When I was a student, I was deeply into mahjong.
The players were almost always the same.
We traded small amounts of money, argued over who was strong and who was easy prey, and repeated the same games again and again—
a small world, with small stakes.
Yesterday, news programs showed a televised debate among party leaders ahead of the general election.
My first thought was simple: the same players again.
They all spoke in unison, repeating nearly identical policies.
This time, it was all about tax cuts—tax cuts everywhere, and little to distinguish one party from another.
Since 2016, there have been eight national elections in just ten years:
four upper house elections, and now four lower house elections.
At this pace, it almost feels like an annual event.
Given that, it is hardly surprising that the faces remain the same.
But after ten years of repeated elections and supposedly heated debates, one question remains unavoidable:
Has this country become better?
The answer, frankly, is no.
I have no particular affection for pandas, but we have been overtaken by the country famous for them—and even they seem to have lost interest in us.
They take what suits them, while apartment prices in central Tokyo quietly exceed one hundred million yen.
One hundred million yen.
Even with a steady income, that is not a sum most people could repay in a lifetime.
Add rising prices and stagnant wages, and the picture becomes even bleaker.
So what exactly are those familiar faces debating so passionately?
If politicians speak of the “judgment of the people,” then under that judgment, they could work together to improve the country.
But they do not.
Instead, it feels as though they are merely performing politics on a stage.
And when the curtain falls, they wait for the next election—
much like a mahjong game that ends with,
“Win or lose, let’s do it again next week.”
