If only the trains were 20 minutes late in England...

One of the nicest things about living in Japan is the puntuality, cleanliness and efficency of Japanese trains. I look forward to long journeys and even quite enjoy the packed Namboku-line commute to work because everything works so well. Air-conditioning, if strained a little in the height of summer, is close to spot on; nothing like the scorching or freezing extremes you find on British trains.

Today, as always, I squeezed myself into the 8.30 Metro and arrived at my target destination--Nagato-cho. But today the vibe was beyond the usual morning rush of caffeinated workaholics; there was an whiff of hysteria about the station. It seemed pandemonium had broken loose. The train I had stepped off had been running--wait for it--twenty minutes late. Panic was clearly in the air; many were looking flustered (including myself; it was infectious) because their finely tuned and precisely planned schedules had been put out. Most made a bee-line for one of the lurking station attendants, demanding a late-note to explain their tardiness to irate employers (see photo above). Responsiblity for lateness was successfully shifted to the Tokyo Metro Co., and a perfect record kept perfect, like 100% of their co-workers.

I have got used to planning my journeys to the minute. Walking, train and transfer times can all be factored into an exact morning itinerary. If only the same could be said for the UK.

Trains in Britain are a game of chance. Turn up early and the train will be late; turn up on time and the train will have left early. Planning is an entirely theoretical exercise. Prices, too, have their own peculiar brand of black magic and oscillate wildly according to no apparent pattern. If it snows, rains, or there is fog; or if it's too hot or too cold, services are frequently "temporarily suspended". An hour's delay (or more) is not at all uncommon. The British have learnt to accept that trains will be late, and most leave extra-early just in case. Late trains are no excuse for lateness because they are the norm, not the exception.

R J F Villar

I Spy.

At last Japan has managed to get a fourth so-called 'spy' satellite up and running [English here]without (so far) any hiccups. This brings the total up to four--two radar and two optical satellites--and allows the Japanese intelligence community to monitor any point on the planet within 24 hours. But, while there were cheers for a successful launch, a far cry from the November 2003 disaster in which two intelligence-gathering satellites were destroyed, this current effort was also the sad last ride of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), based on Tanegashima Island near Kagoshima. Future satellite launches, it has been announced, will be a private-venture affair run by the industrial giant who helped to fund the current mission, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.

The announcement of a successful satellite launch on 24th February was followed a day later by coverage in the Asahi Shimbun concerning preliminary plans for a revamped Cabinet Intelligence Research Office (CIRO), part of the drive to bring a US-style Japanese National Security Council (JNSC) into existence. It is hoped that this will improve intelligence analysis, coordination and prompt dissemination by "breaking down bureaucratic sectionalism". Prime Minister Abe Shinzo himself has been strongly behind the effort, championed as another step in Japan's "emerging intelligence independence".

Yet, how 'independent' are these new intelligence capabilities? It is wonderful that Japan can now ogle any point on the globe within 24 hours, but the quality--at best a 60cm resolution--is worse than some commercial satellites in current production, and not a patch on the US military optics that can often pinpoint to 20cm or less. 500 billion Yen is a large pricetag for an outdated system, especially if Japan will have to continue to rely on the US for detailed imagery. Worryingly, signs have been surfacing in the media that suggest bureaucrats are laying the blame for technological inferiority at the doorstep of the 1969 Peaceful Use of Space Principle; but the link is tangental at best and is probably an attempt to restart the debate on new 'realist' space policy, which had stalled last summer.

To read the 2000 Armitage-Nye Report , many claim, is to see the blueprint for Abe's latest efforts in intelligence reform. A bright shiny JNSC may be nothing more than a merry jig to a US tune; a streamlining process to remedy functional inefficencies dictated by US gaiatsu. Yet, if you follow the flow of study-groups, think-tanks and policy-units it is clear that the Government's scope is much, much broader. An Official Secrets Act; Counter-Terrorism; an Intelligence Select Committee; and a Japanese MI6: Cutting down bureaucratic sectionalism and launching a full set of satellites are, as one official in the Cabinet Office put it, "only the beginning of the beginning."

