Kozo's Thoughts

A trip to (a very small block of) the PRC (Part 2 of ?)

2009-12-17T14:33:14Z

When we last left off I was still (relatively) fresh off the plane and in a taxi supposedly heading towards our hotel. The time is close to midnight, and we're travelling 120 km/h (unthinkable in Japan) on a massive highway. There a lots of big building on either side of the highway, but save for a few exceptions the only lights come from the street lights. The lights reflect off the smog/dust and give off an orange glow sort of like when street lights reflect off fine falling snow back home. The dark buildings along the highway, combined with the orange glow sort of reminded me on stretches near the Decarie in the winter. The darkened buildings are somewhat unnerving since they look abandoned, but there are just too many of them to imagine that they're not filled with people.

While contemplating the similarities to Montreal and Tokyo, our taxi made its way off the highway and onto a major road. The driver pulled over and seemed to indicate that we had gotten to the place on the map, but there was nothing resembling a hotel nearby. After some awkward pantomime, the driver started moving again. After some back tracking we pulled up to some sort of guard station. The driver exchanged some words with a uniformed guard and we were let into the premises. We figured it out later, but the hotel is on the grounds of a university.

The there was a sign welcoming us to NEAO 2009, so we knew we were in the right place. Since this was the tournament hotel, we assumed that the staff would understand some English.... Oh how wrong we were, With no tournament staff to greet us, we were left to fend with the hotel's front desk staff who spoke minimal English. The three of us were eventually issued 3 rooms keys, 2 for one room and 1 for another. Two of us retired to one room, while the other went to the other room. However, after a few minutes of settling in, the person who got the single key came back to tell us the room seemed to be already occupied by two people. I use the word seemed because there was no one in the room. Not wanting to split a double occupancy room three ways with complete strangers, we tried contacting the tournament staff to see if they could resolve the situation. While we managed to get someone on the phone, they promised to raise the proper authority and call us back. We never heard back from them again. At this point it was getting late, and I decided the easiest thing to do was to volunteer to sleep on the floor in the ICU guy's room. While this solution was met with some protest my insistence that I did this all the time at debate tournaments, and unlike everyone else I hadn't actually paid reg eventually lead everyone to agree. So I found myself at my first debate tournament in Asia in a familiar position, sleeping on the floor.

There we have my first few hours in China! I'm going to wrap this series up in a much less detailed post tat will cover the actual debating and tell one quick story about "hentai chicken" and the scariness of the Japanese concept of 年功序列. Expect that post shortly.

A trip to (a very small block of) the PRC (Part 1 of ?)

2009-12-10T16:40:49Z

Last week I had the opportunity to spend 4 nights in Beijing. As with many of my travels in life, the reason for my trip was debate related. Beijing Foreign Studies University was playing host to the 5th annual Northeast Asian Open Debate Championships (NEAO for short). The trip was a first for me in many respects, but there was a lot of familiarity as well.

It all started when I attended a BP training seminar here in Tokyo. Despite BP debating's growing popularity, the style has not caught on in Japan. There are only two major domestic tournaments in the style, and beyond a small cadre of schools that travel to foreign tournaments, the only other time Japanese debate teams compete in BP is if the attend Worlds. As such my BP debate experience is quite valuable here, as there are very few people in the country that can match my BP resume. As it so happened the Japanese DCA for NEAO was at the seminar and he offered me a spot as an invited judge. I was being offered meals and accommodations, so all I had to do was find a cheap flight to/from Beijing and clear my work schedule for a few days. I managed to do both, and I found myself agreeing to go to Beijing in less than two weeks time. I saw this as a good opportunity to travel to China (obviously) and to get to know some Japanese debaters better.

It was at this point I realized that I hadn't judged at a competitive BP tournament in over a year (Guindon 2008 having been my BP swan song). In an effort to get back into shape I was able to join the ICU team's BP training seminars. Over two days I judged and debated in a whole bunch of BP debates, and managed to strengthen some relationships along the way. However, even though ICU was fun and rewarding, it didn't change the fact that I hadn't judged seriously with a proper briefing and scoring range. My judgement was deferred to, and I was a bit concerned that my judging standards were not up to snuff. But I figured any questions/concerns I had could be dealt with in the briefings and the judging package.

With those questions still in my mind, I made my way to Narita Airport on Thursday afternoon. I took the cheapest possible route from my house, taking a couple of local trains to get to Terminal 1. I sailed through check-in and security and got into my gate. If there's anything my 20+ trans-pacific flights have taught me, is how to get through security quickly and painlessly. I met up with the ICU guys near their gate (they were flying out at the same time, but on a different flight), and arranged to meet up again at the Beijing Airport. The flight itself was uneventful, I watched Up! on the personal video system, and ate an OK chicken dinner (for airline standards). I was flying United which meant the crew was mostly American which meant I could stick with English through the whole flight. My secret to uneventful flying is to have low expectations and not to piss off the flight attendants. These simple rules keep me quite content on flights and stop me from wasting time complaining about flights.

Our flight arrived ahead of time, and we were greeted by a near empty shiny new airport. I was fearing going through customs more than usual since I had no idea what to expect. I generally fear customs officials since, as one comedian put it succinctly, they have the power to look up your butt. This fear, coupled with the distrust I had for the Chinese government, meant I was going through the various scenarios that may befall me, and had me wondering whether I had the means to pay for a flight back home to Japan if I was refused entry in the country. I was slightly worried that the purpose of my visit, NEAO, would be classified as an "event" which would've required me to get a visa beforehand. As is usual with me and customs, I sailed through without any problem. Looking back on it now I'm not even sure if I ever exchanged words with the customs officer. After I cleared customs I made my way to the baggage claim, and in a moment of perfect timing I saw my suitcase turning the corner of the carousel just as I was approaching it. I managed to grab my suitcase without breaking a stride, and I made my way out to the arrival lobby.

After a 20-30 minute wait, the team from Seikei University came out. Apparently we were on the same flight. I had seen them briefly when they peeked in the back of the plane, where I was sitting, when we boarded in Tokyo but they disappeared back front before I could say a word. I had assumed they'd got out before me and I wasn't expecting to see them. We then proceeded to wait for the guys from ICU. Little did we know we were waiting for people who would never appear. It turns out the ICU guys arrived in a different terminal and when I didn't appear they headed out to the hotel. Those of us in the other terminal only realized our mistake when I realized that each party had a cellphone that functioned in China, and we were able to send an email message. So after 40-50 minutes of Waiting for Godot, which took us close to midnight, we were on our way.

Luckily my intrepid friends from Seikei had the foresight to ask the organizing committee for directions to the hotel, and they were armed with a map to the hotel. This little revaluation was a big relief for me, as I was armed with only the English name of the hotel, which based on my Google search for the name, I was fairly sure was useless. Lo and behold, once we got into a cab my hunch was correct, our taxi driver spoke not a lick on English and we managed to make our way to the hotel by giving the driver Seikei's map and letting him make sense of it.

I'm going to leave it here for now, keep your eyes peeled for part 2 and beyond soon!

The Japan Factor

2009-11-23T12:50:17Z

(I wrote most of this entry earlier this month. I couldn't think of any deeper insights or anecdotes to make it a better post. I've given up and I'm posting it as is. Basically it's a short post on the convenience of life in central Tokyo.)

Whenever you do any reading on China you inevitably come across what I like to call the China Factor. Given the sheer greatness of China's population, things back home are often inflated by a factor of at least 100. Therefore a "small" Chinese village would have a population of 1 million. Moving to Nakano, the most densely populated of Tokyo's 23 special wards (with 20,097 people/km^2), makes me think of similar matters of scale. Nakano is very residential, which means that there are multiple businesses that have set up to cater to the needs of all these people, all in a very compact piece of land. What this means for me, a resident of this fine ward, is that I have choice. Need dry cleaning? No problem, there are 3-4 choices within a 5 minute walk. Ditto for ramen, convenience stores, Indian food, video rental shops, super markets, public baths, and a whole bunch of other things I could think to want. If I'm willing to walk a bit further my options become even greater. Needless to say, I'm not in Canada anymore.

On seeing a UFO... (Not really)

2009-11-10T17:50:26Z

One of the neater aspects of living in Japan, particularly in Tokyo, is that if you see someplace on TV or in a movie there's a fair chance you can go there yourself. So when I learned that the lake scenes in Otonari (you can see some production stills of the location in this video) were filmed not too far from Tokyo, I hopped on a (few) train(s) to make my way to Seibu Stadium station in Saitama. The lake scenes were filmed at Lake Sayama, which is part of the Yamaguchi reservoir. The scenes take place on the 600m pedestrian path built on the embankment. The path is beautifully straight and has the lake on one side, and a little park and residences on the other side. Besides some joggers and elderly walkers the place was very quiet and peaceful. If it was a little closer to where I lived it would make the ideal contemplation spot for me. The day was cloudy and not sunny as I had hoped it would be, but it was nice place none the less. I slowly walked the path and took a bunch of pictures, and on my return leg I saw this...

It almost does look like a UFO in the still shot. But really it's the sunset peeking out of a gash in the clouds. It was interesting watching it get more intense, and finally becoming more diffuse. Check out all my pics from my mini-excursion here.

A Short Story About Fraud in Japan

2009-11-04T16:15:27Z

So I was taking a walk near the station this evening, when a guy in a small sedan starts talking to me. I couldn't hear what he was saying since I had my headphones on, but I assumed he wanted to ask me for directions. Being the nice guy that I am, I took off my headphones to hear the man out. The man wasn't asking for directions after all, he was offering to give me a watch for free. His story went something along the lines of... He and his partner, the driver of the car, were promoters of some kind and they had just finished an event unveiling this new watch. Apparently due to some mix up they ended up with an extra watch, and if they took it back to their company they would get in trouble. So rather than throwing it away to avoid trouble, they figured they'd give it to some lucky passerby. While he was telling me this story, the guy took the watch out its gift bag and box to show me. He went on to say that the watch was worth around $5800, and he showed me a handmade booklet with a bunch of watches with pictures and their prices. I suppose this booklet was supposed to look like some sort of insider catalogue. I must have been making a surprised/confused face since the guy kept telling me how surprising this must be for me and how it was my lucky day. The guy kept repeating the short version of the story, adding things like how he didn't want to exchange information, and that I could do whatever I want with the watch, but if I wanted to sell it to wait a few days since the watch had not been officially launched yet.

This guy was speaking fast and I can't say that I understood everything this guy was telling me, but I was fairly certain that this story didn't add up and that these guys were trying to con me. But being the kind of guy I am, I decided to play along and see how far I could take this little con. I should add that we were in a fairly well trafficked area, and there was a guardrail between me and the car, so I was fairly confident I wouldn't be jumped. So I played the whole, "who am I too turn down this great offer" act, and that's when the guy showed his cards. Instead of handing me the watch and wishing me a good evening, he starts telling me that he's going to go out drinking with his boss (or someone important) later tonight. So as a token of appreciation for giving me such a great watch, would I give him some money for drinks tonight. I told him I wasn't carrying the kind of money to finance anyone's drinking. He relented and said surely I had some money, and asked for the amount of money in my wallet. I told him I really didn't have any money in my wallet, and that I had about 500 yen and obviously no bills. The guy seemed genuinely surprised and asked me if I could go get some money from an ATM. Sensing that there was no place to take this conversation any further, I shrugged my shoulders and I said I COULD but I wasn't willing to go through the trouble for a watch, and that I'm sure they could find someone else to "give" the watch. The guy didn't even respond he just looked away and rolled up the window, and I walked away.

When I got home I looked up watch and fraud (腕時計 and 詐欺 for those of you compiling vocabulary lists) on Google. Sure enough, I got plenty of hits of people who had similar experiences to mine, except most of the posts were by people who handed over money. The basic gist was the same, two guys in a car want to give you an expensive watch, or pair of watches, because if they keep it they somehow get into trouble, afterward they start asking for some money for an unrelated expense. Victims ended up paying between ¥4500 and ¥50,000 for a cheap gaudy quartz watch, obviously not worth the claimed amount. What was surprising was that some people claimed they were pretty certain the watch wasn't worth anything but they paid the money anyway since saying no was a hassle, and figured it was worth it for the story. Obviously the people making that claim were paying out in the lower end of the scale. The other interesting thing was that many of the threads I found were dated in the early 2000's. Looking further in these threads people there were people explaining how this is a very old con and in the 50's involved suits. I saw someone claim that an Italian attempted this con on them in France. Apparently, the "trick" behind this fraud is that since you're actually conducting two separate transactions, and you're not actually paying for the watch it's harder to make a claim of fraud. I have no idea how true that claim is, but I'd like to think that readers of this blog are smart enough to not fall for this con to have to find out. So that's my short story about a specific kind fraud in Japan.

Kozo's 115 days of Ramen

2009-11-02T15:08:53Z

I've now been in Japan for 115 days, and I took the time to reflect on all the ramen I've eaten over those days. By my count, I've eaten at 32 different shops (36 if you count branch shops separately). Since I've visited a few of these shops two or more times, I think it would be fair to say I've had around 50 bowls in 115 days (not including some instant noodles I've made at home). I've compiled a list of all the shops I've been to in the last 115 days. With the exception of one shop in Saga, all the shops are in Tokyo. The shops vary in styles, although Kyushu-style tonkotsu is probably over-represented in the list. I've found these shops various ways including ramen blogs, television, and just plain wandering in for lunch. I've also gone out of my way to visit some of these shops. The full list is available after the cut.

I've included links to English language blog posts on the shops where possible, but I may or may not have had the same kind of bowl as the blogger, nor do I necessarily share the same opinion as the blogger.
The general location of the shop is in brackets, shops with multiple locations indicates all the different branches where I've eaten.
I have visited shops with the ★ mark at least twice, and I highly recommend shops with the ☆ mark.
Finally, the list is in no particular order. It's actually the order in which I remembered the shops.

1. 鏡花（立川）★ ☆
2. 一蘭（立川、渋谷）★ ☆
3. 一風堂（吉祥寺、池袋、六本木）★ ☆
4. ぶぶか（吉祥寺）★
5. 宗（高田馬場）★ ☆
6. 凪（立川）
7. 桂花（立川、新宿）★
8. まっち棒（渋谷）
9. きら星（武蔵境）
10. 麺やここいち（新宿）
11. 二郎（新宿）
12. 美華園（新橋）
13. 辣椒漢（神田）☆
14. 武蔵家中野本店（中野）★ ☆
15. 赤坂屋‎（中野）
16. 青葉（中野）
17. 二代目武道家（中野）★
18. 艶まる（中野）★
19. 麺や天鳳（中野）★
20. 珍珍珍（中野）
21. 喜神（中野）★
22. 二代目けいすけ（高田馬場）★ ☆
23. 屋台らーめん鷹流（高田馬場）☆
24. 一休軒（佐賀）
25. 渡なべ（高田馬場）★
26. 麺屋闘賀（西国立）
27. 博多天神（新宿）
28. アイバンラーメン（芦花公園）☆
29. 七福家（高田馬場）☆
30. 秀ちゃんラーメン（お台場）
31. かもん（中野）
32. 康竜（新宿）

Rest assured this list will grow. I have a separate list of shops I'd like to visit. (^_-)

:EDIT:
I've had to go back and edit this post to add shops #30-32.

Where do I go from here??? Stay tuned for the next 25...

2009-10-23T11:54:11Z

I've been meaning to write an entry on this blog for a while now. I figured I'd use my birthday as an excuse to write this entry. A lot has changed since my last entry. Most notably, I no longer live in Tokyo's 19th electoral district. I am now a resident of Nakano, part of Tokyo's 7th electoral district. Moving out of my relative's house and moving off into the centre of the city has afforded me a lot of opportunities to explore this "town." I'd write about these explorations, but I'm not a huge fan of writing and I now have a job that involves a great deal of writing. The other major change in my life since the last post is that I've found a regular stream of translation jobs through an agency. I can live fairly comfortably, and the way my job is set up I have a lot of flexibility with my time. In many ways I'm like a student with assignments that are constantly due. The difference being that I am now paid pretty good money to complete these assignments, and I have the right to refuse assignments. Still not sure where all this will take me, but stick around to find out!

Hopefully I'll force myself to write some more stuff here, but no promises.

Reppin' the Tokyo 1-9!!! Part 7: It's a wrap!

2009-08-31T07:43:54Z

I was up late following the election results online with the folks from TPR and MFT. I even got a small shout out on the broadcast when I contributed a useless piece of trivia on ドーラン. Needless to say, it was an exciting night for political junkies, such as myself. The results were almost a complete flip-flop over the last Lower House election, with the DPJ coming out with a win of historic proportions. How the DPJ and LDP adapt to being in unfamiliar positions is what everyone is wondering about now. Because while last night's results were historic, they were somewhat expected based on the polling data coming in during the days leading up to the election, no one knows exactly what to expect with this shift in power dynamics. But I'll leave you to read other smarter people's analysis on what might happen, and the factors that might come into play. I'm here to write about Tokyo's 19th district.

