A U.N. committee is recommending that the Japanese government immediately implement remedial measures to eradicate discrimination against women.
Japan’s efforts to implement antidiscrimination measures as a party to the international convention against such discrimination are “insufficient,” the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women said.
It said Tokyo has failed to address problems affecting women that the committee identified in a 2003 report. It listed discriminatory provisions in the Civil Code, unequal treatment of women in the labor market and low representation of women in high-level elected bodies.
In a new report, the committee said it “regrets” these issues have been left unresolved and urged Japan to “make every effort” to remedy the situation.
On the Civil Code, the committee urged Japan to abolish a six-month waiting period required for women but not men before remarriage and to adopt a system allowing for the choice of surnames for married couples. The panel committee called on Japan to repeal Civil Code and family registration law provisions that discriminate against children born out of wedlock.
The latest report accuses Japan of making light of the fact that the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women is binding.
Japan should recognize the convention as “the most pertinent, broad and legally binding international instrument in the sphere of the elimination against women,” the report says, urging the country to take “immediate measures” so the convention will become fully applicable in the legal system.
TozenAdmin
Down in polls, Aso says only LDP can provide security
[Gaffe-prone Prime Minister Taro] Aso also expressed his disapproval of DPJ President Yukio Hatoyama’s willingness to give local-level suffrage to foreign nationals with permanent residency.
“Hatoyama says that Japan is not a country just for Japanese, but if that is the case, then whose country is it for?” Aso asked. “Honestly speaking, this isn’t something that will be resolved by just granting (foreigners) suffrage and it is likely that there will be many more difficult problems.”
While many lawmakers in the DPJ and New Komeito are for granting foreigners the right to vote in local elections, many conservative LDP members have expressed strong reluctance.
The prime minister added that the number of descendants of Koreans who lived in Japan before the war and were forced to take Japanese nationality at that time is declining and that “we must consider various things like whether (suffrage for foreigners) is even necessary.”
自己紹介
My name is Erich and I am a member of Nambu FWC, a former member and a current friend of the Osaka based General Union. I joined the GU a few years ago to improve the working conditions in the city that I lived and worked, Matsubara, Osaka. We in the GU were able to convince/force/persuade the BOE (Board of Education) of Matsubara to hire their ALTs directly, thus improving the working conditions by orders of magnitude. The GU was able to put pressure on other BOEs where our members chose to fight as well, and they were recently able to liberate the city of Hirakata, improving the working conditions
Japan’s baby-making stimulus package
The Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), the country’s main opposition political party and front-runner to take over the Japanese government in the elections to be held on August 30th, has promised a financial stimulus package of a different kind. Designed to address Japan’s increasingly worrisome drop in fertility rate, the DPJ’s stimulus, if enacted, will provide various financial incentives to couples who procreate.
Japan’s impending demographic crisis has long been known about but until now, there has been no real government proposal to make demographic improvements. The commonly accepted fertility rate to maintain the size of a population is 2.1 births per woman. Fertility rates higher than 2.1 will increase the size of a population over time; a rate lower than 2.1 will reduce the size of a population over time. As late as 2005, Japan’s fertility rate was reported as only 1.26 births per woman.
Although developed nations in general tend to have lower birth rates than developing nations, the demographic crisis is not as acute in Western Europe or the United States because immigration policy has been identified as a tool to increase populations over time.
While Japan too has the ability to use immigration policy to solve its population problem, it lacks a demonstrable political will. Japan has a history of maintaining a strict immigration policy and shows no sign of changing in the immediate future. As friendly as the Japanese may be to foreign visitors, its government is infamous for its aversion to immigrants; Japan has one of the most homogenous populations of any country on earth.
Given Japan’s preference for ethnic homogeneity, financial incentives for child-bearing couples may, at first glance, seem like an appropriate solution to Japan’s population problem. The DPJ is currently promising 26,000 Yen (about US $270) per month per child in addition to providing free high school tuition.
This ‘stimulus package’, however, could create incentives for perverse actions. Take for example China’s one child policy, which attempts to do precisely the opposite of what the DPJ says it will attempt. China’s attempt at social engineering, while successful in some respects, has had the unintended consequence of promoting abortions, increasing infanticide, and producing a disproportionate ratio of males to females in Chinese society, problems that only grows worse over time. A DPJ attempt at social engineering could prove equally problematic.