R J F Villar

Racism in Japan?

The blogosphere and international media have been buzzing with righteous indignation recently, following the discovery of an overtly racist magazine, Gaijin Hanzai Ura Fairu ('Hidden Files of Crimes by Foreigners'), in Japanese book shops and convenience stores. The story was picked up by the online community, who called for a boycott on establishments which sold the publication, and an article in the British Guardian newspaper followed. A well-known naturalised-Japanese Human Rights activist, Arudou Debito, also published an extensive online critique of the magazine in English.

One of the many elements to which protesters objected was the line, "Oi Nigger!! Get your fuckin’ hands off that Japanese lady’s ass!!" Although many pointed out the magazine was xenophobic, racist, and clearly whipping-up racial hatred by portraying Japan's foreigner community as criminals, there is no law against incitement to racial hatred in Japan and the vernacular press remained curiously silent.

At a juncture in Japanese history when a substantial increase in immigration--and therefore 'foreign-looking' residents--is almost unavoidable due to the pressures of a rapidly aging society and the economic need for a workforce, this magazine is clearly neither going to prepare the Japanese people for an immigration boom, nor inspire foreign nationals to emigrate.

In the summer of 2005, the UN Special Envoy, Doudou Diène, reported that racism in Japan was "deep and profound," and urged legislation (which does not currently exist) to combat it. [David McNeill's excellent article for Japan Focus on the 'Diène Report' can be read here] The Japanese reaction was indignation. How, many said, could a man with so little experience of Japan fully comprehend the subtleties of Japanese society?

Top-level politicians have recently been campaigning for an end to ijime ('bullying') in schools, after a spate of suicides which were allegedly caused by victimisation meted out by teachers. Just as bullying comes in a thousand different shades--it is not merely limited to physical violence--so too does racism extend beyond apartheid measures and racially-motivated attacks. The excuse for signs such as that pictured above is often linguistic. "We do not currently have staff with the necessary language skills," is often the reply to probing inquiries. Yet, a Japanese-looking man without vocal cords would be welcomed despite the inability to speak, perhaps ordering by pointing. An absence of staff proficient in sign-language would not trigger a prohibition on the dumb. Likewise, linguistic inability is no excuse for imposing a blanket-ban on anyone who appears non-Asian.

But the manifestations of Japanese racism are not always immediately obvious. There are cases of black African men being refused entry to shops and Caucasians barred from entry to bath houses, but the racism generally encountered is of a quieter variety. Some may look away when a mentally-handicapped person walks onto the bus, worried that staring may seem rude. In Japan, this is often the case with those who look foreign. Of course, travel outside Tokyo and the screams of school-girl adulation generally follow a Caucasian-foreigner around like fleas, but more often people look the other way, fearful of causing offense.

But is this really intentional racism? Probably not. Most Japanese have had limited interaction with foreigners (be they Caucasian, Black, Asian or otherwise), and unease is really built on foundations of ignorance. Whilst there are the more right-wing members of the population, such as those that produced the Gaijin Hanzai Ura Fairu publication, most have just not had the international experience to encourage a more globally-cosmopolitan outlook.

So it is not all doom and gloom. Not all Japanese are eternally xenophobic; many are just unsure of how to react to non-Japanese strangers. However, one thing is for sure: The current policy of ignoring the issues of crime, poor education and poverty in resident foreigner communities cannot improve Japan's chances of producing adept immigration policies in the future. However misguided the recent magazine was, when its editor, Saka Shigeki, said "only by honestly discussing this issue and all it entails can we prepare our culture for this [increased immigration] radical change," he hit the nail on the head. Frank discussion is needed. The debate currently underway in the UK about the values of multiculturalism should have its bedmate here in Japan too. What is not needed, however, are examples of misleading and racist material, such as Gaijin Hanzai Ura Fairu.

