For Lazy Prime Minister

Everybody is making deliberated effort for that lazy Prime Minister. Former Prime Minister, Yasuo Fukuda, met with Chinese top leader, Xi Jinping, in Beijing only for resulting in no achievement in the biggest issue between two nations; having a top meeting next month. Although some Japanese officials are optimistic on the meeting, it is unclear whether Xi accepts the offer as long as Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, will not drop the future option to visit Yasukuni Shrine again.

Fukuda visited Beijing as the leader of a Chinese-hosted economic conference, Boao Forum for Asia. He met with Xi after a meeting of other officials and exchanged opinion on economic cooperation between Japan and China. “The cooperation by Asian nations are positive for the future and the possibility of development is ample. Continuous promotion of China will significantly contribute to Asian development,” told Xi, according to Chinese media. Fukuda acknowledged China’s role in the world society.

Something unusual was Chinese government was open to reporters for covering the meeting between Xi and Fukuda. In the advent to Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders meeting in Beijing next month, Beijing government looks like nervous on appealing its leadership, in front of the eyes of other major leaders, such as Barack Obama or Vladimir Putin.

However, China has not dropped its appeal that it is Japan that needs to change attitude. Although Fukuda secretly met with Xi late July, the bilateral relationship has not seen any progress. It is obvious that China is using a strategy, distinguishing other Japanese leaders from Abe. A week before Fukuda’s visit, Vice-Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Taro Aso, unofficially met with a Chinese Vice-Prime Minister, taking opportunity of international conference in Beijing. It seems to be alienating the ultra-right leader of Japan.

It is not about China. A delegation of Japanese lawmakers with close relationship with South Korea visited Seoul and met with President Park Geun-hye last week. Although the head of the delegation, Fukushiro Nukaga, former Minister of Defense, asked Park to have summit meeting with Abe, Park gave no assurance of it. The obstacle between two nations is comfort woman. “Comfort woman issue is the first button for Korea-Japan relationship to make new departure,” told Park to Nukaga. She required measures for those women to regain their honor within their lifetime.

It is highly unlikely for two leaders to have a meeting in APEC conference, because of South Korean government’s indictment of bureau chief of ultra-right Sankei newspaper. Relationship between Japan and South Korea is worse than Sino-Japan relationship.

Contradiction Still Remains

The First Committee of United Nations General Assembly released a joint statement of appealing the inhumanity and disabling nuclear weapons with approvals of 155 nations, marking new record in terms of the number of participants. As expected, Japan joined it, knowing the contradiction that it relied its security heavily on nuclear umbrella laid by the greatest nuclear power, United States, while it was demanding elimination of nuclear weapons. Was Japan saying that it could be called equal but different responsibility?

The statement was bold enough to urge nuclear powers dismantle the facilities. “We deeply concern about devastative and inhumane consequence brought by nuclear weapons,” told the joint statement, and it said that “the only way to assure nuclear weapons not to be used is abolishing them.” The advocators of the statement swell from 125 countries, including Palestine, of last year. The Ambassador of New Zealand to U.N. indicated that there was a movement to look this issue from the viewpoint of inhumanity.

As usual, five major countries with nuclear weapons, U.S., Russia, China, United Kingdom and France, did not join in the statement. India and Pakistan also turned their back to it. Even the countries without nuclear weapons, like Australia or South Korea, took a distance from it, considering their situation under nuclear umbrella of U.S. For those nations, nuclear weapon is a tool for preventing war, regardless the devastating consequences it may bring. They are supposed to be unable to accept one description, which is “It is a benefit for human being itself that nuclear weapons will not be used again under any circumstances.”

As an alternative, Australia submitted another statement that welcomed the statement with overwhelming majority and proposed easing tension between nuclear-possessing countries as seen in Ukraine crisis. But, Australia added an opinion that the abolishment of nuclear weapons would be achievable only through substantive and constructive engagement of nuclear powers. In other words, it said the abolishment was impossible.

The actual attitude of Japan on this issue is escaping from this discussion, even though it is an only nation that experienced devastating consequence of nuclear war. The Japanese stop thinking when they are trapped by an answerless question. If they want to exercise its leadership on this issue, they need to find a concept that nuclear weapons do not necessarily guarantee existence of nation.

Embarrassing Challenge

Trying to erase some facts in history, Japanese government took another step against world society. An official with Ministry of Foreign Affairs required the author of special report in the United Nations of correcting description on recruiting comfort women. The author rejected the request. The world would not listen to what the revisionist government was saying for reviewing history. The effort must simply be an embarrassment for the Japanese nation.

