Former Priest Peter Chalk's Victims In Japan and Australia

 

Chalk's Mugshot in Melbourne June 15

It has been a 29 year struggle to extradite Australian Peter Chalk from Japan to Australia to face charges that as a priest he molested 10 children in Sydney, Melbourne, and Canberra. Chalk was a priest in the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart (or MSC). This order, which is sometimes known as the "Sacred Heart Fathers", operates some parishes and schools in Australia. The order provides opportunities for its Australian priests to travel overseas. At any one time, a significant proportion of the order's Australian priests are serving in Asia. Since 1952, the MSC order's Australian province has conducted missionary activities in Japan.

According to the annual editions of the Australian Catholic Directory, in the 1970s Father Peter Chalk was listed as residing (with about seven other MSC priests) in the "Sacred Heart Monastery", at Croydon in Melbourne's east. This monastery was involved in the training of priests for the MSC order.

During the late 1970s, Chalk also ministered at a nearby parish (St Anne's), conducted by the MSC order, serving the suburbs of Park Orchards and Warrandyte. As part of his role in that parish, Father Peter Chalk conducted a youth group, which included young teenagers as young as 12 or 13.

About 1980, Father Peter Chalk was listed as an assistant priest at another MSC parish — St John the Apostle, Kippax, in . While in Canberra, he undertook a course of Japanese studies.

During this time, some persons who had encountered Father Peter Chalk in Australia in the 1970s (either as a member of a parish youth group or as a young trainee for the priesthood) spoke to Chalk's superiors and colleagues about being raped and molested.

For example, one former youth-club member (Peter) says that in the 1970s, when he was aged 12 onwards, he encountered Father Peter Chalk in youth activities. He says that in 1977, Chalk had raped him on three separate occasions to the new parish priest in charge of Melbourne's Park Orchards parish, Father Frederick Van Gestel.

Fred Van Gestel, who has since left the priesthood, passed Peter's report on to MSC superiors, including Father James Fallon. Fallon was then one of the most senior priests in the MSC order's Australian province; and he is believed to have been a friend of Chalk. In 1979, the MSC office in Melbourne received 3 more complaints that Chalk had molested 2 boys aged 9 and 13, and a girl aged 10.

In 1981, Chalk was listed in the Australian Catholic Directory as being on the staff of the Yarra Theological Union (an ecclesiastical college) in Box Hill, Melbourne.

In the early 1982, the Australian MSC office arranged for Peter Chalk to work in its overseas operations in Japan. His name was deleted from the 1983 Australian Catholic Directory this directory noted Chalk as “being assigned overseas”.

In 1994, a young boy and his parents contacted the police in Tokyo and made a sworn, signed statement about sexual abuse at the hands of Chalk. The Tokyo police then interviewed and obtained written statements from another boy who had been in Chalk's parish.

The complainants were investigated and then suddenly the police and prosecutors received notice from Archdiocese of Tokyo lawyers that a settlement had been reached and Chalk was to return to Australia to face the allegations but this would have created difficulties for Chalk and the MSC order. Tokyo prosecutors dropped charges and a judge sealed all records.

In 1995, with the Australian police interested in him, Chalk and the MSC order went into damage control. The order allowed Chalk to "resign" from the order. He then stayed on in Japan as a lay person, establishing a new career for himself teaching English to Japanese high-school students at an MSC run school.

He changed his surname to a Japanese name ("Peter Shiraishi") after getting married, and 3 years later gained Japanese citizenship being married to a daughter of a Japanese lawmaker.

A consequence of this was that, if Chalk re-entered Australia using his Japanese identity, Australian police would not notice.

Since 1998, if anyone asked the MSC order about Peter Chalk, the order has claimed that it "does not know where Chalk is now or what he is doing".

Chalk's new identity was convenient for the MSC order because, if more reports surfaced about Chalk's Melbourne activities in the 1970s or Tokyo in the '80s or '90s, the order could claim to be no longer responsible for him.

Because Chalk was now apparently hard to find, the Melbourne police investigation stayed "on hold". However, the Melbourne police still possess a file concerning their investigation of Peter Chalk.

In the late 1990s, in the absence of police action, the only option available for Chalk's Melbourne victims was to have their complaints investigated (and subsequently upheld) by the Melbourne Catholic Archdiocese's commissioner on sexual abuse, Mr Peter O'Callaghan, QC. The written apology, which each victim received from the archbishop of Melbourne, said that the archdiocese was apologising for the harm done to each one by Father Peter Chalk.

It is interesting to note that the MSC order has a connection with the Catholic Church's Australia-wide management of the church's sex-abuse problems. In 2007 the head of the MSC order in Australia was appointed as the co-chair of the church's National Committee for Professional Standards — the body which superintends the handling of church sex-abuse complaints in Australia through the church's controversial "Towards Healing" scheme. 

WJ Bryant 

The Odd Story of Priest Abuse Victim Hiroshi Sugiura Part 2

Little Pebble Nagoya Church

 

Part 2

Inspector Okada (name changed by request) of the Aichi Police says, “These Little Pebble people cause people to raise eyebrows, but they are harmless. College students find them annoying on campus, but I think it is part of the fallout about late Prime Minister Abe having ties with Rev. Moon and the Unification Church. Then again, their ideas of sexual freedom and expression draw interest from some looking for relationship.”

