Alienated in Classroom

Classmates forced her eating insects. The Board of Education in Nagasaki city revealed a result of investigation on the suicide of a girl student in her sixth grade last year. There were a lot of cruel behaviors of her classmates in it, indicating that might have caused her suicide. Bullying in schools in Japan is always pushes victims into the corner of total alienation. It must be reflecting illness of Japanese society.

The report indicated a number of inhumane things done to her. Forcing to write a paper pledge absolute obedience to her classmates, alienating in grouping for school trip, hiding her shoes, and stabbing her arm with a sharp pencil were what they did on her.

She committed suicide last July and died next month after suffering unconsciousness without leaving letter to her families or friends. What her classmates did to her was silent murder. The board interviewed her classmates and exercised a survey for all students from fourth to sixth graders. Although the survey revealed two incidents, eating insects and paper pledge, the family did not believe that only those two were reasons for her suicide. The family requested the board thorough investigation with signatures of fifteen thousand people who supported it earlier this month.

One typical phenomenon of abuse in classrooms in Japan is lack of a sense of justice. All students understand that collective abuse on one person is wrong. However, no classmate intervenes in abusing with an exercise of justice, while U.S. students, for instance, would not so hesitant in supporting one abused student regardless he/she is minority of majority.

That reflects Japanese tradition of discrimination. In an environment of dense population in small islands, the Japanese had willingly been alienating minority, low-class citizens or foreign oriented people, excluding from normal society. In addition, discriminated people sometimes left their community voluntarily. Suicide is one of the actions they chose to erase themselves from the society. Those kinds of elimination have been welcomed as virtue that lighten social burden.

But, we cannot withstand growing number of kids to kill themselves as reflections of social apathy. If community is cruel to the weak, it should be reformed to be kind. Because the land is too small for people to live comfortably, this nation once sought broader space in foreign countries, the strategy which resulted in failure in the World War II. Now, the Japanese have to regain its own culture of helping each other, which had been ordinary in old society. Otherwise, this nation will be memorized as internecine people.

Success of Female Scientist

There was a popular song in Japan, appealing that stress would destroy the earth. A group of female scientists in Japan discovered that stress could create stem cells, which would be transforming into any tissue like eye, heart and brain. While the news surprised the world, media in Japan focused on the leader of the group, Haruko Obokata. That was because she was a young woman. For them, dream was more about growing opportunity for women than about the improvement of technology for human life.

The group named the cell they discovered STAP, an abbreviation of stimulus-triggered acquisition of pluripotency. The significance of the finding was its easiness in production. While iPS cell, which discovery vested Dr. Shinya Yamanaka Nobel Prize last year, needs artificial loading of multiple genes, STAP cell is created by adding stress in an environment of weak acidity. With no physical touch on the cell, STAP is also reducing risks of transforming into cancer.

A magazine in United Kingdom, Nature, carried an article about the discovery, while it once scolded the finding of Obokata as disregarding long history of biological researches. BBC cited a comment of scientist in London, saying “The approach is indeed revolutionary. It will make a fundamental change in how scientists perceive the interplay of environment and genome.”

Japanese media was also enthusiastic, even though it was about lifestyle of Obokata. Newspapers and TV reports focused on her career as a female scientist. According to them, she was a lacrosse player in college, always fashionable, and loved kitchen apron given by her grandmother in the laboratory. Stories described her overcoming of hard times of many disappointment on her experiments, crying over nights, and support of older male colleagues and mentors.

That was a typical success story of “rikejo,” a nickname of contemporary woman specialists in science and technology, which Japanese media had always been expecting. Women active in international stages, such as Hiromi Uehara, a jazz pianist, or Sara Takanashi, Nordic jump skier, are target of news stories encouraging ordinary women in Japan, a society with fundamental handicap existing on woman.

The discovery actually has many hurdles to leap over. STAP cell is only found in young mice. It is still unclear whether it will be applied to adult mice or found in human cell. Details of why STAP is created in weak acid have not been found. To use the finding for medical treatment, it has long way to go. “It may be a dream of rejuvenation,” told Obokata in her press conference. Still, her achievement tells that only determined efforts can make dreams come true.

List of Talking Points

With excessive expectation to revitalization of economy, there is a few criticisms against Abe administration in Japan. The discussion over Prime Minister’s policy speech in the Diet would be a litmus test for healthiness of democracy. In that perspective, questions by the president of Democratic Party of Japan, Banri Kaieda, in the plenary session of the House of Representative on Tuesday were useful as a list of talking points against political handling of Shinzo Abe.

In his questions, Kaieda raised three risks in the future of politics in Japan led by Abe: economy heavily leaned on investing to building infrastructure, diplomacy ignoring jeopardy of further deterioration in Japan-China relationship, and domestic politics based on revisionism.

