On page 25 of the January 29th morning edition of the Tokyo Shimbun, there is a column called "Honest Column." The author is Kihei Maekawa, representative of the Modern Education Administration Research Group. Today, I decided to learn from him.

First, the author begins by saying, "According to the weekly Shincho, Kishida's son, Shotaro, who accompanied Prime Minister Kishida on his visit to Europe and the United States from the 9th to the 15th of this month, used an official car to sightsee and shop in Paris and London."

The author continues, "That reminds me of the time when I was seconded to the Permanent Mission of Japan to UNESCO in Paris. During the May holidays, all the cabinet members come on "overseas trips." After the regular Diet session ends, Diet members come one after another for "inspections." Paris is a popular destination. They make up important business to come to Paris.

Even if their destination is another country, they come to Paris as a stopover. Their real purpose is to sightsee and shop.

Diplomats at overseas embassies are busy taking care of politicians. "I once took a group of Diet members to a casino in Normandy, a three-hour drive away. After they had a blast, I brought them back to Paris late at night," he tells us.

Finally, the author concludes by saying, "A certain Diet member brought his wife on a committee inspection tour. The couple were busy shopping, ignoring their official schedule. When they took them to a Sèvres tableware store, the item they wanted was out of stock. The couple then asked to be taken to the factory, as they might have it there. When they went to the state-run factory on the outskirts of Paris, the item was not available, but they were able to make a reservation to buy it. Then they started demanding a discount.

It seems that the bad custom of politicians and their families using diplomats as free tour conductors is still alive and well."

I learned a lot from reading this.

"According to the weekly magazine, Shukan Shincho, Kishida's son, Shotaro, who accompanied him on his visit to Europe and the US from the 9th to the 15th of this month, used an official car to sightsee and shop in Paris and London," it said.

"That reminded me of the time when I was seconded to the UNESCO Permanent Mission in Paris. During the May holidays, cabinet members come on "overseas trips." After the regular Diet session ends, Diet members come one after another to inspect the country. Paris is a popular destination. They make up business to come to Paris. Even if their destination is another country, they come to Paris as a stopover."

And so on.

The author pointed out, "It seems that the bad custom of politicians and their families using diplomats as free tour conductors is still alive and well."

Reading this column once again made me realize that Diet members' overseas trips are literally "overseas trips," not inspections or training.

I think that training for Diet members is necessary.

Being elected as a member of parliament does not necessarily mean that one's intelligence or energy will suddenly improve. I believe that in order to improve one's qualifications, it is essential for members of parliament to engage in daily self-improvement.

However, when I read this column and found out that the real purpose of parliamentarians' overseas trips is "sightseeing and shopping," I thought it was a shame and a waste.

I hope that all members of parliament will read this column, and that the Tokyo Shimbun will receive a steady stream of voices saying that they are intellectually stimulated by their "overseas trips" and are "using this in this way" in creating concrete policies.

Actually, I would like to see even just one member of parliament like that.