Corrupción generalizada del medio de comunicación en Japón

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The Japanese Senior Civil Service or the Power of the Shadows, by Pierre-François Souyri, Professor at the Geneva University Author : Pierre-François Souyri Article date : 01-11-2010 Contact the author Ozawa Ichirô's campaign poster   In September 2009, the Democratic Party won the general elections. For the first time in over half a century, the Conservatives lost their power in both houses and became the opposition party. Some observers thus thought it appropriate to announce to the world that a significant historical event had occurred in Japan, comparable, in some respects, to the Renovation in 1868 of all things! More than a year has passed since the Democrats’ victory and Japanese politics has not changed drastically.  Worse still, the State is clearly not committed to democratising the institutions as one might have expected after such a long-awaited change, but rather an authoritarian shift seems to be taking place, which does not bode well for civil liberties and democracy. So what has happened since autumn 2009?  Not much, one might be tempted to say, in terms of the Democrats’ promises. The new party in power did plan to introduce fairer redistribution of fiscal resources, by promoting the growth of domestic demand and taking steps to increase the birth rate. Their programme manifestly challenged neo-liberal policies and a return to revised Keynesian policies. Furthermore, the Democrats had promised to renegotiate the status of the Okinawa base with the U.S. and, especially, to put an end to the underhand deals between government officials and major businesses by getting rid of the practice known as amakudari, literally translated as “descent from heaven” (pantouflage in common French [Translator’s note: a practice whereby high-level French civil servants are subsequently employed by a private company. In American English, this can be translated as “the revolving doors”.] ). After a year with the Democrats in power, nothing concrete has been done to achieve any of this.  In fact, the members of the Democratic Party who were genuinely determined to change things have been simply ousted. Why and how? To understand the current situation, we have to do a bit of history.  We know the role and prestige that officials and administrators in the organisation of the Japanese state have enjoyed since ancient times and their importance even in the feudal Edo period. Confucianism, to which leaders were attached in the past, is nothing more than the ideological justification of bureaucratic elites. At the beginning of the twentieth century, officials serving the country were once again the elite from the Imperial University.  The best students naturally looked to the State, which guaranteed them respect, the feeling of being influential and significant rewards. The State was largely controlled by bureaucracy, leaving policies with only a small role to play in important decisions.  As they were trained by the University, officials believed they knew the science of the state more than the politicians obsessed with being reelected. Poster of the series "The Bureaucrats' Summer" (© 2009 / TBS), the second version for television of a novel written in 1975 which describes the corrupt and scandalous habits of a senior civil servant of the Ministry of Industry during the period of fast growth in Japan. From the 1930s, we are aware of the role that senior government officials from the army play in the State structure.  After their victory, the United States began a political purge, dismantling the military, but often got the wrong target, attacking politicians instead of the senior civil servants. Very few of these were actually victims of the purge unlike the politicians.  A study of the careers of senior government officials during the period between 1935 and 1955 shows peculiar promotions as if the political events had glossed over them. The most talented senior officials were often sent to Japanese colonies.  When they returned to Japan after the war, they were often behind decisions made at the Ministries of Finance, Budget and Industry, which enabled the country to engage in the fast growth of 1960s. Their great victory, so to speak, is to have succeeded in running the country with politicians from the Liberal Democratic Party in an almost perfect and inconspicuous harmony. Conservative leaders, often came from the bureaucracy themselves, ensured the stability of the regime and, subsequently, careers; it was therefore not in the interest of senior civil servants to criticise a system that allowed them to continue. The partnership worked so well that the country enjoyed an economic boom that certain observers at the time believed to be boundless.  Nevertheless, the first downfall of the bureaucracy was Kakuei Tanaka’s coming into power in the early 1970s.  Uncontrollable by nature and not from the University of Tokyo mould, this ruffled the feathers of the senior officials, who had become comfortable with their stable income.  They refused to forgive him and we can safely say that the Lockheed scandal that ended Tanaka’s political career was triggered by leaks from within the State administration.  