Bitter Decision

Governor of Fukushima, Yuhei Sato, called it “a bitter decision.” After getting consent from two local mayors, Sato announced his acceptance of an offer from national government to build an intermediate facility for solution of contaminated debris produced by exploded nuclear reactors in First Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant. He is going to tell it to Minister of Environment on Monday. The focus of this issue shifted to whether about two thousand landowners will agree with it. The governor and mayors vested their responsibility on ordinary people who lost peaceful lives in hometowns.

Sato had a meeting with mayors of Okuma town, Toshitsuna Watanabe, and of Futaba town, Shiro Izawa, on Saturday. The broken nuclear power plant is located on the border of those two towns. Watanabe expressed his idea of accepting the intermediate facility in Okuma and Futaba, and two mayors told, “We understand the governor’s idea.”

There is a huge amount of plastic bag all around Fukushima, filled with contaminated soil produced after each family cleaned up the garden. They need to be concentrated in one place and decontaminated to the extent it may not harm people’s health. Since the national government could not determine where that facility should be built, it has been persuading Fukushima to agree with building an intermediate facility in Fukushima. The Governor and Mayors accepted it in condition with building final solution facility outside Fukushima.

But, there is an unspoken expectation of the national government that Fukushima will accept the final facility, after spending a long time of evacuation. Although people in Okuma and Futaba have been deeply annoyed with the nightmare of finally losing their hometowns, which have been inherited from their ancestors, the national government is looking forward them to abandon it.

Pressure on local political leaders was too heavy to be responsible for the decision. Some people have raised strong voices not to accept the facility, while others become flexible during their ordinary lives going on in other towns. So, the governor asked two mayors to accept it, and the mayors recognized this problem should be solved by landowners.

Going back to the basic structure of this problem, responsibility of cleaning the contaminated lands up is not on local governor or mayors, but on the hand of owner of the reactors, Tokyo Electric Power Company. It is the major contradiction of aftercare on the unprecedented nuclear disaster that sufferers became responsible for the accident.

Accident Mostly Killed Her

How much is the cost of a suicide of a woman who was forced to leave her home in evacuation area around broken nuclear reactors in First Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant? The answer of Fukushima Regional Court was ¥49 million. Whether or not it was too high or low, significance of the sentence was the court acknowledged the relationship between the nuclear accident and her suicide. The defendant, Tokyo Electric Power Company, has still not shown an apology.

Hamako Watanabe, then 58, evacuated her house in Yamakiya district of Kawamata town, Fukushima, three months after the accident occurred in March 11, 2011. Her house was included in unlivable evacuation area with high radiation, which the national government set. After leaving house, she could not sleep well every night, lost good appetite, and spent her time watching TV. With deep disappointment, she burnt herself in her garden in the morning after temporary one-night home stay in early July of that year.

The sentence found that she lost close ties with her neighbors in the community where she lived for fifty-eight years, had to give up her job in her poultry walk, and forced to live in a small apartment house which she had not felt comfortable at all. “Unbearable stress caused her disappointment and suicide,” the sentence said. “Disappointment on unforeseeable future in evacuation she felt at her temporary stay and mental pain for choosing suicide in her home land were too big.”

There have been one hundred thirty victims who committed suicide related to the earthquake and nuclear accident, which number is still increasing. A rancher in Soma city, Fukushima, killed himself after three months from the accident, leaving message on a wall of his cabin “If only no nuclear power plant here.” “I was encouraged with this sentence,” told his wife, who made a case of demanding compensation of TEPCO.

TEPCO has been attributing suicide of Watanabe to her own weakness. The sentence dismissed its argument, saying “Her weakness only brought an effect of strengthening her stress.” The court admitted that eighty percent of all elements causing her suicide was nuclear accident.

There have been a number of cases of sufferers in the nuclear accident, which were brought in alternative dispute resolution, avoiding time-spending trial process. However, the sentence of Fukushima Regional Court may affect those ADR cases. Disputers are likely to raise their demand for compensation, stressing the relationship of their losses with the fatal accident. Concerning the greatness of responsibility, it is a big mystery that TEPCO still survives.

Is Protest Hate Speech?

It is highly unclear that Liberal Democratic Party properly understands freedom of speech. The party started discussion for regulating noisy demonstration around buildings of the Diet. The argument was introduced in the discussion over regulation on hate speeches, which denounced Koreans living in Japan. The party intensively confuses ultra-right wing movement attacking a minor ethnic group with lawful protest against political leaders.

In the first meeting of a project team for regulation of hate speech on Thursday, members argued that denouncing specific ethnicity needed to be regulated, concerning criticisms from other countries. However, some members realized sensitivity for not violating freedom of speech, even though it was aimed at minority group.

