Regionomics and Womanomics

“Local” and “Woman” were made two keywords in this fall session of the National Diet. In his policy speech at the first day of the session, Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, insisted that he would take advantage of vitality of local community for his economic agenda and create basis for all women to participate in business. Exercise of collective self-defense right, raising the rate of consumption tax, and resumption of nuclear reactors were dropped from his list of core policies. He looks like tired of sharp arguments.

Critics against Abe’s economic policy argued that Abenomics only helped big corporations and mid and small businesses in local community were left behind. Growth in Japanese economy has actually been seen in big companies or exporters benefited by cheap yen. Small businesses suffered from high price of raw materials. Actual wage of ordinary workers is not raised, because employers have not distributed their profits to their employees.

The concept of encouraging local community is quite simple. It is to encourage distributing wealth from Tokyo to other cities and appeal successful image of Abenomics to every corner of Japan. Abe insisted that new policy would support unique business in local cities, make a great number of jobs, and keep local communities vigorous. He expects those local energy will support growth strategy, which has been recognized as the third arrow of Abenomics.

However, the policy concept of local initiative is nothing new, because the idea was fabricated by bureaucrats in Kasumigaseki, mainly Ministry of Finance. Although the details of policy package have not been explored, it is already predicted that most measures will be some versions of subsidy. For example, the ministry will approve helping money to a small town that has a unique plan for selling fish caught in the sea the town faces. Basic system of concentration of power in Tokyo will not be changed. The policy is actually a new package of bureaucrats to rule local communities.

Reform of woman policy will be far from success. Abe’s “bright future for women” will, at worst, be enforcement of labor to every woman. Supposed policies are eliminating waiting kids for nursery or encouraging husbands to take care of their children, which have been tried for many years. The greatest appeal point of Abe in his speech was a meeting with Hillary Clinton in New York, in which they talked about status of women.

Those strange policies showed a fact that Abe has worn out his option for economic agenda. Abenomics is on the verge of failure with no sign of benefit for the middle class. Rift between the rich and poor is getting wider than ever.

Geologically Vulnerable

Not only earthquake, Japan was proved to be a country that needs to foresee eruption of volcano. It took more than two days for the police to realize four dead and twenty-seven fatally injured with no heartbeat on the top of Mt. Ontakesan, which exploded on Saturday afternoon. While a number of hikers were around there in the middle of the fall hiking season, authority of Japanese government had not delivered any warning about activity of the volcano. It is fair to say that Japan is a highly volcanic and earthquaky country.

Ontakesan is an active volcano with 3,067 meters altitude. Although it repeatedly exploded, it was the first major eruption since 1979, when it caused broad fall of ashes. At the time of explosion, there were hundreds of people on the mountain. Although the most descended the hill by themselves, around forty people stayed in small cabins around the peak. Survived hikers brought information that certain amount of people were severely injured. Police confirmed four deaths, which were brought to a town in foot of the mountain by helicopters, on Sunday.

Japan Meteorological Agency declared the explosion as level three, which recommended not to approach the mountain. Academic group called Information Society for Prediction of Volcanic Eruption Prediction determined the eruption was called thermal explosion, dismissing direct eruption of magma. Although the authority realized minor quakes some weeks before, there was no alert for Ontakesan. Explosion abruptly occurred under the crystal clear fall blue sky.

Japan has about one hundred active volcanoes, including Mt, Fuji, the tallest mountain in Japan. With old belief that high mountain is a realm of gods, the Japanese like climbing mountains to experience unusual world in their lives. It is unlikely for national authority to regulate their climbing. All it can do is to raise accuracy of prediction. But it is not so easy.

What the Japanese need to learn from the explosion in Ontakesan is to realize a fact that they are living on a small land full of geologic events. Located on the edge of continental plates underground, Japan is often dubbed as “nest of earthquake” or “archipelago of volcanoes.” Reactors for nuclear power generation in Japan are the world most vulnerable to geological activities. Preventing tragedies from natural disasters is as important as war on terror for the Americans. Political leaders have to make deliberate effort to share geologic information with other nations.

Insisting on Permanent Member

Japan resumed its effort to join the permanent members of United Nations Security Council. Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, expressed his intention to achieve that status in his speech at U.N. General Assembly. Japan had made an intensive attempt for the issue ten years ago, which resulted in a failure. Without any accurate reflection on the past, this administration seeks making impossible possible.

Abe tried to persuade how Japan was eligible for the permanent status in international community. “It is my wish, with the 70th anniversary as a turning point, countries sharing the same aims all work together to finally resolve a long-standing issue to reform the UN in a way that reflects the realities of the 21st century. In that context, Japan seeks to become a permanent member of the Security Council, and take on an appropriate role that the status requires,” told Abe in the General Debate.