Kuni Sato, an Ambassador on Human Rights and Humanity with Ministry of Foreign Affairs, met with Radhika Coomaraswamy, former U.N. Special Rapporteur on Violence against Woman, at U.N. in the middle of this month and asked correction of a description. “Moreover, the wartime experiences of one raider, Yoshida Seiji, are recorded in his book, in which he confesses to having been part of slave raids in which, among other Koreans, as many as 1,000 women were obtained for ‘comfort women’ duties under the National Labour Service Association as part of the National General Mobilization Law,” it says.

Coomaraswamy dismissed the request with a reason that dispute against the description was “only a part of many evidences.” Japanese historian, Ikuhiko Hata, had disputed the description of Yoshida’s book as wrong and concluded that the recruitment had been done by Korean district chiefs or brothel owners. Coomaraswamy was right when she determined that the dispute of Japanese government was narrow-minded.

In Japan, skepticism against Yoshida’s story has been spreading, after Asahi Shimbun apologized about its former report about him as wrong. However, Shinzo Abe administration insists on denying the involvement of Japanese government in comfort woman recruitment. Although Yoshida’s story is one of the many evidences, Abe tried to persuade the people as if Japanese government had nothing to do with the comfort woman issue at all, despite many evidences other than Yoshida story remain.

The strangest thing in Japan now is a number of people came to believe that there was no such thing as comfort woman. All they realize are Abe administration denied something about comfort woman, criticized Asahi Shimbun as eroded national interest, and Asahi apologized on it. They ignore other information that supports historical facts of comfort woman.

Even if the pressure from conservative power inside Japan is strong, challenging U.N. report is too risky to preserve Japan’s national interest. As expected, Japan’s appeal was mostly ignored by the United Nations. As long as the government cannot understand what is the point of criticism on Japan, the bureaucratic organization will keep on making embarrassing appeals, actually harming national interest of Japan.

Embarking Battle on Ebola

Inspired by nearly panicking situation in reliable international partner, or the United States, Japanese government started taking urgent measures for preventing broad infection of Ebola virus disease. Although the government has not confirmed the first patient, some people doubt a possibility that the virus already has arrived. As always, the Japanese are suffering from trivial confusion far from fundamental problem, while concerted efforts have been done by highly integrated bureaucratic system.

In international airports in Japan, quarantine officers are watching immigrants relying only on ultra-red thermography device. When they find a person with high fever, he or she will be diagnosed by medical doctor. A news report introduced a comment of officer that he was confident of that measure, saying “The measures of Japanese government is firm, because we watch the patient with eyes,” which made no sense. One traveler told his uneasiness stemming from that light surveillance.

Hospitals began drills of blocking with Ebola virus. There are forty-five designated medical facility in Japan, which have special devices like separation room or protecting suits. One of them made an exercise of lowering air pressure and catching virus in the air through filtering. Nurses experienced taking on and off the protection suits, checking each other. However, what if a patient visit a hospital other than those forty-five advanced facilities? It is true that Ebola virus cannot be deterred once it lands on this island country.

Shinzo Abe administration looking forward to enlarge role of Japan Self-defense Force, taking advantage of this critical moment. According to Sankei Shimbun, the governmental officials began to consider sending Japanese troops to Western Africa, where a number of people is dying with Ebola virus disease. They are focusing on what the Japanese troops can do in the region; emergency medical treatment, building facilities or transportation of helping goods. Japanese conservatives look like ordering every dirty job to the Self-defense Force for soaring their conservative agenda. They will not miss any minor opportunity to send the force abroad.

However, politics does not work as Abe is thinking, His administration is in the middle of a vicious circle of scandals. Even how serious the government is on counter measures against Ebola, the lawmakers are too involved in the scandals to pass necessary bill for further measures. The leading parties have been demanding amendment of Infectious Disease Act, which enabled local government to obtain tissues of highly infectious disease. However, the opposite parties blocked discussion until the scandals would be fully addressed. This is the Japanese politics.

Threat from Ordinary Man

Hokkaido Prefectural Police arrested a man of sixty-four years old with suspect of coercive disturbance of ordinary operation in a college in Hokkaido. He threatened Hokusei Gakuen University in Sapporo city to fire a tutor who was a former journalist of Asahi Shimbun. He admitted the suspicion. The case revealed how ordinary Japanese were easy to be lured by nationalistic propaganda. In other words, this infectious nation will abruptly turn into aggressive with a cheap cause of protecting the nation.

The suspect, Tsutomu Kamimura, was living in Tsubame, Niigata, hundreds of miles away from the college. He called the college from his house in mid-September, expressing his frustration of hiring former Asahi journalist and indicated to blast the college. The college suffered from the telephone call in spending time for searching the bomb in campus, although resulted in finding nothing. To the college, there arrived some other threatening letters or faxes. Two of them were indicating setting explosives to hurt the students, if the college would not fire the tutor.