Some connected the discussion with demonstration around the Diet and the Official Residence of Prime Minister. Chairwoman of Policy Research Council, Sanae Takaichi, showed her frustration on noisy demonstration, saying “I hope to discuss this issue from a viewpoint of protecting well-ordered freedom of speech.” For LDP, freedom of speech has a reservation of “well-ordered.”

There have been Friday evening demonstrators around the Diet, protesting resumption of nuclear reactors after First Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant exploded in 2011. Frustrated with their arguments, LDP Secretary General, Shigeru Ishiba, labeled noisy demonstration as “making no difference from terrorism,” inviting strong backlash from the public.

The administration led by LDP passed the Quietness Preservation Law to prohibit noisy demonstration of right wing organizations in 1988. According to National Police Agency, there was only one case every year that violated the law around the Diet. What LDP feels to be noisy was not the volume of sound, but their opinion. Democracy does not include killing opposite opinion discretionally.

Secretary General of Democratic Party of Japan, Akihiro Ohata, opposed to the discussion in LDP. “There is a natural difference between hate speech and demonstration,” he told. New Komeito, a coalition partner of LDP, also showed negative attitude against regulation of speeches around the Diet.

Excessive attitude in LDP showed immature democracy in Japan. Opinion for them means opinion supporting them. Opinion against them is simply noise. On the other side, noisy speeches from campaign cars in every election are allowed, even how they bother peaceful life of ordinary families. Discussion in LDP could not be tolerated.

Civil Law Amendment

For the first time in the 196-year-long history, the Civil Law of Japan is facing a major change. Council for Legislature, a consultative committee of Minister of Justice, reached an agreement on about two hundred amendments in the law, mainly focusing on adjustment of provisions for commercial exchanges to modern internet-based contracts. While the changes were directed to protect consumers, thefts or coercion will not be eliminated. It is unclear whether the law can be a firewall between innocent citizen and ill-tempered sales person.

One of the major changes is establishment of regulation on terms and conditions. When a consumer buys good or service, the seller has to present conditions about the contract. They are too long and complicated for the buyer to understand all or find trivial trap in the document. There was a case of discounting insurance for missing smart phone, in which compensation was not paid, because the terms and conditions were renewed without announcement. In old document, there was a short description that the conditions might be changed any time, which the buyer did not notice.

According to the agreement, new provision of Civil Law will prohibit contracts excessively unbeneficial for consumers. Unilateral change of terms and conditions will also be regulated. Contract with a consumer who has mental disease, including Alzheimer’s disease, will be cancelled. The council is taking further consideration on this issue, after a member representing Nippon Keidanren.

Expiration of rending contract will also be changed. In current adoption of the law, the expiration term is determined dependent on each case. Rending money for dinner will disappear one year later. Responsibility of rewarding for hiring a lawyer will end two years later, while it extends to three years, if it were for medical treatment. New provision will set a comprehensive expiration time on five years.

On the other hand, individual guaranty for small or midsize business, which causes coercive burden on a person, will be partly allowed. Although the agreement basically prohibits individual guaranty, it sets an exception, when the person realized its risk with consultation to public notary.

Some lawyers expect fewer troubles with the amendment, while others still demand stricter regulation on unscrupulous businesses. In extremely high age society coming, there should be generational gap on consuming customs. For aged people, the world of internet shopping is still a modern wonderland. Efforts of social education are indispensable.

Can’t Stop Loving War Criminals

The main reason why China and South Korea opposed visit to Yasukuni Shrine by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was that it enshrined A-class war criminals, who were responsible for World War II as the leaders of Imperial Japan. Knowing that, Abe sent his personal wish to a ritual service for memorizing ABC-class war criminals. The service was held based on recognition that Tokyo War Tribunal was retaliation of the United Nations. His compassion to those criminals does not care sentiment of Japan’s neighbors at all.

Asahi Shimbun, which had currently been accused as harming national interest with past wrong reports on comfort woman issue, exclusively reported that Abe sent a message to a ritual service for Monument for Victims in Official and Legal Service in Showa Era, located in a headquarters of Shingon Buddhist Temple in Koyasan, Wakayama. Former officers of Imperial Army and Self-defense Force have annually been holding the ceremony. Engraved on the monument are one thousand and one hundred eighty names of victims of war criminals and who died in custody. Fourteen A-class criminals are among them.

Abe’s message was sent through a legislator elected in the region and read in the ceremony. “I dedicate my sincere condolence to the souls of victims in Showa, who made a foundation with their sacrifices for peace and prosperity of hour nation today,” the massage read. He added his conviction for his effort to “hope for eternal peace and explore the future for coexistence of human nature.”

