The Election Platform of KITA Ikki

Day 776, 02:37 • Published in Japan Japan • by Imperial Sun Party

A speech to the eJapanese public on ODAIBA Island in Tokyo Bay


一. Proposed Cabinet and Government Accountability
二. Foreign Policy: SHIN-SAKOKU or "Armed Neutrality"
三. Economic Policy: Reserved Monetary Policy / Increased access to raw materials
四. Military Policy: Continued Training / Increased Mobility

My Proposed Cabinet
Vice President: Sophia Forrester
-a long-time eJapanese, previously Minister of Foreign Affairs, hopefully online at times when I am not due to our time zone differences

Minister of Defense: Metic - eWiki
-has been active as Minister of the Interior and most recently with the revamp of the military

Minister of Foreign Affairs: AltmerVampire - eWiki
-a citizen with international connections capable of representing eJapan to the world

Minister of the Interior: exReality - eWiki
-has been active and capable as Commissioner of the JEC

Minister of Finance: Huang Chung
-knowledgable about economics and how they work in-game, but has divested himself of all connections to any companies


Government Accountability

It is extremely important that the government be held accountable for its decisions. Each of these ministers will not only be under contract to prevent theft of funds, but they will also be held accountable for decisions they make. Our aim is to avoid things like unexplained donations, unclear standards for receipt of weapons, etc. Who controls the passwords, controls the organizations. The cabinet ministers above will have a lot of resposibility for making sure that government funds are not misused in any way.


On a Strongly Pro-eJapan Government


"SHIN-SAKOKU" is a policy of neutrality regarding the affairs of the superalliances, Eden and Phoenix

Our most vital affairs are diplomatic in nature because our smaller population and economy is unable to support a military capable of defeating our more powerful neighbors. eJapan is not in the position to engage in risky superpower politics. An independent status as an eNation not aligned with aggressive superalliances keeps eJapan's profile low and makes an attack on our home islands unlikely. Past administrations have allowed foreign powers to use our regions to launch attacks: Kyushu is the key gateway between Asia and North America. The other connection between Far East Russia and Alaska are dominated by the superpowers, both of which are too strong to be pushed around by the other. So they come to eJapan: first, in July, eIndonesia made their demand and threatened war when we refused. Knowing the consequences--eJapan in July was far weaker than it is today--most of the congress, including myself, supported the action since it was clear we would be invaded anyway and that we would lose. Fast forward five months to December, and the same ultimatum was issued, only this time from the eUSA. We stood our ground, and instead of respecting our neutrality, the eUSA did what eIndo had threatened to do: on December 7th, 2009, they attacked Kyushu. An apology from the eUSA president accompanied the "we respect your decision not to retreat the region, but we're going to attack you anyway" attack, which the eUSA lost after fighting the second largest battle in eRepublik history. It was close, but the margin of defeat was far less than the amount of damage done by eJapanese soldiers, a sign that we could hold our own against a much larger foe with enough assistance.

Less than a week later, Phoenix ignored Dokomo's ultimatum and he retreated Kyushu, allowing the eUSA to pass through where they had failed before. Some claim that this is proof that Dokomo planned to retreat the region regardless of the battle results or Phoenix's answer to ultimatums. I do not agree with this, but I would like to have heard more discussion of "liberation" beyond the occupied eChinese high iron regions, Liaoning and Heilongjiang. Particularly disturbing was the rumor that the eChinese would give the eUSA "lease rights" to one of the high iron regions after eIran and eHungary had been thrown out. No mention of liberating eSouth Korea from the Theocratic occupation was ever made. Not exactly the liberation tour we were hoping for, especially when eUSA president Jewitt's newspaper advocated liberating eNorth Korea to "get Afanasiy [Drago] his country back." As many of you know, the Godzilla Party leadership is made up of former eNorth Koreans, and for a short time, Drago was even considered for eJapan Minister of Foreign Affairs. There are clearly regular high-level communications between the eJapanese government and the eUSA government, communications that did not occur before President Dokomo came to power.

