The LDP presidential election is over, and the festival-like fuss has died down.
I wonder if it’s been a while since a presidential election has attracted so much attention from the public and become a kind of ceremony. Just like the recent Tokyo gubernatorial election.
It’s somewhat similar to the professional baseball draft, which used to be only covered in newspapers.
Maybe because I’m a writer, I have a somewhat cynical view of elections and politicians, such as the current presidential candidates. Or rather, I don’t have much insight.
On the other hand, when I look at social media, I’m impressed by how knowledgeable everyone is about politics.
When it comes to political ideology and power structures, I’m completely confused and can’t keep up.
So, as a perennial political amateur, the criteria for choosing a politician are naturally simple. I just choose from their face.
I might even go so far as to say it’s their “overall appearance.”
It’s not the lookism that’s popular these days, but I really just choose based on my impression. I’ve been thinking lately that the back view is also important.
When I saw the live broadcast of the final vote of the presidential election on YouTube, I somehow immediately knew who the powerful people were, including Prime Minister Kishida, who was in the front row. I strangely understood that this is what they really mean when they say that a man speaks with his actions.
Also, if you can see the way he normally walks and his emotional expressions when he is laughing or angry, it’s perfect. Just by looking at those, you can get a vague idea of what he is like. The thousand words that can be used to lie and the hundred reasons that you have not yet acquired will all disappear somewhere.
I know that it’s the same as how any old lady would judge someone, but I think it’s important to be able to think that “this person is trustworthy as a politician” without any reason.
This is not limited to politicians in elections, but it may be the same for private companies, government agencies, and schools. Idols don’t necessarily sell just because of their looks, and I think that fans become fans because of their overall appearance as an idol.
By the way, how did you think about this presidential election (even though you don’t have the right to vote)?
I’m sorry. Unfortunately, I didn’t end up with a “this person is good” result, but rather a process of elimination.
But thinking about it, I realized that I’ve mostly chosen by a process of elimination, not just in national elections, but also in recent local elections.
I can’t even remember the last time I saw someone’s presence and thought, “I’m going to vote for this person, I want him to win.”
And I feel that using a process of elimination in important situations where you have to choose someone is a serious problem in the business world, the entertainment world, and even in our novel industry.
Even on an individual level, whether it’s a personal matter like finding a job, choosing a school, or choosing a partner, choosing by a process of elimination usually doesn’t lead to good results.
“Choosing something absolute, not relative” is, in a sense, a very important part of life, and being able to choose may be a very happy state in itself.
By the way, if I think of people who I feel have the presence of writers, I’d say Gen’ichiro Takahashi, Kenzo Kitakata, and Natsuhiko Kyogoku. On the other hand, writers like Murakami Haruki, Yoshimoto Banana, and Shimada Masahiko don’t give off that feeling. I wonder if that has something to do with the rise of the world of novelists.
Anyway, I would like to become a writer who is trusted by readers not by what I say, how I dress, or what I do, but by how I present myself.
“Presence, countries, and people are all important”