There have been only a few politicians involved in the ceremony. As former or incumbent Prime Minister, Yoshiro Mori once sent a message in the name of a legislator. Although an organizer requested attendance of Foreign Minister, Fumio Kishida, he dismissed it. But Abe had sent letters in 2004 and 2013, too. “We have duties to uphold holy souls and to commemorate their sentiment to be foundation of our nation,” wrote Abe in the letter last year.

Abe has some reasons to be compassionate with war criminals. His grandfather, former Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi, was one of the A-class war criminals. Families of war victims are his one of the biggest supporting groups. But, the Constitution of Japan strictly prohibits religious activity of national government. Moreover, upholding war criminals causes further conflict with neighbor nations that suffered from aggression of imperial Japan. Abe ignores all those negative impacts when it comes to redeeming honor of war criminals.

Yoshida Testimony Hunting

Media organizations in Japan are now enthusiastic in a treasure hunting for a testimony of former Chief in First Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant. To the interview of the governmental investigation committee for the accident, Masao Yoshida, died with cancer last year revealed what was going on after the plant lost control over the nuclear reactors in March 11th, 2011. Due to huge volume of the testimony, each news organization had to report only few parts of it, causing misunderstandings on what the truth was. They have been accusing of other’s biased reports each other.

In the race for obtaining the document of testimony, Asahi Shimbun got the first prize. It reported Yoshida’s interview late May. According to the article, Yoshida revealed that ninety percent of his men evacuated the site against his order to stay and the evacuation might have caused insufficient management on the accident. Inside the administration led by Shinzo Abe, there were skepticisms that Asahi’s report was wrong.

Sankei Shimbun took the second position this month. As a newspaper firmly supporting the administration, Sankei accused Asahi’s report as fault. According Sankei, Yoshida told “not at all” to the question about order from the headquarters of Tokyo Electric Power Company to evacuate. Citing those facts, Sankei dismissed recognition of Yoshida that his men evacuated against his direction.

Sankei also published a paper by a journalist who had been criticizing Asahi’s report, with which Sankei attached a headline, “Does Asahi Want to Plunge the Japanese with Distorted Facts?” After the report of Sankei, criticisms against Asahi broadly rose up to the public. There was an environment that people were skeptical against Asahi, after it apologized its fault reports on comfort women issue.

Japan Broadcasting Corporation, or NHK, as the third place in the race, reported that there was a major evacuation against Yoshida’s direction, relatively siding with Asahi. But Yoshida thought that the evacuation had been correct at that situation. In short, Asahi reported focusing on Yoshida’s surprise on unexpected move of the workers, while Sankei stressed on Yoshida’s conclusion about evacuation. There seems to be no complete fault in their reports.

Along with one-sided policy management by Abe, newspapers tend to report one thing in different views. This is the reason why Abe is called “Divider in Chief.” The public must be smart enough to distinguish truths from a number of biased reports, which disturb freedom of knowledge.

Accumulating Burden on Fukushima

Fukushima prefectural government agreed with the national government to accept intermediate facility for solution of radioactive debris. It has been said that decontamination effort on the land around First Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant would be accelerated after intermediate solution facility would be built. However, many doubt whether all contaminated land will be cleaned up, as well as question on ability of controlling contaminated water flowing underground of broken reactors, even if new facility is established. Without assessing true magnitude of the disaster, the national government keeps on accumulating burden on Fukushima.

Negotiation between Fukushima and Tokyo was disturbed in June, when Minister of Environment, Nobuteru Ishihara, told reporters that “It’s about money finally.” People in Fukushima turned their back to Ishihara, who had obviously no gut to understand how miserable the people without their houses were. The national government tried to persuade them with policy change from buying the land for the facility to renting. In addition, it offered doubling of amount of subsidy for local governments, from ¥150 billion to ¥301 billion.

One point remained was value assessment of land property. Individual owners of land for the facility requested the price based on post-disaster situation, while the national government insisted on the price after the disaster. The margin between them would be worth ten percent. To make a breakthrough, Fukushima prefectural government decided to compensate the margin for landowners. There was a consideration that the deal would be difficult after reshuffling of Shinzo Abe Cabinet early September, because Ishihara was supposed to step down and the negotiation might go back to the beginning.

The national government is going to start construction of the facility early next year. However, it promised the people in Fukushima that the facility would be absolutely “intermediate” and facility for final solution would be built in another place out of Fukushima. There is no view for fulfilling it. Nuclear policy of Tokyo is completely temporary, as it has been from the beginning.

