[TODAY'S TOP STORIES] from [The Japan Times]
[NATIONAL NEWS]
Thursday, Dec. 31, 2009
Move Futenma to outer isle?: Ozawa
Shimoji, Ie options floated despite U.S. rejection
Kyodo News
Ruling Democratic Party of Japan kingpin Ichiro Ozawa has suggested relocating Okinawa's U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma to one of two small islands in the prefecture, coalition lawmakers said Wednesday.
It remains unclear how viable the islands of Shimoji or Ie can be, given that they were written off in the process of formulating the 2006 Japan-U.S. accord to relocate the air base, now in Ginowan on the main Okinawa Island, to a point farther north on the same island.
Reiterating his reservations about the 2006 plan, which entails building a new airfield to accommodate Futenma's aircraft operations at Camp Schwab in a less-populated part of Okinawa Island, Ozawa, the DPJ secretary general, noted during a dinner Tuesday night: "There is an airport not being used on Shimoji Island."
The lawmakers also quoted Ozawa as asking Social Democratic Party Secretary General Yasumasa Shigeno during the dinner, "Is the SDP opposed to (relocating the base to) any part of Okinawa Prefecture?"
The SDP, part of the DPJ-led tripartite ruling bloc, has called for relocating the Futenma base outside Okinawa to lighten the burden on the people in the prefecture, which hosts the bulk of U.S. military installations in Japan.
Shozaburo Jimi, secretary general of Kokumin Shinto (People's New Party), the third partner in Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's DPJ-led coalition government, also attended the dinner.
Prior to the session, Ozawa was quoted by a coalition source as saying, "The airports not being used in Okinawa should be among those to be considered (for a possible relocation)."
Shimoji is a small island about 280 km southwest of the main island. It hosts a 3,000-meter runway that is mostly used by airlines for pilot training. Ie, on the other hand, lies just off Okinawa Island's west coast and has an airstrip used as a marine training facility.
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama refrained from commenting on Ozawa's remarks, telling reporters, "This is not the time for me to say various things."
Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa cautioned that plans to relocate Futenma to either of the islands would face various hurdles.
"It's not easy for Shimoji Island or Ie Island to be an easy) alternative for Futenma . . . because of geographical and capacity issues," he said.
Japan and the United States mulled relocating the Futenma airfield to either Shimoji or Ie, but in the end opted for Camp Schwab in the Henoko district of Nago as part of a broader 2006 bilateral agreement on the reorganization of the U.S. forces in Japan.
On Tuesday, Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada said relocating the Futenma facility within Okinawa as agreed on between the two countries can be an option to pursue in the event that Tokyo fails to find what he calls a "better" relocation site.
The ruling parties had agreed the previous day to make maximum efforts to reach a decision by May on where to relocate Futenma by examining various sites regardless of whether they are in Japan or abroad.
This consensus came in the face of strong pressure from Washington on Tokyo to swiftly abide by the existing deal.
Meanwhile, Hatoyama on Monday indicated Japan will have to respect the U.S. stance in deciding where to relocate the Futenma base in Okinawa.
The ruling camp cannot forge an agreement on the base's relocation site in defiance of U.S. demands, Hatoyama told Japanese reporters Monday at a New Delhi hotel.
He visited India earlier this week and signed a joint statement agreeing to strengthen collaboration on security.
Many in Okinawa are already unhappy about having to host U.S. forces for decades.
Under the U.S. forces realignment plan agreed on in 2006, the Futenma facility will be moved to Henoko by 2014, and simultaneously, around 8,000 marines and their dependents would be transferred from Okinawa to Guam.
[NATIONAL NEWS]
Thursday, Dec. 31, 2009
Law eyed to strip abusers of parental rights
Kyodo News
A study group of government officials and scholars is preparing a report that calls for establishing a legal provision to restrict parental rights as a way to curb child abuses, sources said Wednesday.
The group is proposing a provision under the Child Welfare Act, given repeated cases in which parents forcibly retrieved children who had been placed in institutions because they had been abused.
Under the envisaged provision, people in charge of orphanages and other institutions to which children are placed would have authority that outweighed "parental rights" as defined under the Civil Code, the sources said.
The group also cited the need to revise the Civil Code to enable temporary suspension of parental rights, with a view to protecting children under the care of grandparents or other people, they said.
The study group on parental rights for preventing child abuse was set up in May, comprising officials from the Justice and welfare ministries, the Supreme Court, scholars, lawyers and child welfare experts.
The group is expected to compile the report in January. In February, the Justice and welfare ministries plan to start examining the report at their respective advisory councils for proposing legal changes in the 2011 Diet session.
Under the current legal framework, if a report of child abuse is filed, a child welfare center is empowered to ask a family court to void parental rights or seek an injunction to suspend parental rights until an abuse is confirmed.
But depriving parents of their rights indefinitely would have substantial influence on their future relations with their offspring, and the family court sometimes takes considerable time to reach a decision. Experts have been calling for a legal framework for curbing flexibly on parental rights.