The tutor delivered a comment that he was comfortable with the arrest. “I will wait and see until investigation finds the person who sent the letters and faxes. This kind of disrespectful activities would never be tolerated, anyway,” told the tutor.

According to the neighbors, Kamimura was a smart and generous man. He was living with his wife, loving vegetable plantation in a small cooperative garden. His job was supervising nursery for elder people, introduced by a public job center for retired people. Some neighbors knew that Kamimura liked stock investing, vesting him an image of a clever businessman. In short, the suspect was a typical ordinary retiree in Japanese society.

It is still unclear why he was so furious about former Asahi journalist. Asahi apologized about its decades-old report on comfort woman, which drew intensive criticism from wide range of people, from the right to left. Taking this as a good opportunity to target that leftist newspaper, they ran a campaign that Asahi was an enemy of Japan. The campaign falsely depicted comfort woman issue as if no such thing had happened at all, which was a significant embarrassment on history. Even if Asahi had spread some inappropriate stories, the fact that the Japanese had involved in comfort woman issue cannot be denied.

While it is easy for ordinary people to know that unshakable truth, the Japanese are not trained for coordinating their own idea with evidence. Bureaucrats have been fooling the people by occupying information. It is possible that Kamimura, who were easily affected by ultra right movement, is a victim of undemocratic lack of important information.

Remembering Kamikaze Attack

Generally saying, the Japanese like anniversaries. Some newspapers reported that it was the seventieth anniversary from the first attempt of Kamikaze suicide attack, or Tokko, on Saturday. The view of the people on Tokko has long been simply a matter of craziness of military and political leaders in wartime Japan. However, with strange rise of conservatism, Tokko is getting described as beautiful sacrifice for a cause of nation. The nationalists seem to be turning the bitter memory of defeated war into glorious history of the Nation of God.

Conservative newspaper, Sankei raised a headline of “70^th Anniversary from Kamikaze Tokko Unit – What Did They Leave Us?” According to the article, the victim of Kamikaze attack amounted to 6,418. It introduced a memory of a Lieutenant of Imperial Navy, Yukio Seki, who commanded a unit of suicide attack with four other colleagues. The story revealed Seki’s comment before he had left a base in Philippine. “Reporters, it is the end of Japan, which kills an excellent pilot like me,” told Seki.

Sankei also reported decline of honor of those victims in post-war era, introducing a comment of fiancée of a victim, “What did they die for? Have the Japanese forgotten about them. It’s a pity of war, when I see current Japan.” Sankei looked like regretting current Japan.

The leftist paper, Asahi Shimbun, also ran a special story of Tokko. It was a story of a man, named Eifu Tani, whose elder brother died in Kamikaze attack. Tani told that his brother was called “Military God” after he attacked U.S. fleet in Philippine on October 25^th of 1944. A memorial statue of his brother was build in front of his house and a painter presented a portrait of his brother. “I didn’t know how my brother felt in his death. So, I and my parents needed to persuade ourselves that he finished his life as he hoped,” told Tani. Asahi showed its reflection by describing the paper’s adoration of suicide attack at the time.

There was another type of suicide attack, which was made by man-loaded torpedo. Such stories represented craziness of the Japanese, when they are pushed into a corner of few choices. Suicide attack is ultimate violation of human rights, which cannot be decided by whom possibly involved in that operation.

Direct translation of Tokko is Special Striking Unit. When Japanese leaders use “special,” it means devastating human rights of the people. Special High-class Police was a symbol of coercive exercise of police power on people’s life in wartime. Now Shinzo Abe administration passed a law called Special Secret Protection Law, which fundamentally undermine people’s right to access information of the government. Abe is also trying to make “morality” as a Special Subject of every school. He is specially violating democracy.

Greedy on Sex and Money

Responding a call “Next on the line!” new Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry took one step forward. Within scandal-suffering Shinzo Abe Cabinet, METI Minister, Yoichi Miyazawa, was spotlighted as a victim of next scandal. His office had paid for a sado-masochistic bondage bar from his budget of governmentally-procured political funds. While the people was wondering how that kind of bar was related to his political activity, Miyazawa insisted on denying his visit, saying “I don’t have such a taste.” We are not interested in your private sexual behavior, Mr. Minister.

According to political money report, Miyazawa’s money management organization spent about ¥18 thousand at a bondage bar in Hiroshima city in 2010. Because there was no mistake in the report, it was not illegal. However, everybody would wonder why the office of a member of House of Councillors had to pay political money for a bar with a taste of perverted sex.

Miyazawa had to explain about his money immediately. “I have not been there and I don’t know the name of the bar,” told Miyazawa, “It looks like someone in my office falsely spent it.” It is understandable for a staff to make a false description. But it was a false spending. Acknowledging it or not, Miyazawa admitted that his office actually paid political money for the bar.