One leader of a small town in Miyagi prefecture, which was named for final place of nuclear debris in the prefecture, told that contaminated waste should be solved by Tokyo Electric Power Company, not local towns. All distortions of nuclear policy stem from unjust preference to the electric company. To make argument over nuclear policy settled, the national government needs to hear voices from local community.

Top Aide Rejects Offer

This can be the first major challenge against the leadership of Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, since he took the seat in December 2012. Secretary General of Liberal Democratic Party, Shigeru Ishiba, made his mind to reject the offer from Abe to be Minister for Security Legislature, a new position in Abe Cabinet for dealing with discussion in the legislative branch about exercising collective self-defense right. Ishiba is supposed to be starting preparation for running presidential election of LDP in fall 2015 against Abe. Ishiba explained the reason why he would not accept the offer, saying “I have different view on security policy from Abe’s.”

In the presidential election in 2012, Ishiba won the most votes among four candidates including Abe in general election. But, since his vote could not reach simple majority, the election got into second ballot and Abe turned over the game. Concerning the result that Ishiba obtained the most votes from general party affiliates in all over Japan, Abe decided to offer the second highest position in LDP to Ishiba. As General Secretary, Ishiba led the party to a victory in the election of House of Councillors in the summer 2013. It is undeniable that the party could maintain its general support with Ishiba’s popularity.

Abe has been trying to contain Ishiba’s ambition to succeed the leadership. Ishiba has been pretending to be support Abe’s leadership. However, difference between them could not hide away in the issue of collective self-defense. Abe wanted to include the word “collective self-defense right” in the cabinet decision in July, even if it would be a nominal reform of security policy. It was because Abe fundamentally wanted to get a momentum for old establishments, including A-class war criminals, to regain honor as Japanese war leaders. He thought overturning long-time taboo in Japanese security policy would make a symbolic turning point for their revival.

Ishiba knew well that the nominal breakthrough would not make big difference. His main aim is to make Basic Security Law, which determines baselines of new security policy. It will be a listing of what Japan can do within the framework of post-war pacifism, while Abe wanted to destroy.

Struggle between Abe and Ishiba may spread in LDP. There is equivocal frustration in the party against the cabinet decision, which caused steep down of party supporting rate. If opposite parties get together in next election under the cause of protesting the decision, it will definitely work against LDP candidates. When party legislators move for their own interest in election, Abe should not be the best leader for them. New struggle inside LDP should be watched closely.

Many Still Under Mud

Numbers of victims are still changing day after day. In the morning of Saturday, three days after the landslide northern district of Hiroshima city occurred, death toll rose up to forty-one and forty-seven are still missing. Size of disaster was too big for local and national government to deal with. Although Prime Minister Shinzo Abe cut his summer recess in short and back to his job in Tokyo, disaster management did not look improved. His schedule to visit suffered area has not fixed yet, casting question on his seriousness.

Hiroshima Prefectural Police, with helps from other region, dispatched 1,700 personnel to search missing people under huge accumulation of mud. Hiroshima City Fire Department sent 1,000 for rescuing effort. 500 troops of Ground Self-defense Force also arrived. In spite of their joint efforts, possibility of additional disaster caused by consecutive rain has been disturbing the operation.

While rescue team were searching for tens of missing people, the national government focused on reviewing laws for determining warning zone or helping other people who lost their houses, instead of enhancing rescue team. It was revealed that those suffered area was not included in landslide warning zone set by national government. Even if a local government realized the places to be vulnerable for landslide, it does not necessarily be the warning zone. Residents sometimes oppose being included in the zone, because it may devalue their land property.

So, the national government is thinking about how to change the law for more discretional determination of warning zone. It is not about helping missing people, but about expansion of bureaucratic power over local government or people. This is Japanese bureaucracy that is always enthusiastic for ruling people, even in the time when people are dying under heavy mud.

Japan is poor in livable land. That fact causes ridiculously high price of land in urban area. Young families with not so much high income tend to live newly developed land. In Hiroshima city, those new towns were located in foot of the hills, where risk of landslide was high. The encroachment of the land was so fast that governmental regulation could not catch up with.

The fact that the national government could not help people underground must be remembered as a failure of land development policy. The effort was so insufficient that the government was so much involved in reviewing laws, putting emergency management aside. Anyway, wasn’t the priority of Abe administration protecting people’s lives?

Imperial History Compiled

Imperial Household Agency on Thursday announced that it completed compilation of the annals of Emperor Hirohito, who experienced fatal defeat of the nation in World War II. The agency submitted them to Emperor Akihito, the eldest son of Hirohito. While historians expect the annals to reveal hidden facts in Showa era, some warns of possibility that politicians will take advantage of them. IHA is going to publish them without any censoring on the lines.

