“No longer valid to maintain a hereditary political succession system …” Musings hachiyorenge
Shonan Yokoi, a Confucian scholar assassinated immediately after the 1867 Meiji Restoration, introduced the U.S. presidential system to the Japanese as an example of the merits of American politics since the time of George Washington in his 1860 book “Kokuze Sanron” (Three Theories for National Policy).
“The authority of the president is handed down to a wise man, not to his son,” Yokoi wrote.
To govern for the benefit of the entire nation, it was no longer valid to maintain a hereditary political succession system. Instead, seek a wise man from broader spectrums of the society for the task. So wrote Yokoi, who sounded an alarm bell to a turbulent Japan in the closing years of the Edo period (1603-1867).
Since then, Japan has paid close attention to U.S. presidential races, which are held every four years. This year, Japanese seem to be quite interested in the race.
According to a survey of peoples in 24 countries by the U.S. pollster Pew Research Center announced last month, Japanese ranked top on the list of people who closely follow U.S. presidential races with 83 percent, surpassing 80 percent for U.S. citizens. Germans ranked third with 56 percent, followed by Britons at 50 percent.
The survey results may be a reflection of how much Japanese are worried about serious global matters related to the United States, such as North Korean issues, the situation in Iraq, Iran’s nuclear development program, the dollar faltering as the key currency and the economic slowdown.
In the 1860 U.S. presidential race, Republican candidate Abraham Lincoln defeated his Democratic rival. The next U.S. president–whether he is Democratic candidate Barack Obama or his Republican rival John McCain–must be a truly wise man. Otherwise, countries around the world will be troubled in these testing times.
The Yomiuri Shimbun. Musings. The following is a translation of the Henshu Techo column from The Yomiuri Shimbun.
もう世襲で地位を継ぐ時代ではない… 編集手帳 八葉蓮華
明治維新期に暗殺された思想家の横井小楠(しょうなん)は、万延元年（１８６０年）に著した『国是三論』で、ワシントン以来のアメリカ政治の優れた一面として、大統領選挙の仕組みを紹介している。「大統領の権柄(けんぺい)、賢に譲りて子に伝えず」◆天下のための政治をするには、もう世襲で地位を継ぐ時代ではない。賢人を広く天下に求めよ。激動する幕末の世に向けて、覚醒(かくせい)を促す警鐘だった。以来、４年に１度の大統領選には日本も大いに注目してきたが、今年は関心の高さが際立っている◆米世論調査機関ピュー・リサーチ・センターが先月発表した２４か国調査で、大統領選の行方を注視していると答えた人は、日本が８３％で第１位。米国の８０％を上回った。第３位は５６％のドイツ、英国でも５０％だ◆北朝鮮問題やイラク情勢、イラン核開発、基軸通貨ドルの揺らぎ、景気減速など、日本にとっての深刻な心配事がそれだけ多いということの反映なのだろうか◆万延元年の選挙では共和党のリンカーン候補が勝利した。民主党のオバマ氏であれ、共和党のマケイン氏であれ、真の賢人でなければ世界中が困る今の局面である。
