Soft Response to Missile Launch

North Korea launched two short-range ballistic missiles to Japan Sea in Sunday morning. Although it did not directly affect security situation in the region, the North thought to be sending messages to its neighbor countries. Japan does not seem to be reviewing its unilateral approach to the North, even though the intimidation has disseminated instability to Asia-Pacific region.

South Korean army analyzed that those missiles were Scud C type with 500 kilometers reach, which covers all over the land of South Korea. They were launched from around a coastal city of Wonsan. An official with Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the North told that the launch was one of the ordinary military practices. Japan immediately expressed its protest against the North through diplomatic channel.

The practice was mainly recognized as a protest against South Korea and China. Pyongyang had been frustrated with South’s current striking practice around Northern Limit Line on Yellow Sea. Visit plan of Chinese President, Xi Jinping, next month might also have affected the intimidation. It will be the first example for Chinese leader to visit the South before meeting with the leader in Pyongyang, since China normalized its relationship with the North in 1992. The missile launch had a message to protest development between China and South Korea.

The response of Japan revealed its reluctance to weaken the momentum over diplomacy to North Korea. Japanese officials, including Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, had a meeting for collecting and analyzing information. They ruled out an option to delay official meeting with the North on July 1^st, in which Japan expected breakthrough in reinvestigation over missing Japanese abductees. Chief Cabinet Secretary, Yoshihide Suga, told that Japan-North dialogue was extremely important in terms of humanity, dealing with abduction and special missing people.

Japan’s soft attitude may cause its alienation in trilateral alliance with South Korea and United States. “We cannot wipe out our concern that Japan will be caught by North’s trap to disturb cooperation among the South, U.S. and Japan,” told an official of South Korea. Since Japan had been saying that abduction issue would be solved along with nuclear and missile problem, consistent approach of Abe administration to the North must be a grave concern for the South and U.S.

While stressing peace and stability in Asia-Pacific region and necessity to respond to growing pressure from neighboring countries, Abe is laying negative impacts on power structure in Asia, sticking to his personal agenda that raised him to a leadership in Japan politics.

Going to Offense

This is not about defense, but offense. National Security Council of Japan interpreted the Constitution of Japan as its Self-defense Force was allowed using force in collective security measures with a resolution of United Nations Security Council. Although discussion in leading parties have been limited to collective self-defense, which was measures for defending Japan, the interpretation extended Japan’s military action to the realm of preemptive attack on a nation regarded as disturbing international peace and security. Japan looks to be getting out of exclusively defense-oriented security policy.

The interpretation was included in hypothetic answers list in the Diet. To a question asking whether Self-defense Force could use its force as a collective security measure, the answer would be “Yes, it can.” NSC determined it as acceptable within provisions in the Constitution, if it would fulfill “new three conditions” for use of force. The conditions were apparent crisis that would threaten existence of the state and fundamentally overturn life, liberty and pursuit of happiness of the people by offense on other countries closely related to Japan, absence of alternative measures, and limitation to minimum use.

The officials might have imagined that it would be impossible for Japanese Self-defense Force to retreat from act of collective self-defense in Korean Peninsula, in case North Korea made aggression, immediately when it turns to be a field of collective security measures with U.N. resolution. To stay in international effort to contain the North, they thought the interpretation should be available for collective security measures.

Post-war Japanese constitution strictly prohibits use of force in overseas. Japanese force has been defined to be only available for defending Japan. Joining collective security measures means going beyond the line forever. If Japan participates in such an international measure, it will be the first step to be a war-fighting nation, as it once was before the World War II. Obviously, it is long-time ambition for the revisionists in Japan including Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe.

Unleashing Japan will bring Asia-Pacific region serious consequences. It will complicate Japan-South Korea relationship by stimulating anti-Japan sentiments in South Korea, if Japan considers sending troops to the peninsula. Trilateral alliance among Japan, South Korea and United States will become more vulnerable than ever. China will use Japan’s move as a cause of its enhancement of military capability. Instability in East China Sea will grow. Moreover, do not forget that those revisionists still uphold a sense of retaliation to U.S., which fatally eroded sovereignty and ethnic pride of Japan.

Internecine Society

Victims of murders in Japan are always the weak people in society. They typically are women, children, or sometimes foreigners. As guppies or crayfish eat each other in small aquarium, Japanese people are living on so small land that they cannot coexist together. It is not about natural selection, but building a cooperative community. However, political leaders have been making social division bigger.

A man of forty-three years old was arrested in Yokosuka city on Saturday in the act of murder of a woman of twenty-two years old, who was former close acquaintance of him. When policemen arrived at the site, the man was mounting on her and repeatedly piercing her body with scissors. She changed her address after he committed violence on her. City office classified her record of residence to protect her from his further violence. However, it is hard for a woman to hide herself in this small society. In one case in Zushi city two years ago, a worker of city office was arrested with suspect of providing a man with information of a woman, causing a murder.

Another woman in Sapporo city was found dead last month. It was weeks after she was missed around her home in a midnight. Police indicated that she was abducted by car in the dark and killed somewhere else. The criminal has yet been captured. Women are physically weak and easy to coerce for male murderers.

Kids are far softer target for killers regardless male or female. A woman of thirty-two years old was arrested with a suspect of violence against her three-year-old daughter. The daughter, actually a girl between her husband and his ex-wife, was dead after the violence. The criminal woman told police that she was frustrated with the girl and pushed and laid her down on the floor.

Murders on children occur with parents’ inability of raising kids. Small children sometimes found dead with starvation, because the parents refused feeding. Yomiuri newspaper reported on Friday that there were four hundred and eighty-three children left alone and in jeopardy of their lives these three years until this March. Raising kids became a hard work for low-income families.

A victim woman of reckless driving through sidewalk in downtown Ikebukuro on Tuesday was found to be a Chinese woman working for a Chinese restaurant. The driver was addicted to drug that was not illegal and confused when he was driving car that hit pedestrians. Although foreigners are not apparent target of killers, eccentric conservative hate speakers scream “Kill Koreans and Chinese” at demonstration on street. It is not strange that more social oppression to foreigners appears, if political relationship is further deteriorated.

Moves for Anti-nuclear Policy

Annual stockholders’ meetings of electric power companies on Thursday were painted by moves for demanding getting rid of nuclear power generation. However, all those moves were rejected. The companies tried to reserve the nuclear option to stabilize their business, ignoring refugees in Fukushima still being exposed to radioactive materials from broken reactors in First Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant owned by Tokyo Electric Power Company. The moves reminded the Japanese of the fact that this nation was divided in two, who wanted to forget the tragedy and who did not.

Stockholders of all nine power companies, except Okinawa Power that did not have nuclear a reactor, submitted each of their meeting proposal for eliminating nuclear power generation. They demanded retreat from nuclear fuel cycle project or taking responsibility on evacuation in emergency of nuclear power plants. In the meeting of Kansai Power, Mayor of Osaka City, Toru Hashimoto, requested resignation of board of directors, threatening retreat as a great stockholder. Outside the buildings, protesters chanted no nukes slogans.

Management boards firmly rejected those requests. “Our mission is stable supply of electric power. We want to deliver it with reasonable price. We regard nuclear power as an important resource,” told Naomi Hirose, President of TEPCO. That was nothing but a blackmail indicating significant price hike unless nuclear power. Encouraged by national government that already decided resumption of nuclear reactors in Japan, all boards of directors emphasized need for resuming safe reactors.

Meanwhile, TEPCO rejected additional compensation for victims in Fukushima. It dismissed request of people in Namie Town, all of them still evacuating home, which was to accumulate compensation by fifty thousand yen per month. Although Center for Solution of Compensation Conflict over Nuclear Accident recommended accepting it, TEPCO ignored it for its survival in business.

Evacuees from devastated area in Fukushima suffer from a lot of physical and mental depressions. Some are exhausted in their life separated from families, and others needed to buy new houses for kicking off their new life. Some actually committed suicide. Anti-nuclear movement is sympathetic for the situation of the victims, and thinks that jeopardy has not been removed. Supporters for nuclear generation are turning their back to the status quo of this country, which holds one hundred and thirty thousand refugees from radioactive materials.

Nuclear power will not be needed next century. This is, in other words, a struggle between who have long-term vision and who only think about their lifetime.

Too Busy to Teach

Japan was proved to be the country, in which teachers in junior high schools were the busiest in the world. Teaching and Learning International Survey of Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development found that Japanese teachers worked nearly fifty-four hours every week, far beyond the average of thirty-eight hours. Moreover, they could not be convinced in their ability to lead students. The result may cast a question on education policy of Shinzo Abe administration, which poses ideological requirements on teachers.

The main reason of long-time work was not preparation for class or projects, but supporting students’ activities out of designated job. Time for paper works were two times longer than the average. Coaching sports club after is the most typical activity after teaching in classroom. Surprisingly enough, teaching time in classroom was shorter than the average.

Mainichi Shimbun raised an example of a teacher in Fukuoka in his age of fifties, having had no holiday after the beginning of May. He went to school on 7 a.m. everyday and oversaw morning practice of club activity. He could not have a recess between classes, because he needed to make rounds in the school. After classroom, he again joined club activity and started preparation for next day on 10 p.m., when he finished consulting for students and parents. He said it as an ordinary pattern for every teacher.

Schools have a lot of problems. Teachers need to deal with collective abuse on one student, raising achievement in study, or even individual family problems of parents’ violence or child abuse. With weak communication within towns, schools need to take a roll of taking care of raising kids. In addition, bureaucracy requires them of huge amount of paper works for surveillance or reports.

Prime Minister Abe, nevertheless, is highly frustrated with current situation of education, attributing it to teachers union. He believes that Japan Teachers’ Union has not been teaching appropriate moral standard. One of his tomodachi, Naoki Hyakuta, a conservative writer and member of board of directors of Japan Broadcasting Corporation labeled JTU as “cancer in Japan.”

Those ideological pressures on schools only causes more works for teachers. School leadership poses teachers more efforts to eliminate problems. Teachers would work from early morning to late at night. Political leaders and school officials do not see the impact on children suffering from ideological coercion and lethargic lesson by exhausted teachers. In short, all children are left behind.

Expanded Expectation

One of the most invisible policy to the people in Japan is negotiation with North Korea. Although both government agreed with resuming investigation for missing abductees in the North, there still is a speculation that Pyongyang will not be serious about it. Tokyo meanwhile moves to easing sanctions, according to the agreement. The officials in Japan have not find any functional goal line.

In the press conference on Tuesday evening, Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, dismissed a possibility of his visit to Pyongyang at the moment. “My mission will not be finished until all the families of abductees can embrace their loved ones in their arms,” Abe told. On lifting the sanction, he laid out an idea to distinguish the most effective way for diplomatic achievement.

The government of Japan expects the North to establish an effective organization for investigation of abductees. If the organization is confirmed as workable enough in next official level meeting later this month or early next month, Japan will lift sanctions starting with transportation of people, deregulation of money transfer, and resuming port entry of North Korean ships. However, Abe indicated that the situation is not matured for his visit to get actual achievements.

Surprise was moves of the Supreme Court of Japan. The Court decided to suspend the power of a former court decision, which permitted a real estate firm in Takamatsu city to purchase the building for the headquarters of General Association of Korean Residents in Japan. After the Court dismissed the deal of selling it to an enterprise in Mongol, political impact of its decision has been broadly recognized. It eased its attitude toward the association, this time. It is not clear whether the change was affected by current governmental agreement, and whether the North realized it as a political signal from Tokyo.

Before Japan confirms effectiveness of the investigation organization, there rises expectation in Japan for progress in abduction issue. Research Association of Special Missing People has registered four hundred and seventy missing people, seventy-seven of which are doubted as abducted by North Korea. Some families think this revitalization of negotiation as the last chance.

The movement, however, ignores fundamental structure of negotiation between Japan and North Korea, which has to be settled within international framework requiring the North abolishment of nuclear and missile development program. As long as the negotiation does not see any progress in security issue, expanded expectation will be turned to disappointment.

Sexist Identified Himself

The member of Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly who hurled harsh sexist heckling to a woman member in her speech was on Monday proved to be an ultra-conservative guy who landed on Senkaku Island, on which China disputed of its sovereignty, two years ago. The man, Akihiro Suzuki, publicly identified himself as the claimer of “Be married soon” and apologized to embarrassed Ayaka Shiomura. Although she expressed a sense of satisfaction, the scandal became something out of her control.

Suzuki’s apology was far from sufficiency. While Suzuki face Shiomura and told that “I am very sorry for bothering you and other members,” he explained that he had not intended to abuse her and thought that he hoped her to be married soon in this social tendency of late marriage. If he had really hoped that, he would have say something different in different situation. There was a pressure from headquarters of Liberal Democratic Party, to which Suzuki affiliated, to identify the man of embarrassing offense. Everyone realized that he reluctantly appeared to the public and was not apologizing from the bottom of his heart.

Two days after the irregular heckling on her, Suzuki pretended to be innocent in an interview of reporters. To a question whether he thought the man of irregular yell should step down as an assembly member, he said “I think so.” His later explanation was “I made a lie.” Assembly men and women are not supposed to make a lie. Sadly, this is nothing but a cheap shot, not making a big difference from quarrels of elementary school kids.

One of the facts people focus on is there seem to be other members who made sexist hecklings like “Can’t you give birth?” or else. While those yells were delivered from seats occupied by LDP members, LDP dismissed that there was no identified heckling such as those. But there is no credibility for LDP to tell the truth, since one of them, Suzuki, made a big lie. In this situation, nobody believes in what LDP says.

The problem is a number of LDP members do not realize it as a violation of human rights, sticking to conservative principle of patriarchy. In 2007, Minister of Health, Labor and Welfare, Hakuo Yanagisawa, made a gaffe of calling women “machine of giving birth.” Frequent outcome of denying women rights, while upholding policy for supporting women, can be resembled to frequent denial of governmental responsibility in comfort woman issue. It is fair to say that LDP has a tendency to see women as objects of sexual affairs.

Here is the reason why Japan has not achieved “an honored place in an international society,” as the Constitution describes. People who gave support to LDP are also guilty on it.

Distant from Okinawa Heart

This is the day of prayer for the people in Okinawa. Organized exchange of fire in brutal battle in Okinawa ended this day in 1945. Offices and schools in Okinawa are now closed today for prayers. Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, will attend the Peace Memorial Ceremony at Mabuni Hill in the City of Itoman, where the last resistance was fought. Given political circumstances reaching war-fighting country, Abe might become the most unwelcomed prime minister in the ceremony.

While the Japanese in mainland recognize August 15th as the end of the World War II, the people in Okinawa put the period on June 23rd, when Mitsuru Ushijima, a Lieutenant General of Japanese Imperial Army and the commander of defense force in Okinawa, killed himself to end the battle. Over two hundred thousand people were killed in the Battle of Okinawa, the number which is paralleled with victims in Hiroshima and Nagasaki by atomic bombs. There are episodes that Japanese Army ousted the people from evacuation trenches, exposing them to merciless fires of American Forces. For the people in Okinawa, the battle was nothing for themselves but for the Japanese.

Abe made a speech at the ceremony on Monday, in which he expressed deep regret over tremendous number of victims of war. “I calmly hang my head down to the victims, whose blood and tear was shed to leave this land for us today,” he told. However, his basic principle in foreign policy had been making Japan-U.S. relationship “blood alliance,” indicating he would be willing to donate lives of the Japanese for U.S.

The people in Okinawa had reasons to be unhappy with his comments. Okinawa still owes the burden of alliance in a form of concentration of 74% of U.S. military base in Japan. Abe administration has been pressuring them to accept relocation plan of U.S. Futenma Marine Air Base to Henoko in northern area of Okinawa Island. Could not stand against the central government, Governor of Okinawa, Hirokazu Nakaima, approved starting construction for new facilities in Henoko, breaking up his campaign promise to remove the base from Okinawa. Since that policy change was nothing but a betrayal for most of his supporters, it would be unrealistic for him to be reelected in next election this November.

Abe’s insistence on reinterpretation of the Constitution for exercising collective self-defense right is highly unpopular in Okinawa. Because most causes for the reinterpretation is assuming contingency in Korean Peninsula, the people in Okinawa are seriously worried about possibility that their islands will become a battle field again, as polls had shown. Predicting unrealistic war and promoting conservative policies are all against Okinawa’s sentiment seeking peace.

If the administration wanted to reach the heart of Okinawa, it needs to elaborate how the government can prove escaping from devastation of war forever. Unrealistic assumption of “what if North Korea attacks U.S. vessel loading Japanese citizens” or stressing threat of China will not be accepted as any prayer for victims of the Battle of Okinawa and their families.

Futile Questioning on History

Shinzo Abe administration submitted Budget Committee of the House of Representatives a report of investigation over Kono Statement of 1991, in which the government of Japan apologized to South Korea of involvement of Japan Imperial Army in “comfort women” scandal. The result revealed that there had been a number of consultations between the two nations over how to describe Japan’s responsibility in the statement. Although Japanese government denied reviewing the statement, the conservatives in Japan excited with those new historical facts as justification of Japan’s accusation against the Koreans.

The investigation started in February when a former Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary indicated a possibility of consultation between Japan and South Korea right before delivering Kono Statement. The submitted report found that Japanese side consulted with South Korean government without distorting the facts. The main talking points were involvement of Japanese Army in settling brothels and in enrollment of comfort women, and coercion of enrollment.

Kono Statement admits that the brothels were build with request from Army, that enrollment was operated by private organizations with request from Army, and a lot of enrollments were overwhelmingly against the will of those women, along with temptation and coercion, and some governmental officials were involved in it. On the building brothels and enrollment, South Korea required describing it to be done by Army’s “order,” the expression which Japan rejected in the consultation. On coercion in enrollment, Korean side insisted on avoiding an image of volunteer enrollment. The expression became “overwhelmingly against the will.”

Both governments had been concealing the fact of consultation to their people. South Korean government expressed deep regret on Japan’s unilateral decision to reveal the historical fact, saying “the result of verification included substances which might erode credibility of Kono Statement.” On the other hand, it focused on the standpoint of Abe administration succeeding Kono Statement.

Conservative newspaper, Yomiuri, criticized Japanese government as ignoring facts, putting priority on South Korean opinion and inviting broad misunderstandings about direct involvement of Japanese Army.

