Let's Japan.org Debunking Eikaiwa and Ramblings in Japan

Let's Japan has been lucky in the past to have others share their stories here. For 2010, LJ introduces the Kotatsu Commentator, who will be adding his voice here.
-Shawn

The Japanese government is in the middle of a delicate balancing act. Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and his coalition government are busy making inroads in a rising tide of Asian power, while preserving the close diplomatic relations with the empire that has helped provide their current prosperity.

The positive developments have been on the side of increasing the Japanese profile in Asian affairs, but many speculators and political junkies believe this move has come at the cost of Japanese/ American bilateral relations. Hatoyama had the opportunity to discuss Asian affairs with his counterparts, Primier Wen Jiabao of China, and President Lee Myung-bak of Korea at the second Japan-China-ROK trilateral summit meeting in October of 2009.

At the press conference following the summit, Wen Jiabao was the first to speak, "Through this summit, the future direction for Japan-China-ROK cooperation has become clearer, the content of that cooperation has been further enriched, and our determination is now firmer than ever before. I am convinced that the future of our trilateral cooperation will become even more attractive through the joint efforts of our three countries' leaders, governments, and citizens." (1)

Japanese relations with both South Korea and China have had a strained and difficult past, but recent agreements and moves by the three signals that they value each other, as a cornerstone in the development of a strong and prosperous Asia.

Hatoyama, speaking at an APEC conference in Singapore in November commented at great length about the growing relations with Asian countries. He has been increasingly forward in his hopes for Asian cooperation and growing diplomatic and economic relations. He has been a leading voice on developing a more powerful East Asian community. In Singapore the Prime Minister said the following regarding relations with China and South Korea, "We should be encouraged by the fact that the ASEAN countries, China, the Republic of Korea and others have begun to play a constructive role in the region and in the entire international community while working together to promote their economic development." Hatoyama then went on to say, "United States has been playing and will continue to play an important role in ensuring the peace and prosperity of Asia, including Japan." (2)

Hatoyama, shortly after being elected even suggested that an East Asian Union be created, based on the European model. Under the proposal, Hatoyama proposed the eventual introduction of a single currency for the Union, but noted the introduction of such a Union would take time.

Huo Jiangang, a scholar studying Japanese Relations at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, "(has) listed the Korean Peninsular nuclear issue, free-trade agreements and unified currency among numerous difficulties before such a community is initiated. He also told the China Daily the following during an interview in September of 2009, "It is also hard for China and Japan to trust each other due to different value systems and fierce competition."(3)

The focus on Asia has cost Hatoyama some political capital with Obama and Washington. Hatoyama has in the past few months been busy paying lip-service to his American commitments. Hatoyama has recently said that the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Japan-US security treaty should be viewed as an occasion to expand bilateral relations, according to an article in Tuesday's Japan Times newspaper.(4)

The current squabbling between Washington and Tokyo on the Futenma issue remains to be resolved and could hurt bilateral relations moving forward. According to a 2006 security agreement between Japan and the US, the US Marine Corps Air Station Futenma located in Okinawa was scheduled to be moved Camp Schawb, also in Okinawa. However Hatoyama and his coalition government have reopened the issue, causing tensions in relations.

"The row over the base has underscored the Obama administration’s difficulties in finding common ground with Mr. Hatoyama’s slightly left-leaning Democratic Party government...Mr. Hatoyama has also seemed to pull away from Washington by allowing the Japanese Navy’s mission of refueling American warships in the Indian Ocean to end and telling Asian leaders that Japan has been overly reliant on the United States," writes Martin Fackler in a recent New York Times Article.(5)

As the Japanese government continues to examine the base issue in hopes of finding an amicable solution, officials have been stressing the importance of the US/ Japanese relationship. "Japan's diplomatic priority is to deepen its alliance with the United States, and resolving the disagreement with Washington over the realignment of U.S. forces in Japan is integral to this goal, Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada said in a policy speech Monday." (6)

As Japan moves to warmer relations with China and South Korea, they cannot cause serious and irreparable damage to their relationship with the current global superpower. It is obvious to many that the tide is shifting to a world increasingly run by Asian powers, but the shift will be a gradual one and will place Japan on a tight-rope for the near future. Japan has remained strong economically by being a relative mute power and Hatoyama's policy of strong statements and proposals on both sides of the fence will take a more balanced effort than he has currently provided. Domestically, Hatoyama can move away from American dominance, and remain popular at home. This of course will directly impact the defence of Japan and also could have economic consequences. Moving to a more pronounced role in Asian politics is dangerous long-term for Japan as the history of relations between Japan and China, and Japan and Korea suggests. One thing is clear; Hatoyama is engaged in a delicate balancing act, due to his Asian-centric statements and his countries commitments to American agreements.

(1) http://www.kantei.go.jp/foreign/hatoyama/statement/200910/10JCKkyoudou_e...
(2) http://www.kantei.go.jp/foreign/hatoyama/statement/200911/15singapore_e....
(3) http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2009-09/23/content_8724372.htm
(4) Hongo, Jun. "Budget to be government's top priority." The Japan Times 5 Jan. 2010: A2.
(5) http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/16/world/asia/16japan.html
(6) http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nn20100106a3.html

Here we have the sequel to the 12,000 yen give-away:

The government will give up to 39,000 yen in "eco points" to buyers of eco-friendly home appliances under a new environmental program.

If you think you can use those points to purchase more stuff, just like you would if you were shopping at a major electronics retailer, you'd be mistaken.

