BOOK REVIEW：“The pathology of the ‘overly-strong Liberal Democratic Party’” (“Tsuyosugiru ‘Jimintou no Byouri’”)

"The Pathology of the ‘overly-strong Liberal Democratic Party," written by Nobuo Ikeda.

He makes many points with regard to postwar political historical views with which I agree, and I will address these and comment.

◯:Ikeda 's points. →:My comments.

◯ The Liberal Democratic Party is a consistent populist party, and in the early years was a party of farmers, but created a pork barrel system for public works and welfare handouts.

→ Initially, there was the conflict of bureaucratic origin = ideology vs party = realism, but the latter is the essence of the Liberal Democratic Party, and I think Kakuei Tanaka represented that.

◯ "Japanese capitalists disappeared due to land reforms and the dismantlement of financial conglomerates, so banks that collected individual deposits at low interest rates provided capital, and Japanese-style capitalism, which is run by presidents who were salaried workers, was established."

→ Ikeda states that from the Edo period, the social structure was a “reverse social status” which was more beneficial to farmers and merchants than to samurai. Following the war, this reversed even further. This socialist growth, which lacked stratification, was described by the former Ministry of Finance as the Grand Design, and was implemented by GHQ.

◯ The salaried workers identified as belonging to companies, not labor organizations, and the company family became the supporting base of the Liberal Democratic Party. Social security was expanded, and the attraction of the “‘welfare state’” of the Social Democratic Party’ was seized by the Liberal Democratic Party."

→ These are the Liberal Democratic Party's realist politics. I think that its current sate is the accumulation of having stuck to the area and won over the immediate base support.

◯ Ichiro Ozawa’s "Japan reconstruction plan" sought a small government. It was the academic consensus of the likes of Heizo Takenaka in those days. The Koizumi-Takenaka line advanced the small government, but Ozawa strayed after that, became a leftist, and aimed for a large government. Prime Minister Abe is also aiming for a large government.

→ I wrote the part about the Japan reconstruction plan and the communication of information. At that time, the government office was also keen on this new plan. It was largely realized, but it was not Ozawa who realized it. A big plan is now being pursued once again.

◯ The Koizumi administration promoted the official residence initiative. The schemes to coordinate the relevant government agencies and the ruling party, from drafting bills to reaching cabinet meetings, were a bottom-up government system which had remained unchanged since the Edo period.

→ 90% of my life as a government official was multilayered “coordination.” Drafting, coordination within the ministry, seminars, councils, media measures, the Cabinet Legislation Bureau​, negotiations with other ministries and government offices, cabinet meetings, coordination with the ruling party, and opposition party measures.

〇 The bureaucracy did not move even when the administration of the Democratic Party of Japan ordered it. Policies were not realized with politically-led visions. They were indifferent to the civil servant system which formed the core of initiatives taken by politicians, and policies were announced prohibiting retiring high-ranking government officials taking lucrative jobs in private corporation​s.

→ The Democratic Party administration prioritized ideology over reality. Young politicians from the bureaucratic alumni attempted to realize these ideals. However, most of them were those who had moved  from assistant section chief class, and compared with the former Liberal Democrats and bureaucrats who had risen from the rank of vice-minister and bureau director, their weight in the Japanese government departments was insufficient.  

〇 The source of Abe’s strength is the political innovation which has realized the official residence initiative. It’s “a system in which the Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga ‘directly governs’ bureaucrats.” He handles the personnel affairs of the upper echelons of the Japanese government departments through the Cabinet Personnel Management Agency, and it was a substantial political appointment.

→ The current administration is a clerk-heavy model. Chief Cabinet Secretary Gotoda from the Nakasone administration, and Chief Cabinet Secretary Nonaka from the Obuchi administration come to mind.

◯ “The only way to rebuild public finance is with a dramatic overhaul of social security.” If it is left as it is now and public finance collapses, “hard landings” including substantial cuts to pensions and hyperinflation cannot be avoided. “Fiscal reconstruction begins with the dismantling of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare​.”

→ There is only one policy statement written at the end. I also believe that this field is the most important political issue. The next time the political season comes to Japan, I think that this issue will either explode or be involved in international disputes.

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Computerization of education x literacy

DiTT, the Digital Textbook Teaching Materials Council, held “Let's think together! Information literacy education,” a symposium.

The speakers came from a mixed cast which included administrators, telecommunication carriers, providers, SNS, mobile phone sales, and public service corporations involved in youth internet security and safety measures. I don’t think I’d ever seen them all together before. 

Internet security and safety measures, so-called internet "shadow" measures, were formalized from around 2008, and the security association and the EMA were established. I was an organizer at the time the security association was established, and I also serve as the director of the EMA. This was a major issue for telecommunications, providers, and SNS, and measures were set up which consised of the three pillars of regulations, technology, and education; namely, laws, filtering, and literacy education.

On the one hand, computerizaiton of education driven by the DiTT is responsible for digital "light," and it was formalized from 2010. Measures have been taken, centered on companies which produce teaching materials and manufacturers, to promote the three pillars of device deployment, net maintenance, and the development of teaching materials.

Following this, there were changes both in the shadows and the light. Initially, smartphones became the central issue in measures which took flip phones into consideration. The lead role in the computerization of education has shifted from the computer to the tablet. The common theme has become how to use internet devices possessed by individuals at home and at school.

There was action on both sides. A task force for safety and security was organized by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, and it was decided that new measures would be taken. I served as the chairman. The standardization of digital textbooks in the computerization of education became a government policy, and it was decided that programming education would become compulsory.

This is a period of all-net usage, when increasingly each individual is using one device, both at home and at school. The debate of whether to allow this use or not has ended, and we have embarked on the stage of how we let them use it, and what we should do. We must take measures which unite both the light and the shadow.

I made a comment.

"Thanks to the efforts to everyone in tackling this problem, the concerns of ten years ago have been largely resolved. We respect this. However, the environment has changed. At that time, LINE didn’t exist. Children move forward, but issues emerge for adults and teachers. Meanwhile, new players have also appeared. If those gathered here today cooperate with those who promote the computerization of education, we can devise fairly strong measures. Let's assume responsibility for both the light and the shadow of the internet, and prepare an environment in which IT is used safely, securely and fruitfully.”

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