[BUSINESS NEWS]
Thursday, Dec. 31, 2009
Economic growth to '20 wish list unveiled
Kyodo News
The government released Wednesday a basic growth wish list through 2020, aiming to achieve average annual economic growth of 3 percent in nominal terms by boosting demand in environmental science, health care and tourism, and creating 4.76 million jobs.
Under the New Growth Strategy, whose basic framework was approved at an extraordinary Cabinet meeting Wednesday morning, the government will strive to lift the nation's nominal gross domestic product to around \650 trillion by 2020 from the expected \473 trillion in fiscal 2009 through next March.
The Democratic Party of Japan-led government, which took office in September, said its growth strategy focuses on generating demand and jobs by implementing measures to improve the lives of households, and differs from the previous government's strategy of putting priority on expanding business activity to boost the economy.
"What is lacking in Japan now is confidence, hope and a sense that things will be all right if we pursue a certain path," Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said at a separate meeting with Cabinet members. "A growth strategy is necessary in Japan, and we want to reshape the nation into one where the government firmly and effectively supports" growth.
The nominal economic growth target would be a major reversal of the record 4.3 percent contraction forecast for fiscal 2009.
On a price-adjusted basis, the government has targeted a 2 percent annual expansion on average over the next decade.
Designating the environment, health care and tourism as key areas for growth, the government plans to generate over \100 trillion in demand from the three sectors by 2020.
But it has yet to paint a clear picture of its fiscal spending plan to achieve these targets, and in recent weeks its budget-cutting efforts have apparently run counter to these goals.
Details of the growth strategy are expected to be fleshed out by around June, the government said.
The government also aims to reduce the unemployment rate from the current 5 percent-plus to about 3 percent.
In addition to the environment, health and tourism, it has also pledged to prioritize development of science and technology, and employment and human resources, as well as taking advantage of rapid growth in Asia.
To help achieve the economic targets, the government plans to support technology development for advanced cars and rechargeable batteries, and encourage the spread of sustainable energy.
By doing so, it aims to generate 1.4 million jobs in environment-related businesses and to cut 1.3 billion tons of greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 from the current 28 billion tons.
To boost tourism and regional economies, the government plans to introduce a new holiday system and make it easier for Asians to obtain tourist visas. It hopes to nearly triple the number of overseas visitors to Japan from 8.35 million in fiscal 2008 to 25 million by 2020.
In the field of medical and nursing care services, the government will help companies develop overseas markets, especially in Asia. By promoting barrier-free housing, among other steps, the government aims to create 2.8 million jobs in the sector.
[NATIONAL NEWS]
Thursday, Dec. 31, 2009
Move Futenma to outer isle?: Ozawa
Shimoji, Ie options floated despite U.S. rejection
Kyodo News
Ruling Democratic Party of Japan kingpin Ichiro Ozawa has suggested relocating Okinawa's U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma to one of two small islands in the prefecture, coalition lawmakers said Wednesday.
It remains unclear how viable the islands of Shimoji or Ie can be, given that they were written off in the process of formulating the 2006 Japan-U.S. accord to relocate the air base, now in Ginowan on the main Okinawa Island, to a point farther north on the same island.
Reiterating his reservations about the 2006 plan, which entails building a new airfield to accommodate Futenma's aircraft operations at Camp Schwab in a less-populated part of Okinawa Island, Ozawa, the DPJ secretary general, noted during a dinner Tuesday night: "There is an airport not being used on Shimoji Island."
The lawmakers also quoted Ozawa as asking Social Democratic Party Secretary General Yasumasa Shigeno during the dinner, "Is the SDP opposed to (relocating the base to) any part of Okinawa Prefecture?"
The SDP, part of the DPJ-led tripartite ruling bloc, has called for relocating the Futenma base outside Okinawa to lighten the burden on the people in the prefecture, which hosts the bulk of U.S. military installations in Japan.
Shozaburo Jimi, secretary general of Kokumin Shinto (People's New Party), the third partner in Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's DPJ-led coalition government, also attended the dinner.
Prior to the session, Ozawa was quoted by a coalition source as saying, "The airports not being used in Okinawa should be among those to be considered (for a possible relocation)."
Shimoji is a small island about 280 km southwest of the main island. It hosts a 3,000-meter runway that is mostly used by airlines for pilot training. Ie, on the other hand, lies just off Okinawa Island's west coast and has an airstrip used as a marine training facility.
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama refrained from commenting on Ozawa's remarks, telling reporters, "This is not the time for me to say various things."
Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa cautioned that plans to relocate Futenma to either of the islands would face various hurdles.
"It's not easy for Shimoji Island or Ie Island to be an easy) alternative for Futenma . . . because of geographical and capacity issues," he said.
Japan and the United States mulled relocating the Futenma airfield to either Shimoji or Ie, but in the end opted for Camp Schwab in the Henoko district of Nago as part of a broader 2006 bilateral agreement on the reorganization of the U.S. forces in Japan.
