East Asian Security Research Council reports in June issue of Sekai.
Key premiss : recent deployment of PAC3 systems in response to North Korean missile threat (intelligence info about which was supplied to Japanese gov’t in first instance by US Satellite Early Warning Centre) was an act of public misdirection with regard to the true nature of the threat and bluster with regard to the effectiveness of the US-designed trillion dollar Patriot Missile Defense System. Keep reading →
[ Asahi Shinbun : 23rd June, morning edition ]
Saitama Police have revealed that a 46 year-old man taken in dead drunk at around 2:20am on 19th June, later set fire to his shirt (after taking it off) using a lighter he had on him. Thanks to surveillance cameras the fire was promptly extinguished; the man claimed that he had set the fire because it was ‘cold’. As there was no damage to the building, the man was released and allowed to return home the same day.
According to the police, when he was taken into custody, the man’s belt was removed for safety reasons, but officers did not notice that he had a lighter on his person. A directive has been issued to all 39 police stations in the prefecture to conduct thorough body checks on all individuals taken into custody.
[ Trans. note : Saitama prefecture has been in the news almost continuously for the past few years with seemingly endless violent crimes. No-one who believes what they read in the newspapers would willingly move to Saitama, such is the apparent level of crime there. ]
[ Asahi Shinbun, 22nd June '09 ]
A nationwide survey of the opinions of business owners/managers re: the local economic situation in the regions has revealed that over 70% believe local business conditions are getting worse. This is a considerably worse result than for a similar survey conducted at the same time with 100 top companies. It would seem feeling in the regions is that government talk of things having got as ‘bad as they are going to’ may be a little presumptuous. Keep reading →
[ Sekai : July 2009 / Tatsuhito Tonooka / unlicensed and abridged translation/summary ]
Initial alerts by WHO were ambiguous : a level 3 alert was called at first, but this is supposed to indicate the spread of a disease among animal populations with insufficient evidence to suggest human-human contagion; perhaps the WHO were afraid of causing panic? It seems that a version of pig influenza had been documented in America for some years prior to this new-type being identified – but it had not shown a capacity for jumping the animal-human barrier. That original type was a combination of pig, chicken and human influenza viri; the new-type pig influenza that has been making the headlines since early May this year has been influenced by the Eurasian pig influenza virus. Keep reading →
In Shinagawa prefecture, 22 students at Kanda prefectural High School failed on the basis of criteria not stipulated in official guidelines – hair colour, length of skirt, etc. – had their case brought before the Prefectural Board of Education. The board announced on 17th June that four of the students had agreed to accept a total of 8.56 million yen as an ‘apology’ payment. The proposal will be put before an open session of the Prefectural Parliament on 19th June.
According to a source on the Board of Education in Shinagawa, in 2005, 2006 and 2008, on the instructions of the headmaster at the time, teachers checked hair colour, piercings and skirt lengths on ‘application’ or ‘test’ days. The 22 students would have passed satisfactorily had it not been for these checks on student appearance. According to official prefectural guidelines for success criteria in schools, questionnaires, interviews and aptitude tests may be used as the basis for student scores/grades, but no guidelines exist for failing students on the basis of appearance or uniform/clothing.
The inappropriate failing of the students came to the surface in October last year. A lawyer consulted on the matter was quoted as saying “this completely inappropriate judgement caused psychological trauma” for the students. At that time, moves by the Board of Education were begun to apologize to the students concerned and negotiations over financial compensation began in March of this year.
The ‘reconciliation’ payment agreed in the case amount to between 1.9 and 2.41 million yen per student involved. In addition to ‘apology’ payments, some students received compensation to balance the costs of transferring to private schools after their experience.
The Board of Education’s negotiations with the remaining 18 students are continuing, though some parents are reported to have said ‘it’s not about the money’ and to be hardening their positions. The Board of Education Planning Committee have commented that “A terrible wrong has been done to the victims. We want to continue our negotiations in a sincere fashion that will reflect this fact.”
It has been understood from sources within the trial system that the first criminal trial to feature ordinary citizens taking part in deliberations is expected to open in early August this year; the case is that of a murder in May this year in Tokyo’s Adachi ward. There are currently around 80 cases on trial which fall into the new jury trial system, but judging by the pre-trial build-up there is a high chance of this case being the one to attract most public attention. Keep reading →
The Asahi Shinbun reports today that, according to consumer finance body Shinsei Financial’s “2009 Salaryman Pocket Money Survey”, company workers have on average a quarter of the ready cash they enjoyed during the bubble period. Male company workers’ pocket money has decreased by 700 yen since last year to 45, 600 yen. This represents a 40% cut from a peak of 76,000 yen in 1990. The current economic crisis is also affecting the extremity of the situation.