R J F Villar

柔能剛制: 'Soft' Power

'Soft' Power

Any aficionado of the Japanese martial art, Judo, will have heard the phrase "柔能く剛を制す"("ju yoku gou o seisu"). In rough translation, this means "skilled softness overcomes brawn." In Judo, a small accomplished competitor can maneuver an opponent's weight in such a way that requires little brute strength to throw them. Originally coined by the Chinese philospher, Lao-zi, and much later recycled by the founder of Judo, Jigoro Kano, this short phrase has become a maxim for life.

In Foreign Policy, too, this proverb has a role. Despite the current US example, effective diplomacy does not have to rely on vast demonstrations of aggressive power. Bottom-up investment in the areas of cultural diplomacy and intelligence, combined with a commitment to multilateral institutions, has the potential to bear greater long-term fruit than unilateral military "shock and awe". Much of the success in Afghanistan, for example, was a result of the human relations built-up by British and American intelligence officers over a considerable length of time. A quick shower of gold, and an imposing military presence have neither secured Iraq in the short, or potentially, the long-term. If the 'brawn' is really necessary, it must only come after mastering the techniques of 'soft' power.

Japan, meanwhile, lingers at the cross-roads with Prime Minister Abe Shinzo screaming for constitutional revision. This is to give the Japanese - read: the Japanese 'Self-Defense' Forces - a clearer-cut role in the world. Yet is this really necessary? It is perfectly possible (if you believe thinkers such as Ozawa Ichiro or Ronald Dore) for Japan to fulfill collective security responsibliltes under the auspices of the UN with the current consitutional arrangement. With US unilateralism languishing in the doldrums, this might be an opportunity for Japan to lead the international community making use of her Constitution, instead of blaming it for somehow acting as a hindrance.

The Japanese often compare 'hard' and 'soft' governance to the "wind and the sun". On a winter's day, it is not the harsh wind that encourages us to take off our coats. Indeed, the more the wind blows the more we huddle our jackets round us. But, when the sun comes out we voluntarily shed our layers. Good governance does not necessarily mean killing things- 'soft' power can be a proactive policy too.

R J F Villar

'Guidance' on manners for DPJ interns

"A smile is the most important thing in non-verbal communication," the 'manner trainer' told us, the manic grin she had worn since entering the room still stuck firmly on her face. I found myself wondering whether she ever stopped smiling. An image of her racing outside and screaming to the four winds, brows contorted wildly, slunk into my mind.

"And what exactly, Villar-san, makes someone 'well-presented'?"

I thought for a second and replied with what I thought was a evilly cunning riposte to her sudden public interrogation. I can only assume something got lost in translation.

As it turned out, the right answers were an ironed shirt and brushed hair.

Every February, the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) runs an internship programme, exposing young politicians-in-the-making to the policy process and everyday parliamentary life. This, the first in a set of lectures, was designed to tell interns what they should wear, what they should say and, most importantly of all, how to smile (note: smiling is learned through repetition of the word 'happy' in Japanese pronounciation, ad infinitum). Some elements, such as a refresher on Japanese polite-speech, were genuinely helpful, yet I couldn't help feeling the thought-police were getting a bit too carried away with protocol.

The room was filled with identically attired young men and women. For the men: Black suit, white shirt, nondescript tie, black shoes and black socks. For the women: Black trouser suit or skirt, white blouse, black socks and black not-too-high-heeled shoes. This was political boot-camp, and I was very, very out of place. I'd thought it was going to be a relaxing day so I'd dropped my pin-stripes at the dry-cleaners and my shoes were being re-soled, but as the smiling trainer expanded her questioning it soon turned out that my blazer and flannels were just not the right attire.

"If you're wearing black shoes, make sure they're polished and you're wearing black socks."

