09/03/2009 Interview with Akki

Day 653, 22:02 Published in Japan Japan by Faeyas
Hello and welcome to the interview, my name is Fae. Before we begin with the questions could you please introduce yourself to the readers.

Hello my name is Akki, long time citizen of Japan, and currently a Congressman of Japan (I am serving my 7th term). I am also the current Party president of National Alliance Party (my tenth term.) I am also a businessmen being the owner of Akki Hermitson’s Universe group. I am currently serving as a Vice-Chairman of Sol, and I am one of the people that were involved in the drafting of the charter and the naming of the alliance.

Thank you for that introduction. I will now begin to ask you a series of general questions. As to not favor one candidate I will not be asking any follow up questions to your reposes. Furthermore, I will simply ask the questions already prepared, all you have to do is reply. Since this is the case, I ask that you try to be as clear as possible when answering the questions I have for you today. Thank you.

The first series of questions have to do with you as a player. Let’s begin with our first question:

Why did you decide to run for president?


Lack of active leadership from the current administration is one of the main reasons I have decided to run for the president this month. Our current administration is leading unclear policy of uncertainty in all fields from economy, military to foreign affairs. These clouds of uncertainty coming from the leader of the country are unacceptable, and I believe Japan needs experienced leadership that can demonstrate our ability to lead our country which can gain recognition of our presence in the world affairs. It is silly and very arrogant to believe that country led with inexperienced child like leadership will gain recognition in the international relations. I believe I have the necessary experience, and understanding of the game and other fields such as economy, foreign affairs and military, that I will be able to provide active leadership which actually knows what they are doing, rather than experimental ones that uses the citizens as the lab rats as they go on.

What experience do you have in eRepublik and how does this affect your candidacy?

To start it off, I have been playing erepublik for about a year now, and with that lengthy time dedicated within the game, I have pretty wide coverage of experience and understanding of erepublik as a whole. I have served as president of Japan before for four month, thus I already have experience of leading the country both in stable times and in turbulent times. I still continue to serve in the PEACE Security Council up this day (this is my eighth month) thus I have great understanding of the PEACE, and its history as it happened from near its start and what it is now. I personally own the company myself and have experience of stabilizing the monetary system and the market. I have also worked very hard in the creation of Sol, and still help them to this day. Thus I believe all these past experience will help make rational decision that will lead to the long term stability of our country. I have necessary experience in almost every aspect of erepublik (from helping found the alliance to destroying PTO group threatening Japan) that I can make rational decision to implement programs that work.

How are you helping your country right now?

Personally, staying active in IRC, active in forum, and active in the game is the best thing any citizen can do in this game to help Japan. Activity isn’t the best characteristic of Japan, and that is something that we need. I have yet to step my foot outside of Japan yet, and I still do continue to invest in Japan to try to keep this nation from collapsing. Recently I have started visiting IRC channels which real life Japanese uses, and hopefully, I can befriend some well enough that I could promote this game to them to increase some of our population (yes; I can speak Japanese.)

What do you plan to do should you not win?

Continue what I am doing now. Help eJapan by staying active and pretty much help both Sol and PEACE when they need help. I am currently serving as Vice-Chairman of Sol, so if I do not win, I may invest more of my time helping Sol develop.

Do you support the relationship between Reiji and Snayke, including the making of hot man-love?

If Reiji is interested in such relationship, then I simply and kindly suggest Reiji to leave japan to go meet Snayke in China, and carry on his love there.

If you had to choose between chocolate, vanilla, and green tea ice cream, which would you choose?

Green tea. Though most likely, I will already be drinking Green Tea before I grab some Ice-cream, I will probably get Vanilla Ice-cream, since they are probably cheaper.

Should Snayke continue to improve diplomatic ties between eChina and eJapan by offering messages with images of cute, scantily clad girls?

He can do what he wants. I personally have no real objection to how Snayke conducts his Foreign relationship, and will not interfere with his domestic issues, unless Citizen of Japan are offended by his articles.


So your first domestic question is: Who will you put in your cabinet and why?


You know, I do not believe in discloser of cabinet position before the election due to the simple reason I do not want to get anyone to vote for me just for the sake of getting position within the government. I believe that is very wrong thing to do, similar to vote buying. Thus I shall refrain from listing any names here. However, I do have people in my mind that I shall ask to serve as cabinet member, and I shall contact them if and when I am elected. I simply do not believe in asking support in exchange for power or to sway the voter by naming them. I want people to vote for confidence, and not for the greed of power. I will put people in cabinet for their ability, and not for political reasons.

