‘Enjoyable Japan’: PM Ishiba spells out grandiose vision in aspirational but stale policy speech

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba (right) in the Lower House of the Diet on Jan 24.PHOTO: BLOOMBERG

TOKYO – Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba used his policy speech to Parliament on Jan 24 to reiterate some hard truths: His country is running short of people, its economy is sputtering, and its woeful food and energy self-sufficiency means it is vulnerable to the vagaries of geopolitics.

How, then, can Japan be an “enjoyable” country where, as Mr Ishiba said, its people can “feel safe and secure to pursue their dreams, and think that tomorrow will be better than today”?

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