In 2010, the Akita commune was relocated from the original site due to age to a new site in Komatsukawa, Akita. The site boasts a larger home and plenty of acreage for the commune to operate a farm. The commune is now self supporting and sells eggs, free range chickens, apples, pears, rice, and green leaf vegetables at local markets. 34 members have lived here since opening, including 12 of the original 14 members.

In Nagoya, the church still occupies the original building but was remodeled in 2011. The location near Nagoya Port offers an easy to reach location by bus, subway, and train. Sugiura rotates his presence between the two. One month in Akita and the next in Nagoya. Sugiura grins, “I am the daddy allowing the children to run things but they know I shall be back.”

I ask about the sex acts performed during services. Sugiura looks serious and sits up, “It refers to the sex act conducted in front of the Eucharist involving myself and the males, as the role of Adam, and female followers, who play the role of Eve by her own free will. One man for each female. The Lord does not wish for anybody else to engage in this ritual. They must be baptized and confirmed before the Lord God and blessed by Mother Mary. They marry the mate they choose at the commune, or outside. I was inspired to perform this ritual because I believed that there was no other way to prove Mr. Little Pebble’s innocence and the wrongful convictions of sexual assault made against him. Just a few days ago, God sent me a message saying that the woman who sued Mr. Little Pebble will confess that it was all a lie.”

 

New Akita Commune

 

 I ask if this is orthodox Christian practice. Sugiura looks annoyed, “It is not a sex act. It is an act faith and worship. The penis is not to be inserted into her vagina. We stimulate the penis against her external genitalia. When we orgasm, the Lord tells us to ejaculate into a cup and to throw out the sperm. Our love for one another wells up and more and more our love for God does as well.”

Is this a cult you founded? Sugiura laughs and says, “I preach the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church, wholly embracing all of its beliefs and morals. Obviously this means that we are to reject all other religions except our own. One of our fundamental principles is to proudly wear this white Little Pebble tunic to show the world that we are in full support of Mr. Little Pebble. God forgives all those who ask for forgiveness, whoever they may be. That is the glory of the Lord. Our members will continue to have sex for the rest of their lives while they perpetually ask for forgiveness. The Lord will give both of them his blessing, share his bounty, and keep forgiving their sins until they die. Even after death God will forgive them and they will be saved.”

How do people outside the church feel about it? Sugiura grins and then looks serious, “Being hated and criticized, we will understand our faults even more and give thanks to those who criticized us. We will learn to love and to live humbly. We will pray for those who criticized us and ask God to guide them toward the right path.”

I left the church and made my way to the subway in the searing Nagoya heat. One thing was clear, Sugiura believes his theology. Whether it is true is another issue. Wrapped in the sophistic talk of religion is the truth that sex sells. That really is the root of Sugiura's stage play he calls church.

Kiminori Ito

The Odd Story of Priest Abuse Victim Hiroshi Sugiura

 

Sugiura

Little Pebble Dohsyuku-kai Part 1

Hiroshi Sugiura, also known to his faithful as Father Jean-Marie Thornbush Little John, met me at his Nagoya church. While definitely flamboyant in speech, he is shy with strangers unless he talking about the “church” he founded in 2003, Little Pebble Dohsyuku-kai. Before 2005, when Sugiura opened the “Mother-house” in Akita, he founded the original commune in Nagoya, Amakusa and All Martyrs of Japan Community, founded in 2003.

Background

Sugiura began his journey with his commune church as a member of the Order of Saint Charbel in Nowra, New South Wales, Australia. This “church” was founded by German immigrant to Australia William Kamm. Kamm, also known as "The Little Pebble" was born 1950 in Cologne, West Germany, "The Community" named after the Maronite saint Charbel Makhlouf. The Order of St Charbel is considered as a Christian sect and a fringe religious grouping. His religious order claims to be part of the Roman Catholic Church, but the Maronite Church and the Holy See do not regard the group as being part of Roman Catholicism. Both Popes Benedict XVI and Francis have renounced any Catholic affiliation and have declared Kamm and his followers as heretics.

On 14 October 2005, Kamm was sentenced to five years in prison with a non-parole period of three-and-a-half years for a string of sexual attacks including aggravated sexual assault on a 15-year-old girl. He claimed that she was one of his 84 mystical wives. The assaults occurred when the girl was living within Kamm's Order of St Charbel, a community (living in a compound) near Nowra, New South Wales. Kamm claimed to have received advice from the Virgin Mary that the girl should be chosen as one of 12 queens and 72 princesses who would all become his wives, with whom he would spawn a new human race after the world was cleansed and burnt by a ball of fire. Kamm's letters and diary entries to the 15-year-old girl, which were made public during the court session, display an explicit sexual style and were major evidence in his prosecution.

Kamm was also found guilty in May 2007 of aggravated sexual assault and aggravated indecent assault in relation to another 15-year-old girl. In August 2007, after losing an appeal on his original sentence, Kamm was re-sentenced to a total of 15 years imprisonment with a non-parole period of 11 years. He was due to become eligible for release on parole on 13 April 2013, but was refused. In November 2014 parole was granted. Upon his release, the New South Wales government applied for an Extended Supervision Order in the Supreme Court of NSW. His lawyer, Omar Juweinat opposed the application which resulted in six years of litigation. In 2021, the Supreme Court upheld the appeal and allowed Kamm to return to his property.

