FROM THE EDITOR

AUGUST 15 In his campaign for the presidency of the Liberal Democratic Party in 2001, Koizumi Jun’ichirô pledged that if he became prime minister he would visit Yasukuni Shrine to pay respects to the war dead on August 15, the anniversary of the end of World War II. Every year since then he has visited the controversial shrine, but in an effort to temper foreign criticism, he has picked other dates. This year, though, with the end of his premiership looming, he chose to go on August 15, thereby fulfilling his original promise.

As most readers well know, the reason Yasukuni is controversial is that since 1978 those convicted as class A war criminals after World War II have been enshrined along with those who died fighting for Japan. The governments of China and South Korea have been especially critical of visits by Japan’s top political leader to this shrine. They were quick to condemn Koizumi’s August 15 visit, but their response seems to have been relatively muted, probably because they were looking ahead to the next administration, which will be formed by the victor in the September LDP presidential election.

Within Japan, all the major daily newspapers except the Sankei Shimbun have come out against visits to Yasukuni by the prime minister. Public opinion on the subject is split, but various polls conducted after Koizumi’s most recent visit showed positive assessments slightly outnumbering the negative ones, the reverse of the results of polls prior to August 15. However, a majority said they opposed visits by Koizumi’s successor.

One finds a great diversity of opinion about the issue of Yasukuni Shrine. Some have called for the construction of a new national memorial facility to honor the war dead. The Japan War-Bereaved Families Association, which is the biggest organization supporting the shrine, has opposed this idea, but it has recently decided to consider the possibility of bunshi, or “separate enshrinement,” which would mean transferring the spirits of the class A war criminals to a different shrine. This is seen as one way of settling the controversy about Yasukuni and ensuring its survival.

The three announced candidates in the upcoming election to succeed Koizumi have somewhat different opinions about Yasukuni. Chief Cabinet Secretary Abe Shinzô considers bunshi unnecessary. Minister of Finance Tanigaki Sadakazu has said that he would refrain from visiting Yasukuni while prime minister. And Minister for Foreign Affairs Asô Tarô has come out with a specific proposal calling for the shrine to voluntarily give up its present status as an incorporated religious institution and to have the class A war criminals separately enshrined.

The issue of Yasukuni is one that the Japanese people themselves need to settle by seriously thinking about responsibility for World War II, the events that led up to it, and the proper way to honor the war dead.

ABE’S POPULARITY For the past couple of months, since the National Diet ended its regular session in June, the focus of attention on the domestic political scene has been directed on the selection of Koizumi’s successor in the September LDP presidential election. Originally former Chief Cabinet Secretary Fukuda Yasuo was widely expected to be a candidate, but in July he announced that he would stay out of the race, leaving the field to the three contenders mentioned above. Opinion surveys have shown Abe holding a strong lead over the other two, which he has been strengthening as the election approaches.

Unfortunately, neither Tanigaki nor Asô offers a platform differing substantially from Abe’s, and so the contest does not offer a vigorous debate on policy issues. And the majority of the LDP’s Diet members have climbed on to the Abe bandwagon, hoping to be rewarded for their support after Abe takes the helm. This is a poor way to go about winning popular interest and trust in the political process.

Abe, who has been a national legislator since 1993, was appointed chief cabinet secretary in 2005. He has held no other cabinet posts, though, and some question the extent of his political talents. Furthermore, his stance on visits by the prime minister to Yasukuni and the more general question of the shrine’s status as the prime memorial for the war dead has remained rather unclear. In fact, he seems to have been striving to avoid letting Yasukuni become an issue in the LDP race.

Why does Abe enjoy substantial popularity among the general public? This dates back to the early part of the Koizumi administration, when as deputy chief cabinet secretary, he was one of the key players in negotiations with North Korea on the issue of that country’s past abductions of Japanese nationals. He became well known for his hard- line stance toward Pyongyang, which he has kept up. This year, when North Korea launched a number of missiles on July 5, Japan pushed strongly for the adoption of a United Nations Security Council resolution condemning this act, and it also adopted unilateral sanctions against North Korea, notably the banning of its Mangyongbong ferry from Japanese ports. Abe reportedly was instrumental in pushing for this firm response, working closely with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Japan submitted a Security Council draft resolution together with Britain, France, and the United States to condemn North Korea’s launches and demand that it halt them. In the face of a threatened Chinese veto, this resolution was revised to exclude reference to Chapter 7 of the UN Charter, which would have allowed the use of military force to secure compliance. Some observers have suggested that Japan was forced to accept a US-China compromise on this issue. But within Japan the fact that the final draft was approved unanimously by the Security Council on July 15 was widely hailed as a victory for the strategic diplomacy that Abe has pursued. This outcome was particularly appealing to the domestic public because it contrasted with the common perception that Japan always merely follows America’s lead. Those who support Abe, a self-acknowledged “hawk,” hope that he will build a Japan that holds its head high on the international scene. If, as now seems highly likely, he becomes prime minister, I hope he will create an administration that also has the flexibility to listen to a wide range of opinions about dealing with the pressing issues that need to be tackled within Japan, particularly the restoration of fiscal balance and reform of the social security system.

The Democratic Party of Japan, the top opposition force, is also about to hold a presidential election. But the September 25 event has attracted little attention, because nobody has emerged to challenge incumbent leader Ozawa Ichirô. Of more interest to the public is the question of how the DPJ will fare in this October’s by-elections for the House of Representatives and next summer’s House of Councillors election.

HUMAN RESOURCES On August 8 the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare released its latest White Paper on the Labor Economy. Among the reported findings was a marked increase in the share of nonregular employment among those in their twenties. For the 20–24 age group the share came to 31.8%, about three times the figure for 1992, and for the 25–29 age group the number was 22.7%, about twice the 1992 figure. Meanwhile, the share of those earning less than ¥1.5 million a year rose from 15.3% to 21.8% of 20–29-year-olds.

Young people with insufficient incomes are likely to end up continuing to live with their parents, unable to become independent. They are also likely to stay single, contributing to the decline in the birthrate.

Japan, which lacks natural resources, must above all make good use of its human resources. The differences in treatment of regular and nonregular employees need to be corrected, and employers need to show greater flexibility, particularly with respect to working hours, to match the diverse needs of male and female workers at various stages of their lives.

To conclude on a cheerful note, the people of Japan rejoiced at the news that Princess Akishino (Kiko), consort of the emperor’s second son, gave birth on September 6 to a new member of the imperial family, a baby boy. Under the present system of patrilineal male succession the new prince is third in line to the imperial throne. We wish him a healthy and happy future. (Iwao Sumiko)

© 2006 Japan Echo Inc.