Citing enthusiasm on construction demand for Tokyo Olympic games in 2020 and price hike of building materials for reconstruction from the Great East Japan Earthquake, Kaieda criticized Abe’s economic policies as insufficient. He stressed that Abe’s expectation on higher wages in this sprig was baseless, because the policies had brought higher price of imported raw materials, pushing cost on manufacturers and families. Support for low-income families would be falling short of, Kaieda indicated, by inappropriate distribution of the income from higher consumption tax this spring.

On Abe’s resemblance of Japan-China relationship with Anglo-German rivalry in post-Great War period, DPJ president asked, “Why didn’t you say that there would never be military collision with China again?” He elaborated that Abe actually locked the door, making contradiction by saying that all doors were open for China and South Korea. “There are black area around Japan on your globe, when you say you promote ‘look down globe’ diplomacy,” Kaieda also told.

On Abe’s visit to Yasukuni Shrine, Kaieda recommended to build new memorial where everyone in and outside of Japan could go, bringing up the visit of U.S. Secretaries of State and Defense to Chidorigafuchi War Victim Memorial last October. On Abe’s “positive pacifism,” he downgraded it as nothing new, as seen in examples: emergency assistance to Philippine natural disaster, countermeasures against piracy in Aden Bay, or overseas development assistance to developing countries.

On revisionism, Kaieda challenged Abe’s determination to amend the constitution. He criticized reinterpretation of the constitution for exercising collective self-defense right, rather than changing provisions of the Constitution of Japan.

Although most of those points made sense, Japanese media was cool to his questions, mainly because DPJ has not recovered from the defeats in the election of both houses. So, what are you guys doing, if you are against unilateral leadership of Liberal Democrats?

Unprecedentedly Red

It could be a reflection of structural change in Japan economy. Trade deficit of Japan last year marked ¥11 trillion ($112 billion) last year. One may say that makes sense, because Japanese yen has been staying low against U.S. dollar. Yes, but it is only one aspect of Japan’s trade. The problem is that export has not increased very much, even followed by foreign exchanging rate. Is Japan no longer a trade nation?

Japanese yen was cheaper than a year before by 22% in 2013. That was why import of crude oil and natural gas jumped up, in spite of no big change in quantitative amounts. With discredit against nuclear power generation, Japan will not able to decrease imports of those fossil fuels, causing prolonged trade deficit.

However, export decreased in quantity, while sales hiked. Carmakers are main exporters in Japan. But exported cars last year decreased by 60 thousands, because they had moved its production lines abroad when they suffered from high yen price. Electric appliances decreased with the same reason, while lower competitiveness of Japanese products had also been indicated. High cost for electricity caused by energy difficulty also damaged factories inside Japan.

If this trend continues, money supply inside Japan will face serious difficulty, causing higher rate of long-term debt that will affect personal housing loan. Value of national bond, which consists of about forty percent of national revenue, may show steep down. There remains huge deficit in national balance.

Prescription has yet been found. “We are seeking a system for easier import of shale gas,” told Chief Cabinet Secretary, Yoshihide Suga. That was it. His idea will not contribute to structural solution of the problems in Japanese economy.

Economy of Japan in post war era has been standing on a basis supported by import of cheap raw materials and export of high quality products. Now, cheap raw materials can no longer be expected. To whom does it sell? Emerging market is waning. Only the rebuilt of U.S. economy is only a target Japan can rely on.

In this hard situation, electric companies are still reluctant to produce more renewable energy, pressuring politicians not to promote such a new business. The administration led by Liberal Democratic Party still pouring wealth into building infrastructure, which are already out of date. There will no sign of structural reform for Japanese economy, even how Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, is yelling for need of the third arrow of Abenomics, which should be based on broad deregulation.

In Tokyo, Economy First

Former Minister of Health, Labor and Welfare, Youichi Masuzoe, has been leading the gubernatorial race in Metropolitan Tokyo, polls showed. Former Prime Minister, Morihiro Hosokawa, follows him, being followed by former president of Japan Federation of Bar Association, Kenji Utsunomiya. Although Hosokawa has been asking voters whether Tokyo should get rid of use of nuclear power, voters rather expect better economy than seriously consider their future.

According to the poll Asahi Shimbun operated last weekend, Masuzoe received a half of support from independent voters, while Hosokawa got about thirty percent. Although the independents are the biggest target for Hosokawa, the poll showed that his campaign strategy has not been working well. Support for Utsunomiya is limited to the supporters of Communist Party and Social Democrats, which consist of a small part of eligible voters.

So, what are the voters seeing in the election? The poll revealed 29% of them were looking at economy and jobs, and 25% focused on medical care and welfare. Voters who had concern on nuclear generation and energy were limited to 14% of all. Only 9% showed the interest in the preparation for Tokyo Olympic games in 2020, incompatible with most candidates’ interests.

