J Update

Ministry of Finance (MOF)   disclosed   2,200 pages of documents which were internal records in the ministry related to fabrication of official records about discounted sales of government-owned land for Moritomo Gakuen, which allegedly had a close relationship with former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his wife Akie. Although the documents did not include crucial part of the fabrication, the wife of former MOF staff, Toshio Akagi, who had been involved in the fabrication and killed himself with regret of his involvement in fabrication, expected further disclosure to realize the reason why her husband had to commit a suicide. To the request of the wife, Masako Akagi, for disclosure of related documents, Osaka High Court dismissed in February a decision of Osaka District Court that approved refusal of disclosure. While the ministry did not make clear whether the documents were in the ministry or not, the high court found it illegal for the ministry not to tell even about the exi...

The Constitutional Court of the Republic of Korea (ROK)   upheld   the impeachment of President Yoon Suk-yeol by the National Assembly, ruling that the martial law declared by President Yoon Suk-yeol last December was unconstitutional. The decision immediately led to resignation of Yoon as the president and presidential election will be held within 60 days. Losing a president who has contributed to rebuilding bilateral relations with Japan, Japanese government considers how to maintain the momentum with next ROK administration. On December 3 rd  of 2024, Yoon declared martial law, accusing the opposition parties of their anti-state activities, and sent military force into the National Assembly as he issued an order to stop activities of parties and demonstrations. The National Assembly passed a resolution in the midnight that demanded lifting martial law. The martial law was cancelled by early in the next morning.   The court found that the martial law and sending tr...

The President of the United States, Donald Trump,   announced   introduction of “reciprocal” tariff on April 2 nd , which would be imposed on goods imported from foreign countries with respectively different rate for each country. He declared that 24 percent of tariff rate would be applied to the goods from Japan, arguing that Japan had been levying high tariff on US goods. The government of Japan has not found what measures it would take to counter the Trump’s tariffs. In his address at the Rose Garden, White House, Trump argued that the US had been ripped off by foreign countries. “For decades, the United States slashed our trade barriers on other countries while those nations placed massive tariffs on our products and created outrageous non-monetary barriers to decimate our industries,” said Trump. He called it “liberation day” to make America wealthy again.   The rate of tariff on Japan was higher than the prediction of the policymakers in Japan. Prime Minister Shiger...

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba   failed   in implementing his words that he would conclude the reform of political donation from companies and organizations. While the opposition parties except Democratic Party for the People (DPP) agreed on banning all those donations, the leading coalition, Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito with support of the DPP, insists on preserving their source of political funds. Keeping majority in the Diet for the donations to remain, Ishiba does not care the delay of discussion over political funds. The LDP sank into a quagmire of slush fund scandal last year, the scandal which pushed former Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to resignation, and Ishiba faced serious defeat in the general election of the House of Representatives last fall. The parties in the Diet agreed on abolishing “policy activities fund,” which enabled party leaders to spend political fund without disclosing the purpose, in the extraordinary session of the Diet in December. However, ...

An experts’ group of Central Disaster Management Council in the government of Japan published updated estimation on possible great earthquake occurring around Nankai Trough Sea on March 31 st . The report of the council predicts 298,000 deaths and 2.35 million collapses of buildings. Although the government has been taking necessary measures to reduce damages from Nankai Trough Great Earthquake, the report showed that the effort has not reached a goal.   Nankai Trough is a fault located off the southern coast of Japan, with length of 900 kilometers extending from Suruga Bay, Shizuoka, to Hyuga-nada Sea, Miyazaki. In plate tectonics, Philippine Sea Plate is subducts beneath Eurasia Plate at Nankai Trough, causing great earthquakes once in 100 or 150 years. The government of Japan announced earlier this year that possibility of a great earthquake around Nankai Trough within 30 years would be 80 percent.   The council estimated the worst damage of Nankai Trough Great Earthquake w...

