Photo/Illutration The Tokyo headquarters of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

The “rakugo” comedic story “Dekigokoro” is about a dopey burglar who breaks into a low-rent tenement house, only to find there is nothing to steal.

Just then, the tenant, Hachiko, comes home, and the thief hides in the space under the porch.

But Hachiko decides to use the burglary as his excuse for not paying the rent, so he invites his landlord over.

Hachiko and the landlord have a hilarious exchange.

The landlord demands that Hachiko describe the stolen items in great detail.

Asked the color of the lining (“ura” in Japanese) of his futon duvet, Hachiko blurts out, without understanding what he’s saying, “hanairo momen,” which happens to be the color of the landlord’s futon liner—a blue fabric that was common during the Edo Period (1603-1867).

Gaining self-confidence, Hachiko starts repeating “hanairo momen” as the name of the ura backside of everything, even of items that have no ura—mosquito netting, an iron tea kettle and even “ofuda” amulets.

The goofy conversation elicits laughter, but Hachiko’s observation that “everything has its backside”—meaning that there is always more than meets the eye—rings surprisingly true.

And that was exactly the case with the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s claim of “withholding the endorsement” of the candidacy of some of its members in the upcoming Lower House election because of their involvement in the slush fund scandal.

It has come to light that the LDP has supplied 20 million yen ($131,750) to every party branch that is chaired by those very candidates who were supposedly “disciplined.”

LDP Secretary-General Hiroshi Moriyama explained, “The payment was made to party branches as an activity fee for expanding party membership.”

But surely that had to be tantamount to endorsing those candidates “unofficially.”

The party subsidy system was established to eliminate dubious political donations in the first place and is funded by taxpayer money. Does the LDP truly believe the taxpayers would agree to having their money spent in this manner?

Incidentally, corporate donations, which were supposed to have been abolished in exchange for the party subsidy system, are still moving through the back door, so to speak.

The slush fund scandal has not even been properly explained. Politics remains hopelessly murky.

At the end of the above-mentioned rakugo story, the burglar emerges from hiding and confesses, “I did it on a whim.”

His sincerity is refreshing.

—The Asahi Shimbun, Oct. 25

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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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