Hirohito, or Showa Emperor, was on the throne between 1926 and 1989, the longest in Japan’s history. The biggest event in his time was undoubtedly World War II, which fundamentally changed the status of Emperor from “a living god” to a human. While the Emperor had been a head of state to overview governance, the post-war pacifist constitution defined him as a symbol of integration of Japan and Japanese citizens. It was unusual for a Japanese Emperor to go through such a drastic change.

The annals consist of diaries of chamberlains, official documents of IHA, medical diagnoses or records of tours in and outside Japan. Although the previous annals of Yoshihito, or Taisho Emperor, were written by literally language and some parts were not disclosed, new annals will be in spoken language and completely disclosed. They will be constituted with sixty-one volumes and over twelve thousand pages in total, which makes the longest annals since the first ones in the eighth century. It took twenty-four years to complete the compilation. Akihito thanked for the labor of the efforts.

Historians focus on some important decision around the war. They include starting the war, accepting Potsdam Declaration for unconditional surrender or dialogue with General Douglas McArthur, the commander of General Headquarters of United Nations. One expects news in post-war era, rather than the wartime about which rich study has been done.

There is an argument that complete disclosure of information may cause reviewing Showa history. Besides, this is the time when a revisionist prime minister takes power in Japanese government. Interpretation of the annals needs to be careful. In addition, people have to understand that they are not the official history but personal record of Hirohito.

The world will take a close watch on the history of Showa, too. Digesting historical facts being appearing on those pages with deliberate efforts will help this drifting nation determine the direction to go to the future.

He Was Playing Golf

When people in northern Hiroshima were sunk in landslides, he was playing golf under the blue sky in Yamanashi prefecture. Unprecedented heavy rain took at least thirty-nine lives with landslides. Although Prime Minister Shinzo Abe turned back from his summer recess to Tokyo for conducting disaster management, criticisms rose from opposite parties. The argument was why Abe was so lazy in dealing with crisis, while he had been stressing his responsibility for protecting people’s lives in his explanation of necessity for collective self-defense right.

It was minutes after 3:00 a.m. in Wednesday morning, when landslides occurred simultaneously in northern Hiroshima. Hiroshima prefectural government issued recommendation of evacuation to the residents around 4:30. The national government settled the situation room in the Prime Minister’s Official Residence at the same time, and Abe directed integrated response for saving lives. Abe started playing golf around 8:00 with his close friends, but stopped it about an hour later and get back to Tokyo to take conduct.

Criticism was focused on why he started golf, while disaster in Hiroshima was developing to be serious. Prime Minister is the supreme commander of Self-defense Force. Hiroshima local government asked mobilization of SDF on 6:30. Abe needed to take a close watch on the situation and decide how many troops needed to be sent. It was obvious that he would not able to do that during playing golf.

When a ship of fishery high school collided with a U.S. submarine rising to surface and took nine lives in Hawaii in 2001, then Prime Minister, Yoshiro Mori, continued playing golf and harshly criticized by the public. Mori was one of the fellows playing golf with Abe on Wednesday. Why didn’t Mori persuade Abe to get back to Tokyo without starting golf?

After staying Tokyo for hours, Abe returned to his vacation in Yamanashi that evening. Rescuing process was still going on in Hiroshima, and there were nine still missing under the landslide at the time. Considering heavy rain poured on the area, there was a possibility of second disaster jeopardizing more people’s lives. Prime Minister might have to issue another mobilizing order to SDF. Abe’s response was too optimistic to be a national leader of Japan.

A lesson we learned was that this Prime Minister would save people’s lives only when he likes the cause for it. For him, people’s lives are heavy in the situation which Japan’s sovereignty is in jeopardy, for example, and light when it comes to natural disaster, which has nothing to do with his ideology.

Freezing Soil Fails

Tokyo Electric Power Company announced its operational change in its project of freezing soil around broken First Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant. In spite of the effort to contain contaminated water, the freezing wall set underground did not work well and TEPCO confirmed leaking at least four places. Unprecedented project to freeze surface of the earth is appearing to be a myth.

In the underground tunnel around the second and third reactors of the plant, there still remains eleven thousand metric tons of highly contaminated water leaked from broken reactors. TEPCO tried to halt the flowing water by freezing the soil between reactors and tunnel, as a part of overall freezing wall, resulting in realization of the land not frozen. As long as flow of contaminated water does not stop, TEPCO cannot remove water in the tunnel.

