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.