Fwd: New issue of Japan Echo available on the Web

[Ono Seiko and Aaron Gerow]

A cross-post from H-Japan.  The new issue of Japan Echo includes an essay 
on _Pride_.

---------------- Begin Forwarded Message ----------------
From: Misaka Kaoru <misaka at japanecho.co.jp>
Subject: New issue of Japan Echo available on the Web

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New issue of Japan Echo available on the Web
============================================

A new issue of the electronic journal _Japan Echo_ is now available on the
Web at http://www.japanecho.co.jp

This is what you will find in the new issue:
--------------------------------------------
Vol. 25, No. 5, October 1998

FROM THE EDITOR

CHRONOLOGY (July-August 1998)
--------------------------------------------
THE LDP'S ELECTORAL SETBACK (MASUZOE Yoichi)
The Upper House Election: How the LDP Went Down to Defeat (KABASHIMA Ikuo)
	Before the July 12 House of Councillors election nobody had
imagined that the ruling Liberal Democratic Party would suffer such a
decisive setback. The LDP won only 45 seats, ending up with 16 fewer than 
it
had held before the election and far short of a majority. One factor cited
by many observers was the unexpectedly high rate of voter turnout. Many of
those who voted in this election but not the last one were independents, 
and
relatively few of them voted for the LDP. The biggest gainers were the
relatively new Democratic Party of Japan and the Japanese Communist Party.

An Alternative Agenda from a Senior Liberal Democrat (KAJIYAMA Seiroku)
	Following the LDP's resounding electoral defeat, Prime Minister
Hashimoto Ry?aro promptly announced his intention of resigning. One of 
the
three candidates in the race to succeed him as party president was 
Kajiyama
Seiroku, who had stepped down late in 1997 as chief cabinet secretary and
had been calling, as in this article, for a bolder program to deal with 
the
instability in Japan's financial system. The ?30 trillion in standby 
funding
prepared by the government to shore up financial institutions has not been
used effectively, Kajiyama declares; he calls for full disclosure of 
banks?
outstanding loans by category of soundness, combined with action to either
close down the weaker banks or split them up for takeover by other
institutions.

>From Foreign Minister to Prime Minister (OBUCHI Keizo)
	Obuchi Keizo, the successful candidate in the race to succeed
Hashimoto, looks back on his term as minister for foreign affairs, noting
that domestic affairs clearly come first in Japan's case, in contrast to 
the
priority given to foreign affairs in major Western countries. To deal with
the problems in Japan's economy Obuchi calls for supply-side stimulus,
including the creation of an environment conducive to innovative activity,
and revision of the tax system. On the international front he urges
continued emphasis on conclusion of a peace treaty with Russia. He rues 
the
lack of public trust in politics and declares that political leaders must
reestablish the primacy of their authority over the bureaucracy.
--------------------------------------------
A NEW NUCLEAR ARMS RACE? (AOKI Shuzo)
Japan's Firm Nonnuclear Resolve (NAKASONE Yasuhiro)
	A former prime minister often viewed as a "hawk" reacts to the
nuclear tests by India and Pakistan with a reaffirmation of the 
correctness
of Japan's policy of not acquiring nuclear weapons. Both Japan and Germany
have the resources to build nuclear arsenals of their own if they so
desired, but they have not done so; this has sent a positive message to
people around the world. The end of the cold war has changed the 
environment
for nuclear weapons, and the international community is shifting its 
sights
toward the creation of a world where they will be superfluous. The
power-based logic of nuclear deterrence and parity is becoming an
anachronism. Japan's nonnuclear policy is one that the Japanese people
should be proud of.
--------------------------------------------
THE ECONOMY AFTER HASHIMOTO  Nariai Osamu
Competition Is Just What the Economy Needs (TAKEUCHI Yasuo)
	Japan's successful economic system in the decades after World War
II was actually a refined form of socialism. But this system is crumbling
under the weight of change. The only remaining alternative is a shift to
ordinary capitalism, despite its shortcomings, which include business
failures, unemployment, excessive competition, and speculative fever. The
governement should limit itself to the roles that it is capable of 
carrying
out, namely, making and enforcing rules for the game of capitalism and
providing relief for those who cannot help themselves. The Japanese have
tended to see competition as overly harsh, but they must accept it as a 
part
of life.

Structural Reform for Economic Policy Making (UEKUSA Kazuhide)
	Not only did the government authorities fail to diagnose the state
of the economy accurately, but they compounded its problems with their
wrongheaded fiscal policy, which deepened the recession and caused the
budget deficit to grow even larger. In order to revive the economy, the 
most
urgent task is to restore the government's policy-making ability. Power
needs to be wrested from the bureaucracy, and the role of the Diet should 
be
strengthened, along with the functioning of the cabinet. In terms of 
policy
direction, a shift is needed from demand-boosting measures to supply-side
policies aimed at transforming the structure of industry and employment.

Learning to Live with 4% Unemployment (YASHIRO Naohiro)
	The unemployment rate continues to rise. In June it hit 4.3%, the
highest level on record. Joblessness has been on the rise particularly 
among
older workers as a result of corporate restructuring. Because the current
recession comes on the heels of a weak recovery, companies have had less
leeway than before to hold on to their employees. Meanwhile, the decline 
in
the expected growth rate has caused companies to cut back on their hiring 
of
permanent staff. Some fear deregulation will cause unemployment to rise
further, but it should actually lead to the creation of new jobs. The 
proper
approach is a combination of economic stimulus in the short term and moves
to promote competition and the growth of smaller firms in the long term.
--------------------------------------------
JAPAN'S FINANCIAL MISMANAGEMENT
Is MOF to Blame for Japan's "Second Defeat"? (KISHI Nobuhito)
	With the collapse of its "bubble economy," Japan has suffered a
blow that some compare to its defeat in World War II. And just as after 
the
war, the U.S. government has adopted a commanding tone in telling Tokyo 
what
needs to be done. The biggest blame for this defeat lies with the Ministry
of Finance. Its monetary and fiscal policies allowed speculative bubbles 
to
form in the 1980s, and when the bubbles burst early in the 1990s, it was 
too
late in its moves to deal with the aftermath. Furthermore, revelations of
corrupt behavior by MOF bureaucrats have been coming out one after 
another,
sharply eroding public trust not just in MOF but in the entire 
bureaucratic
system of which it has been the linchpin. The first step toward restoring
the ministry's status is to implement greater disclosure, revealing how
mistakes occurred and what their consequences were.
--------------------------------------------
THE WORLD OF YORO TAKESHI (AOKI Shuzo)
The Limits of Urbanism (YORO Takeshi)
	The campus unrest of the late 1960s in Japan was generally
seen as a struggle between "establishment" and "antiestablishment" forces,
or betewen "left" and "right." But the real conflict was between ruralism
and urbanism. The students of the time were unconsciously promoting the
cause of urbanization, while the universities were not adapting to this
trend. The same dichotomy of urban versus rural can be seen, for example,
between the Jews and the Nazi Germans and between Deng Xiaoping and Mao
Zedong. Since World War II the process of urbanization has swept across
Japan, and now the country is on the verge of becoming one big city,
incapable of supporting itself if its supply lines are cut. The world 
cannot
live by cities alone.
--------------------------------------------
ESSAY
A New Angle on War Crimes (KAWACHI Takashi)
	A film that focuses on the trial of Prime Minister Tojo Hideki as
a war criminal after World War II has turned into a box-office hit in 
Japan.
It makes us think again of the nature of crimes against humanity and to
wonder at the United States' refusal to support the establishment of the
International Criminal Court.