Meanwhile, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Fumio Kishida, met with ministers of other three candidates for the permanent members, Brazil, India and Germany, in New York. Ministers from those four nations, or G4 as they named themselves, delivered a statement, which reconfirmed an agreement to support each other as the candidates. “We need to make efforts to get support from other countries as much as possible. I want to cooperate with others with common wishes,” told Kishida making no sense.

G4 made a similar attempt in 2004. At that time, one of the five permanent members that disturbed their effort most was not China or Russia, but the United States. U.S. made its standpoint clear that it would support Japan’s candidacy only, supposedly knowing its opinion would destroy the cooperation of G4. Innocent Japan welcomed U.S. suggestion. For all permanent members, increasing countries with the same status of them, even if it would be a close ally, would bring further mess in that already unworkable framework. Japan had no idea to overcome that contradiction.

Japan still has no hope for joining the permanent members. This agenda is not about raising status of Japan in international community, but for selling Abe’s personal and distorted principle for peace called positive pacifism. Abe uses this concept as a justification for remilitarization of Japan. But it is obvious that Japan cannot bring the world peace by its military power.

If Japan can contribute to peace of the world, it must be through negotiation. In the environment surrounded by great powers, Japan has to work as their catalyst. However, the leader of Japan is making no progress even to have a meeting with the leaders of China or Russia. Lying to the world is embarrassing.

Disturbing Reasoning of Air Strike

It is getting obvious that Japan cannot welcome the air strike operation on Syrian territory by the United States. U.S. explained that the operation was an exercise of the inherent right of individual and collective self-defense as reflected in Article 51 of the United Nations Charter. In the discussion of collective self-defense of Japan, Shinzo Abe administration tried to strictly define what self-defense meant. U.S. activity on Syria is different from the argument in Japan.

Japanese media reported that U.S. military strike on Syria was exercise of both collective and individual self-defense. Strike for the purpose of protecting Iraq with request of Iraqi government must be an operation for collective self-defense. On the other hand, preventing further beheading of U.S. citizens or removing terrorists such as Khorasan Group that had plot of terrorism in U.S. were recognized as exercise of individual self-defense.

Problem for Japan is the reasoning on individual self-defense. In the Budgetary Committee in the House of Councillors on July, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Fumio Kishida, told that individual self-defense could be exercised only the state itself was attacked. “In general, it is impossible in terms of international law for our nation to justify use of force as exercise of individual self-defense with broad interpretation of individual self-defense in spite of no actual attack on us has been made,” told Kishida.

U.S. strike on Syria was made without any previous attack on U.S. soil. According to Kishida’s interpretation, international law is prohibiting broad interpretation of threat in Syria as U.S. did. Although Abe and other senior officials of Japanese government expressed “understanding” on the U.S. military strike, it must have meant that Japan actually supported illegal activity of its ally.

If Japan realizes U.S. air strike as individual self-defense, there will be an argument that it will need to exercise individual self-defense when the terrorist group will behead a Japanese citizen in Syria or other countries. In broader interpretation, Japan may offend a country in which a Japanese tourist is killed by robbery.

Such a contradiction stemmed from rough-and-ready discussion over reinterpretation of the Constitution of Japan over collective self-defense. The way Abe tried to persuade the public, taking advantage of wisdom of bureaucrats around him, was filled with stories of “if.” He reiterated in the way “If something happens, we need collective self-defense.” Japan may have to use its collective self-defense for other country, before it does for itself.

Trying to Be Attractive

In spite of his eagerness to be attractive to women, what was loomed from Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was his consistent figure of conservative with old value. Taking advantage of attending the annual debate at United Nations General Assembly, Abe made unusual effort to sell his new political agenda, “womanomics.” However, the world was not interested in his performance so much.

Before heading to New York earlier this week, the Cabinet Office spread Abe’s plan to discuss Hillary Clinton, who was still popular to a number of Japanese believing her as an attractive American woman. But the meeting with her was actually a minor disaster for him.

The meeting set by Clinton Global Initiative was done in a manner that Clinton interviewed to Abe. When Abe explained a tendency of Japanese businessmen who believed long working to the midnight was good, Clinton replied that diligence did not compensate with responsibility of men for kids or old parents. After all, Abe was one of the guests for Clinton’s three-day campaign event for Presidential election two years later, paralleled with Chilean President Michelle Bachelet or King Abdullah II of Jordan.

Before encouraging women in still low-profiled jobs in Japanese business, Abe needs to fix fundamental problem of conservative movement as the leader of Liberal Democratic Party. Former minister with the party once boasted that woman was machine of birth. A local assembly man with LDP in Tokyo Metropolitan Congress chanted to a female member with other party in her speech that “Can’t you give birth?” LDP mostly represents obsolete concept of man in business and woman in family.

While Abe was struggling woman agenda in New York, his wife Akie joined an event of a thinktank in Washington, D.C. She straightly revealed frustration of Japanese women in a man-donimating society. “Men in Japan have been ignoring frustration of women for a long time. Japanese men need to consider it beyond frustration of themselves.” Akie is known as making case different from her husband. She advocates elimination of nuclear power reactors against Prime Minister’s policy, for example. Washington Post introduced Akie as “secret weapon” of Shinzo Abe.

In terms of attractiveness, Akie overwhelms Shinzo. In their visit to Washington in 2006, President George Bush acknowledged Akie as interesting first lady, mentioning nothing about her husband. While demanding business leaders positive promotion of women, Abe does not show his intention to promote his wife to a responsible situation in his job. It has to be confirmed whether Abe understands what women really feel.

Understanding War On Terror

“Understanding” was the wording of Japan to support new phase of war on terror by United States. Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, told reporters in New York that he understood it as a measure for avoiding further serious situation. But he did not mention how Japan would help U.S. Although he has been willing to pass legislations to let Japan involved in military operations overseas, he has no idea to send Japanese troops to Iraq or Syria for promoting U.S. freedom agenda. This is the man U.S. President Barack Obama trusted in over a sushi dinner in Tokyo this spring.

Obama stressed that U.S. was not alone in the war against Islamic State. “The United States of America will work with a broad coalition to dismantle this network of death,” he told in his address to the General Assembly of United Nations. While he praised forty nations joined the coalition in the effort to train and equip forces fighting against the terrorists, to cut off their financing, and to stop the flow of fighters into and out of the region, it was not clear whether Obama included Japan in them.

In diplomatic term, “support” and “understand” have clear difference. The government of Japan chose neutral expression this time. “We are worried about the situation not only in Iraq but in Syria, in which several cities are occupied causing many deaths. We understand the air strike by U.S. was done as a measure of avoiding further serious situation,” told Chief Cabinet Secretary, Yoshihide Suga. Grilled by reporters, Suga admitted that Japan had not fully been informed details of the air strike on Syria.

Criticism against U.S. air strike is spreading in Japan. U.S. explained that the strike was done as an exercise of self-defense right in Article 51 of U.N. Charter. But there is no nation now more sensitive on the word “self-defense right” than the Japanese. Some reporters asked Suga whether the U.S. operation violated international law that demanded request of the first-party for military attack.

Furthermore, some newspaper developed the possibility of this issue connected with hot argument over collective self-defense right of Japan. The decision of the Cabinet in July allowed Japan to exercise collective self-defense right in a case which would fundamentally overturn citizen’s right for life, liberty and pursuit of happiness. If the government of Japan recognizes the situation in Iraq and Syria as critical for security of Japan, it can send Japanese troops there.

“It is unthinkable,” said Suga when he asked about possibility of applying collective self-defense on the situation in Iraq. So, what was the purpose of the Cabinet decision? Japan once declared joining war on terrorism in the time of former Prime Minister Jun-ichiro Koizumi, a mentor of Abe in politics. Abe stressed Japan’s effort in helping refugees or humanitarian support in neighbor countries of Iraq and Syria, which could be done out of the concept of collective self-defense. That is why it is obvious that Abe made that decision not to contribute international security effort, but enhance his internal right-wing political agenda.

Adapt Yourself to World Trend

It must be amazing for activists on climate change in Japan that Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, still insisted on reducing greenhouse gasses, which had been dismissed at the beginning of his second term two years ago. He introduced “adaptation initiative” as Japan’s new effort to tackle global warming, stressing supports to developing countries. But international concern to Japan had to be “What are you going to do for lowering your own carbon emission, anyway?” He had no answer for it.

The Prime Minister of Japan urged the world to stand up together to mitigate global warming, while Japan has no concrete mid-term goal since his administration abolished twenty-five percent reduction goal by 2020, set by former Prime Minister, Yukio Hatoyama. “Global warming is an undeniable fact. Let us move on. I introduce new action of Japan. First, it is support for developing countries with educating fourteen thousand people in climate change. Secondly, we will promote innovation and prevalence. Lastly, we need international framework for the future,” told Abe.

Please mind that Japan rejected the second commitment period of Kyoto Protocol between 2013 and 2020, Prime Minister. Why can a country out of current international framework take a leadership for building new consecutive framework? He quoted a word of “beautiful planet Earth,” which he used in 2007, when he attended Group Eight Summit of developed countries in Heiligendamm, Germany. It sounded to be something like title of a fairy tale we could not remember when we heard last time.

