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She continued to elaborate on hinomaru shinpo, by which she meant the
elite is the backbone of the nation. She explained that this meant the elite would
always work in Japan
s national interest, implying that this may not be the
interest of the people. When I asked her about Komeito, she said that:
'
Our image is that Komeito equals Soka Gakkai and it is like a religious
party, like Aum. I know they are not like Aum but there is the fear that if
they were to take the helm of the Japanese government, if they became
number one, they would be like Aum and bring in one religion.
(conversation with Masaya, 22/05/2004)
I asked her if she found it contradictory that despite all the dislikes mentioned
above she still voted for a party that was the epitome of those dislikes. She
agreed, but said that although she understood it rationally, the feeling was
still to vote for the LDP because that is what she knew. Distrust of politics
here ensured trust in some roundabout way. Increased familiarity con
rmed
suspicions of corruption and self-interest, but also con
rmed
'
politics as
usual
.
Moreover, Masaya continued with anger in her voice, she had been called
twice that year by Soka Gakkai members to get her to vote for Komeito.
'
, which made her feel
'
safe
'
'
My
mother has even been visited at home; I just can
'
it believe it
…
One year I got
'
called up by all the parties, can you believe that!
It became clear that
although she was particularly angry with Komeito over the home visit, she
was not impressed by anyone calling her about the election. What made
matters worse was that her mother was a Nembutsu believer, the sect criticised
in Nichiren
s Rissh
-
Ankoku Ron, and which had a long, antagonistic rela-
tionship with Soka Gakkai. On the other hand, Masaya, as she had explained
to me on previous occasions, saw herself as a person who did not like to feel
she was being told what to do, especially when it came to politics:
'
Everyone
should be able to read up on the issues and decide for himself or herself
'
.
When I said that that would certainly be the ideal, she told me that actually
there were many issues she was unaware of, and said laughingly (because I
was not Japanese) that she had learned a lot about Japanese politics from
talking to me.
On a previous occasion she told of a colleague and friend, who she greatly
admired for her warm friendship and for her professional accomplishments
(she was a pianist like Masaya). Masaya liked the way this friend always played
to complement others. This friend was modest about her own skills, although
she was extremely accomplished, according to Masaya. This colleague, who
was a Soka Gakkai member, had some years ago asked Masaya to vote for
Komeito. Masaya had been upset, and had told her,
'
'
Please don
'
t ever ask me
that again
. The woman never did and over the years they had become close
friends. This woman was the person upon whom Masaya called when she felt
another colleague (the daughter-in-law of the director) was trying to out-
manoeuvre Masaya from her position in a concert. Masaya admired this
'
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