Politics

Why is it that we are not now discussing how the peace and safety of Japan will be defended? I would like for us to discuss the nuclear option.

Those are the words of Liberal Democratic Party policy chief Shoichi Nakagawa on Saturday. Much to the consternation of Japan’s opposition parties, Nakagawa has continued to make his appeal that Japan open the discussion on whether or not to join the nuclear club. Although Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has said there will be no debate and US Secretary of State Condaleezza Rice has said that Japan has no need to build its own nuclear weapons, both Nakagawa and Foreign Minister Taro Aso continue to rasie the issue.

Nakagawa especially seems to be hammering away at the insecurities of the Japanese public, stressing that Japan’s lack of a nuclear deterrent forces Japan to be overly dependent on the United States for defense support. He stressed that by the time a missile is launched, Japan asks the US for help, and the US responds, the missile will have already hit its target in Japan.

Opposition lawmakers have been in a tiff over Aso’s support for Nakagawa’s comments. Kazuo Shii, the Chief Commissioner of the Communist Party of Japan, said that Aso’s tolerance of Nakagawa’s for a nuclear debate has resulted in a wave of both domestic and international criticism, and if he cannot appease such criticism, he ought to resign.

North Korea has said that it does not wish for Japan to take part in the Six Party Talks, if and when they should resume. Calling Japanese officials “political imbeciles” and referring to the country as “no more than a state of the US,” North Korea also condemned the United States as “fanatic warmongers who destroy peace and security on the Korean peninsula.” a spokesman for the North Korean Foreign Ministry declared that “it would be desirable if Japan does not participate in the six-party talks. It’s not a bad idea to decrease the number of attendees to increase the efficiency of the meeting.”

On Friday, the fourth and final day of his visit to Paraguay, Prince Akishino called Paraguay, “The world’s most pro-Japan country.”

Society

In a story that has all but disappeared from any online sources, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare announced on Thursday that it would require all firms operating within Japan to report on any hiring or firing of foreign nationals directly to the ministry, or face a fine of 300,000 yen.

Japan’s national broadcaster, NHK, reported that its World TV service can now be seen in 180 countries. Although 70% of programs are currently subtitled in English, NHK intends for 100% of them to be broadcast with subtitles during 2007.

In a nod to Prime Minister Abe’s plan for a beautiful Japan, the government is planning a package of measures to encourage people who have failed in employment and business ventures to try again. The government plans to give tax breaks to companies that hire ‘failed’ workers, provide pension coverage for part-time workers, and business loan solutions to entrepreneurs who have failed in the past.

Bullying continues to be the scourge of Japan’s schools. On October 11, a student in Fukuoka committed suicide after being bullied by a group of other students. This week, however, parents expressed outrage at the fact that the same group of students appears to be bullying another student with the same tactics. The father of the boy who committed suicide said, “If the same sort of bullying that my son received is going on, it’s unforgivable. We don’t want anybody else to go through that pain.”

Business

Financial markets in Japan were closed on Friday due to a national holiday.

On Thursday, the Financial Services Agency began soliciting bids for Ashikaga Bank, a failed regional bank which has been under state control since 2003. At least four groups of bidders, mainly Japanese banks and other financial institutions, are believed to be interested in acquiring the bank.

Former Cabinet minister Heizo Takenaka, who spearheaded many of Prime Minister Koizumi’s reforms, has returned to a teaching post at Keio University, where he worked before being tapped by Koizumi.

US beef is back in the news: On Friday, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns said that he will push for Japan to remove all age limits on imports of U.S. beef, upping the demand from an earlier call to raise the limit from the current 20 months to 30 months.

Finally, thanks to the Japan Probe blog for introducing us to “I am the Japanese Rightist,” a blog that makes for interesting reading.

That’s the news. Thank you for reading.

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