The identity of “Sengoku38,” the man responsible for leaking the video of a Chinese vessel ramming two coast guard ships in the Senkaku Islands, has been revealed after a coast guard officer admitted the act, saying he believes the people have a right to know the truth and could not be party to the government’s suppression of the video.
His eloquent account of his actions and dutiful act of self-sacrifice appears to have struck a resounding chord with many Japanese, and he is now more popular than ever, being lauded as a “true patriot.”
Sengoku38’s identity came to light when a 43-year-old Kobe coast guard officer reported to his superiors that he was responsible for releasing the video of the Senkaku Islands ramming incident, saying that that he, acting alone, used an Internet cafe PC to upload the videos to YouTube.
His actions in leaking the video are best described in some of his own words, as he has already been interviewed extensively:
“The people have a right to know.”
“The video is something the people should have known about from the start; if I have transgressed the people’s sense of morality then I am resigned to any punishment.”
“Had I not done this I thought the video would never have seen the light of day and been consigned to oblivion.”
“My job may be serving the state, but I am working for the good of the people.”
“I’d like each citizen to watch the video for themselves and come to their own conclusions about what happened.”
“Nobody else would do it, so I did. I’m prepared to face the consequences.”
“The impetus was hearing that of 44 minutes of footage, they cut it down and only showed 6 minutes to the politicians. I felt uncomfortable with the idea of them hiding everything, and trying to cover it all up as though nothing had happened.”
“I’m prepared to lose my job. I have a family but…” [he weeps]
“The coast guard wasn’t even treating the video as classified and anyone could get it.”
He is recalcitrant about revealing why he chose the name “Sengoku38”:
“There is the name of Cabinet Secretary Sengoku, and there is also the ‘sengoku jidai’ meaning of the nation being thrust into a conflict with hostile powers. I’ll keep the true meaning to myself.”
In fact there are a variety of subtle interpretations of the name based on various elements of wordplay, suggesting he perhaps wishes to preserve the element of ambiguity.
Online the reaction to Sengoku38’s statements has been one of adulation, with the man being hailed as a hero nobly sacrificing his career for the sake of the truth and public good, a “true patriot” showing “the spirit of the samurai” and a sign that “Japan is not finished after all,” etc., etc.
Offline it would appear the DPJ is finished – public opinion polls show approval ratings of the prime minister have dropped to a pathetic 15.1%, down from 22.6% slightly earlier in the scandal, with 81% finding the government’s foreign policy to be a shambles.
The government for its part has repeatedly vowed to bring as many charges against him as possible, the current contenders being unauthorised disclosure of state secrets and illegally accessing computer systems – charges Sengoku38’s remarks about the videos being readily available within the coast guard could make difficult to bring.
The Democratic Party is livid about the entire affair, with the Prime Minister apologising to the Japanese public for having allowed them to know things they should not have known:
“This is inexcusable to the people – information which should never have got out has been leaked, and I find it deeply regrettable.”
The Prime Minister went on to criticise the entire civil service for being “slack” and saying he would make sure they cleaned house. Other statements indicated they planned to hold the head of the coast guard responsible, but not the DPJ cabinet minister responsible for him.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshito Sengoku has vowed to bring the wicked leaker to justice all along, and the sight of a visible target seems to have agitated him even more:
“If this should be found to be criminal conduct, we must instigate criminal and administrative proceedings in proportion to the severity of the crime. We need an exhaustive investigation.”
He roundly condemned the many supporters of the leak, or rather, pretended they do not exist:
“I cannot think the vast majority of the people believe that. I firmly believe that whatever happened, the overwhelming majority of the people want us to take proper measures against him.”
This soon prompted derisive calls of “which country’s people?”
His refusal to countenance releasing the video and the leaker’s choice of handle are considered by many to be no coincidence, and the vehemence with which he has condemned the leak has prompted speculation that he is now pursuing a personal vendetta against the man who may have delivered the coup de grace to the DPJ government.
Just as China lionised its captain as a patriot, now it seems Japan has unwittingly gained a national hero of its own – one who stands for quite different principles to that of China.
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Sengoku should go into politics, with so much public support he couldn't lose.
Actually, is it possible he planned for that?
I'm not gonna' lie. I welled up a little as I read this. Manly tears! They will not stop!
God bless this man. The last true Japanese patriot.
Our filthy gaijin hearts are with you, Sengoku38.
*salute
agreed *salutes*
Sengoku38 for president !
People shouldn't be afraid of their government.
Government should be afraid of their people
Remember, Remember, the 11th of November...
Should tell that to China. Im sure if the people of China found out everything that we knew that had been censored in China, there would be a massive revolution.
Ill be watching with a bowl of popcorn and laughing my ass off.
*sits next to starsplash and waits for the chaos to begin*
Not neccesarily. I spoke to a Chinese person a while ago, and she wasn't too bothered by the whole censorship deal. Most Chinese are not interested in politics for one - as long as their lives are comfortable enough, they just don't care that much.
fuck yea, i believe thats how Frances government is. however americas government cant be that way because the vocal people are fucking retarded religious (i said retarded twice didn't they) moral cunts.
am i being down voted because i'm wrong?
if it was up the the people who protest now, we would kill the poor, black people would be completely fucked, and gays would be killed in public and no one could do anything.
listen to the people who protest.