Japan is clearly facing a demographic crisis but the solution lies in immigration policy, not in bribes. Japan must open its borders, not its pocketbook, if it wants to solve this problem. The bleak state of Japan’s economy suggests there might be more efficient uses for taxpayer dollars.
http://www.examiner.com/x-16317-DC-Asia-Policy-Examiner~y2009m8d3-Japans-babymaking-stimulus-package
Japan’s ageing, shrinking population
Whichever party wins Japan’s August 30 general election must deal with a population forecast to shrink and age rapidly, because of the country’s low birth rate, high life expectancy and aversion to immigration.
Following are some facts about Japan’s population trends.* Japan is currently the world’s 10th-largest country in terms of population, with more than 127 million people. By 2050, it is forecast to rank 18th, with 93.7 million, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
* That compares with Russia’s population, which is also forecast to fall from 140 million in 2009 to 109.2 million in 2050, knocking it from 9th position to 16th.
* Japan’s population dependency ratio, or the number of people of working age supporting each elderly person, stood at 3.3 in 2005, but will fall to 1.3 by 2055 according to the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research.
* An IMF study calculated that Japan’s real GDP would fall by a cumulative 20 percent over the next century, compared with a baseline simulation with a stationary population.
* The Health Ministry forecasts pension costs will rise to 56 trillion yen in 2015, compared with 39.5 trillion yen in 2006, while health care spending is expected to rise to 37 trillion from 27.5 trillion in 2006. Some in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) say consumption tax will need to be raised from the current five percent in future to fund rising social security costs.
* Defense spending has been falling annually from a high of 49.4 trillion yen as social security takes an increasing share of the budget. It will likely fall further and Japan may have trouble staffing its [constitutionally illegal] military due to the shortage of young people.
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, IMF, National Institute of Population and Social Security Research, Ministry of Health and Welfare, Defense Ministry, Pacific Forum CSIS
http://www.reuters.com/article/newsMaps/idUSTRE56U02620090731
Social Insurance Agency reprimands collection chief over altered records
The Social Insurance Agency has taken disciplinary action against a Tokyo social insurance office worker for altering records to understate people’s standard monthly earnings, which form the basis for calculating pension insurance premiums.
It is the only case in which the agency has admitted alteration of records by a worker, and the first time for disciplinary action to be taken over record falsification.
When questioned over his actions, the worker, a former collection section head, reportedly said, “I was trying to lower the number of businesses that defaulted on their insurance premiums. Another worker gave people the same treatment.” He added that a business owner had implored him to see if anything could be done about overdue insurance premiums.
In addition to action against the former collection section chief, the agency also handed a severe warning to a former worker in the same section who played a part in altering records under instruction from the collection chief.
http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20090801p2a00m0na010000c.html
Shakeup in tenant terms
A shock wave hit the real estate industry when the Kyoto District Court ruled July 23 that an apartment tenant did not have to pay a fee to renew his lease, a fee landlords levy on average every two to three years.
This “koshin-ryo” charge demanded by landlords is an old custom in many parts of Japan. Many foreigners are surprised when asked to pay it because this custom does not exist in their home countries.
While real estate agencies try to play down the impact of the ruling because it does not automatically apply to all similar disputes, lawyers believe this will set a precedent for renters to refuse to pay landlords a fee they regard as over the top.
“I will use the ruling the Kyoto District Court handed down,” said Kyohei Niitsu, a lawyer at Niitsu Legal Visa Office in Tokyo. The firm specializes in advising foreigners.
“I will notify my clients who don’t know this, tell them they may not have to pay renewal fees and negotiate with their real estate agencies for them,” he said.
The renewal fee real estate agencies charge varies by prefecture. A survey by the Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry found that 65 percent of real estate agencies in Tokyo charge an average of one month’s rent in renewal fees, while 90.1 percent in Kanagawa Prefecture charge 0.8 month’s rent and 55.1 percent in Kyoto Prefecture charge 1.4 month’s rent.
Many foreigners are not used to paying a renewal fee, let alone the other uniquely Japanese custom of “reikin” (“key money”) that’s paid when a renter moves in.
“Lots of my clients say it is ridiculous for landlords to charge a large lump sum (for key money and renewal fees), which is nonsense to foreigners,” said Edmond Courtroul, a lawyer registered in Texas who mainly deals with commercial clients rather than individuals. “Now the ruling is precedent, so they should take (renewal fees) out of contract.”
The survey by the land ministry found that half of the real estate agencies that responded claimed they charge the renewal fees and key money simply because it is a long-standing custom.
To be sure, in addition to the key money and renewal fees, many real estate agencies collect a deposit, typically worth one to four months’ rent, as insurance against a renter’s suddenly bolting without paying.
Landlords typically keep all the key money but split the renewal fee with the real estate agency.
