And this is why this summer's scandal over the 50m missing pension records dealt Mr Abe such a blow.
Politicians' pension records are private, so it is unknown how many are taking advantage of the provision.
He analyzed Civil War draft and pension records, linking them to mid-19th-century and early 20th-century census records to show how improved health enhances economic productivity.
A particular focus of voter anger was the apparent bureaucratic mishandling of some 50 million pension records that was revealed in 2007.
Mr. Cease, who says he has found evidence of more than 1,200 duplicate pension records, proposed creating a team to tackle the problem.
For instance, it fairly recently came to light that 50m pension records had been lost, a disaster that was hidden from the public for more than a decade.
More than two billion records, from thousands of sources like the United States Census (1790-1930), immigrecordsrecords and Civil War pension records, are cataloged at Ancestry.com, he said.
That could further damage public confidence in the Liberal Democrats, already reeling from scandals, including the loss of millions of pension records, which outraged this rapidly aging nation.
His investigating also led to tips and to his big scoop that health officials had mishandled or simply lost the pension records of tens of millions of Japanese.