In August 2001, Sugiura was excommunicated by Kamm. Sugiura says it was because Kamm did not like the theological questions he would ask during community meetings. Sugiura still, however; recognizes Kamm as the “Little Pebble” sent by God. Sugiura explains, “One must be obedient to superiors even when they are wrong. It is a sin to act otherwise. Kamm is still the prophet sent by God to heal the world.”

Return to Japan

Sugiura returned to Nagoya and moved in with his parents. He found work at a book shop and began seeing a priest near Nagoya Port. Sugiura discussed with the priest the fact that as an altar boy at his parents' parish he was sodomized repeatedly by a priest over the course of 2 years. He did not name the priest to the spiritual advisor. Sugiura had forgiven the priest years before. But now after discussing the abuse wanted to find the priest. He searched the name in the online directory of clergy on the Diocese of Nagoya website. Finding where the priest was then assigned, Sugiura paid him a visit.

The church is located near the Higashiyama Zoo. Sugiura met the priest st the church office. The priest had aged of course, but still had the same sing-song voice. He relayed to the priest the painful memories and the pain he still felt. The priest nodded his head in understanding. Sugiura forgave the man, hugged him and walked out. Sugiura relayed, “All at once when I walked to the subway station I was wrapped in light and Mother Mary relayed to me my misistry. And so here I am now. Where I began it all in Nagoya, Amakusa and All Martyrs of Japan Community.”

It all makes sense

In 2003 when Sugiura opened Amakusa and All Martyrs of Japan Community, he reflected on his spiritual journey. He entered the Society of the Atonement after graduating from high school in 1997. However, he was urged to leave after a year. After that, he became a seminary student at Nanzan University’s Department of Christian Studies at Divine Word Seminary in Nagoya and entered the prenoviate, in the Society of the Divine Word missionary order, which runs the university and seminary. Sugiura explains, “Again I was asked to leave after a year. So I took a year off and reentered, but this time as a theologian the Nagoya Diocese studying for the diocesan priesthood. I was dismissed after a retreat where I espoused his theological beliefs. Despite this, I was repeatedly loyal to Jesus and Mother Mary.”

He then smiles and exclaims loudly, “It all makes sense now. I take what I learned that is truthful and loving and make it into the spirituality of Little Pebble Dohsyuku-kai. It has been a transformation not a journey. I have had this peace since 2003.”

Sugiura explains, “When people initially gathered here seeking my light and sermons, not a single one of them was fundamentally good enough to take the monastic vows. I realized that rather than building a monastery, it would be better to create something much more basic for these people. It is upon this realization that I received inspiration from heaven, and the Dohsyuku-kai is what I eventually built. When Fr. Peter the Rock (Hiromi Kaneda) became fluent in theology I handed direction in Nagoya to him, and founded our Mother-house in Akita.”

“I moved to Akita on September 29, 2005. A farm house inherited from my dad when he died. He had inherited it from his brother when he died in 2002. I personally had no desire to build all of this, nor did I plan it. I was simply told by God to found the group according to the principles He bestowed on me.” Thus it all makes sense to Sugiura.

Kiminori Ito

The Catholic Hierarchy Has Learned Nothing

 

St. Mary's Cathedral, Tokyo

Over the next week we shall keep our focus on the breaking priest abuse scandal in Japan.

In 1984, a young boy told his parents that the parish priest had done “bad things” to him at the church in Louisiana. This would become the first case that would explode over the next years into the international priest abuse scandal. No diocese or mission territory in the Roman Catholic Church has been exempted from cases. Religious orders have been bankrupted settling cases.

At heart of all of this has been the bishops and popes protecting the institution over protecting parishioners from predator priests, and refusing to see justice dispensed to the guilty. Cardinal Bernard Law at the heart of the Boston scandal barely scratched the surface. Pope John XXIII knew in 1962 that priests in Ireland had abused over 30 boys at a school in Cork. Paul VI in 1968, was informed that priests and brothers at a school for the deaf in Warsaw had abused 8 boys. John Paul II in 1979, was informed that a school in Toronto had 3 boys abused by a priest. In all cases, the brothers and priests were transferred, and then the accused abused more children.

John Paul II already had a history of protecting accused religious back home in Krakow, Poland when he was archbishop. Transferring them to Austria, Germany, and all over Poland.

Cardinal Ratzinger, later Pope Benedict XVI, who as a cardinal led the Vatican Office of the Faith, the most powerful position after the pope. Knew the total scope of the scandal years before it became public. His concern was solely in protecting the institution. Likewise for Pope Francis. Francis has known since 2014 about the secret children fathered by priests under vows. Francis has refused any and all support for the children. Showing not only children but also adults have been victimized by scoundrels dressed in clerical collar.

Now a cursory look at the situation in Japan is exactly the same. When accusations were made about priests the immediate reaction of chancery offices of diocese was to send a vicar from the office along with a lawyer. Get a nondisclosure agreement signed that prevented any visit to the police until an internal investigation was completed. No matter the result a cursory payment was made and a further NDA barring any discussion of the accusation or notifying police. Keep all inside the chancery. The exact same for religious orders. The provincial would send a representative priest and a lawyer. The goal was to keep strict silence not to help the victim nor punish the offender.

Today, we are told that the Letter of the Bishops of Japan that outlines the procedure has changed the “systemic practice of protecting the Church”. That is completely false. The victim is encouraged to cooperate with a church investigation and only go to the police when the church endorses that action. This is the exact process as before. Nothing has been changed.

The church in Japan has even doubled down with this from the statement: In all cases, the names of individual dioceses, religious congregations and mission societies as well as the number of reported cases in each will not be made public because doing so may lead to the identification of the individual victims.

