My opinion of this week(326):

The Iraq legislation

The Democratic Party of Japan decided to oppose any dispatch of the
Self-Defense Forces to help reconstruct Iraq. The move will likely 
keep the ruling and opposition camps at loggerheads for the remainder 
of the current Diet session. The bill will be passed only by ruling
camps without participation of all other opposition camps.

The DPJ has argued that the war was unilaterally waged by the U.S. in
violation of international law and that it was not a war of self-defense
and was not supported by international consensus.

The DPJ and other opposition parties meanwhile agreed that Japan should
play an active role in Iraq by dispatching nonmilitary personnel. I 
believe many Japanese including myself feel the same way.

Sending the SDF to occupied Iraq could violate Japan's war-renouncing
Constitution, the DPJ and all other opposition parties argued. I agreed
with it.

Koizumi has promised the U.S. that Japan will send the SDF to Iraq as a 
symbol of its pledge to strengthen the bilateral military alliance. In
order to keep this promise, ruling camps will pass the bill sooner or
later. 

Japan is not a daughter nation to US, although there exist the bilateral
military alliance between two countries. Japan should revise the present
constitution first so that Japan could send the SDF abroad under any
circumstances as it describes. Without arguing how the constitution should
be changed, Koizumi Cabinet and ruling camps will try to dispatch the SDF
to Iraq based on accomplished series of facts.

This kind of approach is never allowed as far as my view is concerned.

2003/7/2
Tadashi HAYASE

My　opinion of this week(327):

Magic number 49

The magic number of Hanshin Tigers to championship in Central League has
finally lighted up. It is the shortest timing to the championship in
the long history of Central league. There were the same kind of phenomenon
in the past seasons. While Tigers kept winning in April and May since the
season started, most people including Tigers fans did not believe that
Tigers would attain the final goal.

But Tigers continued to win this time in June and have made a lead of more
than ten games against Giants. And the magic number to the championship 
has finally lighted up last night. The provability for the championship
is now very very high.
 
I was used to be a fan of Seibu Lions and often visited Tokorozawa Ball 
stadium at their golden ages. Lions won many championship of Japan series
in those days. But they were defeated very badly against Tigers at one 
season. There were many star players at that time including Baas, Kakefu
Okada, and so forth. Many sports casters say Tigers at present is as 
strong as Tigers at that time. But I think the meaning of power and 
strength of Tigers about the present team  is quite different from that
of the old one.

I am not a fan of Tigers, but have kept wishing that Tiger will win the
championship in this season. This is because I don't like the way how
Yomiuri Giants approaches to become champion in the league and Japan
series. They just try to get top class players by using a lot of money
from all sources including competitive teams in the same league. What's
wrong with it?  No, not at all, as far as it is a business after all.
But I personally don't like it. There must be something else for any
teams to get stronger. I believe Tigers is showing that something else
in this season in this respect. 

In any team games such as baseball and soccer, team work is one most
important factor to get victory in games. Needless to say, capacity and
technique of individual players play important role for winning as well.
But most important thing to get a victory as a team is to synchronize
vectors of individual players as much as possible. 

Compared with top class players of Giants, capacity of players of Tigers
are said to be inferior so that the team was ranked low for the possibility
for the championship. The result turned against the forecast in this
year.
  
When it comes the ability of players of all professional teams, they are
close each other as a matter of fact. It seems that bringing  will and
motivation of players for the victory into one direction is more important
than capacity of individual players.

The economic effects resulted from Tigers victory is said to be  great 
such as few hundred billion yen or something. That's fine. But I wish
the victory of Tigers would become a greater trigger to vitalize 
economic gloom and national malaise at present. 

The fact that no good Tigers would accomplish the great goal will give
all people of this country a courage and a hope for the future and let
 them learn the meaning of leadership provided by manager Hoshino.

2003/7/9
Tadashi HAYASE

My opinion of this week(328):

Loose-tongued　politicians
 
There were a series of gaffes made by several key persons and
lawmakers,　such as former Prime Minister Mori, lawmaker Ohta, 
minister Kounoike, lawmaker Eto and so forth. They are all in a 
important position of the present cabinet or Liberal Democratic 
Party. I have no intention to talk about them in detail. The topics
 concerning gaffes differ each others about sexual harassment, 
murder of small child at Nagasaki, Japan's annexation of the 
Korean Peninsula, etc. But common issue is why those key 
politicians expressed so many loose-tongued words so easily.

Most of them are little misunderstanding when we hear some 
explanation about them. If there were more faithful explanation 
about them, situation would be quite different. But many of those
politicians did not seem to make enough effort. Some said "what 
wrong with it?"
 
All of those gaffes were made not by ordinal citizens but by lawmakers,
nation's choice elites. I just can't believe the fact that word issued
by those elites are so light as feather. Any assertions and views based
on objective facts and logic would be accepted fairly by people. Needless
to say, the discussion between such assertions are important process of 
democracy as a matter of fact. But series of those saying is nothing
but gaffes.

