We've Posted December Issue

We have posted today the December issue of the PHP GeF and experts’ comments.

The issue is "How Should We Evaluate Prime Minister Hatoyama's Proposal of Reducing CO2 by 25%?”

Experts who commented are:

• Dr. Shuhei Aida (Professor Emeritus, University of Electro-Communications)
• Professor Kazuo Matsushita (Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies, Kyoto University)
• Professor Kaoru Okamato (National Institute for Public Studies)
• Dr. B. Sudhakara Reddy (Professor, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research)
• Professor Will Steffen (ANU Climate Change Institute at Australian National University)
• Dr. Kevin Trenberth (Climate Analysis Section at National Center for Atmospheric Research)
• Dr. Adalberto Luis Val & Dr. Antonio Ocimar Manzi (National Institute of Amazon Studies)

[PHP Global e-Forum Editorial Office]

http://www.globaleforum.com/en/

December Issue of PHP GEF

Topic for Global e-Forum December Issue is “How Should We Evaluate Prime Minister Hatoyama’s Proposal of Reducing CO2 by 25%?”

This September, Prime Minister Hatoyama said that Japan would seek to reduce its greenhouse gas emission by 25% by 2020 compared to the 1990 level at the UN Summit on Climate Change.

We are asking experts for their comments on Mr. Hatoyama’s remark.

We will post the issue and expert’s comments on next Monday, December 7 Japan time.


[PHP Global e-Forum Editorial Office]
PHP Research Institute
http://www.globaleforum.com/en/

Haruki World

The December issue of JAPAN CLOSE-UP has been published!

JAPAN CLOSE-UP is an English-language monthly magazine bringing you the latest news on Japanese business, products, culture, society, trends, and people.

One of featured articles on the issue is "Haruki World".

If you're troubled by cats that talk, skies that rain sardines, sheep that hijack people's brains, girls that vanish into other universes and superfrogs that save Tokyo, then Haruki Murakami may not be for you.

But prepare to find yourself in a shrinking minority. Even the critics, once huffily disdainful, are rethinking their earlier hostility. They may be baffled by the enthusiasm Murakami's fiction arouses among readers worldwide — in an age, moreover, when popular passions have lately tended to pass literature by — but they cannot help acknowledging it, or admitting, however grudgingly, that a writer with Murakami's impact must have a finger on the secret pulses of the time.

What are those pulses? What does Murakami's fiction tell us about ourselves?

Read more http://www.export-japan.com/jcu/sample/index.php?page=haruki-world


[PHP Global e-Forum Editorial Office]
PHP Research Institute
http://www.globaleforum.com/en/

President Obama & Matcha Ice Cream

Embassy of the United States invited me to hear “President Obama’s Inaugural Speech in Asia” at Suntory Hall in Akasaka, Tokyo last Saturday.

Suntory Hall is managed and operated by Suntory Holdings Limited, a beverage company.

The US Embassy asked the audiences whether they would come to Suntory Hall by 8:00 a.m. So, I had left my house at around 7:00 a.m. Since public transportations in Tokyo went smoothly, I could arrive there at 7:50 a.m. But, people had already made a long line.

At a time to open main entrances of the hall, we could move and enter inside smoothly, I thought. But, it was not easy to do. On the way to the waiting, we had heavy rain. We opened an umbrella. We were standing each other at close range. An umbrella which a person next to me had held touched me and I got rain drops from the umbrella.

While we were waiting for 20 minutes, the line had come to get out of shape. If a group related to the Japanese government or corporation had hosted such event, they must have put persons who would guide along the line to maintain of order.

I could see many commentators and journalists who were much appeared on TV when I waited.

After I had been screened, I could finally enter inside at around 9:15 a.m. Then, I had waited for another house. President Obama came onstage 10 minutes after ten, and stared his speech.

President’s speech was consisted of US policies toward Asia. Aside from those, what I felt interested in the speech was an episode that his mother took young President to Kamakura, an ancient city in Kanagawa prefecture.

Mr. Obama told that he had been more focused on-- as a child-- the matcha (powered green tea) ice cream than the bronze Amida Buddha. Oh, young Obama was a real expert in Japanese ice cream because he chose match, the taste that an adult is fond of. With the episode, I imagined Mr. President’s good old memory with his mother.

“Obama-Matcha-Ice-Cream” may be on sale before long in Kamakura.


[PHP Global e-Forum Editorial Office]
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Next Issue Is "Pandemic Panic"

The November issue of the PHP Global e-Forum is "How Can We Avoid a Pandemic Panic?"

