[asia-apec 1160] AMPO e-mail bulletin part1

[KOSHIDA Kiyokazu]

 AMPO:E-mail Bulletin Part1
--

/This article is selected from "AMPO: Japan Asia Quarterly Review"Vol.29
No. 1.
The special issue of this volume is 'Taking the Initiative: 
Okinawa's People's Movements Works toward the Future'.

/Contents fo this bulletin
1.The Protests Suicide of a Company Man: An Interview with Shitara
Kiyotsugu
2.Crisis in the Judicial System-
The Arrest of Yasuda Yoshihiro: An Interview with Kaito Yuichi
3.Korean Society and Education: By Honda Masakazu

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The Protests Suicide 
of a Company Man
An Interview with Shitara Kiyotsugu

Shitara Kiyotsugu is the chief secretariat at Tokyo Managerユs Union. He is tackling problems of severe restructuring forced by Japanese companies. We reproduced this article from メRodo JohoモNo. 526, Japanese biweekly magazine giving information on real situation around Japanese laborers.


On March 23rd, a tragic event occurred. Nonaka Masaharu committed suicide in protest in the Presidentユs office of Bridgestone (Japanユs No.1 company in the tire manufacturing industries) . What do you think about this incident? 

Shitara:  Bridgestone has been restructuring since ヤ94. They proceeded with a wage cut for middle-aged and elderly managerial employees with the ヤselective age retirement systemユ and the ヤearly preferential retirement system.ユ They reduced the number of employees by 3,400 in these 6 years. Mr. Nonaka should have risen in protest against this restructuring. Had he intended to protest, there would have been several chances in the past, when retirement was encouraged with the introduction of the ヤselective age retirement systemユ and the ヤearly retirement systemユ more than five years ago. He must have heard of friends and colleagues being cruelly bullied and forced to be in the middle of restructuring. He had a chance before he was transferred to Bridgestone Sports, where he could have risen against the company, calling on his colleagues who had experienced the hardship. He once accepted to retire from Bridgestone. Is !
!
Bridgestone worthy to commit suiKnocking On The Unionユs Door
Bridgestone is in good shape, in the black, and has been executing a thorough restructuring.  Firing employees when the company is in the black is real restructuring, rather than the simple cut of personnel in a red ink situation. In short, business management is becoming more American style, incessantly replacing personnel. It is believed that tension and fluidity invigorate work. In the spring of 1994, a manager of Bridgestone came to the union for consultation, explaining that he was being urged to retire. His desk was moved to a corner of the factory floor, and he was forced to write a report titled  ヤMy Second Lifeユ (meaning ヤmy life after retirementユ) once every two weeks. He asked me how to write the reports rather than requesting collective bargaining, and endured for three more years before retiring. The mentality to endure this is held by the majority of managerial salaried people in large enterprises. Most of the salaried-men in big compa!
!
nies who come to the union cannoムHow do you see the restructuring in Japanese society today?
 
Shitara:  It is now in its third stage. From around May ヤ93 to May ヤ96, the first stage of restructuring, affecting middle-aged and elderly managerial employees was completed. Since then, the constitution of human relationships in Japanese companies has changed considerably. Typically, bullying in the work place has become frequent. From May 1997 to the end of 1998 was the second stage. The target was spread from all mid and advanced aged employees to women and young people.  Since the beginning of 1999, companies have been continuously competing with each other in the restructuring race. Now it seems to be getting into a new phase. I need to look further into the meaning of the current phase. The restructuring may continue,  maintaining a certain unemployment rate, with the transformation of the employment structure. This transformation means that the companies can pick up available labor whenever they want, on very flexible terms. Regarding this trend, Bridgest!
!
oneユs restructuring styleare is what we can do to prevent the recurrence of incidents like Nonakaユs. We will win by1992 (age 51)   Leaves Bridgestone as section manager 
                     and enters Bridgestone Sports,
                     a subsidiary. 
1997 (age 56)   Retires as general affairs department 
                manager and purchasing section 
                manager. Appointed chief inspector of 
                administration without subordinates
                after being appointed chief inspector of                       
                general affairs. 
1998 Fall (age 57) All employees in managerial 
                positions receive notice of the ヤearly 
                retirement system.ユ 
1999 Spring (age 58) Commits suicide in protest in the 
            　　Presidentユs office at the HQ. 
                                                                  
Translated by Sato Hiroko
Further Information to Tokyo Managersユ           
Union: +81-3-5248-5231
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Crisis in the Judicial System-
The Arrest of Yasuda Yoshihiro 
An Interview with Kaito Yuichi