For people in Tokyo, the biggest interest is whether current upward tendency for revitalization of Japanese economy will settle for certain period of time. Although some workers, most of them working for major corporations, have already realized the recovery of economy, others have still in hard situation, suffering from price hike of imported raw materials with low valued yen. Job rate has still not shown significant recovery. For aged voters, a group which has always been showing big turnout, the most crucial policy of Tokyo government is sustainable welfare, rather than nuclear generation or international sports event.

Masuzoe’s strategy of shifting the eyes of voters from nuclear issue is working well so far. In other words, his campaign staffs have been making good effort to deter former Premier, Jun-ichiro Koizumi, closely supporting Hosokawa. It is another aspect that the race is a showdown between Koizumi and Chief Cabinet Secretary, Yoshihide Suga. There is a rivalry between Koizumi and Suga over hegemony of political basis in Kanagawa prefecture, where both were elected.

The key is whether Hosokawa can take independent voters back. To do that, he needs to exactly talk about how to reduce the nuclear power plants and to increase renewable energy. Only if he could to that, his campaign will start working.

Broadcasting Neutrality in Jeopardy

Freedom of speech consists of the basis of democracy. Democracy is a bottom-up system. If a chairman of public broadcasting organization promotes a reform with top-down order, it should not be called democracy. Such an undemocratic reform is going to be underway in Japan Broadcasting Corporation, or NHK.

New Chairman of NHK, Katsuto Momii, showed himself as a figure close to the revisionism of Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, in his press conference on Saturday. “Though I don’t mean it was right in wartime, that kind of things existed in every country,” told Momii on comfort woman, or wartime sex slave. “Was it about South Korea?” added Momii, “It was everywhere in war zone. Can we say it didn’t exist in Germany or France? It was everywhere in Europe. Why Netherland still has red light zone?”

Believe or not, that was a comment of the chairman of the biggest broadcasting corporation in Japan, which has great influence on journalism, culture, entertainment in Japan. The biggest problem of his comment was that he distinguished current moral value from past one, as Mayor of Osaka, Toru Hashimoto, did. “Comfort woman is wrong in current moral,” told Momii, “but it was the fact existed then. It is complicating for South Korea to say as if only Japan did that. Though they require money, it’s strange to raise the matter again that had been solved in a treaty between Japan and South Korea.”

Momii is a former president of Nihon Unisys, Ltd., which provides business service for information technology. It is unclear whether or not Abe administration was involved in the naming of him as the chairman of NHK, he has been recognized as a person whose mind was close to Abe. Some media doubted certain intervention of Abe to the succession of chairman of NHK.

However, as far as his comment in the conference is concerned, Momii looked supporting Abe administration. He rejected commenting on Abe’s visit to Yasukuni Shrine, saying “It was ok to see it as the prime minister did it with his own conviction.” On Senkaku Issue, he told NHK would explicitly appeal the standpoint of Japan and would not say “left” about what the government says “right.” After all, he did not show anything different from Abe’s standpoint.

The Broadcast Act requires every broadcasting corporation to be politically neutral. Momii’s comments supporting Abe in controversial issues would be doubted as a violation of the law. If Momii requires his staff in NHK to support Abe, it should be a distortion of journalism and democracy. It is not clear whether he realizes that.

More Positive on Reinterpretation

Against his intention to focus on economic policies, most audiences realized that he was more serious than ever to reinterpret the Article IX of the Constitution of Japan for exercising collective self-defense right. Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, announced in his policy speech to the Diet that he would consider changing interpretation on collective self-defense right after he would receive the report of his personal consultative committee on the issue later this year. In growing skepticisms against his behavior as a revisionist, a further step to militarize Japan would invite backlashes from neighbors and disappointments from allies.

Policy speech in the Diet marks the opening of annual session and is paralleled with the State of the Union Address of POTUS. On the reinterpretation, Abe told that he would “consider how to respond to the report of the Council for Reconstructing Legislative Basis on Security,” while he had been saying that he would just wait for the conclusion of the council. The council is expected to report it to Abe as soon as this April.

The coalition partner of Liberal Democratic Party, New Komeito, has been reluctant to cooperate with the reinterpretation, receiving anxiety on the issue from its basic supporters affiliated with Soka Gakkai. If Abe is proceeding to the reinterpretation, New Komeito will have to consider stepping out from the coalition. Leaders of Abe administration seems to be thinking that they have nothing to lose by Komeito’s resistance, because some of other opposition parties, Japan Restoration Party and Your Party, are showing cooperative attitude for Abe administration on this issue.