Experts who comments on the issue are as of today:

• Dr. Philip Alcabes (Associate Professor of Urban Public Health at Hunter College in the City University of New York)
• Boston Public Health Commission (Boston, Massachusetts)
• Dr. John Carnie (Chief Health Officer for Department of Health, Victoria)
• Dr. Koya Hakozaki (Director and Clinic Manager of First Department of Internal Medicine, Self-Defense Forces Central Hospital)
• Dr. Oliver Pybus (Royal Society University Research Fellow at the Department of Zoology, University of Oxford
• Mr. Yokoo Toshihiko (Mayor of Taku City in Saga Prefecture)
  

The issue and experts' comments will be posted next Monday (Nov. 9) Japan time.


[PHP Global e-Forum Editorial Office]
http://www.globaleforum.com/en/

Fewer Students, More Universities?

The November issue of Japan CLOSE-UP has been published!

Japan CLOSE-UP is an English-language monthly magazine bringing you the latest news on Japanese business, products, culture, society, trends, and people.

One of featured articles on the issue is "Fewer Students, More Universities? It's a Puzzle!" Japan's institutes of higher learning, namely its universities and colleges, are in crisis.

Today there are about 765 four-year national, public, and private post-secondary schools across the country. Although this is an era of so-called universal admissions when anyone who wants to can get into college, half of all private universities are below capacity in terms of enrollment. In a rush to maintain student numbers, many schools are introducing ichigei nyushi, entrance exams geared to a single specialty or field of study, or setting up new "unique" academic departments.

As a result, even students who are subpar academically are now "college students." "They can't do elementary school level computation...." "They can't write decent Japanese…." While we hear more in this vein from the schools, for their part schools have continued to haphazardly add new academic departments that can only be considered transitory and calculating, so to top it all off schools may not even be able to maintain their own academic quality.

What in the world is going on at universities in Japan?


Read more http://www.export-japan.com/jcu/sample/index.php


[PHP Global e-Forum Editorial Office]
PHP Research Institute
http://www.globaleforum.com/en/

GSK's First Meeting

The first meeting of Gyosei Sasshin Kaigi (GSK) was held at the Prime Minister’s office residence in the morning of October 22, Thursday.

GSK’s urgent task is to review the budget for next fiscal year. A rough estimate of the budget swelled out to about 95 trillion Japanese yen. Wow. Current fiscal year’s initial budget is about 88.5 trillion yen. Budget requests in the Hatoyama administration are much bigger than the previous administration’s.

What GSK will use is Jigyo Shiwake or “to sorting out government projects”. It is a work to judge whether a project is necessary or not, either central or local governments should take in charge of it and so on. Mr. Hideki Kato, the secretary-general of GSK and the president of Japan Initiative, a think tank invented this Jigyo Shiwake method. It has already been applied for local governments.

At the first meeting, GSK decided to establish three shiwake (sorting out) groups. Each group consists of Diet members, experts and former local government officials. They are called shiwake-nin, or a sorting out person.

Shiwake groups will hold hearings from each department and agency about the rough estimate of the budget. Then, they will choose 200 to 300 projects which should be sorted out. In this month, works to sort out the project will be open to the public. That will, I am sure, promote transparency of a process to select necessary or unnecessary government projects. By the end of coming November, the groups will arrange their sorting-out-evaluations and propose a reducing expenditure to the Hatoyama administration.

Prime Minister Hatoyama said, “We should cut down on expenses as much as possible.”

With his all-out support, GSK has started.


[PHP Global e-Forum Editorial Office]
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Change: Foreign Minister's Press Conference

A month ago, Mr. Katsuya Okada, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan announced “Regarding Basic Principle Related to a Press Conference”.

He announced that press conferences would be open to all mass media.

So far, only media organizations that belonged to Gaimusho Kisha Kai, or the Journalists Club of Ministry for Foreign Affairs could attend press conferences. Nor all the journalists have participated.

Mr. Okada wants to promote transparency in a government.

All mass media means members of Nihon Shinbun Kyokai or the Japan News Papers Publishers & Editors Association, Nihon Minkan Hoso Renmei or the National Association of Commercial Broadcasters in Japan, Nihon Zasshi Kyokai or Japan Magazine Publishers Association, Nihon Internet Hodo Kyoukai or Internet News Association of Japan, Nihon Gaikoku Tokuhaiin Kyokai or Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan, persons who hold a foreign journalist registration card, and persons who regularly write and distribute an article to mass media stated above.