I had predicted a DPJ win, with a possible PR seat for the LDP candidate, with the JCP coming in third, and the HRP and independent candidates bringing up the rear in that order. I wan't wrong on the Suematsu (DPJ) win, but I had given Matsumoto's empty youth campaign too much credit. Matsumoto was one of 67 Koizumi children (out of 77) who did not manage to defend their seat. I think if he were able to present something more substantive than his youthful everyman schtick, he might have done a bit better. But as it was, Matsumoto's defeat to Suematsu was significant. Matsumoto lost around 33,000 votes compared to the last Lower House election in 2005. All of those votes seem to have gone to Suematsu. That defeat was one of the bigger ones the LDP faced in Tokyo, and Matsumoto's adjusted PR rank was 14 (out of 18 LDP losers). That rank was well below the rank needed (5) to get a seat through PR. Shimizu (JCP) actually increased his vote count from the last election by 49 votes. The most shocking part of last night's results were the numbers for Takahashi (Ind) and Ishida (HRP). While I did not expect Ishida to do particularly well, I did expect him to garner more votes than the crazy lady with the the fucked up manifesto. As it turns out 2912 people voted for the crazy independent lady, compared to 2740 people for the crazy party-affiliated man. I'm seriously hoping that people in the 19th district voted for Takahashi on a lark, rather than because they identified with her platform. (Which BTW I finally got a hold of, and the whole thing is crazier than the excerpt.) Overall voting in the district went up by 3% (or 10,083 votes) with most of the new votes going fairly evenly towards Suematsu and the two crazies. I also recently discovered that all candidates have to pay a ¥3 million (about CAN$ 35,000) deposit to stand for election, the deposit is only returned if you garner 10% of the vote. Given that high cost, I wonder whether this exercise was worth it for Takahashi and Ishida.

So that wraps up my election coverage. I'll try to do more features that force me to read Japanese and summarize them into (somewhat sarcastic) English. So until next time, remember not to underestimate the electoral appeal of the crazy independent lady.

Reppin' the Tokyo 1-9!!! Part 6: Yoshinori Suematsu (DPJ), the OTHER incumbent

2009-08-29T06:59:21Z

The last candidate covered in this ongoing series is Yoshinori Suematsu, of the Democratic Party of Japan. He is also an incumbent in this race, because while he lost the district last election, he got in as a PR candidate.

Back Story
Yoshinori Suematsu was born in 1956 in Fukuoka. He attended Tochiku High School, and continued his education at Hitotsubashi University (presumably his initial connection to the 19th). After graduating Hitotsubashi in 1980, Suematsu joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In 1986, Suematsu obtained a Masters degree from Princton University. In 1994, after watching the Ministry getting caught up in Gulf War diplomacy, Suematsu felt Japanese politics was in a sorry state and he quit the ministry to pursue a career in politics. Later that year Suematsu ran unsuccessfully as an Independent candidate for the Chofu city mayoral race. In 1996, Suematsu joined the newly formed Democratic Party of Japan, a precursor to the current DPJ, and ran a successful campaign to represent Tokyo's 19th district in the Lower House. Suematsu boasts that in his first term in office he crafted 5 lawmaker-initiated legislation (think private member's bills), and helped craft 5 others. In 2000, Suematsu successfully defended his seat, and was given the role of Vice-Minister for Public Safety in the DPJ's Next Cabinet system (think shadow cabinet). Suematsu successfully defended his seat again in 2003, and was subsequently named the Vice-Minister of Affairs in the DPJ Next Cabinet. As previously mentioned, in 2005 Suematsu failed to carry the 19th district, but managed to retain a seat in the Lower House by being elected through PR. Soon afterwards in 2006, Suematsu became the Minister of the Environment in the Next Cabinet. Earlier this year Suematsu became chair of the Lower House Special Committee on Problems Concerning Youth.

Politics
Suematsu points to his past as a former diplomat and government bureaucrat, to take stands against bureaucratic politics and wasteful spending by the government. He points to his experience as a diplomat during the Gulf War to tout his crisis management experience. He would use these skills to take a leadership re in determining policy for things like dealing with the new H1N1 influenza virus, a North Korean missile situation, and natural disasters like earthquakes. He also touts his role as the shadow Environment Minister, where he made proposals to prevent global warming. Unsurprisingly, Suematsu is for diplomacy and takes a stand against the war in Iraq and nuclear proliferation. Suematsu also supports reforming the pension system and health care to ensure that people have a proper social safety net. Suematsu's policies do not stray from the party's manifesto, but he takes the time to highlight his personal strengths and experience.

Campaign

Unfortunately I have managed to miss Suematsu's public campaign. All I have to go on are the posters, which are rather bland, and on some anecdotes garnered from newspaper articles. Suematsu's posters often seen with the DPJ's national posters sport the DPJ's "regime change" slogan, and notes that Suematsu is a Lower House member and a former diplomat. An article on campaigning by candidates that were ousted by by Koizumi children in 2005 notes that Suematsu was stung by the 5000 vote loss and felt that a little more campaigning may have gotten him the win. Therefore, Suematsu and his team are apparently doing more to connect with voters in the district.

Chances
I believe that Suematsu will win thanks to the DPJ's popularity wave, and his impressive resume. If he were to lose I believe it would be a close loss to the LDP's Matsumoto and he'd get another PR seat. I would be shocked if Suematsu was not elected.

Reppin' the Tokyo 1-9!!! Part 5: Akio Shimizu (JCP), damned dirty commie... Not really

2009-08-28T11:47:15Z

We're nearing the end of the candidate profiles. Today we look at Akio Shimizu of the Japanese Communist Party.

Back Story
Akio Shimizu is a 58 year old Communist Party official, and he has been for at least 15 years. He is the party's district head of this region. He at one time was an official of the Democratic Youth League of Japan, the JCP's youth wing. He dropped out of Waseda University at some point in his life. He is the only candidate running in the 19th not to reside in the district. This will be the second time Shimizu has run in this district under the Communist banner, the previous time he came a distant third (out of three candidates) in the 2005 Lower House elections. If Shimizu's profile seems very dry and halting it is because unlike the other candidates (Saeko Takahashi excepted), Shimizu does not have an independent web presence and does not provide any sort of a personal timeline. This back story is composed of a number of nuggets I've managed to cobble together for various sources.

Politics
Like Ishida, Shimizu's platform and campaign are indistinguishable from the party's platform and campaign. So I'll be talking about the JCP more than Shimizu in this section. If you're a fan of revolutionary "take down the capitalist overlords by any means" communism, the Japanese Communist Party is probably not for you. In fact looking through the party's policies and actions it seems that the JCP is closer to a Democratic Socialist-type party in any other country. The JCP has been an unwavering voice of the left in Japanese politics and garners votes that would have gone to the old Japan Socialist Party. The four promises made on Shimizu's posters are 1) the prevention of the destruction of the employment system, 2) free health care for people 75 years and older, 3) opposing raising the consumption tax, and 4) the abolition of nuclear weapons. While the communist label gives the party a ideology to stand behind and not waver for political opportunism, but it's rhetoric is not one in which the state or other opposition parties should disappear. Incidents by groups like the Japanese Red Army, and the United Red Army, and the pre-war history of the party, have tainted the image of communism and "red" politics, and some may doubt the JCP's sincerity should it ever achieve real power.

Campaign
It's probably because I live in a communist stronghold, but I notice that the JCP has many different posters that appeal to specific issues. The main focus of this campaign seems to be people/citizen centric solutions, as opposed to corporate ones. I have not seen Shimizu himself on the campaign trail, but I can only assume he is out there and plugging away the JCP manifesto.

Chances
Shimizu will not win a seat, but I believe he will come in third with a fairly sizable margin between him and the fourth place finisher. I also assume the JCP will probably get a few votes on the PR vote from this district. The JCP has not faired particularly well in recent elections, and there's no reason to believe that there is a great Communist resurgence going on in Japan, despite some Western media reports.

Summary
Akio Ishida may be a JCP drone, but he's my kind of drone. I wish there was more to say, but there is very little information available about this man.

Reppin' the Tokyo 1-9!!! Part 4: Shinichiro Ishida (HRP), the new kid on MY block

2009-08-27T13:24:25Z

Shinichiro Ishida is the Happiness Realization Party's candidate in the 19th district.

Back Story
Ishida was born and raised in Kokubunji. He went to Elementary and Middle school in Kokubunji, before going to the private Soka High School in Kodaira. The latter fact is sort of interesting because the school is operated by Soka Gakkai, the new religious movement behind Komeito. He attended Nihon University and graduated with an Arts & Science degree. After graduation he worked at OBIC for a little over 4 years. On July 7, of the 7th year of the Heisei-era (1995) he officially joined the Happy Science, new religious movement. From there he moved around various Happy Science branches including Yamanashi, Nagano, Ina, Matsue, Okayama, Tokorozawa, Nerima, and Suginami, until finally becoming the head of the Musashino branch, a position he currently holds. When the Happy Science movement created the Happiness Realization Party in May of this year, Ishida was named the Vice-President of the Tokyo Office of the newly-formed party. He also has a wife and two kids.

Politics
I think it's fair to say that Shinichiro Ishida is not running a personalized campaign. Beyond introducing himself as born and raised in Kokubunji, and still resident in the city, the rest of his campaign material and speeches are indistinguishable from the HRP platform. Ishida doesn't make a case for why HE would be a good candidate, but rather why the HRP's ideals are good. So unlike some other HRP candidates like Doctor Nakamatsu, Ishida seems to be just a HRP drone. So what follows is really just the HRP's platform, and not Ishida's own nuanced view of it.

So the big thing the HRP is stressing is the elimination of the consumption tax and the inheritance tax. The argument being that these taxes discourage spending, and ultimately does not to lead to more government revenue. They point to the overall decrease in government revenue prior to the implementation of the tax, and after it was raised from 3% to the current 5%. They don't discuss other factors that might have lead to these decreases and their graphs blow up the scale significantly making even minor changes seem major. Their second major policy plank concerns national defence. The HRP is using the threat of a North Korean nuclear missile attack to make the argument that Japan should retain the right to preemptive strike. This would entail repealing Article 9 of the Japanese constitution, and that Japan should be responsible for its own defense. The third major plank the HRP presents is increasing Japan's population to 300 million (Japan's current population lies around 127 million). To accomplish this insanely ambitious goal, the HRP suggests a radical overhaul of the housing, education, and transportation situation of the citizenry. Apparently the HRP's proposal would build massive combined commercial-residential high rises in city centres where families would live in 6LDK units, and work would be a short monorail ride away, if not in the same building. I think this ties in with the HRP's proposal to link up the world with an international linear motor train system. Oh by the way, for all the foreigners reading this profile, the HRP would also encourage immigration and naturalization as part of it's population plan. I'm not sure how all this ties in with Happy Science's ideology, but really all you need to know about Happy Science and the HRP is that it's all one big personality cult centred around Ryuho Okawa.

Campaign

Ishida's campaign headquarters happens to be right behind my house. It's a private residence with tons of HRP posters. I didn't bother ringing the bell for fear I might Realize Happiness™. As you can tell from the photo the HRP has numerous flavors of poster and most feature Okawa, and not the candidate. This is all consistant with the HRp's incredibly well-funded campaign that featured full page color ads in major news papers, and tons of different posters abound. The campaign is focussed on the three planks described above, with the consumption tax issue getting the most attention.

Chances
When the HRP ran candidates in the Tokyo prefectural elections last month, they came away with nothing. I expect the same here in the 19th. Ishida will definitely lose, although I expect him to do better than Takahashi. I hope to god that the HRP won't garner enough votes to get a PR-seat, but I'm not entirely sure how much influence Happy Science actually wields.

Summary
Shinichiro Ishida is a drone of the Happy Science new religious movement, and their political party, the Happiness Realization Party.

Reppin' the Tokyo 1-9!!! Part 3: Saeko Takahashi, the Andrew Wattie of the 19th

2009-08-26T09:56:41Z

The second profile will cover Saeko Takahashi the oldest, and the only female candidate in the race.

Back Story

Looking at most election websites the only thing you can uncover about Takahashi is that she's an unemployed and unaffiliated candidate that is 67 years old. The Mainichi's election website sheds some more light on her character by adding that she's a housewife that graduated from Chugoku Women's Junior College (the current: Chugoku Junior College). She apparently has also worked as a temp at the Chugoku-shikoku Regional Agricultural Administration Office (presumably during her student days) and was/is on the PTA of a private school. According to official document released by the Tokyo Election Board, Takahashi lives in Nishi-Tokyo, and she chooses to render her name in old-style kanji. So instead of 高橋佐恵子, as it has been rendered in most publications, she renders her name 髙橋佐惠子 (it would appear that she renders the second character, hashi, differently as well, as it is handwritten on the form). The use of old style characters even continues into the yomigana of her name, which uses ゑ, instead of え in Saeko. The only other thing we can gather from the form is that her (presumed) married name is Sasaki.

Politics
It's as this point I've run out of any semblance of reliable information. The politics section is comprised of hearsay I've gathered from the mother of all rumor mills, a 2chan thread. Her campaign flyer (allegedly) calls for the repeal of the Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security between the United States and Japan, the Law Concerning School Education , Anti-Prostitution Law, the Law Concerning Regional Governments, the Law Concerning Basic Resident Registration, Law Concerning Pension and Social Insurance, and Western-style taxation and accounting. I'll traslate a portion of her (alleged) campaign flyer. The writing style is a little old and I'm not willing to guarantee that I've gotten the nuance of the whole thing right.

To serve in public office, is to do the work of the high house of the Fujiwara-clan, the Imperial Family.
We declare that the party politics (introduced) by the Koreans to be destructive of noble politics.
The governors of the regional governments that ordered the assassination of the high house of the Imperial Family,  are enemies of the state.
Those who are not loyal to the Emperor will be subjugated.

Religions besides the Buddhist temple of the high house of the Fujiwara-clan will not be allowed.
Farmers must protect the Fujiwara-clan and the fields,
Yamamori (mountain guards) must protect the mountains, and Hakamori (grave guards) must protect the graves.
Public utilities will not be allowed.
The selling of labour should not occur.
All trade should be by barter.

The original:
公職とは
藤原氏高家の皇族の職なり
韓国人の政党政治を壊滅公家政治とす
高家の皇族を暗殺、惑は暗殺命令を出した政府地方公共団体の知事は朝敵、
天皇に忠誠なき者は討伐する。
藤原氏高家の許しなく法律の公布は成らず。

藤原氏高家の仏教寺院以外の宗教は許さず
百姓は百の姓の藤原氏、田畑を守るべし、
山守は山を守り、墓守は墓を守るべし、
公益事業は許さず。
生業の商いは成らず。
貿易は物々交換でやるべし

Takahashi is also alledged to have made a phone call where she accused Koreans posing as Japanese for causing the problems in Japanese society like JUKI-NET and cameras in the Diet.

So it seems like we have a nationalistic primitivist, I think. Actually, primitivist is going a bit too far, but you get the idea.

Campaign
Aside from these (alleged) flyers it doesn't seem like Takahashi is doing any campaigning. She has no posters, no website, or any presence as far as I can tell. Although... Yesterday, when I was walking near the station there was a car with loud speakers playing a tape of a woman reading something in a fairly sombre tone, but it never mentioned a name. Part of me wants to go to her neighborhood tomorrow to see if she's done any campaigning closer to home.

Chances
Given that most people probably haven't even heard of Takahashi, I doubt she will garner many votes, insane platform aside. I predict Takahashi will come dead last in the field of 5.

Summery
While I evoked the name of Andrew Wattie in the title, I can honestly say as far as crazy independent fringe candidates go I prefer Wattie. At least he comes from a place striving for world peace and harmony (in his very own fucked up way), from what I can tell about Takahashi, she is coming from a place of hate and paranoia. So what I'm saying is, comparing Saeko Takahashi to Andrew Wattie is not fair to Wattie.

Reppin' the Tokyo 1-9!!! Part 2: Yohei Matsumoto... How old is he again?

2009-08-25T07:49:58Z

So we kick off the profiles section of this feature by taking a closer look at the incumbent, the LDP's Yohei Matsumoto. Matsumoto just finished his first term as a Lower House member, having been elected out of this district in 2005.

Back Story
According to Matsumoto's own literature, which tells Matsumoto's life story in comic form, he was born in 1972. He ran track in middle and high schools. He studied economics at Keio University where he continued running track. After university, he joined Sanwa Bank (now The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ) where he awoke to the importance of politics. In 2003, he quit the company to run for the Lower House, he lost that race but was successful in his second try in 2005. You can find a copy of the comic below.

