■What I learn from past cases:
What left a vivid impression on me in accidents occurred in April were ①JR Fukuchiyama Line derailment occurred at Amagasaki city, Hyogo Prefecture on April 25, 2005②the accidental sinking of sightseeing boat off the coast of Shiretoko, Hokkaido Prefecture occurred on April 23 last year. Once again, I sincerely pray for the repose of the souls of the victims of the accidents.
The accident scene of ① was about 15 minutes from my house on foot. Among the 107 victims, a child of my close acquaintance was also included and I didn’t think it was someone else’s problem. And in the②accident, 20 of the 26 passengers and crews died and 6 persons are still missing.
Both accidents were accidents that left me with regrets that “could have been prevented”.
I received reports of serious accidents several times in the era of my previous job. What I felt based on that experience was “nearly 100% human errors are involved in some form in the accident”. And if I dig further in it, I will end up with “arrogance” and “unwary or mannerism”. Accidents never occur in places marked as “dangerous”. But why does a rear-end accident occur on a straight road with good weather and good visibility?
There is “Heinrich’s law” in the lessons of safety managers. This is a rule of thumb that he proposed “a relationship of one major injury accident to 29 minor injury accidents, to 300 no-injury accidents, or near miss accidents”. Anyway, “don’t miss the small signs that lead to an accident”, in other words, “being thorough on risk prediction” leads to prevent accidents. It’s the same with crime. New York used to be number one crime city in all of America. However, what Mr. Giuliani, the Mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001, cracked down thoroughly even if it was a minor crime led to the eradication of violent crime and brought about the worst stigma in the United States. Taking measures against accidents and crimes in the bud or at a time of potential risk is important.

■The President of the Republic of Korea visited the United States as a State Guest:
Mr. Yoon, the President of the Republic of Korea, has visited the United States as a State Guest since April 24, and Korea-U.S. summit meeting was held on April 26 in local time. He was just elected as a conservative opposition candidate in the election of March last year, and his term is five years. My impression is that his diplomatic stance, or his policy toward Japan and North Korea, is a 180-degree change from his predecessor Mr. Moon. I feel a significant difference in authority between the President and the Prime Minister elected by the Parliamentary Cabinet System. It can be said that he shifted to a realist path in view of current situation of the peninsula in the Republic of Korea, in particular the threats of North Korea. My friend of the same age who has been in contact for more than 40 years had thoroughly overthrown the previous government as “a puppet of the North”, because he had experienced that North Korean Army invaded from the North and slaughtered citizens mercilessly when the Korean War (1950~1953) broke out. What is more important than anything right now is that Japan and South Korea build a strong cooperative system against North Korea and China. Certainly, history depends on how far back you go, and becomes a completely different view of history. I think what is important now is that Japan should respect changes in the Korean government and strengthen the Japan-Korea relationship in all areas like politics, economy, and cultural exchange, because there is a fear that the policy will change and it will become “no better than before”, if the Korean government changes in an election four years later.

■“What Reiwa Rincho aims for”:
I attended a monthly seminar hosted by a political commentator on April 26. The guest speaker this time was Mr. Yuzaburo Mogi, a joint representative of Reinventing Infrastructure of Wisdom and Action (Reiwa) known as Reiwa Rincho. He is the chairman of Japan Productivity Center, and the honorary chairman and the board chairman of Kikkoman. Reiwa Rincho is reform movement that will change the way of politics conducted by the private sector and aim for rebuilding Japan. As far as attempting political reform is concerned, this is the third attempt after political reform promotion council in the 1990s and 21 st century Rincho in the 2000s. Its aim is arousing public opinion and stimulating parties and politicians through reform movements. This time Rincho started on June 19, 2022.
The members are about 100 volunteers from various fields like the business community, the labor community, scholars and so on who agree with the purpose of the inauguration, and it can be said that it is a gathering of private “warriors of the country of melancholy” that are concerned about the current state of Japan and aiming for reform. And as specialized committees, “governance structure”, “finance and social security” and “idea of national land” are set up. It is said that it will compile recommendations during this year.
During the exchange of opinions after the lecture, I said as follows from the perspective of expecting this Rincho.
“I hear this Rincho is going to discuss a different perspective and position than the politicians, and compile recommendations. However, civilians and politicians have very different criteria for judging. Politicians are worried about the approval rating going up and down, and it is true that they tend to decide the timing of the election accordingly. Assembly members who are vulnerable to elections tend to run into populism. I think, first of all, it is most important to reform the awareness of the people regarding the need to reinvent a tough situation in Japan. The walls of populism for politicians are very extremely thick, but I hope you will do your best”.

■”Russia-Ukraine war and Japan’s safety assurance” lectured by Mr. Yu Koizumi:
I had an opportunity to listen the lecture by Mr. Yu Koizumi, a full-time lecturer at research center for advanced science and technology, the University of Tokyo, at the luncheon of the Club Kansai that is a social club in Osaka on April 27. He has been appearing in the media including the television almost every day lately., but he is the first person on the issue between Russia and Ukraine. In his talk, the points that impressed me were “we don’t know the true intension of President Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine until official documents will be published in Russia 30 years later”, and “this war is inevitable to be prolonged due to a series of miscalculations”. Anyway, I only hope this war will end soon.