If the process is conducted under an NDA then this is a total lie. There is no way for the victim to be discovered unless the victim themselves do so. This would lead to the victim being sued for breaking the very NDA to protect the church and not the victim. Again, more lies and no change.

For the last 21 years it is painfully obvious the church has learned nothing. The wagons still circle to protect the accused and the church. The victims are still painted as enemies to the faith. The church is still operating blissfully to its own demise from the crumbling of faith in the faithful. The faithful see the wolves have disguised themselves as the shepherds all this time, the poor sheep.

Dallas Brincrest, Editor

Salesian School In Tokyo Priest Abuse Victim Katsumi Takenaka

Katsumi Takenaka

 

Katsumi Takenaka is a soft spoken man. Even recounting the abuse he received from a Salesian priest, he speaks softly without a hint of anger or animus. Even as tears well, his voice keeps cadence and rhythm.

Takenaka received a public apology earlier this year from Nagasaki Archbishop Joseph Mitsuaki Takami for the sexual abuse he suffered as a child at the Salesian Boys' Home in Tokyo during the period 1983-1985. He was placed there after his parents' divorce.

"I think his apology was sincere in his own way. But the response has lacked a sense of urgency, and there is no sign the bishops will take any real action," Takenaka told The Associated Press.

Takenaka identified his abuser as the late Rev. Thomas Manhard, a German priest, who he said initially took off the boy's clothes to examine bruises from beatings he suffered from other boys at the home. The priest's examinations escalated to fondling and other sexual acts, which went on for months until the priest was transferred, he said. He reported that the priest told him he would go straight to hell if he told anyone and gave him candy and foreign stamps.

Takenaka's account was confirmed by the Rev. Hiroshi Tamura, who runs the Salesian Boys' Home and said he was conferring with the Japanese bishops' conference to work out a response to his claim.

Takenaka said an outside investigation is needed and a forum for victims to come together.

"The victims are isolated," Takenaka said. "No one knows for sure if the abuse is still going on. The bishops see it as a irritation to deal with, a PR deal. They still refuse to see it as an illegal act of sexual assault that must be punished in the legal system."

A spokesman for Archbishop Takami referred us to the 2019 Statement issued by the Japan Conference of Bishops. He refused to answer if the process of reporting abusive priests includes immediate notification of police. “I have no comment to make. See the 2019 statement.”, he replied.

Lawsuit Filed Over Saitama Abuse By Priest

 

Harumi Suzuki is also SNAP Japan Director

A woman has filed a suit against the Roman Catholic Church in Japan alleging that a priest raped her four decades ago, as the church’s unfolding worldwide sexual abuse crisis gradually reaches Japan.

The civil lawsuit, filed this week in Sendai District Court, seeks 56.1 million yen ($534,000) in damages. It accuses a priest, who has not been charged or penalized, as well as a bishop who counseled the woman in recent years about the alleged abuse.

The suit, which also accuses the Diocese of Sendai in northeastern Japan, says the church refused to take the complaints seriously, causing psychological pain.

“I have filed this lawsuit to claim back the dignity I have lost, and to try to end this serious crime that is a violation of humanity,” said Harumi Suzuki, who has gone public with her name.

She said she lived through “more than 40 years of hell,” but wants to raise her voice for other abuse survivors.

“You are innocent, and you are not alone,” she said in a statement.

The Rev. Shiro Komatsu at the Sendai diocese said it has no comment because it has not seen the lawsuit.

Documents seen by The Sendai Prosecutor's office show the diocese carried out an investigation by third-party lawyers into her case in 2018.

The investigation determined that the sexual act likely occurred but announced Monday it has been decided no criminal or civil responsibility could be pursued, given the passage of time and that the priest may have thought the act was consensual. Suzuki denies she consented.

The bishop, Martin Testuo Hiraga, who met often with Suzuki, has said it was hard to arrive at a solution and the priest has denied the allegations. The priest was not available for comment.

The priest is identified in the lawsuit, but lawyers for Suzuki requested that his name not be reported, for fear of a possible defamation lawsuit under Japanese law, and the fact the priest moved up in hierarchy.

Suzuki, a Catholic, was a victim of domestic violence in 1977 and turned to the priest for consolation, according to the lawsuit. She was raped in the upstairs bedroom of the church during a counseling session, and suffered depression for years, it says.

“The Catholic Church is a giant organization of power for the believers and has their unconditional trust,” the lawsuit says. “Sexual violence by the clergy on members of the congregation is an extremely despicable act that takes advantage of the absolute inequality in power.”

Pressures are strong in conformity-oriented Japan for women not to speak out against sexual abuse. Which is why speaking out is still difficult for women and ethnic minorities.

Yuma Sato, Suzuki’s attorney, said Japan’s justice system makes it very difficult to claim damages from sexual abuse unless acted on within a few years.

“But I hope this case sends a message about an effort to create change,” Sato said.

“We also want Japanese society to learn more about the problems in the church, its secrecy, its coverups and how perpetrators are going unpunished.”

Suzuki became well known during Pope Francis' visit to Japan in 2019. She stood along the motorcade routes in Tokyo, Hiroshima, and Nagasaki with signs demanding action.

More Cases Found In Japan of Priest Abuse

Cardinal Thomas Maeda, Archbishop Osaka

 

TOKYO, Japan — A Japanese news agency reported Thursday that an investigation by the country's bishops' conference has found 16 cases of sexual abuse of minors by clerics, which occurred from the 1950s to 2010s.