I looked down at my matt-brown loafers and red woolen socks. That was a definite miss.

"And to the men: make sure you're tie and shirt buttons are done-up."

I fiddled the buttons of my pink shirt closed and tried unsuccessfully to make the wisp of pale-blue cravat seem more tie-like. My Japanese sartorial score was a definite nil points.

Of course, politeness and attire are essentially important in the workplace. In the UK, it is generally expected you pick these things up at home, at University or by gradual osmosis, and, to be certain, this does not always work. British professional life is neither as polite nor well-mannered as the Japanese. A quick 'manner' lesson could be very useful for young graduates or newly hired shop-assistants entering the workforce.

However, the hordes of black-suited workers do not exactly encourage originality. If to differ is to be wrong, creativity is sure to take a knock. You can see the same reliance on unwritten conformity in Diet sessions or in committees. It is a problem that plagues the Japanese political world.

Those rare opposition politicians who do go on the offensive and attempt to really hammer home questions, such as ex-Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) politician Tanaka Makiko, are seen as rogue forces. Yet, going it alone has worked - former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's single-handed Postal Reform drive is a perfect example - and Japanese politics may benefit from a bit more assertive, and original, adversarial debate. However, if you spend any amount of time on the bylines of parliamentary 'debate', you quickly realize that Japanese politics is not set up to favor the brave. It is a shame because it makes discussion dry and tediously unoriginal; and a shame because the people of Japan, especially those who voted for the opposition, are denied real scrutinizing democratic representation.

R J F Villar

共生: 'Coexistence'

Kyousei

Those who have been following the changing flow of Ozawa Ichiro's rhetoric will have noticed the theme of kyousei, or 'coexistence' cropping up with regularity.

"I want to build a Japan where people can live in harmony together," Ozawa said in his speech at the beginning of this Diet Session, "in Diplomacy, a person-to-person, country-to-country 'coexistence' where peace in Japan and the international community are secured, and the 'coexistence' between man and nature...are the raisons d'Etat that I want Japan to continue to prioritise."

These are noble words. They also appeal to the Japanese people, touching on what many see as the essence of Japanese identity: nature, the seasons and the innate ability of the Japanese people to harmoniously coexist with their environment. The truth of this aside, the man on the street will often say that kyousei, rather than conflict, is the natural Japanese Way.

Sensible or Simple?

Yet, by touting 'coexistence' as his party's Foreign Policy, Ozawa may be painting the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) a shade of simple. Is kyousei actually a 'policy', or is it just good rhetoric?

As I follow the developments of current US foreign policy, four famous lines by the British poet, W H Auden (from the poem 'September 1, 1939'; full text here), often leap into my mind:

"I and the public know,
What all schoolchildren learn,
Those to whom evil are done,
Do evil in return."

The black-and-white approach to foreign policy, which led to the top-down handling of Iraq and the lack of mid-term planning for the invasion of Afghanistan, has provided ammunition for a new generation of hatred. The Iraq fiasco, built on an idealistic vision of Democracy, has, as one commentator warned before the invasion, "opened the jaws of hell". The bottom-up campaign for people's 'hearts and minds' has been forgotten, or at least mislaid. In this context, a bit of pragmatic 'coexistence' would not be a bad thing at all.

But what does this 'coexistence' actually mean for policy? Does it mean pragmatic realpolitik? Does it mean cultural diplomacy? Does it mean a greater commitment to collective security? Kyousei is an interesting base, but without a bit more flesh on the bones, it will never be anything but a bare skeleton of a Foreign Policy. But then this is perhaps asking for too much from Japanese politics. In a system where the media rarely deconstructs policy and politicians rarely make it, maybe asking for a bit more substance is going way, way over the top.

