What is “National Diet Public Screening”?
The National Diet holds deliberations as a representative body of the Japanese people. The deliberation, which costs hundreds of millions of yen a day, is held on behalf of all of us, the entire nation, but many people find it distant and incomprehensible.
When we have a chance to see or read about the Diet deliberations through the mass media, it is already reduced into short pieces of information that no doubt reflect the reporter’s own interests and agenda as well. It may not be a serious problem as long as the Diet and the government are functioning properly. However, when they are in disarray, it is imperative for us, the public, to understand well what exactly is going on in the Diet.
We organize National Diet Public Screening with the aim of making the real state of “the representative body of the Japanese people” accessible and transparent to the public by showing actual Diet deliberations on the street. We believe this will also work as a deterrent to improper conduct in the Diet that runs squarely against the spirit of democratic discussion, such as false or misleading statements, question dodging, deceptive rhetoric and extreme quibbling.
The project was started at the proposal of Mitsuko Uenishi, an expert on labor issues, whose original intention was to inform the public of problems in the legislative process of “Sophisticated Professional System” (High-level Professional System), but we believe the approach of National Diet Public Screening works in various other areas.
It is our sincere hope to contribute to making Japanese politics more democratic by sharing our experience with anyone who is interested in trying our approach all over the country.