Most supporters of Abe in the business sector, mostly heavy industries or electric power companies currently dependent on nuclear power generation, turned their back to the agenda of climate change. They have been negative on prevalence of renewable energy, because it may make their business obsolete. Abe’s economic policy in his second term has completely been relying on them without hesitation. Abe is not in a position that he can require the world to be more cautious on climate change anyway.

The world is running ahead, while Japan has been hesitating these years. “The human environmental and financial cost of climate change is fast becoming unbearable,” said U.N. Secretary General, Ban Kimoon, in the Climate Summit. President of European Commission, Jose Barroso, explained the plan of European Union to reduce their emission of greenhouse gasses by forty percent on 1990 basis by 2030.

Japan lost seventy-four lives in Hiroshima in only one heavy rain this summer. There has been no eminent argument of denying the relationship of that unusual severe weather with climate change. However, Prime Minister of Japan still ignores that wake up call. He needs to persuade business sector to get together in securing people’s lives from coming natural disasters.

Defendant Prime Minister

Plaintiffs accused incumbent Prime Minister as totally unconstitutional. In the first oral pleadings on the case for suspension of visit to Yasukuni Shrine by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe last December, families of war victims straightly criticized political activities of the nationalist leader. Abe’s representative rebuffed that the visit of Yasukuni did not violate the constitutional provision for separating politics from religion. With this denial of reconciliation, the court will have to decide whether the Premier violated the Constitution.

Abe’s Yasukuni visit invited strong opposition from China and South Korea, which had suffered from Japan’s aggression in World War II. His visit also frustrated families of war victims in Japan, who deeply regretted the war itself and hoped eternal peace. After four months from the visit, two hundred seventy-three families indicted Abe requiring confirmation of unconstitutionality of the visit and halting future visit to Tokyo Regional Court.

One of the plaintiffs, Chieko Seki, a woman high-school student in Nagasaki at the time of atomic bomb was dropped and lost most of her classmates, stated that “Everything the Prime Minister is doing, including Designated Secrecy Law or unleashing exercise of collective self-defense right, is violating basic principle of the Constitution of Japan.” For war victim families like Seki, intervention of democratic values the Japanese people had achieved in post-war era or intimidation to neighbor nations by upholding wartime principle are nothing but betrayals.

The representative of Abe required withdrawal of the accusation, claiming that “Freedom of religion of the plaintiffs was not violated by Prime Minister’s visit to Yasukuni. The visit was done as private person, not the Prime Minister.” Abe does not publicly mention the case. But he always explains his Yasukuni visit as “It is natural that a political leader gives a sincere condolence to the victims for the nation. For him, it might also be natural for a prime minister to harm sentiments of his fellow citizens by carelessly reaching mass destruction again by preparing for war, looking only at his own narrow-minded conservative political agenda.

Five hundred forty-six people also made the same kind of lawsuit to Osaka Regional Court in April. In addition, two hundred twenty-two people of Taiwan and Okinawa followed the first indictment in Osaka this month, accusing Abe’s visit to Yasukuni. It is likely that the lawsuit will go to the Supreme Court, which is supposed to be the only court deciding interpretation of the Constitution. Judges will be caught between legal consistency and legitimacy of political activity.

Uncertainty in Future Japanese Economy

The meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors from twenty developed and emerging economies recognized that world economy suffered from chronic weakness of demand in their joint statement delivered in Cairns, Australia, on Sunday. It was inevitable, however, that those leading countries could not send out any integrated massage, embracing fundamental opposition over international relations inside the framework. Japan could not show any specific idea to achieve its growth and improvement of financial balance.

Nikkei Newspaper stressed a comment of the chairman of meeting, Australian Minister of Finance Joe Hockey, which indicated necessity of fiscal stimulus in the future. Communiqué of the meeting required “strong, sustainable and balanced growth and robust financial sectors to safeguard our economies from these risks and put people into jobs.” The ministers and governors set their goal of lifting their collective gross domestic products by 1.8% by 2018.

As a leading economy with consecutive strength, United States requested fiscal stimulus, not directly pointing Germany that suffered from steep decline of growth after sanctioning Russia on intervening Ukraine sovereignty crisis. U.S. Secretary of Treasury, Jack Lew, asserted that low growth of Europe and Japan was disappointing.

This comment revealed a fundamental difference on Japanese economy between Washington and Tokyo. While Japanese political leaders are reluctant to admit slowdown of growth, explaining it as a temporary fall after introducing higher rate of consumption tax in April, U.S. government is looking at slow progress on long-term debt in Japan, even though Japanese government got new resource of income with the tax hike.

