"I had to deal with the people who worked for the government in my region, in other words the regional civil servants, the people working in the administration and civil service office, etc. I can characterize the general attitude or general way of thinking of these kinds of people as being very old-fashioned, very much entrenched in past ways of doing things. There was also a tendency for people to postpone taking responsibility for different things. There was also a propensity for people to hide things and especially to hide things when things were not going well. There was also a great emphasis placed on secrecy and a great over-adherence to precedence.”
– Hideo Higashikokubaru,
Governor of Miyazaki Prefecture

“The reason why we are involved in politics now is that we look at the situation in Japan and we feel very strongly that the policies that were implemented by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi during his administration have caused Japan to be on the verge of collapsing. … If we allow the present conditions to continue, we will never see the revival of Japan into a state that can prosper and grow.”
– Shizuka Kamei,
acting party leader, The People’s New Party

“It doesn’t really matter who will succeed (Kim Jong Il), because whoever succeeds him North Korea will be finished. So, even if the son of Kim Jong Il succeeds him, North Korea will not survive.”
– Kang Chol Hwan,
former DPRK concentration camp inmate

“As a result of discussions (in the United States) I received a very, very clear impression that one of the main reasons we’re not able to resolve the abductee issue is that we are in an extraordinary situation as a nation in that we do not guarantee our own security, our own safety. We basically entrust the safety and security of our nation and our people to another country. The conclusion that I have drawn and feel very strongly about is that, ultimately, Japan needs to be able to put together a system in which we are able to guarantee our peace, our safety and our security with our own strength.”
– Takeo Hiranuma,
former member of the House of Representatives

Question (by Yoshio Murakami of Asahi Shimbun): One of the things that is becoming very controversial here recently is that there is a secret agreement that the United States could bring in nuclear weapons without prior consultations as stipulated in the (U.S.-Japan Security) treaty. The United States government has shown documents to such effect by the Freedom of Information Act and Ambassador Reischauer had stated publicly to that effect, while the Japanese government is denying that there is any such confidential agreement. What is your view?

“I would say that… uh… there… that… uh… umm… uh… uuuhhhh… documents that have been… umm… uh… that have been opened up… ahh… with respect to that… umm… are available… ahh… and can be… umm… uhh… read by those who… who… who are interested in that, and I think they speak for themselves.”
– Edward A. Rice,
Commander, U.S. Forces Japan