The Diet passed FY2025 budget bill on March 31 st , a day before FY2025 starts, with revision which Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba accepted based on requests from some opposition parties. Once it passed the Lower House on March 2 nd , the bill passed the Upper House on March 31 st   with revisions, and then it returned to the Lower House and passed it on the same day. It was the first time for an annual budget to go through that process. This minority government had to take careful procedure in the Diet to maintain itself.   Ishiba government submitted FY2025 budget bill to the Diet on January 24 th , on the day one of this ordinary session as usual. With constitutional requirement, the bill was firstly discussed in the Lower House in which leading coalition by the Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito does not have a majority. The bill passed the Lower House and was sent to the Upper House on March 4 th , with revision of adding free tuition for high schools to get support from...

A third-party committee on alleged sexual assault on former female staff of Fuji Television, one of the key private TV stations in Tokyo, published its   report   on the issue. The report found that sexual assault was made by a TV star, Masahiro Nakai, and the TV station failed in protecting her. Revealing other examples of sexual harassment, it concluded that generosities on sexual harassment existed in Fuji Television.   A weekly magazine reported last December a scandal of Nakai in which he paid money to a woman for private trouble. While it was indicated that the woman was an announcer of Fuji Television, the TV station asked investigation to newly-launched third-party committee. While Fuji was lagging behind in internal investigation, the sponsors left from programs of Fuji, causing financial damage on the TV station.   The report recognizes the case as sexual assault made by Nakai. According to its research, Nakai invited the woman to a dinner on June 2 nd , 20...

Minister of Defense of Japan, Gen Nakatani, and the United States Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, had the first one-on-one meeting at Ministry of Defense in Tokyo on March 30 th . They shared common notion that their countries are unified as partners in countering China. Hegseth expected Japan to make further effort to enhance its defense capability, indicating   President Trump’s argument that US allies should take greater responsibility for their own defense.   The meeting was held on the day after Shigeru Ishiba participated in a memorial ceremony in Iwo-to Island in Ogasawara region for the first time as incumbent prime minister. The island is known as the place of the Battle of Iwojima in 1945, between Japanese Imperial Force and US Force, that took twenty-seven thousand lives on both sides. Hegseth attended the ceremony, supposedly to symbolize united effort of the US and Japan in defense of islands in Southwest Japan.   In the meeting with Hegseth, Nakatani emp...

The Cabinet Secretariat published   the evacuation plan   from Sakishima Islands in Okinawa Prefecture, in case of a contingency in the region including military invasion in Taiwan. The plan assumes transportation of 120 thousand people from the islands to the mainland of Japan. The government of Japan is going to have a drill for the evacuation in FY2026. Considering growingly severe security environment around Japan,  the National Security Strategy , which was revised in 2022, describes enhancement of measures for protecting Japanese citizens. “[F]or the purpose of achieving prompt evacuation of residents, including those in the Southwest region well in advance of an armed attack, Japan will take measures such as formulating a plan for smooth evacuation as soon as possible, securing the means of transportation of the public and private sectors, developing and coordinating the use of airports, seaports, and other public infrastructures, securing various types of evacuati...

Newspapers   reported   that Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba was considering that he would not deliver the statement commemorating the eightieth anniversary from the end of the World War II this summer. With consideration of resentment against expressing apology embraced by the conservative lawmakers in the Liberal Democratic Party, Ishiba is supposed to be reluctant to issue a new statement which may cause further controversy. Instead, he is going to launch a conference of the experts which explores decision of the government of Japan to be involved in the war. Former Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama issued the statement for the fiftieth anniversary in 1995, which expressed “remorse” and “heartfelt apology” on Japan’s “colonial rule and aggression.” While the statement in sixtieth anniversary by Jun-ichiro Koizumi followed Murayama statement, the seventieth anniversary statement by Shinzo Abe stressed that the younger or future generation must not be “predestined to apologize.”...

President of the United States, Donald Trump, on March 26 th   announced  that he decided to impose additional 25 percent of tariff for all importing cars starting on April 3 rd  and for automobile parts on May 3 rd . Trump’s tariff on cars is regarded as the main part of his tariff policies and supposed to have a significant impact on Japanese economy. The option so far for Japan to take is persuading US administration to exclude Japan from the list for imposing the tariff.   The biggest car exporter  to US in 2024 was Mexico with 48.7 billion dollars. Japan followed it with 39.9 billion dollars, followed by the Republic of Korea, Canada and Germany. Trump hopes car manufacturers to get back to the US and increase jobs for US workers. “ Frankly, friend has been oftentimes much worse than foe. And what we’re going to be doing is a 25% tariff on all cars that are not made in the United States,”  said  Trump to the reporters. He called it “liberation day...