But you didn't come here for the short summary, did you? Let me fill in the blanks that couldn't be depicted in a 6 panel comic. Matsumoto was born in Setagaya-ward on August 31, 1973, which would make Election Day the day before his birthday. I wonder if he'll get what he wants for his birthday. He was born into a typical salaryman's family, some may say he was born poor. (The words of his supporter, not mine.) He ran track, specifically the 400m, starting in middle school, and continued into university. He participated in the National Inter-High School competition, the Junior Olympics, and inter-college meets. In 1996 he graduated from Keio University's faculty of economics, where he specialized in economic policy. He joined the Sanwa Bank shortly after graduation where he started taking an interest in politics and he began attending political meetings. In April 2003, he quit his job at what was at that point UFJ Bank. (Which gives you an idea of how quickly the banking scene in Japan changed.) He began giving political speeches on the street, and ran under the LDP banner in the 2003 election. He came a distant second to the DPJ's Yoshi At some point before this election attempt he had become the head of the party's district office. He ran again in 2005 where he narrowly defeated Suematsu. Matsumoto is still single.

Politics
Matsumoto is a member of the Ibuki faction of the LDP. Aside from the policies outlined in the LDP manifesto, Matsumoto is in favor of abolishing special privileges accorded to Diet members (e.x. free train passes). Matsumoto leads by example, or at least he claims to, by communting by train and paying out of pocket and by choosing to drive a used car. In a similar vein among his listed accomplishments, he includes playing a part in ablishing the Diet member's pension plan. As for district specific policy, Matsumoto supports establishing the North Tama region, of which the 19th district is a part, as a a model region of "city and nature balance." Matsumoto served on numerous committees placing third out of 480 Lower House members in terms of committee attendance. While his initial election in 2005 makes him a Koizumi-children, he does have any strong allegiance to Koizumi. A Nationalist website rates matsumoto highly as a patriot, and his committee participation would seem to support that view, but I have not found any overt nationalist expressions directly attributed to Matsumoto. What's clear, as we'll see in the next section, is that Matsumoto isn't fighting for any particular cause, but rather is a loyal LDP backbencher.

Campaign

Looking at Matsumoto's posters it's clear he is selling himself as the young dynamic everyman. His poster proudly proclaims that "HE CAN DO IT, because he's a former salaryman, and not a 2nd generation politician." When I first read this I thought it was a subtle dig at an opponent, but it turns out none of the candidates running in the 19th are hereditary candidates. The second slogan in the upper right calls for a "generational change (世代交代), for a energetic Japan." Generational change plays against the DPJ's election cry of change of government (政権交代). Finally the 35 near the bottom right is his age. So basically Matsumoto playing against the image of the LDP as a group of old white men... I mean old men who inherited their place in politics. This impression was confirmed when I saw Matsumoto campaigning in front of Kunitachi station last evening.

Don't let the picture fool you, Matsumoto's campaign had the attention of a significant crowd of older people on the surrounding sidewalks. The person on the mic is party heavy Sanzo Hosaka, telling onlookers that while he sort of understands LDP fatigue they should really vote for the young Yohei Matsumoto, 35 years-old. Basically his message boiled down to you can vote for another party with your PR vote, but PLEASE vote for Matsumoto he's the future of the party. You'll notice I attached Matsumoto's age after his name. Well basically every time Matsumoto's name was mentioned it was always followed by his age. I understand that you want to repeat the candidate's name as much as possible in order to make sure every passerby remembers the name for election day, but is the name really necessary? It really highlights the ridiculousness of repeating the name over and over again.

Chances
Not good. Matsumoto got elected off the Koizumi wave four years ago, and not based on his personal characteristics. Given how close that race was, I doubt he can overcome the current anti-LDP feeling with his "I'm not your typical LDP politician" act. Matsumoto is on the LDP's PR-list for Tokyo, but I don't know how close his margin of defeat will be in this district. The LDP single member constituency candidates are all ranked first on the PR-list, and ties will be broken by margin of defeat in each contest. He may have a chance if it's as close as it was last time, and the vote Matsumoto but not the party in PR if you must rhetoric reaches anyone.

Short Summary
Yohei Matsumoto is a political lightweight trying to win election off the fact that he is a YOUNG everyman. Oh, and did I mention he's 35 years old?

Reppin' the Tokyo 1-9!!! Part 1: Better Know a District

2009-08-23T09:53:43Z

Some of you might have heard, but there's going to be an election next week! Specifically, an election to select the 480 members that will make up the 45th Japanese House of Representatives, Japan's Lower House. 300 out of the 480 members will be elected first-past-the-post out of single-seat constituencies (think ridings in Canadian politics), while the remaining 180 members will be elected by proportional representation (through the D'Hondt method) in 11 block districts. That means every Japanese elector will select an individual representative out of their single-seat constituencies, and a party they would like to see represented in their block district. Proportional representative lists are published in advance by each party, and it is possible to run in a single-seat constituency, and be listed on a party's PR-list at the same time. This means it is possible for a candidate to lose in their single-seat constituency, and still get elected. In order for this to happen their party must garner enough votes to reach the candidate's spot on the PR-list, AND the candidate must have garnered at least 10% of the vote in their single-seat constituency race.

ANYWAY, you'll be able to get all that information and more in English through Wikipedia, or one of the fine Japan blogs I recommended recently. What you might NOT be able to get is a break down of the various candidates running in Tokyo's 19th District, the district in which I currently reside. As an exercise in political research, translation, and summery, I will be profiling the 5 candidates that will be running out of Tokyo's 19th District, in a feature I like to call "Reppin' the Tokyo 1-9!!!"

Part 1 of this series, which I have given the Colbertian subtitle "Better Know a District," will be an overview of the district as a whole, and subsequent parts will be an in depth look at each candidate. So... On with the show!!!

Reppin' the Tokyo 1-9!!! Part 1: Better Know a District

Tokyo's 19th District, THE FIGHTIN' 19, is composed of the cities of Nishi-Tokyo (formed by the merger of Tanashi and Yaho in 2001), Kodaira, Kokubunji, and Kunitachi. If you looked in a map of Tokyo the 19th district would cover the geographic centre of the capital. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, as of September 2008, the 19th district was home to just over 460,000 voters. Since the electoral reforms by Prime Minister Hosokawa in 1994 that created the 19th district in the first place, the district has seen four Lower House elections. Only the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), the Democratic Party (DPJ), and the Communist Party (JCP) have fielded a candidate in each election. The most recent election in 2005 only featured candidates of the aforementioned parties. The DPJ's Yoshinori Suematsu had won the district 3 times, prior to his narrow defeat to the LDP's Yohei Matsumoto, one of the "Koizumi children" in the 2005 "Postal Reform" election. The LDP has steadily increased its vote count in each election, gaining a mere 47,675 votes in 1996, to gaining 138,159 votes in the 2005 election. The DPJ's Suematsu's vote count continued to increase since his first election, before taking a bit of a hit in the 2005 election. The JCP's vote total shrunk to 27,811, down from a high of 38,040 in 2000. A cursory glance of the past results seem to give the impression that the 19th is a relatively liberal/reform-oriented district, but let's look at the district's constituant cities and results from local elections to see if we can gain some more insights.

Nishi-Tokyo (西東京) (lit: West Tokyo) is the most populous city within the 19th district with a population of 194,851 (obviously not all voters). As previously mentioned, Nishi-Tokyo was created in 2001 in a merger between Tanashi and Yaho, which has the distinction of being the first municipal merger of the 21st Century in Japan. Nishi-Tokyo forms the eastern portion of the district, making it the closest to the population centre of Tokyo. Looking through Nishi-Tokyo's profile, nothing stands out as being particularly interesting/notable. If I had to pick something it would be that Citizen Holdings Co. (the watchmakers) have their headquarters in Nishi-Tokyo. Perhaps it is this mundanity that lead to Nobita-kun's house being portrayed as being in Tanashi in the 1990's Doraemon anime. If it's a Tokyo Tower-style landmark you're looking for, look no further than Skytower Nishi-Tokyo, a 195 meter tall multi-use broadcast antennae. Some famous people you may know who hail from Nishi-Tokyo include, actress Aoi Miyazaki, former-Major League baseball player Tadahito Iguchi, and rock singer DIAMOND✡YUKAI. In the Tokyo prefectural election, held last month, the people of Nishi-Tokyo voted overwhelmingly for the DPJ candidate whose margin over the LDP candidate who came in second was around 25%. Although both got elected as Nishi-Tokyo sends 2 candidates to the Metropolitan Assembly. The remaining candidate was a JCP newcomer that managed around 16% of the vote. More locally, the mayor of Nishi-Tokyo is backed by the DPJ, and leftist parties seem to control a comfortable amount of seats in the city council

Kodaira (小平) is the second most populous city in the district with a total population of 186,944. It occupies the geographic centre of the district sandwiched between Nishi-Tokyo and Kokubunji. Kodaira is apparently famous for it's blueberries, and holds a blueberry festival in early August complete with a weird mascot namedd Bluebe. Debaters may be familiar with Tsuda College, a private women's university in Kodaira, that regularly sends competitors to the WUDC. Aside from that, the only other fixture I felt was interesting enough to include, if only for the name, was the GAS MUSEUM. Famous people that hail from this bedroom town include actor Shun Oguri, voice actor Koji Tsujitani, and musician Masatoshi Mashima. Like in Nishi-Tokyo, Kodaira sent both a DPJ and LDP members to the Metropolitan assembly last month. Although the margin of victory for the DPJ member was much closer at "only" 19%, this magin represents a significant growth compared to the previous election where the DPJ candidate and the LDP candidate garnered an almost equal number of votes. Locally the story is a bit more interesting, with a near perfect split of the city council seats between the LDP-lead right-centre coalition and a leftist coalition composed of the DPJ, JCP, Social Democratic Party (SDP), and the Tokyo Seikatsusha Network. The mayor, supported by the latter coalition, defeated the incumbent, supported by the former coalition, in 2005.

Kokubunji (国分寺) boasts a population of 120,585, and together with Kunitachi forms the western end of the district. Kokubunji is so-named for the temple built in the area as part of Emperor Shomu's Provincial temple system. The remains of the temple and its grounds are a designated historic site. Aside from that, anime fans may be interested to know that Kokubunji is home of Production I.G, the animation studio responsible for works like Evangelion, Ghost in the Shell, and one of my all time favorites, Patlabor. Aside from those two things, Kokubunji seems to be another typical bedroom town. The list of famous people for Kokubunji is surprisingly short but it includes recently deceased musician Kiyoshiro Imawano, Reo Tsuchiya and Yoshiyuki Kato from the acapella group RAG FAIR, and violinist Sayaka Shoji. Since Kokubunji shares an electoral district with Kunitachi for the Tokyo prefectural election, I'll start with Kokubunji's local political scene. Kokubunji's city council is composed overwhelmingly of left leaning non-LDP/Komeito-types (two-thirds to be exact). As for the Tokyo prefectural election, in a fairly close three-way race (with a JCP candidate coming a distant fourth), the DPJ and the Seikatsusha Network candidate (also supported by the DPJ) won seats over the LDP candidate. Which is a big improvement for the DPJ since they did not run any candidates in the district in the last election. I do not have any precinct-by-precinct results to analyze, so I have no idea how much of the margin was contributed by Kokubunji, but given the city's relative size compared to Kunitachi and the make-up of the city council, I think it's fair to infer that Kokubunji is a left-leaning city.

Finally we come to Kunitachi (国立) the city in which I currently reside. It is the smallest of the 19th district's cities with a population of 73,588. But it is arguably the most interesting city not only in the district but in the entire country. Kunitachi gets it's name for the first character of it's neighboring cities Kokubunji (国分寺) and Tachikawa (立川). The characters 国立 also can be read as Kokuritsu, or national, which sometimes causes confusion. For example the 国立音楽大学 is not the National College of Music, but the Kunitachi College of Music. However, Kunitachi is home to a national university, the not-confusingly-named Hitotsubashi University. Hitotsubashi is the only national university that specializes exclusively in the liberal arts. In part because of the presence of the university, a large portion of Kunitachi was designated as a special educational region in 1952. The designation, the first for Tokyo, means Kunitachi DOES NOT have any pachinko parlours, sex-shops, or big hotels (i.e. things that can corrupt public morals). The designation came about as part of a movement of citizens and students who came together to combat the negative influence of businesses that were catering to American soldiers stationed at Tachikawa military base during the Korean War. Kunitachi also has the distinction of being only one of two cities to not be connected to the JUKI-NET system (the other being Yamatsuri in Fukushima). Things like this give Kunitachi a disproportionate amount of attention considering its size. Not many famous people hail from Kunitachi like ballerina Miyako Yoshida, and disgraced Johnny's talent Akira Akasaka but many famous people choose to make their home in Kunitachi like actor Tomokazu Miura, and potter and designated living treasure Koheiji Miura (no relation). I already covered the Tokyo prefectural election results in the Kokubunji section, but Kunitachi is considered an outlier in its local election scene as well. Kunitachi is one of the few local governments in Japan that is lead by the JCP. While the JCP does not hold a majority of city council seats by any means, the JCP does lead the government coalition on the Kunitachi council.

So there you have it! Tokyo's 19th district... A collection of bedroom communities that leans a bit left. Next time I start looking at individual candidates.

Odaiba Revenge

2009-08-17T08:28:40Z

As I mentioned in passing in my previous post, I visited Odaiba with Marc so he could take pictures of the 18 meter Gundam currently on display at Shiokaze Park. What I didn't mention was that Marc's plans were largely foiled because the night-time illumination that usually graces the Gundam were turned off because of the fireworks. I wasn't carrying my proper camera at the time, and I only managed a grainy picture using my cell phone. Marc managed some decent photos on his cellphone, as opposed to his DSLR, but apparently lost them in the shuffle.

So when I decided to go to the Hitoto Yo mini-concert at Odaiba, I decided it was my duty as a friend to go take some photos. You can find all my Odaiba Gundam photos at:

http://pics.livejournal.com/kojaxs/gallery/0001ky6f

What I Read About When I Read About Japan & A Super Short Life Update

2009-08-15T06:24:04Z

Big props if you can get the title reference. It's been one week since I returned from Kyushu. Instead of recovering from camp life, partying in Saga, and a 15 hour bus ride back to Tokyo, I went out, without rest, with Marc for his farewell night in Tokyo. That adventure took us from his hotel in Shinagawa, to Odaiba to see the life-sized Gundam (which coincided with the Odaiba fireworks), and finally a dance-'til-morning session in Roppongi. Needless to say accumulated fatigue and alcohol did not lead to the most pleasant of results for me. I've spent the last week, with the Obon holidays as my cover, recovering and doing very little in the way of anything truly productive.

One thing my lack of productivity has lead to is the lack of updates on this blog, and perhaps more importantly the not writing of a post I promised Michael as I left Saga. The post might be a bit late, but I'll write it out anyway, in order to fulfil my promise and to perhaps inform someone else of my blog reading habits. This post will give a quick rundown of all the Japan-related blogs that appear on the links sidebar of this blog. I've also subscribed to most of these blogs through LJ, so you can get a decent rundown of recent content by taking a quick look at my LJ Friends' page. So, off we go...

1) Debito.org: The grand daddy of all English language Japan blogs. I think most foreigners in Japan have found their way to this site at least once, and it's the site that I've been following the longest. The site is chock full or interesting articles by Debito and his meticulous recountings of his various life experiences, and his archiving of all sorts things makes the site a very valuable resource. As a blog however, Debito.org does not rank very high on my list of recommendations. The blog will keep you informed of social justice issues and events going on in Japan, and you will often find repostings of news stories highlighting injustice in Japan. Unfortunately given the general theme of these postings, the comments' sections of each story yields very little in the way of interesting discussion, which is not helped by Debito's notoriety that attracts many trolls. These days i find myself questioning Debito's overall tone and his story selection which at times seems forced. Debito.org is definitely important enough to follow, but it's probably not necessary to subscribe to it to be up on every new post as it gets upped.

2) Mutant Frog Travelogue: I've pimped Mutantfrog before, most recently when I translated the article that lead me to their website in the first place. MFT currently has 4 active contributers that post all sorts of things. I had occasion to meet Adamu and Curzon at a Tokyo Bloggers Meetup. I believe all 4 contributers currently live and work in Japan, so the blog has a much stronger Japan slant than it had in the past, but the blog is by no means exclusive to Japan issues. Basically the contributers post what interests them, and the posts range from long researched and analyzed posts on obscure and not-so obscure topics, and 2 line look-what-I-found posts. The varied and quality posts leads to interesting discussions in the comments' section. MFT is a great blog that mixes intellectual betterment and entertainment.

3) Trans-Pacific Radio: As the name implies, TPR is more a series of podcasts than a blog, but it deserves a spot in my links as a very good source of Japanese political analysis. TPR features a number of podcasts that cover topics likes Japanese politics, Japanese business news, and some Tokyo Yakult Swallows-centric baseball coverage. TPR's flagship podcast (i.e. the one that is most often updated) is it's Japanese politics program Seijigiri. In Seijigiri, political issues facing Japan are discussed by Garrett DeOrio and Ken Worsley (whom I met at the aforementioned blogger meetup), two Tokyo based professionals. The two of them discuss issues in a very laid back and relaxed manner, giving each other the opportunity to use each other as a sounding board to further explore their own (obviously) well informed thoughts. A very entertaining and informative listen. As far as I can tell Seijigiri is the only podcast in either Japanese or English that provides a high level of analysis with a laid back tone.

