Diet heckling a sign of lazy, childish behavior

"Seken Munesanyo" (Worldly Mental Calculations) by Ihara Saikaku (1642-1693) is an ukiyozoshi (floating world illustrated novel), a genre of popular fiction that developed in the Edo Period (1603-1867).

The book has a scene in which two large groups of people are yelling and swearing at each other.

"You'll be a goner with rice cake stuck in your throat," shouts one side. "You should be made into a pickle by an ogre," retorts the other. The comments are strong, but the scene is not of a fight. It is a shrine ritual.

Such festivals of bad language, called akko matsuri or akutai matsuri, are events at which shrine visitors deliberately curse and swear at one another. They are still observed across Japan, with people venting bottled-up stress and anger by cursing. Usually, good fortune is bestowed on those who argue their opponents down.

In the Diet these days, it seems that "bad-mouth festivals" sponsored by ruling and opposition parties are noisy. I refer to catcalls and heckling, which some call "the life of parliament."

In particular, one-on-one debates between party leaders are apparently considered the main stage for hecklers to get all worked up. But, with such debates being televised, offensive remarks are drawing public criticism. Now, the ruling and opposition parties have agreed to restrain themselves.

While dignity is all the rage, such heckling is only rowdy and tasteless. The remarks lack wit. How can such disparagement be called "the life of parliament"? It appears to be no more than loud noise, measured in high decibels.

"Beyond Naoto Kan's nose/ A lawmaker, apparently tired of jeering, yawns twice" is a verse that appeared in the Asahi Kadan column in the vernacular Asahi Shimbun earlier this month. Voters are observing the childish and lazy behavior of lawmakers on television.

"A herd of hecklers is eating up the annual budget in the Diet" was the heading of a piece that ran in the senryu (short satirical poem) column.

Winston Churchill (1874-1965), former prime minister of Britain, in which the tradition of question time originated, once said something to the effect that the purpose of Parliament is to replace fistfights with debate.

Seen from the other side, the Diet is none other than a forum for verbal battles. I would like to see clean bouts and tasteful heckling during the face-to-face debate between Prime Minister Taro Aso and Minshuto (Democratic Party of Japan) President Yukio Hatoyama on Wednesday afternoon.

--The Asahi Shimbun, June 17(IHT/Asahi: June 18,2009)