＜prologue＞
I started a blog called “The Baby Boomer Generation’s Miscellaneous Blog”（Dankai-sedai no garakutatyou:団塊世代の我楽多（がらくた）帳） in July 2018, about a year before I fully retired. More than six years have passed since then, and the number of articles has increased considerably.
So, in order to make them accessible to people who don’t understand Japanese, I decided to translate my past articles into English and publish them.
It may sound a bit exaggerated, but I would like to make this my life’s work.
It should be noted that haiku and waka （Japanese short fixed form poems） are quite difficult to translate into English, so some parts are written in Japanese.
If you are interested in haiku or waka and would like to know more, please read introductory or specialized books on haiku or waka written in English.
I also write many articles about the Japanese language. I would be happy if these inspire more people to want to learn Japanese.
my blog’s URL:団塊世代の我楽多（がらくた）帳 | 団塊世代が雑学や面白い話を発信しています
my X’s URL:団塊世代の我楽多帳（@historia49）さん / X
1. The Shock of Carlos Ghosn’s Escape
On December 31, 2019, it was reported that former Nissan Chairman Carlos Ghosn, who was out on bail, had departed Lebanon under a false name. This was a clear violation of his bail conditions. However, since Japan and Lebanon do not have an extradition treaty, if Lebanon refuses to comply with Japan’s extradition request, he will be beyond the reach of Japanese police, allowing him to escape. The court’s decision to grant bail is likely to have lasting consequences.
Strict measures to prevent his escape, such as constant reporting of his movements via surveillance cameras installed at the entrance to his home and confiscation of his passport, are likely to have been taken. It remains puzzling how he was able to leave the country so easily, even if he used a fake passport or a private jet. If the Lebanese government were involved, this would be a major problem. What is the truth? While unconfirmed information, there are reports that he “hidden in a musical instrument case and secretly left the country at a regional airport.” Considering he disguised himself as a laborer when he was released on bail, it’s entirely possible he could do something like that.
There is also the possibility that Carlos Ghosn may destroy evidence in Lebanon, which is likely a blunder by Japanese prosecutors and courts. The number of bail grants in Japan has recently skyrocketed, leading to a series of escapes and other problems, and the laxness of court oversight is likely to be called into question.
I believe the court should have firmly adhered to its principles and resolutely rejected Carlos Ghosn’s bail application, rather than succumbing to misguided criticism from overseas about his long detention. Such a blunder is a disgrace to the Japanese judiciary.
When foreigners commit crimes in Japan, there are often cases where the Japanese police are unable to intervene due to the lack of an extradition treaty between the two countries, leaving them unable to do anything.
2. Fatal Traffic Accident Caused by a Brazilian Woman
In October 2005, a car driven by a 31-year-old Brazilian woman collided with a car driven by a 39-year-old Brazilian woman at an intersection in Kosai City, Shizuoka Prefecture, killing a two-year-old girl. Shizuoka Prefectural Police strongly suspected the Brazilian woman of running a red light and obtained an arrest warrant, but she had already returned to Japan.
Since there is no extradition treaty between Japan and Brazil, she is in a “get-away” situation where she cannot be arrested.
670,000 people reportedly petitioned the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in response to this “Brazilian suspect ‘get-away’ after fleeing the country.”
However, the Brazilian Constitution stipulates that “no Brazilian national shall be extradited to a foreign country as a criminal,” so even if an extradition treaty were concluded, it would not be an easy solution.
Incidentally, Brazil has extradition treaties with 22 countries, but all of them exclude the obligation to extradite its own citizens.
As a result, “arrests in flagrante delicto,” “early issuance of arrest warrants,” and “immediate arrests at the border during immigration control” before criminals flee the country will become increasingly important in the future.
3. Status of Extradition Treaties in Japan and Other Countries
An extradition treaty is an international treaty concerning the extradition of criminal suspects who have fled abroad. While countries are not inherently obligated to extradite criminals even if requested by other countries, the conclusion of such treaties, either bilaterally or multilaterally, mutually commits to the obligation to extradite criminals.
Japan only has treaties with two countries (the United States and South Korea). Incidentally, the UK has concluded extradition treaties with 115 countries, France with 96, the US with 69, and South Korea with 25.
States have an obligation to protect the lives, property, and safety of their citizens, and from the standpoint of fairness and justice, they do not always accept all requests, even from countries with which they have an extradition treaty.
In Japan’s case, extradition is the rule, with exceptions such as when the perpetrator is a Japanese national or a political prisoner.
If a suspect is arrested in a country with which Japan does not have an extradition treaty, they will seek “vicarious punishment” to pursue criminal responsibility under the laws of that country rather than extradition to Japan.
4. Concerns about Hostage Diplomacy and Retaliation Diplomacy
While this is off topic from the main topic of “extradition treaties,” something has been bothering me recently.
The vice chairman of Huawei, China’s largest mobile phone manufacturer, was arrested in Canada at the request of the United States.
Subsequently, a fierce US-China trade war broke out between President Trump and President Xi Jinping.
Amid this backdrop, two Canadian journalists have been arrested by Chinese authorities on suspicion of “seek[ing] out Chinese state secrets” and “stealing and providing Chinese state secrets abroad.”
This is being seen as an attempt by China to “pressure” the country to prevent the extradition of Huawei’s vice chairman from Canada to the United States.
The case of Carlos Ghosn is not hostage diplomacy or anything like that; it was a purely criminal arrest, but I fear that such “hostage diplomacy” and “retaliatory diplomacy” will become more common in the future. While the “judiciary” is supposed to be fair and uphold justice, I feel that “political pressure” that surpasses this has become more noticeable recently.