＜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. Questionable Opposition Stance
The ordinary Diet session convened on January 20, 2020. Aside from addressing the COVID-19 pandemic, the only notable move toward the end of the session was the opposition’s “Opposition to the Prosecutor’s Office Act Amendment Bill.”
Many celebrities and ordinary people responded to the hashtag “Protest Against the Prosecutor’s Office Act Amendment Bill” on social media, building momentum for opposition. Following media coverage and opinion polls, the government and ruling parties decided to postpone passage of the bill during this session.
I have no interest in what happens to Prosecutor General Kurokawa. The opposition parties claim that “the separation of powers will be destroyed,” but I find it difficult to understand what the celebrities who posted “#ProtestAgainstProsecutor’sOfficeActAmendmentBill” on social media were concerned about or concerned about.
The opposition parties emphasized their success, saying, “Politics has changed because of the voice of the people,” but I have doubts about their stance.
This reminds me of the many student demonstrators who joined in the 1960 and 1970 Security Treaty protests, chanting “No to Security Treaty! No to Security Treaty!”
It also reminds me of the Democratic Party’s stubborn refusal to appoint a former Ministry of Finance official to serve as Bank of Japan governor. In 2008, when the government proposed to appoint either Muto Toshiro (former Vice Minister of Finance) or Tanami Koji (former Vice Minister of Finance) as the successor to Fukui Toshihiko (a former BOJ governor), the proposal was rejected by the House of Councillors, where the Democratic Party and other opposition parties hold a majority. The reason for the opposition was that “the independence of the BOJ would not be ensured.” Ultimately, the decision was made to appoint Shirakawa Masamasa (a former BOJ governor).
However, he was unable to escape the deflation that followed the Lehman Shock, and he resigned. Some, such as former BOJ policymaker Nakahara Nobuyuki, have harshly criticized him, saying, “He created the lost 20 years.”
2. Opposition parties should propose fundamental system reforms rather than opposing short-term bills
I believe the following reform proposals should come from the opposition parties, but since they are unlikely to do so at present, I hope that at least the LDP will raise them. I hope that they will carefully consider what the people truly want and reflect it in politics.
(1) Abolish the House of Councillors
I have long believed that the House of Councillors is an addition to the House of Representatives and should be abolished. I’m sure there will be dissenting opinions, but when we look at the “divided Diet,” “celebrity members in the House of Councillors,” and “corrupt members,” I believe that it has more negative effects than positive effects.
This would be a “painful reform” for the party itself, but I hope that they will be bold enough to propose it.
(2) Abolish political party subsidies (party subsidies)
The Japanese Communist Party is the only party that does not receive political party subsidies (party subsidies). I believe that other parties should either decline to receive them or abolish the system altogether.
This system is fraught with problems, including: “Because there are no restrictions on how the funds can be used, they are often diverted to meals at high-end restaurants or as rewards to informants,” “payments are also made to political parties represented by people who have been convicted of corruption or have had their civil rights suspended,” and “if political party subsidies are not used up in a given year, any surplus is supposed to be returned to the national treasury, but this is rarely done and the funds are essentially hoarded.”
(3) A drastic reduction in the number of Diet members
There are too many “Jinkasa” (members of parliament) who are simply there to fill the numbers. It’s still fresh in our memory that incompetent members of parliament who were elected multiple times ended up serving as Minister of Justice or Minister in charge of the Olympics, only to reveal their incompetence and resign. In order to prevent the creation of such “bansyokudaijin(伴食大臣：Lacking the ability commensurate with the position one holds.or, an incompetent minister who simply does what he’s told.）,” we must boldly reduce the number of members of parliament.
We should also propose reducing parliamentary salaries and abolishing various special privileges.
(4) Lowering the salary levels of civil servants over a certain age.
National civil servant salary levels are determined by “National Personnel Authority recommendations (purportedly based on private sector levels),” but the “absolute average annual salary of Japanese civil servants” far exceeds that of private sector employees, and even when compared to the average annual salary of private sector employees, it is abnormally high compared to the rest of the world.
Furthermore, while private sector employees’ salaries peak around age 50 and then decline sharply, public servants’ salaries seem to continue to rise until retirement.
This is understandable, given the hardships faced by private sector employees, and is criticized as “favoring civil servants.” This is even more so if the retirement age is extended to 65.
3. The Sins of the Opposition Parties and the Media
The current opposition parties lack a solid national vision and appear to be merely paying lip service to “regime change.”
The media also focuses solely on superficial reporting of current events and fails to address fundamental issues. They also fail to criticize the opposition parties’ stance, which is solely concerned with their own party interests.
NHK also occasionally makes comments critical of the government, but I rarely hear criticism of the opposition parties. The comments made by news anchors also seem like meaningless, superficial, and shallow comments.
The media and opposition politicians often use phrases like “helping those in need” and “standing by the weak” as if they are “allies of justice.” Am I the only one who feels that they are “pretending to be good people” and criticizing the government, even though they themselves are in privileged, safe, and secure positions?
<Added 5/22/2020>
Tokyo High Public Prosecutor’s Office Chief Prosecutor Kurokawa resigned after it was revealed that he had been playing gambling mahjong with a newspaper reporter during the state of emergency.
As a result, Prime Minister Abe also seems to have lost interest in amending the Public Prosecutors’ Office Act, and the bill is likely to be scrapped. This is perhaps only natural.
I also think it’s commendable that Prime Minister Abe has reconsidered whether it is appropriate to prioritize extending the retirement age for civil servants at a time when private companies are struggling. As I mentioned above, I believe the opposition parties should have been more concerned about this.