Reinterpretation of the Article IX will send a message to Japan’s neighbors that Japan will deal its security concern with military. Even how Abe explains the purpose of the reinterpretation as a way to enhance Japan-U.S. alliance by helping U.S. in emergency of being attacked, Japan’s neighbors recognize it as paving ways to take countermeasures against territorial assertions of China or South Korea. Knowing those possible responses of the neighbors, the United States is very careful not to let Japan stimulate China and South Korea.

One point Abe does not understand is he is not a person worth doing that. He has been failing to make preferable environment to do that by visiting Yasukuni war shrine with his unilateral reason, by missing opportunities to have dialogue with the leaders of China and South Korea, and by showing his distorted historiography on Murayama and Kono Statements or resemblance current Sino-Japan relationship to that of Anglo-Germany in the eve of the Great War. Analyzing those behavior leads to a conclusion that all he want to do is just hurling bricks to China, South Korea and “control” of the United States, regardless Japan’s national interests.

Regardless Regrets to War

Recklessly, the Prime Minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe, once again added his record of exhibiting naïve recognition of history at the back stage of international economy forum. In the press briefing to European media before his speech in the World Economy Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Abe resembled the situation between Japan and China with that of Britain and Germany right before the World War I. U.K. media got furious on his comment. Abe keeps on losing national interest of Japan by alienating his nation in the world.

According to BBC, Abe said that like Britain and Germany in 1914, Japan and China were inter-dependent economists, trading partners with huge mutual interests. However, Financial Times reported that contemplation as a comparison of Japan-China tensions to the rivalry between Britain and Germany by remarking that it was a “similar situation.” It published an opinion strongly against Abe’s remark. “For Japan’s prime minister to allow any comparison with 1914 in Europe is chilling and inflammatory,” it said.

It is unlikely that Abe had studied details of history around the Great War. He graduated a college that did not required the highest academic achievement to the students, and later experienced business in a steel company. Then he helped his father, former Foreign Minister, before he started his career as a lawmaker. His way of collecting knowledge had been through verbal communications with his mentors. This time, he might have heard about the relation between Britain and Germany from someone around him and revealed his knowledge to unfortunately British journalists.

As long as his knowledge was instant, he was supposed that he had not known what kind of sentiment the British had against Germany. He did not care about how the British had suffered from the battle to protect Paris, and from Blitz in the World War II. If Abe resembles Sino-Japan situation to wartime Europe, the Europeans would send a concerted message: just stop it.

That was why the opinion of FT was very hard. “He would have resisted the temptation to visit Yasukuni. His recent calls for changes to Japan’s pacifist constitution are ill-timed and add nothing to the security of the disputed islands,” told it. It also required the United States to “make clear to Mr. Abe that he needs to refrain from nationalist posturing.”

The responses of Japanese media were ordinary ones. Some opposed Abe’s consecutive assertions as careless, while Sankei defended him as criticizing reports of European media to be misunderstainding his words. But it was not about carelessness, but distortion of history.

Selling Unilateral Success Story

The narrow-minded leader was making the same misunderstanding in an international forum as he had done in his own country, believing that all the people had been waiting for him. It was not going to happen.

Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, delivered his messages of determination on economic reform and justification of his visit to Yasukuni Shrine in his keynote speech for the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Wednesday. The strategy of Abe seemed to have been getting support from the world for his visit to the shrine by emphasizing a sense of optimism in Japanese economy. This idea, based on the notion that world economy would not go anywhere without Japanese economy, did not stand. Wall Street Journal reported a certain disappointment, saying “he didn’t introduce any new policy.” The most media spotlighted Abe’s reasoning on his Yasukuni visit, rather than economy issues.

“Japan’s economy is just about to break free from chronic deflation. This spring, wages will increase. Higher wages, long overdue, will lead to greater consumption,” said Abe. Japanese media mainly reported that it was the first time for a prime minister of Japan to deliver keynote speech in Davos Forum, and that he was bold enough as to make international promise to decrease corporate tax to a moderate level in international standard.

In Tokyo, Chairman of Bank of Tokyo, Haruhiko Kuroda, showed an optimistic view about the future of Japanese economy in his press conference on Wednesday. “Risk of slump is decreasing,” told Kuroda. However, forecast of private companies on growth rate is quite lower than governmental estimate. Actual situation of business is not as good as the government stresses.

On Abe’s political behavior putting his ideology over national interest in foreign relations, the world is not so kind as he might have expected. “We must lay down rules that promote actions based on the international law of the sea,” Abe tried to emphasize China’s assertion on its interest in East China Sea. German international broadcaster, Deutsche Welle, reported that “Deep scars remain in China and South Korea from Japan’s militarism during WWII,” and cited a comment of a Chinese speaker at the forum who expressed the Japanese leader as a “trouble maker.”

Abe keeps on selling his favorite idea called “positive pacifism.” But his pacifism is to soothe his own ambition to send self-defense force to where he likes. A man who upholds unilateral change of post-war regime cannot accuse other’s unilateral change of current situation in East China Sea.

