Consideration on Defense of Japan
Mencius said:
"The master has three pleasures:
He is rejoiced by the well-being and longevity of his parents and brothers and sisters.
He is rejoiced by his confidence that he is honest to Heaven and fair to people.
He is rejoiced by his efforts to educate bright youths and make them matured.
But, to be a king in the world is not included in his pleasures. "
If you do not fulfill these conditions, you have to try to do it. Otherwise, you cannot be regarded as a master even by ancient Chinese philosophers.
CHAPTER I: Japanese Female Patriots
Section I: Ms. Yoshiko Sakurai
Notable Japanese journalist Ms. Sakurai presented an English version of her posting to a Japanese magazine, alarming Japanese, Asians, and Americans and others global citizens of China's harmful expansion policies.
Japan in Search for the Road to Survival in a Turbulent 2011
...
Unmistakably, China has declared its intention to become a hegemonic power. The Chinese have thus created for themselves a serious and delicate problem embracing the possibility of territorial disputes with almost all of its neighbors, including Japan, India, Russia, and Taiwan. And yet, this is what the Chinese are prepared for, now that they have decided to “do what it takes,” instead of keeping a low profile...
China has blatantly challenged the dollar-dominated international monetary system, as was demonstrated by an open proposal by Zhou Xiaochuan, president of the People’s Bank of China, that his country “keep away from the dollar as the world’s key reserve currency.”
In other words, China has set the strategic objective of eventually making the RMB the key currency of the world...
In 1982, China with Deng at the helm worked out a long-term strategy aimed at securing mastery of the seas inside the “first island chain” stretching from the Japanese archipelago to Borneo by 2010. It further set out to command the area along a line in the western Pacific linking the Bonin Islands with Guam by 2020, and end the exclusive control of the western Pacific and the Indian Ocean by the U.S. Navy by 2040...
Obviously, Obama too has come to recognize China as the source of many of the serious problems involving the Eurasian continent, the Indian Ocean, and the western Pacific. Undoubtedly, the president is revising U.S. strategy towards China, as well as South Asia based on such a perception. Once again, the South Asian balance of power is undergoing a significant change...
It is critical that Japan become a stronger nation unafraid of squarely tackling Chinese imperialism. With this in mind, it is high time for the good people of Japan to join hands and set clear objectives in working out a grand strategy for future generations – not only in Japan but in the rest of Asia.
http://yoshiko-sakurai.jp/index.php/2010/12/30/japan-in-search-for-the-road-to-survival-in-a-turbulent-2011/
Section II: Ms. Yuriko Koike
Ms. Yuriko Koike, former Defense Minister of Japan under the LDP regime, visited Taiwan recently to deliver an address in English on her view about China provoking peace-loving nations internationally and contaminating environment domestically.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgodtM3a08c&feature=player_embedded
Lawmaker Ms. Koike's twitter is followed by more than 100,000 viewers in Japan.
CHAPTER II: JAPAN PROBLEM?
Since 1992, prices and wages in Japan have not increased, which is called deflation.
The GDP deflator (nominal GDP divided by real GDP) shows this situation as presented in the figure below.
Since 1992, the gap between the budgetary spending and the tax revenue has been expanding in Japan. Accordingly, the Government has to issue public bonds more and more year after year. This is the so-called Japan Problem.
(Click to enlarge.)(http://d.hatena.ne.jp/etsuyoshi/files/%E7%A8%8E%E5%8F%8E%EF%BC%8F%E6%AD%B3%E5%87%BA%EF%BC%8F%E6%96%B0%E8%A6%8F%E5%9B%BD%E5%82%B5%E7%99%BA%E8%A1%8C%E9%A1%8D%EF%BC%8F%E7%A8%8E%E5%8F%8E%E3%81%8C%E6%AD%B3%E5%87%BA%E3%81%AB%E5%8D%A0%E3%82%81%E3%82%8B%E5%89%B2%E5%90%88%E6%8E%A8%E7%A7%BB%E3%82%B0%E3%83%A9%E3%83%95.pdf)Now, you see that deflation in Japan caused the decrease in prices and wages, which led to less and less revenues from tax in the Japanese Government. Inevitably, this financial deficit forced the Government to issue more and more bonds to lend money from the market and the private sector.