Yasuda Yoshihiro, a lawyer, was arrested on November 7, 1998, for メhaving obstructed a forcible execution at the law.モ He has been leading the movement in favor of the repeal of the death penalty for a long time and also he was the chief lawyer of the defense counsel for Aum Supreme Truth Cult leader Asahara Shoukou, who is examined as the mastermind of the case where Aum believers scattered sarin into coaches of the subway in Tokyo in March 1995. Yasuda has been in charge of many cases concerning violations of human rights in Japan.  
The reason for the arrest was that Yasuda advised the メSunz Enterpriseモ (Mr. Yasuda was its legal advisor) to hide its assets, pretending as if another company, which does not exist, was paying the rent so that they can they can avoid a mandatory bankruptcy order. However, Yasuda insists that the measures which Sunz took were different from what he had advised. 
Immediately after his arrest, the press reported that メthe civil liberties lawyer who has been promoting the abolition of the death penalty suggested to hide assets,モ insinuating that Yasuda was acting maliciously. Some of the people who have been arrested in the case have not been indicted and have been released, and the executive of the company who was considered as Yasudaユs メaccompliceモ was also released. However, Yasudaユs petition to be released has been denied and up until today (February 9) he is not allowed to see visitors. Why was Mr. Yasuda arrested? Why now? What is the crisis in the judicial system which shows up clearly in this case? We interviewed Attorney Kaito Yuichi, a lawyer and a staff member of lawyerユs network, which opposing a bill providing countermeasures against organized crime.

AMPO:  Why did they arrest Yasuda Yoshihiro now at this moment?

Kaito:  We infer that when they were investigating Housing Loan Administration Corporation, this case was found out.1 There are many policemen involved in the investigation of Housing Loan Administration Corporation. They know very well that Yasuda was leading the movement for the repeal of the death penalty and was the leading figure in the Asahara defense counsel. Then they tried their best to arrest Yasuda. If it had happened on another occasion, then the prosecutors would have stopped the police from going so quickly, but in Asaharaユs case, the advocacy of Yasuda was an obstacle for them to impose the death penalty on Asahara. It is a serious problem for the prosecutors. I think that they thought if they could get rid of Mr. Yasuda, then they could prosecute the case a little bit faster. Also they might have thought that if Mr. Yasuda is arrested in such a financial incident, they could hold off the possible opposition of the Lawyersユ Association. Since the p!
!
resident of the Housing Loan Adm
Kaito:  Just before the subway incident, in March 1995, Attorney Takimoto, who was defending victims of Aum, submitted written reports many times to the police and the government warning that メsoon the members of Aum will disappear. They may scatter sarin in the capital area. Please prepare the Self-Defense Force to be sent out at any moment.モ But the people used the procedures for public security officers by which they do not arrest anyone until an incident really happens. It is possible that they made a mistake by following this procedure, but we can not be sure that they arrested Mr. Yasuda because they were afraid that this could be found out.
The other point about the scenario of the subway sarin incident which the public prosecutor has been making was based on the testimony given by Inoue Yoshihiro who is a leading member of the Aum. I heard, however, that new testimony by other leaders of Aum who have started to talk just now differ from Inoueユs testimony. Now, the details of the scenario are in doubt and it is becoming clear that the truth of the incident was not the same as the scenario which the public prosecutor had described. I think the public prosecutor is acting dangerously on this point.

AMPO:  The former Minister of Justice,  Nakayama made comments at his New Yearユs Press Interview criticizing the defense action of the lawyers, citing examples such as the Aum case.2

Kaito:  The criminal court is the place where the power of the state and the individual confront each other. Even though individuals may be innocent, they cannot prove their innocence by themselves under conditions in which they do not have any freedom. In this situation the lawyer is the only person who supports the individual as a legal specialist in the fight against the state. We thought that was the ideology of the modern criminal court which requires legal advisors for the accused. At least the leading figures of the judiciary of a country, the police and public prosecutors, should hold to this ideology. However, recently they do not have this ideology in Japan. 

AMPO:  Housing Loan Administration Corporation accused him after Mr. Yasuda was arrested.

Kaito:  There are two problems I consider the most serious to concern the attitude of the Housing Loan Administration Corporation. In the first place, Housing Loan Administration Corporation did not accuse Mr. Yasuda until an arrest warrant was issued. I guess that they did not have enough evidence to indict him. However once the arrest warrant was issued and Mr. Yasuda was arrested, then they dared to indict him. They were daunted by the pressure of the state and accused Mr. Yasuda, knowing how carelessly the warrants were being issued. That was really regrettable.
Secondly, it is a fact that Mr. Yasuda and the Sunz Enterprise have been negotiating together with Housing Loan Administration Corporation, in order to refund the debts.  But Housing Loan Administration Corporation decided to discontinue the negotiation when the criminal investigation authority started to prepare the investigation. We can see that the arrest of Mr. Yasuda was a more important matter than collecting debts.

