Photo/Illutration Prime Minister Fumio Kishida responds to a question during a Lower House Budget Committee meeting on Jan. 29. (Takeshi Iwashita)

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s abundant use of modifiers is conspicuous in his manner of speaking.

Some examples of this are “teinei-ni” (carefully), “shinshi-ni” (sincerely) and “tekisetsu-ni” (appropriately).

In Kishida's policy speech on Jan. 30, he used “shikkari” (firmly or thoroughly) so many times, I was actually a bit annoyed.

He said he intended to firmly support survivors of disasters, firmly proceed with his important policies, thoroughly steer diplomacy, firmly raise wages and thoroughly back small and midsize businesses.

I presume this was his way of stressing his commitment to his office. But listening to him only added to my anxiety that all this was going to end up--yet again--as nothing more than idle talk.

By my count, Kishida has repeated the word “shikkari” more than 2,500 times in the Diet since he became prime minister.

Yuichi Goto, a Lower House legislator of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, once challenged Kishida in the Diet: “When politicians, irrespective of their party affiliation, use the word ‘shikkari,’ that means they have no concrete policy in mind but are simply going through the motions of staying busy. Am I right?”

I get it now.

Assuming Goto is correct, it perfectly explains why the “new capitalism” Kishida has advocated has not yet taken any shape and why we keep hearing only vague explanations about a meeting between Kishida and the leader of a nongovernmental organization affiliated with the former Unification Church.

The biggest focal point of the current regular session of the Diet must be none other than “money and politics.”

Is Kishida prepared to adopt the so-called “renza-sei” (guilt-by-association) system, under which elected officials will be disqualified if any of their campaign staff are found to have violated election laws?

And will Kishida agree to disclose how “policy activity expenditures” are used?

Questioned by a fellow LDP lawmaker about the renza-sei system during the Jan. 29 Diet session, Kishida responded, “I would like to thoroughly discuss the matter.”

My knees almost buckled. What we expect of our prime minister is that he is serious, truthful and able to present concrete policies. We are not asking for any meaningless modifiers.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Jan. 31

* * *

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.