The findings have not yet been made public, but sources familiar with the matter spoke with Kyodo News. Cardinal Maeda, Archbishop of Osaka, refused comment.

Acts of abuse occurred in rectories, church buildings, and foster homes.

The Japanese bishops announced the inquiry a year ago, and committees were established in each of the 16 dioceses to receive claims and consultations about abuse.

In 2002 an internal survey made inquiries with the leading priest in each diocese. This resulted in two reported cases of sex abuse.

A 2012 survey aimed to be a reference point in a manual for internal use. It did not aim to investigate facts or to resolve sex abuse. Five sex abuse cases were reported then.

A 2004 survey on sexual harassment found 17 cases of “coercive physical contacts,” mostly by priests. The victims included minors. That survey had 110 respondents.

In February 2019 Pope Francis held a meeting with bishops from around the world on the sexual abuse of minors. The same year Pope Francis paid a visit to Japan to discuss the Japanese Bishops response to allegations.

“Let it be clear that before these abominations the Church will spare no effort to do all that is necessary to bring to justice whosoever has committed such crimes. The Church will never seek to hush up or not take seriously any case,” he said in his greetings to the Conference of Japanese Bishops.

Catholic News Service

Japan To Ban More Foreign Telecom

 

 

The Japanese government will introduce new regulations for 14 critical infrastructure sectors to bolster cyber defenses, learning from the recent Colonial Pipeline hack that shut down a major energy artery in America's East Coast.

The sectors include telecommunications, electricity, finance, railroads, government services and health care, Nikkei has learned. The government will require operators of such key infrastructure to address national security concerns when procuring foreign-made equipment.

The potential for cyberattacks and information leaks has grown over the years as telecom carriers and public utilities increasingly rely on digital technologies to operate and monitor their facilities. Japan hopes to mitigate risks posed by compromised equipment and connections, especially amid growing concerns of data leaks from Chinese-made telecommunications equipment.

The government plans to amend the various laws governing each sector in one sweeping motion and add a clause requiring each sector to be conscious of national security risks.

Specifically, they will be required to look into issues stemming from the use of foreign equipment or services, including cloud data storage, as well as connections to servers located overseas.

The government will monitor companies for compliance and will suspend or cancel their license should any major issues arise. Detailed standards will likely be outlined in future government ordinances and guidelines.

Currently the government does not have a legal basis to assess national security risks when infrastructure operators upgrade their systems. 

The increased ability to remotely monitor and control infrastructure-related facilities has opened the sector up to greater cyber risks, like illicit programs built into servers, routers and other telecommunications equipment. There are growing concerns over data leaks through Chinese-made equipment and services in particular, especially since the Chinese government requires companies operating in the country to comply with information requests.

The Japanese government agencies in 2018 agreed to stop procuring equipment that could pose economic security risks. It now wants private-sector companies to follow similar standards.

The push comes after a ransomware attack this month on the Colonial Pipeline, one of the largest in the U.S., forced the government to relax rules on fuel transport. The attack was claimed by hacker group DarkSide.

Cyberattacks on infrastructure can cause major disruptions to daily life, but there is also concern that hackers could cause disasters like airplane accidents and floods by targeting air control systems and dams, or attempt to remotely shut down nuclear power facilities. 

Other countries are also imposing similar restrictions on tech-related procurement. The U.S. is requiring that companies seek prior approval to use Chinese-made technology equipment and services.

The U.K. has proposed legislation that would fine telecommunications companies up to a tenth of their revenue for not eliminating equipment made by China's Huawei Technologies from 5G networks. Sweden has told telecom providers to remove products by Huawei and compatriot ZTE from their networks by January 2025.

Nikkei

 

Shinjiro Koizumi: Japan Must Have Drastic Change

Shinjiro Koizumi Son Of Former PM Junichiro Koizumi

The Japanese public’s top pick to become the next prime minister says the country’s not ready for the scale of change he thinks it needs.

Shinjiro Koizumi, the 38-year-old son of popular former premier Junichiro Koizumi, consistently leads polls asking who should succeed long-serving Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. 
As the most prominent member of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s new guard, he wants quick reforms to manage the country’s rapidly ageing population.

“If you look at Japan now, people don’t want to change much,” Koizumi said in an interview at his offices in Tokyo Wednesday.

“They don’t have big dreams, but they don’t have a sense of crisis either,” he added. “But it’s no good for this country to stay as it is. What this country needs more than anything is change. Not just change, but rapid change.”

Even though the younger Koizumi has never held a cabinet post and limits his media exposure, he is seen by many as the future of the ruling party due to his charisma, clean image and a resemblance to his father. The ex-premier enjoyed immense popularity during most of his five-year run in office and was known for his willingness to stir up the stodgy LDP.

But that doesn’t mean the public’s completely on board with his agenda yet, Koizumi said.
Koizumi heads an LDP panel on social security, which last month published a “vision” for reforms to tackle what Abe has called the national crisis of Japan’s demographics. The population is set to slump by almost a third by 2060, by which time about 40 percent of Japanese will be aged 65 or over, according to the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research.

In a bid to rein in the ballooning debt fueled by the developed world’s fastest ageing population, Abe’s government is set to raise the sales tax to 10% in October from the current 8%. Koizumi declined to comment on whether he agreed with the plan, saying only: “it has been decided.”