Known as cynical figure, Japanese Minister of Finance, Taro Aso, explained that Japan economy was on a tendency of recovery after introducing higher rate of consumption tax in April. He meanwhile showed his positive effort to balance Japan’s budget by 2020. “I realized high expectation on structural reform of Japan,” Aso boasted in his press conference after the meeting.

However, Japanese economy is highly dependent on how world economy will move in the future. Tokyo has mostly no power to deal with negative elements in Ukraine or Islamic State in Iraq. Cheap yen against U.S. dollar is a growing concern. Achieving deregulation for sustainable growth is unlikely as long as leading Liberal Democratic Party stays in the old interests.

Losing Momentum on Abduction

Enthusiasm turned to disappointment. The government of Japan announced that official report on abductees in North Korea would be delayed for certain period of time. Its promise to get it done by late summer or early fall proved to have been empty. While the officials attributed it to strategy of the North, it is obvious that Japanese government, including Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, did not understand diplomacy. Pyongyang always sees United States over the shoulder of Japan.

Chief Cabinet Secretary, Yoshihide Suga, explained that Pyongyang had brought Japan a message of the delay of investigation of Japanese in North Korea through diplomatic channel in Beijing. “The North said they were still in the beginning of investigation, which would take a year as a whole. They could not report anything beyond the situation of that,” told Suga in his press conference on Friday. Japanese government will keep on reconfirming the schedule.

Suga unintentionally revealed how innocent Abe administration had been in understanding strategic behavior of the North. Japanese government expected that the North would bring detailed information about Japanese abductees, especially about twelve people officially registered as abducted. However, Pyongyang prepared information other Japanese in North Korea than those twelve abductees. Those included spouse married with Korean, Japanese children left behind at the end of World War II or some missing people disappeared in Japan for some reasons.

For Prime Minister Abe, those people had less importance in terms of taking advantage in domestic politics. The truth was that Japan rejected an interim report of the North, considering disadvantage on Abe’s image as the top leader of abduction issue. A hidden scenario of Abe’s visit to Pyongyang, bringing back a dozen of Japanese abductees by government official aircraft, enthusiasm of Japanese people raising his supporting rate and making his administration stable for a long time was dropped from the table.

It is still unclear why diplomacy of Japan on North Korea has been so naïve. One possible reason is that diplomacy of Japan is not overwhelmingly controlled by professional diplomats in Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but by Prime Minister’s Official Residence. Staffs in the residence put more importance on political agenda of Prime Minister than diplomatic assessment of international politics. They only input preferable information for their premier, causing wrong decision of the national leader. If Abe wants to make a deal with the North, he needs to have more contact with United States and China. One cannot play mahjong by oneself.

Independence on Someone’s Minds

While the Scottish stepped back from the independence out of Great Britain in the referendum on Friday, the attempt ignited hopes for autonomy around the world. There also exists a sense of independence in Japan. It has been encouraged by discriminative application of policies to some regions. However, the central government does not show any attitude of appeasement.

Although the result of the referendum showed margin of ten percent, yes and no played a close race, which was enough to threaten some governments with the same kind of headache. As reported, Spain is one of those. Catalonia is expecting to have the same voting in November 9^th, in which the Catalans expect yes for independence, encouraged by the Scottish. Despite the central government in Madrid labeled the possible voting as illegal, the Parliament of Barcelona overwhelmingly vested its leader the power of having a referendum asking the residents independence.

In Japan, an area with current discussion over independence is Okinawa. Main reason for secession is too heavy burden of United States forces there, which a growing number of the people think as discrimination of central government in Tokyo a thousand miles away. While there is no obvious movement after the Scottish referendum, it is likely that people in Okinawa were encouraged to realize their autonomous power against the central government.

The northernmost island of Japan, Hokkaido, is known as close to Scotland in terms of size of land, population and economy. Both Hokkaido and Scotland has the land around seventy-eight square kilometers and five million people, and each of their gross domestic products is about two hundred billion dollars. As the Scottish does, people in Hokkaido have been frustrated with reduction of share of tax money for its economy or development. Hokkaido has long been the place where most businessmen were reluctant to work, because the move meant less chance to be promoted in the corporation they were affiliated. This is how the region has been treated.

There is no provision in Constitution of Japan on independence. It is highly unlikely that any kind of actual movement of secession will emerge in Japan soon. However, local people are actually frustrated with the governance of bureaucracy in Tokyo. Main reason why the economy policy of Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, has not been welcomed is that the fruits of the policy were occupied by major companies in Tokyo. Although Abe is trying to distribute them to every region, local communities are not so happy with it, if it does not mean distribution of power for deciding policy.

