The Diet Has Work to Do

First on the list: take measure of the tsunami prevention bills shelved since last year and supported by lawmakers in the LDP and New Komeito


"Don't hesitate to correct errors." -- Confucius


How many lawmakers who refused to endorse the tsunami prevention bills tabled since last year paused to reflect on their actions once they saw the vast tragedy of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami? Many lawmakers didn't listen to Diet member Toshihiro Nikai's plea that "we should act quickly on these tsunami bills." But if any are feeling embarrassment or remorse for ignoring his plea, these are honorable politicians.

Supporters of the bill were Nikai (the former minister of trade and industry) and other members of the Liberal Democratic Party and the New Komeito Party. Nikai is an expert on crisis management, considered the top authority on the subject in the political world. He is second to none in his knowledge of disasters, earthquakes and crisis management. He has also studied tsunamis. For a long time, he has been preaching the necessity of the tsunami prevention bills.

There is no "if" in politics, but when the bills were introduced last year, if the Democratic Party of Japan had understood the need for them, they most likely would have passed and the laws would have been part of current policy toward the giant tsunami.

But we can't change the past. There's no use worrying about what might have been. It's still not too late for these bills. To bring Nikai's legislation back to life, the ruling and opposition parties need to hold a joint conference right away.

Finally, I have some harsh words for the government and the ruling party. The Kan Cabinet is using this moment to realize its DPJ manifesto, This is no time for foolishness. Put all your energy into crisis management.

Kan DPJ's 'Everyone for Themselves' System Threatens to Further Isolate Japan on Global Stage

As problem is aggravated, Japan may never regain its stature; DPJ members, this is no time to be asleep — we need action!

The "everyone for themselves" ethos of Japanese politics is gnawing away at the country. All sorts of evils spring from this same source.

I am sincerely anxious that most of the legislators on the Democratic Party of Japan have lost that sense of what it means to be a politician. From my vantage point, Prime Minister Naoto Kan seems only concerned with defending his own territory. Chief Secretary Katsuya Okada and Kan are cut from the same cloth, acting only in the interest of preserving their positions. The same goes for former Foreign Minister Maehara, Chief Cabinet Secretary Edano, Economics Minister Yosano and the other Cabinet members. They look as if they only care about protecting their own turf. I can't help but think that their spirits have been worn down by the "everyone for themselves" mentality that permeates the Kan administration.

The DPJ as a whole seems to have no vision for the future and no strategy. They just try to prolong their political lives by dodging the dissolution of the Diet and general elections. It's a serious problem.

Now that the budget bills have passed the lower house, the DPJ lawmakers should rise to the challenge. They should hold a joint plenary meeting of both houses of the Diet and decide whether the Cabinet should resign en masse or a general election should be called. To prolong things with no vision and no strategy is the worst option.

The confusion surrounding the Tokyo gubernatorial election stems from an "everyone for themselves" attitude that begins with current Governor Shintaro Ishihara. The chaos surrounding that election is caused by just about every candidate being consumed by a desire to put themselves ahead of the crowd.

Finance Ministry, BOJ Plans to Shrink Economy Loom Large

If the populace doesn't wake up to this threat, Japan's future is in danger. The next worry is that they'll use the excuse of suddenly rising food prices to hike interest rates. It's quite likely that the small companies and mom-and-pop shops suffering under the deflationary spiral will suffer more when rates are hiked. The Finance Ministry and the central bank are walking Japan to the brink.

Japan is trapped in a deflationary spiral that has left many of our fellow Japanese without jobs or struggling to stay afloat. Small businesses and mom-and-pop shops are struggling with finances every day and looking bankruptcy in the eye.

However, the government, the Finance Ministry and the Bank of Japan ignore the lives of the Japanese people and worry only about finances. The central bank gives no thought to the welfare of the people and leaves the country on a deflationary course. The central bank ignores the importance of employment.