According to Mainishi, a Japanese Newspaper, Minister for Foreign Affairs admitted 18 persons who have not belonged to Gaimusho Kisha Kai to attend a press conference dated September 29th.

Wow! The PHP Global e-Forum Editorial Office can also join the Foreign Minister’s press conferences if we wish.

That’s the difference between DPJ and LDP.


[PHP Global e-Forum Editorial Office]
http://www.globaleforum.com/en/

Comments by Mr. Kerim Yildiz

We have posted Mr. Kerim Yildiz's comments on the October issue: "How Can Ethnic Minorities Live together with Other People Prosperously in a Nation-State?"

Mr. Yildiz is a co-founder of the Kurdish Human Rights Project (KHRP).


[PHP Global e-Forum Editorial Office]
http://www.globaleforum.com/en/

Secretary-General of GSK

I have got an email today from the Tokyo Foundation (TF) whose chairperson is Mr. Hideki Kato. As I described on yesterday's blog, he has become the secretary-general of Gyosei Sasshin Kaigi (GSK).

I told that Mr. Kato would be in charge of GSK's day-to-day operations. 　

According to the email, “Kato will tackle for reinventing administration and finances as a coordinator at GSK. But, his job is part-time. Kato as the chairperson of TF will continuously aim at social reforms with essential and effective measures, promoting policy studies and personnel trainings in the foundation.”

Oh, Mr. Kato is the part-time secretary-general? I thought.

So, he won’t be able to deal in the day-to-day operations at GSK. I was wrong.

The chairperson of TK, president of Japan Initiative (JI). And more, the GSK's secretary-general. I am wondering how he will handle three jobs at the same time.


[PHP Global e-Forum Editorial Office]
http://www.globaleforum.com/en/

Reinventing Japanese Government

The Hatoyama administration decided 11 members of Gyosei Sasshin Kaigi or the Administrative Reform Council on October 6th. Gyosei Sasshin Kaigi (GSK) was newly established to find out wasting taxes, people’s money.

The chairperson of GSK is Prime Minister Hatoyama. The vice chairperson is Mr. Yoshito Sengoku, State Minister in Charge of Administrative Reform.

From the administrative side, with both Mr. Hatoyama and Mr. Sengoku, Mr. Naoto Kan, Deputy Prime Minister and State Minister for National Strategy, Economic and Fiscal Policy, Mr. Hirohisa Fujii, Finance Minister, Mr. Hirofumi Hirano, Chief Cabinet Secretary, and Mr. Kazuhiro Haraguchi, Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications have become the members.

From the non-governmental side, Mr. Kazuo Inamori, founder of Kyocera and DDI (now KDDI), Mr. Yuzaburo Mogi, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Kikkoman Corporation (Soy Sauce Company), Mr. Yoshihiro Katayama, Professor of Faculty of Law, Keio University and former Governor of Tottori Prefecture, Mr. Tadayoshi Kusano, Board Chairman of RENGO or Japanese Trade Union Confederation Research Institute for Advancement of Living Standards, and Mr. Hideki Kato, President of Japan Initiative (JI) or Koso Nippon and Chairman of the Tokyo Foundation (TF) have become the members. JI and TK are think tanks located in Tokyo.

Mr. Hideki Kato is also the secretary-general of GSK. He will be in charge of GSK’s day-to-day operations.

What you may be surprised is that you see a name of “Kazuo Inamori”. He is a very prominent Japanese entrepreneur. In the Japanese business world, few expressed his or her support for the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) so far. But, Mr. Inamori had been clearly expressing his support for DPJ. He regularly meets Mr. Ichiro Ozawa, Secretary General.

GSK will hold the first meeting in this month.

I am very interested in how GSK will reinvent the Japanese government and administrative system.


[PHP Global e-Forum Editorial Office]
http://www.globaleforum.com/en/

Next Issue Is "Ethnic Minorities"

The October issue of the PHP Global e-Fourm is "How Can Ethnic Minorities Live together with Other People Prosperously in a Nation-State?"

Experts who comments on the issue are as of today:

• Dr. Katsuhiko Mori (Professor of Politics and International Relations at the International Christian University)
  
• Dr. Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam (Spokesperson for the Website “Iran Human Rights” and Senior Scientist at the Center for Molecular Biology and Neuroscience at the University of Oslo)
  
• Dr. Noriyuki Ueda (Associate Professor, Department of Value and Decision Science, Graduate School of Decision Science and Technology, Tokyo Institute of Technology)
  
• Mr. Toru Sakai (Journalist)

The issue and comments will be posted tomorrow Japan time.