Financial Institutions Strongly Protected
This case differs from other cases because the problem is what the client and the lawyer talked about. The client asked the lawyer for advice explaining that his company had excessive debts but still they wanted keep the business in operation. According to the public prosecutorユs point of view, the lawyer should have advised them to close down the company offering all the remaining assets to the creditor. It is possible that they consider it illegal if the lawyer gives any other advice such as how they can survive without closing down the company. Up until now both of the parties, on the one hand, the financial institutions such as banks who are the creditors and on the other hand, the parties who borrow money, were making free use of various measures within the bounds of civil cases. One party tries to collect the debts and the other fights to survive. The rule applied was civil law. Except in extreme cases, these cases were dealt with under the principal of メno!
!
t intervening in civil affairs.
AMPO:  You said this incident has brought changes in the system in advance to limit the capacity of advocacy, for example a bill which provides countermeasures against organized crime, didnユt you?

Kaito:  The bill, a countermeasure against organized crime is known as the メwire tappingモ bill, and this bill creates more problems through countermeasures for money laundering. Once this bill is approved, if they find out that there are strange sources of money which can be related to a crime in the lawyerユs income, the lawyers will be checked or investigated and in some cases they will be arrested and accused, and also can be stripped of their lawyersユ license.
For example, we suppose that the crime of メgift and acceptance of a bribeモ is considered as a crime of メmoney laundering.モ In fact, this is still not included in the act of the money laundering since the Liberal Democratic Party carefully omitted it, but in case it had been included, when a politician is arrested for a bribe, no lawyer would accept to defend this politician because they could not receive any fees from him. Also it will be difficult for lawyers to defend so-called radical groups such as the New Left Wing factions, striking labor unions, etc.
Unfortunately as we can see in a 1989 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, which said the only lawyers chosen by the government should take on cases for the defense of organized crime groups, the Japanese Ministry of Justice and the public prosecutor share the same opinion. If this bill is approved, there will be a critical change in the balance of power between the prosecutor and the public defender.
It is probable that the arbitrary arrests like this case will be repeated many times in the future. But the judgment of this case of Attorney Yasuda will serve as a precedent. In this sense this is the start of a very important criminal court trial.

Notes
1. In 1996, the Housing Loan Administration Corporation in set, invested Deposit Insurance Corporation. It is the purpose that this institution transfers loanable assets of real estates assets from 7 housing loan corporations in failure, and arranges management, payback and disposition them. So it is collecting credit obligations around about $57 billion of bad loan and $1,270 million of deficit. 

2.Some comments made by Nakamura Seizaburo, the former Minister of Justice: He criticized the lawyers activities saying メthe people are losing their confidence,モ メit is true that people started to feel that lawyers are so terrible,モ giving examples such as the Aum incident and stressed the necessity to reform the judicial system in the speech he gave at a New Yearユs Party held on January 4, 1999 attended by 300 heads of the Ministry of Justice and the Agency of the Public Prosecutor. In the same speech, he also criticized the Constitution.          n
Translated by Yoshida Rika
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Korean Society and Education 
By Honda Masakazu

The General Association of Korean Residents in Japan (Chosen Soren) has played the important role of a national education among north Korean residents in Japan. However, they have suffered from discriminative treatment. Especially now, the girls with Chima Chogli often are thrown stones on their way from or to the Korean schools. Their parents or the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan, driven by necessary. Honda Masakazu, a writer at the department of city news, Asahi Shimbun, reported this article in Asahi Shimbun on April 3rd.

There is an on-going dispute over the ethnic education among the north Korean community in Japan. 
The Korean schools originated in the National Language Training Schools which were founded immediately after Japanユs defeat in World War II. The Korean schools developed quickly after the foundation of the General Association of Korean Residents  (Chosen Soren), the largest organization in Japan in 1955, with subsidies for education and scholarships initiated by former President Kim Il-sung in 1957. This financial assistance has amounted to more than エ40 billion so far, and contributed greatly to building Korean University and other school buildings, a very difficult process considering the historical background in which the Japanese government neither guaranteed the right to ヤethnic educationユ nor even admitted the Korean schools as proper ヤschoolsユ under the School Education Law. In fact, it even ordered them to close down. 
Korean schools have decided to stop the use of chima chogli (Korean traditional clothes) as school uniforms. Behind this decision was a series of requests for educational reform submitted by a group of parents to the General Association of Korean Residents. Their statement calls not only for a change in the school uniforms but also foe changes of the present curriculum, which emphasizes the ヤgreatnessユ of Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK) leaders and ヤloyaltyユ to the homeland, toward that to respond to the practical needs of north Korean residents in Japan. It suggests changing these ethnic schools into メKoreanモ schools, that even children of south Korean nationality can attend. This is the first instance in the half-century history of these schools for parents to present a unified statement calling for ヤdemocratization.ユ
The Committee for Building New School Houses submitted the statement which is chaired by Hwang Seiichi, who represents the Saitama branch of the Association of Korean　Business People with Permanent Residential Status in Japan. The committee was formulated through the Tokyo Korean High School and held a series of Ethnic Education Forum in April and December, 1998, with the participation of some 260 people. The opinions and issues presented by the participants were compiled into the statement, which is more than 35,000 words long. Copies of the statement were made and distributed to parents in other areas, as a proposal for reform that reexamines the whole education system of the Korean schools in Japan. 
	