However, even after the report revealed secret consultation between two governments, Japan is still responsible for embarrassing fact of comfort women, regardless it was operated by Japanese Army or private organization. Questioning legitimacy of Kono Statement is nothing more than complacency of the conservatives.

LDP’s Shock Doctrine

Supposedly guessing Prime Minister’s expectation, Liberal Democratic Party proposed New Komeito an idea that was to permit Self-defense Force participating in international activities of exercising collective security measures. Recognizing collective security measures as further beyond restriction of the Constitution of Japan than introducing collective self-defense right, Komeito strongly opposed the proposal. It must be a strategy of LDP of making stakes unacceptably high.

Collective security measures are forced efforts of multiple nations to sanction a country, which is threatening international peace and security. It includes, for example, joining Operation Iraqi Freedom, in which United States sent troops in its conviction of War on Terrorism. Japan limitedly participated in the operation to fuel volunteer forces vessels in the middle of Indian Ocean, following requirement of the Constitution that prohibited use of force in foreign country.

LDP proposal was with a simple and actual reason. In case of contingency in Korean Peninsula, lawmakers in LDP predicted that Japan would send its force as an exercise of collective self-defense right. When the United Nations passes a resolution to approve military action there, Japanese troops theoretically has to retreat, because it cannot join that effort of collective security measure. If they actually wanted to exercise the right, they need to pave a way to remain the troops there. That was why they abruptly raised this issue.

For Komeito, the proposal was beyond something they could accept now. Even if its leadership had already determined to accept collective self-defense right, other lawmakers supported by Soka Gakkai, a religious group upholding pacifist principle, were firmly opposed the idea. Discussion between two leading parties might get into stalemate with the bold and coercive proposal.

It was obvious, however, that LDP was making sure to get support on collective self-defense from Komeito through bargaining with dismissing collective security measures later on. LDP leadership already indicated a possibility of backing off its proposal two days later.

What has to be noticed is that it is not whether collective self-defense or collective security measure, but whether the Japanese approve fundamental erosion of the Constitution. To enable exercise of collective self-defense right is not only making Japan a “ordinary” country, but bringing it back to pre-war state of it, namely under leadership of the Premier.

Unidentified Offense on Woman

News organization reported the story as sexual harassment in a forum of freedom of speech. One or plural male members of prefectural congress of Tokyo metropolitan district hurled offensive words to the podium where a young female member making a speech demand improvement in policy for women. After tremendous number of voices denouncing the male members appeared on her account of twitter, no one identified who said that.

Ayaka Shiomura, a member elected from Setagaya precinct, was in her question to Tokyo metropolitan government asking more support for women who have problem in her pregnancy and giving birth on Wednesday. When she said “It is important to support women who do not have someone to consult with,” one male member yelled “Isn’t it better for you to be married soon?” Another voice, unclear whether it was the same person or another, cast a humiliating words, “Can’t you give birth?” Tokyo Metropolitan Congress was embarrassingly degraded to a herd of barbarians.

Shiomura tweeted about her frustration against oppressive yells in the congress. “It was regretful yells to me. I would accept criticisms over policy, but that was something to be said to women with troubles,” she described. There came over twenty thousand retweets on her account, one of which indicated that would be a disciplinary action, if it had been done in a private corporation. Media reports followed the explosion of her twitter.

In this kind of case, there should be a witch hunting in Japanese society. “Who said that?” is the focus of this story now. However, not even the man has not stepped forward, no other colleagues, knowing who had been that, tried to identify him. Some suspect someone at a seat in the area of Liberal Democratic Party did that. Another dismissed it. Some female members demanded the chairman for measures to prevent that kind of offensive yells. The Communists denounced the yell as violation against human rights. There is a discussion of requiring voice printing for identification.

If democracy in Tokyo is alive, there should be someone identifying the suspect. Otherwise, Tokyo congress will be doubted as not respectful about women rights or freedom of speech. Some argue that it is not favorable for internationalization of Tokyo, which is elected to the host city of the Olympic Games six years later. “Those yells in congress contradicted the hospitality principle of Tokyo Olympic, Omotenashi. Is this city worthy for having the games?” a board member of Tokyo Education Committee, Hirotada Ototake, commented. But discrimination against women to some degree is common all over this nation.

Lastly, It’s Money

Minister of Environment, Nobuteru Ishihara, a son of ultra-conservative legislator and former Governor of Tokyo, came under fire of the opposite parties. He indicated reporters that money would be the key to the final solution of discussion over location of intermediate storage facility for nuclear debris produced by the accident of First Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant. It was recognized not only as his ordinary gaffe, but reflection of lack of seriousness Shinzo Abe administration should hold on reconstruction from the great earthquake three years ago.