4) Observing Japan: This blog is the work of Tobias Harris, a self-described fledgling Japan/East Asia specialist. He's not that much older than myself, has studied and worked in Japan, and is currently doing his PhD studies at MIT. I had a chance to meet Tobias at the Tokyo blogger meetup and was struck by his charismatic personality and the depth of his knowledge. He is currently updating like a madman, writing great pieces about the upcoming election. Observing Japan offers a much denser analysis of Japanese politics than TPR, but if that kind of thing rocks your boat it's a must read.

5) néojaponisme: I'm not entirely sure how to describe néojaponisme. I think néojaponisme may be best described, not as a blog, but as a cultural project. A read through the néojaponisme manifesto may give you an idea of what this site is all about. néojaponisme posts cover all sorts of topics related to Japanese culture, including literature, music, typography, the internet, pop culture, and a lot more. I'll be perfectly honest, a good portion of néojaponisme goes right over my head, but the articles that do interest me are extremely well researched and written and are on topics not covered elsewhere. néojaponisme also has podcasts that collect and explore Japanese indie music. More recently, a number of podcasts have been posted which are recordings of néojaponisme founder and chief-editor W. David Marx (a.k.a. Marxy) talking about things in Japan with other knowledgeable people. The most recent podcast features the Marxy and the previously mentioned Tobias Harris talking at a Hanbey, and includes great discussion all within a backdrop of busy Izakaya sounds. From these podcasts, and his writings, it's quite clear that Marxy is a very smart guy, which leads us to the last blog on this list...

6) clast: clast is a "consumer and media insight blog" available in both Japanese and English run by the Diamond Agency. The blog entries which are seldom updated are written by Marxy and Jeff Lippold. While the entries are few and far between, what is written is great insight into Japanese consumer culture and the media. clast will give you insight in the why Japanese products are the way they are, and gives greater context than those dime-a-dozen "look at this crazy shit from Japan!" blogs. Great stuff, clast would probably be my favorite blog if it was updated more often.

If you read through the archives of the above blogs, you will quickly realize that there is a fair amount of cross-pollination between these blogs, and that many of these blogs will lead you to other blogs and news sources. I do read many other things beyond these blogs, but these blogs are probably a decent starting point in building a more nuanced and sophisticated view of Japan. If anyone has other suggestions please don't hesitate to drop me a line.

明日から九州に行きます！ / Off to Kyushu tomorrow!

2009-07-28T08:35:54Z

明日から１０日間ほど九州に行ってきます。明日の朝、羽田から福岡に飛んで、それから大分の中津江村でおこなわれている子ども村に行ってきます。一昨年作った風呂と小屋がどう進化しているかを見るのを楽しみにしています。子ども村には６日間いてから、Sagas in Sagaでおなじみのマイケルの家に３泊します。それで、７日の夕方にに福岡から夜行バスに乗って東京に帰ります。色々楽しみにしています。しばらく連絡がとぎれるかもしれません。

I'm going off to Kyushu for 10 days starting tomorrow. I'm getting on a flight for Fukuoka from Haneda tomorrow morning, and I'm heading back to the Kodomo-mura camp in Nakatsue village in Oita. I'm looking forward to seeing how the bath and cabin we built 2 years ago has evolved. After 6 days in Kodomo-mura, I'm going to be staying 3 nights with Michael of Sagas in Saga fame. Then, it's back to Tokyo Friday evening from Fukuoka on the night bus. I'm lookng forward to everything that awaits me during this trip. I may be incommunicado for a while though.

J-to-E #10 - God Hates Japan 2

2009-07-22T09:47:16Z

Michael, over at Sagas of Saga, posted another installment of God Hates Japan, so I did a translation just to get back into the habit.

It was perfectly good place. I mean, Saitama isn't exactly the Congo. The fact that they had abandoned this world and its inhabitants was humiliating. My friend Tetsu couldn't seem to believe it either, and he told me a story he heard about the Mormons. I don't know what to call him, either the parish priest or the father, gathered all the young boys in a room, once a month, to preach on the evils of masturbation. He'd give all the boys a special pen with invisible ink, and a piece of paper and made them all draw a mark the size of a big coin for each time they masturbated in the last month. He'd collect all the papers, post the papers on the wall using pins, and dim the lights. Then, the room would be covered in stars. It actually sounded like a beautiful scene. Anyway, the priest would call this "the world of sin," or some such thing, and told the young Mormons that their mission for next month was to make all the stars disappear.

Obviously Tetsu and I were curious as to how the female version of this lesson went, but all we could do was imagine.

04

What, me? I was born in 1975, just north of Tokyo. My only sibling is my sister Mariko, born in 1970, but her sensibilities were so far from mine that sometime I thought she must have been born in 1955.

If you asked her what kind of person she thought she was, the first thing she'd mention would be how she owned every product made by (the fashion brand) Burberry. If Burberry made tampons, Mariko would definitely have bought them. When she was young, the thing she was most into was a cheap copy band of the 80's group Duran Duran, made up of foreigners. Even now, she goes out every Monday to Harajuku to remember the days she danced in front of the gymnasium in full rockabilly gear. How embarrassing. It really is the worst. The greatest fights we had occurred after I drew boobs and fangs on the covers her precious concert pamphlets from 1982 to 1986.

十分にいいところだった。だって、埼玉はコンゴじゃないんだろう。彼女たちが、そんな世界とそこに暮らす人々を見捨てたことはあまりに屈辱的だった。親友のテツもまた、信じられないといった様子で、モルモン教徒について聞いた話を教えてくれた。なんて呼べばいいのか分からないが、その教区司祭か神父かが、ひと月に１回、少年たちを一室に集めて、マスターベーションの罪悪について説いたことを。全員に特殊な透明インクのペンと紙を渡し、前の月にマスターベーションした回数分だけ、コイン大の印を付けさせた。それから紙を全て回収し、壁に画鋲で留めてから明かりを消すと、部屋にたくさんの星が現れた。それは実際、とても美しそうだった。とにかく、司祭はそれを「罪の世界」とかそんな名前で呼び、翌月の若いモルモン教徒たちの使命は、その星を全て消していくこととなった。

突然、僕とテツは、これの女の子バージョンがどんなものなのかは、ただ想像するしかなかった。

０４

えっ、僕かい？僕は一九七五年東京の少し北で生まれた。たった一人のきょうだいは、一九七〇年生まれの姉のマリコだったが、彼女の感受性が僕とあまりにかけ離れていたため、それこそ一九五五年に生まれたんじゃないかと思えたほどだ。

自分はどういう人間と思うかを、彼女に聞いてみれば、ひとこと目からたぶん、バーバリーの全商品を所有していることを自ら話し始めるだろう。もしバーバリーがタンポンを作っていたら、マリコなら絶対に買ってるはずだ。彼女が若い時に最も熱中していたのは、八〇年代のデュラン・デュランをパックた安っぽい外国人バンドだった。未だに彼女は、月曜毎に原宿へ出かけており、体育館の外でロカビリーの衣装を着て踊っていた時代のことをよく覚えている。なんて恥ずかしいなんだろう。本当に最悪だ。僕ら姉弟の最大のケンカは、僕がフェルトペンで、彼女が大切にしていた一九八二年から一九八六年のミュージック・ライブの表紙に、オッパイや牙を描き込んだ後に起きた。

It's been One Week...

2009-07-18T05:41:12Z

"...since you looked at me. Cocked your head to the side and said I'm angry."

Or more accurately, it's been one week since I landed at Narita Airport, sailed through customs, and made my way to my uncle's house in Kunitachi. In this last week I've spent a lot of time running around government offices, banks, and various stores. All in an effort to receive the privileges afforded to me as a Japanese citizen, get some money to finance this adventure until I find myself a proper job, and to get random things I needed (most notably a cell phone, and things to store my clothes). I also joined the Hitotsubashi Debating Society for dinner and a couple of practices. This is the first time in my 11 year debating career that I've debated outside of Canada. (You can take the Canada out of the Canadian debater, but not the debating.) A good group of "kids" that I think I can help compete for a shot at the EFL break at Koç. (If anyone from the HDS is reading this... 一緒に頑張ろう！) Should be good times. I've also already managed to hit up 5 ramen shops in my 7 days. I think I'll be slowing down the pace if only for the health of my wallet. I've also already had dinner with some interesting people who were able to give me guidance on my job search. We'll see what this next week will bring, hopefully not more heat. Sweating while doing nothing is not very pleasant. Until next time!

On 5 Years of Hammer and Steel

2009-07-06T04:12:36Z

I've been meaning to write some thoughts on my time in Hamilton/Ontario but I haven't been able to come up with a good way to write what I feel. I started writing this post right after I got back but I neglected the post for a while now. What follows is an off-the-cuff attempt to summarize my feelings. After 5 years of good times, I finally bid adieu to Hamilton. My 5 years in Hamilton, and by extension Ontario, were great and afforded me many different opportunities that I would probably not have had if I had stayed in Montreal. Living in Ontario gave me the opportunity to see just how different Quebec was to the rest of the country. While many of these differences are obvious and were not unknown to me, actually living them gave me greater perspective into the diversity of this great land we call Canada. While there are differences between all provinces I feel (perhaps incorrectly) that being in Ontario gave me greater insight into English Canada than I would've gotten if i had stayed in Montreal.

Hamilton as a city was big enough that it had all the modern amenities I needed to go about my simple life without a car, and had reliable enough transport to Toronto for everything else. McMaster University nestled in the westend of Hamilton resides in a quiet residential area of town, and has a closed campus that combined old and new. While it certainly had its issues, particularly in regards to funding the humanities and clubs like debating, given that most (if not all) Canadian universities have problems I can't really say I got a bad deal in my undergrad education. I took some interesting classes, met interesting people, and enjoyed the numerous amenities the university had to offer. I'm also quite sure that McMaster's insistance that I take the common first year Engineering course load (rather than accept my CEGEP credit), is a key factor that allowed me to switch into the Humanities. Had I stayed in Quebec, I may not have had the opportunity to reflect as much on my priorities, and I might have toughed out an Engineering degree, or have made the switch only after spoiling my transcript.

Of course, being in Ontario let me be a part of a much more diverse and complicated high school debating scene. If I had stayed in Montreal, I probably would have made more money coaching private school debaters, but I probably wouldn't have had a hand in really expanding debate to new schools. Ontario's regionally diverse of debating scene gave me insights on how to appreciate differences in styles and philosophies, and gave me insights on how to work with others with differing views in order to accomplish the goal of furthering debate in high schools. In Hamilton, I found myself coordinating a public school based debating scene that lacked a common vision. But I was close enough to Toronto that I was asked to Tab two National HS events held in Toronto during my time at Mac. Of course, being an OSDU representative took me to various parts of the province for the annual Championships (formerly the Seminar). I've been to places a regular university debater wouldn't have necessarily seen. I made a great number of friends from all parts of the province from all kinds of backgrounds with debating being the only common denominator. Also, being at Mac allowed me to bypass the competitive qualification procedures I would have faced had I attended McGill, and let me go to UBC Worlds. I am convinced that these valuable debate experiences happened because I ended up in Hamilton. I hope to take these experiences with me and apply them in Japan.

Finally, living in Hamilton meant living on my own for 5 years, not under the direct supervision of my parents. Prior to my second year, I moved into a house for the first time in my life. I cooked my own meals, did my own laundry. and otherwise made all my own life decisions. While I summarize this point in a few sentences this independence and freedom contributed to the above mentioned opportunities. So at the end of the day I have no major regrets about choosing to go to McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. That doesn't necessarily mean that I unconditionally recommend Mac to everyone, but it worked for me.

Short Life Update

2009-06-09T05:21:48Z

Sorry for the lack of updates, my life has become quite hectic over the last couple of weeks and I've been too busy to invest the necessary time and energy into translating stuff. In 14 days I'll be saying goodbye to Hamilton, my home for the last 5 years. 17 days later I will be waving goodbye to Canada, the country that I've called home all my life. I will be heading off to Japan, land of my ancestors, to find work and live on my own for a couple of years. While my current plan is to return to Canada in a few years, I plan on calling Japan home for a while. I will be heading back to Montreal on June 23rd, and off to Japan on July 10. Each time I will be taking less luggage with me. Right now I am in the process of whittling down my possessions to an amount that will fit into a 2009 Honda Civic. I'm getting rid of my bike, a lot of my books, old clothes, all my fancy kitchenware, and all sorts of other odds and ends that I've accumulated over the last 5 years. The next month is looking to become the beginning of a wild ride, and I hope to write a few reflective pieces as I get a chance to look back at myself. The translations will continue eventually, but I won't be sticking to a regular schedule for the time being. Cheers!

Time of My Life

2009-05-23T06:30:45Z

As my threats to move to Japan are finally coming to fruition (details to be released soon), I began to wonder about how much of my life I've spent in Japan. By my best estimation I've probably spent a cumulative 2.5-3 years in Japan, split up over 12-15 separate visits. The longest stay was the year I spent as 3 year old. and the shortest was probably my last brief New Year's visit of a little over 2 weeks. So I've probably spent 10% of my life physically in Japan. I'm not quite sure if this is a lot or not, but given how spread out the visits were I guess I'm surprised they added up to years (excluding the one year stay as a very young child).

This little thought exercise made me go back and track my movement over the last couple of years (2007 to 2009) to track my movement and to see what kind of utterly useless data I can come up with. Thanks to meticulous record keeping on my computer I was able to accurately retrace my movement for the years 2007-2009. I probably could've gone back further, but there was a a limit to my motivation to email dive. Over this time period, I've traveled extensively within Ontario, mainly for debating-related purposes, but for this "study" I looked at my movement across provincial and national borders only. For dates where I traveled from one location from another the destination got credit for the date. I've counted from January 1, 2007 to May 23, 2009. Now here's some data :

Total dates spent in:
Ontario: 717 days over 8 stays (82.0%)
Japan: 74 days over 2 stays (8.5%)
Quebec: 73 days over 6 stays (8.4%)
Alberta: 4 days over 1 stay (0.5%)
British Columbia: 3 days over 1 stay (0.3 %)
Nova Scotia: 3 days over 1 stay (0.3%)

Longest Stay
159 consecutive days spent in Ontario in 2008
(Will be broken by my current stay in Ontario if I stay until June 14)

Shortest Stay
2 consecutive days spent in Quebec in 2007

Most Trips Taken in a Year A trip is considered the number of times I've crossed a Provincial or National border.
10 in 2007

Least Number of Trips taken in a Year
1 in 2009 (So far)

I should note that the stay in BC is actually longer, because it straddled the 2006/2007 changeover. It's somewhat surprising that I've actually spent more time in Japan than I have in Quebec over the time span. Although the fact that I travelled around Japan and Quebec basically equals Montreal is probably what is coloring my perceptions. Another thing I remembered while going over my travels, is the fact that I've spent New Years Day in completely different places every year over this span, and never in Ontario. By my estimation, if a were to rank the top 5 places I've stayed in in my life, by the number of days spent, it would probably end up being Quebec, Ontario, Japan, New York State, and New Brunswick. It'll be interesting to see how this list wil change over my lifetime.

All this shows, is that I'll be somewhat ready to fill out a detailed background check, the kind where you have to account for every moment of your life.

J-to-E #9 - God Hates Japan

2009-05-13T21:26:12Z

My friend Michael, over at Sagas of Saga took some time out of his visit home to do a translation, so I decided to take a break from my Taro Aso fixation and jump on his bandwagon. This time the source material was a book by Canadian author Douglas Coupland. The book entitled 神は日本を憎んでる, was written by Coupland in English,translated into Japanese, and published only in Japan. So while there is an English version of 'God Hates Japan' (the title of Fred Phelps' next campaign, I'm sure), it has never been published.

In the last year of our high school lives, the three cute girls in our class found religion. This might be a odd place to start a story, but maybe it's not such an odd place to start. I'm not sure if this means anything, but the three girls, Kimiko, Kaoru, and Eriko, were among the tallest in our class. Their movement could only be described as being very graceful. It even made Ueda, the biology teacher, say that they were proof that the introduction of dairy products into the Japanese diet during WWII, lead to the improvement of the race. What a creepy fascist. Regardless, the three of them really existed. They were among the few beauties in the class. If we were to compare, we would be dandelions and grass, and the three of them were roses and peonies. They stood before us as examples of straight forward beauty.

But it was no coincidence that these girls found religion. It all started when Scott and Kirby, two Mormon missionaries, began home-staying at the house next door to Kimiko's house. She lived six houses over from my house. Kirby was like a character that appeared in American television dramas, the kind that spend all his earnings on modifying a trailer, abandoned in the middle of the California desert, into a crystal meth lab. There was something stupid and lazy about him. Not even the geeky standard-issue shirt and tie that all the Mormon missionaries wore could camouflage his naughtiness. In fact, I bet that he had a square cut before the church made him cut his hair.