Questioning north Korean-Centered Education
The request admitted the importance of ヤprotectionユ by ヤthe Head Kim Il-sung,ユ ヤGeneral Kim Sung-ilユ and ヤthe Socialistic Motherlandユ as a precondition for the progress of their ethnic education. However, it also stated that it is ヤself-evident and naturalユ for north Korean residents to seek ヤan education which fits into their daily situation in Japan and satisfies their compatriotsユ needs.ユ As the second and third, those who were born in Japan and their children and who never saw there ヤmotherlandユ, generation emerged, the number of north Koreans who have chosen to reside in Japan permanently rather than going back to their native country has increased. Recognizing this situation as ヤnaturalユ, in the statement they insisted that: 
(1) The education for Korean residents in Japan should have its uniqueness identity, differing from that provided in the socialist mother country. 
(2) More focus should be given on teaching the politics, economy, society and culture of South Korea.
(3) International values such as respect for human rights and culture should be taught. 
(4) Members of the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan should not use military terms or militant language such as ヤthe spirit of the suicide bomber.ユ
In terms of school uniforms, according to a survey conducted at the forum, 64% of the participants answered that chima chogli ought to be abolished as school uniforms. They said this for the following reasons: 
(1) Some Japanese have assaulted students wearing chima chogli, leading parents to concern for their childrenユs safety. 
(2) Chima chogli is not functional as a school uniform.
The statement basically places importance on strengthening ethnic education, such as raising the standard of Korean language education, as well as establishing self-identity with an understanding of history at the core. While the number of Korean residents who got Japanese nationality is increasing, the low birth rate has led to a lowering of the number of students, and the Korean schools are being streamlined. Thus, the first and second generations there is widespread sense of crisis concerning whether ethnic education can be maintained.
At the Forum, some participants wondered self-critically whether too much focus on north Korea in the education might lead to a narrowing of the potential capacity of Korean schools. There were even suggestions that the portraits of Kim Il-sung should be removed from classrooms.
However, this suggestion was not included in the current statement, since the participants concluded that they would aim for gradual and realistic improvements which could be accepted.
Both chairman Hwang and the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan refused our interviews, on the grounds that this statement was an internal document of their organizations. According to one source, メthe central committee of the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan is taking the requests seriously and are dressing it internally. They reexamine the textbooks and curriculum regularly, and the next reexamination is scheduled for 2003.モ
 Yet, improvements have been limited to small areas, such as the issue of school uniforms. Even though it is clear there is anguish within the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan, it seems difficult for them to accept the entire demands considering the reality of a divided North and South.

A Step to Multi-cultural Society
Throughout its history, the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan has treated all internal arguments like this as ヤconfidential matters.ユ Their arguments can be understood within the recognition of rooted discrimination and prejudice against Korean residents in Japanese society and Japanese government policies which have been hostile to the DPRK. Whenever an incident related to the DPRK happens, the north Korean residents have been blamed even when they had not responsibility. This has formed the feeling of the executives of the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan. However, it is undeniable that this secretism has contributed to a view of the the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan as ヤclosedユ and ヤundemocraticユ to people outside.
Today, the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan and the Korean schools are at crossroad. If they can not publicly admit the existence of internal criticism and arguments of this degree, there is little hope for reform. The General Association of Korean Residents in Japan was originally formed as an organization to protect the human rights of north Korean residents, and they are not supposed to be an agent of the DPRK. Now may be the time for them to go back to their starting point.
On the other hand, guaranteeing ethnic education for minority groups will enrich Japanese society. While the slogan of ヤinternationalizationユ is repeated over and over, it is worth wondering why Japanese public education does not include any teaching of the language which not only is spoken among the largest ethnic minority group in Japan, but is also used in Japanユs closest neighboring countries. It seems that in these movements there is a good chance for Japan to transform itself into a multicultural society, and away from its narrow-minded nature that is symbolized by its history of carrying out forceful assimilationist policies against minorities.                                                     n
Translated by Sugiyama Fumiko


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The E-mail Bulletin of AMPO
( Vol.29 No.1 Japan Watch and ODA Watch)

/This article is selected from "AMPO: Japan Asia Quarterly Review"Vol.29 No. 1.
The special issue of this volume is 'Taking the Initiative: 
Okinawa's People's Movements Works toward the Future'.

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