Rather than calling for higher taxes or lower payouts in its report, Koizumi’s panel urged a re-evaluation of the concept of the working-age population. Older people should be encouraged to stay in the labor force beyond the traditional retirement ages of 60-65, becoming contributors to the social security system, rather than burdens on it, the report says.

“We have to correct that huge imbalance between those who are supporting social security and those who are being supported by it,” Koizumi said. Specific measures should include changing a tax system that gives precedence to housewives over working women, and offering health-maintenance incentives.

Koizumi speaks English fluently, which is rare in Japan’s political world. He earned a master’s degree in political science at Columbia University, and served as a secretary to his father before taking over his parliamentary seat in 2009 in the port city of Yokosuka, home to the U.S. Seventh Fleet.

A poll by Jiji Press in March found Koizumi was the most popular choice to succeed Abe, with 24.4% of respondents opting for him. In second place was former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba on 18.9%.

“My field of vision has always been international, rather than domestic,” he said. “With the falling population, the domestic market is shrinking. When I was head of the party’s agriculture panel, I said Japan’s farmers shouldn’t look at the 100 million-strong internal market, but must sell to the 10 billion-strong global market.”

The need to expand export markets was why he supported Japan joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership regional trade deal at a time when it was anathema to many lawmakers in the LDP, which has strong ties to farming groups opposed to opening up agricultural markets.
“We were a tiny minority in the party. Can you imagine how much we were criticized?” he said. “But we can’t make do just with our own shrinking market, we need to face up to the world.”

After President Donald Trump pulled the U.S. out of the TPP soon after his inauguration, the 11 other members including Japan went ahead without the U.S. to forge a successor deal.
Despite that strong public support and four consecutive election victories, Koizumi is seen as too young for the top job by Japanese standards. Abe was queried about his youth when he embarked on his first stint as premier at age 52.

Koizumi’s rivals to succeed Abe are now mostly in their sixties. And it may not be over for the premier, whose current term ends in September 2021. Some in his party have called for a change in the rules to allow him to run for a fourth consecutive term, though polls show voters oppose the idea.

Bloomberg

Miyazaki Quakes Raise Awareness Of Nanakai Trough

Japan Meteorological Agency Graphic Of Nankai Trough

The Central Disaster Prevention Council is urging reinforced countermeasures against a huge Nankai Trough earthquake in light of the recent activity along the trough in the last week.

Since Friday there have been a total of 7 earthquakes in the trough area near the Miyazaki coastline. The quakes have ranged in magnitude from 6.4 to 3.8.  Other quakes have occured since Tuesday in Kochi Prefecture on the island Shikoku, the bay of Hiroshima and in the Tokai bay off the coast of Southeast Aichi Prefecture.  These quakes ranged from 3 to 4.5.

Part of a review of disaster prevention steps based on the Act on Special Measures Concerning Countermeasures for Large-Scale Earthquakes has been underway since Saturday. 
 

The government is to review measures to send out disaster management information, which are in place based on the assumption that such a powerful earthquake is predictable. In the report, Shizuoka and Kochi prefectures, as well as the Chubu economic region centered in Nagoya, are selected as model areas, with discussion about specific disaster prevention measures. 

While there is no specific mention of reviewing the Act on Special Measures Concerning Countermeasures for Large-Scale Earthquakes itself, it states that disaster prevention steps should be reviewed on the grounds that "it is not possible to predict an earthquake with a high degree of certainty." 

In addition, there are four scenarios of a major earthquake occurring. These are: 1) a huge tremor occurring east of the hypocentral region of a major Nankai Trough earthquake; 2) a magnitude 7 earthquake occurring in the same hypocentral region; 3) observation of changes such as a decrease in the number of quakes -- as was the case before the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011; 4) and observation of ominous "sliding plates" that would suggest a Tokai tremor is imminent. 

In the case of 1) and 2), the probability of additional quakes occurring becomes higher, therefore making it necessary to consider evacuating residents in advance and other measures. In addition, in the case of 3), "it is not possible to determine whether this will lead to a major tremor," and therefore it is judged that prior evacuation measures are not possible. 

On the other hand, in the case of 4), the prime minister is supposed to issue warning statements in accordance with the Act on Special Measures Concerning Countermeasures for Large-Scale Earthquakes -- asking residents to evacuate in advance as well as halting public transport services. 

However, it has been pointed out that it is not possible to judge the extent to which an earthquake occurring has become more likely. But administrative bodies need to be on alert, but at the same time it is difficult to ask residents to evacuate in advance.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said yesterday, "We need to hurry ahead with these disaster prevention measures." In particular, disaster countermeasures in cases 1), 2) and 4) need to be revised. 

With regard to local authorities that have been selected as model districts in the report, aspects such as the kinds of residents who should be evacuated in advance, the length of the evacuation, and evacuation areas will be discussed. Based on this, local authorities will draw up guidelines relating to disaster prevention in their respective areas. 

Since the 6.4 quake in Miyazaki on Friday morning the latest aftershock earthquake occurred today at 7:20am in Hyuga Bay off the coast of Nobeoka, Miyazaki Prefecture with a magnitude of 3.7.  There were no reports of damage or injury.

