Category: Japan

Koizumi’s Fiscal Kabuki

Okay, okay. I was just kidding about the kabuki bit in the subject line.

But listen:

One of the news stories currently making the rounds is a proposal by the LDP Fiscal Reform Study Group to hike consumption taxes from the current 5 per cent level to somewhere between 10 to 15 per cent. Increased revenues would then be used to pay for governmental expenditures on welfare, specifically public pension and insurance programs.

Now, Koizumi has said on numerous occasions that he would not increase the consumption tax during his tenure (which ends next September), but following the announcement by the study group did acknowledge the necessity of doing so (after he leaves office, of course). So, here we have the Prime Minister and his party saying that a tax hike is unavoidable sometime in the near future, but they’re not gonna do it just yet.

Of course, we didn’t hear much talk about raising taxes from the LDP before September’s general election. In fact, if I recall correctly, about the only thing we did hear was Koizumi saying that he wouldn’t raise the consumption tax while he was in office. The DPJ, on the other hand, included in their Manifesto a proposal to raise the consumption tax to 8%. And what were they going to do with this windfall inflow? Why, pay for governmental expenditures on welfare, of course.

And what is the LDP reaction to this attempt to steal their thunder on even an unpopular issue such as tax hikes? Criticize them for not going far enough.

From the Japan Times:

“I am not sure that the DPJ plan is enough,” Koizumi said. “There will certainly be calls for tax revenues to cover not only pension programs but also medical and nursing programs.”

The man talks a great game: he speaks to the public about the necessity of making tough decisions, makes the DPJ look like the protectors of the status quo in the process, but refuses to take action himself. Meanwhile, the DPJ gets clock cleaned and its initiative stolen.

What’s wrong with Climate-Controlled Biz?

As if Cool Biz weren’t aggravating enough, the Diet and administrative agencies are now getting ready for Stage 2: Warm Biz. Instead of turning down the air conditioning during the hottest months of summer, they want to turn down the heating during the coldest months of winter. So instead of seeing Diet speeches given in button-down shirts with the sleeves rolled up, Sankei indicates we might see Diet speeches given in overcoats and mufflers.

The culprit appears to be Environment Minister Yuriko Koike, mistressmind behind the Cool Biz program, who apparently believes that air conditioning is going to lead to the end of the world as we know it. Compare Joi Ito’s comment on Cool Biz: “For some reason this kind of suffering feels very Japanese and annoying. There is something very ceremonial and inefficient about it.”

Maybe Warm Biz won’t be as bad, though. Wintertime street clothes would work just fine in a Warm Biz building: if you have to go into a heated building, just take your coat off. Still, it seems like a rather inadequate benefit for such a cost in discomfort.

Asahi has an idea for letting the immigrants in

Bye guys! Don't come back now!

Page 11 of the Oct 21 Asahi Shimbun carried an editorial signed “H” in its “Keizai Kishodai” (Economic Observatory) Column..

The piece promotes a solution for the predicted work shortage in Japan: If putting women and the elderly to work isn’t enough, and Japan won’t accept foreign workers to take the good jobs, then they should push women into the work force and import CAREGIVERS and MAIDS to take care of the chores while they are away. Hong Kong and Singapore are already doing this apparently, so why not Japan?

Sounds like a plan! I don’t know why I haven’t seen this argument before. This seems like a very realistic proposition. I mean, caring for the elderly may be a pretty sensitive issue (it’s taboo even for a daughter-in-law to take care of her husband’s parents), but babysitters and housekeepers might be a different story.

The only coverage of this I could find on Literati (CORRECTION: TECHNOrati) was a Japanese-Chinese translation blog… Interesting if you’re studying both languages I suppose…

Koizumi takes a moment to ponder (taking magic mushrooms)

The shrooms have made Koizumi believe he can read the minds... of dead people

Last week’s Koizumi mail magazine started out like this:

[Lion Heart — Message from Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi]
(Provisional Translation)

Autumn at the Prime Minister’s Office

Junichiro Koizumi here.

Yesterday morning, a clear and crisp autumn day, I was taking my usual walk from my official residence to my office when I spotted mushrooms amongst the shrubbery in front of my residence. Looking closer, I found an assortment of mushrooms scattered about, whose varieties ranged from large-capped mushrooms to small mushrooms that were nearly hidden by the shadows of the weeds. I am eager to look them up to learn whether they are edible.

A poignant moment of reflection for the PM right before his dream of postal privatization is about to be realized, right?

Well, thankfully for Koizumi he didn’t have to take time out of his busy schedule to look up what kind of mushrooms those were. According to Super News (anchored by the stunningly intense Yuko Ando — check out her awesome Fashion Calendar!), the mushrooms growing outside the Prime Minister’s official residence are actually hallucinogenic drugs that were legal in Japan until 2001 or so!

On a completely unrelated note, a friend of mine has pointed me in the direction of FNN (English explanations, Japanese videos [wtf??]), Fuji TV’s online video news site. This is the only site of its kind I have seen that offers high quality video that you can actually pause and let load so it doesn’t stop in the middle.