Ichirou Ozawa, President of Liberal Party pointed out one most typical
example of such light word issued by Prime Minister Koizumi. Koizumi
said once. "There are some cases that public promises will not be 
realized." 

The statement sound serious. But Japanese mass media were not quite eager
to pursue the seriousness of that words. I just wonder why people in 
this country are so indifferent to that kind of seriousness.

2003/7/16
Tadashi HAYASE

My opinion of this week:

Abolition of college entrance examination system

Last Sunday morning, I watched Report 2001, Fuji TV's news show. The topic
was murder of a small child by a junior high student. Why did this
kind of serious accident happen? How can we stop happening such terrifying
accident again? Minister Kounoike, who made a controversial comment on this
case, Professor Nakamura of University of California, and a novel writer,
winner of Akutagawa Prize, attended the show to express their views on the
topic.

Minister Kounoike expressed the view how the parent of a junior high
student are highly responsible for the accident. "They must be punished to
death at open place", he said at press conference.  The comment lacked 
legitimacy to a great extent but quite right in the sense that he 
emphasized  the importance of basic moral education by parents  at home.
agreed with this view and felt relieved to see the result of questionnaire
made by Fuji TV.  47% people said no to the view and another 47%  people
gave affirmative answer to the view.

Professor Nakamura's comment at the show was not quite impressive above
all. But there was a very concrete proposal that I fully agreed with.
He proposed to abolish the college entrance examamination system in
Japan in order to improve the  background for such serious accident.

I have kept saying the same proposal in the past 20 years. I wrote about
it several times in this column, My opinion of this week. Why does the
current education get distorted ? Why can our society stop happening
such serious accidents ?  One reason for it is that all purpose of
present education at elementary, junior, and senior highschool is to let 
students get into good colleges. All concerns of parents, teachers and 
students are to get high score at primary center exam and secondary exam
at each colleges they want to get in. 

Many more important aspects of education and chance at young days are lost
for students are busy studying for stereo type tests and for attending 
after-school cram schools.     

Professor Nakamura became a Professor at University of California for his
research about blue light-emitting diode. He has  never been invited 
by any Japanese colleges. It is said that total academic level of all
Japanese colleges cannot compare with that of total colleges existed in
the state of California. I will not discuss this matter in detail right
now, but It's true.

Don't be surprised with the fact that there are no such entrance examination
system in those colleges in US. There are some selection system, of course.
But they are not such stereotypical one existed in Japan.

While I believe that the issue is very important,  I disappointed to see
that Professor Nakura's proposal was not accepted so much by other 
commenter and a news show hosts.

The problems with entrance examination system have been argued many ways
in the past. But no concrete actions have never been happened to change,
revise, and to abolish the system. School grade deviation values are all
standard to get into colleges. 

After all hard work to clear deviation values, students enter the colleges
they selected and they get passport for amusement park for four years.
We cannot blame them for they almost get exhausted after handwork at 
one most important blossom of youth. 

As to entrance system of US colleges, the fact is entirely reversed.
Entrance is open very widely but exit is very narrow. 　After entering to
school a lot of hard work wait for them . 

That's the way it is. Don't you agree?

2003/7/23
Tadashi HAYES

My opinion of this week: (330)

Democratic Liberal Party vs. Liberal Democratic Party

Democratic Party of Japan and Liberal Party will be merged in near future.
Liberal Party will actually be absorbed by DPJ and the new party will
remain as DPJ as it is. There are many criticism about this merger among
ruling parties calling  illicit union without any unification of policies
of two different parties. That is something like "the pot calls the kettle
black". How are there unification of policies among those ruling parties
even in Liberal Democratic Party itself. There are a lot of internal 
conflict about policy matters inside of the party especially at this
right moment.

The current situation of LDP is serious in that respect. There will be
Presidential election in fall and Prime Minister Koizumi will dissolve the
Diet if his basic policy pledge will not be accepted and not elected again
to the President of LDP. That's natural course of action. 

The criticism on the merger of two opposition parties concentrated mainly
to the pledge of President Ozawa of Liberal Party. It is said that he 
decided this in order to let members of the Party survive after general 
election expected in late fall of this year. But President Ozawa said he
made this decision to realize change of power in next general election.
He said this will be the last chance for Japan to realize the change of 
power and to depart from political and economic stagnant situation at the
moment. 

I think his view and judgment is right. As a people of Japan, I sincerely
hope that this merger will succeed in realizing the change of power in 
any  respects.

Prime Minister declared once that he would proceed his reform plan even by
dissolving LDP itself. I agree with his major line of reforms and views.
But I did not believe that he could do it while he remained in LDP .

Anything will never happen without the change of power in politics first.
I expect now a new administration will be established at coming general 
election by the new party established by determination of two political 
leaders, ie. Naoto Kan and Ichirou Ozawa.

2003/7/30
Tadashi HAYASE