Opinion Go, Junichiro! Go! By Scott T. Hards	フレームで見る  英文をプリントする  脚注をプリントする
頑張れ！純一郎！ 今度の選挙は日本再建がかけられた重大な決定となるだろう。

Forgive me if I sound like a government mouthpiece in this column, but I strongly agree with Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's efforts to privatize Japan's postal system, so I'm quite frustrated at the recent defeat of that bill.

I usually support the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) because they take a much more enlightened approach to foreigner and immigration issues than the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) does. But this time, Katsuya Okada's stupid, naysaying obstructionism (no doubt just because the bill was supported by the LDP) would have me voting for the LDP (if I had a vote!).

While the DPJ played fearmonger and mouthed all sorts of absurd reasons for opposing this essential reform ("... there is a risk that our precious network of post offices nationwide will collapse." Oh please! The bill included many protections to specifically prevent that), Koizumi's team laid down the facts:

1) There is no need for public workers to deliver the mail. The private sector, led by firms like Yamato, Nittsu and Sagawa, has proven it can deliver letters and packages just fine. On the other hand, public workers are generally less efficient (because they have jobs for life, and no incentive to excel) and much more costly ― especially their retirement packages. Government expenditure can be slashed by moving these 380,000 people into the private sector.

2) All of Japan Post's core businesses are in decline. Letter delivery is dropping by roughly 3 percent every year as e-mail takes over. Kampo insurance is swimming in red ink due to terrible investments and an inability to offer products that are attractive compared to private-sector companies' plans. Huge amounts of tax money will be necessary to prop these businesses up. So don't! Let the private owners reform them into money-makers instead.

3) Japan's postal savings are basically the world's largest slush fund. Moving those funds away from the politicians' pork-barrel projects and into the bank accounts of growing private-sector companies will benefit Japan's economy far more than another toll road through the boondocks to connect some politician's home to a major expressway.

Thanks to Koizumi's dissolution of the Diet's lower house, in a couple of weeks Japan will go to the polls for what I believe is one of the most important decisions of modern times: To continue Koizumi's reforms and rebuild Japan's government for the future, or cave in to backward-thinking servants of entrenched interests, like Shizuka Kamei.

More than any Japanese politician of modern times, Koizumi has stuck to his principles and kept his promises. He's worked hard to do everything he said he would. Men like him are few and far between. I say give him your vote and keep him on the job!.

Shukan ST: Aug. 26, 2005

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