Embarrassing Right Wing Women Leaders

Taking advantage of women power is one of the main slogans for the shuffle of the Cabinet led by Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe. Now, it is proved that “women” the Premier relied on meant right wing activists. Three women leaders in Abe administration were accused of their relationship with extremely radical right-wing activists. They need to explain their own relationships.

New Minister for Interior, Sanae Takaichi, and new Chairwoman for Policy Council of Liberal Democratic Party, and former Minister for Woman Issue, Tomomi Inada, had taken picture with the leader of neo-Nazism organization in Japan, Issei Yamada. According to the website, official name of the organization was “National Socialist Japanese Workers Party.” It admires principle of totalitarianism of Nazis and banner of swastika. Taking picture with a politician symbolizes relationship of firm support and acceptance of it.

The fact was reported by AFP as an endorsement of an argument that Abe administration had been gathering right-wing leaders around him. A newspaper in United Kingdom, Guardian, picked the issue with a headline reading “Neo-Nazi photos pose headache for Shinzo Abe. Japanese news media followed them. Both women leaders explained that each of them took a picture after an interview of a magazine and had no idea about Yamada and his political belief.

However, the third case appeared from underground cannot be explained with such a simple story. Minister for Abduction Issue, Eriko Yamatani, was found to have taken a picture with one of the leaders of highly controversial racist organization, Association Intolerant on Privilege for Korean Japanese, or Zaitokukai. Zaitokukai upholds slogan of exclusion of Korean originated citizens in Japan and repeats demonstration requiring exclusion or elimination of them.

Yamatani has been known as a conservative politician close to Abe, namely enthusiastic about returning Japanese abductees in North Korea. Although the man in the picture with Yamatani explained that he took distance from Zaitokukai when the organization started hate-speech demonstration. The office of Yamatani made an announcement that she did not know the affiliation of the man.

There have been a number of political scandals of taking picture with someone inappropriate, such as yakuza leaders. Politicians have good reason to be careful in taking picture with someone. Those three women, who are responsible as leaders in Abe administration, inadvertently revealed their hidden relationship. The reason why Abe chose them must not be because they were hopeful in leading women, but because they would promote right-wing political agenda.

Asian Foes Reach Eel Deal

Although it is still unclear whether they would go forward to a détente in Northeast Asia, four nations agreed with a regulation on an unfamiliar marine resource for the Westerners, eel. Japan, China, South Korea and Taiwan reached a deal to reduce total amount of cultivated eels by twenty percent in 2015. Different from ethical dispute on whale hunting, the regulation was set genuinely from the perspective of protecting the resource for sustainable production. However, the deal showed that those nations could cooperate together in a minor issue, while disputing over territory, sovereignty or history.

The resource of baby Japanese eel has been tapered off these decades. Catch of Japanese eel reduced to 5.2 metric tons from 50 tons in 1970, which caused the listing as “endangered” by International Union for Conservation of Nature this spring. It is possible that Washington Convention will be discussing comprehensive embargo of Japanese eel in the meeting in 2016.

The greatest consumer of eel among those four nations is the Japanese. Most Japanese believe in an old story that eating eel in the summer keeps them alive. Eels caught by China and Taiwan is mainly exported to Japan. Concerning current jeopardy of the resource, Japan has been leading the discussion of regulation. Worried about international trade regulation on this species, China and Taiwan got on the deal for their own business.

The agreement is not a binding rule for the parties. Actual management will be exercised by private volunteer organization in each country being established by November, which will report the situation of the resource to international non-governmental organization. There is an argument that the regulation is not enough and it is necessary for them to achieve a binding system. Illegal trafficking is another point to be considered.

For disappointment of the Japanese, it will be inevitable that price of eel in the restaurants will be raised. Prime cost of eel was doubled in these few years, annoying the buyers. Restaurant owners are worried about that the price will not decline, even if those Asian nations are successful in protection. Biological study of eel is not sufficient to fully control the resource. Without technology for artificial hatching, raising eel needs to be done with natural baby eels caught in the sea. It is possible that current reduction might be caused by climate change in Western Pacific. They have not found a fundamental solution on eel fishery.

Negative Impact of Cheap Yen

It is getting obvious for business managers that weak yen may be no longer preferable to Japanese economy. Steep decline of Japanese yen against U.S. dollar is ongoing in foreign exchange market since the beginning of this month. While the tendency enhances competitiveness of exporting products, it has another aspect of raising prices of raw materials from overseas, annoying mid and small business. If income of those businesses does not increase, economic policy of Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, will be resulted in a failure.