Ishihara explained that he had meant that problems related to money, such as compensation or budget for building the facility, would be remained at the final part of discussion between the national government and sufferers in Fukushima area. He apologized of his expression he used which might hurt the sentiment of people in Fukushima. They had actually been disappointed to be seen as selling their hometown to the government.

Ishihara has been known as a man of loose tongue. Two years ago, he asserted that nuclear debris needed to be brought to the site of broken nuclear power plant, calling the site “satian,” which was the name of facilities where a cult group, Aum Shinrikyo, produced poisonous sarin gas.

Liberal Democratic Party harshly denounced Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, Yoshio Hachiro, when he joked to reporters that he would rub radioactive materials on his clothes after visiting Fukushima region. Ishihara demanded to make clear of responsibility of Prime Minister, Yoshihiko Noda, to have appointed Hachiro on that post. Now, Ishihara became a targeted minister who would not care about sentiment of sufferers.

It is undeniable that money will be the key to the solution. But the real problem was Ishihara’s expression reminded people all over Japan of government’s sober attitude to the sufferers. The government had tried to persuade people in condition with that the facility would be temporary one and permanent facility would be built in other place out of Fukushima. However, it had never guaranteed that with reliable scenario. People in Fukushima had been furious about that irresponsible attitude of the government.

It is unlikely that Ishihara will step down as the minister with the gaffe, simply because leading party can easily dismiss with their majority in both Houses. But his careless speech became a wake up call for Abe administration, which has not implemented its slogan of upholding reconstruction policy with the highest priority.

Draft of Cabinet Decision

National Security Council of Japan submitted a draft of cabinet decision on exercising collective self-defense right to the discussion between Liberal Democratic Party and New Komeito on Tuesday. In the session, NSC explained that it was going to include “collective self-defense right” as a concept of international law, not necessarily as a term of reinterpretation of the Constitution of Japan, in the decision. Komeito, highly reluctant to the reinterpretation, is considering the draft at internal discussion.

The draft was mainly constructed with three parts; A) response to aggression just before situation of military attack, or gray-zone situation, B) contribution to peace and security of world society including collective security measures by United Nations peace-keeping operation, and C) act of self-defense capable under Article IX of the Constitution. Response to gray-zone situation was focused on how to quicken it. In joining international security measures, the draft stressed that logistic support would be done out of combat zone.

The greatest talking point was how to describe reinterpretation of the Constitution. As LDP vice-president suggested, the draft limited exercise of collective self-defense to when there would be a concern of existence of state being threatened and overturning liberty, life and pursuit of happiness of the citizens. Skeptical about the expression of “concern,” Komeito just received the draft and put it on the discussion inside the party.

In the discussion, Abe administration again introduced another concept of distinction. To include “collective self-defense right” in the decision, the administration considered two concepts of collective self-defense right, one in international law and another in the context of constitutional reinterpretation. Not mentioning reinterpretation of the Article IX, the administration officials are thinking of noticing that new condition is regarded as exercising collective self-defense right in terms of international law. This is a new line to compensate Abe’s insistence on the phrase with negative opinions inside Komeito.

Although Shinzo Abe administration has been seeking to deliver the decision by the end of current session in the Diet next Sunday, it seems to be difficult to get conclusion how to settle the dispute over expression. Abe and LDP started to assume a possibility of casting final conclusion to next week. There is an optimistic view that cabinet decision should be done by Abe’s visit to Australia early July.

This discussion does not reflect fundamental significance on whether declining a norm on which Japanese pacifism has been standing. If the administration really wants to reinterpret the Constitution, it should not escape from discussion over disabling constitutional principle for peace.

New Three Conditions

Discussion over collective self-defense right between Liberal Democratic Party and New Komeito is now stuck in restrictive principles for exercising it. LDP presented new three conditions for using self-defense right, as a replacement for current three conditions. But what the administration is willing to do is not restrict Japan’s military activity, but expanding it.

Traditional three conditions to exercise self-defense right have been that A) there is a situation of immediate and unjust violation, B) there is no other appropriate measures against that, and C) it should be limited within minimum necessity. Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, and LDP are interpreting them as not dividing self-defense right between individual and collective. They are focusing on reinterpreting the Constitution as it is allowing exercising self-defense right, if it is limited for minimum necessity.

New three conditions are revising A) into “when there is a concern of threatening existence of our nation and fundamentally overturning rights on life, liberty and pursuit of happiness by occurring military attack on another country. No change would be added to B) and C). The Constitution of Japan does not allow use of force unless Japan is attacked. By replacing “situation” into “concern,” the government can arbitrarily wage a war, even an aggressive war, when it has that concern. This is a typical maneuver by bureaucracy.