From: http://sagasofsaga.blogspot.com/2009/05/translation-exercise-god-hates-japan-1.html
高校生活最後の年に、クラスでかわいかった３人の女子が宗教を見つけた。物語を始めるには妙な場所かもしれないが、それが結構そうでもなかったりする。何かの役に立つかは分からないが、そんなキミコとカオルとエリコの３人は、クラスの中でも背の高い方だった。そんな彼女たちの身のこなしは見事と言うしかなく、生物教師のウエダをして、第二次世界大戦争の国民の食生活における乳製品の大量導入が、結果的に、日本人をより優れた民族にしたごとの生きた証だと言わしめたほどだった。なんて気味の悪いファシストなんだろう。とにかく、３人は現実に存在した。クラスでも有数の美人で、喩えるなら、タンポポやオヒシバの僕らと較べたら、薔薇や牡丹の３人は、正統派美人の確たる例として、僕らの前に叩きつけられた。

でも彼女たちが、偶然に宗教を発見したわけではない。それは、モルモン教宣教師のスコットとカービーが、僕の家から6軒先にあったキミコの家の隣にホームステイし始めてからのことだ。カービーのやつは、いかにもアメリカのテレビドラマに登場する、カリフォルニアの砂漠の真ん中に取り残されたトレーラーを改造したクリスタル・メタアンフェタミン精製所に収入を試みそうなやつだった。どこかマヌケな怠け者といった感じで、あの滑稽なモルモン教徒の定番（ユニフォーム）であるシャツとネクタイでさえ、その下品さをカモフラージュしきれなかった。しかも、教会が髪を切ってしまうまでは、きっと角刈りだったに違いない。

The Official Aso Speech Translation

2009-05-09T00:50:37Z

Those of you who bothered to read my last translation, may be interested in reading the "official" translation from the Prime Minister's office. This version cuts out a lot of the extraneous stuff, like the audience questions, that were found in the Japanese version.

Japan's Future Development Strategy and
Growth Initiative towards Doubling the Size of Asia's Economy
http://www.kantei.go.jp/foreign/asospeech/2009/04/09speech_e.html
April 9, 2009
16:30-17:30
(speech of approximately 30 minutes)
Japan National Press Club

(Provisional Translation)

1. Introduction

2. Future of the Japanese Economy - "Future Development Strategy"

(1) Leading the World in the Low-Carbon Emission Revolution
(i) The Number One Solar Power Nation in the World
(ii) The First Nation that Popularizes Eco-Cars

(2) A Healthy, Long-Lived Society in which People Feel Secure and Strong
(i) Create Employment for 300,000 People in Nursing Care
(ii) Revitalize Regional Health Care Systems

(3) Promoting the Attractiveness of Japan
(i) An Attractive Major Tourist Destination
(ii) Extending the Soft Power of Japan

3. Growth in Asia - "Growth Initiative towards Doubling the Size of Asia's Economy"

(1) Strengthening Asia's Growth Potential
(i) Specific Examples
(ii) Formulation of the Comprehensive Asian Development Plan

(2) Expansion of Domestic Demand in Asia

4. Conclusion

1. Introduction

Good afternoon, I am Taro Aso. It has been roughly six months since I took office as the Prime Minister. Looking back, it has been a period in which I have been occupied with responding to the economic crisis, said to be on a scale that occurs "once in a hundred years."

Amidst this major crisis, citizens and companies alike are filled with a sense of uncertainty and helplessness with regards to the future.

Meanwhile, the current crisis has the potential to change the structure of competition in the world's economies and industries.

The nations that are able to transform tough situations into opportunities during this worldwide period of transition will be prosperous in the future. In this sense as well, we stand at a crossroad that comes "once in a hundred years."

What kind of future will today's Japanese economy lead to? I would like to present to you my new growth strategy called the "Future Development Strategy." It is a roadmap for the image of sectors that should grow and for the realization of that image, and covers the period until 2020.

Furthermore, new growth frontiers are not limited to Japan. I would also like to discuss an Asia-wide growth strategy that aims to double the size of the Asian economy by 2020.

2. Future of the Japanese Economy - New Growth Strategy

First, I will discuss the "future" of the Japanese economy.

In a situation in which major worldwide adjustments have become necessary, it is no longer realistic for Japan alone to return to a growth trajectory that relies on export of traditional goods. I propose the following three pillars in order to take quick action toward a new growth model.

These are:

(i) "Leading the World in the Low-Carbon Emission Revolution"
(ii) "A Healthy, Long-Lived Society in which People Feel Secure and Strong"
(iii) "Promoting the Attractiveness of Japan"

These three pillars are fields in which we can capitalize on Japan's strengths and characteristics.

With these three pillars, we will make concentrated public and private investments and implement bold systematic reforms that will promote those investments.

I believe that with such bold actions by both the public and private sectors, we will be able to increase real GDP by 120 trillion yen by 2020 and create employment opportunities for 4 million people.

In particular, over the next three years we expect to create demand totaling 40-60 trillion yen and realize job creation for 1.4 to 2 million people.

(1) Leading the World in the Low-Carbon Emission Revolution

First and foremost, I would like to talk about the "Low-carbon Emission Revolution."

Overcoming global warming is the greatest challenge of the 21st century. The Low-carbon Emission Revolution is one in which we overcome this challenge with new technologies and reforms of social systems.

The rapid post-war growth greatly changed the way of life in Japan.

The spread of household appliances such as the washing machine and television, etc., called "the three sacred appliances," reduced the burden of performing household chores, and promoted family togetherness. Furthermore, the spread of automobiles changed our lifestyles dramatically.

The realization of the "Low-carbon Emission Revolution" requires an equally large reform of lifestyles and urban development.

In the "low-carbon emission society" of the 21st century, solar batteries, electric cars, and energy-saving appliances will become the new "three sacred appliances." In addition, just as during the period of rapid economic growth, I believe these new technologies will allow us to experience the greatness of a low-carbon emission society and to formulate our dreams.

Japan's energy efficiency is twice that of the United States and 1.7 times that of Europe. As this shows, we have a foundation that is well-suited to make such reforms possible, in particular our world-class energy-saving technologies.

By 2020, I call for the percentage of our total energy consumption accounted for by renewable energy to double, and to increase to 20%, the highest level in the world.

By 2020, we will create a new 50 trillion yen market and employment opportunities for 1.4 million people in this Low-carbon Emission Revolution field.

<<(i) The Number One Solar Power Nation in the World>>

As the initial step, the project I would like to place the most focus on is the "Plan to be the Number One Solar Power Nation in the World." This will increase the electrical output from solar power to 20 times the current level by 2020.

Solar power generation is taking steps toward worldwide diffusion. The next few years will be a crucial period for assuming the world's number one position. The question is, how do we become number one in the world in terms of solar power generation?

In order to achieve this, we must put an end to the following vicious cycle:

(i) Costs are high because of lack of demand.
(ii) Demand remains stagnant due to high costs.

Above all else, I think a strong political will to create "demand through policies," is necessary.

We will establish a "new purchasing system" in which electric companies purchase solar power generated in households at about twice the current price. Because of this system, households with solar panels will see profits in about 10 years with the support measures of the national government and local governments.

Moreover, we will install solar power generation units in 36,000 public elementary, junior high, and high schools nationwide on a targeted basis over the next 3 years, thereby transforming these schools into "green schools" that educate our children while using solar energy.

With these measures, we will aim for the reduction of the cost of solar power systems by one half over the next 3 to 5 years.

I have a dream that one day Japanese solar panels will cover the homes and deserts of the world to help reduce global carbon emission. I would like to put into practice bold approaches to realize this vision.

<<(ii) The First Nation that Popularizes Eco-Cars>>

Another plan is "The First Nation that Popularizes Eco-Cars." We will be the first nation in the world to popularize so-called "eco-cars" such as electric cars and hybrid cars, etc. We will begin mass production and mass sales of electric cars in 3 years, and attempt to make 1 out of every 2 new cars an eco-car by 2020.

In order to achieve this, exemption of the Automobile Weight Tax and the Vehicle Excise Tax began this month. Besides, the Japanese Government will introduce new subsidy scheme so that replacement for Eco-cars could be further facilitated. Through these supporting measures, we aim at creating new demand for around 1 million Eco-cars over the next year. We will create an age in which each citizen chooses cars based on environmental performance.

Moreover, we will select 10 cutting-edge model cities, and implement a demonstration project that gives us an image of a motorized society in the future. Based on the knowledge we will have gained, we will collaborate with other countries to create a global standard.

In conjunction with this goal, we will also support the spread of over 20 million energy saving appliances by utilizing the "eco point system" to reward persons that purchase energy saving appliances.

(2) A Healthy, Long-Lived Society in which People Feel Secure and Strong

The second pillar of the growth strategy is "A Healthy, Long-Lived Society in which People Feel Secure and Strong."

In Japan, aging is progressing at a speed unmatched by any other country in the world.

However, Japan's elderly are strongly motivated to work.

In Japan, about 30% of males aged 65 years or older are working. The percentage is 20% for the United States and roughly 10% for Europe.

In Japan, over 80% of elderly persons aged 60 years or older want to continue working until at least 70 years of age.

If we can provide solid health care and nursing care services, we can create an active aging society that can lead the world.

Building a society of health and long life before any other nation in the world will lead to the creation of broad domestic demand-oriented industries.

We will create a new market of 35 trillion yen and employment for 2.1 million people in this field by 2020.

<<(i) Plan to Create Jobs for 300,000 People Employed in Nursing Care>>

First, we will approach the "Plan to Create Employment for 300,000 People in Nursing Care." We will aim to increase the current figure of 1.3 million nursing care employees by 300,000 employees in the next 3 years and to 2.2 million employees by 2020.

Even in a time when many people are losing their jobs, the field of nursing care still suffers from a severe lack of manpower.

Currently, the field of nursing care offers annual compensation that is more than 1 million yen less than the average income of all industries. Beyond this, there is little opportunity for career advancement after being employed in the field. In order to create better nursing care services, there must be hopes and dreams in the nursing care workplace.

First, conditions in the field of nursing care must urgently be improved.

In order to achieve this, we will enrich funds for nursing care. In addition, we will use this money to raise the wages of persons working in nursing care over the next 3 years.

In addition, we will change the current compensation structure to one which allows an improvement in wages and conditions, similar to that of people working in companies and factories.

Also, with respect to urban areas, we can see that the greatest challenge comes from a lack of sufficient long-term care facilities.

In the next 3 years, we will develop long-term care facilities on a targeted basis.

á(ii) Plan to Revitalize Regional Health Care Systems>>

Another focus project I would like to focus on is the "Plan to Revitalize Regional Health Care Systems."

Healthcare in certain regions suffers from serious problems such as lack of doctors and patients being sent from one hospital to another. Meanwhile, there are doctors and nurses who work day and night even on holidays.

It is necessary to overcome this situation and rebuild regional health care systems.

These problems cannot be solved simply by individual cities, towns, villages, and hospitals. Rather, it is necessary to change our way of thinking to one that calls upon regional hospitals, private practice doctors, and long-term care facilities to cooperate and collaborate with neighboring cities, towns, and villages in providing comprehensive services for residents.

Moreover, it is important to reallocate functions keeping in mind the perspectives of patients. For example, by creating core bases for emergency and obstetric services, patients will no longer be "sent from one hospital to another."

The government will make targeted investment to build health care and long-term care structures in which regions act in concert.

Specifically, we would like to reapportion roles among hospitals or among hospitals and clinics in multiple cities, towns, and villages in a wide scope.

Such arrangements will allow for the following to be achieved:

(i) Increase of administrative medical assistants that support doctors
(ii) Development of better health care facilities and IT facilities
(iii) Bus operations that allow all residents to visit hospitals

We will use all our power to support the building of health care structures at the regional level.

First, we will select advanced regions from each prefecture and implement the plan. Afterwards, we will expand successful models to about 350 regions nationwide within 10 years. We will engage in this rebuilding of regional healthcare system as a major 10-year project.

(3) Promoting the Attractiveness of Japan

The third pillar of the growth strategy is "Promoting the Attractiveness of Japan."

Japan possesses soft power rooted in the culture and sensibilities that have developed over many years. This includes rural landscapes that charm foreign tourists as well as such cultural fields as animation and fashion that gain worldwide attention. Utilizing this soft power, we will create a broad range of new industries. We will reinvigorate regions so as to increase the employment of young people.

<<(i) An Attractive Major Tourist Nation>>

First, we will aim to become "An Attractive Major Tourist Nation." We aim to increase the number of foreign visitors to Japan to 20 million, which is more than double the current figure. This will likely translate to a consumer market of 4.3 trillion yen.

Unfortunately, Japan is ranked 28th in the world in terms of the number of visiting foreign tourists. As we make appeals of our charm and make the necessary preparations, the number of foreign tourists will almost certainly increase.

First, we will improve the access to Japan. We will cut the waiting times for immigration checks at Narita International Airport by one half from 28 minutes at the longest, to 15 minutes at the longest. We will reduce the connection times from Narita International Airport to domestic carriers at Haneda Airport by one half, from about 100 minutes to about 50 minutes.

Also, I would like to thoroughly improve the scenery and townscapes of tourist attractions.

We will restore the traditional townscapes which the people of those regions are proud of. It is possible for any part of Japan to be reborn as an attractive tourist area. There are examples such as that of Ouchijuku, Aizu where the elimination of telephone poles led to a dramatic increase in tourists.

From this perspective, we will choose about 30 tourist areas over the next 3 years, promote the improvement of scenery with the elimination of telephone poles, etc., and develop attractive townscapes and scenery.

<<(ii) Transmitting the Soft Power of Japan>>

Another project is "Transmitting the Soft Power of Japan."

Japan is a prime source of to "content" and fashion, etc. such as animation and computer games which have been labeled as "Japan Cool," and have gained the attention of consumers worldwide.

"Manga" is now an international word. Many Japanese magazines are among the most popular women's fashion magazines in China. Are you familiar with "Ayumi, Ebichan, and Karina?" These women appear in magazines read by Chinese female office workers and in television commercials.

Akihabara and Uraharajuku, Mecca for funs of animation and fashion, have become regular places for sightseeing in Tokyo.

However, unfortunately, this soft power of Japan has not resulted in business overseas. The percentage of overseas sales for Japan's contents industry is slightly less than 2% of its overall sales, a figure one-tenth that of the United States.

By turning the popularity of Japan's soft power into business, we can develop a major industry of 20-30 trillion yen by 2020, and create new jobs for 500,000 people.

It is important to develop the works and talents of creators as well as the contents of producers into business through the internet and mobile phones, etc.

In order to achieve this, we will create an organization that will purchase the licenses to scripts, etc. of popular creators in a bundle, develop sales channels and provide capital for the creation of works overseas, all in an integrated manner.

I have explained my thoughts on major projects in accordance with the three aforementioned pillars. I am also focusing on other projects in addition to these. The details are written in the documents that have been distributed, so please refer to them.

3. Growth in Asia - "Growth Initiative towards Doubling the Size of Asia's Economy"

Next, I would like to address another theme, growth in Asia.

Asia is the "center of growth in the 21st century." A great strength of Japan is its location in Asia. It is important to take full advantage of this strength in considering Japan's new growth strategy.

Japan faces the issue of declining population. The Asian market will expand substantially in comparison with the markets of Europe and North America.

East Asia alone has a population of 3.2 billion. This is roughly half of the world's population. In the past 4 years, the East Asia's population increased by 130 million, roughly equivalent to population of Japan. In addition, a massive middle-class is emerging in Asia.

It is said that consumer durables boom occurs when the GDP per capita exceeds 3,000 dollars. China's GDP per capita has already exceeded 3,000 dollars while that of ASEAN nations has exceeded 2,200 dollars in average.

It is important for Japan to take the viewpoint of "trans-border growth in Asia as a whole."

"We should (i) create wealth in a growing Asia as a whole, and (ii) link that wealth to employment and innovation in Japan through strengthening economic partnerships and promoting people to people exchanges. (iii) This will lead to the further development of Asia." It is extremely important to create such a favorable cycle.

Rather than persisting in expanding domestic production, Japan will put importance on increasing wealth of people. In other words, it is necessary to convert way of thinking from "gross domestic product (GDP) to gross national income (GNI)".

I tasked the Special Envoys of the Prime Minister whom I appointed in November last year, to listen to the voices of the Asian nations, and to discuss specific measures. Having received the report of the Special Envoys who held discussions with dignitaries of these nations, I would like to propose the following two points.

(1) Strengthening Asia's Growth Potential

First, in order to strengthen the growth potential of Asia, it is necessary to promote sub-regional infrastructure development, industrial development and institutional improvement in a coherent and systematic manner. By doing so, we can expect drastic growth of the sub-region and a wide range of industries. We will support such projects.

<<(i) Specific Examples>>

For instance, it takes two weeks by ship from Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam to Chennai, India through the Strait of Malacca.