While yen against dollar has been moving within the range of ¥101-103 against $1 since April, it started declining quickly from the beginning of this month. It marked ¥107 on Tuesday for the first time since 2008. The main reason of strong dollar is undoubtedly the speculation of investors that Federal Reserve Bank is going faster than expected to end zero-interest policy and tighten money flow soon. It is reported that investing money is returning back to U.S. after it was disseminated to emerging economies all over the world.

Bank of Japan is making effort to let Japanese economy calm down. “It is a natural shape,” told the Chairman of the bank, Harihiko Kuroda, at the press conference after a meeting with business leaders in western Japan on Tuesday. But in the meeting, there came up voices worrying about exchange rate declining too fast. Chairman of Osaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Shigeo Sato, appealed to Kuroda in the meeting that he worried about negative aspect of steep decline of yen.

Cheap yen may improve the balance of exporting business and increase foreign travelers to Japan. However, higher price of energy resources and food products will put greater pressure on corporations and families, making them negative on further asset investment and individual consumption. With no working nuclear reactor for power generation in Japan and psychological damage of consumption tax rate hike, business sectors and consumers are highly reluctant to more spending.

There even is a speculation that yen will decline as cheap as ¥110 to a dollar by the end of this year. It is unclear that further decline leads to more profit for exporters, because they have already shifted their factories to overseas. While Kuroda is still showing calmness with his firm belief of preferable cheap yen, economists are getting careful on negative impact on Japanese economy. It is unrealistic for them to expect appropriate policy from Abe administration, which is enthusiastic on selling political slogan of taking advantage of women power and distribution of job for building infrastructure to the local community.

Great Hope on iPS

Comforting damaged pride of the Japanese on science and technology, a research team of Riken, which name became worldly common with disputed discovery of stimulus-triggered acquisition of pluripotency cell, was successful in an operation of planting induced pluripotent stem cell on an eye of a woman. It made the first example of actual application. Scientists were delighted on the progress of the study and expected optical improvement of her. It was an undoubted scientific achievement all the nation had been waiting.

The operation was to cure an obstinate disease called age-related macular degeneration, which would be caused by disorder of retina and might cause losing sight. The study team prepared a small sheet originated by iPS cell made from a tissue of the p
atient, spending ten months. The sheet was settled on right place and the team would take a close watch on the patient at least for four years. “We made a great step of clinical study in a short period of seven years from discovery of iPS cell,” told the founder of the cell and Nobel Prize laureate, Shinya Yamanaka.

The biggest concern for the team is whether the cell will turn to cancer. It has been indicated that iPS cell might possibly turn to cancer when it would be planted on human body. The team studied various method of creating iPS cell, not to make the cell turn to cancer. The government of Japan backed the study up, while it took serious consideration for admitting the operation.

Different from embryonic stem cell, iPS cell does not need destruction of inseminated egg. If its development is successful, experts expects that the cell will be useful for Parkinson’s disease, heart failure or broken bones and joints. The government expects economic advantage the technology on iPS will bring. A study group of Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry predicted last year that market of regeneration medical would be expand from ¥9 billion in 2012 to ¥1 trillion in 2030. The cell might be potent for helping economic policy in the administration of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Newspapers reported the achievement on front page. News organizations lost its credibility through the reports on STAP cell, in which they swung between praising the achievement of young female scientist and denouncing immature method of her study. That revealed how Japanese news reports were vulnerable for science and technology. In the time of growing criticism on some reports of Asahi Shimbun, common good news would ease tension between media corporations. “This is still in two tenths to the peak of mountain,” told the project leader, Masayo Takahashi. Exaggeration of media may make matters worse.

Expectation for Honest North

While having no progress on nuclear issue among related six parties, Japan approaches North Korea to get political achievement on abduction issue. There is a growing expectation in Japan that a number of Japanese abductees will appear and come back to Japan with smile on the ramp of the governmental aircraft. Such rumor is on the mouth of someone who has connection with Shinzo Abe administration, which has always been put this issue on the top of political agenda. Anyway, what is the reason why North Korea is making a deal with Japan, seeing no hope for progress in the negotiation with the United States?

In early summer, Japanese government expected that the North would show the list of living abductees at the end of August. The number of the name was said to be sixty, eighty or over a hundred. Now, the time Pyongyang submit the list will be late this month or early October, as government officers predict.

The reason of their expectation is quite weak: “Yes, because they promised.” The world will ask Japan, “Do you really believe in Pyongyang after being betrayed so many times, you know?” “Although the story had been that Pyongyang would build up new high-class investigation organization and report us until the end of summer or the beginning of fall, we have not received it,” told Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in TV show on Sunday.

Abe’s promotion in political scene has been closely connected to the abduction issue. As Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary in Jun-ichiro Koizumi Cabinet, Abe raised the conspiracy of abduction by North Korea decades before, while most Japanese did not believe the story. After proving the fact of abduction and return of five abductees, Abe obtained public popularity and stepped up on his political career to Prime Minister. That is why Abe keeps a sense of conviction on this issue.

