On May 11, DP President Katsuya Okada held a press conference at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Japan (FCCJ) in Tokyo, and explained his views on the forthcoming visit of the U.S. President to Hiroshima, the formation of the DP, Abenomics,  the revisions made to security-related legislation last year, and other issues.

Firstly, Okada commented on the news that President Obama would, on May 27, become the first sitting U.S. President to pay a visit to the city of Hiroshima, site of the atomic bombing, saying, “It is extremely welcome news.  I sincerely welcome the visit, since it will create a huge opportunity for achieving a ‘world without nuclear weapons’.”  Okada added that he himself had continued to work toward the goals of nuclear reduction and nuclear disarmament, including during his time serving as Minister for Foreign Affairs, and from this perspective he “hoped that President Obama’s visit to Hiroshima would leave a significant impression, and be a great influence on moving toward a ‘world without nuclear weapons’.”

Okada also touched on the founding of the DP, stating, “The Democratic Party was formed out of a strong determination to create a party capable of achieving changes of government.  The Japan Innovation Party and the Democratic Party of Japan joined together to form the DP.  With this move, the majority of the opposition parties, with the exception of the Japanese Communist Party, have joined together, and the situation where the opposition parties ran candidates against each other in the same constituency, thus handing the advantage to the LDP, has ended.  My role as party leader is first of all to create a political party that stops the out-of-control Abe administration and that is capable of becoming the ruling party in the near future.

Okada also expressed the opinion that Abenomics had been a failure, pointing out, “Three and a half years have passed and a conclusion has now been reached.  Around 80% of people do not feel that the economy has recovered.”  He stated that in response to this it was necessary to proceed with policies that aimed for “a society with few inequalities”, such as equal work for equal pay and the enhancement of child-rearing assistance.  Furthermore, Okada stressed that the security legislation allowing the use of the right to collective self-defence that had been passed forcibly by the Abe administration last year was “an infringement of the Constitution, and should be totally abolished.”

Asked by a foreign reporter to identify the LDP’s greatest weaknesses, Okada responded, “Changing the interpretation of the Constitution and trying to destroy pacifism by revising the Constitution, as well as the fact that Abenomics has failed to show results.”  On foreign policy differences with the LDP, Okada said that “We share the opinion that the Japan-U.S. alliance is extremely important, but Prime Minister Abe is antagonistic towards neighbouring nations such as China and the Republic of Korea.  This has started to change recently, and he has been moving closer to the DP position.”  On Japan’s response to North Korea, Okada expressed the following opinion: “North Korea has just finished a party congress, but I feel that the total exclusion of foreign media is a sign of Kim Jong-un’s weakness and lack of confidence.  It is vital to implement strict sanctions against North Korea and we have no alternative but to try to influence events by continuing to thoroughly implement such sanctions.”