Photo/Illutration Prime Minister Fumio Kishida delivers a policy speech on Oct. 3 when the extraordinary Diet session convened. (Yosuke Fukudome)

Harvard University in the United States is well-known for inviting world-class celebrities to deliver commencement addresses.

The star-studded cast, so to speak, has so far included luminaries such as U.S. film director Steven Spielberg and former German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Many of their outstanding speeches have gone down in history as well.

Undoubtedly, one prime example is the 1978 address by Russian novelist and dissident Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (1918-2008), who was expelled from the former Soviet Union, where free speech was suppressed.

“Truth seldom is sweet; it is almost invariably bitter,” the 1970 Nobel literature laureate stated at the start of his Harvard address titled “A World Split Apart.”

He went on to criticize the arrogance of the United States and Europe by elaborating on his thesis of the “Western incomprehension of the essence of other worlds.”

The audience, who expected Solzhenitsyn to extoll the West’s free societies during the Cold War era, felt betrayed. His address was ruthlessly panned.

But rereading it now, I am deeply moved by his determination to urge people, without hesitation, to squarely face an inconvenient truth.

I listened to Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s policy speech on Oct. 3.

“I will take varied opinions seriously and live up to them in the coming days,” he said. “I solemnly promise to heed criticisms sincerely and humbly.”

His Japanese sounded robotic. I had trouble processing his words as components of a meaningful speech.

Oct. 4 marks the first anniversary of the Kishida administration. The nonsupport rate for his administration has reached 50 percent, according to an Asahi Shimbun poll.

The state funeral for former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe further deepened the social divide and Kishida’s insincere handling of matters related to the former Unification Church, now formally known as the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, is stoking public discontent.

As pointed out by Solzhenitsyn, reality is always stark. But is it not the responsibility of politicians to not flinch from that fact and use the power of words to strive to appeal to the public?

The prime minister of Japan must be more eloquent. I have nothing against Kishida’s “ability to listen,” but he is pathetically wanting in his “ability to speak.”

--The Asahi Shimbun, Oct. 4

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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.

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