The lawmakers in the Diet   discuss   a bill on introducing active cyber defense (ACD) for the police and defense ministry to deal with sensitive information. Although the opposition parties understand the necessity of law that allows the government obtaining necessary information for security, they are careful in checking possibility of breaching freedom of communication. It is also discussed whether preventive measures in overseas can be regarded as attacks on foreign country which is interpreted as prohibited by the constitution.   Introduction of ACD in information system of the government is required by law enforcement offices and ministry dealing with sensitive security information. The law will allow the government to oversee various information in peacetime, and vest an authority to detoxicate harmful source, when it detects a cyberattack on important infrastructure in Japan.   The operation will be exercised in the Committee on Cyber Communication Informatio...

Tokyo district Court   issued   on March 25 th   an order of dissolution as a religious corporation against Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (FFWPU), as known as former Unification Church (UC). The court found that the FFWPU caused a large amount of damage on its followers and their families through inappropriate activities urging donation. The federation announced its intention to appeal to an upper court. The Unification Church was  established  in Republic of Korea in 1954 and started its mission in Japan late 1950s. While the organization supported conservative lawmakers in Japan, a lot of cases of seducing its followers to buy “spiritual goods” by the church were reported in 1980s and 1990s. It  changed  its name to FFWPU in 2015.   The name of FFWPU was publicly acknowledged when the assassin of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Tetsuya Yamagami, revealed his motivation for killing Abe. Yamagami told the police after he was ...

Japan Self-defense Force (JSDF) established Joint Operations Command (JJOC) to oversee three branches on March 24 th . The purpose of new organization in JSDF was to enhance readiness in military contingency and major natural disaster. One question is, however, whether the JJOC contributes to efficiency of communication among a lot of organizations in the government of Japan.   The Defense Buildup Program in 2022, made under the leadership of then Prime Minister Fumio Kishida,  noted  the necessity of “Permanent Joint Headquarters” in the JSDF. The purpose of the organization was described as “to build a system capable of seamlessly conducting cross-domain operations at all stages from peacetime to contingency, with the aim of strengthening the effectiveness of joint operations among each SDF services,”   The policy was succeeded by Shigeru Ishiba. Ishiba administration launched JJOC in the headquarters of JSDF in Ichigaya, Tokyo, with 240 personnel which will be inc...

Foreign Ministers of Japan, the Republic of Korea and China had a meeting in Tokyo on March 22 nd . They agreed on accelerating preparation for their leaders’ summit meeting to maintain the diplomatic momentum to improve their relations. Those three countries are seeking closer relationship with consideration of America-First policies taken by US President Donald Trump, which cause economic and security instability for those Asian nations. It was the first opportunity for the foreign ministers of those three countries to meet since November 2023, when they had one in Busan, ROK. ”Although we sometimes face difficulty, it is a common interest and important for peace and prosperity in the region and international community to have frank dialogues and promote future-looking exchange and cooperation,”  said  Takeshi Iwaya, Japan’s Minister for Foreign Affairs as the chairman of this year.   In the trilateral meeting, the ministers  agreed  on promoting mutual unders...

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba kept on being grilled in the Diet discussion on his distribution of gift certificates to young lawmakers in the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). Although it was questioned whether Ishiba had violated the law for regulating political funds, the issue diverged into ethical problem of LDP lawmakers in dealing with pocket money or the same kind of activities of former prime ministers. It looks unlikely that the scandal causes resignation of Ishiba. Ishiba admitted that he distributed gift certificates, as souvenir worth 100,000 yen, to fifteen attendees of meeting he hosted on March 3rd. The recipients were LDP lawmakers of House of Representatives, who had been elected for the first time in the October election last year. It was doubted that the distribution would consist of donation related to political activity to individual politician, which was prohibited by Political Funds Control Act.   Ishiba’s strategy to deal with the issue was to firmly deny ille...