Shinzo Abe administration decided to adopt this soil-freezing project in May 2013. After some following consideration, construction of underground wall around the second and third reactors started this April. While it originally was a project for a month, the construction delayed facing insufficient freezing of soil. With consecutive flow of underground water into the site, contaminated water is still increasing by four hundred tons a day.

Nuclear Regulation Authority has been skeptical on effectiveness of the soil-freezing project. This kind of engineering has no example, except minor level projects in construction of subway. The authority has been taking a close look at its feasibility, regardless planned time schedule. On the other hand, the national government and TEPCO realizes that the project has gone beyond the point of no return, because the government had decided to pour a huge amount of money and manpower into it. Bureaucracy never admits its failure.

Increasing contaminated water keeps on annoying TEPCO. The company started this month persuading fishermen to understand its project, which scoop the contaminated water flowing in, purify it and throw it away to the ocean. Acknowledging the purification process cannot completely remove all kinds of radioactive materials, fishermen are reluctant to accept the project. Contaminated water accumulated in a huge number of tanks around the site is still going nowhere.

Growing concern is spreading. Some doubt that the government may secretly consider pouring contaminated water into the sea. Those skepticisms are emerging from unrealistic idea of freezing earth. Reckless challenge against great nature, in addition to the attempt to control nuclear power, still sees no end state.

Drilling Blue Coast

Seventy years after Henoko was named as a candidate for relocation of Futenma Marine Air Base, the government of Japan at last drove the first shot of drilling on the seabed of the coastal area in Henoko district of Nago city, Okinawa on Monday. Protesters were excluded from the construction area by police and coast guard. The government was not wrong in terms of law enforcement, because the governor of Okinawa allowed it. However, it is not legitimate as long as the governor’s choice was against general will of Okinawa.

A bureaucrat of Ministry of Defense once paralleled law enforcement in Okinawa with rape. “When a man rapes a woman, do you think he will say ‘I’m raping you’ to her?” told the Chief of Okinawa Defense Bureau in 2011, when he was asked why the bureau did not tell the day of submitting a document of environmental assessment around Henoko. For the protestors in Okinawa, drilling started on Monday was nothing but raping the beautiful blue coast.

The ministry had failed in the same attempt in 2004. Protesters disturbed drilling approaching the site with boats and canoes, and it gave the trial up without any strike on seabed. With that lesson, the ministry enclosed the drilling site this time, and showed an attitude to arrest invaders mercilessly. Protesters’ boats were completely excluded and could not reach the site.

Argument against Ministry of Defense is intermitting the construction effort until the end of the gubernatorial election on November 16^th. Incumbent governor, who accepted the offer of landfill against his campaign promise four years ago, has already announced his intention to run for the third term. An opposite candidate is going to make his mind to run against the incumbent. Request of listening to the voice of Okinawan people in the election just makes sense.

However, Shinzo Abe administration has no intention of hearing those voices. With pessimistic view for the election, officers around Abe seems to realize that they need to make as great progress in the construction as possible before the election. Their short-term goal is finishing this boring research before the election.

It is a sort of gamble a democratic government would not make. If opposite candidate wins the election, it is likely that the relocation plan will face a deadlock by denial of any minor change in construction plan. There will be no basis for discussion between Tokyo and Okinawa, destructed by ignoring public opinion. The national government needs to go back to the basic of democracy.

Liaison or Independence

Breaking some expectation for a broad coalition, Liberal Democratic Party raised a man without original relationship to the region for coming gubernatorial election in Fukushima, where reconstruction from the great earthquake and severe accident in First Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant is ongoing. Governor theoretically governs the region as a democratic representative. But, LDP expects him to be a liaison for national government. The incumbent governor is considering how to construct a framework for keeping the people united.

Takeshi Hachimura, a former chief of Fukushima Branch of the Bank of Japan, announced his intention to run for the governor on Sunday. Once indicating a possibility of supporting reelection of current governor, Yuhei Sato, LDP asked Hachimura to run. Hachimura, born in Tokyo and graduated a college in Tokyo, accepted the offer with his willingness to contribute to reconstruction efforts. After the disaster, he worked for managing reconstruction policy as senior officer in Cabinet Office or Reconstruction Agency. In terms of reconstruction, Hachimura worked as a bureaucrat, rather than as a banker man.

Main reason that LDP insisted on its own candidate was necessity for stronger grip on Fukushima government. Reconstruction effort is lagging behind with mutual discredit between national government and local people. After a gaffe of Minister of Environment, Nobuteru Ishihara, indicating buying approval for building the mid-term solution facility for radioactively contaminated debris, people in Fukushima showed rigid opposition against the offer from national government. Some guess that if Hachimura take over the governorship, it will be likely that the national government will build not only mid-term solution but final solution facility in Fukushima, which the government has been denying so far.