New Komeito is no longer against allowing minimum exercise of collective self-defense right and require drawing a line of “overturning life, liberty and pursuit of happiness.” But it strongly opposed the expression of “concern” and demanded to include “situation of immediate and unjust violation.” Komeito is trying to get a breakthrough by having actual limitation as strict as current one, and by giving nominal achievement of unleashing “collective” self-defense right for Abe.

However, Abe’s fantasy goes to preemptive attack to other nations, whether or not Komeito realizes. He required LDP to discuss removing floating mines, namely in Hormuz Straint, to secure Japan’s crucial interest. If Japan removes them in wartime, it is recognized as an act of war in international laws. The country that laid mines will determine Japan’s action as preemptive attack against it. In contingency in Korean Peninsula, North Korea may recognize Japan’s action as a preemptive attack, when Japan support U.S. vessel carrying Japanese evacuees from the peninsula.

Necessity minimum is actually an imaginative concept, which does not exist at all in terms of collective self-defense right. Exercising collective self-defense needs to be approved as a whole, if they want to do it. As long as Abe is relying on bureaucracy in this issue, distorted interpretation of the Constitution and confusion will not be settled in Japan politics.

Unrealistic Evacuation Scenario

Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, insisted on necessity of protecting an American vessel carrying Japanese citizens evacuating from battle ground in his press conference for explaining his intention to make exercising collective self-defense right possible last month. According to a report of Asahi newspaper, the United States had dismissed to include operation of U.S. force to send Japanese citizen in a bilateral agreement. In what kind of case does Japanese force have to exercise its collective self-defense right?

Abe exhibited his strange idea about a case, in which Self-defense Force will need to protect a U.S. vessel. “Now, 1.5 million Japanese live in foreign country and 18 million people travel abroad a year. It might be possible that a conflict will abruptly be happening there. It might be possible that a U.S. vessel, which is an ally of Japan and capable enough to do, sending Japanese citizens escaping from the country will be attacked. Even in such a case, Self-defense Force cannot protect the vessel, if the Japanese are not attacked. This is a current interpretation of the Constitution,” told Abe.

Putting aside a question about when such a case will happen, Asahi raised an example in 1997 and 1998 when Japan and U.S. talked to review bilateral security guideline. Assuming contingency in Korean Peninsula, Japan requested to include non-combatant evacuation operation, in which U.S. Force carry Japanese evacuees as a return of Japan’s support to U.S., and U.S. accepted that. But in the process of legislation for contingency around Japan, that operation was dropped from the menu of U.S. support to Japan. Evacuation effort of U.S. is categorized into four objectives, U.S. citizen, permanent resident of U.S., U.K. citizen and others, and the Japanese was included in “others.”

The episode revealed U.S. reluctance in being involved in chores stemmed from requirement of alliance, which is not so crucial in actual contingency. Abe’s argument ignored a common notion that evacuation of citizens from foreign countries is a non-military matter of each nation. For that purpose, every country deploys consulate offices in every foreign country.

Still, Abe insisted on reinterpretation of the Constitution, saying that “I have a responsibility of securing life of citizens as a Prime Minister in every kind of cases.” Oh please don’t do such a thing, Mr. Prime Minister. If Japanese vessel of Marine Self-defense Force approaches to U.S. vessel, the enemy will realize that the U.S. vessel is carrying Japanese citizens. It puts Japanese lives in jeopardy, an effort which has nothing to do with your responsibility.

Divisive Growth Policy

“Work hard,” to employees, and “Be profitable,” to employers. Those were messages from Shinzo Abe administration. The government made a draft of Basic Plan for Economy Fiscal Policy and Reform, or “Thick Bone Plan,” which included deep cut in corporate income tax, eliminating payment for overtime work and maintenance of population. Although it may be welcomed by big companies and foreign corporation, the plan can introduce vertical division in Japanese society.

Abe announced on Friday that he would reduce actual corporate tax rate from current 35% to somewhere below 30% within a few years. His idea was reflected in the draft. By reducing corporate tax rate, the administration expected positive investment from overseas. The detailed plan for compensative revenue resource will be discussed by the end of this year, leaving the most difficult issue worried by Ministry of Finance.

The plan projected reforming wage system from time-based to result-based. Payment for workers in Japan has some regulation, which requires most employers to restraint weekly labor within forty hours and recommends them to finish daily labor within eight hours. Employers need to pay for additional labor based on time accumulation. The plan will urge employers to eliminate additional labor and to pay for achievement their workers make. With this new system, the administration expects setting favorable labor environment for foreign investors.

Population was also considered in the perspectives of economic growth. The draft set a goal to keep 100 million people in Japan a half century later. If birth rate remains current level, which is 1.43 kids for a woman in her lifetime, population of Japan in 2060 will be around 80 million, two thirds of current population. To raise birth late to 2.07 by 2030, the administration promotes more supports to families with little children and increasing nursery facilities for working mothers.