Now let us discuss your role in all of this, the role of the president:
Could you please tell us, in your opinion, what eJapan's top three priorities are and, an outline of how you intend to address those priorities in the coming month?


I believe the activity of the president and the active communication from him is the number 1 important priority. Active president is one thing this country needs for our country to be portrait in the world as an active country. The president is the face of the country, and inactive president, is simply going to make our country look inactive. I plan to try to retain some more direct relationship in the field of foreign affairs (as opposed to having my Secretary of State handle everything) and try to keep some more direct communication between the citizen and the president himself (as opposed to leaving that job on cabinet member). Over all, I plan to be more hands in and actively engaging on every matter, rather than leaving that job on someone.

Second priority is improving our foreign relationship with PEACE and Sol, and tries to be active within both alliances. Both alliance currently still suffer some inactivity within their line of communication, and lacks enough voice and ideas coming it to allow for it to fully function. These are the places Japan could come in to try to act as a more of member to share the cost of being the member while we enjoy the benefit of them also. Trying to improve Japanese citizen’s understanding of two alliances are also important part of our country taking active role within them, since unless we understand what they are, you are never going to be involved in them.

Third Priority is advancing the reform made on the military and continues to strengthen our military to at least reach the level that can make impact. Current army works; however, it does not work well, and is still under powered for it to make any affect when our country is under attack or if our allies need help. Simply, we need to invest more so we improve the foundation of the army; as opposed to dump more on our current foundation that is not ready for the need of the large scale army. Simply, Q1 weapon is not enough, and some more high quality weapons must be stockpiled and ready to be used in case there is emergency within our land.

Can you please define, in your own words, what 'transparency' means in relation to the Imperial Cabinet, and, what steps you would take to ensure that it becomes reality in the coming month?

To me, transparency does not mean giving power to anyone who wants them (or new citizen who is like 10 days old) but rather to increase the mutual understanding between the cabinet and the public. I believe a communication and the increased relationship between the public and the executive branch of the government is key factor in transparency. This does not mean making report of something, or writing what happened informally is what leads to transparency. Rather writing why you did something or why you decided to make change or not and explaining your stance to the public and listening to public’s concern and to try to build confidence between the two bridge of Government and the public is true route to transparency.

As the president, would you consider granting an eJapan journalist exclusive access to cabinet meetings and discussions on the forums, so that citizens may be readily informed in all matters concerning the nation?

This is interesting suggestion, and possibly, there could be some cabinet meetings that could be opened to public to show what we do in there. However, due to the fact in some occasion, cabinet does discussion some secure material either from PEACE or concerning the security of the country, at those times, Journalist must be kept out. Of course there will always be a Secretary of Communication who will continue to keep Japanese public updated on what is going on.

should citizens trust all members of congress to make the best decision for them?

No. obviously not. Citizens should always be engaged in what is going on and voice their opinion, and continue to be actively engaged with the government. All citizens should have some sense of distrust towards government and should keep close eye to make sure the congressmen are doing what you want them to do; and not what those congressmen wants to do.

What do you think about the Godzilla Party?

FoH PTO party. Enough said. [Link removed by Fae due to lack of permission of its use.]

The Orange party?

They are and always have been small, but dedicated party for Japan always working for the general benefits of Japan, and not for the party themselves. I feel like they always put their country before their party and work very hard to try to improve this nation.

The National Alliance Party?

No comment.

The Imperial Sun Party

They were always active and group oriented from the beginning, and I feel that they will continue to grow in that manner. Tohru did excellent work getting this alliance active, and potent.

The United Lollies party?

Ah, the good old Lolies. All I can say is that it is great that they are active, and back.

If you had to vote for a presidential candidate other than yourself, who would you pick?

I will probably vote for someone active and dedicated to Japan. Since that rules out Minamoto, my options are very limited that I don’t know if I will vote for anyone that month.

Would you have been willing to work in Kyonkyon's cabinet if by chance he/she became president?

Now this question is tad personal isn’t it? I know kyonkyon wasn’t so experienced, but what kind of question is this?

What aspect of eJapans government system that you feel is working the best and why?

I don’t know if any system is working to its full potential, but I would say Nihon no Koe has rather been working great. That is something that may be working the best right now. Other sections needs some work.

