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

GSDF Failed To Report Troop Logs

The Ground Self-Defense Force failed to report to then-defense chief Tomomi Inada that it had found activity logs in March 2017 for troops in Iraq, even as she denied their existence during Diet deliberations the previous month, Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera said Wednesday.

The latest revelation comes as another potential blow to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government, already embroiled in a cronyism scandal over a heavily discounted sale of state land to a school operator with ties to his wife, Akie.

Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera

The GSDF reported to the ministry in January this year that it had found the logs, even though the documents were discovered over nine months before.

Opposition lawmakers had requested to see the logs, but the ministry said on Feb. 16 last year that such logs did not exist. Four days later, Inada told a Diet committee that the ministry was unable to find the logs.

“I want to apologize for inaccurate explanations in the Diet and the failure to respond appropriately to the request for the documents,” Onodera told reporters, adding that he has set up an investigation team in the ministry.

The ministry was rocked by a similar scandal last year, when its inappropriate handling of GSDF activity logs for a U.N. peacekeeping mission in South Sudan prompted Inada to resign in July.

Regarding the logs for GSDF personnel dispatched for reconstruction efforts in war-torn Iraq more than 10 years ago, the ministry admitted Monday that it had found them despite denying their existence last year.

Opposition lawmakers had been asking for the logs as deteriorating security conditions in South Sudan and risks facing the peacekeepers were being discussed in the Diet at the time.

“I cannot believe that the Defense Ministry would come as far as reporting false information,” said Hajime Sebata, an associate professor at Nagano Prefectural College who is knowledgeable about public document management.

“There have been a series of problems regarding the government’s handling of public documents, but this case (involving the Defense Ministry) is even worse,” Sebata said, referring to the Finance Ministry’s admission that it had altered documents on the state land sale to the school operator.

Japan sent roughly 5,500 GSDF personnel to Iraq from January 2004 to July 2006 to provide water and medical aid and help repair infrastructure in Samawah in the south of the country.

The mission stirred controversy as it was the first time for Japan to send the SDF, whose role is restricted by the war-renouncing Constitution, to a country where fighting was continuing.

KYODO

1 In 6 Children In Japan Live In Poverty

Finance Minister Aso Pressured By Media To Explain Poverty Issues

The smell of miso soup and rice wafts from a kitchen as a brigade of volunteers put their cooking skills to use on a recent Saturday evening in Tokyo’s commuter belt.

In an adjoining room, children chat and make paper cutouts while they await the arrival of what, for some, will be their only proper meal of the day.

Kawaguchi children’s cafeteria is one of hundreds to have sprouted up in Japan in recent years in response to a problem few associate with the world’s third biggest economy: child poverty.

The Health and Welfare Ministry announced last Wednesday 3.5 million Japanese children – or one in six of those aged up to 17 – are from households classed as experiencing relative poverty.

Japan’s relative rate of poverty has risen over the past three decades to 16.3%, while the rate in the US, though higher at 17.3%, has fallen.

“The global economic turmoil in 2008 hit women in their 20s and 30s particularly hard,” said Finance Minister Taro Aso.  “Those in full-time work were forced to take irregular or part-time jobs with low pay and no bonuses or annual pay rises. In some cases, these women have to borrow money, sometimes from loan sharks, and then end up working in the commercial sex industry to pay off their debts. It’s easy for them to get trapped in a negative cycle”, Aso concluded as he addressed the media yesterday.

Their plight is a rarely seen consequence of Japan’s struggle to steer its economy out of the doldrums after more than two decades of stagnation and deflation. Four years after Shinzo Abe became prime minister for a second time, campaigners say the rise in poverty is evidence that his grand plan for growth – known as Abenomics – has failed to deliver for many families.

Japan now has some of the worst wealth inequality and highest rates of child poverty in the developed world, according to a Unicef report released in April that ranked Japan 34th out of 41 industrialised countries.

Of the 3.5 million children who are eligible for state support, only 200,000 actually receive any – a low take-up rate that campaigners blame on the stigma attached to living on social security.

Jiji Press

New Zealand Man Dies In Saitama Hospital After Restraints Used

Victim Kelly Savage (27)

The family of a New Zealand man who died after being tied to a bed for 10 days in a Japanese psychiatric ward say his care was an abuse of human rights.

Kelly Savage, 27, had been teaching English in Japan for two years when a pre-existing mental health condition worsened.

His Wellington-based family say he became manic after stopping his medication because of the side effects.

