“Politicians are amateurs. Without the support of the bureaucracy, they are powerless.”

Ayaori:            Mr Noda, tax hikes seem to be at the forefront of your political agenda. Is that what you really want to do? Some media reports suggest that the Ministry of Finance is behind this push. Can you confirm that?

Noda’s Guardian Spirit:    That’s a tough one. You’re a media representative, too, right? How can I easily get out of this now? That’s the problem. When I’m suddenly faced with the issue of tax hikes, it puts me in a tough position. That’s why it’s a politician’s job to just get things done without saying what he really thinks.

Ayaori:            So you actually want to raise taxes?

Noda’s Guardian Spirit:    No…well…to be honest, I don’t really know much about finances.

Ayaori:            That’s certainly what it looks like, yes.

Noda’s Guardian Spirit:   If you listen to what the bureaucrats at the Ministry of Finance have to say, they help you out, but if you don’t listen to them, they don’t help you at all. So to please them, I have to listen to them, don’t I? I have to at least look like I’m listening to them.

Ayaori:            In other words, you don’t really want to raise taxes, but you are promoting tax hikes in order to get support from the bureaucrats?

Noda’s Guardian Spirit:    It becomes almost two years promoting a “less bureaucracy – more government” policy, and it looks like it has failed, hm?

Ayaori:            I believe so, yes.

Noda’s Guardian Spirit:    Yes, I guess this idea has failed after all. Politicians are amateurs. They can’t get anything done, they can’t help the country out when a disaster strikes. If they don’t ask the bureaucrats, they can’t do a thing. If you watch things from a helicopter, you don’t really know what’s going on. Politicians don’t know how much money is needed, and what the deadlines are. We have no idea. If the bureaucracy does not equip us with material sources, we are powerless. So while making the bureaucrats happy, we somehow try to make it look like politics. That’s just how it works.