On Tuesday, Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada said relocating the Futenma facility within Okinawa as agreed on between the two countries can be an option to pursue in the event that Tokyo fails to find what he calls a "better" relocation site.
The ruling parties had agreed the previous day to make maximum efforts to reach a decision by May on where to relocate Futenma by examining various sites regardless of whether they are in Japan or abroad.
This consensus came in the face of strong pressure from Washington on Tokyo to swiftly abide by the existing deal.
Meanwhile, Hatoyama on Monday indicated Japan will have to respect the U.S. stance in deciding where to relocate the Futenma base in Okinawa.
The ruling camp cannot forge an agreement on the base's relocation site in defiance of U.S. demands, Hatoyama told Japanese reporters Monday at a New Delhi hotel.
He visited India earlier this week and signed a joint statement agreeing to strengthen collaboration on security.
Many in Okinawa are already unhappy about having to host U.S. forces for decades.
Under the U.S. forces realignment plan agreed on in 2006, the Futenma facility will be moved to Henoko by 2014, and simultaneously, around 8,000 marines and their dependents would be transferred from Okinawa to Guam.
[NATIONAL NEWS]
Thursday, Dec. 31, 2009
Law eyed to strip abusers of parental rights
Kyodo News
A study group of government officials and scholars is preparing a report that calls for establishing a legal provision to restrict parental rights as a way to curb child abuses, sources said Wednesday.
The group is proposing a provision under the Child Welfare Act, given repeated cases in which parents forcibly retrieved children who had been placed in institutions because they had been abused.
Under the envisaged provision, people in charge of orphanages and other institutions to which children are placed would have authority that outweighed "parental rights" as defined under the Civil Code, the sources said.
The group also cited the need to revise the Civil Code to enable temporary suspension of parental rights, with a view to protecting children under the care of grandparents or other people, they said.
The study group on parental rights for preventing child abuse was set up in May, comprising officials from the Justice and welfare ministries, the Supreme Court, scholars, lawyers and child welfare experts.
The group is expected to compile the report in January. In February, the Justice and welfare ministries plan to start examining the report at their respective advisory councils for proposing legal changes in the 2011 Diet session.
Under the current legal framework, if a report of child abuse is filed, a child welfare center is empowered to ask a family court to void parental rights or seek an injunction to suspend parental rights until an abuse is confirmed.
But depriving parents of their rights indefinitely would have substantial influence on their future relations with their offspring, and the family court sometimes takes considerable time to reach a decision. Experts have been calling for a legal framework for curbing flexibly on parental rights.
[BUSINESS NEWS]
Thursday, Dec. 31, 2009
Economic growth to '20 wish list unveiled
Kyodo News
The government released Wednesday a basic growth wish list through 2020, aiming to achieve average annual economic growth of 3 percent in nominal terms by boosting demand in environmental science, health care and tourism, and creating 4.76 million jobs.
Under the New Growth Strategy, whose basic framework was approved at an extraordinary Cabinet meeting Wednesday morning, the government will strive to lift the nation's nominal gross domestic product to around \650 trillion by 2020 from the expected \473 trillion in fiscal 2009 through next March.
The Democratic Party of Japan-led government, which took office in September, said its growth strategy focuses on generating demand and jobs by implementing measures to improve the lives of households, and differs from the previous government's strategy of putting priority on expanding business activity to boost the economy.
"What is lacking in Japan now is confidence, hope and a sense that things will be all right if we pursue a certain path," Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said at a separate meeting with Cabinet members. "A growth strategy is necessary in Japan, and we want to reshape the nation into one where the government firmly and effectively supports" growth.
The nominal economic growth target would be a major reversal of the record 4.3 percent contraction forecast for fiscal 2009.
On a price-adjusted basis, the government has targeted a 2 percent annual expansion on average over the next decade.
Designating the environment, health care and tourism as key areas for growth, the government plans to generate over \100 trillion in demand from the three sectors by 2020.
But it has yet to paint a clear picture of its fiscal spending plan to achieve these targets, and in recent weeks its budget-cutting efforts have apparently run counter to these goals.
Details of the growth strategy are expected to be fleshed out by around June, the government said.
The government also aims to reduce the unemployment rate from the current 5 percent-plus to about 3 percent.
In addition to the environment, health and tourism, it has also pledged to prioritize development of science and technology, and employment and human resources, as well as taking advantage of rapid growth in Asia.
To help achieve the economic targets, the government plans to support technology development for advanced cars and rechargeable batteries, and encourage the spread of sustainable energy.
By doing so, it aims to generate 1.4 million jobs in environment-related businesses and to cut 1.3 billion tons of greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 from the current 28 billion tons.
To boost tourism and regional economies, the government plans to introduce a new holiday system and make it easier for Asians to obtain tourist visas. It hopes to nearly triple the number of overseas visitors to Japan from 8.35 million in fiscal 2008 to 25 million by 2020.
In the field of medical and nursing care services, the government will help companies develop overseas markets, especially in Asia. By promoting barrier-free housing, among other steps, the government aims to create 2.8 million jobs in the sector.
