Corporal punishment at school increasing

The education ministry revealed that the number of public school teachers who were penalized for corporal punishment of students reached 3,953 in the last academic year. As many countries are, corporal punishment at school by teachers is prohibited by law in Japan.

3 years ago, a student suffered from corporal punishment by a teacher made a suicide after the punishment and the news was widely broadcast. Then, the education ministry made the investigation on all of the public schools.

Though it is legally prohibited, it is a controversial issue whether corporal punishment is necessary or not. Actually, it was very common that teachers do corporal punishment to students 20 – 30 years ago.

No good news is coming

The deadline has already passed but no information about the hostages exchange is not received yet. Jordanian ministry told that there were no sign that the captured pilot was alive. Jordanian government is insisting exchange between the death sentenced bomber prisoner and the pilot as a matter of course. It also mentioned that the release of Kenji Goto is also on the negotiation table as a matter of course too.

No matter how anxious about the two hostages’ life and safety, it should be strictly avoided to give a pressure on Jordanian government because this is the very aim that ISIS wants to acquire. ISIS wants to drive Jordan into a difficult position. We need to be patient until new information comes. If ISIS murders the hostages, they lose not only lose their negotiation card but also the hostage tactics. They can never use hostage tactics again because nobody believes they keep a hostage alive in any circumstance and accept negotiation with them.

Deadline is set

A new message likely by Kenji Goto’s voice has been just posted an hour ago. It says the deadline should be today’s sunset at their time. It also says the death-sentenced prisoner al-Rishawi should be delivered at the Turkish border.

I guess Jordanian government is negotiating with ISIS intensely. Though it seems Jordan only emphasizes the release of the captured Jordanian pilot, I don’t think Jordan omits the release of Japanese. It is apparent that Jordan has to ease Jordanian people frustration because the negotiation has not proceeded for a month since the pilot has been captured. In this context, Japan needs to be patient for the progress of the negotiation.

I really hope Kenji Goto will be released with Jordanian pilot. Any kind of condemn and counter-attack against ISIS should be considered after the resolution. We also should be patient for the time being.

The ball is brought to Jordanian government

In the new video posted yesterday, a man, purportedly Kenji Goto, requests his release in exchange of Iraqui death-sentenced female prisoner, Sajida al-Rishawi. It also tells that if Jordanian government does not accept the request, a captured Jordanian pilot would be also executed with Goto.

The US makes it clear their attitude on this matter saying that Jordanian government should not accept the request. Jordanian government is in a key but very difficult position on this matter.

As time is limited, Jordanian government will announce their stance or answer to the request soon, it seems the possibility of freeing Rishawi is not high.

Japan is now closely communicating with Jordan. I think Japan should respect Jordanian government’s decision and should promise Japan will continue giving economic aid to Jordan in spite of any conclusion on this matter.

Mt. Fuji may erupt within 5 years

Mr. Masaaki Kimura, an emeritus professor of the university of the Ryukyus predicts that Mt. Fuji may erupt within 5 years since 2014. He also predicted the eruption of Mt. Ontake, which erupted last year causing 57 victims. He told Mt. Otanke would erupt within 4 years since 2013.

His prediction is based on the volcanological scientific method. Therefore, it is not less than fortune-telling. If Mt. Fuji erupts, it would cause a disastrous effects on wide area including Tokyo. I wonder it would also affect Tokyo Olympic Games to be held in 2020 if it actually happens.

The government should cautiously examine the possibility and let people know the precise information calmly.

The 189th ordinary Diet will be held today

Under the circumstance that the hostages taken by Islamic State are not released, how do they discuss the matter in the Diet? The major opponent party, the DPJ has already announced that it will co-operate with the government on the matter. I think this is the right judge.

On the other hand, DPJ should debate on the submitted draft budget by the government. PM Abe seems to have a lot of good news such as increase of pre-offered employment rate for the undergraduate, reduce of unemployment rate, hike of the stock market price and so on. However, target inflation policy of the Bank of Japan is not accomplished so far, GDP is not increasing as PM Abe anticipates but rather decreasing to the minus point.

I expect DPJ should collect lots of outside specialists’ opinions and discuss with them in an open style. And, it also makes chances to discuss with not only the party member/supporter but also with voters. It is a good idea to visit many area of Japan as they did during the presidential election. The raw and fresh opinions acquired during the meeting can be told through the Diet member to the government.

Islamic State is clearly an enemy against Japan

A new video was uploaded and it showed Mr. Yukawa was executed and Mr. Goto holds the executed picture accusing Japanese government and PM Abe. I don’t know this is the fact or not but I feel strong anger. If they really execute him, they are just a murder group behaving far from Islamic religious moral.

What should Japan do? According to Japanese Criminal Law, if a Japanese be murdered in a foreign country, the suspect can be arrested and punished likewise in Japan. Japanese police has a right to perform their right. Of course it is not realistic that Japan dispatches their police to arrest the suspects to IS. However, here I would like to mention that Japan becomes a victim country of IS and have legal relation with them. We need to punish them. We need to protect our nations by any means as long as it is allowed by law.

The fate of Japanese hostages are still unknown

72 hours have passed since the IS revealed the video. But the government cannot contact with IS directly yet and the information on the hostages are not delivered at all. The government will not pay for the ransom but continue trying negotiation instead.But it’s obvious that they are watching what Japan reacts through media. The government should talk to IS through TV or any other method.

On the other hand, Islamic religious people living in Tokyo held a worship yesterday and requested the release of the hostages. They also told that their idea and behavior is different from true Islam.

I think it is very important that we distinguish Islamic State from Islamic people or countries. Prejudice may prevail if we let it go likewise it occurred when 9.11 attack was happened in the US.

Japan should concentrate on humanitarian aid

It is running short of time to solve the two Japanese hostages taken by IS. At this moment, Japanese government does not succeed to contact with IS directly. The possibility of safe and peace solution is fading time by time.

However, Japan should concentrate on humanitarian aid in Syria. As the situation is becoming worse and worse as I commented yesterday and millions of life is in danger and suffered.

At the same time, Japan should refrain from legalizing the collective defense force at this timing. It would be the message that Japan participate in military actions with other coalition countries especially the United States as Japan and the United States are allied strongly. I request PM Abe to reconsider to submit the relevant laws to the coming Diet session to be opened soon.

Japan should continue humanitarian aid to Syria

The government is seeking solutions by contacting many related countries such as not only the United States and European countries but also Middle Eastern nations including Egypt and Turkey.

At this moment, no clues are found for the solution as Japan does not have a route to communicate with IS directly. However, as the government stated that it would not give in terrorism, it should not pay for the required ransom that amounts to $200 million.

In addition, Japan should not cease to give humanitarian aid to Syria because the situation of Syria is beyond description. Syria is in danger. If you read this page by OCHA, you will find what is going on in Syria.

http://www.unocha.org/syria

2 Japanese captured by Islamic State

I was afraid and mentioned that this could happen in the future. It happened. IS demands Japanese government $200 million in ransom within 72 hours. We have to understand that IS regards that Japan is one of those hostiles and that similar incident may happen on and on.

Should Japanese government pay for the ransom? The United States and England refuse to pay for any ransom. However, other countries such as France, Germany, Italy and Spain are said by media they have paid for them.  I don’t think Japan should pay for the ransom because this may cause another victim and Japan becomes a country that aids for IS.