He was admitted to Yamato Hospital In Yamato City, Saitama, under a compulsory order and restrained on a bed in a secure ward for 10 days.

A nurse found him in cardiac arrest in mid-May and he died seven days later.

His death certificate lists the cause of death as hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy caused by cardiopulmonary arrest.

But his family say the cause of the cardiac arrest is inconclusive and it has been suggested to them that deep vein thrombosis may have been involved because of the long period of restraint.

The doctors in Japan have reported that 30 days' restraint is common there.

The family have tried unsuccessfully to get medical records from the hospital, which also declined to allow an investigation into the cause of death by an outside party.

The hospital has also declined to apologise, with the chief doctor denying responsibility.

Kelly's older brother, Pat Savage, who lives in Japan with his wife and young children, said he was driven to tears of anger and frustration at a meeting with hospital chiefs yesterday.

He said they told him nurses would have removed Kelly's waist, wrist and leg restraints for short periods on occasions, to wash him or allow him to eat, but would not say for how long or give him the nurses' records.

"I kind of broke down and [was] crying and angry at them because I've been trying to get these records for almost two months now, and they know that I wanted it, and they just screwed us over by, you know, trying to drag the process out as long as possible."

He said whether the restraints were removed "for a few minutes" to allow Kelly, who was sedated, to be bathed was immaterial; he did not need to be physically restrained for so long.

"He does need to be in a hospital - I was glad he was in a hospital - but he didn't need to be restrained to the bed in my opinion."

Dr Savage said it was bad to treat anyone that way, but particularly his younger brother, who was helping Japanese students.

"The fact that Kelly was here ... to try to help international relations, trying to teach Japanese children English, and then he's just dying in this kind of outrageous circumstances that would never happen in New Zealand should be an embarrassment to Japan."

Kelly's mother, Martha Savage, a professor of geophysics at Victoria University, said what had happened was shocking.

"It just seems medieval to me. I mean we were just shocked when we first found out and it seems like it's something from a movie back in the Middle Ages. It doesn't seem like a modern society would be doing this [restraint]."

She said the only thing the hospital staff did for Kelly while he was restrained was put compression stockings on him.

She said restraint was needed to prevent people from hurting themselves or others, but it was usually for a short period of time.

"No more than a few hours and only if they're actually actively trying to resist and trying to go after other people, but Kelly had already stopped resisting at that point and they still put him in the restraint."

Prof Savage said the family did not want anything other than to prevent it happening to anyone else.

"We don't want to sue anybody, we don't want money. We just want other people to not go through this terrible situation again."

She urged the New Zealand government to push Japan to change its practices.

Radio New Zealand

Trump Better For Japan Than Clinton Would Have Been

The American politician bend for upbraiding Japan about trade issues did not begin with Donald Trump. It began with Jimmy Carter in 1979, when he began his run for reelection. President Ronald Reagan made it part of his platform during his campaign in 1980, during his reelection campaign in 1984, and throughout his administration. From Carter to Trump every candidate for presidency has made criticism of Japan's refusal to negotiate true free trade agreements part of their platform. Hillary Clinton in June 2015 said to a crowd in Detroit, “The TPP must be reworked to assure our automobiles will be as accessible in Japan as their automobiles are here.”

Trump criticizing Japan on trade issues is part and parcel of US politics, just as protecting Japan's bloated and subsidized agriculture sector is to Japanese politics. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his LDP crew need to stop criticizing the usual rhetoric and begin looking at how Trump is much better for Japan than Clinton would have and Bush and Obama failed Japan.

It is true that Bush and Koizumi shared a rare bromance that few presidents of the USA and prime ministers of Japan ever did. Bush also failed to back Japan for a UN resolution against North Korea to demand return of remains and release the whereabouts of abducted Japanese citizens in North Korea. Bush also failed to implement a missile defense shield for Japan due to Chinese objections.

Obama did visit Hiroshima last year but it was an empty political gesture since it was reciprocation for Emperor Akihito visiting Pearl Harbor during June 2014 and also as a thank you for Prime Minister Abe agreeing to visit Pearl Harbor last year. Obama's policies that enabled China to expand territory and failing to demand Chinese military stay out of Japan's territories caused Japan more trouble than an empty visit to Hiroshima was worth.

Trump is willing to back Japan in two areas that Japan needs. One, the renegotiation of the Status of Forces Agreement rushed out by President Clinton and Prime Minister Maruyama in 1995. Two, the desire to put an end to North Korean military aggression once and for all.

