J Update

Hyogo Prefectural Assembly submitted unanimous request of resignation of Governor Motohiko Saito on September 12. Saito has been doubted as illegally exercised investigation on a whistleblower on governor’s power harassment. It is likely that Saito will face a choice between stepping down and dissolving the assembly. It is unusual for a prefectural governor to receive unanimous rejection from assembly. Although Saito still seeks a way out from this stalemate, he is in a situation in which he cannot continue his work as a governor. A bureau chief in Hyogo prefectural government distributed  a report  to the assembly members and news organizations in March, which revealed Saito’s inappropriately harsh behavior on his staffs and receiving luxury goods from a company he visited. Denying the facts on the report, Saito fired the bureau chief. The assembly decided to set up a special investigation committee for the issue, but the bureau chief died in July before the committee was con...

Tokyo District Court   found   former accounting manager of Shisui-kai, or Nikai faction, of the Liberal Democratic Party, Hitoshi Nagai, guilty in violating Political Funds Control Act and sentenced 2 years in prison with suspension of 5 years. The court insisted that the wrong management of political fund had an enormous social impact causing distrust of politics. It marked the first sentence of the court to the defendants in LDP slush fund scandal. As exercised in Abe faction, the epicenter of scandal, Nikai faction had been distributing the sales of tickets of the faction’s fundraising party. The faction members sold the tickets to their supporters with certain mandate, and received the money from the faction as much as the surplus over the mandate. Some faction members kept that surplus even without handing the sales over Nikai faction. Nagai failed in recording 260 million yen of income and 120 million yen of spendings on political fund report between 2018 and 2022. ...

Nagasaki District Court decided fifteen people who “experienced” atomic bombing in Nagasaki in 1945 should be included in hibakusha, recognizing them as sufferers of the black rain, and ordered the local governments to issue the hibakusha health notebook to them. The decision was made on the people who were outside the government-designated area. However, request of other twenty-nine plaintiffs was dismissed as insufficient. After the World War II, the government of Japan has been demanded compensation and healthcare by the sufferers of atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The government set designated area in central Hiroshima and Nagasaki and recognized the people who had been in the area as hibakusha in 1957. In 2002, it started certain support for the people outside the area in Nagasaki, calling them “A-bomb experienced people. ”   Those people filed a lawsuit seeking further assistance for their health in 2007. If they were included in hibakusha, they would have fre...

The leader’s election of the Constitutional Democratic Party, the leading opposition, was officially announced on September 7. Four lawmakers, from former prime minister to freshwoman, were registered as the candidates. While they made different argument on some issues such as nuclear power generation or consumption tax, they embraced a common goal of dragging ruling Liberal Democratic Party down. It will be voted on September 23. The candidates are former prime minister with Democratic Party of Japan, Yoshihiko Noda, former Chief Cabinet Secretary in Naoto Kan administration and former head of CDP, Yukio Edano, incumbent head of CDP, Kenta Izumi, and a freshwoman of House of Representatives, Harumi Yoshida. Izumi and Yoshida have been supposed to be on the edge of retreat, due to the requirement of twenty endorsements from party lawmakers, they could manage to secure them just before the deadline.   After registration as candidates they held a joint press conference in Tokyo. One ...

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida visited the Republic of Korea and had   a meeting   with ROK President Yoon Suk Yeol on September 6. Both leaders agreed on a memorandum for protecting their nations in foreign country in situation of emergency. Although they shared a notion that the bilateral relationship was improved under their leaderships, it is still unclear whether it will be maintained by their successors.   The Japanese in Sudan could evacuate from battles of civil war with help of ROK in April 2023. In the wake of battle between Israel and Hamas, Japanese citizens in Israel could leave by boarding a transport aircraft of ROK force. Thanking for the effort of ROK government, Japanese government realized the necessity for preparing measures for evacuation with ROK.   Kishida and Yoon agreed on having constant meeting on the level of bureau chiefs of both foreign ministries to share information on situation of the third-party countries. In the evacuation caused by e...

Okinawa Prefectural Police sent document of a member of U.S. Marines in Okinawa, who were charged with crime of sexual intercourse without consent. The police meanwhile reported it to the government of Okinawa Prefecture, following the new policy for immediate report on crime of members of U.S. Force, which was introduced after such crime was revealed by news reports. Consecutive sexual crimes by U.S. military personnel exacerbate anti-U.S. sentiment in Okinawa. A member of U.S. Marine made a sexual assault on a woman, knowing each other, in northern part of Okinawa, out of U.S. Force’s facility, in June. The woman was diagnosed in a medical institute and the staff of the institute reported to the police. Although the member returned to the U.S. Marine, according to Japan-U.S. Status of Force Agreement, the police continued investigation on him on voluntary basis. The police have not disclosed whether the man approved or disapproved the charge on him.   Sexual assaults by U.S. Forc...

