J Update

Two major carmakers in Japan, Honda and Nissan, start talks for integrated management including possible merger. Growing international competition among carmakers over developing new technology and unexpected slump of Nissan accelerated their discussion for further cooperation each other. The automobile industry in Japan, which is the major driver of Japanese economy, is likely to be reformed into two groups, led by Toyota and Honda-Nissan. Car manufacturers are said to be in the period of major technological transition once in a century. The main elements of a car, gasoline, engine and driver, are getting replaced by electricity, software and automatic cruising system. Japanese carmakers are struggling with this technological revolution, even though they are still occupying the major share in car sales in the world. Honda and Nissan have been talking about their cooperation to deal with this transitional period. They agreed on promoting comprehensive partnership in developing elec...

Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) released a draft of new Strategic Energy Plan for FY 2040. Concerning increasing demand for electricity in industries related to advanced technology, the plan aims at doubling the ratio of renewable energy to whole energy supply. News reports focused on the plan’s dependence on nuclear energy, to which the people still embrace trauma of the severe accident in 2011. The plan did not figure out any viable measures for enhancing safety of nuclear power plant, evacuation of the people in emergency or disposal of nuclear waste. The plan predicts that demand of energy in 2040 will increase by 1.2 times greater than now. Defining renewable energy and nuclear energy as the most important resources for decarbonizing energy in Japan, the plan proposes that Japan should take advantage of those two resources as much as possible. Renewable energy is supposed to occupy forty to fifty percent of energy in Japan in 2040, occupying the top position among t...

The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) agreed with the leading opposition party, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDPJ), on the bills for transparency of political funds. They passed the House of Representatives on December 17 th . The LDP accepted total abolition of the policy activities fund, which does not require disclosure of purposes of the spendings. CDPJ postponed conclusion on donation of companies and organizations until next March. The LDP was forced to compromise on political reform, the issue which the party lost public confidence in the last general election. The LDP has been arguing that some political fund should not be disclosed, if it is used for clandestine diplomatic activities or for such a person whose privacy needs to be protected as a sufferer from sexual abuse. The leading party submitted its own bill for revision of Political Funds Control Act which included a clause of “spendings with consideration in disclosure.”   The opposition parties refused...

The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) decided not to specify when the government begins to increase income tax to appropriate upsurge in defense budget. Although the ruling party hoped to determine that the income tax increase for defense would be started in FY 2026, it realized that the plan might offset its policy for expanding income tax credit, which was requested by the Democratic Party for the People (DPP). Having lost majority in one of the Houses in the Diet, the LDP does not have clear vision to implement its policy of increasing defense budget. Former Prime Minister Fumio Kishida decided to secure 43 trillion yen for defense in five years between FY 2023 and FY 2027. To appropriate that budget, 14.6 trillion yen is needed to add current level of defense budget. Kishida found some resources for the budget, which included reform of expenditures, appropriating surplus in account settlement and special accumulation of funds for defense.   Tax increase is another resource for the...

Fukuoka High Court found the Civil Code and Family Registration Law unlawful in a lawsuit of three same-sex couples who demanded approval of their marriages. The decision made the first case that supported same sex marriage based on Article 13 of the Constitution of Japan, which stipulates freedom of pursuit of happiness. It seems like that the decision of courts in Japan to approve same sex marriage has been established. To the plaintiffs’ argument that denial of same sex marriage violated Article 13 of the Constitution, Fukuoka High Court clearly answered. “There is no longer a reason that denies same sex marriage as a legal institution,” said the court. It was the third decision of high courts, following Sapporo High Court in March this year and Tokyo High Court in October, which decided denial of same sex marriage unconstitutional.   Fukuoka High Court defined a marriage as “important and fundamental institution for a human.” It also regarded a right of being protected one’s ma...

