Weekly Highlights from the Japanese Press No. 15
From the Mainichi Shinbun for June 24 through June 30
Weekly Highlights from the Japanese Press No. 15
From the Mainichi Shinbun for June 24 through June 30
June 24
The editorial for this issue takes aim at the recent law expanding the power of the central government to issue orders to local governments during emergencies, arguing that it may reverse the policy of equality between the central government and local governments because the circumstances under which it may be invoked remain vague.
An article entitled “War: Cutting Off the Weak” takes up the “tragic” tale of an Okinawan family full of disabled children that suffered greatly during the last phase of the war, when Allied forces landed on Okinawa. The article ends with a quote by one of its subjects that runs, “War is the one thing that one must never do.”
June 25
Ōji Tomoko in her opinion column entitled “Heated Debate” (火論), argues that Okinawa is similar to Palestine in that the latter is occupied by Israel, while the US and Japan are forcing military bases on the former, and there are in both of these things an overwhelming power differential and structural racism. She further argues that, although the LDP-Kōmeitō coalition won the recent parliamentary election, that does not mean that Okinawans have accepted the bases as legitimate. On the contrary, they still consider theme illegitimate, but have chosen to prioritize economic issues for the time being, just like Palestinians who help build structures like synagogues on Israeli settlements in the West Bank. One day, their opposition to the bases will surely reassert itself.
A special feature tracks the progress of the Law on the Advancement of LGBT Understanding one year after its implementation. It finds that all parties are dissatisfied with it, LGBTQ and their supporters because it contains no concrete measures or policies, and its opponents for obvious reasons. Further, author of the article Fujisawa Miyuki notes that such misinformation as the claim that with the establishment of the law men would be able to enter women’s baths and toilets by pretending to be transgender has spread farther afield than before. Professor of administrative law at Nihon University Suzuki Hidehiro when consulted for this article said that the government should make clear the intent and measures of the law with respect to prejudices and “discriminatory statements” against transwomen.
According to an opinion poll conducted by the Mainichi, 57% of Japanese support the introduction of a system of voluntary separate surnames for married couples, 22% are against it, and 20% are neutral. 53% of men and 59% of women support the policy. More than 60% of supporters of the Kōmeitō and the major opposition parties support it, while among LDP voters support is at about 40%, with the remaining 60% being roughly evenly split between opponents and the undecided.
This issue contains another article on the failure of the JSDF Reserves to meet their yearly recruitment quotas. Overall recruitment stands at 69.6% of quotas, with that breaking down to 70.2% for Ground, 48.0% for Maritime, and 65.5% for Air SDF. In order to prop up recruitment numbers, the age limit was raised from 34 to 52 in January of this year, and in May the law was revised such that the requirement to receive 50 days of training within three years may be extended by two years and the age of retirement from the Reserves raised to 65. But these and other measures have consistently failed to improve recruitment numbers. The role of reservists in handling natural disasters such as the Noto Peninsula Earthquake and the increasingly strained international situation in the region make securing recruits an urgent necessity.
June 26
On June 24, a lone unemployed Chinese man forced his way onto a school bus carrying Japanese children and their mothers in Jiangsu and stabbed three of them, provoking widespread fear and anxiety among Japanese residents of the PRC. On Chinese social media, it is common to criticize Japanese schools in China as breeding grounds for spies, and also for people to throw stones at those schools during times of tension.
June 28
Okinawans are full of rage concerning a recent incident involving a member of the US Air Force stationed in Kadena. On December 24, 2023, Brennon R.E. Washington lured a girl of less than sixteen years into his car at a park on Okinawa, took her to his apartment outside the base, and engaged in non-consensual sexual acts with her. The girl reported the incident and, after a lengthy police investigation, he was handed over to the Japanese authorities, who promptly released him on bail. Neither Brennon nor his superiors have directly apologized for the incident.
June 29
The Mainichi reports that Biden did horribly during the debate, with him stumbling over his words and his voice faltering frequently.
On June 28, it became public knowledge that US Marine Jamel Clayton had choked from behind and otherwise harmed an adult woman on Okinawa in March. Since the beginning of this year five incidents of vicious crimes including non-consensual sex acts carried out by members of the US military and their families have been reported, marking a significant increase from the two that took place during all of last year.