Under the plan, buyers of environment-friendly appliances can earn "eco-points," and redeem the points for goods or gift certificates. For example, those who buy a 46-inch digital television set can receive 39,000-yen worth of eco-points, the highest figure available, according to a release by the government.

Buyers, however, have to wait until after June, after the supplementary budget bill for fiscal 2009 passes through the Diet, to find out how to apply for the points, and are likely to be able to redeem the points in July at the earliest. Since consumers were withholding from buying products as they waited for the program to come into effect, the government decided to start the point-earning period earlier than initially set.

Are you kidding me? I'm supposed to happily fork over hundreds of thousands of yen to purchase electronics in exchange for gift certificates? Plus, I have to wait to find out how to apply for the points and for what I can redeem them? They literally have not thought this plan through.

Like the 12,000 yen give-away, eco points aren't going to boost consumption, especially when Japan's manufacturers are posting record losses, people are losing their jobs, and the government publicly mulls raising the consumption tax.

According to the Ministry of Justice, effective April 1, 2010, you will have to show your health insurance card--either kenko kokumin hoken (National Health Insurance) or shakai hoken (Company Health Insurance)--when you apply to renew your visa or change your visa status. If you do not belong to one of these plans, you will be encouraged (forced?) to join or your visa could possibly be revoked.

How do you get coverage? You can apply for kenko kokumin hoken at your ward office; you can apply for shakai hoken through your employer.

It'll be interesting to see how the eikaiwas react to this. For decades, they have avoided enrolling their employees into the system by playing with the number of hours worked per week, a subject that was brought up here back in 2005..

h/t otakuman

Related links

• Employees’ Health Insurance from the Social Insurance Agency
• Public Social Welfare System FAQ from the General Union

The Japan Times recently reported on a proposal to replace the current alien registration card with a new zairyu (residence card). The article notes that the key benefit to foreigners is the extension of the visa from three to five years.

Debito now has scans of the proposal posted on his blog and Joe Jones at Mutant Frog lists the key points:

• Initial registration will still be done at city hall—“to the Minister of Justice by way of the mayor.” Address changes will also be made to the local government where the holder resides, but other updates will go directly to Immigration (or to whichever Justice Ministry office is designated for that purpose).
• Separate re-entry permits will no longer be required for short trips out of Japan, so long as the foreigner has their zairyu card when they return. (Re-entry permits may stick around for use on longer trips out of Japan.)
• Eligibility to work will now clearly show up on the face of the card as either “free to work,” “restricted to activities within status of residence” or “may not work without separate permit.”

The visa extension and easing of re-entry permit requirements are welcome changes, but beyond this, it appears that the changes are minor. The real benefit appear to be for the police and government.

By now, you're no doubt aware of finance minister Shoichi Nakagawa's embarrassing press conference in Rome:

I was going to say something snarky, but the video speaks for itself. Tobias Harris, however, has a more sober perspective:

The bigger question, beyond Mr. Nakagawa's fitness for office, is Aso Taro's capacity for governing. When Mr. Aso named Mr. Nakagawa as his finance minister, I suggested that naming Mr. Nakagawa as finance minister was akin to John McCain's naming Sarah Palin as his running mate — not because Mr. Nakagawa is as abjectly clueless as Mrs. Palin, but because both choices suggested that the choosers were unserious about governing, as they handed important posts to manifestly unqualified individuals for wholly political reasons (Mr. Aso to reward an important ally in the party, Mr. McCain to shore up his support among conservatives and to try to poach disgruntled Hillary voters). Now we learn that Mr. Aso handed an important post in the midst of a "once in a century economic crisis" to not only a political ally with little background or expertise in financial and economic affairs, but to a political ally with little background or expertise in financial and economic affairs struggling with a medical problem that can affect his ability to perform his duties.

Mr. Mori, in the same TV appearance mentioned previously, said that had he not been on a trip to the US when the Aso cabinet formed, he would have protested Mr. Nakagawa's being named the finance minister.

It is too late to lament the original mistake. With the government's committing to the story that Mr. Nakagawa was simply doped up on cold medicine, it may be too late to fix the mistake without mortally wounding a government already nearing death. It is entirely conceivable that this scandal, with its international ramifications (mostly in terms of Japan's pride), could set in motion a train of events that will bring down the government and trigger an election, the final blow to the prime minister's support within his own party.

The LDP is in free fall with Taro Aso's popularity sinking to single-digit territory. Aso has promised that Japan would be the first nation to get out of the recession depression, so who does he send to combat this once-in-a-hundred-years crisis? A man with a known drinking problem.

Given that Japan's economy has dropped off a cliff, maybe getting doped up on booze and meds isn't such a bad idea.

1. Announce massive stimulus package and tell everyone that you're handing out money. Don't say how much everybody is getting. Also mention under your breath that you plan to hike the consumption tax in a few years.
2. Eventually decide that ¥12,000 will be given per person with an extra ¥8,000 for each person 65 or older or 18 or younger, except for high-income households.
3. Tell municipal governments that they are in charge of handing out the cash and determining what constitutes a high-income household.
4. Helpfully suggest that ¥18 million is a high income, but also ask that rich people voluntarily refuse the cash handouts.
5. Ignore your previous advice and suggest that politicians get the ¥12,000 handout, too because they spend a lot of money and are good at stimulating the economy.
6. Argue over the merits of cash handouts while factories close, workers lose their jobs, and the newly unemployed start living in parks.

Who knew that giving away ¥2 trillion would be so complicated?

A recent article in the Sankei Shimbun notes that a committee has been set up by the LDP to review the constitution with a view to amend Article 11 that states dual citizenship is unlawful.