In addition, Tokyo government wants to have a grip on the research of people’s health, which is mainly conducted by Fukushima Prefectural Medical College. Although the research found thirty-three young people suffering from thyroid cancer, the national government strictly denied relationship of the disease with the nuclear accident. Once the medical authority admits the relationship, Tokyo Electric Power Company, and even the national government, will have to pay a great amount of compensation.

Next focusing point in the election will be whether Sato expresses his willingness to run. After Hachimura’s announcement, Sato campaign is reviewing its strategy for the election. If he runs, the election will be a referendum for a choice between local government dependent on Tokyo and independent based on public opinions.

Severe Weather Takes Lives

Typhoon Halong, the eleventh of this year, left a great damage on Japan in the first half of this month, in spite of its medium size of power. The main reason of the damage was Halong’s extremely slow move. Hard rain was concentrated in some specific areas, causing floods and landslides. Most sufferers were amazed with the unprecedented severe weather. Even the government cannot deny the effect of climate change, which it is reluctant to tackle with.

The most devastated area by Halong was Kochi prefecture. Over two hundred houses suffered from river floods, and agricultural damage amounted to ¥1.5 billion. It slammed the land of Japan from the south to the north for a week. The Meteorological Agency found a phenomenon called rain band, in which a typhoon produced a line of cumulonimbus along with whirlpool of cloud around the eye of storm. While leaving heavy rain in Kochi area, Halong also damaged Kanto region, hundreds of miles away from Kochi.

When Halong was reaching Japan, there was a tragedy stemmed from weather in Kanagawa prefecture. A car with four families was drowned by unexpected flush of water when it was crossing a river to escape from camping site on a sandbank. Three out of the four was found dead a mile away from the site. While media reports has been seeking responsibility of administrator of the camping site, risk of camping on the sandbank was well-known by users. Fundamental problem was that impact of weather was getting unpredictable.

Meteorological Agency admits influence of climate change. It realized growing frequency of rains with one hundred millimeters a day last one hundred years. “A view in the Third Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which realized frequent heavy rains in the region of middle and high latitude, does not contradict with already observed heavy rains in Japan,” told the agency. Most cities in Japan are basically vulnerable to rains with over a hundred millimeters a day.

Shinzo Abe administration abandoned an ambitious goal to reduce emission of carbon dioxide by 25% by 2020. It showed less serious attitude toward tackling climate change. Some manufacturers argue investing for climate change will damage Japanese economy. But, severe weather already harmed agriculture and infrastructure. The government needs to shift its priority from carbon emitting heavy industry to balanced distribution of wealth for sustainable economic growth.

Strong Taste for Military

For Ministry of Finance, August is the time for planning the budget for next fiscal year. The budgetary request guidelines for FY 2015, which would be applied to every ministry, showed positive spending for military, while it recognized less importance for welfare. It also included special budget for supporting Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s liking growth policy. Tax money will discretionarily be used by the Premier.

Military budget seemed to become a sanctuary. When Abe Cabinet decided exercise of collective self-defense right early July, Minister of Finance, Taro Aso, declared that he would organize next year budget for endorsing effective deterrence, which meant bold spending for military. In budgetary request in September, Ministry of Defense will not submit concrete amount of spending and be allowed requesting after the deadline. Military budget for next year is supposed to be including subsidy for local governments that will accept burden of United States Force in Japan. Purchasing brand-new transporter MV-22 Osprey, vessels for landing operation and fighter jet F-35 will also be included in next year’s budget.

A victim of military spending will be social security. Number of aged people has kept on expanding these years and natural increase is expected for next year. Ministry ofFinance calculated the increase as worth as ¥830 billion and allowed no more budget. The government will not apply new policy for social security next year with such a restricted amount of budget. Nursing service will shrink for less handicapped recipients and pay of patients will be raised next year.

As one of the strategies for winning general local election next spring, Abe instructed finance section to establish new framework for prioritized policies, which would be amounted to ¥4 trillion. The budget for the special request will include “local revitalizing” and “growth strategy.” It is obvious that those “strategies” mean more investment on infrastructure, because construction firms all over Japan are generally supporters for Liberal Democratic Party. It is a growth policy only for the old establishments in the time of high growth era in 1960s and 70s.

This kind of one-sided use of tax money will distort balance of national budget. It is highly likely that national deficit will be added on next year, fundamentally jeopardizing Japanese economy. Abe’s policy will not lead to structural reform. Japanese economy may embrace a serious risk of being trapped in a vicious cycle of distorted budget, more deficits, less wage and more job losses.