R J F Villar

"When the wind blows, carpenters get rich"

There is an interesting phrase in Japanese: kaze ga fukeba, okeya ga mougaru ("When the wind blows, carpenters get rich"). What on earth, you might ask, could be the connection between a gusty day and a hacksaw? Back in the Edo Period, when the phrase was coined, this is how the logic went:

...When the wind picks up, sand and grit gets flung into the eyes of people foolish enough to be wandering about in dust-storms. The number of blind increase and so too do the number of Japanese lute (biwa) players, who were - in Edo folklore - almost always staffed from the ranks of the blind. As leather made from cat's skin was used to construct the lutes, cats become scarcer as they are dragged off to make musical instruments, and mice therefore multiply. Mice run amok inside wooden houses with no cats to stop them, and they gradually gnaw away at the supports holding up the buildings. With their pillars eroded, houses become unstable and crash down on their inhabitants with increasing regularity. Deaths sky-rocket. To be a carpenter - a coffin-maker - suddenly becomes an ideal money-making profession...

Yes, the link is indeed tendentious. Yet, like the 'Butterfly Effect', where the wings of a tiny butterfly supposedly create hurricanes 6000 miles away, the point is that seemingly unrelated things are often closely connected.

In the same way, for the young Japanese politicians who are struggling to promote internationalism and global change such as Motohisa Furukawa, it can often be difficult to persuade local constituents that world issues are indeed world-wide; that they are not merely about other countries and distant international institutions.

Take global warming or poverty in the developing world, for example. Although these may not seem relevant, and immediately visible parochial issues will of course appear to be more important, they affect every single citizen on the planet and alter the flow of our individual daily lives. If the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is correct, without urgent action the effects of global warming could be far-reaching indeed.

'Foreign' Policy is just as much about domestic issues as it is about global ones. Mistakes in Iraq policy, for example, have created a backlash of anti-Americanism that now haunts the domestic security of the United States.

Local interests are not enough. If a politician is really working for the benefit of his constituents, he or she will realise that the small picture is actually part of a much bigger one.

R J F Villar

Election results

Aichi Prefecture Gubnatorial Election:

Masaaki Kanda (LDP, Komeito)- 1,424,761 DECLARED GOVERNOR
Yoshihiro Ishida (DPJ, SDP, PNP)- 1,355,713
Seiroku Abe (JCP)- 160,827

Turnout - 52.11% (prev. 38.91%)

It also seems from an Asahi Shimbun study (05/02/07, pg.2) that Ishida had a solid majority amongst those that voted in their 20s, 30s and 40s. Floating voters were obviously overwhelming pro-opposition- an interesting prelude to the spring and summer elections!

20s 39 52 8
30s 39 55 6
40s 42 54 4
50s 44 49 7
60s 52 43 5
70s+65 31 4

(Black=Age Group; Yellow=%support for Kanda; Blue=%support for Ishida; Red=%support for Abe)

Kita-Kyushu City Mayoral Election:

Kenji Kitabashi (DPJ, SDP, PNP)- 217,262 DECLARED MAYOR
Takahiro Shibata (LDP, Komeito)- 177,675
Toshikazu Miwa (JCP)- 56,873

Turnout - 56.57% (prev. 38.32%)

#LDP = Liberal Democratic Party; DPJ = Democratic Party of Japan; SDP = Social Democratic Party; PNP = People's New Party; JCP = Communist Party of Japan

The results will obviously be a blow to the opposition, who were hoping the recent comment by Minister Yanagisawa ("baby-making machines"; see previous posts), would hand them victory in both elections. A double-win would have gone some way towards justifying both the boycott of last week's Supplementary Budget debates, and the repeated calls for Yanagisawa's resignation. As it stands, Prime Minister Abe may feel the public backlash was not large enough to justify breaking up his cabinet, and the opposition may have to be satisfied with slinking back into debates later this week, tails between legs.

R J F Villar

Opposition tactics...