[PHP Global e-Forum Editorial Office]
http://www.globaleforum.com/en/

Konkatsu

The October issue of Japan CLOSE-UP has been published!

Japan CLOSE-UP is an English-language monthly magazine bringing you the latest news on Japanese business, products, culture, society, trends, and people.

One of featured articles on the issue is "Konkatsu".

The term konkatsu (marriage/partner hunting) recently sprung up from shu-katsu (job hunting) to describe modern strategies in Japan on the ageold search for a good marriage partner.

Konkatsu was also born of a popular Japanese romantic comedy featuring Kuniyuki Amamiya, in his mid- 30's and son of a tonkatsu (pork cutlet) restaurant owner, who finds a job he wants but with one catch—he must be married—and so his search for the right partner begins while keeping his job prospects open by pretending to be engaged to a part-timer in his father's restaurant.

What is konkatsu all about?

Read more http://www.export-japan.com/jcu/sample/index.php


[PHP Global e-Forum Editorial Office]
PHP Research Institute
http://www.globaleforum.com/en/

Silver Week

From September 19 (Saturday) to 23 (Wednesday), we have had consecutive holidays in Japan due to the Happy Monday System (HMS). By revising a law, some of national public holidays have been moved to Monday. That is the HMS.

People in Japan, in general, have a five-day workweek. They have a day off on both Saturday and Sunday.

21st is Respect-for-the-Aged Day. 23rd is Autumnal Equinox Day. Then, the Japanese government has decided to make Tuesday, 22nd, “Holiday for the People” that is placed between them.

Japanese mass media called the holidays “Silver Week”.

But, the new Hatoyama administration did business without ceasing during Silver Week.


[PHP Global e-Forum Editorial Office]
PHP Research Institute
http://www.globaleforum.com/en/

Mr. Maehara Joined the New Cabinet

Mr. Yukio Hatoyama has become the Prime Minster yesterday, and two Matsushita Institute of Government and Management (MIGM) or Matsushita Seikei Juku graduates have joined his Cabinet.

Matsushita Seikei Juku was established in 1979 by Konosuke Matsushita, founder of PHP Research Institute, for training leadership.

One is Mr. Kazuhiro Haraguchi. He has become Minister of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. The Prime Minister’s Office, the Ministry of Home Affairs, and the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications were merged into the organization in 2001.

Another is Mr. Seiji Maehara. He has become Minister of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. The Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Construction were merged into the organization also in 2001.

Mr. Maehara gave us his comments on the PHP Global e-Forum July issue: “How Can We Realize a World Free of Nuclear Weapons? Also, Can the Complete Elimination of Nuclear Weapons Guarantee World Security?”

http://www.globaleforum.com/en/expert.jsp?mId=4&yId=26

He is very well known in Japan as an expert on security and defense policies.

The MIGM graduates will lead the huge public organizations.


[PHP Global e-Forum Editorial Office]
PHP Research Institute
http://www.globaleforum.com/en/

What Will the Shift in Power Mean for Japan?

“Extra! Extra! Government shift in power!” People swarmed around the train station, practically fighting for copies of the newspaper extra edition. The August 30 House of Representatives election marked the first shift of power in Japan in 16 years as the reins of government passed to the Minshuto (Democratic Party of Japan). It was another moment in which a people seeking “Change” chose to support a complete remodeling of their government.

During the forty-odd years that led up the last power shift, in 1993, Japan was able to achieve high economic growth based on so-called alignments of mutual economic interest, but with the economic downturn that followed the bursting of the bubble, people became frustrated with government corruption and ended up bringing a reform-based alliance of opposition parties to power. But that coalition government made up of eight different parties succumbed to internal dissension within a year. The LDP revived itself instantly with the next election, and continued on the path of “protect vested interests, reject change.”

When Koizumi came to power in 2001, he managed to force the conservative factions in the LDP into submission and hammer through reform measures. But no sooner did Koizumi step down in 2006 than the conservative factions that had been lying dormant resuscitate themselves and government for the vested interests began to raise its head again. However, the internal LDP power structure that had been dismantled by Koizumi never returned to its original position. LDP members were like sheep without a shepherd, and their position of political power just melted away. Instead Minshuto made its carefully thought-out bailout policies the key issue of the election. The LPD went down without a fight.

