In this edition of TPR News, we look at Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s offering to the Yasukuni Shrine, the ongoing debate over who should be enshrined at Yasukuni, Yuko Tojo’s candidacy for the Upper House of the Diet, Japan’s auto production, a sexual harassment case involving the Air Self Defense Forces, and more…

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Politics

While he refused to say whether or not he had done so, it was reported that Prime Minister Abe donated 50,000 yen of his own money to Yasukuni Shrine for a masakaki (an offering tree). It was widely speculated that the donation was Abe’s way of dodging the debate over whether or not he would visit the Shrine. His opponents criticized him for not facing up to the consequences of a decision. Mizuho Fukushima of the Socialist Party said Abe was sending a mixed message to other countries. The South Korean government issued a statemement saying they were disappointed and angered by Abe’s actions. The Chinese government said that, while they were not angry, they were disappointed.

A faction of Nihon Izokukai, the association of survivors of Japan’s War dead, expressed confusion and dismay over the inclusion of certain controversial figures’ kami, particularly those of Class A war criminals, in the Shrine, as they did not die in combat or in service to their country, but as old men or having been executed for war crimes. The survivors opposed to the enshrinement of such political and military leaders said their relatives died as a result of having been ordered to their deaths by leaders who did not risk their own lives or safety and find it inappropriate that said leaders are allowed to rest in a place of honor along with their victims.

The Prime Minister’s supporters complained that time was being wasted on the issue.

Yuko Tojo, the granddaughter of Hideki Tojo, has announced that she will run for a set in the Upper House in the upcoming July election. Tojo rejects the validity of the International Military Tribunal for the Far East that led to the conviction of 28 Japanese leaders and sentenced seven of them to death by hanging. Her platform includes changing the view that Japan was ‘entirely bad’ during the war, and fighting for improved conditions for senior citizens.

Concerning her grandfather, Tojo told reporters, “He seemed to be someone who was tenderly concerned for those who were weak, such as children. The image of him as someone who was brutal and a war criminal was created by the occupation forces after the war.”

She has expressed disappointment over current Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s noncommittal stance on whether or not he will visit the Yasukuni Shrine. Speaking on Abe’s offering of a masakaki evergreen to Yasukuni last month, she said:

He should have made the offering and then paid his respects at the shrine. There is no need for half-way measures. Why is it necessary to be afraid? Why is it necessary to show restraint? The spirits of the war dead are weeping.

Defence Minister Fumio Kyuma has said he would not pay his respects at the Yasukuni Shrine so long as the former Prime Minister is enshrined there.

Tojo currently serves as the head of a nonprofit organization involved with environmental conservation.

On Wednesday, South Korean Education Minister Kim Shin-il sent a protest letter to his Japanese counterpart, Education Minister Bunmei Ibuki, expressing concern over the Japanese government’s endorsement of new textbooks that fail to mention the use of sex slaves during World War II. The textbooks have been approved for the 2008 school year. Kim’s letter said that use of the textbooks may have an adverse effect on Japan-South Korean relations.

Also on Wednesday, it was reported that Defense Minister Fumio Kyuma received a threatening letter with a razor blade at some time over the Golden Week holidays. The letter, which was apparently written by an individual, demanded that the head of Japan’s Self-Defense Forces take a stronger stand against the United States. Kyuma has previously caused waves by speaking out against US actions in Iraq and warning that Japan might not renew its Air Self-Defense Forces mission in that country. The letter arrived while Kyuma was in the US, holding meetings with US Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso. In a side note, the letter made no mention of the horribly designed English version of the Ministry of Defense website.

Mitsuhiro Mimura, an associate senior researcher with the Economic Research Institute for Northeast Asia in Niigata published an editorial in the Asahi Shimbun questioning whether Japan’s sanctions on North Korea have had any effect in pressuring the country’s leaders to change their attitude toward Japan. Mimura reports that in March, he visited North Korea for the tenth time, and saw no signs of economic decline. Mimura concludes with the optimistically phrased:

If North Korea abandons its nuclear weapons program and improves the lives of its citizens, Japan should join with the United States to normalize diplomatic relations and send the message that it wants to create an environment for North Korea to be a responsible member of the international community.

Speaking of North Korea, thanks to The Marmot’s Hole for bringing these next two links to our attention: North Korea’s Military Threat: Pyongyang’s Conventional Forces, Weapons of Mass Destruction, and Ballistic Missiles and North Korean Foreign Relations in the Post-Cold War World. Both are publications of the Strategic Studies Institute of the US Army War College.

