March 2010、My Opinion of this week
My opinion of this week(670)
Decentralization of golden week vacation
Basic Act for Promoting a Tourism-Oriented Country started in 2007 and the
necessity to promote sightseeing business in this country has been appealed
to people by government from time to time. The Japan Tourism Agency was
launched on Oct. 1, 2008. The Tourism Agency aims to promote domestic
and overseas tourism.
Since the change of power last September, Seiji Maehara, Minister of Ministry
of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism,has shown several policies
to promote sightseeing business in this country. The idea to decentralize
golden week vacation days which usually exist between last week of April and
first week of May over longer period of day zones by setting different
vacation day zones for several territories in this country. Two five consecutive
days vacation will be set for this golden week time and for fall for each
territories all over the country.
The advantage to decentralize vacation time by territory bloc is rather obvious.
For people who use various transportation and lodging facilities, they can
basically avoid crowded conditions at any rate. For those providers of services
of transportation, lodging and other business related with tourism and
sightseeing, they can keep getting more constant business opportunities by
such decentralization of vacation period.
Some other industry sectors as well as education expressed some concerns and
disagreement against this decentralization of vacation period all over the
country. The annual time schedule for any industries and school of any levels
are set rather uniformly thought all over the country. Their annual time
schedules will be influenced in many ways by the change of vacation schedule
in each territories. I understand some phases of such concerns and disagreement
but such problems and concerns may be solved in many ways by adjusting annual
time schedule at each industries and schools all over the country. I personally
don't see any basic problems involved with this decentralization of vacation
period and support the government to proceed this plan.
Regardless such decentralization plan for spring and fall presented by
government at this time, there still remains the problem of too much
concentration of vacation time which are centered around "bon" festival in
the middle of August and "syougatsu" year-end and beginning of new year. It is
virtually impossible for government to make adjustment vacation time of those
period not like vacation such as spring and fall for the vacation of bon and
syougatsu period are more closely related with life style and some religious
traditions of people in this country. There should be no such government
interaction as such as we see above concerning vacation.
But according to my personal observation, some change for decentralization of
vacation may occur even in those summer and winter vacation for the change of
life style of people and more rational way of thinking people concerning to
take annual paid vacation relating to those national holidays in question.
The idea of decentralization of national holidays suggested by government at
this time will promote more decentralization of vacation all over the country
in the long run.
This is first and necessary step for this country to live as tourism oriented
nation in the year to come.
2010/3/6
Tadashi HAYASE
My opinion of this week(671):
Opening of Ibaraki Airport
Ibaraki Airport, tipped to be the last commercial airport to open in the
nation, began operations Thursday with a Skymark Airlines' flight arriving
from Kobe Airport at 9:40 a.m. to commemorate its opening.
It is the country's 98th airport following the opening of Shizuoka Airport in
June last year. But Ibaraki Airport has only single daily round-trip flight to
Soul Inchon airport by South Korea's Asian Airlines.
Most of TV morning show on Thursday were broadcasting opening ceremony
on live but tape-cutters did not look so happy at all. "We'd like to invite more
airlines by providing good services to budget carriers as a selling point,"
Ibaraki Gov. Masaru Hashimoto said at the opening ceremony. Most of
commentators on live show were very skeptical about Governors statement,
though, for there exists only little possibilities for any other air lines including
two major carriers, i.e.. ANA and JAL to open any new flights for Ibaraki air port.
It is very obvious that Ibaraki Air Port will become another group of many
other local airports in Japan which are in serious financial difficulties at
the moment. All of those local air ports have been constructed based on very
optimistic forecast for demand in along with many other useless public
construction works such as roads, dams and so forth by Liberal Democratic
Party administrations which last so many years until last August.
Since the change of power last August, Hatoyama Cabinet of Democratic Party
of Japan, has reexamined many of such wistful public works including dams,
roads and so on, and postponed or stopped constructing such public facilities.
Opening of Ibaraki Air port should have also been stopped but it has been
finally opened for it was already in the last stage of construction. There
must be some strong desire for opening of airport from the side of Ibaraki
Prefecture. Seiji Maehara, Minister of Land, Transportation Ministry,
expressed the possibilities of cutting subsidies for many of those local
air ports which are in serious financial difficulties. Some big tax
money will continued to be spent for such useless public works at any rate,
regardless they come from the central government or local government.
Opening of Ibaraki Airport is surely one other typical example of such useless
public works. People must have observed another big waist under the name of
public works done by past LDP administration. It seems that LDP party still
lacks some serious sense of responsibility for what they have done in the
past. They don't realize the reason why supporting rate for their party is not
improving at all while many serious political scandals happened at ruling DPJ
Hatoyama cabinet.