Miyazaki And Kyushu Still Shaking From Aftershocks

Miyazaki Prefecture Crews Inspect Sinkhole From 4.2 Quake

Today Miyazaki has experienced three aftershock earthquakes of 3.9, 4.2, and 4.9.  These have also affected nearby prefectures of Oita, Kumamoto, Kagoshima, and Fukuoka.  Damage was reported by several buildings in Nobeoka, Miyazaki, Miyakonojo, and Kobayashi all in Miyazaki Prefecture.  A sink hole formed in Miyazaki City from a 4.2 quake that hit the area at 11:15 this morning.  No injuries were reported in any of the quakes.

Seizmology experts at Kyushu University are concerned about detected activity at the volcanoes Shnimoedake, Aso, and Sakurajima.  It has been 2 weeks since Aso erupted, six months since an eruption at Shinmoedake, and Sakurajima has had level 3 warnings for the last year.

The Japan Meteorological Agency office in Miyazaki is advising people affected by the earthquakes in southwestern Japan to remain on the alert for more tremors.

Agency official, Masaki Nakamura, spoke to reporters after the last quake (4.9) rocked Miyazaki Prefecture and the surrounding areas this afternoon.

Nakamura warned that quakes with intensities of up to 5-minus on the Japanese intensity scale of zero to seven could follow over the next week. He added that extra caution is advised for the next two to three days.

He called on residents to stay on the alert, as the quake may have increased the risk of rock falls and landslides in hard-hit areas, and volcanic activity as well.

Nakamura said the earthquakes occurred at a plate boundary beneath the sea. He warned that a tsunami could hit coasts if a quake with a bigger intensity occurs in the same area.

Nakamura added that the focus the quakes could be located in an area along the Nankai Trough that is expected to trigger a mega-quake. But he said the agency did not issue an alert notifying residents of the increased risk of a mega-quake.

He explained that the scale of the quake did not meet the government's criteria for conducting a survey to examine if the possibility of a mega-quake has risen.

Sankei Miyazaki

6.4 Earthquake Strikes Off Miyazaki Coast

Inspectors of JR Kyushu Check Rail Line

 An earthquake hit off the coast of Kyushu off the coast of Miyazaki Prefecture. No tsunami warning was issued and there are no reports of injuries or damage.
 
According to the Miyazaki Nichi-nichi Newspaper, the quake struck at 8.48 a.m. local time, with its epicenter off the coast of Nichinan, Miyazaki Prefecture at a depth of 20 km in the Hyuga Coastal Bay.

The quake did cause the delay of airline travel at Miyazaki City and local private airports. Rail travel was halted for an hour throughout the prefecture as JR Kyushu, Hyuga Railway, and Nichinan Lines checked lines and equipment.

The Japan Geological Survey put the magnitude of the quake at 6.4.

2020 Olympics Minister Resigns Disparaged Fukushima Victims

Olympics Minister Sakurada Resigns

 

 Japan's Olympics minister Yoshitaka Sakurada resigned Wednesday after coming under increasing pressure over a series of gaffes -- in the latest, saying politics is "more important" than the recovery of the country's northeastern region devastated by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. 

"I felt I had to take responsibility and submitted my resignation" to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Sakurada, who was in charge of the 2020 Olympics and Paralympics Games to be hosted by Tokyo, told reporters. 

Abe virtually sacking the 69-year-old is a setback to his administration seeking to showcase the Tokyo Games as a symbol of Japan's recovery from the disaster that led to the Fukushima nuclear crisis. 

After accepting his resignation letter on Wednesday night, Abe then publicly apologized for appointing Sakurada as the Olympics minister. 

"As prime minister, I'd like to apologize to people in the disaster-stricken area for the remarks (made by Sakurada)," Abe told reporters. "I bear responsibility for having appointed him." 

"We need to straighten up and make sure we can run the event without a problem," a senior Japan Olympic Committee official said. 

In mid-March, the head of the committee, Tsunekazu Takeda, said he will step down when his current term ends in June, as he is under investigation by French authorities for alleged bribery related to Tokyo's successful bid for the Tokyo Olympics. 

Sakurada's resignation comes less than a week after a senior vice minister at the land ministry, Ichiro Tsukada, was forced to quit following comments suggesting he had acted in the interests of Abe's constituency over a road project. 

Sakurada is the eighth Cabinet minister to resign since Abe returned to power in 2012. As Abe's Liberal Democratic Party gears up for a series of elections through July, the prime minister's decision to oust Sakurada from the government is seen as a damage-control effort. 

Former Olympics minister Shunichi Suzuki, 65, will replace Sakurada, according to a government source. 

At a fund-raising party in Tokyo for an LDP lawmaker from the northeastern region, Sakurada said the lawmaker, Hinako Takahashi, is "more important than the (region's) recovery." 

The remarks came on top of earlier ones that had already prompted opposition parties to step up calls on Sakurada to step down. 

In February, he said he was "very disappointed" over swimming gold medal hopeful Rikako Ikee's diagnosis of leukemia -- a comment on the potential absence of the star from the Tokyo Games that elicited a huge backlash. 

Sakurada, while attending a parliamentary session, also said he has heard of the Olympic Charter but has never read it. 

In March, reflecting his lack of knowledge about the situation in the northeastern region, Sakurada said traffic was smooth on highways linking the Tohoku and Kanto areas in 2011 even as they were indeed damaged by the disaster. 

Sakurada, first elected to the House of Representatives in 1996, then called the city of Ishinomaki in Miyagi Prefecture, one of the hardest-hit prefectures, "Ishimaki" more than once during a parliamentary session on Tuesday. 

Opposition party leaders and residents in the northeastern region view his resignation as a natural turn of events. 

