The Palaceside Building New Year’s Gathering, meant to deepen ties among tenants, building staff and tenants with one another, was held February 1 at Mainichi Hall on the first basement, with about 100 tenants and building people taking part.
The New Year event that brings tenants and building staff together began in 2013; this was the fourth. After the Great East Japan Earthquake, a mood of helping one another in a crisis grew, and Mainichi Building, which manages Palaceside Building, called for the gathering.
The program had two parts, a talk and a reception. Part one was the usual lecture by a front-line Mainichi reporter, a well-known byline: this time specialist editor Masao Yora spoke for about an hour under the title “An Election Year: What Happens to Politics?” cutting freely from Abe politics and the political scene to Abenomics (photo above). Despite the resignation of Economy and Fiscal Policy Minister Akira Amari over a facilitation scandal, support rates had rather risen; Yora said he “again felt how strong Abe is,” and pointed to the opposition’s lack of
strength as one cause. On talk of a same-day House of Representatives and House of Councillors election, he “prophesied,” “I do not think there will be one.” His reason: “If a further delay of the consumption-tax hike were put up as the great cause for dissolving the Lower House, that would mean admitting Abenomics is not working.”
At the reception that followed, Mainichi Building president Tsuneo Hada led the toast. With editor Yora joining in, guests exchanged cards and introduced their firms, deepening ties (photo at right).