Another arrow pierced him. The opposite parties started accusing Miyazawa of possessing six hundred stocks of Tokyo Electric Power Company, an ailing enterprise after breaking up its First Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant. METI is deeply involved in energy policy and closely connected with TEPCO’s interest. After the disaster in Fukushima, TEPCO was salvaged from jeopardy of bankruptcy, with a cause of maintaining economic stability. At that time, bankruptcy would cause great confusion, because TEPCO’s property must firstly be sold for compensation for stockholders, inviting money shortage in compensation for sufferers of the accident in Fukushima.

As a stockholder, Miyazawa is doubted to promote protective policies for TEPCO. On this issue, Miyazawa made a strange comment again. “I am making a process for entrusting my stocks, not to trade while I am on this job,” told Miyazawa. It is not about whether you will sell your only six hundred stocks. It’s about that you are a stakeholder of TEPCO’s future.

It was an event happened just a few days after former METI Minister had stepped down and Miyazawa succeeded. An embarrassing label on new METI minister would be greedy man on sex and money.

Respect for Pregnancy

Not a strategy to deal with depopulation, the Supreme Court of Japan sentenced that demotion in business office due to pregnancy was illegal and invalid on Thursday. It must be amazing that such kind of fundamental inequality still remains in this self-declared developed country. However, lower courts have been dismissing appeal of a woman. Businesswomen realize new era of gender equality.

A physical therapist working in a hospital in Hiroshima city told her pregnancy of the second child to the officer and requested moving to lighter work. The hospital accepted it and moved her to another job, but stripped her position of deputy chief, causing lower salary. She indicted the hospital demanding compensation of ¥1.7 million and retired. “The demotion violated Equal Employment Opportunity Law that prohibits disadvantage based on pregnancy,” appealed the woman.

The Supreme Court recognized that it was clear that the demotion was disadvantage for the woman, while it was not clear whether the change of job lightened the burden of her. While the hospital asserted that she consented the demotion, the court dismissed rational reason of existence of agreement based on free will between the plaintiff and defendant. The Court concluded the decisions of lower courts were illegal and got the appeal back to them.

The decision is regarded as a solution on maternity harassment, which has been prevailing in every business office. The harassment includes proposing importance of taking care of children without any malice, being jealous of taking holidays, forcing long-time work before and after bearing child and demanding retirement with reason of maternity. The number of consultation about maternity harassment amounted to over three thousand last year.

The plaintiff released a comment of encouraging other businesswomen. “I hope working woman to carry on her job with comfortable environment of being pregnant, raising kids and feeing rewarded,” told the woman. Her delightedness revealed how much businesswomen had suffered from disadvantage because of their sex.

As economic animal, the Japanese businessmen had been competing how they could work hard in the post-war high growth era. But with prevalence of a concept called pursuit of happiness, they reduced their working time, partly causing degraded growth resent decades. In need of maintaining its status of one of the biggest economy in the world, the Japanese government is involved in taking advantage of labor force of women. The decision of the Supreme Court can be regarded as reflection of current requirement in politics.

Falling into a Trap

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe decided to send a delegation to Pyongyang to urge North Korea in their investigation of Japanese abductees in the country. It is a gamble for Abe to be involved in the strategy of the North, which has been called slicing salami. However, Abe cannot afford waiting for prolonged research of Pyongyang government, because he realizes the abduction issue is his critical agenda. The situation is against him as far as United States and South Korea is sober on Japan’s move.

The delegation consists of ten government officials including Jun-ichi Ihara, Bureau Chief of Asian and Oceanian Affairs of Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and others from Cabinet Secretariat or National Police Agency. They leave Japan next Monday for four-day trip to Pyongyang to meet with the member of Special Investigation Committee of North Korea. Japanese side is hoping to see So Dae-ha, Chairman of the Committee.

Strange enough, Abe explained his intention of sending the delegation on Wednesday. “The purpose is to tell persons in responsible standpoints in North Korea our recognition that abduction issue has the highest priority. We will hear current situation of the investigation and from the persons responsible for the investigation and tell them that they have to sincerely deal with it,” told Abe in the gaggle in Prime Minister’s Official Residence.

His comment had a contradiction in light with former policy toward the North. Concerting with U.S. and South Korea, Japan has been paralleling abduction issue with nuclear and missile development. This time, Abe prioritized abduction issue, leaving nuclear and missile behind. Washington and Seoul may see Abe’s attitude as distraction of cooperated effort toward North Korea.

In addition, Abe revealed Japan’s real intention on the negotiation. It was unbelievable moment when Abe told that “I decided we need to directly tell responsible person our intention and purpose, considering a risk of being unable to make further investigation by refraining from sending our delegate.” It is as if saying that a government will deal with terrorist group taking hostage, because the group may kill the hostage when ignored. It is a bad strategy in negotiation to reveal psychological disadvantage to the opposite side.

