http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200601140147.htmlMizuho Fukushima: Constitution is our pledge of peace to the world
01/14/2006
Special to The Asahi Shimbun
The author is the leader of the Social Democratic Party and an Upper House member.(IHT/Asahi: January 14,2006)
Japan's greatest problem today is the way the administration of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and his Liberal Democratic Party are advancing politics "of the winners, by the winners and for the winners," as if to widen the gap between the rich and the poor.
Politics is destroying the Japanese peace and everyday life, which the people took pains to build over the years. The people are losing hope and society is starting to fall apart, like in the fantasy, "The Neverending Story," written by the German writer Michael Ende.
Under the Koizumi administration, the gap between rich and poor has grown wider than ever. Currently, one in every five households has an annual income of 2 million yen or less. One in every five households also has no savings. A major factor behind this is deregulation of the workplace brought about by the revised workers dispatch business law implemented by the Koizumi administration.
As a result, many people came to work on an irregular basis as part-timers or dispatch or contract workers rather than full-time employees. Currently, these people account for one third of all workers. In particular, more than half of female employees work on an irregular basis. Many of them are working under extremely poor conditions.
The average annual income of young "freeters" is between 1 million yen and 2 million yen. With such low wages, they cannot even support themselves or much less expect to get married and start a family. Birthrates continue to decline and now the average number of children a woman gives birth to in her lifetime stands at 1.29. The widening gap in income is giving rise to gaps in children's education, levels of health care and even in young people's hopes for the future.
The anxiety of the people is being amplified by the inadequacy of the social security system, which completely fails to cope with such changes in working styles. Social insurance programs are hollowing out because a growing number of people, deprived of stable jobs, refuse to or are unable to pay the required premiums. As a result, since 2003, health insurance, pension, nursing insurance and medical systems have been revised for the worse, and welfare benefits have been drastically cut.
Japan has taken pride in its national health insurance programs that cover all people and allow them to receive benefits any time, anywhere at a small cost to the consumer. But now, even that system is starting to change. While the redistribution of income is important, the maximum rate for progressive tax dropped from 70 percent to 37 percent. Corporation tax rates have also been lowered.
In order to get out of this situation, new laws are needed. For example, why not establish a "part-time and fixed-term contract workers law" that guarantees the same wage for the same work, a "public contract law" that guarantees workers' wages and contracts and a "workers contract law" that bans discrimination based on age and spells out requirements for layoffs and dismissals? We need to rebuild a stronger employment system with such regulations in order to maintain fairness among workers regardless of their working styles.
Although Diet debate on pension reform has stalled, to secure a fair pension system for everyone to have a stable living, bold reform is needed. Specifically, it should be an individually based double-tier system made up of a basic pension completely paid for by taxes and a pension proportionate to income.
Peace that has supported Japan's prosperity is also starting to waver. Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution bans the maintenance of war potential and renounces war.
The article came into being at the cost of more than 20 million lives in World War II in Asia alone, and more than 30 million lives lost around the world. The Constitution is Japan's public pledge not only to ourselves but to the people who died in the war and to the people of Asia and the world.
Japan has U.S. military bases. The U.S. military presence is forcing Japanese citizens to put up with a heavy burden in the form of budgets and crime. Without exception, local governments where U.S. troops are stationed are strongly objecting to the Japan-U.S. interim report concerning the transformation of U.S. forces.
Measures to alleviate the burden of Okinawa, which suffered heavy losses in World War II, are making no progress whatsoever. Personally, when I visited the United States, I met with high-ranking U.S. government officials and repeatedly told them that it is unreasonable to expect the Japanese public to accept the interim report, which was put together without consulting the local communities that host the bases.
It is true the United States is an important partner for Japan. Still, we refuse to have Japan act as one with the United States and serve as a world military force. What we want is for every country in the world to protect human rights and provide a healthy environment based on democracy, create an economy and society for people to work with a sense of security and make an international contribution together with others in order to help people who are suffering from environmental and natural disasters.
Japan cannot move from Asia. We must strive to make up for the failure of Koizumi diplomacy, which needlessly strained relations with South Korea and China, and build stable relations in Northeast Asia.
Last year, I personally visited South Korea and China to advance discussion. The problems that lie between us can only be settled when the parties concerned frankly talk with each other with a sincere attitude hoping to advance together. To advance that cause, we must not change the Japanese Constitution, which is Japan's public pledge to Asia and the world.
I wish to put my all into realizing a peaceful social democratic nation that allows everybody to live with a sense of security, and which is supported by the Japanese Constitution, not only for the future of Japan but also for Asia and the world.