Japan’s own FedEx, continuing the airspace oligarchy

Japan Post is starting an international air cargo company with ANA. That this can happen at all is pretty cool. Pre-Koizumi Japan Post couldn’t enter business deals like this one. For that matter, pre-1980’s ANA basically couldn’t do anything without a government green light (back in the day, JAL had a monopoly on international air travel, JAL and ANA split big-city domestic routes, and ANA and JAS split small-city routes). Now, the two are collaborating to make an East Asian FedEx.

One thing that bugs me, though, is that Japan basically has just two airlines, plus a tiny third guy named Skymark. Almost every commercial airline flight in Japan is ticketed by JAL or ANA, except for a couple of propeller plane flights to minor islands. You’d think that Japan could support some more companies in this area, given that it has a ton of money (recession be damned) and a population that loves to travel.
Continue reading Japan’s own FedEx, continuing the airspace oligarchy

Wasting one of the world’s highest literacy rates?

In case the original book wasn’t mindnumbingly simple enough for you, it seems that a manga version of Kanehara Hitomi’s Hebi ni Piasu has been released.

Hebi Manga

I know that this book received tons of attention in Japan when it, along with Wataya Risa’s Keritai Senaka was awarded the prestigious Akutagawa Prize in early 2004, but after reading it in Bungei Shunju that March, my initial impresison was (and for the most part still is): publicity stunt.

Reading this recent post over at Japundit hasn’t given me cause for greater optimism. I know we’re admonished not to judge a book by it’s cover, but when a 13 year old kid wins a national literary award for a work called Kono Misteri ga sugoi, it’s time to start asking questions about the national intelligence quotient.

I think it is a wonderful idea to encourage the budding literary talents of Japanese youth, but are you telling me that the best Japan has to offer is in the first grade? At least one person seems to think so. The post links to a Yomiuri story (Aptly titled “Teen writers steal spotlight / Veterans worried publishers putting businessbefore talent”) has Shinji Inagaki, chief editor of Shogakukan’s literature section saying this:

“Young people in their teens and 20s, who have been said to be aliterate, are actually quite adept at reading and writing text messages on their cell phone. Their desire for creativity is strong,” he said.

Text messaging = creative drive???!!!

Fortunately, not everyone in the entire Japanese population appears quite so deluded as suggested by the article’s mention of declining sales figures. Let’s hope this trend, like most others in Japan, is short lived.

Nobody saw this one coming (UPDATED 10/21/05)

Update: I was obviously kidding about the comment below that, “all Chinese and Koreans should at all times maintain attitudes of extreme outrage towards the past aggressions of the Japanese and express these attitudes verbally, physically, and if possible even through pantomime.”

However, I attended a meeting a few days ago in which a Chinese academic suggested that Japan should, “always show sincere repentence voulnatily, without a time frame.” You could almost smell the smoke rising from the ears of some of the Japanese in the room.

Content from one of three links in MOFA’s latest e-newsletter:

Visit to China by Mr. MACHIMURA Nobutaka, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan

October 18, 2005

With regard to Minister MACHIMURA’s visit to China, a minister in the Embassy of Japan in China was contacted by the Deputy Director-General of the Department of Asian Affairs in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China in the afternoon on 18th October, and the Chinese side informed the Japanese side that it is difficult to receive Minister MACHIMURA in China under the current situation, as the atmosphere is not favorable.

(END)

And since Joe’s last post on Koizumi’s Yasukuni visit attracted so much attention in the comments section, let me just say that I think all Japanese should visit Yasukuni at least three times daily, every single day of the year! And, all Chinese and Koreans should at all times maintain attitudes of extreme outrage towards the past aggressions of the Japanese and express these attitudes verbally, physically, and if possible even through pantomime! And, Rummy should skip Japan on every visit to Asia! And, God doesn’t exist, the death penalty rocks, all abortion should be illegal, and your parents lied to you about Santa.

Frogstyle


I’ve had one of these hanging on my keychain for over three months now, but most of the green paint has been scratched off mine.

What is Frogstyle?
To people searching for happiness, to people feeling down, to people lacking something, frogs bearing a message for those sorts of people, that is FROG STYLE (furoggu sutairu). FROG STYLE has plenty of friends. When you see one on the street, please try getting a warm message from the frogs. Maybe, just maybe it will cheer you up!

Origin:
Once upon a time, the frog progenitor, the -ANCESTOR FROG- came from across the sea. (There are various stories, such as that he accidentally got stuck in ‘bottle mail’ and drifted across the waves.) Thereafter, FROG has been thriving all over the world. So far, 16 varieties have been identified. However, new types are continually being discovered. (From the book “Frog Life” by Frog researcher Kero Kaeruda)

Bandai’s Frogstyle screensaver is now the official screensaver of Mutantfrog.com.

Mac version here.

Yasukuni revisited

We kind of knew it was coming: Koizumi went again. Protests broke out in Beijing and Hong Kong. Best dismissal EVER:

Koizumi told reporters in Tokyo that he made his visit as a private citizen and not in an official capacity, saying that “China and South Korea will eventually understand.”

The angry reactions in China and Korea are covered in more depth in AFP’s article.

UPDATE: Another great Koizumi jab: “In principle other people should not meddle with matters of the heart… much more, foreign governments should not say ‘you should not’ when the Japanese are offering sincere condolences to the war dead from Japan and other parts of the world.”