None of this appears to be the behavior of an administration "neutral" towards the superalliances. Initial support of liberating eChinese regions from foreign occupiers seems to have given way to making sure the eUSA gets control of a high iron region. Not a bad deal if you are the eUSA, but what does eJapan get for it? Our lost neutrality means that foreign powers may continue to use eJapanese regions as staging areas. We have already allowed the eUSA to attack East Asia, so many Phoenix countries will not forget this, just as the eUSA had not forgotten the first Kyushu Incident. Our MPPs have been changing over the last month, and are now more heavily reliant on Eden powers who may or may not be willing and able to defend us in the face of a dedicated attack by vengeful Phoenix powers. I do not advocate stronger ties with Phoenix powers either, but I believe President Dokomo is no longer in position to negotiate with them as head of an independent eJapan. As president, I will work to balance our relations with the two superalliances. Those who believe that insisting our regions not be used as staging grounds for attacks is "taking a side" are incorrect. Both superalliances should respect eJapanese sovereignty and must not make territorial demands for any reason (this means "NO REGION SWAPS or LEASES&quot😉.



The National Bank of eJapan, located in Nihonbashi, the heart of Neo-Tokyo

Economics in eJapan is a difficult prospect, given our lack of natural resources other than high grain, the most abundant, and therefore least valuable for export, resource in the New World. Our domestic land workers wages are not competitive, reducing incentive to work in those fields or immigrate to eJapan. The National Bank of Japan uses funding to control the price of the JPY on the Monetary Markets and Minister of Finance Vorph had successfully generated a large gold reserve by gradually moving the exchange rate to 0.031 gold per 1 JPY, but there has been some inflationary effects. The long term sustainability of gold generation on such a scale is also questionable. If elected, I will pursue a more reserved policy of printing and selling JPY on the monetary market and augment this income with normal taxes. The Japanese Interior Service operates the training companies and gifts citizens who have low wellness, but could also be used to establish wage floors. However, I do not favor such a drastic intervention at this time as it may cause disruption for private businesses. Much of our economy has been driven by military spending on training weapons for the military. Our Q1 weapons market regularly has ample offers available, although prices have recently creeped upwards, driven in large part by the reduced amount of iron on the market. We need to work with reliable eJapanese businessmen who will not price gouge to establish more foreign-based operations that export to the eJapanese market.

Flexibility in the eJapanese economy is key as the Admin will introduce a new economic module in the coming months. Without a doubt, taking advantage of whatever changes the Admin have cooked up will require large amounts of GOLD. If elected, I will start building up a strategic gold reserve for the immediate subsidizing of private ventures as soon as the new economics module is in place. The creation and funding of a Japan Development Bank (JD😎 will be an important part of preparing the eJapanese economy for these coming changes. I will also encourage a more active ministry of trade and industry so that businessmen who are not quite as active and knowledgable in-game will have a reliable resource for where their GOLD and currency is best spent, particularly important for post-new economic module implementation.



Our Military stands ready to defend our home islands

If I am elected, the Ministry of Defense will be turned over to Metic's capable hands. He has been an active member of the eJapanese government for a while and already accomplished much as the commander of the mobile units, making them more responsive and active on the world's battlefields. I hope that he will continue the operation of the Q5 weapons company, stockpiling high quality weapons, as well as ensure the training weapons continue being distributed to newer citizens.

The training program is a good (but not foolproof, of course) way to ensure that new citizens are retained and do not quit the game for relatively low cost. The operation of these companies should continue to not interfere with the privately operated companies in eJapan's economy, but will spur their businesses through increased demand of their products.

Flexibility in the military is key as well, and taking immediate advantage of any upcoming changes to the eRepublik war module will require an active and capable Ministry of Defense. I still do not advocate the spending of gold on individual's training as this does not necessarily contribute most efficiently to the national defense. However, the Ministry of Defense should actively support other government initiatives such as the "Iron Must Flow" program to keep a steady supply of iron flowing to our markets that will benefit our economy as well as our military.





How some people view their eWorld

Knowledge of game mechanics is important, but not the only important thing. From what I know about the New World, eJapan is a great place to be: we have a relatively friendly and close community and real life Japan occupies a special place in Internet-icana, being well-known for samurai, ninjas, and businessmen who work themselves to death as well as manga/anime, maid-cafes and all that weird stuff with the tentacles. To me, eJapan is more than the sum of its game mechanics or what advantage it can offer to one of the superalliances over the other. It's a unique community that I am happy to have been a part of since February of 2009. Thank you, and I hope you will support me for country president on January 5th, 2010.


KITA Ikki