You're not wrong. I'm with you. It's just that 95% of registered sancom users are either weeaboos or ignorant ****s (or both).
Never bother looking at the comment ratings because it's 'usually' used by f****ts that can't talk back or string a founded sentence together for a retort.
this is bullshit. why the hell does he have to go to jail? i mean isn't the government's responsible to serve it's citizen and what not?
“This is inexcusable to the people – information which should never have got out has been leaked, and I find it deeply regrettable.”
bullshit, people have the right to know. their just saving their fucking faces. the world truly is one fucked up place
there's no doubt that alot of money is at stake here last i heard many a japanese company have deals with china no doubt these are the same companies that finance public office campaigns and the people who take office same kinda shit happens in the U.S. too so no surprises that they would have a similar system in place
all in all the world is both greedy AND fucked up
Full disclosure is a terrible concept and only idealists think it works.
People are far too stupid and emotional to handle knowing everything.
Anyway what benefit do you think this leak will have? Sure the people know but so what? What will Japan do about this? Nothing. They have no power to do anything.
Doesn't matter who is in government, Japan is a falling power and China is a rising one. Japan really can sit back and hope that China and the U.S.A. are just making way too much money from each other to ever think about taking this whole thing to the next stage.
Good man. I hope his life doesn't end up too screwed up from this.
i wonder if he ever asked his familly about this before...even if he did it for the country it's still not right to do that to his familly.
i'm pretty sure his family would be well taken care of by people sympathetic to sengoku38's actions.
you forget that japan is a country where a guy with any amount of mussel could take a woman resisting into an ally and rape her and everyone turns a blind eye.
it may change some day but damnit... it isn't now... sadly
Those with a true sense of justice must sometimes make sacrifices.
america has bradley manning,
japan has sengoku38
I always respect whistle blower :)!
opaque government should be yesterday story.
Unfortunately, my country still condemns whistle blowers and throws you into the slammer without trail, only to be released months later and have them run off to the London to seek asylum.
Even if you happen to be a member of the royal family.....
LOL...
A story that sound so familiar,
but its true,
a government will do what they want to keep them in power.
THAT was a point I wanted to bring up. Oddly for me, I felt what Bradley Manning did was base line treason as opposed to what sengoku38 did. Maybe it was because of how indifferent wikileaks was about posting information that would endanger Afghan informants and US soldiers.
...Or maybe it was just the choice of username. Seriously, that Bradley Manning was asking to get caught with the username he was using.
Except, you know, it wasn't indifferent. Over 19,000 of those documents were never posted due to security on ongoing operations. If you're going to balk at endangering military personnel, though, don't deploy them to Afghanistan.
And it's not like those extremists suffer from a lack of targets, anyway.
Don't compare Sengoku38 to Bradley Manning, that would be an insult to Sengoku38...
One leaks the truth to protect his fellow Coast Guard sailors from similar future provocation, the other leaks names of his fellow soldiers and brave informants to stroke his ego...
Both did the right thing, releasing info about crimes a corrupt government was covering up, no matter the reasons.
i like this guy
He should found a new party. I bet he'd get voted to Prime Minister at the next election.
I'd vote him if I could.
I'd bust him out if I could.
Sengoku38 for prime minister of japan!!!
I want to see a samurai army, not because I believe that katana > guns but because it would instill pride in the Japanese people (and it would be fucking awesome ^^)
He's my hero!
He should found a new party. I bet he'd get voted to Prime Minister.
this is how all politicians/govt/civil workers should act.
Politicians should act for the people, not against the people. That's just daydreaming, though.
Wish they'd get out of our reality nightmare.
I prefer this guy as a hero than a drunk fishermen :P
Understood and agreed. Seriously, what the hell is wrong with China...
Just about everything.
don't you mean: what isn't wrong with China?
Should be a much shorter (if not nonexistent)list
china girl cosplay... pork bun? um... realy old thinkers... old medicine (when it was new) was better than most of the than modern worlds.
i cant think of any more.
Finally someone willing to say fuck the government and do what they see is right.
Yep! Governments and politicians are in the shitters right now. They are arguably the most hated position in the majority of the countries in the world.
Yea, Japanese public hate their politicians. Check out the following video of Seagal vs Politicians of Japan lol
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cuj843u3c0Q
LOL somebody call Seagul.
ROTFLMAO
Time to rise and kill them all.
I prefer to throw a shoe.............. bomb xD
The usual ingredients for a revolution:
Torches and pitchforks, what else?
...and maybe some small thermonuclear device.
I'm opposed to violence, but even I wouldn't mind beating the pulp out the Japanese Government with my bare hands.
@diamonddust Lolis are a good idea. We sould send the gunslinger girls.
I'd prefer a cal .50 sniper gun. A rusty spoon is fine, too.
what about our ultimate weapon oniko? the oni moe?
I was thinking of beating them down with power of lolis.
An oni is fine, too. ^_^
Weapon of choice?
i prefer the back side of a butter knife.
why the back?
because its dull