Derailed from Common Sense

It was not careless mistake but evil manipulation that plunged the company into turmoil. Hokkaido Railway Company, or JR Hokkaido, announced on Tuesday the result of investigation on line maintenance, in which the company found manipulation of data in thirty-three sections out of forty-four. The fact proved that consecutive railway accidents happened last year had their artificial reasons. In this country putting high value on people’s lives, the company invited extreme criticisms on its lack of sense on safety.

There were a number of accidents last year, some of which were absolutely unbelievable in a railway company. Fires broke out in trains and engine oil often leaked. A motorman was arrested in suspect of using drug, and another broke automatic train stop system to hide his mishandling. A fright train was derailed in southern area in Hokkaido, caused by abnormal distance between two rails. There also was announcement of train operation with broken emergency brake.

Making matters worse, the company attempted to conceal their mistakes. After the derailing accident, the local office for rail maintenance manipulated the data obtained around the site. The report on Tuesday revealed that such a kind of manipulation had been done in seventy percent of all the sections in the company. There was a witness that the manipulation had been continued from twenty years ago.

The company drew a miserable accident in 2011, which was train fire in the middle of a tunnel. Passengers walked out from the tunnel, their faces were all stained with soot. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism delivered a business improvement order to JR Hokkaido right after the accident. This time, the ministry delivered not only the second business improvement order, but also a supervision order that required improvements in management, culture or education in the company. The ministry also ordered resignation of a supervisor in safety operation.

What the company learned from the accident three years ago was cheating the ministry, and literally the passengers. This arrogance can be paralleled with a Chinese railway company that tried to bury the body of high-speed train after it crashed with another train and caused forty deaths in 2011. People in Japan are angry on JR Hokkaido, not because it was lazy in rail maintenance, but because it ignored passengers’ lives. However, there is no guarantee of making progress in this incompetent company even after strict orders came from the government.

Full Throttle in Turning Right

The annual national convention of Liberal Democratic Party on Sunday showed a great upheaval in applauding political handling of Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe. Its action plan, or annual party platform, for 2014 included definite promotion of Abe policies: constitutional amendment, visiting Yasukuni Shrine, positive pacifism, designated secrecy law, or revision of textbook authorization. The party is simply a driving force to make Japan go rightward.

On constitutional amendment, the plan proposed nationwide town meetings in all over Japan to encourage opportunities for selling the policy. Regarding Abe’s ambition to announce exercising of collective self-defense right late this year, which would raise arguments of unconstitutionality, the party leaders thought it was necessary to persuade public that the amendment would be inevitable for security reasons.

However, the party ignores possible backlash from neighbor countries on Abe’s historical revisionism. The action plan declared that it would succeed political movement to visit to Yasukuni Shrine, and that it uphold respect for the people who constructed the state basis and renew determination for eternal peace. Although it considered injecting words of “with determination of maintaining no-war resolution and concept of peaceful nation,” the phrase was deleted from the draft.

The party is also making efforts to persuade public to let them understand Designated Secrecy Act, which allows bureaucrats to arbitrarily register “special secrets” to hide them from public eyes. Including provisions to reject request from legislative branch to open information, the law became a symbol of oppressive tendency of Abe administration. Nevertheless, LDP lawmakers recklessly passed the law in the Diet last month. Party platform expressed no regret to it.

Positive pacifism is a phrase Abe recently likes to cite. It is to justify Japan to join international activities for safety and security, regardless constitutional restriction. The action plan, based on the concept, asserted to tighten the relationship with Asia-Pacific countries with “shared value.” It is as if saying that Japan will not build good relationship with countries that have different values, namely China and South Korea. It does not address how to rebuild bilateral relationship with those two.

LDP has traditionally been active in discussing various policies from various aspects and reserving broad room for different opinions. Now the party has no tolerance for discontent against Abe’s policy. This is one of the reasons that the administration is recognized as proceeding to despotism.

Common But Differentiated Burden

It was a sweeping victory for incumbent mayor of the City of Nago, Okinawa, in the mayoral election on Sunday. Susumu Inamine, a firm protester against accepting U.S. Marine Air Base from Futenma to Henoko coastal area in his city, defended his seat with significant margin against Bunshin Suematsu, a former member of Okinawa congress and supported by current national administration led by Shinzo Abe. The reason is clear; the administration underestimated the anger of Okinawa.

Inamine got about twenty thousand votes out of forty-six thousand eligible voters, leaving Suematsu behind with margin of four thousand. Leading Liberal Democratic Party pushed Suematsu up with promise of huge amount of subsidy worth ¥50 billion, obviously too much, for development of Nago city. The headquarters of the party turned down personal election promises of its member legislators elected from Okinawa, which had been removing Futenma Air Base out of Okinawa. Why people in Nago turned their back to those policies?

