Japan in 2004
Let us look back on 2004.
The second Koizumi reshuffled cabinet and administration, advocating structural reforms, still appear bullish, although administrative and financial reforms are by no means showing dramatic results or proceeding in the direction that many Japanese people were hoping to see.
Rengo and other labor unions have concluded that, under the current administration, there is little hope of seeing reforms that would benefit workers. This year, therefore, saw them intensifying their confrontational stance.
The series of restructurings that took place, mostly in large corporations, has come to an end for the time being. Employees of major corporations are expected to receive a 3% increase to this winter's bonuses.
A change is also beginning to be seen in the trend for companies to replace their full-time employees with part-time or temporary workers: although the proportion of part-time workers among regular workers has continued to grow, the trend seems to have peaked.
Many economic indicators are showing clear-cut signs of recovery. Still, a feeling of wobbliness and instability remain to some extent. With Japan seeing a decline in the birthrate and the aging of the population progressing further, there is talk about building a more comprehensive social security system that would include a variety of insurance programs. It is hoped that discussion on this issue will proceed. However, no concrete blueprints have yet to emerge that would cover specific issues or details.
In any event, this was the year of natural disasters for Japan, subjected to abnormal weather and huge earthquakes, to name just a few.
Tokyo experienced the hottest summer ever, continuing to break all past records for high and low temperatures and making us suspect that our country's climatic zone may have changed from temperate to tropical.
It also made global warming a closer and more imminent issue for us.
On top of this, a total of ten typhoons hit Japan, the largest number in history, ravaging different parts of the country.
The final blow was the series of massive earthquakes that struck on October 23, with the epicenter under central Niigata Prefecture.
According to the governor's report at a prefectural assembly, Niigata suffered damage totaling 3 trillion yen. The area was hit by one major afterquake after another for days on end; at present, however, after the elapse of one month, the aftershocks are finally subsiding.
The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare has decided to carry out an array of relief measures targeting the region. It has allowed its business offices located in quake-ridden areas to uniformly extend the deadlines for declaring and paying labor insurance premiums.
The Ministry will also apply special measures on employment adjustment subsidies to regional business owners who have been compelled to cut production because of the earthquake, to enable these business owners to maintain employment. Specifically, the Ministry will provide them with half the amount of leave and other allowances (two-thirds for small- to medium-scale enterprises) if their workers need to be suspended from work, or if they provided education or training or send their employees to work elsewhere.
However, the area hit by the earthquake is also known for its heavy snowfall. It will very soon be blanketed by snow. It appears that a substantial amount of time will be needed to restore the area to what it was before, and so the measures outlined so far are deemed insufficient.
People living in Japan are not immune to typhoons or earthquakes; we must live with them. A variety of data show that Tokyo, from where this JLF is being released, will be also hit by a huge earthquake sooner or later. Although we cannot avoid fate, our job will be to continue making efforts to change the workings of our society in an even better direction while coping with these unexpected disasters.
It goes without saying that young people who are referred to as NEETs--Not in Education, Employment or Training--must be encouraged to join these efforts and play a significant role.
