ministry of Finance, which has become a major topic of discussion in recent years. No one in the media is questioning the ministry’s single-minded focus on raising taxes, but instead, they simply repeat the same arguments in line with the agency. The ministry bears a large part of the blame for Japan’s economic stagnation over the past 30 years since the bursting of the bubble economy, but there is no indication that the media is pursuing this issue.
Moreover, when the first accusations of the controversial Hyogo Prefecture Issue2 came to light last year, the media made one-sided assumptions and repeated criticisms of the Saito governor without clarifying the truth or any accumulation of reporting to confirm the truth.
This attitude of the media reveals a consciousness that prioritizes its own convenience and vested interests, rather than the pursuit of the truth.
Of course, these problems are not limited to the media. I cannot help but think that the political world, which has lost even more trust due to the issue, for instance, of secret funds, and many of the ministries, including the Ministry of Finance, do not have a sense of national interest that transcends interests of its sector.
In Hyogo Prefecture, the former Ido governor, prefectural assembly members, prefectural government employees, and the media, who should be independent of each other, are connected by vested interests. It seems that similar problems occur throughout the country.
As these realities become clearer, for many people, the feeling of “not knowing what to believe” will only intensify.
To Create an Unwavering Center
This is precisely why we must nurture the Mind Force to move forward on the path we should take without being caught up in the disarray and ugliness of the external reality.
We must create an unwavering center that never loses sight of what is important, no matter how much the world outside may shake. This center is what gives us the strength in these turbulent times to constantly look at the blueprint and dedicate the time of our lives to its realization. Now is the time for us to face our own minds and inner force.
Note from Translators
1. Johnny & Associates Scandal
The issue of sexual abuse by Johnny Kitagawa, the founder of Japan’s major entertainment agency, Johnny & Associates (renamed SMILE-UP), surfaced in 2023. The allegation was that Kitagawa took advantage of the irresistible situation of young male talents belonging to the agency and sexually abused them on a long-term and habitual basis. The Japanese entertainment industry, as well as the media, have been silent on this issue, even after Kitagawa was convicted at trial in 2004. Thus, Kitagawa continued to perpetrate sexual abuse till his death. The issue was raised by the BBC in 2023, only after his death.
2. Hyogo Prefecture Issue
Governor Saito of Hyogo Prefecture harassed his subordinates and some of those who were involved committed suicide. The assembly subsequently passed a motion of nonconfidence, and the governor lost his post, but neither his resignation nor the dissolution of the assembly occurred. Saito used the power of social networking to roll back in the subsequent election and became governor again.
Excerpt Translation of G. Monthly Journal February 2025 issue
Preliminary translation by GLA member-volunteers
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