Firstly, people in Nago already knew that those were empty promises. Abe persuaded the Governor of Okinawa, Hirokazu Nakaima, to accept Henoko relocation plan with a promise of quicker return of the land of Futenma Air Base to Okinawa than current plan. However, people in Okinawa knew that the promises would be proved to be true only when the government of Japan reaches a deal with the United States. There is no indication for the achievement so far.

Secondly, the government of Japan has not been able to explain why new runways had to be built in Okinawa. All people know that Okinawa is geographically close to Japan’s potential threats. To deal with them, U.S. Force has deployed a number of fighter jets in Kadena Air Base. Futenma is relatively used for practices of pilots. Why practices need to be done in a runway newly built on beautiful blue ocean? That is a simple question of Nago people.

For Okinawa, U.S. base is common but differentiated burden of Japan. As long as that difference is baseless, they think it should be common and equal. The attitude of the government has been based on discrimination of who do not want to see the real situation in Okinawa, namely bureaucrats who do not want to move from Tokyo. Even how the United States is serious about security in Northeast Asia, the problem will not be solved with disturbance of rigidity of central government of Japan. It is not the problem in Okinawa, but in Tokyo.

Rapture of the Oldest Party

The existing oldest party in Japan, established in 1922 when the Soviet Union embarked on, is struggling for its survival by new conceptualization that it is the time for a new bipartisan politics. In its twenty-sixth congress, Japanese Communist Party passed a resolution, which regarded it was the time for confrontation between Liberal Democratic Party and JCP. Incompetence of opposite parties causes unusual surge of this classic revolutionist party.

The resolution in its first part raises political strategy for confrontation against current leading party. “Japan is entering upon what we can characterize as a new phase where the JCP-LDP confrontation has started in full-scale,” determined the resolution. With a unique notion that various intermediate parties between JCP and LDP have ceased to exist, the resolution describes JCP as “the only reliable party that can counter the LDP.” According to its historiography, this is the third advance of the party, following those in late 1960s and the latter half of 1990s.

Based on its own contemplation, the party upheld bold ambitions to strengthen its party basis. Although it received 5.15 million votes, worth 9.7% of all, in last election of the House of Representatives last summer, JCP set a new goal of obtaining 6.5 million and occupy 10% of all the votes in next national election. To achieve it, the resolution encourages the party members to start positive action to include new members in offices, schools and local communities, to promote door-to-door campaign to appeal party policies, and to take advantage of cyber space to reach young and non-partisan people.

The Executive Committee elected a lawmaker in the House of Councillors, Yoshiki Yamashita, for new Head of the Secretariat, while Chairperson of Executive Committee, Kazuo Shii, 59, remained in the chair. The party chose Yamashita, 53, as a young leader to get rid of old image of the party, reducing eighteen years old from former head, Tadayoshi Ichida. However, one cannot say that leaders in their fifties are young enough for an organization to reach young generation.

All those strange political phenomena were caused by weakness of opposite parties, namely Democratic Party of Japan. The increased votes for JCP were a result of negative choices for the people who rejected LDP policies. As long as JCP keeps on seeking communist revolution, it is not likely for them to join a coalition with other parties. However, voters would not come back from JCP, if other opposite parties cannot find any breakthrough in the unilateral leadership of LDP.

Criticizing Obama as Quibbling

Was it an effusion of right wing freaks frustrated with intervention of the United States or simply an evidence that conservatives in Liberal Democratic Party were naïve in international relations? According to Kyodo News, Hagiuda Kouichi, a Special Adviser of Chairman of LDP, Shinzo Abe, scolded U.S. President Barack Obama that he had too much been quibbling with Abe’s visit to Yasukuni Shrine. It is quite unusual for a close adviser of Japanese Prime Minister to criticize Japan’s “indispensable ally,” a phrase Abe liked to use.

In his speech to his colleagues in LDP on Friday, Hagiuda raised the response of U.S. government, “disappointment” on Abe’s visit to Yasukuni Shrine. “U.S. had never quibbled like this during GOP administration. It is because Democratic administration, because Obama administration, that U.S. says such a thing,” told Hagiuda, according to Kyodo. “If Japan says that visiting Arlington Cemetery is wrong,” added Hagiuda, “does U.S. refrain from doing that? They would say ‘It’s none of your business.’”

The reason why U.S. refrained from criticizing the Premier Jun-ichiro Koizumi was because doing that would benefit U.S. national interest at the time it had seriously been involved in the War on Terrorism. There also was close personal relationship between both leaders, George W. Bush and Koizumi. Now, stimulating China obviously does not promote U.S. interest and Abe does not have a positive relationship with Obama. U.S. disappointment was a natural consequence of ignoring U.S. viewpoints toward Japan.