So what will this shift in power mean for Japan? Instead of making the overall economic pie bigger, Minshuto policy would redistribute larger slices of the pie to the vested interests of the organizations that are its main constituency, namely agricultural coops, medical associations, and labor unions, as well as to the economically disadvantaged population. These policies are ironically close to what the LDP did from 1955 through 1993. In that sense, although the media called Minshuto the “Revolution Party,” the reality is actually the opposite.

Aren’t the Japanese people a little too carried away right now with the idea of redistributing wealth? Even though the overall amount of wealth has declined? Is this the way to survive and thrive in a world where state capitalism is at the forefront? At least I would hope we are not choosing a path that will make all our people poorer, instead of joining in the global competition.


[PHP Global e-Forum Editorial Office]
PHP Research Institute
http://www.globaleforum.com/en/

Next Issue Is about "State Capitalism"

Next issue is "Will State Capitalism Bring Peace, Happiness, and Prosperity to Humanity?"

Experts who comments on the issue are as of today:

• Mr. Vladimir Dovgan (Chairman of the Board of Directors of Edelstar Limited)
• Dr. Jayati Ghosh (Professor of Economics at the Centre for Economic Studies and Planning, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University)
• Dr. Aldo Musacchio (Associate Professor in the Business, Government, and International Economy Unit, Harvard Business School)
• Dr. Jeffrey D. Straussman　(Dean of Rockefeller College of Public Affairs & Policy, University at Albany, State University of New York)
• Mr. Masaharu Takenaka (Professor, Faculty of Economics, Ryukoku University)
• Mr. Toru Watanabe (Executive Director, Shin-Nihon Public Affairs)

The issue and comments will be posted on September 7, next Monday Japan time.

[PHP Global e-Forum Editorial Office]
http://www.globaleforum.com/en/

Hatoyama's Opinion of NYT Comes Originally from "VOICE", Our Monthly Journal

Mr. Yukio Hatoyama, President of the Democratic Party of Japan wrote his opinion on the New York Time, August 27. The title is “A New Path for Japan”.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/27/opinion/27iht-edhatoyama.html

According to NYT, A longer version of this article appears in the September issue of the monthly Japanese journal Voice.

Voice is the monthly magazine that we, PHP Institute publishes. Yes, we do.

On the top page of the PHP Global e-Forum, you will find a banner of VOICE+ on the right side.

If you click it, you will be able to read the original article: Sofu Ichiro ni Mananda “Yuuai” to Iu Tatakai no Hatajirushi.

That is “Fraternity”, A Fighting Motto that I Learned from the Grandfather, Ichiro in English.

Read more http://voiceplus-php.jp/archive/detail.jsp?id=197


[PHP Global e-Forum Editorial Office]
PHP Research Institute
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You've Just Got to Laugh

The September issue of Japan CLOSE-UP has been published.

Japan CLOSE-UP is an English-language monthly magazine bringing you the latest news on Japanese business, products, culture, society, trends, and people.

One of featured articles on the issue is "You've Just Got to Laugh."

Not long ago you'd have had a tough time convincing anyone outside Japan that "funny" had any relevance to the Japanese mindset. The tendency for the legions of white-collar representatives of Japan Inc. working abroad to wear a collective poker face didn't help. Countless YouTube videos of seriously wacky local TV shows have proven, however, that Japanese are just as nutty as the rest of us.

From storytelling to standup to mimicry to wordplay and the kind of loopy physical comedy that would do Monty Python proud, plenty of funny stuff has been going on in Japan for centuries. And the current owarai (laugh) boom is proving to be the biggest yet.


Read more http://www.export-japan.com/jcu/sample/index.php


[PHP Global e-Forum Editorial Office]
PHP Research Institute
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Mr. Newt Gingrich Is Here in Tokyo

Today, on the way to the office, I read an article: “Newt’s Conversion. The former U.S. Speaker finds a new home in the Catholic Church on TIME (VOL. I74, No.7) on a train.

After I had arrived at the office, I accessed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs website. I happened to notice that there was a press release: a group of the former U.S. Speaker, Mr. Gingrich visited MOF.

Oh, Mr. Newt Gingrich is here in Tokyo? I thought.

According to the press release, the group of the former Speaker visited MOF on August 18 (Tuesday) , and they had a talk with Deputy Foreign Minister Mitoji Yabunaka (a career bureaucrat, not politician) . They exchanged frankly opinions about Japan-US relationships and the situation of the Asian-Pacific region.

Just a brief statement.

I am very curious what brought Mr. Gingrich here.


[PHP Global e-Forum Editorial Office]
http://www.globaleforum.com/en/