The news organizations in Japan concurrently reported that the U.S. President Joe Biden would block Nippon Steel’s acquisition of U.S. Steel and Nippon Steel, quoting reports of U.S. news media. It is supposed that the decision of Biden will be made for supporting Kamara Harris, Vice-President and Democratic candidate for the next  P resident, expecting more support from labor union. It is supposed that the blocking may damage the management of both companies. Nippon Steel announced its $14.1 billion deal to acquire U.S. Steel last December, which would make the third biggest steel maker in the world. While it was expected to contribute to enhance economic security of both countries, labor union, United Steelworkers, opposed the deal, being afraid of further shutdown of ironworks. Biden administration started researching the impact of the acquisition on U.S. security.   It was January when the deal made a political dispute. Former President Donald Trump, expecting his presiden...

Two deputies of Fumio Kishida administration, one is on executive side and another on party side, announced their candidacy in presidential election of the Liberal Democratic Party. The LDP Secretary General Toshimitsu Motegi   revealed his campaign policies , which might deny the policy of Kishida administration. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi mostly succeeds Kishida’s policies. Policy talks over the election were vitalized by jumping in of two leaders. In the press conference, Motegi upheld fiscal policy with no tax increase. While Kishida administration indicated tax increase for implementing expansion of defense budget and supporting measures for families with child, Motegi insisted stopping it at least 1 trillion yen. He argued that the budget would be covered by increase of tax income with economic growth and he would declare getting rid of deflation within six months after inauguration.   Kishida had made a compromise with Komeito to maintain the system of Po...

Fumio Kishida administration released   a draft of basic plan   for promoting measures on dementia, which increase became a major issue in highly aged society of Japan. Suggesting a new view on dementia, the draft listed various measures for the government to take. The measures are shifting from prevention to coexistence with dementia, recognizing it as inevitable for anyone. Former Cabinet led by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe made  guidelines  for promoting measures on dementia in 2019. Based on the notion that dementia is a condition of health everyone can have, the guidelines raised coexistence and prevention as the two major concepts to deal with dementia.   For the sufferers of dementia to live their life with hope, the guidelines proposed promotion of public understanding, prevention or delay of being dementia, support for medical care, removing barrier and participation in social activities, and research and development. The guidelines targeted between 2019 a...

The Liberal Democratic Party   released   the talking points for amendment of the Constitution of Japan. They include adding a sentence to Article 9, which endorses existence of Self-defense Force, creating basis for strong authority of the Cabinet in time of emergency. However, the party has not concluded on actual draft of the provisions. It is still not clear whether the LDP is going to achieve consensus among the parties in the Diet, which is needed for initiative with two-third majority. When he was elected the president of the LDP in 2021, Kishida promised that he would achieve constitutional amendment within his term, which meant doing it by September, 2024. It obviously was a measure for attracting conservative lawmakers in the LDP, whose support were indispensable for maintenance of his administration.   Although Kishida insisted on his seriousness on the issue in these three years, he has never led the discussion in the LDP. It was this August when Kishida direc...

Mainichi Shimbun   reported  that one of the members of Aso faction in the Liberal Democratic Party, who had been indicted with a charge of false management of political fund, found that he had possibly received secret fund distributed from the faction. Aso faction is the only one that survived the slush fund scandal in the LDP. If the story was true, the faction can no longer be said as unrelated to the scandal. It may have an impact on the LDP presidential race. The Special Investigation Division of Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office indicted former member of the House of Representatives, Kentaro Sonoura, and his two secretaries in December 2022. They were charged with violation against Political Funds Control Act, failing in reporting 49 million yen of political fund, which was related to his fundraising party in between 2018 and 2020.   Sonoura was fined 1 million yen and disfranchised for three years. He left the LDP before the summery indictment on him, and re...