If a road from Ho Chi Minh to the Andaman Sea is developed, goods can be transported in ten days by shipping them from Thailand to Chennai. If the time spent in crossing borders such as customs clearance, etc. is shortened, the goods can be shipped in eight days.

By constructing such a route and developing the relevant infrastructure such as industrial complexes in the surrounding area, the Mekong region can substantially develop as a supply base of automobiles and electronics including faraway India and the Middle-East in its scope.

Furthermore, the role of the Strait of Malacca as a sea lane is essential. Supporting the development of the coasts of the Strait of Malacca will stabilize the vital artery of energy transport that connects Japan, China, and South Korea with the Middle-East. This will also greatly contribute to the development of the Southeast Asian nations such as Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines.

There are quite a few candidates for such projects.

<<(ii) Formulation of the Comprehensive Asian Development Plan>>

In order to concretize this initiative, it is necessary to formulate a comprehensive development plan regarding the following:

a) Arterial infrastructure such as rail and roads
b) Relevant infrastructure that should be developed in the surroundings such as power plants, industrial parks
c) Plans of industry development
d) Structures for finance
e) Systems that need to be improved, such as customs clearance.

I would like to propose that Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA), ADB, and ASEAN Secretariat, in cooperation with related countries, will work together to make a comprehensive Asian development plan.

It is predicted that there will be an infrastructure demand of 70 trillion yen in 5 years in ASEAN and India. Projects already in the conceptualization and planning stages account for 10 trillion yen of this.

Japan will not only propose, but support these projects by mobilizing financial resources from ODA and other public sector funds as well as private funds.

In order to attract private investment in infrastructure development in Asia, Japan will newly establish a 2 trillion yen trade insurance credit line. We will contribute to the infrastructure development of Asia by utilizing, amongst others, the recently announced ODA of up to 2 trillion yen and the Leading Investment to Future Environment Initiative (LIFE Initiative) of roughly 500 billion yen from Japan Bank for International Cooperation.

Also, we must not forget to address environmental problems when considering sustainable growth of Asia. Utilizing Japan's excellent environmental technologies as well as new-energy and energy-saving technologies, we will promote projects for the dissemination of resource recycling systems and high-level water circulation systems and others, throughout Asia.

(2) Expansion of Domestic Demand in Asia

Second, expansion of domestic demand in Asia is important. In addition to stimulating investment, it is also extremely important to increase consumption in Asia.

In the future, in order for Asia's middle class to expand consumption without worry, it is necessary to develop safety nets such as social insurance, etc. Furthermore, it is also necessary to expand the middle class by enhancing education.

These are the challenges which individual nations need to address with their own initiatives. It is important for Asia as a whole to cooperate in sharing best practices and developing common indexes, etc. I would like to propose that ERIA make policy recommendations.

In 1960, the Ikeda Cabinet formulated the "Income Doubling Plan" and Japan entered an age of rapid growth.

Today, the middle class of Asia as a whole is growing, and we are entering a new age of substantial growth led by domestic demand.

The initiative I have discussed today can be called the "Growth Initiative towards Doubling the Size of Asia's Economy."

I would like to see that Asian nations work together with mutual respect and on equal footing towards the aim of doubling the size of the Asia's economy in 2020.

I will propose this at the East Asia Summit (EAS) scheduled on April 12, and take steps forward together with other Asian nations.

4. Conclusion

Many times throughout history, growth models with continuous rapid growth have collapsed, giving way to major adjustments to search for a new equilibrium.

The city-states of Italy during the middle-ages, the Netherlands during the 16th century, and Great Britain during the 19th century have ruled the world. Why is it that these nations had succeeded in ruling the world but later ceded their dominant positions to other countries?

In my opinion, one point they had in common is that at the time, they prospered in manufacturing and trade, but fell into excessive financial capitalism.

To work up a sweat. To produce great results as a team with organizational power. These traditions have contributed to the "manufacturing" sector of Japan. If these strengths can be utilized, the Japanese economy still has great potential.

Recently, looking at families and looking at schools, I get the impression that individualism is progressing and as a result, the organizational power of Japan is declining.

However, I think it is necessary to once again acknowledge this strength of Japan.

For example, Great Britain invented railroads. However, Japan's system of railroad networks is far more advanced.

In the 23 wards of Tokyo, 76% of commuters use the railroads. The percentage is 19% in London, even though use of railroads is relatively popular in that city.

Because of this, heavy traffic and pollution of the atmosphere can be avoided in Japan. This can be done because of the precise operations of the railroads. It is the human resources and organizational power of Japan that makes this possible.

The "growth strategy" is one that does not lose sight of Japan's strengths and is built on that foundation. I would like to realize this strategy with new goals and strategies involving everyone.

The future of Japan and Asia is bright.

It is my hope that everyone will share this feeling through the growth strategy.

J-to-E #8: Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso's Speech "Towards New Growth"

2009-05-06T06:40:56Z

I've spent the last little while translating PM Aso's vision for the future. I still need to go back and proofread most of it but I'll post it now anyway. Since this was a speech, there are some parts that are hard to translate because I don't have the full context of the setting and the resources that Aso is refers to. Aso is also not known for his crisp use of language, so I've taken some liberties with his phrasing and wording to make a more coherent speech. While I don't necessarily believe that Aso's plans are bad, I generally don't believe they will accomplish what he believes they will. Remember, this is the same person who as finance minister said he wanted the country to be a place that "rich Jews" would want to live. He was also the foreign minister who said "Japanese are trusted [in the Middle East]. It would probably be no good to have blue eyes and blond hair. Luckily, we Japanese have yellow faces." While he doesn't make statements on that level, check out the conclusion for some interesting assertions.

Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso's Speech to the Japan National Press Club
"Towards New Growth"
April 9, 2009

1. Introduction
I am Taro Aso.
Usually events like this one are held in January, but the early start of this year's Diet session, and a number of foreign visits have meant that this event has been pushed back to this time. I believe it has been about 6 months since I became Prime Minister, and I would like to thank Mr. Kageyama for setting up this event at this time. Looking back, to borrow words from Alan Greenspan, we've been hit with an economic crisis that occurs once in a hundred years. I believe that this last half-year has been about dealing with the crisis. Faced with this great crisis, both individual citizens and businesses were naturally filled with feelings of uncertainty and stagnation. On the other hand, I believe that this economic crisis, what we can call an economic emergency, has the possibility of changing the way competition occurs in the international economy and industry. In this time of global change, I believe that the countries that can change their problems into new opportunities will be able to prosper in the future. In that light, I think we ought to think of ourselves as standing at an important crossroads that occurs once every hundred years. Today, I would like to present, not immediate plans to deal with the current economic climate, but rather what kind of future Japan's economy will lead us. I have, in my own way, thought up a new growth strategy which I would like to present to you today. I view my strategy as one that will open up a new future for Japan. The goal is to identify potential industries of growth, and to realize that growth by 2020. After finalizing the details, it is my hope that we will have a final plan sometime next week. Also, the new growth frontier, what we call the future, is not limited to just Japan, but must aim to grow the economies of Asia as a whole. Today, I will also be addressing my strategies to accomplish Asia-wide growth.

2. The Future of Japan' Economy - A New Growth Strategy
First, I would like to talk about the future of Japan. In a world where even major economic powers are unable to avoid the effects of this economic correction, I think it is unrealistic to believe that Japan can return to a pattern of growth by relying on the exportation of traditional products. In order to quickly change to a new growth model, I would like to propose what I call three pillars. The three pillars are:
1. A country that will lead the world in the carbon reduction revolution.
2. A safe, energetic, healthy, and long-living society.
3. Showcasing Japan's charm.
I believe these three pillars play to Japan's strengths and unique aspects. The government must concentrate investments into these three pillars, and bring about great systemic reforms that will maximize the effects of the investments. I believe such bold government action will enable us to raise our real GDP to 120 trillion yen, and create new employment opportunities for 4 million people, by 2020. Over the next 3 years, I would like to create a total of 40 trillion yen to 60 trillion yen in demand, and employment for 1.4 million to 2 million people.

(1) A country that will lead the world in the carbon reduction revolution.
First, I will speak of the carbon reduction revolution. I believe that global warming is one of the major problems we must overcome in the 21st century. The carbon reduction revolution is about overcoming the problem with new technology and societal change. As the older people in the room no doubt understand, economic growth was something that greatly changed Japan and contributed to this country's rapid post war recovery. Do you remember the the three sacred appliances? The three sacred appliances, written in Japanese as God's appliances, were the washing machine, the television, and the refrigerator. But now, there is no child that would consider these appliances as sacred appliances. But at the time, these were indeed sacred appliances. Mr. Kageyama no doubt knows what I am talking about, because he is part of our generation. However, it cannot be argued that the greater availability of household appliances resulted in the pressure of housework being eased, and ultimately lead to happier families. The increased use of automobiles also greatly changed our lifestyles. In order to achieve this carbon reduction revolution, we must effect change on a scale equal to this great change, in all aspect of our life from our individual lifestyles to city-planning. In a low carbon 21st century society things like solar batteries, electric cars, and low energy appliances will probably become the new sacred appliances. Then, just like the post war growth period we will feel the wonder of living in a low carbon society. I believe this wonder will provide new hope for the future. According to the IEEA, Japan's energy efficiency is twice that of the United States, 1.7 times that of Europe, 8 times that of China, and 18.5 times that of Russia. These figures show that starting with our world leading energy saving technology, Japan has the knowledge base that is capable of effecting the necessary change. By 2020 I would like to double our use of renewable energy sources, and be within 20% of the world standard in that category. By 2020, I envision the carbon reduction revolution, injecting approximately 50 trillion yen into the market, and creating 1.4 million new jobs.

[(1) Plan to achieve world leading solar power]
As a first step, the project I would most like to emphasize is the plan to achieve world leading solar power. The plan aims to increase the use of solar generated power by 20 times the current levels. Solar power is beginning to see global use. Efforts over the next few years will be very important if we are to capture the title of world's best solar power producer. Now, I will explain how we can capture this title.
(1) Now, the cost of solar products is high because of low demand;
(2) demand is low due to the high cost, we must put a stop to this cycle.
Above all else, I believe there must be strong political will to stimulate demand in this industry. Therefore, I propose a new energy purchasing scheme that will require energy companies to buy solar energy produced by residencial sources at twice the current rates. This scheme, combined with subsidies from the federal and regional governments, will mean that residences with solar panels installed will see return on investment within 10 years. Also, by aggressively installing solar panels on our 36,000 public schools over the next 3 years, children will be able to grow in a green solar powered environment. Through these measures, I would like to aim to reduce the cost of solar power systems by one half over the next 3-5 years. I would like to proceed by following an ambitious vision of seeing Japanese Solar Panels on the roofs of houses and deserts worldwide.

[(2) Plan to achieve the world's fastest spread of Eco Cars]
My other plan is to achieve the world's fastest spread of Eco Cars. I would like Japan to be the first country to achieve great adoption of fully electric and hybrid cars, in other words, the full-fledged implementation of Eco Cars. In 3 years we will begin the mass production and sale of Eco Cars, and by 2020 I would like to see 1 in every 2 new cars sold to be an Eco Car. To achieve this goal, we have, beginning this month, begun to exempt Eco Cars from the motor vehicle tonnage tax and the motor vehicle excise tax. In future we would like to implement assistance schemes that will help subsidize the cost of switching to an Eco Car. Through these measures we will be able to increase annual demand for Eco Cars by approximately 1 million cars. I would like to see a day when citizens consider environmental impact when choosing a vehicle. We will also begin a project that will name 10 cities as cutting edge model cities. These cities will demonstrate the car society of the future. Using the knowledge that we acquire we would like to work with the United States, the largest automobile market in the world, to develop a world standard. Finally, we will be implementing a system that will issue Eco-points to people who purchase low energy televisions and other energy efficient appliances. The system will aid in the acquisition of 30 million energy efficient appliances.

(2) A safe, energetic, healthy, and long-living society.
The 2nd pillar of my growth strategy is developing a safe, energetic, healthy, and long-living society. Japan is aging at a rate that is unmatched in the world. As you know, however, Japan's aged citizens are highly motivated to work. This motivation is clearly illustrated by the newspaper reporter sitting in the front row. We are both aged citizens, but he is clearly motivated. Among males aged above 65, the percentage of them working is 30% in Japan, 20% in the United States, and is around 10% in Europe. Statistic show that in Japan, 80% of those who are over 60, those we call aged, over 80% express a desire to work until at least 70. If we can provide proper medical and nursing services to these citizens, we will not have a poor and depressed aged society. We should be able to create the world's most energetic aged society. By leading the world in developing a healthy long-living society, we will be able to create wide ranging demand for domestic industries. By 2020, I would like to see a new 35 trillion yen market, and the creation of 21 million jobs in these fields.

[[(1) Plan to create 300,000 nursing care jobs]]
First, we will undertake a plan to create 300,000 nursing care jobs. There are currently 13 million nursing care professionals in Japan, in 3 years, we will increase this number by 300,000. Our ultimate goal is to have 2.2 million nursing care professionals by 2020. Even now as many people are losing their jobs, the nursing care sector is in serious need of workers. Currently, the treatment of workers in the nursing care sector, is the working people. (?) Compared to the average annual wage across all sectors, their wages are lower by over 1 million yen. In addition, their prospects of significant career advancement are limited. In order to create better nursing care services, I believe we must give more hope to the job of nursing care worker. First, we must immediately change the treatment of nursing care workers in their work environment. In order to accomplish this task, we will set up a fund for nursing care. Then, within 3 years, we will use this money to supplement the wages of nursing care workers. In this way I believe we can ensure that, like company and factory workers, nursing care worker's wages and benefits will rise with seniority and work experience. Another problem we face is, outside of urban centers, there is a serious lack of nursing care facilities. Over the next 3 years, we will concentrate on building new nursing care facilities.

[[(2) Regional Health Care Revitalization Plan]]
Another priority project we must undertake is a plan to revitalize regional health care. There are currently a number of serious problems facing the regional health care system, including doctor shortages and the "bouncing around" of patients. On the other hand, there are many doctors and nurses that must work very hard without rest to meet demand. We must put an end to these situations, and rebuild the regional health care system. These problems cannot be solved by individual municipalities and hospitals. Municipalities must begin to change their way of thinking and begin building a health care model that provides a single regional health care service. To create this model, municipalities must work with their neighbors to pool the resources of its hospitals, doctors, and nursing care facilities. It is also critical to think like a potential patient when assigning roles to various facilities. For example, by creating core hubs for fields like emergency services and obstetrics, patients will no longer be "bounced around." I would like to invest significant funds in order to create this kind of streamlined regional medical and nursing care service. Specifically, I would like to see hospitals across multiple municipalities, and hospitals and doctor's offices, dividing up responsibilities amongst themselves. For places that arrange such agreements, the government would support these arrangements in the following ways:
(1) Increase the number of administrative assistants to support doctors.
(2) Provide and maintain more advanced medical equipment and IT infrastructures.
(3) Help provide the necessary bus services to allow citizens to reach medical facilities.
We will begin by choosing regions in each prefecture to implement this model. By working hard over 10 years to revitalize regional health care, it is my hope that we will have around 350 success stories within 10 years.

(3) Showcasing Japan's Charm
The 3rd pillar of my growth plan is showcasing Japan's charm. Japan has soft power that is rooted in culture and sensibilities that have been been cultivated over a long period of time. Examples include landscapes that fascinate foreign tourists, and animation and fashion that is well respected throughout the world. We will use this soft power to create a new wide ranging industry. This new industry will revitalize the regions and lead to the employment of young people.

[[(1) A shining tourist beacon]]
First, we must aim to become a shining beacon for tourists. I would like to more than double the number of annual foreign tourists to Japan to 20 million people by 2020. I believe we currently receive around 8 million visitors per year. It is believed that these visitors inject 4.3 trillion yen into our economy. Unfortunately, the fact is that Japan currently only ranks 28th in the world in the total number of foreign tourist visits. However, if we properly market our charms, and make the proper preparations, the number of foreign visitors we receive will definitely increase. As a government, we will first undertake to improve access to Japan. As many of you no doubt know, the maximum wait time for a foreigner to clear entry procedures at Narita Airport is currently 28 minutes. We will half this number to 15 minutes. We will also half the connection time from Narita Airport to Haneda Airport for access to domestic flights, from 100 minutes to around 50 minutes. I would also like to see an agressive remodeling of the townscape at tourist sites. We must create traditional townscapes that local people can feel proud about. It is possible to remake any place in Japan into a charming tourist site. Has anyone here ever been to Ohuchijuku in Aizuwakamatsu, Fukushima? I guess newspaper reporters don't get out much. There's someone! Admirable. Leave it to Asahi Newspaper, they do get out. Ohuchijuku had no utility poles. After they removed all utility poles, they saw a rapid rise in tourism. With this in mind, over the next 3 years we will select 30 or so places to perform landscape construction, like removing utility poles, to create a more charming townscape.

