Japan Eyes Developing Counterattack Capabilities
by Ryo Hinata-Yamaguchi
May 29, 2022
Introduction:
(Eurasia Review) Japan is planning to revise its National Security Strategy (NSS) by the end of 2022, which would also reconfigure the National Defence Program Guidelines (NDPG) and Mid-Term Defence Program. The ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) submitted policy recommendations stressing the need for counterattack capabilities against both enemy military bases and command and control systems, marking a potential new turn in Japan’s defence strategies and readiness.
For Japan, counterattacks will serve as the offensive face of its defence and deterrence strategy against enemy missiles, allowing Tokyo to hurt the enemy while also weakening its ability to carry out subsequent attacks.
The Japan Self-Defence Forces (SDF) have a large-scale ballistic missile defence system that consists of the SM-3 interceptor and PAC-3 air defence missile. But there have been significant advancements in Chinese, North Korean and Russian missile technology, including the acquisition of hypersonic glide vehicles and manoeuvrable warheads. These are hard to intercept and hard to build defence capabilities against in the short term.
While the LDP’s recommendations are influential in determining the Japanese government’s defence planning, whether they will be fully reflected in the upcoming NSS and NDPG is debatable.
Many in Japan either oppose or are uninformed about counterattacks, leading to domestic political opposition. But the argument that counterattacks violate the Japan’s constitution and policy of only maintaining capabilities that are the ‘minimum necessary for self-defence’ is misguided. Resorting to a counterattack when no other means of defence are available was determined to be constitutional by the Hatoyama administration in February 1956. The ability to conduct counterattacks is not banned under international law and is a capability possessed by all states in East Asia.
Japan top court: Govt not responsible for Fukushima disaster
Source: AP
By MARI YAMAGUCHI
TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s top court on Friday ruled that the government was not liable for the 2011 Fukushima nuclear crisis, dismissing thousands of evacuees’ demands that the state, not just the utility, pay compensation for the damages inflicted to their lives.
Friday’s ruling was the first Supreme Court decision on the government responsibility for the Fukushima disaster in four compensation lawsuits filed by about 3,700 Fukushima residents.
The four-judge bench headed by Hiroyuki Kanno said that the government could not be held liable for the disaster because damage from the tsunami of that magnitude could not have been prevented even if the industry minister had used his regulatory authority and ordered the utility to enhance a seawall based on a tsunami estimate at that time.
The ruling could affect about 30 other similar lawsuits pending across the country.
Survey: 68% of Candidates Favor Bolstering Japan’s defense June 24, 2022
Introduction:
(The Asahi Shimbun) Sixty-eight percent of candidates in the July 10 Upper House election favor strengthening Japan’s defense, nearly double the 37 percent of three years ago, reflecting fears about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a survey showed.
The latest figure is the largest over the 20 years of similar surveys conducted ahead of national elections.
The survey was conducted by The Asahi Shimbun and a team led by Masaki Taniguchi, a professor of political science at the University of Tokyo.
Questionnaires were mailed from mid-May to 545 candidates, and responses were received from 512 by the evening of June 22.
Candidates were given five choices to questions about strengthening defense and revising the Constitution: favor, somewhat favor, neither, somewhat oppose, and oppose.
Boorish Behavior in Diet Prompts Drive to Elect More Women by Midori Iki
June 23, 2022
Introduction:
(The Asahi Shimbun) The jeers she heard reminded Tae Amano of uncouth baseball fans. But she was not at a stadium with free-flowing beer. She was waiting in a committee meeting room at the Diet.
And after her “at-bat” in front of at least one obnoxious male lawmaker, she decided that the Diet could use an overhaul.
Amano, 47, is now leading a campaign of sorts through Twitter and Instagram calling on people to vote for women in the July 10 Upper House election.
Her time in the Diet stemmed in part from Miraco, an organization she established with other women who could not find openings in day care facilities for their young children.
Amano had been asked in the past to present her views in the Diet based on her experience with child care issues.
Women Account for Record 33% of Candidates in Diet Election by Sachiko Miwa
June 23, 2022
Introduction:
(The Asahi Shimbun) Around one-third of candidates in the July 10 Upper House election are female, the highest ratio since Japanese women were first allowed to vote and run for Diet seats in 1946.
The female proportion of 33.2 percent is the first to exceed 30 percent in elections for either of the Diet’s two chambers.
The previous record for female candidates in a national election was 28.1 percent in the 2019 Upper House poll, a year after the candidate gender parity law came into force, which calls on political parties to make efforts to field an equal number of male and female candidates.
The latest rise in female representation was pushed mainly by opposition parties, while the figures for the ruling coalition parties both remained under 25 percent.
As Japan looks to raise minimum wage, firms say they’ll struggle to pay it
Jul 1, 2022
With soaring import costs prompting companies to mark up prices, and in the process putting financial pressure on households, it’s becoming more and more crucial that Japan creates momentum toward wage growth.