While 74% of workers report ‘no change’ in the last year, 18% claim their ready cash has decreased and 8% say the situation has improved.
When asked what they have cut to compensate for their tighter financial situation, 43% of respondents put ‘eating out’ first, 39% ‘leisure’. 9% of workers report that their companies now ask them to bring their own lunch-boxes to work. Apart from lunch-boxes, workers spend on average 590 yen a day on food at midday, the third consecutive year that lunch-time expenses have hovered in the 500 yen bracket.
The survey was conducted in April this year with a sample of 500 male company workers aged 20-50.
[ cultural note : in Japan, it is customary for wives to control household finances and for working husbands to receive an allowance each month for their private purposes. It is this 'allowance' that has been translated as 'pocket money'. The same word is used in Japanese for the money that children receive from their parents each week or month to save or buy sweets, toys, comic books, etc.. ]
[ report in Asahi Shinbun 9th June 2009 3:01am ]
A number of people seeking government recognition as official victims of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings have had their status recognized by the Osaka High Court in a second ruling after appeal. This is the 10th case the government has lost since May 2006. Keep reading →
The UK investment fund TCI (The Children’s Investment Fund) held a meeting in Tokyo for J-Power shareholders to seek support for TCI proposals with regard to dividend payments and other matters. TCI is now the largest shareholder in major Japanese electricity producer J-Power and are seeking to gain support from other investors before the general shareholder’s meeting to be held in June. It is considered an unusual step in Japan.
About 20 shareholders were present at the meeting and TCI Asia representative Mr. John Ho was pushing the line that “this is not a matter of one side winning or losing, but of us as shareholders sending the very important message that we need suitable compensation for our investments.
Asked by a shareholder whether TCI intends “to hold J-Power shares over the long-term”, Mr. Ho replied that “if management adopts a suitable dividend policy, we will make a public promise to hold our shares over the long term.”
Yamasaki Taku, chairman of the LDP’s Diplomatic Research Committee, remarked in a debate in Tokyo on 25th May [2008] that “people are saying that extending the Iraq Special Measures Law will be difficult, and I agree with them completely”. The Iraq Special Measures Law, originally passed under PM Koizumi, is the legal basis for Japan mobilising the SDF beyond Japanese territory to Iraq in support of American forces there. It will be up for extension in June of next year [2009]. Mr. Yamasaki, in response to questions at a press conference after the debate, commented that “If you consider the situation in the Diet until June next year, the extension of the Law is extremely problematic.”
The government and ruling party are planning to seek an extension, during a special Diet session in the Autumn this year, to the Re-fuelling Support Special Measures Law – up for re-approval in January 2009 – which allows SDF ships to support re-fuelling of US ships in the Indian Ocean.
Sekai published an article last month, a translation of “Why the United States really has gone broke” by Chalmers Johnson. Included is this table ranking countries by the amount of money they spend on their military forces.
| 1 | USA | $623 billion | 2008 Budget |
| 2 | China | $65 billion | 2004 |
| 3 | Russia | $50 billion | |
| 4 | France | $45 billion | 2005 |
| 5 | Japan | $41.75 billion | 2007 |
| 6 | Germany | $35.1 billion | 2003 |
| 7 | Italy | $28.2 billion | 2003 |
| 8 | Korea | $21.1 billion | 2003 |
| 9 | India | $19 billion | 2005 estimate |
| 10 | Saudi Arabia | $18 billion | 2005 estimate |
METI (Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry) and the Finance Ministry of Japan will make an official decision by 11th April to ‘advise’ a British investment fund to modify or desist from its investment plans as announced in its application to increase its stock holdings in Japanese electricity-producing giant J-Power as “There is a risk that this [an increase in foreign ownership of J-Power stocks] will prevent the maintenance of order in the public sphere”. Keep reading →
The Asahi Shinbun reports today that a grade 1 Lieutenant at the Defence Ministry’s Information HQ is to be charged on suspicion of breaking the SDF Law (Disclosure of Defence Secrets) over an article published in the Yomiuri Newspaper in 2005 about a Chinese submarine drifting powerless in the South China sea after an accident. Keep reading →
All Nippon Airways (ANA) is to seek compensation from American aircraft manufacture Boeing over the late delivery of new 787 passenger aircraft, which has forced the company to change its plans and projections, reports the Asahi Shinbun today. The exact amount of compensation to be sought will be given careful consideration when the planes have actually been delivered. Other companies are also said to be seeking compensation from Boeing over delays with the 787, and, depending on the amounts sought, this may have an effect on the management of the company.