[[(2) Transmitting Japan's Soft Power]]
Another aspect is transmitting Japan's soft power to the world. Japan has produced contents like animation and games, and fashion that has the attention of the consumers of the world. Manga (Japanese comics) are now being translated into French, and has become an international language. Among the most popular women's fashion magazines in China are magazines that originate from Japan. Is there anyone in the front row that can tell me the name of this person, based on this facial picture? The younger reporters in the back rows can all tell me. This is a picture of Ayumi Hamasaki who is known as Ayu in China. This picture is from a Chinese magazine. Who is this? Can you tell me? Have you become too old to know? This is someone named Karina. This picture is from a Taiwanese magazine. She's Japanese. This is from a Japanese maganize, but you should know this one. You don't know? If you don't know this person, you are basically claiming that you don't live in the present time. If you're an on-site reporter, it may be time to retire to the office. This is Yuri Ebihara, also known as Ebi-chan, who caused the so called Ebi-chan boom. These cover models grace the covers of magazines that Asian office ladies read. In this day and age, they have exposure and marketing power that is equal to television commercials. The somewhat old image of American models no longer exist. I would like everyone to understand this point. I believe that people whom belong to an older generation than ours, are unable to follow these trends. The so-called holy sites of animation and fashion are places like Akihabara, Harajuku, and Ura-Harajuku. These places are now the must visit locations in most Tokyo tours. You can no longer mention places like Ginza, Akasaka, and Roppongi and be considered knowledgeable. Unfortunately, this kind of soft power is not leading to overseas business. Japanese content is truly impressive, but this content is not being made into an industry. Looking at the sales figures of the Japanese content industry, only 2% of total sales came from overseas. In comparison, the American content industry makes approximately 20% of their total sales overseas, ten times Japan. Using the popularity of Japanese soft power, I would like to see the development of a industry that will account for 20-30 trillion yen of our economy, and create 500,000 new jobs by 2020. I think it is critical to open up this industry using content creators, their works, talent, the web, and the mobile phone platform. It is for this reason I believe we should create an organization that can acquire licenses for the scripts of popular creators, open open overseas markets for the production of these licenses, and to provide funding in an integrated manner.

I have given my thoughts on the 3 main pillars I believe are needed for future growth, and the specific projects we need to undertake to accomplish them. There is another important project, whose details can be found in the information packages that are now being handed out.

3. Asian Growth ~ "Growth Plan to Double the Asian Economy"
The next thing I would like to discuss is my other theme for this talk, accomplishing Asian growth. Asia is the centre for growth in the 21st century. One of Japan's great strengths lies in the fact that Japan is situated in Asia. I think it is very important in planning Japan's future growth, to get the most out of this great geographic advantage. Japan is undeniably facing a population decrease. But even compared to Europe, Asia is the market that will see the greatest growth in the future. East Asia alone boasts a population of approximately 3.5 billion, this means about half of the world's population resides in East Asia. I know Asia is hard to define, but please imagine all the eastern countries from India. It's somewhere around that, and it probably includes Pakistan. (trans note: I'm assuming that he's referring to an on-screen map.) I would like you to think of Asia as such an area. East Asia alone has a population of 3.2 billion. Its population has increased by 130 million over the last 4 years. That means over the last 4 years East Asia's population has increased by one Japan. Furthermore, Asia has seen the tremendous growth of the middle class. It is said that there is a consumer durables boom when per capita GDP is over 3000 dollars. Right now, China's per capita GDP stands at around $3000, and the average per capita GDP of ASEAN countries stands at over $2200. Japan must look beyond its borders and must look to help Asia grow as a whole. We must
(1) derive wealth from the growing Asia.
(2) Use that wealth to foster economic partnerships and encourage the exchange of human capital, and to ultimately lead to inovation and employment for Japan.
(3) I believe that it is important to use these measures to create a positive growth cycle that will lead to growth for all of Asia.
It is important to think in terms of maximizing our citizen's wealth, rather than cling to the outdated notion of maximizing our domestic production. In other words, I believe we ought to begin measuring growth in terms of Gross National Income, rather than Gross National Product (GDP). Last November, I appointed a Prime Minister's Special Envoy and I instructed him to hold discussions each Asian country being sure to listen to each country's concerns, and to develop concrete plans from those discussions. Based on the report of the special envoy, who held discussions with senior officials from each country, I would like to make the following two proposals.

(1) Strengthening Asia's Growth Potential
The first thing I propose is strengthening Asia's growth potential. I believe we can accomplish tremendous growth in the region, across numerous industries, if we can systematically streamline things like the maintenance of broadband infrastructure, industrial development, and systematic improvements. I support such projects. If you could please turn to page 5 of your information package.

[[(1) Illustrative example]]
For example, it currently takes 2 weeks to travel from Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam to Chennai in India, using the sea route through the Straits of Malacca. Now, if we could build a road from Ho Chi Minh City to the Andaman Sea, and take a sea route through Thailand, we can reach Chenmai in 10 days. This plan involves crossing a country's border which means the significant time in order to clear customs and other border crossing procedures have been included. However, using Japanese customs technology like, One Stop and Single Window, the above trip can be made in just 8 days. If we develop such routes, we can construct industrial parks and related infrastructure in the surrounding areas. In this way the Mekong region could become a great supply centre for automobile and electronic aimed at markets as far as India and the Middle East. The role the Straits of Malacca currently plays as a sea lane will be critical. By supporting growth on the coast of the Straits of Malacca, we ensure stability of the energy pipeline that connects Japan, China, and South Korea, to the Middle East. How this will contribute to great growth in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and South-East Asia as a whole is obvious. There are numerous such potential projects that can be explored.

[[(2) Formulating the Comprehensive Asian Development Plan]]
To put my thoughts in action, I believe comprehensive development plans should developed in the following areas,
a) essential road and rail infrastructure,
b) infrastructure related to power generation, and industrial parks,
c) coordinating industrial development,
d) developing financing mechanisms,
c) and improving customs and other regulations.
There are currently two institutions Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA), and the Asia Development Bank (ADB). I would now like to propose using these two institutions, as well as the ASEAN offices as a base for countries to cooperatively develop a comprehensive Asian development plan. It has been predicted that over 5 years, India and the ASEAN countries will need 70 trillion yen worth of infrastructure. Of that number ,10 trillion yen have been allocated to projects in their planning stages. Japan must not simply suggest project, of course we must back them with public funds like ODA (official development assistance), but we must also aggressively mobilize private funds to these projects. In order to attract private funds for new Asian infrastructure, Japan will set up a 2 trillion yen trade insurance framework that will mainly help joint private-public initiatives. As previously announced, we would like to assist in developing Asian infrastructure through, up to 2 trillion yen of ODA and a 500 million yen a environmental support initiative from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation. In order to achieve sustained growth in Asia, we must not forget to address the environment. Using Japan's superior environmental technology, new power systems, and energy efficient technology, we can develop Asia-wide environmental projects like a recycling system, and an advanced water cycle system.

(2) Increasing Intra-Asian Demand
The second thing we must accomplish is to increase demand within Asia. To go along with the stimulus provided by the investment under the wide-area development framework, it is very important that we increase consumption in Asia. In order to ensure that the Asian middle class will consume without worry, a social safety net, like social insurance, needs to be maintained. It is also important to invest in education to ensure the growth of the middle class. It is each country must tackle these problems on their own. However, I believe that all Asian countries must come together to determine a common set of best practices. I propose that ERIA should be the organization to make this policy recommendation. As you remember, in 1960, under the Ikeda cabinet, Japan undertook the Plan to Double National Income. By setting to double the national income, Japan was able to enter an age of high economic growth. Now, as there exists a middle class across all of Asia, we are entering a new age of great growth through intra-Asian demand. I believe that the framework that I have laid out today can be described as a framework to double the Asian economy. By aiming to double the Asian economy by 2020, I look forward to working with other countries and coming up with a cooperative solution while respecting each other's position. At the East Asian Leaders' Summit scheduled on April 12, I will present my plan, and i look forward to working with other countries to advance these goals.

4 Conclusion
We're approaching the end of my talk. Throughout history we've seen a successful growth model that allowed for continued economic growth collapse, and a great adjustment occurs that redefines the balance. We saw it in places like the medieval Italian city-state, 16th century Holland, and 19th century England, all of these countries at one time ruled the world economy. Why were these countries successful? And how did other country come to take their place? This is only my personal observation, but I believe one common point that exists is that they all began by excelling in manufacturing and trade, and later succumb to out-of-control financial capitalism.
The organizational power that allows for a team to work hard together to achieve great results, is what has fueled Japanese manufacturing. If we can continue this great tradition, I believe the Japanese economy has great potential. If we look at schools and families today it is said that we can see greater individualism. As a result, we get the impression that Japan's organizational strength is weakening. We must appreciate the strength of Japan's organizational strength once again. An example I use often is the railway. As you all know, the English invented the steam locomotive. But Japan has overwhelmingly become the leader of railroad networks.This is something Japan has created. If we look at Tokyo's 23 wards, 76% of commuters use the rails or the subway. Even in the most advanced foreign city, London, only 19% of commuters use the so-called metal roads. Japan's trains overwhelmingly run on time, do not break, and move with precision. Without these important components you cannot run a proper railroad network. Even though nobody says it, I believe that the major reason Japan has been able to avoid things like rush hour and atmospheric pollution lies in our railroad system. I believe that the thing that makes this possible is the Japanese people, and their organizational strength.
Therefore, instead of losing our strength, I believe we must build this growth plan on the foundation of our strength. Based on these strategic goals, I would like to make this plan a reality while gathering everyone's thoughts. Therefore, the future of Japan and Asia is bright. Through this growth strategy, I hope everyone will be able to feel the same way.

麻生内閣総理大臣スピーチ
「新たな成長に向けて」
日本記者クラブにて
http://www.kantei.go.jp/jp/asospeech/2009/04/09speech.html
平成２１年４月９日

１　はじめに
　麻生太郎です。
　通常こういうのは、これまで１月に開かれておりましたが、今年は１月早々５日から国会が始まりましたし、また、外遊等々で重なっておりましたので、総理就任から、ほぼ半年ぐらい経ったと思いますけれども、こういった時期に開催させていただくことになり、設営いただきまして、カゲヤマさん、ありがとうございました。
　振り返ってみますと、グリーンスパンの言葉を借りれば、百年に一度と言われるような経済危機。この対応に追われた半年だったと思います。大きな危機の前に、国民も企業も、勿論先行きへの不透明感とか閉塞感というものにあふれた。
　一方で、今回の経済危機、経済有事というものは、世界の経済や産業をめぐる競争の構図というものを一変させる可能性をはらんでいる、そういう具合にも思っております。
　この世界的な転換期に、ピンチと言われますものをチャンスに変えることができた国が、将来大きな繁栄をつかめると思います。その意味でも、我々はまさに百年に一度と言われるような分かれ道、岐路に立たされていると考えた方がいいと思っております。
　今日は、日本の経済というものを、目先のいわゆる景気対策というのとは別に、日本の経済がどのような未来をこれから先切り開いていくのか。新たな成長戦略というものを私なりに考えたものをお示しさせていただきたいと思います。未来開拓の戦略と思っております。
　対象は、2020年まで。伸ばすべき産業分野の姿と、その実現の道筋であります。詳細を詰めた上で、来週中に最終的にとりまとめることにしたいと思っております。
　また、新たな成長フロンティア、未来というものは、国内だけに限らず、アジア経済の倍増を目指す、そういったアジアワイドの成長戦略についてもお話をしたいと思っております。

２　日本経済の未来　〜　新たな成長戦略
　最初に、日本経済の未来について話してみます。
　世界的な大きな経済の調整が避けられない中で、ひとり日本だけが、旧来型品目の輸出に依存した、そういう成長軌道に復帰することは、もはや現実的ではないと思います。新たな成長モデルに向けて、いち早く行動をするためには、私なりに３つの柱というものを提示させていただきたいと存じます。
　それは、１、低炭素革命で世界をリードできる国。
　２、安心・元気な健康長寿社会。
　３、日本の魅力の発揮。
　この３つです。この３つの柱は、日本の強みや特徴を生かせる分野だと思っています。
　この３つを柱に、官民による集中的な投資と、それを促す大胆な制度改革を実行しなければなりません。
　こうした官民の果敢な行動によって、2020年には、実質ＧＤＰを120兆円押し上げ、400万人の雇用機会を創出することが可能になるのではないかと考えています。
　特に当面３年間で、累計約40兆円〜60兆円の需要の創出。そして、140万人〜200万人の雇用の創出を実現したいと思っています。

（１）低炭素革命で、世界をリードする国
　まず第一に、低炭素革命であります。
　地球温暖化といわれる話は、21世紀、我々が乗り越えなければならない、克服しなければならない最大の課題の１つだと思います。これを、新たな技術と社会システムの変革で克服するのが低炭素革命であります。
　戦後の高度成長というもの、経済成長というものは、日本のありようを大きく変えたのは、御年配の方ならよく御存じのところだと存じます。三種の神器、覚えていますか、三種の神器、神様の器と書く、洗濯機、テレビ、冷蔵庫、これが今、神器と思っている子どもはいませんよ。しかし、これは神器だったんです。カゲヤマさん、我々と同じ世代だからよく御存じでしょうけれども。
　しかし、これは極端に家電製品が普及して、間違いなく家事の負担を軽減して、家族の団らんをもたらした間違いない現実であります。また、自動車の普及というものも我々のライフスタイルを恐ろしく変えました。
　低炭素革命と言われるものの実現には、このライフスタイルからまちづくりまで、これに匹敵する大きな変革が必要だろうと思っています。
　21世紀の低炭素社会において、多分、太陽電池、電気自動車、省エネ家電、こういったものが新たな三種の神器になっていく。そして、高度成長時代と同じように、我々に低炭素社会というもののすばらしさを実感させ、そして夢を与えてくれると思っております。
　日本のエネルギーというものは、ちなみに効率でいきますと、アメリカの２倍、ヨーロッパの1.7倍、中国の８倍、ロシアの18.5倍、これはＩＥＥＡが出した資料です。我々は、これに象徴されるような世界最高水準の省エネ技術を始め、そうした変革を可能とする十分な基礎がある。
　2020年には、エネルギー消費に占める再生可能エネルギーの比率を今より倍増して、世界最高水準の20％まで引き上げたいと思っております。
　この低炭素革命の分野において、2020年に新たに約50兆円の市場と、140万人の雇用の創出を考えております。

《(1)太陽光世界一プラン》
　その第一として、最も力点を置きたいプロジェクトの一つが、太陽光世界一プランであります。太陽光発電の規模を、2020年までに今より20倍にします。
　太陽光発電は、世界的な普及段階に入ろうといたしております。今後数年間が、世界一の座の奪還に向けた正念場であろうと存じます。では、いかにして太陽光世界一を獲得するか。
　そのためには、
　(1)現在、需要がないから製品のコストが高い、
　(2)コストが高いから需要が増えない、この悪循環を断ち切らなければなりません。
　何よりも政策的に需要を掘り起こすという強い政治的な意志が必要だと思っております。
　このため、家庭で生まれる太陽光の電力を、電力会社が現在の２倍程度の価格で買い取る新たな電力買取制度を創設します。この制度により、太陽光パネルをつけた御家庭は、国や地方自治体の支援を合わせますと、約10年程度で利益が出ることになります。
　また、全国３万6,000の公立の小・中・高校に、今後３年間集中的に太陽光を設置し、太陽のエネルギーで子どもが育つ緑の学校に転換します。
　これらの対策によって、今後３年間から５年間で、太陽光システムの製品の価格の半減を目指したいと思っております。日の丸太陽パネルが世界中の家の屋根や砂漠を覆う。そんな夢を持って大胆に取り組みたいと思っております。

《(2)エコカー世界最速普及プラン》
　もう一つは、エコカーの世界最速普及プランであります。世界で最初に電気自動車やハイブリッドカーなど、いわゆるエコカーを本格的に普及させます。３年後に電気自動車の量産・量販を開始し、2020年には新車の２台に１台をエコカーにしたいと存じます。
　このために、今月から自動車重量税、自動車取得税の免除を開始しております。更に今後、新たな補助制度を導入し、エコカーへの買い替えを支援したいと思っております。これらにより、１年間で100万台程度、需要を増やせます。国民が環境性能で車を選ぶ時代を築きたいものだと考えております。
　また、最先端モデル都市を10か所選定して、未来の車社会の姿を先取りした実証プロジェクトを実施します。得られた知見を基に、世界最大の自動車市場であるアメリカと連携して、世界標準を構築したいと思います。
　併せて、テレビなど省エネ家電というものを購入した方にはエコポイントを還元する制度を活用して、１年間で3,000万台程度の省エネ家電の普及を支援します。