But it is more than clear that this issue needs to be taken in the context of international politics over nuclear and missile problem in North Korea. There is no enthusiasm in South Korea to help Abe, who has been annoyed by boastings on comfort woman issue. U.S. is reluctant to make a deal with the North with no progress in nuclear dismantlement. The North is also reluctant to play cards with Japan, if it does not connect to some softer attitude of U.S.

Abe and most of his staffs does not understand an unshaken truth that the North is seeing U.S. behind Japan. The public expectation on the negotiation with North Korea is turning to disappointment that the North will show false information about the abductees. It that happens, relation between Japan and the North will be worse than ever.

War on Terror of Police

Police made a great step for eliminating violence by a gang organization, which was considered as the most ferocious in Japan. Fukuoka Prefectural Police arrested the chairman of Kudo-kai, a gang association dominating in Kyushu area, with suspicion of murdering a president of a fishery corporation in 1998. Police is moving forward to dismantle Kudo-kai to halt their terrorism on ordinary citizens.

Kudo-kai, with its main office stationing in Kitakyushu City, is the only violent organization in Japan that was nominated as designated dangerous organization of gangsters. Department of Treasure in the United States seized property of two officers in Kudo-kai, with recognition of the most violent group in Japan with 560 members. The department realized that Japanese gangsters consisted of the biggest criminal organization in the world with sixty thousand members.

What differentiates Kudo-kai from other groups is violence on innocent citizens. In the conflicts against violence between yakuza groups in Kyushu, there appeared civil movements getting rid of violence from ordinary people. Managers of bars and restaurants in Kyushu stood up not to accept gangsters as customers of their business. But, Kudo-kai did not hesitate injuring or killing those civil leaders to maintain their activities. The president of a fishery corporation was one of those victims. This is nothing but terrorism.

While Nomura did not directly involved in the murder of the president, police grabbed evidence that he was on the top of commanding system of the crime. The biggest obstacle for arresting the top leader was threat on the members of organization not to reveal secrets. Police recognizes this achievement as a turning point for dismantling Kudo-kai, if it can deny sustainability of the organization. Citizens expect peaceful situation without terrorism by yakuza.

Along with tightened security against gangsters, yakuza crimes have been going underground year by year. The case of a popular singer arrested with addiction of illegal drug was closely related to a gangster organization. Anti-legal drug sales in urban Tokyo have been a financial resource of those criminal organizations. It is increasing for ordinary citizens to see car accident brought by drug-addicted driver or passenger in a train murmuring something disorganized.

Unlawful organization could be causing social uneasiness in the bottom of our life. If the police, on the other hand, fails in destroy Kudo-kai, people’s hope for non-violent community will be turning to disappointment. Losing war on yakuza terror cannot be tolerated.

Test Score Enthusiasm

Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, or MEXT in bureaucratic term, released the result of integrated national examination for sixth and ninth grade in April. It found that overall ability of students was raised up this year. Margin between the worst prefecture and national average was narrowed, indicating less students were left behind. Criticizing excessive competition, however, some teachers and experts protest naming best or worst schools.

The test was simultaneously operated for the subjects of Japanese language and mathematics in all over Japan on the same day. MEXT released the average score of each prefecture late August. The ministry thinks that improvement in guidance based on past results, introducing writing intensive study and connection with ordinary life, and practice of homework contributed good result.

As usual, Akita and Fukui became the top of both sixth and ninth grade. Those two prefectures are known as having advanced method of learning, which is basically letting the students think about solution by themselves. Sixth grade students in Okinawa rose up from the worst to sixth position in mathematics. Teachers in Okinawa introduced “Akita method” through teachers exchanging program. Closely watching slow progress helped students make better effort.

Teachers and parents tend to be excited at the score their kids earned as in every country. City of Osaka disclosed the result of every public school, as it did last year. Osaka Board of Education explained that the board needed to take responsibility to disclose public information to the parents. But it does not matter for raising the ability of students. Osaka is one of the lowest prefectures in test score.

Once the ranking of schools is revealed to the public, it is likely that parents escape from school in low level and move to the area with a highly ranked school. Since families are concentrating to good schools, it sometimes affects to price of real estate around the school. This is common tendency of game in Japan that all players rushing to a ball in soccer.

Nobody would blame the effort of enhancing studying ability of students. One thing teachers and political leaders need to understand is students in Japan are already in the highest level in competition among the world. Education politics does not understand “common but differentiated” responsibility of students. It is necessary for them to introduce tailor-made education for every kid.