Rather than waiting for further financial difficulties of many of those
local airports including new open Ibaraki airport, DPJ Hatoyama Cabinet
should take some more aggressive action to eliminate most of those useless
airports by setting some reasonable financial guideline so that total
financial reform of the country will be attained in along with many other
aggressive actions.
2010/3/13
Tadashi HAYASE
My opinion of this week(672):
Bluefin tuna and whale
To preserve the species, a proposal to ban international trade of Atlantic
bluefin tuna was tabled at the meeting of the Convention on International
Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in Doha, Qatar, starting March 13.
If two-thirds of the voters support the proposal, then international trade
of Atlantic bluefin tuna, including those from the Mediterranean, would be
banned. The European Union and the United States supported this proposal.
Japan consumes one-quarter of the world's tuna supply and 80 percent of the
bluefin. If Atlantic bluefin trade was banned, then Japan would have to rely
on the Pacific bluefin. Although Japan has nearly a year's worth of supply
in stock, the effects of the ban would be enormous.
Contrary to the original expectation, however, the UN Convention on Thursday
rejected the proposal to outlaw international trade in eastern Atlantic
and Mediterranean bluefin tuna, a sushi mainstay in Japan.
The controversial proposal for so-called Appendix I status was quashed with
68 votes against, 20 in favor and 30 abstentions at a meeting in Doha of
the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). The
measure would have needed the support of two-thirds of the nations present
to pass.
Many Japanese including myself have felt relieved to hear this news. But
people of Japan must have admitted the need to restrict catching of bluefin
tuna in someway for they are decreasing in number not only in Atlantic Ocean
but all over the world. Japan is the country that tries to preserve
many of ocean natural resources including bluefin tuna and a cultivation
technique for bluefin tuna has already been developed in Japan. So such move
to ban trade of tuna at this time is even a good opportunity for Japan to
commercialize such cultivation techniques worldwide in another way.
But problems are not only limited to trade ban of bluefin tuna. Once such
move would have prevailed worldwide, another move to ban trade another kind
of tuna and another fishes may occur one after another. That will endanger
life of Japanese people who rely on fish so much to keep taking necessary
protein. Japanese eat meat and chicken as well as fish but eat more fish
rather than meat and chicken as source of protein . That is said to be a major
reason why Japanese tend to live longer compared with other foreigners.
Once such move to restrict to catch fish under the name of preserving natural
resources become stronger worldwide, the life of Japanese people will face
crisis in many ways. It is Japanese people who know and understand the
necessity to keep fish resources to keep their food in the long run. People
in fishery business have made all sorts of effort so far and will make many
more efforts to keep bluefin tuna not only in Atlantic Ocean but also in all
over oceans in the world regardless the rejection of such move at the
Convention at this time.
There exists another worry now for Japanese as far as ocean resourece are
concerned. That is the issue concerned with whale. The issue is more
serious even referred to as "whale war". Sea Shepherd Conservation Society's
campaign against Japanese whalers off the coast of Antarctica. Sea Shephrd
Conservation Society disputes the Japanese claim that the whaling performed
in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary is legally accepted research, and
contend that it is instead banned commercially based whaling. Sea Shepherd has
been both criticized and praised for tactics which include staging events,
disseminating propaganda, throwing glass bottles of butyric acid at, boarding,
and attempting to disable the Japanese vessels. The captain was finally
arrested by Japanese police but that even become a good campaign for Sea
Shepherd to appeal their assertion of conservation of natural resource.
The case of whale catching is more difficult for Japan to appeal to
international society why Japan need to continue whale catching. One of the
ocean resource conservation society in Australia announced recently their
study report saying that research on whale is very possible without catching
whale as Japan do at the moment. Their assertion is quite right as far as
research purpose is concerned.
It is very obvious that any of those whale conservers never admit for any
other countries including Japan to catch whale regardless existence of any
scientific research that assures enough preservation of whale have already
been realized at this moment.
According to their belief, whales are not fish kinds. They are mammal
animals much closer to human being even compared with any other mammal
animals on land. While they eat pigs and cows, they never eat whale. Why not?
Japanese never understand why those westerners have such way of eating habits
and way of thinking. On the other hand, those westerners never understand why
Japanese eat whale meat and they insist it is a kind of long established
Japanese food culture. They must have thought that it is very barbarous
habits as a matter of fact.
Japanese catch whale to eat, not to make some studies. Why they don't insist
this more clearly to the world. If there exist enough whale now as natural
resources, what is wrong to catch them to eat.
It is not any scientific debate of any kind . It may be a sort of religious belief
and way of thinking about life. It is not only the issue of food cultures but
it is the issue of cultures related with social life and religious way of
thinking.
If Japan wish to continue to catch whale to make it source of natural food
resources, Japan must make up mind to start making very scientific debate
based on very objective statistical facts. But that debate cannot avoid any
of some basic discussion concerned with some delicate way of thinking on
life including religious point of views.