（２）安心・元気な健康長寿社会
　成長戦略の第２は、安心して元気な健康長寿社会であります。
　日本は、世界で比類のないスピードで高齢化が進んでおります。
　しかし、御存じのように、日本の高齢者はとにかく就業意欲が高い。ここにいらっしゃる、前の方におられる新聞記者の方を見られてもよくおわかりいただけるところだと思います。明らかに高い。私どもは高齢者ですよ。
　65歳以上の男性のうち、働いている人の割合は、日本はほぼ３割、アメリカが２割、欧州では１割前後です。
　日本では、60歳以上の高齢者と言われる方々の８割以上は、少なくとも70歳までは仕事をしたいと考えておられる。こういう統計があります。
　しっかりした医療・介護サービスというものを提供できれば、暗く貧しい高齢化社会ではありません。世界に冠たる、活力ある高齢化社会がつくれるはずです。
　世界に先駆けて健康長寿社会を構築することは、すそ野の広い内需型の産業の創出につながります。
　この分野において、2020年に新たに35兆円の市場と、210万人の雇用を創出します。

《(1)３０万人介護雇用創出プラン》
　まず、30万人の介護雇用創出プランに取り組みます。現在、130万人の介護職員の方々を、当面、３年間で30万人に増やす。2020年には220万人にすることを目指します。
　多くの方々が職を失っている現在でも、介護分野は大変な人手不足であります。
　現状では、介護分野の待遇というものは、勤めている人ですよ。全産業の平均年収と比較して100万円以上低い。しかも、就職後のキャリアアップの展望というものも開けておりません。よりよい介護サービスというものをつくっていこうとするならば、介護の職場にも夢と希望がなければならないと考えています。
　まず、緊急に介護現場での処遇を改善していかなければなりません。
　このため、介護のための基金を充実させます。そして、当面３年間、介護報酬とは別に、このお金で介護に従事される方への給与を上積みし、待遇改善を行います。
　その上で、会社や工場で働く人と同じように、キャリアと経験に応じて給与や処遇が上がっていくというような仕組みに変えていきたいと考えています。
　更に、都市部に目を転ずれば、最大の課題は介護施設の不足です。今後３年間で介護施設を集中的に整備します。

《(2)地域医療再生プラン》
　もう一つの重点的なプロジェクトは、地域医療の再生プランです。
　地域の医療というものは、医師不足や患者さんの「たらい回し」など、深刻な状況にあります。その一方で、昼夜・休日を問わず、一生懸命働く勤務医と看護師の方々が大勢おられます。
　この状況を打開し、地域医療を立て直す必要があります。
　この問題は、一つひとつの市町村や病院の力では解決できません。隣の市町村と協力し、地域にある病院、開業医、介護施設が連携して、そして、全体として住民に１つのサービスを提供するという発想に転換していくことが必要です。
　また、患者の視点に立って役割分担することが重要になる。例えば救急や産科の中核拠点をつくることで、「たらい回し」というものはなくせるはずなんです。
　この問題は、一つひとつの市町村や病院の力では解決できません。隣の市町村と協力し、地域にある病院、開業医、介護施設が連携して、そして、全体として住民に１つのサービスを提供するという発想に転換していくことが必要です。
　また、患者の視点に立って役割分担することが重要になる。例えば救急や産科の中核拠点をつくることで、「たらい回し」というものはなくせるはずなんです。
　こうした地域一体となった医療・介護体制をつくることに思い切って資金を投下したいと思います。
　具体的には、複数の市町村から成る広い範囲で病院間、あるいは病院と診療所の間で役割分担を行っていただきたいものだと考えています。
　そうした合意が整ったところには、
　(1)医師をサポートする医療事務補助員の増員。
　(2)また、より高度な医療施設やＩＴ施設の整備。
　(3)また、住民の皆さんが通院するために必要なバスの運行などで我々としてはバックアップをしたいと思います。
　まず、各都道府県で地域を選んで先行的に実施します。その後、成功例を10年以内に、全国350程度の地域に展開したいと考えています。10年がかりの大事業として、地域医療の再生に取り組みたいと思います。

（３）日本の魅力発揮
　成長の第３の柱は、日本の魅力の発揮です。
　日本には長く培ってきた文化や感性に根ざしたソフトパワーがあります。外国人旅行者を魅了する田園風景や、世界で注目されるアニメーション、ファッションなどです。
　このソフトパワーを活用して、すそ野の広い新たな産業を創出します。地域に活力を与え、若者の雇用につなげます。

《(1)キラリと光る観光大国》
　まずは、きらりと光る観光大国を目指します。2020年、現在の約２倍以上に当たる年間2,000万人の外国人が旅行者として訪日することを実現したいと思います。現在、800万人ぐらいあると思います。これは4.3兆円の消費市場をつくることになると思われます。
　現状では、残念ながら日本を訪れる外国人旅行者の数は、世界のランクでは28位にとどまっているのが現状なんです。きちんと魅力をアピールし、そして、必要な整備を行えば、外国人旅行者の数は必ず増えるはずです。
　政府としては、まず日本へのアクセス改善に取り組みます。御存じかと思いますが、成田空港の場合、外国人の入国審査の待ち時間は最長28分。これを半減させて15分。成田空港から羽田空港の国内線への乗り継ぎ時間を、現在の100分程度から50分台へと半減させます。
　また、観光地の景観、町並みを徹底的に改善したいと思っております。
　その地域の人々が誇りに思える伝統ある町並みを再生するということです。日本のどこでも、魅力ある観光圏に生まれ変わる可能性があります。
　御存じかと思いますが、福島県会津若松の大内宿に行ったことのある方はいらっしゃいますか。
　新聞記者というのは、意外と歩いていないんですね。いましたね。偉いです。さすがに朝日新聞、意外と歩いておる。
　この大内宿は、無電柱化したんです。電柱を全部なくした。これで観光客が急増しております。
　こうした観点から、今後３年間で30か所程度を選んで、無電柱化などの景観工事を進め、魅力的な町並み風景をつくります。

《(2)日本のソフトパワー発信》
　もう一つは、日本のソフトパワーの発信です。
　日本には、アニメやゲームなどのコンテンツ、ファッションなどがジャパンクールとして、これは世界の消費者から注目をされる素材があります。
　漫画は、今、フランス語にもなりましたし、世界語になりました。中国の女性向けファッション誌の中でも、多くの日本発の雑誌が人気の上位を占めております。
　この顔を見て、１列目で名前と顔の言える人はいらっしゃいますか。後の若い人は言えるんです。
　これは、中国で「あゆ」と呼ばれている浜崎あゆみの写真です。これは中国の雑誌です。
　これはだれですか。言えますね。言えない年になってしまいましたか。香里奈という人です。これは台湾の雑誌です。これは日本人ですよ。
　これは日本のあれですけれども、これは知っているでしょう。知らないですか。こんなことを言っていたら、ほとんど、今の時代には生きておられない方だと言われますよ。現場の新聞記者だったら、いよいよアウトになります。これが「エビちゃん」と言われる「エビちゃん」ブームと言われた蛯原友里という人です。
　こういった表紙のモデルというものが、今の時代というものでアジアのＯＬたちの読む、いわゆる雑誌、テレビコマーシャルに並ぶ時代なんです。何となく昔のアメリカ人とか、そういったイメージは、今はないんです。ここが是非わかってほしいところなんですけれども、何となく我々の世代より上の方は、ほとんど、この感覚にはついていっていないんだと私は思っています。アニメとかファッションの聖地と言われれば、これは秋葉原とか原宿、裏原宿というところなんですが、これは今や東京観光の定番コースですよ。銀座、赤坂、六本木などと言っちゃだめですよ。
　しかし、残念ながらこうしたソフトパワーというものは、海外でのビジネスにはつながっていないんです。日本のコンテンツというものは大したものなんですが、コンテンツが産業になっていないんです。そういったもので、コンテンツ産業の売上げというものを調べてみると、海外での売上げは全売上高のたったの２％です。米国などは約20％売りますから、これで10分の１です。
　日本のソフトパワーの人気というものをビジネスにつなげるということで、2020年には20兆円から30兆円規模の一大産業に育成し、50万人の新規雇用を創出したいと思っております。
　コンテンツのつくり手、クリエーター作品、才能、ウェブ、また、携帯などによってビジネスとして花開かせることが重要なんだと思っております。
　このため、人気クリエーターの脚本などのライセンスというものを一括購入して、海外での作品化のための販路開拓とか、また、資金提供を一体的に行う組織というものを創設したいと思っております。
　以上、３つの柱に沿って、主なプロジェクトを絞って、私の考えを申し上げました。このほかにも重点プロジェクトがありますので、お手元に資料を配らせていただいておりますので、それに細かく書いてあると思いますので、参考にしていただきたいと存じます。

３　アジアの成長　〜　「アジア経済倍増へ向けた成長構想」
　次に、もう一つのテーマであるアジアの成長に話を進めたいと思います。
　アジアは、21世紀の成長センターであります。日本の大きな強みは、このアジアに日本という国が位置していることです。これからの日本の新しい成長戦略を考える上で、この地理的強みを最大限に生かしていく。こういう発想が重要です。
　日本は、間違いなく人口減少に直面をいたしております。欧米市場と比べても、今後、大きく市場が伸びるのはアジアです。東アジアだけでも約32 億人の人口、世界人口の約半分が東アジア。これはアジアの定義が難しいところですが、インドから東と思ってください。そういうぐらいのところです。パキスタンぐらいまで入る。そういった地域だと思っていただければと思います。
　東アジアだけでも32億人。最近４年間で、１億3,000万人の人口が増加をしております。たった4年間で日本１国分が増えたということです。しかも、アジアでは膨大な経済所得の中間層というものが成長しつつあります。１人当たりのＧＤＰが3,000ドルを超えると、耐久消費財ブームが起きると言われております。
　今、中国は約3,000ドル。ＡＳＥＡＮの平均で2,200ドルを超えました。
　日本は、国境を越えてアジア全体で成長するという視点に立つことが大事です。
　（１）成長するアジア全体で富を生み出し、
　（２）それを経済連携や、また人的交流というものを通じて、日本の雇用やイノベーションにつなげる。
　（３）それをアジアのさらなる発展につなげるというような好循環をつくることが重要なんだと考えております。
　国内の生産というものを拡大することに固執するという発想よりも、国民の富が増大することを重視する。いわゆる国内総生産、ＧＤＰ、Gross Domestic Productという発想から、国民の総所得、Gross National Incomeといった発想の転換が今後必要なんだと思っております。
　私は、昨年11月に総理特使というものを任命しております。アジア各国の声をよく聞いて、具体策を協議するように指示しました。各国の要人と協議を重ねてきた特使の報告というものを踏まえて、私は次の２つを提案したいと考えております。
（１）アジアの成長力強化
　第１に、アジアの成長力の強化です。広域インフラの整備、産業開発、制度改善、こういったものを一体的かつ計画的に進めることで、周辺地域や幅広い産業の飛躍的な発展が期待できると思っております。そのようなプロジェクトを支援します。お手元の資料に５ページがあろうと思いますが、資料の５ページを御参考ください。

《(1)具体例》
　例えば現在、ベトナムのホーチミンからインドのチェンナイまでマラッカ海峡を経由して海を使い、海路で約２週間かかります。
　これをホーチミンからアンダマン海まで陸路を整備して、タイから海路でチェンナイへ運べば10日。更に、これは国を横切りますので、通関など国境通過にかかる時間というものが膨大にかかっておりますが、これは日本の通関技術、ワンストップサービス、シングルウィンドー、こういった技術を入れますと、８日で運ぶことができます。
　このようなルートを建設し、周辺に工業団地など関連インフラを整備します。これによりメコン地域は、はるかインドや中東を視野に入れた自動車やエレクトロニクス、そういった製品の供給拠点として大きく発展することができます。
　また、マラッカ海峡というものが果たす、海上交通の役割は不可欠です。マラッカ海峡沿岸の発展を支えることで、日中韓と中東をつなぐエネルギー輸送の大動脈を安定させることができます。インドネシア、マレーシア、フィリピンに至るまで、東南アジアの発展にも大きく寄与するのは当然です。
　こういったプロジェクトの候補は、幾つもあります。

《(2)アジア総合開発計画の策定》
　構想を具体化するには、
　ａ）鉄道や陸路などの基幹的なインフラ、
　ｂ）発電所、工業団地などの関連インフラ、
　ｃ）そして、産業開発の計画、
　ｄ）資金調達の仕組み、
　ｅ）そして、通関などの改善すべき制度
などについて、総合開発計画というものを策定することが必要です。
　今、東アジア・ＡＳＥＡＮ経済研究センター、ＥＲＩＡというものがありますが、また、ＡＤＢ、アジア開発銀行。また、ＡＳＥＡＮの事務局が中心となって、各国と協力しながらアジア総合開発を策定することを、今、提案したいと思っております。
　ＡＳＥＡＮ、インドを中心に、５年間で70兆円のインフラ需要があると予測されております。そのうち、既に構想・計画段階にあるものが10兆円あります。
　日本は、提案するだけではなくて、ＯＤＡやその他の公的資金、勿論、民間資金まで総動員して、こうした取組みを後押しします。
　日本は今回、新たにアジアのインフラ整備へ民間投資を振り向けていくために、官民連携案件を中心に、２兆円の貿易保険枠を設けます。先般表明した、最大２兆円規模のＯＤＡや国際協力銀行による5,000億円程度の環境投資支援イニシアティブも活用して、アジアのインフラ整備というものに貢献したいと思っております。
　また、アジアの持続的成長には環境問題への対応も忘れてはなりません。日本の優れた環境技術、新エネ、省エネ技術を活用して、アジアワイドでの資源循環システムや高度な水の循環システムの普及などの事業を進めます。

（２）アジアの内需拡大
　第二に、アジアの内需拡大が重要になります。広域開発構想による投資の刺激に加えて、アジアにおいて消費を増やすことが極めて重要です。
　今後、アジアの中間層が安心して消費を拡大するためには、社会保障などのセーフティーネットを整備する必要があります。また、教育の充実によって中間層を増やしていく必要があります。
　こうした課題は各国が自主的に取り組むべき課題ではあります。ベストプラクティスというものの共有や共通指標の整備などの面で、アジア全体が協力することが重要なんだと考えております。ＥＲＩＡが政策提言することを提案したいと思っております。
　御記憶だと思いますが、日本は昭和35年に池田内閣によります国民所得倍増計画、いわゆる所得倍増というものを策定して、高度経済成長時代へ入っていきました。
　今やアジア全体で中間層が存在し、内需主導で大きく成長する新しい時代を迎えつつあります。
　本日、私の申し上げた構想は、アジア経済倍増へ向けた成長構想というべきものだと思っております。アジアの経済規模というものを2020年に倍増することを目指して、お互いの立場を尊重しながら、対等の立場で取り組んでいきたいと考えております。
　４月12日に予定されております東アジア首脳会議の場で、私から提案し、アジアの国々と共に前進したいと思います。

４　さいごに
　最後になりますが、高度経済成長を続けた成長モデルが崩壊して、新たな均衡を模索する大調整と言われるものは歴史上何度もありました。
　遠くは中世イタリアの都市国家、また16世紀のオランダ、19世紀のイギリス、いずれも世界経済を支配した国々であります。なぜこれらの国々は成功し、その後、ほかの国にその地位を譲ったのか。
　私の主観ですけれども、１つの共通点は、当初はものづくりと貿易で栄え、その後は行き過ぎた金融資本主義に陥ったというのが共通点だと私は思っております。
　額に汗して働く、そしてチーム全体として高い成果を上げていく組織力。日本のものづくりというのを支えてきたのは、この組織力です。この伝統なんだと私は思っているんですが、その強みを生かし続ければ、日本経済にはまだまだ大きな可能性があります。
　最近、家庭を見ても学校を見てもよく言われる個人主義化、アトム化。この結果、日本の組織力を衰えてきているという印象があります。
　しかし、もう一回日本が持っているこの組織力というものの強みというものを再認識する必要がある。
　よく例に引きますが、例えば鉄道。これは御存じのように蒸気機関車はイギリス人が発明した。しかし、鉄道網というシステムは日本が圧倒的になりました。これは日本がつくった。
　ちなみに東京23区内を見ていただければ、通勤しておられる方の76％が鉄道、地下鉄といった鉄の道路というものを使っておられる。一番進んでいると言われている外国のロンドンで19％ですから、圧倒的に日本は時間どおりに動かせる。しかも壊れず、正確に動く。これができなければ鉄道網はできないんです。
　私は日本でラッシュアワーとか大気汚染というものを回避できた大きな元の理由はここにあるんだと。どなたもおっしゃいませんけれども、私自身はそう思っております。これを可能にしているのが日本の人であり、その組織力なんだと思っております。
　したがって、自らの強みというものを失うのではなくて、その土台の上につくり上げたもの。それが今回の成長戦略であります。この戦略目標を基に、みんなの考えというものを巻き込みながら、しっかり実現したいと考えております。
　したがって、日本とアジアの未来は明るい。
　この成長戦略を通じて、皆さんにそのように感じていただければ何よりであります。