The Shores of Land: The Diplomacy of Japan, an Alien Nation

Chapter 12 - Press Conference (Part 2)

The Auditorium 1, the venue for the press conference, was unusually quiet, despite the presence of a total of 1.000 people, including 800 press members and 200 soldiers from the Illyharan military.

Although coughs and the sound of protective clothing rubbing against each other could be heard, there was nary a talking among the fellow journalists.

But that was understandable. This is the first time in history that aliens have held a press conference. They are not like members of congress or celebrities. They are not half-prepared to be there because every word they say is something they will never hear in their lifetimes.

The corruption of a legislator or a scandal of a celebrity is a scoop, so even if they can't do things half-heartedly, they were inevitably unsure of what to do when it comes to literal aliens.

That's why they applied within the five-hour application period, passed four inspections, and wore a suffocating protective suit to be here.

Looking at the internet, all they could see was Japan. A metropolitan capital city with the largest telephoto from an overall view of Japan taken by satellite passing through Eustre. The images of exchanges provided by the Ministry of Defense, the Japanese language translated into Martani, and the information about Japan and its home planet, Earth, obtained throughout exchanges, were being drawn out and actively discussed day and night on message boards and discussion sites.

The same was true on television, where political, military, alien, science fiction writers, and various other critics debated whether Japan's goal was peaceful or invasion. All the media, including radio, paid close attention to this press conference.

At 18:50, General Holser entered Auditorium 1, dressed in formal attire. Immediately after that, a great number of shutter clicks echoed.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I thank you all for your participation on such short notice. My name is Holser mu Balster, the commander of this base. From now on, we will be holding a press conference from Japan for Illyharan and the rest of the world. I would like to remind you that the Japanese people have not yet mastered the Martani language perfectly. To avoid speculation, we will have a Japanese linguist called Haguma, whom you may know, interpret for us. If you have questions, please be brief and use simple words. The Japanese will ask you back if they don't understand, so please restate it in different wording."

This is a measure to prevent propaganda. If they speak in Japanese and are interpreted by the Illyharan military, they can twist the translation in any way they want. If it is later discovered that the translation is not correct, they can say they did not understand the Japanese language perfectly.

Then, not only the people, but also the Japanese might clarify it. Therefore, if the person in question is asked to speak, it will appear as propaganda from the other side.

"Therefore, we are sure that they will speak poorly, but please understand that we are less than eight days since knowing them all. As for the questions and answer session, there will be seat numbers handed out to you when you arrive. The 20 people whose numbers I am about to read out will each ask up to five questions. After that, if there is still time until the scheduled period, those whose numbers will be randomly assigned will again be allowed to ask up to five questions."

A machine then announced the numbers, and the selected ones showed their joy by clenching their fists and shouting.

"Another point to note is that Japanese people do not know the banned terms specified in our country. Since we do not know what they are going to say today, please be aware that they may speak the banned words without realizing it."

By adding so, it prevents embarrassment for what has been said and avoids accusations against the military and Japan, respectively. The clock was ticking, and there was already less than a minute to go.