What aspect do you feel needs the most work and why?.

Economy is always the aspect that needs continuous work. Simply, market always changes, and the programs and plans must be able to be flexible enough to account for those changes that happen. I is one of the most important aspect of the game I believe, and it could use more work. Economy funds every program government runs, and affects the daily lives of the citizens greatly. I have seen completely destroyed economy numerous times in Japan in the past, and I know the hardship many citizens suffer as the result of it.

Past presidencies were plagued with lack of updates and frequent communication with the public. How will your presidency address this issue?

More direct communication between the President and the public is in order. Public can’t communicate with the president if they don’t know if the president is here or not. Thus I will try to always try to make sure people understand that I am here, and they can freely contact me with whatever they want to.

What are your thoughts on countering or working past possible resistance and/or residual ill will from previous/current administration/congress members that may otherwise stymie efforts to move forward?

One thing Admins do enforce is that the governmental organization is passed down from the past administration to the next. Thus if there is any difficulties with that most basic transfer, then I will use contact page to try to get that fixed. However, I do not think much will be issue, since if they cut me off from the external tools such as forum, or IRC, a new one can be constructed to replace the old one, and still use the Game to communicate with others. If the past administration will try to block the process to move forward, it will definitely need more dedication and work to move past it, but it isn’t something that is completely undoable. I will simply have to work harder, and get everything fixed, rather than to wait for god or someone to fix it for me.

If you could only be sure of completing one thing during this presidency what would that one thing be?

Restabilising the economy. Economy is always important to national health, and should be placed higher priority than the rest, especially in small peaceful country like ours.

How do you plan to pay for all the projects or plans you are proposing?

Currently, national bank of Japan holds about 1400 gold. I believe that is more than sufficient to start my project to invest more to try to gain more advantage in the future. Sure start up fee will cost some money, but up keep of the new investments will be small, and doable for our country. The printing of more JPY could also help fund my projects, and to also try to make sure enough currency is floating around our market to stop it from deflating. It will take more time and dedication to get this going, but no income tax or VAT will be increase to put more stress on our citizens.

Can you please describe, in detail, the current state of the eJapanese economy?

I believe the foundation that current system employ is indeed working; however, it is not being updated consistently to meet the demand of the new changes that happens to the market every day. Market changes every day, and it is foolish to believe that doing it one way to solve every issue in the future. What is currently not working right now is that we have void in proper leadership within the economic field, since not many citizens care enough about it (and most of congressmen do not know anything much about economy.) Simply, people are too busy focused in military, beautifying the forum, and etc that most are too ignorant about the economy, and they never tries to pay attention to it.

Now let us move onto questions will be concerning the Army:


How much do you think the government should spend on the Army per month?


50-75 Gold per month. This is subtracting the running fee of the military owned companies that will be funded with printed JPY to cover the running fee. I feel this should be enough for army to function (of course, separate 195 gold will be invested to create Japanese Imperial Navy and to create new Q4 Weapon company.)

How should the Army be funded?

Gold should come from the congress funds, and the running cost of the army companies can be covered by the JPY that is printed.

Will you be securing all the ex-eNK regions this term or only finalising the deal to take the Iron region Hamyong into the Empire to secure our own desperately needed Iron producing region?

I am not planning to take any land from ex-NK regions. How different is that from other imperialist around the world that grabs territory for profit or resource? I do not feel spending 300 Gold or so to start the initial war (more since both Russia and Hungary has large population and since two war must be opened) and anywhere from 50-100 Gold per each region is the good way for our country to spend our money. We are investing in something that will help our country little.

Do you support the annexation of Hamyong to give eJapan a medium iron region, assuming Russia and Hungary would be amenable?

No I do not. Simply medium regions cannot produce as much high region can due to erepublik formula, and we will be producing ½ of what other companies produce around the world for the same price. This natural disadvantage of medium region makes this region worth little to nothing. Suggesting some of our investors to create Iron Company in other high regions around the world and suggesting our companies to buy those resources from the donation is simply the most cost efficient and effective way to keep our final product competitive in international market.

how do you propose to get more weapons?

Like I mentioned in the past, New Q4 Weapon Company will be built to stockpile high quality weapons. This will be saved to be used in case of emergency so that our army can deal enough damage when we are attack. That should be plenty of weapons that will be stockpiled for emergency. As for our Q1 weapons used for training, I believe our current method is working fine for the time being.

