Akane Tsunemori
Akane Tsunemori | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Minister of Internal Affairs and Public Security of Gylias | |
| In office 2 January 1958 – 5 March 1976 | |
| Prime Minister | Darnan Cyras |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1 April 1931 Ryūra, Kirisaki |
| Political party | National Liberal Party |
| Occupation | Police agent |
Akane Tsunemori (Miranian: 朱 常守; Gylic transcription: Akane Ţunemori; born 1 April 1931) is a Kirisakian–Gylian police employee and politician. She was Gylias' interior minister in the Darnan Cyras government. She was instrumental in the establishment and development of law enforcement in Gylias.
Early life and career
Akane Tsunemori was born on 1 April 1931 in Ryūra, Kirisaki. Her parents were civil servants, working for the local government. As a child, Akane was a diligent student with a somewhat reserved demeanour.
Inspired by her parents, she chose a career in public service, and attended police academy. She joined the local police department in 1951.
As a police employee, Akane was known for her professionalism and commitment to community policing. She was respected by neighbourhood residents and made efforts to ingratiate herself with them, including keeping up with their significant occasions such as birthdays and marriages. In contrast, she was seen as solitary by colleagues, whose off-colour humour she disliked.
Akane travelled to the Free Territories in 1954, as part of Kirisaki's assistance during the Liberation War. She assisted with peacekeeping and humanitarian aid. She grew fond of the Free Territories and remained for alonger term, taking on greater administrative and coordinating duties.
Akane's growing recognition was noticed by Darnan Cyras, who invited her to join the post-war Executive Committee, with responsibility for law enforcement. She accepted the offer. Having gained knowledge of Free Territories politics, she joined the National Liberal Party beforehand, finding it closest to her beliefs.
Minister of Internal Affairs and Public Security
Akane took office with the rest of the Executive Committee on 2 January 1958. She was one of its youngest members, only surpassed by Sakura Tōsaka and Eoni Nalion. Her post was retroactively renamed "Minister of Internal Affairs and Public Security" when the Constitution was adopted in 1961.
Akane was instrumental in the development of law enforcement in Gylias. She oversaw the amalgamation of the Free Territories' volunteers and militias into the Gylian Police, while separating the more specialised duties into the Popular Guards.
Using Kirisaki's law enforcement as a model, Akane envisioned the Gylian Police as a "walking peace force", reconciled with the Free Territories' legacy by having them legally assist the populace in providing public security. She maintained internal direct democracy within the Gylian Police and Popular Guards, preserving their anarchist heritage. She emphasised diversity with the police, and was a strong campaigner for the recruitment and training of women.
Akane secured support for her strategies of community policing and an extensive, helpful presence. She helped devise stringent assessments and training to prevent authoritarian personalities from joining. She emphasised "grace under pressure" and remaining friendly and helpful in training.
While she found some of the Free Territories' changes bewildering, particularly the abolition of prisons, she adapted to the situation. Conscious of symbolism, she avoided use of military terminology in police ranks, and based uniform designs on those of the Kirisakian police.
Akane's philosophy as minister was to control crime. She believed eliminating it was impossible and attempting it would inevitably be totalitarian. She privately observed that the wicked–evil distinction made it easier by encouraging "harmless and admirable examples" as outlets for public fascination, such as Ranyi Sesyk.
She tactically tolerated the Mava Organisation as a bulwark against more violent and destructive criminal forces, while directing law enforcement to contain them in southern Aðuna.
Public image
Akane lacked the charisma of colleagues such as Rin Tōsaka and Julie Legrand. Instead, she cultivated the image of a conscientious public servant. She had a straightforward demeanour and quiet confidence which gained her public respect. Her appearance was similarly simple: she was recognised for her dark blue business suits and distinctive bowl cut.
Although she wasn't a member of the Gylian Parliament, she attended sessions dealing with law enforcement to answer them in question. She listed her phone number in the telephone directory and personally answered complaints and inquiries from Gylians.
Within the cabinet, she was affectionately nicknamed "Shizukakane" (quiet Akane) or "Shizu-nee", a nickname coined by Rin Tōsaka due to Akane's habit of carefully considering her words before speaking. Although one of the younger cabinet members, she was seen as "wiser than her years" due to her demeanour.
Akane was not an anarchist, and as a relatively late migrant, was sometimes oblivious to the sensibilities instilled by the Free Territories. Records from cabinet meetings in the National Archives reveal colleagues would often work to rephrase Akane's suggestions to avoid "statist" language. She recalled feeling "confused" when first asked to avoid the term "police officers" due to its militarist connotations.
A proud advocate of community policing, Akane took up the mantle of championing liberal, progressive, and anti-authoritarian approaches to law enforcement. She advocated rehabilitation as the fundamental aim of the legal system, supported restorative justice, and criticised retributive justice.
She credited Gylias' low crime rate with the economic transformation of the Free Territories and Golden Revolution, which practically eliminated poverty and inequality. She frequently taunted critics of Gylian law enforcement as incapable of becoming police personnel themselves. When the term "tough on crime" first emerged, she famously retorted that its advocates were actually "stupid on crime", whereas the policies she supported and defended were "smart on crime".
Diary
Akane kept a diary throughout her term in government. It was published to critical acclaim after her term ended, earning comparisons to a political equivalent of Anaïs Nin's Diary. It is considered a significant primary source for studying the Darnan Cyras government. In her diary, Akane observes with wry humour the changes of the Golden Revolution from an outsider's point of view, records the personal dynamics of the cabinet, and philosophically reflects on her ideals.
Later life
Akane retired from politics when the Aén Ďanez government took office in 1976. She had a strong distaste for Aén, remarking late in her diary, "I wouldn't trust her to clean the fucking toilets in Parliament Building."
She took on occasional work as an advisor, lecturer, and columnist on law enforcement matters for some time. Since the 1990s she has largely lived in quiet retirement with her family.
Private life
Akane is in a long-term relationship with her partner Edi Nasín since the late 1950s. They have three children.
She refuses to claim her ministerial pension, collecting instead her pension as a Kirisakian police employee.
She is a practitioner of Kisekidō.