This is the core of the lost decade of Japan. But, FRB and the central banks of Europe could not find the true major factor of the financial deficit and the deflation in Japan. The Bank of Japan and the Finance Minister of Japan could not comprehend the true core of the problem, either.
It is the "China factor."
But, the background can be found in the trend of export from Japan, since Japan lives on trade so as to buy a huge amount of natural resources from the world and sell industrial products to the world market.
As the prices of goods and salaries of workers were going down and the tax revenue was dwindling, Japan had to boost its economic engine, export. But, in this period from early 1990's, the Japanese export did not rise but kept almost the same level till early 2000's.
What was going on? Japan was investing into China.
But, Japan could get fruits from this large-scale investment into China and other aid in various business fields only from early 2000's when the domestic market in China came to fully grow and expand. So, the export from Japan started to expand, but import from China surpassed the export to China. It means ever cheaper goods came to flow into the Japanese market.
It should be noted that Japan imported from China 1.5 times more than its export to China every year after 1995 till 2002. Accordingly, ever cheaper goods came to flow into the Japanese market in this period of the lost decade or the early era of deflation.
Conversely, after the burst of the bubble economy in 1990, the floods of cheap goods from China decided the persistent course of deflation and the budgetary deficit in Japan. It is not a failure of monetary management by the Bank of Japan that triggered this deflation and state's deficit, but the "China factor."
(Click to enlarge.)(http://www.tokai-center.gr.jp/economy_trade/niccyu.html)So, Japan's export started to rise again from early 2000's when the domestic market in China came to fully grow and expand and the U.S. economy entered the sub-prime loan boom. But, the GDP deflator for Japan has continued to fall. The deflation and the state's deficit in Japan has not been improved. But, take a look at the above figure. Though Japan's export to China started to drastically increase, its import reached a $100 billion level. More and more cheaper goods have come to flow into Japan than in 1990's.
It means that Japanese makers and other businesses have made huge profits from export to Japan. But, prices of commodities and the pay level for Japanese workers have been kept low. The Government cannot take tax as much as they want. It has to issue bonds to borrow money from the financial institutes and other wealthy organizations.
Though the number of very rich men and super rich men in Japan has been increasing all through 1990's and 2000's, ordinary consumers and workers as well as the central and local governments of Japan have come to be poor. This is the reality of Japan and the truth of the lost decade and the 15-years long recession.
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Japan's Prime Minister Mr. Naoto Kan carried out shuffle of his Cabinet today, though most members of incumbent ministers were reassigned.
But, yesterday the screen of my TV set suddenly turned dark as I continued to have it turned on for so long. It was the first incident since I purchased this flat panel TV a few years ago.
The formation of the new Cabinet might not work well for improving the Japanese economy, enhancing security of Japan, and boosting approval rating for the ruling DPJ and P.M. Mr. Kan.
So, it is very likely that another general election is held this year in Japan, resulting in a reversal of the standings between the governing and opposition parties.
However, there must be many young politicians in the DPJ who have learnt precious lessons since the regime change in 2009.
But, if the socialistic, half-leftist, and pro-Chinese/Korean DPJ of Japan should lose the next election, a regime change in the U.S. in the 2012 Presidential Elections might become very possible. It is so, since there is a kind of correlation between the two democratic and free-market countries.
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJN0hCW0GZw&feature=related
This is a 1.2-million seller song in Japan of late 1960's.
It depicts the setting sun over the horizon of the sea which looks like crying.)
Rev 1:14 His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire;
Rev 1:15 And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters.