My opinion of this week(494):
Disparity of vote-value is not unconstitutional
I make it custom to write BLOG by picking up topics from Yahoo net
news every morning these days. I had no problem to pick up various
interesting topics in this week such as South Korea's declaration to
make possible nuclear weapon test, appointment of South Korea's foreign
minister for next Secretary General of UN, defeat of DEEPIMPACT at horse
race in Paris, etc.
But there was one very important news topic which was not appeared
in the front page of Yahoo news on Thursday.I thought it is one of the
most important topic on that day and wrote BLOG on that topic.
That is the news about the judgment of the Supreme Court on the disparity
of vote-value. Several local citizens brought the suit to courts insisting
the election of the House of Councils conducted in 2004 is not valid for
the disparity in the number of voters per representation reached to maximum
5.13 times.
The Supreme Court supported the judgment of district and high court that
said the disparity of vote-value of that level is not unconstitutional.
There was a special remark attached to the judgment, though. The remark
requested early improvement of such disparity based on the action of
national diet. Five judges out of total fifteen judges who participated
in the decision voted that the disparity is unconstitutional.
I thought that the decision by the Supreme Court is not quite right. It
is quite natural for the Supreme Court to attach a special remark for
early improvement of such disparity. But it is not good enough. Such
disparity has already existed for many years in the election system in
this country. The improvement has been conducted only very slowly.
It seems that such big disparity is obviously unconstitutional from
legal point of view. But courts seemed to make such decision to avoid
social and political confusion provided that the disparity is judged
unconstitutional. It is quite a political judgment rather than a legal
one. That's not the way as it is.
The judiciary function should be independent from legislative and
administrative process. The function of judiciary system is to
watch the whole process of distractive and legislative divisions
so that is not against what laws require. Their judgment should
not be political in any sense.
Regardless this court decision, there were no much voice heard from
political worlds both from ruling and opposition front. The matter must
be very delicate for any political parties and lawmakers. All seem to
like keeping status quo as far as this issue is concerned.
I wrote this in my BLOG on Thursday. I was satisfied a little bit
to find editorial of Asahi News paper asserting generally same way as
I wrote in the BLOG.
2006/10/7
Tadashi HAYASE
My opinion of this week(495):
Judgment for the cause of justice
I would like to start this column by referring Yahoo news on Thursday
this week.
"There was a judgment on the case of kidnap of eight years old young
child by an old and wife happened in 2001 at Sapporo. As a matter of
fact the kidnapped girl is a grand daughter of this old couple. The
couple took away the girl from her parent after some serious arguments
and brought her back to their home insisting that it was to protect
the young girl from possible physical abusive treatment by her parents.
The local court sentenced 10 month imprisonment to the old couple for
that action and the upper court supported the judgment. The prosecutor
condemned the case saying it is a serious crime which worth 10 months
imprisonment sentence without stay of execution. The old couple
ripped off the basic right of infant girl without any consent of parent.
It was a kind of a crime without selecting any means to attain one's
purpose.
The case was brought into the supreme court for the final decision. The
supreme court reversed the decision made by the upper court. 10 month
imprisonment was suspended. The court said the judgment made by the
upper courts was not right. The old couple was a guardian to the child
as a matter of fact. The girls was in a dangerous position to get some
brutal treatment by the parents. Facts finding made by upper and local
courts are against justice." --Jijitushin October 11.
The judgment is the final one at any rate and I was quite impressed
with the decision made by the supreme court on this case. I did not
know such case happened in 2001. There are a number of abuse treatments
case for infant children these days. Many offenseless children have
been killed by brutal young couples. In many cases, children of mothers
are divorced and married again with new young men. Children of mothers
tend to face danger of getting maltreatment by new fathers.
This case happened in 2001 at Sappro seemed to be a typical one as
such. A lot of fact finding process about the case must have been done
by the supreme court to decide the case. No grandparents exist who
just wanted to take away their grandchildren from their parents
without any reason. It was probably the only way they could choose
to protect the infant child.
The supreme court should have decided to say that the grandparents
are not guilty rather than just changing the actual imprisonment
to suspension. But the court might have considered the judgment
made by upper and local courts based on legal point of view.
I was personally very impressed and satisfied with the court decision
at this time. I would like to hear opinion of my net friends on
this column of the week.
2006/10/14
Tadashi HAYASE
Possible possession of nuclear weapon by Japan
Foreign Minister Taro Aso said although Japan has basically no plans of
possessing, developing and allowing nuclear weapons on Japanese soil, it is
necessary to generate debate on the possibility for Japan to acquire nuclear
weapons to establish the safety of the nation. "When a neighboring country is
going to have nuclear weapons, one cannot refuse to even consider the matter.
He told a Diet committee. "But I think it is important to discuss the issue."