Japan is one of a few developed countries that still embraces death penalty in legal system. Possibly due to highly exclusive system in indictment of criminal cases, it appears that excessive investigation causes wrong penalties on suspects, such as Iwao Hakamada who survived from death row with wrong charge. Discussion over abolishment of death penalty gets momentum in Japan.   In the case of Hakamada, he was arrested with suspicion of murder in 1966 and sentenced to death in 1980. Hakamada repeatedly requested retrial, arguing that he was innocent. After some series of trials, the court concluded that the public prosecutors fabricated evidences for Hakamada’s involvement in the murder. Although the government did not execute Hakamada, his lifetime in prison, which occupied most of his life, cannot be taken back. Exposed to threat of death for a long time, Hakamada suffers from heavy mental disease with incapability of communication.   A non-government conference  by exp...

The Government of Japan is going to issue Strategic Energy Plan (SEP) this month. News organizations   reported   that it would not refer to “gradual elimination” of nuclear power plant for the first time since Japan experienced a severe accident in Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in 2011. Advocates for nuclear power generation, such as lawmakers of the Liberal Democratic Party, are delighted with unleashing of nuclear technology.   The government of Japan released the first SEP in 2003, which set up three pillars in energy policy: stable supply of energy, adaptation to environment and introduction of market principles. As a country with scarcity of energy resource, it had been a crucial requirement for Japan to secure energy without dependence on Middle East countries, and with safety and sustainability for every business and household.   Although the plan has been included promotion of nuclear power generation as one of the basic power resources until the thi...

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) reached a deal with the top opposition party, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDPJ), on the supplemental budget for FY 2024, which Shigeru Ishiba administration submitted to the Diet on December 9th. The LDP also agreed with the Democratic Party for the People on raising threshold of individual annual income for imposing income tax from 1.03 million yen toward 1.78 million yen. As a minority government, Ishiba administration accepts any support from the opposition parties to promote its policies. In a trilateral meeting by the leaders on Diet affairs of the LDP, its coalition partner Komeito and CDPJ, the three parties agreed on passing the supplemental budget bill in current extraordinary session of the Diet. The LDP and Komeito accepted a part of CDPJ’s demand for revising the budget, which was aimed at reducing some excessive spendings and increasing measures for reconstruction from devastating earthquake in Noto Peninsula in J...

Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations, or Nihon Hidankyo, received Nobel Peace Prize of 2024 at the capital of Norway, Oslo, on December 10 th . Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the prize to Hidankyo for its tireless efforts to eliminate nuclear weapons with a massage that human beings cannot co-exist this unhumanitarian device called nuclear weapon. The suffers, or Hibakusha, are not satisfied with the reality of the world, where threat of nuclear weapons still remains. Three hibakushas participated in the ceremony of receiving Nobel Peace Prize at the city hall of Oslo, representing sufferers of atomic bomb in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, most of whom had deceased with unimaginable pain of nuclear weapon. The rest of them, who are living their lives with threat of negative impact of radiation, cerebrated acknowledgement of the world about inhumanity of nuclear weapons.   In the memorial speech at the ceremony, one of the representatives, Terumi Tanaka, 92, insi...

The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) submitted a bill of revised Political Funds Control Act to the Diet, which would abolish the policy activity fund, a sort of money from a party to its members without disclosing how it had been used. Other parties also submitted other kinds of bills, which would set stricter rules against secret management of political funds. The parties are discussing unusually many bills over political reform in the Diet. The bill submitted by LDP includes a clause that does not require disclosure of some sort of money with special purposes such as diplomatic relationship. While the LDP had been calling that kind of money “spendings with consideration,” it renamed that “spendings with consideration on how it was used.” Although the LDP explained it for avoiding misunderstandings, the opposition parties criticize it as creation of another loophole. The LDP has been creating loopholes in political funds, such as “the policy activity fund,” “kickbacks of fundraising pa...

Chugoku Electric Power (CEP)   restarted   operation of reactor #2 in Shimane Nuclear Power Plant for the first time in these 13 years on December 7 th . The power plant is located in the City of Matsue, which is the capital of Shimane prefecture, characterizing it as the only nuclear power plant in Japan in prefectural capital. The greatest concern about the plant is how the residents around it can evacuate in an emergency with nuclear accident. The restart of Shimane Nuclear Power Plant marked the fourteenth resumption of nuclear reactor after the severe accident in Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in 2011. CEP extracted the control rod of reactor #2, which controls fission of nuclear fuels, in the afternoon of Saturday and reached the critical point of nuclear reaction a few hours later. Following Tohoku Electric Power Company’s reactor #2 of Onagawa Nuclear Power Plant in November, it is the second example for a boiled water reactor, the same type of reactor as Fukush...

Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) made  investigation  on Amazon Japan with suspicion of violating Antitrust Law, with unfair trade, in selecting sellers on its website. Amazon is suspected to have coerced discount to the sellers for publishing their goods at “Cart Box.” It is the third time for this e-commerce giant to be investigated by JFTC.   Cart Box is information appearing in the site of Amazon Market Place, in which a piece of goods is exclusively displayed for sales. In other words, it is the showcase on the website effectively as a recommendation from Amazon. Displaying goods on the corner gives the seller a great advantage against other sellers that deals with similar goods.   According to the reports, Amazon required the sellers, who want to submit their goods at Car Box, competitive price setting or using Amazon services for delivery, transport and returning. JFTC recognized that Amazon’s demand of competitive price-setting can be a kind of requirement ...

Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NUMO) submitted the result of its “ literature survey ” for final disposal facility of high-level radioactive waste to Town of Suttsu and Kamoenai, Hokkaido, on November 22 nd . The survey concluded that both towns are appropriate to go to the next step, summary survey. However, NUMO does not have optimistic view to determine where the facility will be built, facing fundamental opposition from local community around those two towns.   The government of Japan decided that the nuclear waste produced by nuclear power plants should be buried into underground in Designated Radioactive Waste Final Disposal Act in 2000. NUMO, established in the same year, has been in charge of selecting location for final disposal. The law requires NUMO to accumulate three steps of surveys, which are literature, summary and detailed surveys.   The survey will be exercised based on voluntary candidacy of local government. No local community has stepped forward un...

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba participated in the discussion of Committee on Budget, which is the main venue for detailed debate over policies in the Diet, for the first time as the prime minister. The discussion was focused on political reform about how to regulate secret spendings of political funds. While the opposition parties demanded abolition of donations from private companies or organizations to political parties, Ishiba employed rhetoric for fending off those arguments. It is usual for the Diet to have intensive discussion between the prime minister and opposition leaders in the committee, following prime minister’s policy speech and party leaders’ questions in plenary meetings in both Houses. Having elected as the prime minister in October, Ishiba did not have a chance to answer questions in the committee, due to political schedule, including dissolution of the House of Representatives and having general election of the House.   In the discussion of the committee of the ...

President of Republic of Korea, Yoon Suk Yeol, laid a martial law at night of December 3 rd , only to reverse it six hours later, facing united opposition from the Parliament. The opposition party began to take action to impeach Yoon. The confusion in ROK politics, brought by surprising decision of Yoon, may cause slowdown of currently improving bilateral relations between Japan and ROK, on which Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba relied as one of the few hopes to stabilize his administration. Martial law was imposed with grave concern of Yoon on persistent protests of opposition parties against administration, including scandal of Yoon’s wife about her extravagance. The idea of laying martial law was reportedly proposed by Minister of National Defense, Kim Yong-hyun. Kim announced his resignation after martial law was lifted.   Japanese Defense Minister, Gen Nakatani, announced that he would cancel his trip to ROK later this month. Nakatani hoped to discuss the plan for security cooper...

The Japanese are known as sensitive about poison in water supply. Massacre on Koreans occurred in the time of the Great Kanto Earthquake in 1923 with suspect that the Koreans ran poison into waterworks. In the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, waterworks were not available for days with possibility of contamination with radiation emitted from exploded Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. Now, the name of threat is called PFAS, representing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances. PFAS has been used for fire-extinguishing form or coating for frying pans. It was detected around military bases of United States Force in Okinawa or Tokyo, causing concerns of residents around. Some substances are recognized as causing cancer. The government of Japan set a regulation of PFAS in public water service systems in 2020, which most Japanese use for drinking.   The government of Japan conducted  nation-wide survey  on PFAS in waterworks for the first time between May and September. Mo...