Below are examples of tactics being used by two very different opposition parties:

The first is the regular video blog, 'Webcameron', by David Cameron, leader of the Conservative Party in the UK. Although initially skeptical, a position taken by the majority of those interested in British politics, I believe it has since turned out to be a very effective medium for communication of Cameron's basic ideas. He comes across as intelligent, reasonable, committed and, most important of all, electable!

The latest effort by the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), floating across the airwaves from the end of December '06, wins 10/10 for originality, although is perhaps influenced more by Caribbean pirates than Japanese politics. Whether it scores as highly for effect has yet to be seen. However, even if the advertisement does not exactly cast party leader, Ozawa Ichiro, as an archetypal patrician, it at the very least helps to remind the electorate that the DPJ still exists!

Both the DPJ in Japan and the Conservative Party in the UK are attempting to reinvent themselves in the eyes of the electorate. Cameron is giving the Tories a softer, more social democratic edge, whilst Ozawa seems (at least in terms of rhetoric) to be moving away from the 'youthful reformism' of the DPJ's early years and plotting out a more mature set of policies.

Ozawa has repeatedly talked about bringing politics home to the people - he has claimed to be committed to battling the widening cleavages between rich and poor in Japanese society - and this is doubtlessly an attempt at mass-appeal. But are the Japanese people really persuaded more by slogans and computer-generated pirate ships than a page of solid policies? Ozawa and his policy-wonks obviously think so. And he could just be right.

R J F Villar

Motohisa Furukawa and the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ)

I am currently working on the staff of young, up-and-coming Dietmember, Motohisa Furukawa (see picture left). Mr. Furukawa holds the support of well over 50% of the population of his Aichi Prefecture constituency, a rare feat in an electoral district which works on the First Past the Post (FPTP) system. In the coming months I will be highlighting some of the most interesting aspects of Japanese politics on both national and local levels, based around Mr. Furukawa's offices in Aichi and Tokyo.

Motohisa Furukawa's party, the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), is Japan’s second largest party and main opposition party. It is generally viewed as social liberal in orientation. Formed on April 27th 1998, the DPJ grew from a merger of four small anti-LDP parties to become a major player in Japanese politics, gaining significant support in the 2000 and 2001 Diet elections. In 2001 the DPJ supported Japan’s first foreign-born Dietmember, Marutei Tsurunen (originally Martti Turunen of Finland).

In 2003 the DPJ merged with the small, centre-right Liberal Party led by Ichiro Ozawa, the leader of the DPJ from April 2006 following the resignation of Seiji Maehara. In the House of Representatives, the Democratic Party of Japan sits with the Independents’ Club (Mushozoku kurabu), a group of democrats with a largely liberal centrist agenda. In the House of Councillors, the DPJ sits with a group known as ‘New Breeze’ (Shin-Ryokufukai).

R J F Villar

Welcome to 'politics on the other side'

Japanese politics and the amorphous Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) are largely synonymous: When you think of one, you think of the other. A passing nod is given to opposition parties, but no-one really expects there to be a long-term change of Government. For all but a brief slip in the 1990s, the LDP have reigned supreme for the lifetime of the average student of Japanese politics, and, the argument usually goes, they will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.

However, to focus on the party-in-power is to miss the excitement, potential and future of Japanese politics. While LDP scandal and backhanders may be the same old story of vested-interests politics, in the background the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) is working hard and picking up momentum. While Prime Minister Abe Shinzo flails around searching for headline-grabbing big-picture policies to build what he has touted as his ideal "Beautiful Country" ("utsukushii kuni"), Ozawa Ichiro is focusing the DPJ on working for the needs of the Japanese people.

In the run-up to the Upper House elections this summer, support for the LDP is rapidly declining, and the DPJ is going from strength to strength. Never has there been such a solid credible opposition to the LDP. Over the next few months, I will be recording the rise of the DPJ, testing the political waters in the March local elections and commenting on opposition politics in Japan.

These are my views, based on my observations of elections and the day-today strategies of the Democratic Party of Japan. They are not the official views of any party or politician.

R J F Villar