The Silent Collapse: Why the Sun is Setting on the East

Today marks the Winter Solstice, the day when the sun is at its weakest, yet simultaneously begins to regain its strength. When we contemplate this death and rebirth of the sun, we are reminded once again that the cycles of nature remain unchanged for humanity. Humans have become far too arrogant, priding themselves as life forms that have denaturalized themselves, yet this arrogance is, after all, merely a conceited vanity. In times past, every nation and people regarded this day as a special point of inversion between death and regeneration. Regardless of what fortune or misfortune this year—or recent times—has brought you, let us, if possible, return everything to zero today and step swiftly into a new year. The sun continues to teach us this lesson even now.

Now, to welcome the Winter Solstice is to witness an absolute directional shift in the providence of nature, where light henceforth has no choice but to increase and fill the world. However, while the sun repeats its rise and fall within the year, human society does not necessarily follow suit. And yet, there is undoubtedly a similar cycle within human society. It is here, within this historical cycle, that we must observe my motherland, Japan, which stands as the vanguard of a certain kind of modern national self-destruction, or perhaps, ethnic dissolution.

How do you view Japan? To answer the question of what Japan has become, and where it is heading, is no easy task in a world that is far too complex. In the West, a significant current known as the shift to the right began long ago; to the casual observer unfamiliar with Japan’s internal affairs, it may naturally appear that this wave has only recently surged onto Japanese shores. Indeed, since Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae took office on October 21, 2025, there have been indications of this in her seemingly right-leaning rhetoric and repeated performance of unilateral aggression toward China.

However, if asked what this truly is, and if one believes that this situation can be perceived through a shallow assessment that simply clamors about Japan tilting to the right, the answer is no. To begin with, the fundamental error in such a perspective lies in a phantom image that is divorced from the actual substance of Japan.

Certainly, when looking at Japan from the outside, some form of illusion is assumed as a premise. If one visits Japan merely for tourism, one sees only what one wishes to see; there is no way to know the reality of the Japanese people’s daily lives or the social systems. Yet, speaking from my experience as one born in 1991, now entering my mid-thirties, I must admit that the era known as the “Lost 30 Years”—starting from the late 1990s—was the very process of Japan’s descent. As a practical matter, the Japanese people are now in a state of considerable poverty, and the hearts of the citizenry have grown desolate in proportion. With hope for the future severed, corruption and anxiety have reached a level where society itself cannot be sustained, and a quiet tension reigns supreme. In short, there is nothing left to be done. To put it simply, Japan has already crossed the point of no return. It is crucial to reference Japan as it continues to charge forward as a precedent: a nation-state of a colossal system that has passed the critical threshold, and the fate of its one hundred million self-domesticated citizens.

In other words, for politics or corporations to attempt something now—for example, even if the current Prime Minister Takaichi speaks bravely of “economic reconstruction”—it is merely the logic of accumulation. It is a falsehood, for the stage where such things were possible ended long ago. Or consider the “Japanese First” stance of the Sanseito party, already labeled as far-right; whether they can resolve the accelerating tension and conflict between Japanese and foreigners remains unknown. Viewed dispassionately, Japan has finished the phase where any intervention could be timely; we have already breached the critical mass where nothing can be done. For instance, the declining birthrate and aging population—the greatest problem—was understood over thirty years ago, yet there is the undeniable fact that no measures were taken. In other words, over these thirty years, Japan has proven by its own hand that it will do nothing, even while knowing what the outcome would be.

Therefore, in this piece, I will offer insight into the internal substance of Japan—something that can never be understood from the outside—through a unique perspective. Who, exactly, is the owner of Japan?