Not a long time friend, though, Hagiuda is one of the desperate revisionists around Abe. He upholds the idea that it is natural for national leaders to express regret to war victims, and has skepticism against coercion of suicide to people in Okinawa by Japanese Imperial Army. He also advocates Japan’s possession of nuclear weapons, if international situation requires it. When Abe refrained from visiting Yasukuni on August 15^th last year, Hagiuda brought ritual donation to Yasukuni on behalf of Abe. “It is necessary for us to explain our viewpoints without timid concern on others’ response,” said Hagiuda.

The conservatives in Japan are too shortsighted to appropriately understand liquidated international relationships. They expect unconditional support from U.S. as implementation of security treaty with Japan. But if it does not contribute to its interest, U.S. would be reluctant to follow the provision. Before becoming an ally of Japan, U.S. has been on the same side of China from wartime. Moreover, U.S. is playing a great game with China in Pacific Ocean, not welcoming an uncontrollable wildcard.

Intimidation and Survival

Yakuza, Japanese version of mafia gangs, penetrate ordinary lives of ordinary people. They trade drugs, collect money and intimidate their enemies. They would not necessarily be people who dropped out of the society. Top elites may sometimes behave as yakuza, unconsciously or not.

The Government of Japan approved the reconstruction plan of Tokyo Electric Power Company, which brought unprecedented disaster in its First Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant three years ago. The plan assumes that the company will keep on distributing power generated by nuclear power, based on resumption Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant by July. If they are unable to resume it, TEPCO threaten the public that they will raise utility fee by 10%. The plan itself is an intimidation to anti-nuclear activists.

TEPCO is de facto government-own company now. The government bought over a half of its total stocks and decided to pay actual cost for the effort of decontaminating huge land in Fukushima, which should be done by TEPCO. The money being injected to the company is inevitably the tax money collected from the nation. The more money gets into TEPCO, the bolder the company becomes in threatening people’s lives.

The method of intimidation is like this: “Ok, you guys cannot live without electric power, we know, so if you want it, you need to pay for it. Frustrated with our business? We don’t care at all.” Here is rhetoric. What the people need is electric power, not necessarily be nuclear power. TEPCO tells people as if all the power will be shut down, if they stop working. There actually is, however, no nuclear power generation working in this cold winter.

What the President of TEPCO, Naomi Hirose, did right after the approval of the plan was to visit the Governor of Niigata, where Kashiwazaki-Kariwa is located, to get approval in resumption of nuclear plant. The Governor, Hirohiko Izumida, firmly opposed the plan. “The plan is a moral hazard putting responsibilities of stockholders and renders aside. I hope you to review it,” told Izumida in the meeting with Hirose. Governor has crucial role to approve resuming halted nuclear power plants.

The national government keeps on being involved in life-prolonging efforts of TEPCO. It decided to send Fumio Sudo, Corporate Adviser of JFE Holdings, as new chairman of the board of TEPCO, who is one of the strongest advocates for salvaging the company. Because of this one-way drive toward resumption of nuclear reactors, former Prime Ministers stood up for the governor of Tokyo, which is the biggest consumers of TEPCO’s power, with promise of zero nuclear power. Let us see the conclusion of the capital.

Worrying Disappointment

Under the blue sky on a sunny day, a transport vessel of Maritime Self-defense Force, Osumi, collided with small fishing boat in the Seto Inland Sea, located in the southwest part of Japan. Four passengers of the boat were thrown in the seawater and two of them were dead in a hospital hours after they were rescued. It is still not clear which was wrong in the accident. One strange phenomenon the government has shown is deliberately careful attitude in dealing with this case.

According to the reports, the collision was made at the left side of Osumi’s body. Two ships seemed to be cruising to the same direction. In the rule on the water, two ships facing each other have to evade collision by turning rightward. It is unclear so far, which was responsible for avoiding the accident.

This is not the first time for a MSDF ship to sink a private boat with collision. A submarine collided with a pleasure boat, causing thirty deaths, in 1988. In 2008, an aegis vessel broke a fishing boat, killing two fishermen. In the case of 1988, both captains were found guilty in professional negligence resulting in death, while two men on aegis vessel were found non-guilty after being prosecuted.

Immediately after the accident, Minister of Defense, Itsunori Onodera, held a press conference. He expressed a deep regret as a leader of the ministry and self-defense force, and emphasized that the ministry would fully cooperate with investigation by Japan Coast Guard. The action was based on the lesson the ministry learned from former cases, in which they were criticized as being late in investigation and reluctant in providing with information in timely manner.

One important point in the investigation should be whether Osumi recognized the approach of the boat. One passenger of the boat realized that Osumi blew four or five whistles right before the collision. However, it is unclear whether the vessel fully recognized the boat, because of the structure of the ship with its bridge on the right side of the deck. The Ministry of Defense is going to integrate the investigation under coast guard to avoid misunderstandings of the nation caused by dualism in information release.