Abe is fundamentally narrow-minded to get momentum in his diplomacy. He was only seeing domestic politics, however, when he made press gaggle on this issue, ignoring possible response from allied countries. It is necessary for the leader of Japan to realize that the abduction issue cannot be solved without cooperation with at least U.S. and South Korea and supposedly China and Russia. Independent action will fail as we saw in the direct visit to Pyongyang by then Prime Minister Jun-ichiro Koizumi.

Next on the Line, Please

Resignation of two female ministers of Shinzo Abe Cabinet, who had been a major resource of its popularity, left a great burden on the administration. Revitalized by their money scandal, the opposite parties are barraging the leading parties with various weapons in the National Diet. They started rejecting discussions in committees, threatening a number of bills on table, and kept on accusing some other lawmakers in Liberal Democratic Party. Defensive ability of Abe is tested.

Former Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, Yuko Obuchi, is still in the quagmire, even unknown for herself, after stepping down from the post. One supporter of her revealed that he received a bottle of wine, labeled with her name and picture. It has a close image to bribe. Opposite parties, Democratic Party of Japan and Japan Restoration Party, agreed with accusing Obuchi and Midori Matsushima, who simultaneously resigned, and required testimony designated to their scandal.

LDP and Komeito reconfirmed to be stick together for passing bills on preventing landslide disaster or reforming temporary labors. However, they do not seem to have enough power to dismiss negative campaign of the opposites, even with majority in both Houses. Secretary General, Sadakazu Tanigaki, stressed his colleague to review their handling of administration of these two years and stay humble. It is fair to say the scandal made a great turnover in a political bowl game.

The resignation exposed a line behind Obuchi and Matsushima inside LDP. Minister of Defense, Akinori Eto, has been accused his management of political money. Even after correcting his report, the opposite parties has still been doubtful of his record and demanding further explanation.

Minister of Health, Labor and Welfare, Yasuhisa Shiozaki, is said to be closer to next resignation than Eto. A weekly magazine carried a story that his secretary had consulted with an officer of MHLW about establishing a nursery for aged people in Matsuyama City, from where Shiozaki was elected. Mediation of interest is strictly prohibited for public workers, including politicians. Although Shiozaki’s case is not clear whether his secretary received reward, it must be criticized by the public.

Minister on Abduction Issue, Eriko Yamatatni, took pictures with guys with hate speech organization. Ministers do not stop visiting Yasukuni Shrine. Even if they do not violate laws, it is possible for ministers to step down with ethical reasons. Offensive team has every choice of formation, run or pass, and even gamble to accuse Abe administration.

Abe Administration Stalls

It became the greatest quake for Shinzo Abe administration since beginning of the second term. Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, Yuko Obuchi, stepped down as taking responsibility of inappropriate management of political money on Monday. A few hours later, Minister of Justice, Midori Matsushima, submitted her letter of resignation to Abe. She had been accused of her distribution of fans in her summer rallies. It was the first time since 1993 that two ministers simultaneously resigned. Legend of this teflon administration came to an end.

Suspect vested on two ministers was the same; illegal donation of politician to supporter. Obuchi’s supporters’ organization was doubted to have given accommodative compensation for the participants in watching kabuki show in Tokyo. Matsushima has distributed fans, on which hear name, picture and policies appeared, to the participants of summer rally in Tokyo.

The reason why the both ministers resigned was not about their failure in political activities, but in helping Prime Minister. While Obuchi admitted her inability of explaining the account management, Matsushima rejected recognizing the illegality of her activity. Matsushima reportedly insisted on her job, before Abe decided to demand her resignation.

The most damaged was not one of the two ministers, but Prime Minister. Abe told his aide that it had not been a problem with resignation, if they happened as single scandal of each. There was a chain reaction behind the scene. Matsushima’s activity was relatively minor in terms of amount of related money. But it would be serious problem, if she had been indicted as Minister of Justice, because the post was the top of prosecutors. It was intolerable for the bureaucrats to let their boss indicted.

Then, Obuchi’s scandal was too great in terms of the amount of money to be ignored. In the tradition of demanding the highest ethics to politicians in Japan, Abe could not leave those negative elements in his administration. He thought the resignations of both ministers needed to be at one time to reduce the impact. Some of his aides praised the damage control as a lesson of the first Abe administration, in which five ministers had resigned in a year.

However, Abe looked like disappointed. “It was my responsibility to have picked them. I apologize to the people,” said Abe in his press gaggle. While he will try to regain power for his agenda, it is possible that negative elements will keep on appearing in this fall. The opposite parties are targeting another money scandal of Minister of Defense. Consumption tax hike has another negative impact. Abduction issue has no positive progress so far. The administration looks like sinking in a quagmire.

