＜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
In June 2020, former Minister of Justice Kawai Katsuyuki and his wife, House of Councillors member Kawai Anri, were arrested for violating the Public Offices Election Act. This has left us pondering whether there is much appeal or reward in being a Diet member, and whether there are many other vested interests involved.
In consideration of the public sentiment surrounding the economic hardship caused by the spread of COVID-19, Diet members’ annual salaries were reduced by 20% for one year starting in May. After the 20% reduction, salaries will be approximately 1.03 million yen, or approximately 770,000 yen after tax. However, this 20% reduction only applies to monthly salaries; it does not include twice-yearly end-of-year bonuses (approximately 6.35 million yen) or annual activity expenses such as document, communication, transportation, and accommodation expenses, which total 12 million yen.
In this article, we will introduce the fact that the salaries of Japanese Diet members and local assembly members are significantly higher than those of other countries, making them the “highest in the world.”
1. Diet Members’ Salaries
<Quote from Swissinfo’s May 11, 2016 article, “How Much Do Diet Members Earn?”>
Recently, there have been a number of news stories questioning the ethics of Japanese politicians, but perhaps it’s not widely known that Japanese Diet members have the highest salaries in the world.
The UK’s upper house, known as the House of Lords, was historically composed of hereditary aristocrats. In 1999, reforms under the Labour Party’s Blair administration significantly reduced the number of hereditary aristocrats, and the House is now primarily an appointed system, primarily consisting of life peers. However, due to long-standing tradition, unpaid membership remains the norm. Even among life peers, most members have assets, so their position is considered more of an honorary one.
The salary of a member of the UK House of Commons was £79,468 (approximately ¥10.6 million) per year in 2019, plus various allowances. Each member of parliament is required to claim this allowance at their actual cost, and the details will be made public on a dedicated website.
I believe that the remuneration of Japanese Diet members should also be reduced, taking inspiration from the remuneration systems in the UK’s House of Lords and House of Commons.
2. Remuneration of local assembly members
While many other countries seem to offer low-paid, volunteer-based local assembly members, Japan’s salaries are exceptionally high, ranking it among the highest in the world, just like its Diet members. There seems to be ample room for improvement.
In Japan, in addition to high salaries, the problem is that many local assembly members are entangled in vested interests and can be considered “politicians.”
3. Japan’s Future Direction
I previously wrote an article arguing that the House of Councillors should be abolished, the number of assembly members reduced, and civil servant salaries lowered, and my opinion remains unchanged.
Going a step further, I believe we should follow the example of many other countries and move in the direction of making both Diet and local assembly members unpaid or low-paid volunteers as a general rule.
If we do this, won’t there be fewer, or even no, people desperately seeking to become lawmakers by handing out large sums of money or buying off entertainment and hospitality? Just like “neighborhood association presidents and other volunteer officials”…
For this to happen, it’s essential that “incumbent politicians with deep insight and common sense,” regardless of party affiliation, or “the prime minister and local government leaders” take the lead in reform.
I hope the media will not limit themselves to simply criticizing the government, but will also address these issues and raise public opinion in order to improve “the shape of this country.”