Response in foreign country was not bad. Wall Street Journal praised the draft as good in its editorial, saying “It’s a lesson that ought to be heard in Washington, where too many on the right and left to think high corporate tax rates are good politics.” Incentives to foreign investors should not be accused in overseas, anyway.

The point is whether the policy really works for Japanese economy. While big corporation enjoys preferable business environment, consumption has not recovered from long-time deflation. Real wage, considering high commodity price brought by consumption tax hike in April, declined by 3.1% from a year ago. One-sided stimulus policy still in a jeopardy of slump stemmed from imbalance in wealth distribution.

Referendum Act

The National Diet on Friday passed revised National Referendum Bill with multi-partisan support except Communists and Social Democrats. Although the Act had been unavailable because of some shortcomings in its provisions, the revised law enabled constitutional amendment with removal of contradictions. However, the revision was not legal adjustment, but a simple consensus of majority to make one step toward constitutional amendment.

The National Referendum Act was established in 2007 by first Shinzo Abe administration with brutal showdown by Liberal Democratic Party and New Komeito. But it had been recognized that the law was not available until “three projects” would be finished. They were A) concluding discussion over whether legal age and suffrage age should be lowered from twenty to eighteen as referendum age was determined to eighteen, B) to what extent campaign of public servants should be allowed, and C) whether referendum should be applied to other themes than constitutional amendment.

In the discussion at both Houses, referendum age would be lowered from twenty or older to eighteen or older four years after the law would be activated. Eight parties that submitted revised bill agreed on considering lowering suffrage age within two years. However, there is no guarantee for lowering legal full age. As the Constitution determines that “universal adult suffrage is guaranteed with regard to the election of public officials,” there may appear a contradiction when legal full age is twenty and suffrage age is eighteen.

In terms of campaign of public officials, the homework was not finished. Whether legal penalty would be applied to illegal campaign of public officials and whether local public officials should be treated as equal as national public officials was not concluded. Lawmakers saw no result in discussion over referendums in broad area. While there is an argument that national referendum is needed for resuming nuclear power generation, general referendum may erode significance of indirect democracy through elected representatives.

The revision of Referendum Law was also insufficient in the perspective of having no rule of lowest turnout for the referendum to be valid. There was an argument that constitutional amendment should not be made by only 10% or 20% of eligible voters.

The biggest reason why they passed bill was responsibility of lawmakers to fix problems of existing law. But as long as the law was made through irregular process, the needed to have discussed all things from the starting point, because there was no immediate necessity of the amendment.

On the Brink Again

Chinese fighter jet once again closely approached two aircrafts of Japanese Self-defense Force on Wednesday. Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs, Akitaka Saiki, called Chinese Ambassador to Japan, Cheng Yonghua, to his office and strictly opposed China’s intimidation and asked preventive measures for the future. China seems to be serious about controlling their newly set air defense identification zone over East China Sea, bringing more insecurity in this region.

According to news release by Ministry of Defense, a Chinese Su-27 fighter jet approached Japanese electronic measurement aircraft as close as one hundred feet and then reached Japanese graphic information collector aircraft to the distance of one hundred fifty feet. That was the second approach by Chinese fighter jet since late May. One government official told that it was a different Chinese pilot from whom Japanese Self-defense Force identified last month. Japanese government recognized Chinese consecutive intimidation as organized attempts to settle Chinese ADIZ with accomplished facts.

China contradicted to Japan this time, appealing that it had been Japanese aircraft which approached Chinese fighter jet. A spokesman of Chinese Defense Ministry announced that Chinese fighter jet was mobilized after Japanese two fighter jets reached Chinese Tu-154 so closely. The ministry uploaded video footage, showing Japanese jet flew along with Chinese jet.

Japanese officials got furious on those Chinese reactions. “There was no such fact as China asserted, and Japanese jet took certain distance from Chinese aircraft and flew stably,” told Japanese Defense Minister, Itsunori Onodera. An official of Defense Ministry argued that the video footage was not taken on Wednesday. But government of Japan has not released obvious evidence that denied Chinese assertion.

A spokeswoman of U.S. Department of State, Jen Psaki, accused China, saying “Any attempt to interfere with freedom of overflight in international airspace raises regional tensions and increases the risk of miscalculation, confrontation and unintended incidents.” She raised necessity to set a norm for emergency management in the region. However, negotiation to lay out a mechanism of marine communication has been interrupted since April last year. As long as China is reluctant to resume the talk, similar incidents can be repeated. China needs to be careful about warning messages delivered from both Japan and United States.