Unleashed Women Ministers

Ignoring impact on diplomatic relationship with neighbor countries, three Ministers in Shinzo Abe Cabinet visited to Yasukuni Shrine, taking opportunity of Fall Festival on Saturday. Strangely enough, all those ministers were woman. Vigorous woman project, which Abe took as a policy for reshuffled cabinet starting September, turned out to be encouraging women to be active on conservative agenda. Before women are contributing further growth of Japanese economy, they may undermine actual economy by worsening relationship with major economies around Japan.

Three female ministers were Sanae Takaichi, Minister of Interior, Eriko Yamatani, Minister on Abduction Issue, and Haruko Arimura, Minister on Vigorous Woman. Takaichi explained her visit as thanking and commemorating for the people devoted their lives for national policy and existence of the country. “I thanked for the devotion of their precious lives,” also told Yamatani. Arimura emphasized, “It is the people who determine how they face the ones who went to battlefield and lost their lives.”

All of them asserted that it would not be an issue of diplomacy. Takaichi told that dedicating true wishes should be done by personal sentiment and not be a matter of diplomacy. Unfortunately for Takaichi and other ministers, visiting Yasukuni had become a diplomatic and political problem before she did that. It was not about her lack of knowledge, but intensive ignorance of history.

Abe said to have allowed them to visit Yasukuni with an assessment that China would not be against it so much. Not visiting Yasukuni, he paid respect to the Shrine by sending ritual goods for Fall Festival. Abe seemed to have thought that those activities by him and his ministers would not stimulate Xi Jinping administration.

Against his expectation, Chinese responded to Abe’s activity, criticizing it as “Cannot help regret. Japanese political leaders need to recognize it as a deed denying international order.” Chinese government requested Japanese Embassy in Beijing not to make further visit to Yasukuni other than three ministers. Chinese media denounced the visit by ministers as adoring former aggressors or disturbing improvement of bilateral relationship.

It was possible that both governments had shared a recognition not to make the relationship worse, even if ministers would visit Yasukuni. The disturbing thing was a fact that those female ministers had firmly been controlled by conservative powers. There will be no progress after the meeting of both top leaders next month in this sober situation between Japan and China.

Worrying Demographic Concentration

Ambiguous pessimism is covering residents all over Japan. A demographic research run by Cabinet Office revealed equivocal uneasiness of living local area in Japan. Concentration of population in Tokyo is not only worried by urban people, who suffered from friction between neighbors, but also by local people, losing human resource for the future of community. Knowing the distorted distribution of wealth, Shinzo Abe administration is still lagging behind of catching up necessary measures for the long-argued demographic problem.

The research found that 48.3% of responders thought demographic concentration in Tokyo not to be preferable, while 15.7% answered to maintain status quo. The responders who had misgivings for the future of their community amounted to 46.8%. While 58.0% of local people were worried about their future, only 34.3% of Tokyo residents were so. It showed that people in Tokyo were relatively feel sufficient on their lives.

The reason of anxiety among local residents mostly stemmed from want of more infrastructure. 55.7% were worried about shortage of young people, who would be the driving power of development. 48.0% predicted retreat of shopping stores would have great impact, while 38.4% required more facilities for medication and nursery in local communities. Manpower, economic facility and medical support must be indispensable for living ordinary life.

Lack of necessary infrastructure casts a shadow on appropriate redistribution of population. 59.4% of all did not like to move from urban community to local area. The higher their age got, the more they became reluctant to do that. 64% was against the idea of compact city, which would concentrate houses and infrastructure in local area.

The tendency shown by the research needed to be included in the policy of creation of local community. The most important factor to move to local community was medical facility with 51.1% of the answer, toppling cheap real estate, shopping center or richness in cultural events.

The most pessimistic answer for the government was that 66.0% answered that they thought the future of Japan would be dark, while 33.2% predicted it to be bright. It is natural for the people to think that Tokyo is good place to live, as long as the bureaucrats, having power to design future communities, do never move to local area. The first thing for the leaders to do is moving voluntarily.

Scandal Reminding Cold Pizza

A daughter of former Prime Minister who was dubbed cold pizza precipitated in sudden money scandal in the same way her father and his colleagues had been doubted for many times. Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, Yuko Obuchi, is suspected to have been responsible for inappropriate accounting of her political money. What is strange is Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, is sober on protecting her, compared to his defensive attitude for other ministers.

The organization for managing her political money had been spending the money for a fashion boutique in Tokyo, which was run by her brother-in-law, for thirty-eight times between 2009 and 2012. Political Money Regulation Act mandates politicians to report every spending of ten thousand yen or more, and purpose of spending is limited to something necessary for maintaining political organization or for organizational activities of politician. Her spending is doubted whether it was necessary for her political activity.

