Keeping Sight of Japan’s Other Serious Issues

As of this writing, 16 days have passed since the terrible earthquake and tsunamis that struck eastern Japan on March 11, and the number of dead and missing has topped 27,000. The supply of emergency goods and other forms of support to the affected areas is finally proceeding relatively smoothly. But the crisis continues at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, operated by Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), and on March 25 Prime Minister Kan Naoto declared that the situation at the power station, located about 220 kilometers north of central Tokyo, was still in the balance. It has been claimed that nuclear power experts are not part of the central decision-making system at TEPCO and that their absence has led to various problems in dealing with this crisis. If this is true, then TEPCO cannot possibly be granted the exemption from liability set forth under the Act on Compensation for Nuclear Damage.

Meanwhile, I would like to make a point of confirming that the government has not been concealing anything about this nuclear power plant accident, including the effects of radioactive materials on food and water. The reason for this is very simple: If the authorities were to conceal something, the news would leak somehow within a few days. This would bring them under attack, and—what is more important—would undermine the public trust and international credibility in the government that is crucial in order for the authorities to carry out their nuclear policies. I would not say that the government’s response to the crisis has been wonderful. The government’s response has left a lot to be desired. But the people handling the crisis in the government are not that stupid.

Impact on Other Policy Areas

The disaster is having a major impact on moves to deal with the various issues that Japan now faces. The executive members of the Council for Science and Technology Policy (an organ of the Cabinet Office) have decided to review the Fourth Science and Technology Basic Plan, a five-year plan (fiscal 2011–15) that the council approved last December. The National Policy Unit has started to consider an integrated approach to the handling of public administration, medical care, welfare, education, and other matters at the regional level for the reconstruction of Tōhoku.

Attention to such matters is important. But I also sense problems. For example, at a press conference on March 25, Chief Cabinet Secretary Edano Yukio suggested the possible postponement of the government’s previous June target for reaching decisions on integrated reform of the social security and tax systems and on participation in the Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership. But regardless of the earthquake disaster, Japan continues to face other serious issues: The shrinking and aging of Japan’s population is a continuing problem, as is the global trend toward expansion of free trade. If the government says it cannot reach decisions on other important matters because it is too busy dealing with the disaster, its caliber will be called into question.

(Originally written in Japanese on March 27, 2011.)