Gender equality long overdue / U.N. set to rap govt stance on women’s rights, marriage law, education
The U.N. watchdog panel on gender equality is poised to issue recommendations to Japan in which it will address this nation’s delay in implementing policies to bring about equality between men and women.
The government should humbly accept the findings of the expert U.N. panel known as the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, and lawmakers are urged to buckle down and begin implementing a wide range of gender equality measures.
The pact that sets out the principles covering equality of the sexes–officially called the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women–was adopted by a meeting of the U.N. General Assembly in 1979. Japan ratified the convention in 1985.
Known as the women’s rights version of the Bill of Rights, the convention stipulates the equality of women and men in political and public activities, calls for the prohibition of sexual exploitation of women and inequality in access to education and employment, as well as discrimination on the basis of sex in marital and family relations.
Japan severely criticized
Yoko Osawa, a member of a Japanese nongovernmental body called mNet-Information Network for Amending the Civil Code, who sat in on the committee session, said, “Most members of the Japanese government delegation made a point of repeating prepared, boilerplate explanations of systems and laws in response to the various questions posed by the CEDAW members.
“Several CEDAW members pulled the translation headphones out of their ears, apparently because they were so disgusted,” Osawa said.
As lawyer Mikiko Otani, an expert in international human rights law, put it, “The way the Japanese officials responded to the panel members should be considered a reflection of their lack of knowledge of the U.N. treaty and also Japan’s lack of a sense of responsibility as a signatory country to the treaty.”
“I think Japan, a country that seeks to hold a permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council, should be ashamed of being subject to such criticism from the gender equality panel,” she added.
The pact for abolishing discrimination against women has led Japan to enact a number of laws, including the Equal Employment Opportunity Law in 1985 and laws requiring both boys and girls to take a homemaking course in middle school and high school, enacted in 1993 and 1994, respectively.
Japan ranked 58th among 108 countries on the most recent U.N. index on women’s social participation, one of the the lowest among industrially advanced nations.
Highlighting the disparity between women and men in this nation, women account for less than 10 percent of the members of the House of Representatives, while women section chiefs in private sector companies stand at a mere 6.6 percent.
Optional Protocol left unratified
Every one of this nation’s lawmakers should be held responsible for failing to pay due attention to the international gender equality treaty and related U.N. recommendations that have resulted in delays in ending the disparities that disadvantage women.
A legislator-sponsored bill calling for a revision of the Civil Code in response to CEDAW recommendations has been repeatedly presented to the Diet. But the bill that would delete provisions that discriminate against women has been scrapped every time without in-depth deliberation.
Japan’s failure to ratify the Optional Protocol on the convention on the elimination of discrimination against women also is being questioned by the international community.
Panel urges tiny minimum wage raises
Twelve prefectures will likely raise their minimum wage levels by as little as 2 yen and no higher than 30 yen an hour. The small increase reflects the grim economic situation.
A subcommittee of the Central Minimum Wages Council, an advisory panel to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, proposed Tuesday the slight raise for the 12 prefectures, where minimum wage levels are lower than welfare benefit payments.
For the remaining 35 prefectures, the subcommittee stopped short of suggesting the margin of raises. They will either maintain the current minimum wage or make only a fractional increase.
If the panel’s recommendations are adopted, the national average floor wage–the lowest legally permitted wage–is expected to rise to 710-712 yen an hour, an increase of 7-9 yen.
http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200907290068.html
Japan’s suicide rate accelerating towards record level
The rise of Japan’s suicide rate is accelerating, with the number of suicides in June totaling 2,822, the National Police Agency (NPA) announced; partly as a result of the recession, it’s believed.
The total number of suicides during the first half of 2009 was 17,076, up by 768 compared to the same period last year. According to the NPA, 2,660 people took their own lives in January 2009, 2,482 in February, 3,084 in March, 3,048 in April, 2,980 in May and 2,822 in June, with each figure showing a year-on-year increase from 2008.
Males accounted for about 72 percent of all the suicides during the first half of 2009. The number increased by 712 compared to the same period last year, totaling 12,222 cases.
Annual suicide numbers have been exceeding 30,000 cases for 11 consecutive years since 1998. This year, it is projected to reach 34,152 cases — just shy of the 2003 record figure of 34,427 — if the monthly average remains constant at 2,846.
By area, Tokyo had the most suicides with 1,569. The area with the least was Tottori, with just 85.
“The soaring suicide rate reflects the government’s inability to provide necessary assistance to those needing help,” said Yasuyuki Shimizu, a representative from Lifelink, a nonprofit organization engaged in suicide prevention.
http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20090728p2a00m0na009000c.html