The ambition of one person moves many people. Such miracles do exist in this world. The recent Hyogo Prefectural Gubernatorial Election is a perfect example of this. I am a little hesitant to write about politics, but this is a symbolic event that has greatly changed the times, so I would like to bring it up. I would also like to state in advance that what I am about to write is evidence that has been revealed as “fact”.

The recent Hyogo Prefectural Gubernatorial Election was held after Governor Saito Motohiko was voted no-confidence due to power harassment, and resigned after being unanimously voted no-confidence by the prefectural assembly members. The author suspected that there was some kind of scheme behind this unanimity, and began to watch this issue and Governor Saito. Then, information came in that Governor Saito had taken a cut into the practice of amakudari of civil servants and port interests involving anti-social groups, and that he had stopped the reconstruction of the prefectural office, which would cost 100 billion yen. It was also revealed that the cause of the suicide of the former director, who was said to have been tormented by power harassment, was something else. In short, it seems that he was destroyed by trying to dismantle vested interests. And it was made clear that the mainstream media, such as television, which unilaterally portrays Governor Saito as the bad guy without reporting these facts, is also a beneficiary of vested interests.
On the other hand, Governor Saito was uploaded to SNS that the day after he lost his job, he stood in front of his hometown JR Suma Station, bowed to the voters, and started appealing to the voters about his policies. Although the expression “scolding” was used, it is assumed that he was told something quite harsh. However, he never spoke ill of anyone, made excuses or complained, and carefully explained his desire to improve Hyogo Prefecture on the street, which captured people’s hearts. Gradually, more and more people were touched by his attitude, and before long, large crowds began to gather. Governor Saito’s own sincere words were also touching to the hearts of voters, as were the words of his middle and high school classmates who spoke of his personality. As a result, the voter turnout was 15 points higher than the previous election, and Governor Saito was re-elected with an overwhelming 1.1 million votes.

However, the opposition camp and the mainstream media that supports them are making nonsensical criticisms such as Governor Saito was re-elected because “rumors” spread on social media, and that social media should be regulated. However, looking at past election examples, it is impossible to get 1.1 million votes through social media excitement alone. Governor Saito was re-elected because many voters sympathized with, approved of, and felt attached to his ambition to rebuild Hyogo and improve the lives of the prefecture’s residents, and the personality that was conveyed by his attitude. People were not misled by media reports, and said no to vested interests. This trend is the same as the recent US presidential election. Through these two elections, I realized that the era in which the media, which is covered in vested interests, created public opinion that was favorable to them and the public followed it, is over.

※Translating Japanese articles into English with AI