The biggest concern for the ministry is losing credibility it earned in the rescuing in the great earthquake and nuclear accident in Fukushima. “Self-defense Force is not only the resource of the state, but of the people” is a phrase frequently used by the officials. Worrying the accident of Osumi may cause disappointment on daily effort of the force, the government can only appeal sincere attitude toward people.

Resurgence in Africa

Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, raised his voice at a press conference in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, for appealing Japan’s effort not to support Africa but to invest for its future. He intended to highlight the contrast between Japan and China in development in Africa, in which China has been criticized to be too greedy. However, Japan’s effort is still depending on governmental assistances, with the reluctance of private sectors in investment to Africa.

In his policy speech in the headquarters of African Union on Tuesday, Abe elaborated that Africa is a frontier for Japan, focusing on rich natural resources in the continent. He revealed a plan for raising total amount of Japanese Yen loan from $1.6 billion to $2 billion by the end of 2016, and for $320 million support for relief of conflicts and natural disasters. The key concept was integrated effort by the government and private sectors.

His attitude in the visit of African countries looked like disseminating money. To Ivory Coast, Abe offered $8 million support for soldiers’ return to society, independence of women and reinforcement of police. Then followed $700 million of overseas development assistance in northern Mozambique and $12 million for support of refugees in Ethiopia from Somalia or South Sudan. Yomiuri Shimbun reported that a newspaper in Mozambique applauded Abe’s visit as “historical,” which might have tickled Abe’s ribs.

The delegation brought about thirty representatives of Japanese corporations and colleges. They have been interested in building infrastructures for electric supplies and transportation, developing major gas wells and cooperation in geothermal generation. Accepting students from African countries was also an effort to build up African economy. “We can create real win-win relationship with Africa by Japanese corporation that evaluate individual dignity,” told Abe. “Win-win” is one of the favorite diplomatic terms Chinese leaders like to use.

However, the fact is that Chinese corporations have been overwhelming in numbers in Africa. Even how Japanese leaders criticize China’s exploitation, African economy is heavily dependent on China. Business efforts of the Japanese were interrupted by bad security, corruption of government or unprofitability. It is still unclear why Japanese government is so active in helping Africa. If Abe wants to overtake China in African business, it is just a dream. If it is for Africa, cooperation with China is more helpful. If it is for seeking favorable votes to Japan in the United Nations, China should be the bigger target than Africa to achieve Japan’s goal.

Diplomacy without Information

China keeps on approaching Senkaku Islands from the beginning of this year, sending official ships to territorial seawater of Japan around them. Counting on military support of the United States, the administration led by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has still been reluctant to have serious talk with China, regarding it as giving in China’s appeal of existence of territorial dispute over them. However, there appears U.S. reluctance to back Japan up. The biggest supporter of Japan was negative on the decision of laying the islands under control of the government.

Asahi Shimbun reported on Tuesday about the details of dialogue between then Prime Minister, Yoshihiko Noda, and U.S. Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton. “Is it really necessary to nationalize the islands? What idea do you have after the purchasing?” Clinton asked Noda in the leaders meeting of Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation in Vladivostok, Russia, on September 8^th, 2012. “It is possible for the national government, rather than Tokyo Metropolitan government, to stably control the situation there, and it was China who changed the status quo first,” replied Noda reading out the paper prepared by his staffs.

The report also revealed the conversation between senior officials of both governments. Two months before the meeting of Noda and Clinton, Kurt Campbell, Assistant Secretary of State Department, asked Akihisa Nagashima, a political adviser of Noda, whether the purchase was the best choice. Although Nagashima stressed that the government of China had understood Japan’s policy, Campbell doubted the accuracy of the information Japan had gotten from China.

Noda had been underestimating the significance of the Senkaku issue for China. In a interview to Yomiuri Shimbun last October, Noda told that he had realized in the meeting with then Chinese President, Hu Jintao, “core interest” for China to be Uygur and “significant concern” to be Senkaku. But, China later showed their intention to include Senkaku in their core interests. Noda also revealed that he did not expect that Hu would be raising the Senkaku issue in the instant talk with Noda at the meeting of APEC. “I thought it could not be happening for me to explain about Senkaku,” told Noda. If you are correct, what in the world is Prime Minister’s job in diplomacy, Mr. Noda?

That is what the diplomacy of Japan is about. Those episodes say that Japanese diplomacy is desperately in need of information. Professional diplomats are too busy in approaching domestic politics for protecting their bureaucratic or even personal interests to collect information from foreign countries. The government did still not learned from its failure in understanding the intention of U.S. Government on Futenma relocation issue.