While all of Japan suffers from deflation, the rest of the world is being hit by rising food prices. Countries are moving to control the price hikes. In the midst of this, there's a danger that Japan will raise interest rates. If the Bank of Japan does this, it's going to unleash some major problems. Small companies and mom-and-pop shops will be trapped in a nightmare if some prices start to creep up while their businesses are trapped in a deflationary depression. The government needs to execute policies that counter rampant deflation. If Japan can't overcome the deflationary depression, it has no future.

Faulty Logic

Prime Minister Kan and Economic Minister Yosano say a hike in the consumption tax will be coupled by a re-examination of the social security system and tax code. They're trying to slip by with faulty logic. This sort of obvious hoodwinking of the populace is not a proper use of government authority. They should know that this insensitive major tax hike in the middle of a deflationary spiral will bring Japan's economy and its people to their knees.

Prime Minister Kan is ruled by the principle that fiscal reconstruction reigns supreme. No matter what, he's scheming to raise the consumption tax, appointing one of the Economic Ministry's minions, Kaoru Yosano, as minister for fiscal affairs, and bulling ahead with this major tax hike.

To make this happen, he has been fudging on two points:

First, while his true aim is to execute a huge tax hike, he refers to it as a "social security" issue. A debate on social security helps to mask his plans for a major tax hike.

Another smoke screen he sets up is that while the deflationary spiral is the most pressing issue the nation needs to overcome, he maintains that the most pressing concerns are fiscal reconstruction and social welfare. He should know that a major tax hike in the middle of a deflationary recession will bring the economy to its knees.

Kan and Yosano are blurring reality in these two ways. The national media in Tokyo have been furthering their cause. The mass media is helping to plant these faulty seeds in the minds of the populace. It's a dangerous ploy. The Japanese government should be focused on escaping the deflationary spiral and building up the economy and employment. It needs to find jobs for its people. To do this, it should be aggressively pursuing public-works projects.

I Protest Premier Kan's Declaration of Slavish Loyalty to the US

His foreign affairs speech on Jan. 20 was a declaration of subjugation; if he is going to turn his back on his party's manifesto from the last election, he should step down and hold another vote

Prime Minister Naoto Kan's foreign affairs speech on Jan. 20 in which he pledged loyalty to the US was a declaration of subjugation. There has never been a more disgraceful speech in Japan's history. It's as if Kan is asking the U.S. to save his faltering government. We didn't hear one sliver of a sense of independence or pride from Japan's political leader.

Watching Prime Minister Kan's sad dash to subjugate the country's diplomacy to the US makes former Prime Minister Hatoyama sparkle in comparison. You want to scream, "Go, Hatoyama, Go!"

Isn't the prime minister supposed to make efforts to boost our national spirits? Prime Minister Kan's recent actions seem like an imitation of former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. In fact, Kan may even outdo Koizumi in his sycophantic stance toward the U.S.

To the lawmakers in the Democratic Party of Japan, I have this to say: Can you face up to Prime Minister Kan's betrayal?

The Mortal Sin of the New Kan Cabinet

The lack of generational change results in a move backward to a cabinet of "me first" types


Why didn't Prime Minister Kan select any of the excellent young politicians this time? His new cabinet is filled with "me first" types. This new group is completely made up of egoists who've been clamoring for a certain position and who think only of themselves.

The Democratic Party of Japan has some Diet members who may not have served very long but have some dynamism to them. While these young people should have been selected and put to work, Kan avoided appointing any of them, with the exception of new Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano. But even Edano ran from responsibility after serving as DPJ secretary general during the party's most recent upper house election defeat.

The DPJ has very capable and diligent representatives in the lower house such as Osamu Fujimura, the acting secretary general, and Megumu Tsuji. The best way to revive Japan politically is to turn over the reins of power to this younger generation. Kan turned his back on that generation while remodeling his cabinet, and, frankly, that stinks.

Morita: Kan's new cabinet could be 'over at any moment'

From the Mainichi Shimbun comes this report on Prime Minister Naoto Kan's new cabinet. Pundits, including Mr. Morita, are underwhelmed.

Kan seems likely to press for a higher consumption tax rate -- something the Japanese voters don't want for obvious reasons but the US government does. It's yet another example of the Japanese government ignoring the voters and doing the bidding of Washington DC.