ID Number for All the People

The Diet of Japan passed the Common Number System Act, to introduce the similar system as social security number in the United States. To have a comprehensive identification number on all individuals has been long-time wish of the government of Japan since 1960s. The administration of Shinzo Abe, generally oppressive on ordinary people, finally succeeded in doing that. While people have a few merits from the system, the government can exercise broad power on people including taxation, collecting family information or censoring personal history on medical treatments.

The bill was submitted to the Diet at the time of DPJ administration. The reason at the time was that the system was necessary for collecting information of people to introduce the tax break system for low-income family when the consumption tax rate would be raised. Now, although that tax break system was determined to be invalid, Abe administration insisted on introducing common number system without showing specific reason. It was DPJ’s responsibility to let the act pass without any opposition.

Although the government has some number identification system such as drivers’ license, passport number, pension system number or health care system, there was not a comprehensive identification system for overall taxation. By introducing the common number system, it can obtain information about individual income or history of accepting social security services. According to Asahi Shimbun, there are ninety-three kinds of information the government can obtain with new act.

The Ministry of Finance is trying to use the number for finding illegal tax evasions. The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare expects that they would be able to avoid wrong receipt of pension money. But that kind of comprehensive number may cause crimes. It would be possible that one malicious man swindle aged people’s money by obtaining personal information through the number. In fact, there have been huge numbers of crime related to ill-obtained social security number in US every year.

The Japanese are not sensitive on relationship between taxation and democracy. As shown in the history of Britain when the people obtained Bill of Rights against imperial power in late seventeenth century, or in US Declaration of Independence from United Kingdom, democracy has been struggle against taxation. Japan has no history of fighting taxation in the context of democracy. The government takes taxation for granted as the duty of all people in Japan. But, as Abe administration is going to change the constitution to expand governmental power over the people, there will be a growing resistance against oppressive reform of governing systems.