Serious Economic Decline in the Provinces

I recently had a conversation with a person I'll call O-san, an executive of a small ironworks operation in the Tohoku region. He spoke frankly about his predicament:

"There's no work now. We haven't had any orders since last September. I've asked the city and the prefecture for financial help. We borrowed 1 million yen from city hall. But the prefecture responded harshly. We received some financing from them, but they were quick to insist on repayment. They wouldn't wait. The city was willing to wait six months for repayment, but we're cornered. It's either closing down or filing for bankruptcy for us. I've been growing a few vegetables on a small plot of land and planting rice there, but you need money to get started in farming. We've been eating the food we grow on our land. We're practicing self-sufficiency."

As I listened to O-san talk, I kept thinking that there's nothing I could say to bring him comfort. I felt that anything I could come up with would sound empty, so I just kept listening. When he finished talking, I said, "All you can do is endure it."

"That's right. I'll endure it," came his reply.

The impoverishment of the Japanese is spreading rapidly. The money is not flowing, and that is a frightening concept. Poverty has become a serious issue. The truth is we're broke.
There are many reasons for the public to not support Prime Minister Taro Aso or opposition leader Ichiro Ozawa, but one of the biggest reasons is that both of them -- and many other politicians -- refuse to comprehend the poverty out there. They haven't come up with adequate solutions for stemming the recession, which is the reason for the poverty.

An old joke relates how someone talking to a person of responsibility and stature said, "The people are in such bad shape that many of them don't even have bread to eat." The person of stature replied, "So let them eat cake." Unfortunately, this is no joke in Japan today. The Japanese populace is in despair because the politicians don't have a clue about their predicament.

Ozawa, Aso See Support Shrivel

After the indictment of Ichiro Ozawa's top aide in a bribery scandal Tuesday, support for Ozawa has sunk so low that he would gladly swap approval ratings with former US President George W. Bush. Yet despite his fall from grace, he still edges out Prime Minister Taro Aso. A poll by the Yomiuri Shimbun that came out before Ozawa's aide was indicted had 3.5% of respondents replying that Aso was a suitable candidate for prime minister while 6% said that of Ozawa.

The Washington Post and Bloomberg checked in with Morita-san this week to get his take on Ozawa's fall. To paraphrase, Morita says that while the Japanese people feel despair and hopelessness at their political choices, the Democrats are not likely to stick with Ozawa for long.

For the next couple of weeks, leaders within the Democratic Party of Japan will be jostling for position and a chance to become the next prime minister.

Iwakuni's Turn to Suffer

Japan Focus has translated a story from the Chugoku Shimbun on what it's like to live with the US military. As the troops in Atsugi are shifted to Iwakuni, residents in Atsugi breathe a sigh of relief. It's now Iwakuni's turn to bear the brunt of misguided US policy thanks to a Japanese government unable to say no.

When It Rains ... Blatant Anti-Semitism on Japanese TV

This one isn't even debatable: Atsuyuki Sasa, former chief of Japan's National Security Council, blames the financial scandals in the US on the "Jews" during a Saturday morning program. Here's a translation courtesy of a source at the Wiesenthal Center (Japanese speakers, watch the video for yourself. It's irrefutable.):

「ひどい事をしているのはユダヤ人ですよ」 (Hidoi koto wo shite iru no wa yudayajin desu yo It is the Jews who are doing these awful things).

The TV host apologizes for the comments, but Mr Sasa counters:

「いつでも受けて立ち ますよ」(Itsu demo uketachimasu yo. I'll stand by my statement at any time).

Tahara and the Jewish Conspiracy: You Decide

If you speak Japanaese and you have been wondering if TV anchor Soichiro Tahara really did attribute the downfall of Makiko Tanaka and Ichiro Ozawa to the "yudaya,"or Jews, watch the video for yourself and let us know what you think.

Aso's Economic Policies Trail the G-20's

It's a shame, but the rest of the world looks at the current Japanese government and sees a dismal bunch. The "anti-recessionary measures" these politicians talk about are just words with nothing to accompany them. The March 11 edition of Newsweek Japan ran an article entitled "The World is Amazed" that focused on the sorry state of Japanese politics. This is truly miserable. I've been getting a lot of requests for interviews with foreign journalists, but they're all asking the same thing: "Is Japan really OK?" I can't really answer, "No, it's not OK," so I say something like, "We have to do something. Japan will rise again." It pains me to speak this way. I'm beginning to worry that Japan will trigger a global crisis at the rate that it's going.

On March 14, the finance ministers and central bankers from the Group of 20 industrialized countries gathered in London. Just before the meeting, Finance Minister Kaoru Yosano announced a turning point in Japan's economic policy, but all it amounted to was some increased public spending that had been requested by the American government. Without a request from the Americans, the Japanese government wouldn't have made the change. That's the miserable situation were in. Yet moving toward a policy of more public spending is a good thing. Despite the route taken, the result is good.

There were reports about the US and the Europeans being unable to resolve their differences at the G-20, but the mutual agreement that came out of the meeting put the group ahead of Japan on the path to recovery. Japan should have used the leverage provided by the G-20 agreement to unveil some aggressive anti-recessionary policies. The government should project an attitude that says, "We'll do whatever it takes."

The G-20 statement says that the countries will take action until the world economy starts to recover. The countries pledged to make sure banks are lending again. They said a financial expansion that promotes growth and employment will be treated with the utmost care and urgency. The Japanese government should faithfully execute this sort of action plan.

Tahara Denies Saying 'Jews' behind Ozawa's Troubles

Did he or didn't he? TV Asahi anchorman Soichiro Tahara is saying he never said that the "Jews" were behind the downfall of former Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka and more recently opposition leader Ichiro Ozawa's aide. TV Asahi officials even made a trip to the Israeli embassy, says a source in Tokyo, and aired the program for officials there, explaining that Tahara had said, "yuzai" (guilty) not "yudaya" (Jewish). It seems the Simon Weisenthal Center has backed down for the time being.

Yet people I checked with who have seen the show say there is no mistaking that Tahara said "yudaya" when talking about how Ms. Tanaka fell from grace. Even in the context of the conversation, transcribed for me by a friend in Tokyo, the word "yuzai" makes no sense:

"Amerika to (yuzai/yudayajin) ni yarareta." Tanaka was done in by the Americans and the ... guilt? I don't think so.

Will this just blow over and Tahara dodge another bullet? Looks like it.