The Status of Forces agreement that Clinton and Maruyama rushed into signing in 1995 before Japanese Diet elections has been a thorn in both nations. For Japan it has caused continual confrontation between Okinawa and Tokyo. Okinawans are tired of shouldering over 80% of US military forces in Japan and do not want an expansion of bases. Tokyo has taken a “shut up do as we say” attitude toward Okinawa. When Okinawan Governor, Takeshi Onaga, flew to Washington DC to visit President Trump in February, he received an assurance by Trump to look into the issue. Trump spoke with Abe just recently in Germany about re-looking at SOFA to perhaps ease Okinawa's situation. This is more than Clinton, Bush, or Obama ever offered.

As North Korea keeps firing missiles daily, Trump has ordered US military forces to begin setting up the missile defense shield and has put the USS Vincent aircraft carrier group off the coast of North Korea in South Korean and Japanese waters. These actions are much more action than Bush or Obama ever even conceived of putting into motion.

Trump sees Japan as an important ally and is showing actual motions to prove such. Abe and his LDP posse need to recognize the reality that Trump is much better for Japan than any US president has been since Ronald Reagan. Trump's bluster is easily ignored and his actions speak much loader than the rhetoric puked out by Clinton, Bush, and Obama. They spoke in kind terms but their actions did more to hurt Japan's security and stability than Trump speaking the truth - that when it comes to trade Japan has a poor track record.

Trump is refusing a nuclear armed North Korea and is showing willingness to fight for that, and that is alone is what is best for Japan. Hillary Clinton when she was Secretary of State did nothing to confront North Korea. Trump has made it clear North Korea will be confronted - including military intervention. Clinton, Bush, and Obama all failed in that respect and thus Japan is in the situation on North Korea in all fronts Abe is contending with.

Bishop Daniel Rea, Christian Church of Japan

TEPCO Needs 5 More Years Of Government Subsidies

TEPCO Head Takashi Kawamura At Diet Testimony

The new chairman of Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) says the utility needs to stop dragging its feet on plans to dump massive amounts of treated but contaminated water into the sea and make more money if it's ever going to succeed in cleaning up the mess left by meltdowns more than six years ago at the tsunami-hit Fukushima nuclear power plant.

Takashi Kawamura, an engineer-turned-business leader who previously headed Hitachi, is in charge of reviving TEPCO and leading the cleanup at the Fukushima Dai-Ichi plant. In testimony Thursday in the House of Deputies in the Diet, Kawamura said despite the massive costs of the cleanup and meeting tighter safety requirements, nuclear power is still vital for Japan's national security.

Below are highlights from the testimony.

CLEANUP REQUIRES RELEASE OF TREATED CONTAMINATED WATER

Massive amounts of radiation-contaminated water that has been processed and stored in hundreds of tanks at the plant are hindering decommissioning work and pose a safety risk in case another massive quake or tsunami strikes. TEPCO needs to release the water - which contains radioactive tritium that is not removable but considered not harmful in small amounts - into the Pacific Ocean, Kawamura said. The method is favored by experts at the International Atomic Energy Agency and Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority as the only realistic option. Earlier, TEPCO had balked at calls by NRA chairman Shunichi Tanaka for controlled release of the water, now exceeding 770,000 metric tons, into the sea, fearing a public backlash. "Technically, we fully support the chairman's proposal," he said, adding that there is still strong resistance from local residents, especially fishermen. "I think we should have acted sooner. ... We should start moving faster."

PROFITS NEEDED TO COVER CRUSHING COSTS

Government subsidies are needed for at least five more years. Kawamura says TEPCO must become more profitable to manage to cover the gargantuan costs of cleaning up Fukushima Dai-Ichi after it suffered multiple meltdowns due to the massive March 11, 2011, earthquake and tsunami. TEPCO'S longtime status as a regional monopoly undermined its profit-making incentive, hobbling its ability to cover most of the 21.5 trillion yen (about $190 billion) price tag for decommissioning the plant and compensating dislocated residents. "To reconstruct Fukushima, we must make more profit, and I know we should not be taking about just money, but I think that is important," he said.

