J Update

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...

Price of rice in Japan has been kept at high level since last year. Even after the harvest season of 2024, the price has not declined. The government of Japan decided to release its reserve of the staple diet to stabilize the rice market. However, it is unclear whether the release will work for getting the price down. There rises a criticism on agricultural policy of the government, which has long been restricting production of rice. Consumers saw unusual landscape that rice disappeared from the shelfs of super markets last summer. It was supposed that unstable weather in 2023 affected circulation of rice in 2024. But the price of rice stopped at high level after the fall 2024. The government refused to release its reserve of rice, arguing that it was reserved for the time of disaster or extremely bad harvest, which invited broad public criticisms.   It was mid-February when Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) decided at last to open its storage to stabilize the ...

The government of Japan submitted to the budget committee of the House of Councillors a list of documents related to fabrication of official documents about Moritomo Gakuen scandal. Ministry of Finance (MOF), which conducted the fabrication, is going to publish those documents starting in April. It is paid attention whether the disclosed documents will reveal what was going on in the ministry in the sales of government-owned land to the private school.   Osaka High Court in January sentenced to MOF that it was illegal for the ministry not to have disclosed information on fabrication of documents about the sales of government-owned land in Toyonaka, Osaka, to Moritomo Gakuen. The wife of a former staff for MOF’s local branch, Masako Akagi, filed the lawsuit demanding the ministry to disclose the documents. Akagi’s husband was doubted as having been coerced false description by the ministry and killed himself in 2018. The ministry  admitted  that it tried to conceal involve...

Kumamoto District Court   ordered   the government of Japan to pay 23 million yen to the plaintiffs of Matsubase Case in 1985. The court recognized illegal activities in investigation of the public prosecutors and accused them of failing in disclosure of important information which was closely related to decision of the court. The decision may ignite discussion over disclosure of evidence by organizations of law enforcement.   A man was found killed in the town of Matsubase in Kumamoto prefecture in 1985. The police arrested his acquaintance, Koki Miyata, with suspicion of murder, based on his confession. Although Miyata retracted his confession, he was indicted and the sentence of 13 years in prison was confirmed by the Supreme Court in 1990.   The public prosecutors had been arguing that Miyata burnt out a shirt used in the murder. However, the lawyers for Miyata found a part of that shirt in 1997, which was the only evidence of the crime. The lawyers for Miyata re...

Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), the owner of crippled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, fails in renewing its own business plan by the end of March. Since it does not have a clear perspective for resumption of Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant, TEPCO is not able to formulate a viable financial plan. The company is submitting a new plan to the government of Japan -- the biggest sponsor for the company -- this summer or later. The reactors in Fukushima plant exploded when it was soaked in tsunami of East Japan Great Earthquake on March 11, 2011, and lost outer source of electricity necessary for keeping the reactors from overheating. The explosion caused 160 thousand of evacuees and 20 thousand of them are still away from their hometowns. The investigation committee of the Diet  determined  that the accident was man-made, indicating responsibility of TEPCO.   While Kyoto District Court found in 2018 that the government of Japan and TEPCO were responsible for...

Having trouble in explaining distribution of gift certificates to young lawmakers in his party, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba faces public frustration on his management of political funds. The mid-March polls conducted by main newspapers showed significant decline in approval rate for Ishiba Cabinet. It is indicated that the management of money among the lawmakers is far different from the ordinary people who are suffering from price inflation.   The poll conducted by  Asahi Shimbun  marked 14 percent of decline in approval rate for Ishiba Cabinet from the previous month, which stoppped at 26 percent. Disapproval rate was 59 percent, increasing by 15 percentage points. Although Ishiba explained that his activity violated no law, 75 percent of responders realized that distributing gift certificate was wrong, exceeding 23 percent of them who did not see any problem.   Yomiuri Shimbun   reported  31 percent of approval rate with 8 points down, while the disapp...

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba told last December that he would conclude the reform of donation from companies and organizations to political entities by the end of March 2025. At the time of mid-March, there are three groups in the Diet over reforming of Political Funds Control Act. While two of them demand regulation on the donation, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) rather focuses on disclosure than regulation. There remains no party which upholds complete elimination of donation from companies and organizations.   A private company can donate to a party, while it cannot do to individual politician. Most companies currently donate to the LDP, possibly expecting a favor from the leading party.  The amount of the donation in 2023  was 2.3 billion yen. It was three thousand times more than what the second party, Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDPJ), received (760 thousand yen) in the same year.   That is why the LDP is reluctant to regulate the donation fr...

Distribution of gift certificate to the fresh lawmakers became a significant blow to the staggering administration of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba. It is an unexpected opportunity for the opposition parties to defeat Ishiba government. Nevertheless, the opposition leaders look like hesitating to get together for attacking Ishiba. Strangely enough, it is mainly limited to some lawmakers in the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) who accuse their prime minister. Some opposition leaders referred to a possibility of Ishiba’s resignation. The head of Democratic Party for the People (DPP), Yuichiro Tamaki, told that it would be difficult for Ishiba to remain in the position, if he fails in explaining about the scandal. The co-chair of Japan Innovation Party (Nippon Ishin-no Kai), Hirofumi Yoshimura, demanded Ishiba to consider by himself whether he should go or step down.   However, the leader of top opposition party, Yoshihiko Noda of Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, hoped Ishiba t...

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba revealed that he had distributed gift certificates to the lawmakers of the Liberal Democratic Party. It is doubted that his activity may violate the law which prohibits giving money as a political activity. Although Ishiba denied that it had not been any sort of political activity, it is likely that voters recognize Ishiba’s action as inappropriate for the leader of leading party which has been criticized of its management of political funds. According to the  news reports , Ishiba had a meeting in the evening of March 3 rd  with fresh members of the House of Representatives who had been elected for the first time last October. In the afternoon of the day, Ishiba’s staffs visited each office of the participants of the evening meeting and handed out the gift certificates of major department stores with value of 100 thousand yen. The staffs then explained that the certificates were souvenir for the evening meeting.   Article 21-2  of Polit...