Yukio Edano, who heads the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, said his latest remarks are "unbelievable." 

"The remarks are those that hurt people affected by the disaster," Edano told reporters. "The responsibility now lies with Prime Minister Abe who has continued to defend Mr. Sakurada."

"We are still halfway toward the recovery" said Shigeru Yamazaki, a 70-year-old resident in Iwate Prefecture, who just resumed his clothing business in February after his shop was destroyed by the tsunami eight years ago. 

"There are many people who are still struggling. His resignation won't settle everything," Yamazaki said. 

Senior officials from the Tokyo metropolitan government said they are concerned the remarks could undermine the image of the upcoming Olympics and Paralympics. 

"The comments are beyond acceptable and it's unthinkable for someone representing the nation to say such things," a senior metropolitan government official said. 

Asahi

Japan Prepares For Rugby World Cup

The Rugby World Cup is coming to Japan and will be played in the cities of Tokyo, Yokohama, Sapporo, Toyota, Osaka, Kobe, Fukuoka, and Oita.

The opening ceremony and match will be held in Tokyo on  September 20, and the final match will be November 2 in Yokohama.

To view the schedule click the link below.  It is a printable and downloadable pdf.

2019 Rugby World Cup Schedule

Emperor Naruhito Will Face Challenges

Emperor Naruhito

Whatever the future may hold for the new era under Emperor Naruhito, it’s clear that the majority of Japanese remain supportive of the imperial family and the sense of national unity the Chrysanthemum Throne provides.

However, the real test of the symbolic strength of the emperor and his family could well be how the imperial household fares when it comes to promoting Japan’s image and interests overseas.

While the new emperor and empress will be more than capable of serving as Japan’s ultimate ambassadors abroad, they will have to overcome considerable hurdles at home before they can realize their full potential as great diplomats.

Like Britain, Spain and Denmark, Japan too has a constitutional monarchy in which the sovereign has no political power.

Still, when it comes to enhancing relations abroad, the royals can be an asset in otherwise tricky situations, especially in dealing with other countries that also have monarchies. They can also add an extra layer of reassurance as well as glamor to countries with which Japan maintains well-established ties.

For example, Japan’s imperial household has been an essential diplomatic tool in reaching out to the Saudi royalty and the sultan of Brunei. Saudi Arabia and Brunei are two countries with which Japan has significant economic interests and yet may find it challenging to see eye-to-eye politically.

Meanwhile, relations with Western European allies such as Belgium and the Netherlands have benefited from friendly royal relations, not least through eye-catching photo opportunities showcasing the elegance of monarchies.

The pomp accompanying the imperial household will be on full display for Emperor Naruhito’s enthronement ceremony on Oct. 22. Leaders and royalty from nearly 200 countries will be invited to take part in the festivities in Tokyo.

The real diplomatic challenge for the new emperor and empress, though, is whether they will have the opportunities and will to make full use of their own attributes.

After all, the Oxford- and Harvard-educated Empress Masako was a career diplomat before she married Emperor Naruhito, while he too studied at Oxford and has publicly declared his two years there as one of the happiest times in his life.

Both are certainly more than up to the task of being part of Japan’s soft-power strategy, and while they may not be as alluring as the duke and duchess of Cambridge or the king and queen of Spain, they could no doubt contribute to adding more glamor to Japan on the global stage.

There are, however, three major hurdles at home for Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako to playing a greater role in imperial diplomacy. First and foremost, the fact that their only child cannot inherit the throne simply because she is a female will only be highlighted as the question of succession and will invariably remain an issue.

Without changes to the succession rules, the 17-year-old Princess Aiko will never become empress and will actually relinquish her royal title after marriage.

Instead, her cousin, 12-year-old Prince Hisahito, who is the son of Emperor Naruhito’s brother, is in line to the throne. Gender equality is guaranteed by law and Japanese women are as well-educated as men.

Perhaps most importantly, it is apparent that Emperor Naruhito is a loving husband and a doting father, and incredibly protective of both his wife and daughter. Yet such facts are likely to be eclipsed by the fact that there is such blatant gender discrimination within the imperial household.

The second obstacle for imperial diplomacy remains the Imperial Household Agency itself. The fact that Empress Masako suffered from stress-related disorders as a result of pressures to adapt to imperial rules is evident.

In her new role there will be more public duties for Empress Masako to attend and she will be less able to sit out highly visibility functions both at home and abroad.

Whether there will be greater flexibility and tolerance on the part of the rule-makers to allow Empress Masako to be able to take on those roles without any emotional turmoil remains to be seen.

Finally, the challenge of Japan being able to improve relations with its immediate neighbors, particularly South Korea, will continue to be an issue for the imperial family.

This is not least due to the fact that Japanese aggression was virulent across Asia during the reign of Emperor Naruhito’s grandfather, Emperor Showa.

That said, his son, Emperor Emeritus Akihito, was personally committed to expressing remorse about Japan’s wartime past and offering condolences across the Asia-Pacific, especially in the Pacific islands.

Expectations for Emperor Naruhito to carry on his father’s legacy on the one hand, while navigating the evolving political minefield of reaching out to former occupied countries on the other, will continue to be a balancing act for the new sovereign with no end in sight.

Whether the emperor will be able to meet those expectations remains to be seen. What is clear at this juncture is that there is no end to the list of issues Emperor Naruhito could tackle in his new role at home as well as abroad.

Ryo Hasegawa