DECOMMISSIONING IS THE FUTURE

TEPCO's main mission now is decommissioning Fukushima Dai-Ichi, an unprecedented challenge that experts say could take decades and will take still more research and development. "That's our main activity and gaining new expertise in the decommissioning is far more important. But I believe there will be a time when decommissioning becomes an important business," Kawamura said. "Decommissioning is a process which takes time, not only for accident-hit reactors but ordinary retired reactors," he said. "I plan to coordinate with those who are studying the possibility of properly turning decommissioning of ordinary reactors into a viable business."

JAPAN NEEDS NUCLEAR POWER

Kawamura says he believes nuclear power is still a viable business and one that will continue to be vital for Japan's energy security, despite the extra costs from stricter post-Fukushima safety requirements and the cost of processing spent fuel and waste. TEPCO is reviewing its business strategy, but based on rough estimates, "I still believe that nuclear is still superior for Japan, which is really a resource- poor country," he said. "Even if we take severe accident measures and factor in spent fuel processing and other costs, I think there are some reactors that can still be profitable." He said nuclear power includes a wide range of technologies that Japan should not abandon, for national security reasons, as China continues to build nuclear plants.

TEPCO'S OTHER REACTORS

Kawamura said TEPCO hopes to restart the utility's Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant in northern Japan, even while the decommissioning at Fukushima Dai-Ichi is underway, so the operable plant can be a major source of revenue for the company. He said a decision on whether to resume operation of the Fukushima Dai-Ni plant, near Fukushima Dai-Ichi, will depend on a financial review. He said he regrets TEPCO's slowness in making a decision and acknowledged calls from local authorities and residents to decommission the second Fukushima plant, which was also hit by the tsunami but avoided a meltdown.

From Diet Transcripts 13 July

The Trade Deal That Isn't

The trade deal that really is not a trade deal was trumpeted as a success last week. Not so much as break through as a failed tweak on Trump's and the UK's noses. The deal is this: The EU and Japan have made a deal to meet again and try to get a deal worked out. All that was agreed to concretely is what was agreed to last year. Tariffs on EU produced non automotive industrial products sold in Japan would be cut by 30% in 2019 and phased out completely by 2025. On the Japan side, Japanese electronics would have tariffs in the EU cut by 30% in 2018 and phased out completely by 2023. This has already been agreed to in December last year and waited to be signed during the G20 meetings this month as a symbolic symbol to the USA and UK.

Maybe the shelves in local Japanese won't be bulging under the weight of European quality cheeses, cold meat, or clinking with fine wine just yet. But the deal, or accord rather, is the correct terminology politically for the agreement, declaration is a means to and end. That is to scold President Trump policy of protectionism and isolation.

As for the Jean-Claude Juncker and European Council President Tusk to trumpet their Global Europe policy in the face of GB Prime Minster Theresa May. Not particularly subtle or objective, however the message is that Japan and the EU are going to give Kabuki Show appearance to the fact try as hard as they will Japan will not lower or remove tariffs on EU automobiles and agricultural products. The EU will not allow Japanese robotics in the EU without strong limits. So what was worked out is that they will try hard and accomplish nothing in the future.
 
Shinzo Abe as protector of free trade? Not likely – ever. For Japan free trade means we're free to sell our stuff anywhere we like at any price we like and keep your stuff out.

The Chinese will take note! And the USA, the UK, Australia, New Zealand, African nations that feel the EU and Japan are too stringent and unequitable on “free trade” deals will negotiate their own among each other. The EU and Japan will simply be shut out from a majority of nations that see national sovereignty as far more important than meaningless labels as “free trade” that is not free trade and “globalization” that is nothing but national sovereignty sacrificed to unelected bureaucrats in the UN and EU.

The cry of 'The let them eat sushi' is not quite so fresh as the fish need to be. Japan also faces fights with EU on wanting to expand fishing rights into EU waters in the North Sea and Atlantic. And instead of buying Japanese cars (which are set to go up in price) Australians and New Zealanders are buying Chinese and Amrican cars and are now undercutting Japanese sales. In Australia alone Japanese auto sales have plummeted 60% over the last decade. In China the goal is to own a Cadillac or Lincoln and Japanese auto makers have all but closed out of the more lucrative midclass and luxury car markets. Toyota pulled its Lexus brand out of China in 2012 and has no plans to return. Is this what they call 'negotiating'? Junker was recently complaining about an empty chamber the other day which was evidenced by footage showing it to be so. And the Abe government is on the slide after the worst vote ever for the LDP in the Tokyo elections outsmarted by Tokyo's first successful female politician. Four years a-coming but not signed yet? Abe full of ideas except none of them work out. A true analysis is that this will yet be another dead on arrival accomplishment. A further and another example of Abenomics.