It is not just a question of food cultures but it involves a question of
such very difficult and delicate issues as a matter of fact.
2010/3/20
Tadashi HAYASE
My Opinion of this week(673):
Fundamental argument is necessary for Japan Post reform
Minister for Postal Reform Shizuka Kamei, who is a staunch opponent of
postal privatization, has seized the initiative in a review of postal
reform. Following the appointment of a former bureaucrat as president
of Japan Post Holdings, Kamei again appears to be overriding resistance
from the DPJ. He announced his Japan Post reform plan on Thursday.
The plan seeks to raise the postal savings ceiling from \10 million per
person to \20 million and the life insurance coverage ceiling from \13
million to \25 million. Kamei wants the government to retain more than
one-third of its shares in Japan Post Holdings Co., with the holding
company keeping stakes in its banking and insurance units.
Sengoku and other ministers called for a reconsideration of the ceiling
hikes for saving amount at Japan Post Bank, saying "it's a matter that
involves the Cabinet as a whole. Open discussions should be carried out on
Japan Post Bank and Japan Post Insurance."
Kamei told in press conference : "I announced it because I got the prime
minister's approval. As a member of the Hatoyama Cabinet, I never make
such announcements against the prime minister's wishes."
Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has pointed to the need to thoroughly discuss
the issue later evening at press conference denying the fact that he
approved Kamei's plan already. Here we go again. This is another case of
disagreement in opinion among Hatoyama cabinet members. Disagreement in
opinions is OK within the cabinet if that is not disclosed. Any disclosure
of decision should be done after through discussion and formal approval of
Prime Minister as far as cabinet matters are concerned.
There has occurred so many such confusions in Hatoyama cabinet since its
birth last fall. Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama is virtually responsible
for such confusions due to his usual ambiguous expression and careless wording.
He must have warned Kamei not to announce his plan until through discussion
is made among cabinet members. He must have rest assured that there exists
already a certain agreement on the matter in the cabinet because Kazuhiro
Haraguchi, Minister of Internal Affairs and Kohei Otuka, Deputy Minister of
Financial Service Agency, are said to cooperate to make Kamei's plan.
Regardless any excuse or justification, Prime Minister Hatoyama is fully
responsible for what happened on this case. He seems to lack the understanding
about the importance of this case. The matter is not only the issue of postal
reform but also the issue of configuration of state.
Postal reform was the main issue of general election made by Koizumi Cabinet
in September 2005. Junichiro Koizumi, the then Prime Minister won overall
victory in the election appealing privatization of postal service. Japan Post
was reorganized so that various services such as post, banking, insurance were
basically privatized. Several members of Liberal Democratic Party at that time
were against the privatization of Japan Post and formed People's New Party.
Sizuka Kamei, Representative of the party, joined coalition with Democratic
Party of Japan together with Social Democratic Party when Hatoyama Cabinet
was formed last fall. Shizuka Kamei gained a big power to reverse the
privatization scheme of Japan Post by becoming minister in charge of postal
reform affairs.
It is sure that people are not necessarily for all privatization plan made by
Koizumi Cabinet. There must be some reforms necessary as Sizuka Kamei insists.
He appeals, for example, the necessity to improve so called "universal
services" by Japan Post all over Japan. A lot of such universal services have
been lost since Japan Post had been privatized. Many people, including myself,
admit such necessity to a certain degree.
The basic question rest with the reform plan suggested by Shizuka Kamei,
though. Why is it necessary to raise postal savings ceiling from \10 million
per person to \20 million to improve universal service for people all over
Japan? Why is it necessary for government to remain big shareholders? Any of
those services banking, insurance and even post are now provided by many
private firms. Why are those services to be provided by state ownership?
Although there exists some necessity to reform services provided by Japan
Post at the moment for the benefits of people, is state ownership still
and very necessary to attain such purpose? I don't think so.
As a matter of fact, DPJ once proposed to decrease the postal deposit ceiling
to 5 million yen rather than 10 million yen. Do they change their basic policy
as such with agreement to accept Kamei's plan?
As far as my understanding is concerned, people of this country and DPJ in
total are for privatization of Japan Post rather than state ownership. Does
DPJ come back for state owned Japan Post?
It is a big question by itself. It is not only a simple issue on whether or
not Hatoyama Cabinet accept Kamei's plan. It is the question to select
configuration of the state to go from now on. It is a big question for people
of Japan and a big question for ruling DPJ.
All matters are messed up so much in Hatoyama cabinet. The editor of Sankei
Newspaper on March 25th wrote that Hatoyama Cabinet should put all matters
back to drawing board as far as this Japan Post matters are concerned.
I totally agreed with the concept of the editorial.
2010/3/27
Tadashi HAYASE
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