Her organization also invited her supporters from Gunma Prefecture to Tokyo to watch kabuki show between 2010 and 2011. While participants paid ¥7.42 million for participation fee, it was ¥33.84 million that were registered as the total expenditure. If the organization had compensated for the margin, it may violate Public Officers Election Act. Even if it had not, the failure in reporting would cause violation of Political Money Regulation Act. It is possible that Obuchi is violating a law anyway.

It should be a fatal scandal for a minister in Abe administration. Some senior officials of Liberal Democratic Party realized Obuchi’s money management would be developing to be resignation. Although it is normal for resignation of minister in scandal to be considered by him or herself, Abe is considering literal firing this time. He will consult with Chief Cabinet Secretary, Yoshihide Suga, after returning back from international conference in Italy.

Obuchi succeeded political organization from her father. Sharing the same political stream from Kakuei Tanaka, who were trapped in Lockheed Scandal, Obuchi group has traditionally been seen as dirty in money. The reason why the political group Abe affiliates with has been strict on money was to distinguish themselves from Obuchi group. Most people predict Obichi’s resignation to be damage for Abe, Abe himself might be willing to cut Obuchi off. As Obuchi has been future candidate for first woman prime minister, Abe might be pick new dandelion in green loan.

METI Blocks Renewable

Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and its Subcommittee on Energy started discussion for reviewing the system for purchasing renewable energy, which has been encouraged after the disaster in First Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant. Nuclear village of in Japan including METI has strongly been reluctant to promote renewable energy to defend nuclear energy. This time, it introduced an argument that renewable energy will be produced too much. Why Japan cannot utilize renewable energy with amount of two times greater than before the accident, while European countries uses it over ten times more than a decade ago? That is because METI blocks it.

Electricity suppliers started rejecting purchase of renewable energy from individual producers against the principle of a law legislated after the disaster. Main reason was electricity produced by solar generation would be too much to maintain supply network. It is hard to imagine for a country definitely in need of alternative energy to erode capability of producing renewable energy. It is highly ridiculous contradiction.

Some argue that the scheme of purchasing renewable energy has fundamentally been inappropriate from the beginning. The system was engineered not to be able to accept abrupt increase of renewable energy, namely solar, while it encourages broad prevalence of it on the other hand. Having heavily invested on nuclear energy, power companies have firmly been lazy in reinforcing supply network, making a cause for rejecting renewable energy.

METI is responsible for all those happened. It must have been METI’s job to urge the power companies to improve the system, if they were reluctant. The reason why the ministry did not do that was because stake was too high on nuclear energy for them. As a country devastated by a great war for seeking energy in Southeast Asia, energy directly connects national interest. As long as METI deals with energy policy, it can be a ministry dealing with national interest, keeping its status high in hierarchy of bureaucracy. If not, they will be dropped.

METI is recognized as one of three major ministries in Kasumigaseki, paralleled with Ministries of Finance and Foreign Affairs. MOF and MOFA are dominated by the graduates from Law Division of Tokyo University, while METI is led by school of Economy or Engineering of the same university. After all, survival of METI is a trivial struggle between divisions in Tokyo University, which narrow-minded bureaucrats insist so much. The people need to realize this cost of bureaucracy. They will at least have to pay for highly expensive utility fee caused by ineffective power supply system.

Reluctant Friendship

For some strategic reasons, the top leaders of Japan and China is going to meet, shake hands, talk a while and get back to routine works in Beijing next month. Even how most people in both countries expect improved relationship of them, that’s it. The key is how many issues on opposite side will each leader be ignored. However, domestic pressure may disturb their efforts. The two nations will keep on feeling uneasiness with exchange of denouncement.

Mainichi Shimbun reported that the both governments are negotiating on the outcome of bilateral leaders talk, which will be “keep on talking on Senkaku Islands with a certain long term.” On Senkaku, Japan maintains its standpoint that the islands are inherit territory of Japan and no territorial issue exists, while China asserts its sovereignty on the islands and requires Japan to recognize the dispute. It is obvious that they will not reach an agreement on that complicated issue with one meeting.

According to Japanese government officials, both sides are seeking a basic agreement on the lines of assertion of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe that Senkaku is Japan’s inherit territory, that he recognizes China’s unique assertion and that both sides look to reach a deal in a certain period of time. However, both leaders will not deliver a document such as a joint statement.

They have another complicated issue called Yasukuni. China has been requiring Abe to promise not visiting that war shrine anymore. Abe side is considering declaration for  succeeding of Murayama Statement of 1995, which apologized Japan’s colonization and aggression. However, the hawkish prime minister is highly reluctant to abandon future revisit to the shrine, because of the strong demand from his political supporters.