Breaking National Efforts Down

This is the sixty-ninth anniversary of ending the World War II, or the War of Pacific Ocean in Japanese terms. Although the diplomatic end of the war was on September 2^nd, when the Japanese officials signed a document of surrender onboard U.S.S. Missouri in Tokyo bay, the Japanese recognize the day of defeat as August 15^th, when the Emperor declared it. It may realize that the nation has still not lost their loyalty to the Emperor. In the speech of memorial ceremony today, the Emperor emphasized preciousness of reconstruction efforts, which looks like being torn down by the Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe.

In the ceremony, Emperor Akihito highlighted post-war efforts of Japanese people. “Since the end of the war sixty-nine years ago, peace and prosperity of the county today was built by tireless efforts of the nation. But, remembering the time full of hardships, my deep emotion cannot be ceased,” told him. While the expression sounded moderate, one could realize that he was frustrated with Abe’s security policy based on historical revisionism that might erode those efforts of the people. Needless to say, the Emperor of Japan is not supposed to make any political comment.

In the same ceremony, Abe made a speech without mentioning “considerable damage and pain” Japan inflicted on other Asian nations, the term which every Japanese P.M. had been touching since 1994, except Abe last year. Before attending the ceremony, Abe sent ritual offering to Yasukuni Shrine to pray for victims of the war. Three Ministers of Abe cabinet actually visited Yasukuni, regardless criticisms from neighbor countries. Those activities showed their priority on their own ideology rather than diplomacy or national interest.

China and South Korea responded critically. “Repeated visits of Yasukuni by the ministers will receive anger of its neighbor tormented by fourteen A-Class war criminals enshrined in the shrine.” South Koreans call August 15^th “Restoration of Light Day.” President Park Geun-hye on Friday required Japan of solution for problems including comfort woman issue, saying “To make forward-looking friendship and cooperation, it is necessary to make efforts to cure past wounds left in between the two nations.”

Abe missed another opportunity to improve the relationship with Japan’s neighbors. With the cabinet decision of exercising collective self-defense right, which was marked as a major turning point of post-war pacifist policy, Japan slowly began to change its shape to war-earning country. That may lose its reputation as pacifism nation, and will fundamentally wreck sincere efforts of the people in Japan.

Disappointment to Russia

Russia took a retaliatory action against Japan. Russian Army on Tuesday began a major military drill with over one thousand troops on Northern Island, on which Japan had been disputing for its sovereignty. It is nothing but a countermeasure against Japan’s further economic sanction to Russia over its invasion and intervention to Ukraine. The fact that Japan once took a soft position to Russia, rather than Europe and United States, means diplomatic failure of Tokyo lacking ability to predict the situation we are seeing now.

After Russia unilaterally declared annexation of Crimea, Japan laid an economic sanction against Russia in April. But it was lighter than the measures by European countries and U.S. exerecised. Concerning the annexation had a similar aspect with Russia’s occupation of Northern Island right after the World War II, Japan needed to take as hard measures as the Western nations. Consequently, it sent a wrong message to Moscow that Japan would take a certain distance from the West.

Japan actually had no choice except following U.S. When a passenger aircraft was shot down in eastern Ukraine, on where Russia had a great influence, Japan reluctantly raised its level of sanction in line with European Union and U.S. Russia cancelled minister level dialogue for the official visit of President Vladimir Putin this fall. Military drill of Russian Army in Northern Territory was the next measure to protest Japan.

Last drill in Northern Territory was in 2010, when Russian President was a figure not familiar to bilateral issue with Japan, Dmitry Medvedev. When Putin took power after Medvedev, Tokyo welcomed that supposedly pro-Japan President. But, the situation of bilateral relationship between Japan and Russia now got at least back as worse as in Medvedev’s era.

Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, expressed his opposition, saying “It cannot be totally acceptable.” Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent a message on the same line with Abe’s through diplomatic channel. It is undeniable that Putin’s visit to Japan will be cancelled. For Abe who wanted to take advantage that diplomatic event of his political tool for regaining popularity, it must be nothing but a disappointment.

However, it was Abe who reduced Japan’s diplomatic options. By Abe’s visit to Yasukuni Shrine and taking negative position in comfort women issue, Japan was forced to a position in which it could never increase diplomatic enemies around anymore. That made Japan’s standpoint to Russia weak than ever. In other words, U.S. destroyed Japan’s appeasement to Russia through Ukraine problem. It should be recognized that Abe’s unilateral diplomacy invited this result.