On Tuesday, a government panel kicked off discussions on a hike to the average minimum wage, which is expected to garner a great deal of attention.
Every year, usually early in the summer, the labor ministry’s minimum wage panel comes up with a rough target for hourly wage increases. Based on that figure, panels in each prefecture make a decision on changes to the local minimum wage, with the new rates implemented around October.
“To realize the nationwide average of ¥1,000 per hour as soon as possible, I’d like to request (members of the panel) to thoroughly discuss the matter while taking into account the cost of living, (current) wage levels and (employers’) ability to pay wages,” labor minister Shigeyuki Goto told the panel.
In light of rising inflation, it’s likely that the panel will propose at least the same level of increase as in fiscal 2021, which ran through March, some experts say. But given that steep hikes in recent years have put a heavy burden on companies, especially small and midsize firms, a sharp pay raise could further hurt struggling companies.
Japanese Voters Back Party of Former Prime Minister Amid Shooting Fallout
by Justin McCurry
July 10, 2022
Introduction:
(The Guardian) Japan’s ruling party has won a comfortable victory in elections overshadowed by the assassination of the former prime minister, Shinzo Abe.
Exit polls showed that the Liberal Democratic party (LDP), which Abe led until he resigned in 2020, had secured more than half the 125 seats being contested in the 248-seat upper house.
The LDP and its junior coalition partner, Komeito, were projected to win more than 63 seats, according to a Kyodo news agency exit poll. The public broadcaster NHK said the parties would win between 69 and 83 seats.
The coalition needed to secure 55 seats to retain their majority in the upper house – the less powerful chamber in Japan’s parliament.
“It’s significant we were able to pull this election together at a time violence was shaking the foundations of the election,” the prime minister, Fumio Kishida, an Abe protege, said after the exit poll.
Ex-Prime Minister Abe's Death on Minds of Japan Voters, but Turnout Low July 10, 2022
Introduction:
(Kyoto News) The fatal shooting of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe remained fresh on Japanese people's minds as they headed to the polls Sunday for the House of Councillors election, but it appeared to have no significant impact on voter turnout.
Abe's death at a campaign event generated enormous focus on the triennial election, putting politics front-of-mind for the voting public while averting attention from key issues such as cost of living pressures.
According to a Kyodo News estimate, however, the turnout rate stood at only 52.0 percent as of 1 a.m. The figure is just 3.2 percentage points higher than the second-lowest turnout of 48.8 percent recorded in 2019.
On Sunday, many people journeyed to pay their respects at the area in the western city of Nara near where Abe was assassinated, with mourners lining up to leave flowers.
"Mr. Abe was a politician who worked hard for Japan. It's regrettable," said Akihiro Yorimoto, a 43-year-old from Osaka who came with his family to place flowers.
A Big Win for Bloc Pushing to Make Abe’s Dream of Revision a Reality by Kazuo Ikejiri
July 11, 2022
Introduction:
(The Asahi Shimbun) The prospect of a national referendum being held on revising the Constitution moved closer to reality after four parties in favor of amendment won enough seats in the July 10 Upper House election to forge the two-thirds majority needed in the chamber to initiate such momentous change.
It was a dream that slain former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had desperately hoped to achieve during his nearly nine years in power. He was gunned down while campaigning July 8 on behalf of a ruling Liberal Democratic Party candidate.
The LDP and its junior coalition partner Komeito were on course to win at least a combined 70 of the 125 seats contested, ensuring a majority for the two parties.
Nippon Ishin (Japan Innovation Party) looked set to double the number of seats it held that were contested. And along with the Democratic Party for the People, the four parties were narrowing in on at least 82 seats.
Combined with the uncontested 84 seats held by the four parties, the bloc in favor of amending the Constitution will reach the 166 seats that represent a two-thirds majority.
Shinzo Abe Wanted to Make Japan a “Normal Country” — as He Saw It by Bryan Walsh
July 8, 2022
Extract:
(Vox) The assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Friday was shocking for many reasons: the rarity of political killings in an advanced democracy these days; the paucity of murders of any kind in Japan, long one of the world’s safest countries; the use of a gun in a nation that reportedly had just one shooting homicide in 2021.
But perhaps the most stunning thing of all was the assassin’s target: Abe, who had seemed to master the art of political resurrection as few leaders had in Japan or any other country.
… A political scion
Abe was quite literally born to occupy the highest rungs of Japanese political power. His maternal grandfather was Nobusuke Kishi, an ardent nationalist who served in Tokyo’s military-run government during World War II, and was imprisoned by US occupation forces for more than three years after Japan’s surrender in 1945. But Kishi was never brought before the Allied War Crimes Tribunal and was released in 1948, along with scores of other wartime politicians, as US interests turned from punishing Japan’s militarists to bolstering the country as an anti-communist ally.