The Ministry of Finance closed   the budget request for FY 2025   from each ministry on August 31. Followed by policy agenda set by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to enhance defense of Japan, Ministry of Defense requested ever highest amount of budget for offensive equipment. Spendings for social security is keep on growing, while the government needs to pay for the rising interest of Japanese government bonds. The total amount of the budget does not stop swelling. The total request is estimated to amount to the record high of 117 trillion yen, increasing from FY 2024 by 1 percent. Some ministries have been requesting their spendings without indicating actual amount these years. It is likely that final amount is going to increase accordingly. It is for four consecutive years that exceeded 110 trillion yen.   Request for  defense budget  exceeded 8 trillion yen for the first time. It is 8.5389 trillion yen, growing by 7.4 percent from the previous year. Kishida adm...

Former Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda  announced  his intention to run for the leader’s election of the Constitutional Democratic Party on September 23. Former Head of the CDP and former Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano has already announced his intention to run for it. Although incumbent Head Kenta Izumi has not officially announced his bid for reelection, it is possible that the race will not be contested by fresh people but by old faces. “I have made up my mind to challenge to be a prime minister,”  said  Noda to the press in front of JR Tsudanuma station, where he has been making speeches to the voters from the days of his freshman as the Diet member. His hope was running for the leader’s election of the CDP, grabbing a victory in it, leading the CDP to defeat ruling Liberal Democratic Party and sit on the seat of the prime minister. It will be a long way.   Noda raised cooperation among the opposition parties as the top priority in his campaign. “The bigg...

The Special Investigation Division of Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office   filed   summery indictment against a former member of the House of Representatives, Manabu Horii, with crime of not reporting political fund which he had received from Abe faction of the Liberal Democratic Party. Tokyo Summery Court ordered Horii 1 million yen of fine and three years of disfranchise.   The fourth indictment against lawmaker of the Liberal Democratic Party on the slush fund scandal reminds the public of inappropriate use of political funds in the party which is in a process of selecting new leader in the presidential election.   Horii failed in recording 17 million yen of income, which he received from Abe faction as the kickback of fundraising parties, to his political funds report between 2019 and 2021. Horii illegally used the fund for condolence money or flower to 52 people in his electoral district in Hokkaido, which amounted to 610 thousand yen. It is prohibited for...

Anti-Japan incidents by the Chinese are consecutively reported in Japan. It was reported that a Chinese man left a graffiti on the property of Yasukuni Shrine. A Chinese staff for NHK radio news distortedly read a news with a comment which was not in the text. They may reflect deteriorating relationship between Japan and China, as seen in the diplomatic channel of them.   A graffiti was found on a stone pillar of Yasukuni Shrine in June, which read “toilet” in red paint.  A Chinese man was arrested  in July with suspicion of destruction of property and the police obtained warrant for arrest of two other Chinese, who were supposed to get back to China. Chinese police announced in August that it was interviewing one of the two men with suspicion of another crime, without referring to the incident of Yasukuni.   In a radio news program of NHK in Chinese language on August 19, an outsourced staff read the news of arresting the Chinese on graffiti in Yasukuni with his own...

As it reaches the presidential election a month ahead, the Liberal Democratic Party reveals its fundamental structure of depending on factions which caused fatal scandal for Fumio Kishida administration over management of political fund. While some possible candidates for its presidential election uphold strict measures against the lawmakers who were involved in the slush fund scandal, others indicate generous treatment on them, expecting their votes in the election. The party is exposed to criticisms of the opposition parties.   In his press conference announcing running for the president on August 26, Digital Minister Taro Kono  required  the lawmakers who had accepted secret fund to return the same amount of money to be registered as an official candidate of the LDP in next election of both Houses of the Diet. “It is hard to be understood (by the public) that putting a period on the scandal by simply correcting papers,” said Kono. He indicated that the returned money w...

Ministry of Defense  announced  that a Chinese military aircraft violated Japan’s territorial airspace offshore Nagasaki prefecture in the morning of August 26. It was the first time that Japan confirmed Chinese military aircraft violating Japan’s territorial airspace. While the ministry assesses what was China’s intention of the violation, the news media assumes it as warning Japan of its security enhancement with like-minded nations. The ministry revealed that a Y-9 transport aircraft of Chinese military, used for collecting information,  violated  Japan’s air territory offshore Danjo Islands, Nagasaki, on 11:29 a.m. of August 26 and exited on 11:31 a.m. The aircraft flew from East China Sea to Kyushu Island of Japan, circling offshore the islands before entering Japan’s territory and flew to the direction of China’s mainland.   The Air Self-defense Force of Japan made a scrambling of fighter jets and warned the Chinese aircraft with Chinese and English langua...