The 787s were due for delivery in May 2008, but it is now expected that they will be about a year late. As a result, ANA is predicting losses associated with having to use older aircraft with poorer fuel efficiency and the consequent delays to the adoption of new flight paths.
An independent survey by the Labour Policy Research and Training Council has revealed that nearly 90% of people in Japan still support the idea of life-time employment. Keep reading →
On 23rd March, Japanese Finance Minister Nukaga exchanged opinions with his Chinese counterpart Hsiei at a meeting in Tokyo organized by the Sino-Japanese Finance Authority’s Executive board. Keep reading →
According to a survey into Corporate optimism, the results of which were released by the Finance Ministry and Cabinet Office today, the business outlook index (the rate for ‘pessimistic’ subtracted from the rate for ‘optimistic’) for the first 3 months of 2008 stands at -9.3%. Keep reading →
The Asahi Shinbun reports today on the effects on the climate of Tokyo of population density/global warming. At peak times, electricity consumption in the Tokyo area is greater than that of the entire UK or France. Keep reading →
The Asahi Shinbun reports today PM Fukuda’s comments to journalists this morning that, in the light of the string of recent scandals and blunders in which 88 people have been charged, “We have to reflect deeply on this. Incidents involving senior officials, leaks of sensitive information from the Defense Ministry, there are various problems here. To ensure such things do not happen again we will restructure these organizations. The whole government must contribute to the debate in the Committee for Defense Ministry Reform and create a new structure for the Ministry and for the Self Defense Forces.
DPJ Policy Chairman for the next Diet, Ken Yamaoka, commented in the Diet on 21st March that Masaaki Shirakawa, who was in attendance to mark his inauguration as Acting Governor, had the full support of the DPJ. The DPJ’s rejection of PM Fukuda’s choice of Toshiro Mutou for BoJ Governor has meant that the post is currently empty after former Governor Toshihiko Fukui stepped down on 19th March.
Mr. Shirakawa made no direct reponse, commenting only that he was proceeding with the process of taking up the position of Acting Governor, to which Mr. Yamaoka replied, “Why don’t you drop the ‘acting’ and become Governor yourself? There’s no need to hold back”. Mr. Shirakawa responded, tight-lipped, that “the selection of personnel is the job of government…”.
In the continuing review of the government policy relating to the acknowledgement of and compensation for the effects of radiation-related illness (from Hiroshima and Nagasaki), the “LDP Atomic Bomb Victims’ Policy-related Project Team” petitioned the Labour, Health and Welfare Ministry on 15th March and received its agreement that the new assessment (of victims) policy to be introduced from April should be based on the principle of helping Atomic Bomb Victims. Keep reading →
Pfizer Japan has requested all employees to refrain from smoking, not just in company offices and property, but even in their own homes. The company is offering to make contributions to any medical expenses that employees may incur in their effort to give up smoking. Behind this decision stands Pfizer Japan’s plan to release, within the year in Japan, a ‘no-smoking supplement’ which claims to remove the desire to light up.
Company President Hiromitsu Iwasaki explains that “as a company we are aiming to make some contribution to people’s health, and we are also implementing this policy from the point of view of increasing employee productivity.”
The Asahi Shinbun does not describe the situation in so many words, but explains that the Ministry for Social Welfare announced today the results of its work to clarify the status of over 50 million ‘floating in the ether’ pension records. Keep reading →
The dollar fell to ¥99.77 as the ‘Strong Yen, Weak Dollar’ phenomenon continued, breaking the ¥100 line for the first time since November 1995, reports the Asahi Shinbun today. Keep reading →
Mikio Katayama, President of Sharp, revealed in an interview with the Asahi Shinbun on 13th March that the company intends to begin sales of its flagship line of ‘Aquos Mobile’ phones in China by the summer of this year. Keep reading →
According to the spot report on GDP released by the Japanese Finance Ministry on 12th March, the current account balance has gone 8.1% further into the black compared to January 2007, rising to ¥1,235,800,000,000. Keep reading →