…
Abe was the first Japanese prime minister born after the war, but the conflict’s legacy — especially the pacifist constitution put in place by the American occupiers, which officially renounced war as a sovereign right of the Japanese nation — was never far from his mind. Inheriting his father and grandfather’s nationalist politics, Abe made it a goal to revise the constitution, strengthen the nation’s military — officially known as the Self-Defense Forces — and make Japan what he called a “normal country.”
…
Shinzo Abe dies having never fully completed the work of his grandfather and father. But political resurrection was his stock in trade, and he did perhaps more than any other political figure to resurrect a version of Japan that many — including many of his countrymen — thought was gone forever.
Japan to Create Two Cabinet Minister Posts to Support Startups and Cut CO2
July 22, 2022
Introduction:
(Kyodo News) Tokyo- Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Friday he plans to create two new ministerial posts within his Cabinet responsible for promoting startup businesses and decarbonization efforts in the country.
Unveiling the positions during a speech in central Japan's Nagano Prefecture, Kishida aims to increase investment in decarbonization by aligning the public and private sectors while driving economic growth through the cultivation of more startups.
Industry minister Koichi Hagiuda is expected to double as decarbonization minister, while Daishiro Yamagiwa, minister in charge of economic revitalization and coronavirus response, will likely concurrently hold the post of startup minister, a government source said.
Dubbing the efforts in decarbonization as a "green transformation" which will be branded "GX," Kishida vowed to deliver an "unprecedented support framework to spur massive long-term private sector investment" in carbon reduction industries.
While not elaborating on specific measures, Kishida reaffirmed the "government's commitment to the private sector and financial markets through the backing of financial resources."
Japan is known for being conservative nation more so than most western ones, but what just happened makes me ask something. Could the murder of Abe trigger a period of massive political and social polarization from within, leading to drastic change in the near future?
^^^Although I came here to post the article below for other reasons, it does contain some discussion of the differences in viewpoints within Japan, particularly between generations.
Japan, China Need Direct Dialogue to Build Peaceful Ties September 29, 2022
Introduction:
(The Asahi Shimbun) Sept. 29 marks the 50th anniversary of the day when Japan and China established a formal diplomatic relationship in 1972.
In the middle of the Cold War, Japan “restored” its ties with the People’s Republic of China and “severed” its relations with the Republic of China in Taiwan.
It was Tokyo’s strategic decision in response to the surprising move of the administration of U.S. President Richard Nixon to soften its stance toward communist China.
During the half century since then, the Cold War came to an end and China has emerged as a leading power, eclipsing the Soviet Union. Now, the confrontation between the United States and China is rocking the world.
China has overtaken Japan as the world’s second largest economy and has acquired huge military power. The relationship between Japan and China has been plagued by constant diplomatic friction over Taiwan, the Senkaku Islands and perceptions about history-related issues.
Japan Spends a Record $20 Billion to Support the Yen October 1, 2022
Introduction:
(Reuters via The National) Japan spent up to a record 2.8 trillion yen ($19.7 billion) intervening in the foreign exchange market last week to prop up the yen, Ministry of Finance data showed on Friday, draining nearly 15 per cent of funds it has readily available for intervention.
The figure was less than the 3.6tn yen estimated by Tokyo money market brokers for Japan's first dollar-selling, yen-buying intervention in 24 years to stem the currency's sharp weakening.
The ministry's figure, indicating total spending on currency intervention from August 30 to September 28, is widely believed to have been used entirely for the September 22 intervention.
It would surpass the previous record for dollar-selling, yen-buying intervention in 1998 of 2.62tn yen. Confirmation on the dates of the spending will be released in November.
“This was a big burst of intervention, if it had happened on a single day, underscoring Japanese authorities' determination to defend the yen,” said Daisaku Ueno, chief forex strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities.
As Regional Threats Rise, Japan Eases Defense-only Strategy December 16, 2022
Introduction:
TOKYO (AP via Courthouse News) — In a major break from its strictly self-defense-only postwar principle, Japan adopted a national security strategy Friday declaring plans to possess preemptive strike capability and cruise missiles within years to give itself more offensive footing against threats from neighboring China and North Korea.
With China, North Korea and Russia directly to its west and north, Japan “faces the severest and most complicated national security environment since the end of the war,” the strategy said, referring to World War II. It named China as “the biggest strategic challenge” — before North Korea and Russia — to Japan’s effort toward ensuring peace, safety and stability for itself and the international society.
Possession of the strike-back capability is “indispensable” as deterrence to discourage enemy attacks, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told a news conference Friday, calling it “a major change to Japan’s postwar security policy.”
“When threats become reality, can the Self-Defense Force fully protect our country? Frankly speaking, the current (SDF capability) is insufficient," Kishida said.
Under the strategy, Japan’s defense spending through 2027 will increase to about 2% of Japan's GDP to total some 43 trillion yen ($320 billion), 1.6-times that of the current five-year total.
