VOX POPULI: The Sacred Halls of the Diet Building Need Qualified Occupants

The National Parliament Building celebrated its 85th anniversary of completion on November 7.

Had he been likened to a mere mortal, I would describe him as a well-kept elderly citizen in his mid-80s with well proportioned muscles and strong bones.

The building looked structurally solid when I toured it the other day.

“It’s built of high-quality wood and stone with the latest technology, and it’s going to be good for another 85 years,” said Hirokazu Arai, 50, of the “Loft House” building repairs department.

Arai noted that at the time of completion, the building had men-only restrooms. But over time, it has been updated with automatic doors, solar panels, LED lighting, and other features.

In 1923, shortly after construction began, the Great Kantō Earthquake struck. Prior to its official opening, the building was occupied by young military officers who staged the abortive coup d’état on February 26, 1936.

In the final stages of World War II, sparks of fire from American air raids ignited the building. Recently, in the fall of 2003, lightning struck her.

A poem by Shigeru Kozuhara (1919-1993) reads in this regard, “A march with the demonstrators / I looked at the Diet building from close quarters for the first time.”

During the height of intense youth political activism, thousands of students and several trade unions surrounded the Diet building.

Many people at the time must have viewed the building as a symbol of the country’s harsh political system.

During my recent tour, three bronze statues in the central hall of the Diet building caught my eye.

They were statesmen Hirobumi Ito (1841-1909), Tesuke Itagaki (1837-1919) and Shigenobu Okuma (1838-1922), all of whom have been praised for their outstanding services to the Constitution.

But there was also a fourth base without a statue. There are all kinds of guesses about what this means, one of which is that the choice of rider for this pedestal has yet to be decided. Another theory is that it is left intentionally unoccupied to signify the incomplete nature of politics.

Looking at the base, I wondered who would be the right choice among today’s politicians. I thought of the faces of a number of possibilities and tried to imagine them as standing statues, but none of them felt right, not even from afar.

This made me sigh softly in surrender, in a corner of this edifice that has withstood through 85 turbulent years.

– Asahi Shimbun, November 6

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

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