But it is the Chinese leader who suffered from higher pressure from the bottom of his political basis than Abe. Whenever the government showed appeasement to the small island country, nationalists got excited and threatened the administration. Under the circumstance of consecutive democratic upsurges, as seen in Hongkong, it is unlikely for Xi Jinping to make half-way compromise on Senkaku and Yasukuni.

So, what is the significance of the leaders’ meeting? That will be showing to the world their ability to perform as if in normal relationship. Unnecessary instability between Japan and China is harming national interest of United States, the indispensable ally of Japan and the great stakeholder for China, which has to be involved in volatility in Middle East and Ukraine. Without any true motivation to improve the relationship, both leaders are playing a soap opera to the world audience.

Fooling People

Shinzo Abe administration made a cabinet decision on operational standard for Designated Secrecy Act, which was one of the most controversial legislation under Abe. The law will be activated in December 10^th. Even after collecting public comments, the amendment was limited to minor change. The legislation is deeply suspected to violate human rights for freedom by concealing important information from people’s eyes. This is another step of Japan to approach authoritarian regime, seen in Russia or China, taking distance from consolidated democracy in North America and Europe.

The law determines security secrets as designated secrets and poses ten years in prison or shorter on public workers or related private workers. It listed fifty-five secrets categorized into four fields; defense, diplomacy, preventing espionage activities and preventing terrorism. Resisters of secret are limited to ten governmental organizations including National Security Conference, Cabinet Secretariat or Ministry of Defense.

Independent Archive Officer checks legitimacy of designated secrets. Although the officer can request submission of designated secrets to ministers in charge, the minister can reject it, if necessary. Is there any minister who opens the secret that he or she once hid? The law simply fools the people. If the government were serious about preserving people’s right, the officer needs to be someone independent from the government.

What is the baseline for determining the secret? The answer is collecting information by self-defense force or preserving peace and security in international society. It is too unclear for sovereign people to know what is the secret of the government and what is not. This can not be a democracy at all.

The law also violates human rights of public workers. The workers who deal with designated secret will be checked the history of crime and mental disease. Medical doctors on mental disease argued that there was no relation between leaking secret and mental disease, but it was dismissed.

The government collected 23,820 comments from the public, only 27 of which were applied. The amendment included revising of the provisions five years later. According to Mainichi Shimbun, one hundred thirty congresses of cities and towns all over Japan have passed resolution opposing the law. Most local governments worry violation of the Constitution, which guarantees people’s sovereignty, respecting basic human rights and pacifism. Prime Minister Abe has shown no attitude to listen to those voices. Although he asserts the law needs for maintaining Japan-U.S. alliance, the democracy in Japan is escaping from American democracy.

Before Talking about Someone’s Education

A flood of news reports on Nobel Peace Prize to Malala Yousafzai appeared on front page of every newspaper on Saturday. The Japanese like to be compassionate on someone’s success, with a sentiment of virtually participating in the story. Most Japanese were delighted with awarding Yousafzai and chanting the importance of education. But they do not realize enough about problems of education in Japan. A number of kids in Japan cannot get enough education not because they are woman, but because they are in poverty.

Newspapers praised Yousafzai of her brave effort to require education for women. They reported the reason of the award, “Resistance against oppression on children and young people and effort to address the right for every children to have education.” Media liked to quote her words of victory, which were “Attempt to silence me with guns and bullets had failed. Book and pen are the most powerful weapons,” as if they were encouraged by that young Pakistani girl.

The Japanese are easy to be encouraged by beautiful stories. It is common that Japanese soccer fans scream on the street of Shibuya, Tokyo, that they thank the team for giving braveness, dream, love and hope, even when the team loses. They are not actually thanking for the soccer game. It is a simple excitement on unusual event in their boring and empty ordinary lives. Not being changed by the event, their lives go on with their routine jobs.

Children in poverty in Japan are not excited with those events, because they do not know about it. They do not see soccer game on TV, because electricity is cut off in their houses. They will not go to the public viewing, because they cannot afford to get train ticket to Shibuya. Kids in poverty are silently sitting in a small room, waiting for their parents to come back from low-income job. It is embarrassing.

In 2011, one student out of six in Japan was dependent on financial support to go to school. Although administration led by Democratic Party of Japan introduced tuition exemption for high schools, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has been cutting budget for supporting low-income families. High school students who retire the school with the reason of inability to pay for tuition are increasing. Before praising the cause of Malala, the Japanese need to help kids in neighborhood go to school.

Basically, the Japanese are too excited with Nobel Peace Prize. They were also excited with the recipient, Barack Obama, in 2009. Their hope was turned to disappointment when Obama was involved in sir strike in Iraq and Syria. Political decision of Nobel Committee has been eroding its authority. Having said that, people who cannot maintain their own peaceful principle in the Constitution have better not talk about peace in the world.