Following this case, new provisions were implemented to increase the powers of a financial police investigation led by public prosecutors, the kensatsu,to oust corrupt politicians from the administration – to the great satisfaction of the public: a "clean" operation against politicians seemed to have been launched. But the problem is that the police, under the supervision of the prosecutors, have considerable investigative power. They may decide to investigate without having to justify themselves, based on documents of which they are not obliged to disclose the source, and may even launch further investigations if the first prove to be unsuccessful. As long as the Conservatives are in power and the agreement between them and the senior officials works, the kensatsu remains moderate in its attacks against politicians, but is nevertheless due to investigations initiated by prosecutors that lead to the fall of certain politicians. Furthermore, investigations also most often target their secretaries or their families and leads to their being discredited. The Democrats' victory, however, in 2009 sounded the beginning of a period of significant unrest in the State administration.  In particular, Ichiro Ozawa, a former member of the Tanaka faction, who shifted from the Conservatives to the Democrats and was the true architect of the electoral victory of the Democratic Party, made no secret of his intentions to tighten the reins on the senior officials. For Ozawa, politics must take precedence over bureaucracy, and must comply with directions, and not vice versa.  As a result, Ozawa has been subject to senseless bashing by the press and the mainstream media and was deemed corrupt, dangerous and guilty before even being tried.  Several investigations on the money Ozawa received were launched, forcing Ozawa to make way for Hatoyama to become Prime Minister instead.  From autumn 2009, Ozawa was accused of manipulating the new Prime Minister, who also found himself faced with a financial scandal over his campaign accounts, following an investigation launched by a prosecutor. During the summer of 2010, the campaign caused fierce competition within the Democratic Party for leadership, and thus the position of Prime Minister, between Naoto Kan and Ichiro Ozawa, who continues to be portrayed across the board as a guilty and corrupt politician.  Kan won the party's internal elections in September and on the 4th of October, 2010, Ozawa who had already been the subject of several unsuccessful investigations from the kensatsu was charged this time, which means he will probably be forced to abandon his position as deputy.  Ozawa's career is currently seriously damaged. This case highlights an obvious shift among the Japanese government. How and why can some prosecutors initiate investigations against individuals without any restrictions – be they politicians suspected of corruption – conduct searches without scruples and relaunch investigations when the first did not provide convincing evidence?  Why do the press and the media broadcast accusations that leak from the Department of Justice without ever attempting to initiate counter-investigations and doing their job as an investigative reporter properly? Sickened by the servility of the major press bosses towards officials and prosecutors, journalists are increasingly leaving the official media for alternative media on the internet through various blogs and videos. A counter-power is thus slowly gaining force, denouncing the mass gomi (pun on mass media and mass bins) and striking out against the fascist kensatsu.  A demonstration against the authority of the prosecutors was held on the 24th of October which was simply organised over the Internet, and other similar events are planned.  One may think that the movement "to put a stop to the State prosecutors” condemning the risk of dictatorship will spread despite the official boycott. Demonstration on the 24th of October. The placards read: 'Down with kensatsu fascism!' 'The media are liars!' 'Charging Ozawa is disgraceful!' (2010, all rights reserved) Just when the Kan government is adding insult to injury in terms of relations with China and ranks shamelessly on the positions of American neo-conservatives – while Ozawa wanted to restore the balance in relations between Beijing and Tokyo –, when some ministers from the Democrats are raising the possibility of transforming the self-defense forces into a real army and economic recovery through the redeployment of an export-oriented military industry, it is not surprising that the United States has openly shown their support for Kan against his rival. At a time when the sound of nationalist boots is resurfacing in the Far East with the tense relations between China and its neighbours and the unpredictable actions of the North Korean regime, it is urgent that Japanese citizens voice their opinion once again to demonstrate their commitment to civil liberties, freedom of expression and a policy that will guarantee peace in the region. The author Pierre- François Souyri is a professor at the University of Geneva where he teaches Japanese history.  He has also lectured at INALCO. His latest book, Nouvelle Histoire du Japon (A New History of Japan), “reflects, more than anything else, the great dynamism of the Japanese school of history, the wealth and diversity of studies that have been done on the archipelago in recent decades, revealing an unfamiliar country. By including this considerable knowledge, Nouvelle Histoire du Japon, which begins in prehistoric times and ends in the manga era, offers an intriguing and fresh insight on a society that never ceases to amaze”.