A true account of something I was told years ago comes to mind. A product being made for a Japanese buyer in the USA. Everything was questioned and changed from the original, even the color. It was a leather product. Come the presentation and the Japanese buyer still hovered. Frustrated the seller asked what now was wrong. "We have done everrything you requested". The Japanese buyer replied “Ah, yeah, but I don't like the smell! It is too leathery smelling.” Imagine leather smelling like leather and not lilacs or sakura.

But for the LDP showing off is just letting the dog and pony show of working hard and accomplishing nothing go on further. I would not say that choice is too limited for European products in Japan, rather some type of censorship about what is best as quality and their price of products is limiting their sale. Abe needs to keep his rural farmer voters happy for a few more years.

It has been decided in Tokyo, when Prime Minister Abe returned from Europe Tuesday, that a shift has been made. The Abe administration now has decided there will be no deal at all if the old system of investment structure is changed in any way. This is a deal breaker for Brussels and as of that announcement EU nations all but declared the talks over if Tokyo keeps that tone. Japan's reply is “We shall keep this tone, the system will not change.”

Japanese time is slow and even slower in today's world where one consumer now knows with smart phone effort what is available all over the Earth through the Internet. Globalism has been replaced by Amazon, Ebay, and Alibaba. Just as Fed-Ex, Yamato Kuro Neko, and Sagawa replaced the post office for express delivery. National sovereignty is easily kept when the buying and selling is done on screens and keyboards. Seems Abe and Junkers have yet to realize this. The future is not free trade agreements and globalization but rather shoring up technology infrastructure and managing the virtual currency markets. The net marketplace has already steadily replaced the brick and mortar markets.

Dallas Brincrest, Editor

Maekawa Testifies: Prime Minister Abe Ordered School Given Special Approval

Maekawa Testifies Before The Diet

A former top education ministry bureaucrat told the Diet Monday that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's office had significant influence over the government's decision to approve a new department at a university run by his friend.  

Kihei Maekawa testified, "Prime Minister Abe ordered that the school be given special approval in veterinary medicine.  He knew and his aids went to the Education Ministry and got special approval."

Abe's aide was clearly involved in the approval process for the veterinary department at the Okayama University of Science in a government-designated special economic zone, said Maekawa, former vice minister of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.

Attending as an unsworn witness, Maekawa told a Diet committee, "The prime minister's office worked behind the scenes," adding that the Cabinet Office, and the prime minister's office, was responsible for dealing with issues related to special economic zones.

Kotaro Kake, chairman of Kake Educational Institution, which runs the university, is known as a close friend of the prime minister.

Abe's Liberal Democratic Party agreed to briefly reopen parliament for committee deliberations, as requested by opposition parties.

But the deliberations were held when Abe was away for a tour of European countries including participation in the Group of 20 summit in Hamburg, prompting opposition parties' demand for his attendance at a separate parliament session.

Appearing in the joint session of the House of Representatives' Cabinet affairs and education committees, Maekawa reiterated that the review process was "unclear" and "unfair," citing insufficient discussion of whether Kake Educational Institution met conditions to launch Japan's first vet school in half a century.

During a similar session in the House of Councillors in the afternoon, the former top bureaucrat also said Hiroto Izumi, Abe's assistant, urged him in September and October last year to speed up the procedure, saying he was making the request on behalf of Abe "because the prime minister cannot say it by himself."

Abe has come under fire over suspicions he influenced the approval process for the opening of the new department at the university in Imabari, Ehime Prefecture, western Japan.

Such suspicions have grown after the revelation of documents indicating that officials of the Cabinet Office pressured the education ministry ahead of the selection of Kake.

Maekawa has said he remembers having seen some of the documents while he was still working at the ministry.

The documents, which Maekawa insists are authentic, state the officials employed phrases such as "what the highest level of the prime minister's office has said" and "in line with the prime minister's wishes." Abe and other Cabinet members have repeatedly denied wrongdoings.

It is the second scandal related to school operators close to Abe. He has drawn suspicion over his dubious ties with private school operator Moritomo Gakuen, which purchased state-owned land in Osaka at a dramatically reduced price. Abe's wife Akie was named honorary principal of the elementary school that Moritomo planned to open at the site.

Maekawa resigned in January to take responsibility for a scandal in which the ministry systematically secured post-retirement jobs for its bureaucrats.

Kyodo