The comment followed a similar one made by Shoichi Nakagawa, a top official
of ruling Liberal Democratic Party,who suggested to discuss the matter more
openly without making it as taboo as in the past.
I was not surprised at all personally when I heard such comments made by
those two but expected some serious arguments would occur inside and outside
of the county. Asahi Newspaper criticized Aso and Nakagawa saying their
statements were not quite appropriate to make at this time in their editorial
on Thursday. Opposition camp also issued several messages of denunciation on it.
Prime Minister Abe commented on those movement saying that Japan would not
build a nuclear bomb and that debate of this kind "finished" now. I
understood this movement is well prepared by those top leaders without any
meeting beforehand. I thought each men played their roles as required.
It is also very interesting to see the reaction of international world on this
development. President Bush showed some concern over those movement in
Japan and expressed the agreement to China that worried the possibility of nuclear
armament of Japan. But Bush sent Rice, Secretary of State to Japan and
declared US would protect Japan without fail from any attack possibly made
from North Korea. The intention of US is obvious. They said they would make
counter attack to North Korea if they use nuclear weapon against Japan. This
is a clear message from US to North Korea.
China knows this scenario as well and is cooperating US and Japan as far as
this matter is concerned. China wish Japan would never hold nuclear weapons
and they know that would not happen. But they still suspect some possibilities
remain for Japan to have nuclear weapon in response to the case happened in
North Korea.
China has underestimated Japan's diplomatic power in one way or the other
in recent years. But it is now a good opportunity for Japan to push China
back to establish more normal diplomatic relationship.
It is necessary for Japan to use this nuclear armament card to improve
diplomatic relation with China , South Korea, and Russia. It may be only
a kind of tactic rather than a strategy. But now is a good opportunity to
reconsider total safety and security of this country in relationship of
those of related and neighboring countries.
I agree with Aso and Nakawaga's assertion that any of those discussion
on nuclear weapon should not be frozen from various point of views.
Why not?
2006/10/21
Tadashi HAYASE
My opinion of this week(497):
Improvement of Japanese education system
Some 20,000 or more of senior high school students at many of the nation's
top schools may not be able to graduate next March and past graduates may
not have qualified for their diplomas because the schools have not been
teaching all the compulsory subjects, according to a tally that continued
mounting Thursday. The same cases have been found in many other
high schools all over Japan.
When I heard this news, I remembered the case happened in construction
business early this year.Many buildings including business hotels and
condominium buildings were found that their earthquake protection
were not good enough as law required. It became very big social and
political issues all over the country.
Compared with these cases of buildings that are directly concerned
with the life of people, such happenings at school seemed to be not
quite important because no life of people is in danger. Some
people may have thought that way.
That's wrong, of course. That happened in high school and many principals
of high school are responsible for what happened. They are against
the education laws set by the Ministry of Education and Science.
Japan is the country where we see many discrepancy between what one
says on the surface and real intention. The case happened at high school
at this time is typical example as such.
One of a principal of high school who appeared at news conference
explained the case unapologetically. He said his school set annual
curriculum so that students can meet the need of center college
entrance examination in which no such subject as world history
and some others which the school did not teach are not required.
That is the reason why they omitted to include those subjects in the
annual curriculum. The principal looked like to say what wrong with it.
I was quite astonished to see that interview and felt this is another
typical example of the case of the big discrepancy between what one
says on the surface and real intention. But how can those principals
justify such vices of Japanese custom. What the Ministry of Education
and Science said is the legal requirement for sure.
Once any of such cases have been disclosed, many other same cases
tend to be found in this country. Some of those case found so far
seem to be as just the tip of the iceberg.
After those cases have been disclosed, education boards of each
prefectures announced that they would punish some of those principal
who did not follow the rule. But I believe that those local education
boards surely knew what had been done at school in their curriculum
settings to a certain degree . They must have known some reality
beforehand. But they did not take any proper action so far until
such case had been disclosed.
Then, high officials of the Ministry of Education have started saying
that they must investigate how education boards are functioning to
control schools to let them follow the rule of national education system.
Yasuhisa Shiozaki, Secretary General of Abe Cabinet said in the press
conference that the Reclamation Committee of Japanese Education System
would start to investigate of education board system itself from now on.
They must investigate all other education system including the case
happened at this time, the center college examination system and so on.
The committee must discuss the validity of Japanese college education
system, too. There are many criticism concerning Japanese college education
system as well.
Starting education at kindergarten, all phase of Japanese education
system including elementary and junior high school that is compulsory,
and high school and college education are now in question.
The work of Reclamation Committee of Japanese Education System is so large.
It is a huge and time consuming work by itself. But we must wait their
important works to be done to find the way to improve total education
system in this country.
2006/10/28
Tadashi HAYASE
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