A History of Japan: From Stone Age to Superpower (106 page)

8
For details see the report in the
Far Eastern Economic Review
, 25 April 1996, pp63–64. Late in 1997 Wallace stepped down to be replaced by another westerner, the American James Miller (another former Ford employee).

9
See Ghosn 03, p15.

10
Reuters release 12 December 2001 (my source the
Waikato Times
of that date), and see also
http://mainichi.co.jp/english/news/archive/200006/30/opinion.html
.

11
For further details and reference material see Henshall 99, pp88–94.

12
Figures from National Police Agency, in
Statistical Handbook of Japan 2010
.

13
See the
Japan Times
, 11 April 2010.

14
See the
Japan Times
, 19 July 2009.

15
Figures from Statistics Bureau, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, in
Statistical Handbook of Japan 2010
.

16
Figures from Statistics Bureau, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, in
Statistical Handbook of Japan 2010
.

17
Figures above and below are from the Statistics Bureau, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, in
Statistical Handbook of Japan 2010
.

18
In 2010 it was discovered that there were serious problems in local government records of elderly persons, particularly with regard to exaggerated numbers for those at the upper end, and thus the figures are not necessarily fully accurate. This is discussed further in Section 7.3.

19
See Wilson 1986. It should be noted that Japan was not the first nation to consider ‘exporting’ their elderly to retirement villages overseas, and indeed some nations did so, such as seen in the Dutch and German retirement villages in Spain. And of course any elderly persons deciding to retire overseas would do so voluntarily.

20
See Yanai 92.

21
The number of Lower House seats had been increased relative to the 466 of the immediate postwar period.

22
The existing number of 511 Lower House seats, comprised of multiple members (up to six) from 129 constituencies, was changed to 500 seats, comprised of single members from 300 constituencies plus 200 seats allocated on the
basis of proportional representation. The institution of single-seat constituencies was aimed at reducing the chances of corruption, on the grounds that voters are more likely to decide their choice of a single member on the basis of ideology and policy, as opposed to the case of multiple members where material benefits promised to a constituency (pork-barrel politics) are more likely to become a factor in their choice. The first election under this new system was held in October 1996.

23
McCormack 96, p11. As an example, out of 143 gas tanks in K
be built by Mitsubishi Liquid Gas, 114 were found to have been constructed below official standards. The building industry in Japan is considered particularly corrupt.

24
Murayama was promised the prime ministership by Kono Y
hei, president of the LDP, if he brought his party into a once-unlikely alliance with the LDP and others. See the
Japan Times
, weekly international edition, 4–10 July 1994. Throughout his term he made comments suggesting he was only ever on borrowed time, and was struggling with his conscience. Numerically, the LDP dominated the alliance.

25
Mori had become prime minister in April 2000 upon the death of the more popular if uncharismatic Obuchi Keiz
, who had held office from July 1998 (taking over from Hashimoto). Mori’s gaffes included referring to Japan as a ‘divine nation centring on the emperor’, and continuing a game of golf after being informed of a serious and potentially internationally awkward incident involving the accidental ramming of a Japanese fishing boat by a US submarine on manoeuvres, killing nine Japanese fishermen. He stayed in office for just a year, being replaced in April 2001 by the far more popular Koizumi Junichir
.

26
Japan is in a difficult situation with regard to its (quasi-)military SDF, which is the seventh largest armed force in the world, and its status relative to Article IX. In the Gulf War of 1991 Japan received quite heavy international criticism for mere ‘cheque book diplomacy’. Just two years later it was under significant pressure from the USA to send personnel to Iraq, and by various legal means that seemingly did not violate Article IX (though it would need a legal expert to explain this), personnel were duly sent in 2004 (withdrawing in 2006).

27
This revisionism is discussed in Section 7.3.

28
See for example the Reuter release of 2 September 2009, entitled ‘Japan’s New First Lady Says Rode UFO to Venus’.

29
See for example the editorial in the
Japan Press Weekly
, 21–7 July 2010.

30
BBC News
11 March 2011, ‘Japan PM Naoto Kan Admits Foreign Donations’ available at
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/mobile/world-asia-pacific-12709242
.

31
For example, New Zealand based sociologist Sakamoto Rumi stated that mis-trust of the information released by the government was occurring because what the government was saying or not saying was often contradicted by wide-spread media coverage of the disaster. My source the
Press
(Christchurch), 17 March 2011. Moreover, American nuclear physicists expressed a view that the situation was actually far worse than the Japanese government was suggesting.

32
The magnitude is an expression of the energy released. Other important factors include depth, duration, speed, motion (whether vertical or horizontal), and obviously location. In the case of Christchurch New Zealand, the earthquake on 4 September 2010 was magnitude 7.1, which caused significant damage, but an after-shock of a ‘mere’ 6.3 on 22 February 2011 caused far more damage, for reasons such as greater horizontality in its motion and greater proximity to urban areas. Many of the citizens of Christchurch are now afraid to enter multi-storey buildings, and some become jittery at the rumbling of a passing heavy goods vehicle or a helicopter passing overhead. Many have also needed counselling.

33
See Reader 00, p109 and pp185–7. See also Starrs 11, Part IV.

34
See Murakami 00, pp201–2.

35
See for example Iida 02, Ch. 6.

36
See Henshall 08, Parts One and Three.

37
See also Sakamoto 08 and Starrs 11, who make the same point.

38
For details of the society see, for example, Iida 02, pp243–52.

39
For an example of criticism, see
http://www.jca.apc.org/JWRC/center/english/appeal2htm
.

40
See Nathan 04, p149, and Starrs 11, Part IV.

41
See Nathan 04, pp131–4, and Starrs 11, Part IV.

42
See Nathan 04, pp250–1, and Starrs 11, Part III.

43
Associated Press release, my source the
Waikato Times
28 January 2000. See also
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/615457.stm
.

44
See
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/weekly/news/nn2003/nn20031108a5.htm
.

45
‘Tamogami ups Nationalistic Rhetoric’, in the
Japan Times
, 12 November 2008.

46
‘Okada Apologizes for US POWs’ Treatment’, in the
Japan Times
, 14 September 2010.

47
For a detailed discussion of ‘comfort women’ see for example Yoshimi 00.

48
See Starrs 2011, Part IV.

49
See for example the
Mainichi Shimbun
of 12 October 2002, the
Japan Times
of 3 November 2002, and the
Japan Times
of 25 August 2003.

50
In 2002 some progress was made with the Pyongyang Declaration being signed that September with a view to normalisation of relations, and also a number of abductees were returned, but presently tensions rose once again, and in 2006 North Korea conducted missile tests over Japan. North Korea continues to be a serious concern for Japan.

51
Many academics seem to overlook the role of sport in world affairs, but it should not be forgotten that it is a huge part of many people’s lives, and that soccer is the most global sport on the planet. The world’s biggest international body is not the United Nations, but FIFA, the international soccer federation. For many nations soccer is an important link with the world community, and a forum in which they can achieve respect on a different ‘playing field’ than economic clout or whatever, one on which, say, small African nations may topple European superpowers.