Business and the Economy

Once again, Japan is the world’s largest producer of automobiles. In 2006, Japan’s auto production surpassed that of the United States for the first time since 1993. Japan previously led the world in automobile production from 1980 to 1993. In related news, Toyota reported that fourth-quarter profit rose by 8.9 percent. The increase was attributed to a weaker yen and increased sales of Corolla compact cars and Camry sedans.

The International Diamond Exchange is reported that in March, Japan imported 193,765 carats worth $86.61 million, down 15.3 percent and 6.3 percent respectively from a year ago. March data shows that a downtrend in Japan’s diamond market has been continuing for a few months now. The value of the average carat, however, has increased from $404.17 a year ago to $446.99 in March 2007.

On Tuesday, the Japan Automobile Importers Association announced that sales of new imported cars had declined a whopping 16% in April when compared to April 2006. The top two import brands, Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz, each posted double-digit declines: Volkswagen was down 23.2% and Mercedes slipped 26.3%. 13,133 imported vehicles were sold in Japan in April, including 36 Ferraris.

According to Bloomberg, Advantage Partners LLC, Japan’s largest buyout fund, is interested in acquiring Tokyo Star Bank for a price in the neighborhood of 290 billion yen ($2.4 billion). If the transaction happens, it will be the nation’s largest bank takeover in two years. Advantage Partners is reportedly considering buying the 67 percent stake in Tokyo Star Bank that is currently held by US-based hedge fund Lone Star.

On Wednesday, the Cabinet Office announced its monthly Index of Business Conditions, and the leading index revealed that the economy may begin to cool off over the next three to six months. Japan’s economy watchers are concerned over slowdowns in GDP growth, exports, shrinking US demand for electronics and cars from Japan and sluggish consumer spending here in Japan. For more detailed writeups on this report and what it means, please visit Bloomberg or Japan Economy News.

On Monday, the Japan Patent Office released a survey claiming that in fiscal 2005, China was the largest offender when it came to the pirating of Japanese products. According to the Asahi Shimbun, the survey revealed that 65.4 percent of companies and organizations that experienced an infringement of copyright due to pirated versions of products blamed China for making the illegal copies. 22 percent of respondents to the Patent Office survey reported suffering financial losses due to piracy.

Society

Nearly six weeks after the murder of Lindsay Ann Hawker, police have released a video showing prime suspect Tatsuya Ichihashi riding the elevator in his apartment building in Ichikawa. According to the BBC, the footage was taken in the days before Miss Hawker’s murder occured. (Click here to watch the footage in a popup window.)

When school bullying was a headline-grabbing issue a few months ago, TPR took great umbrage at the practice of encouraging victims to move, change schools, or stay away from school while bullies went relatively unpunished. We also noted that such practices and such a de facto acceptance of bullying was not limited to schools or children.

The Sapporo District Court will now hear such a case involving the military and molestation. A 21-year-old airman first class in the ASDF is suing the government, saying she was pressured to resign from the SDF after reporting having been groped by a 32-year-old staff sergeant.

According to the suit, the sergeant called her, drunk, at 2:30 a.m., asked her to meet him, and fondled her breast. When she complained to her superior, she was told she could no longer work int he SDF if her relations with the sergeant had gone sour. The airman filed a complaint with ASDF law enforcement, but the ASDF said it was unable to comment as it had not yet received the suit against the government.

On September 13, 1974, Haruo Wako, now 58, and two members of the Japanese Red Army stormed the French Embassy in The Hague, took eleven hostages, shot and seriously wounded two police officers, and demanded the release of a Japanese man imprisoned in France for passport forgery. The French released the prisoner and all four men fled. One, Junzo Okudaira, also now 58, has never been caught.

A year later, in August 1975, Wako and the Red Army took over the diplomatic compound in Kuala Lumpur, taking fifty hostages, and demanding the release of five Red Army members in prison in Japan for various crimes, including passport forgery. After the Red Army shot two police officers and a guard, Prime Minister Takeo Miki had the prisoners released.

In 1997, Wako was arrested in Lebanon for being in the country illegally and, you guessed it, passport forgery. In March 2005, he was sentenced to life in prison in Tokyo. He appealed on the grounds that he was not guilty of attempted murder because had not intended to kill any of the hostages. On Wednesday, his life sentence was upheld.

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