Our guest speaker for September was Katsumasa Suzuki, co-founder of the new People's Lives First Party (PLFP) and one of party leader Ichiro Ozawa's closest political allies. Suzuki heads the PFLP's Diet Affairs Committee, a powerful position which determines how the new party will navigate the Diet, how it votes and, ultimately, who its friends and enemies are. Mr. Suzuki shared with us his views on the political situation in Japan, the thinking behind the three pillars of the People's Lives First program – no nuclear power, no increase in consumption tax and decentralization – and the party's strategy to realize those goals.