Do you have a plan to deal with the theocrat threat to our nation and our economy, and if so can you give us an outline?

Since they have no citizenship, I do not think they could do anything political in Japan. Only thing we have to watch out for is possible RW in South Korean regions, and market attacks. Monetary attack could be stopped quite easily by printing JPY and using the gold to reset the rate even after they attack. As for Market attack, while there is little we can do other than to sell the foods through the Black market, but in the end, it is those Theos what will lose money. As for RW in South Korea, I just have to hope that the reform of the army and production of the Q4 weapons enough so that our army is actually helpful. If not, we will definitely have to ask for some PEACE and Sol help. However, our nation survived mafia in the past. We should be fine on this one too, and we shouldn’t be in so much trouble, unless Theos somehow hacks into our government org and release like 150K JPY into monetary market or something to start hyper inflation.

Let's say, for example, that eJapan succumbed to an evil scheme to destabilize the country. If that happened, who or what would you blame?

I believe I will be more focused in fixing Japan first, than blaming someone. Though, if the leaders that is in charge when the eJapan falls does nothing after wards to fix the issue, then obviously, that person will be blamed.



What role do you think Japanese culture should play in our nation?

I truly leave that section up to each citizens of Japan. I do not feel it is government’s place to say “you have to cerebrate this” or to dictate what the central Japanese culture is.

What is your commitment to Japanese culture, and what is government's role in the maintenance of that culture?

Like I mentioned in the previous question, I feel how each citizen treat Japanese Culture is up to them. Government should make sure those cultures of the citizens are following erepublik rule, and is respectful, but other than that I do not think government should come in on the culture of Japan. The people in the government of course could participate in those cultures as individual citizens however.

What are your thoughts about the idea to unite all eKorean and eJapanese regions all into one?

I hate it. South Korea deserves to be independent and they should become independent when they feel they are ready. It is not our government’s position to decide the future of eSouth Korea. It is up to their respective citizens.

Finally we will look at your Foreign Politics.

What are your general goals, and opinions concerning eJapans Foreign Policy?


Improving ties with PEACE, and engaging and helping to develop Sol into more solid and potent alliance should be the number one goal.

What do you believe is the role of eJapan within PEACE and what is its relationship with the other members of this alliance?

First we must make sure we understand what PEACE is now, and how they operate. To put it bluntly, what citizens of Japan thinks what PEACE is and what it should be, is very much incorrect. it is pure arrogance to believe we can change something we don't know about. We must first try to understand the Alliance as a whole, its history, and what it currently stand for before we can truly judge and change them. Our country must first as a whole try to understand PEACE and to learn more about them. That understanding could only lead to any chances of Japan having true role within PEACE.

Within Sol?

I believe we should take active leadership position within this alliance. We should definitely invest more of our time and energy to try to get this alliance going strong, and we need to have more active Japanese within the Sol forum and IRC to try to improve communication and integrate them within our country. Again, understanding, and communication, and dedication of our citizens come to the main goal for our nation.

If and when California and Hawaii fall to the eUSA and the American administration changes hands from Emerick-kun to a new president, what measures will you take?

I do not think there will be much problem, but some new MPP with Hungary, Indo, or France will be possibly made to ensure we have someone to depend on if we are invaded.

The recent eSK elections did not fare so well as expected, as shown by the remerge with eJapan. Many South Korean residents simply blame the lack of numbers. How would you, as president of eJapan, deal with the PTO cycles that eSk encounters as well as possibly increasing activity towards eSK so they can form their own independent nation?

Personally I will try to make sure to be online during the last 1-5 hour of the election. That is the most crucial time for any election, and try to coordinate and communication more with SK authority and the citizens of Japan to try to get more votes in to help SK. If I cannot be present at the last 1-5 hours of the election, I will make sure someone competent will be here to organize and help the SK election.

Lastly, the most obvious question that should conclude this interview: Why do you think you are the best candidate for this job, and why should eJapan's citizens trust you with the position?

I believe I have more than necessary experience and understanding of the game to make a competent and active leader of eJapan. I believe my past dedications since my time here in eJapan demonstrates more than enough credential to show that I can do the job, and I can do well with it.

Thank you very much for your time. Your answers will be openly published for all Japanese Citizens to read in hopes of helping them decide their future president. I wish you good luck with your campaign and the upcoming election.