HEADQUARTERS
The research committee for co-evolution economics was established (2005) to make clear the mechanism for economical contribution to sustainable civilization, which is to let economical development well-harmonize with environmental sustainability. On January 12, the committee organized a regular meeting in Kyoto City, where Prof. Nagasuna (Emeritus Prof. Kansai Univ.) gave a lecture entitled “The theory of socialistic economics and its contemporary discussion”. All the participants made an enthusiastic discussion, since the theme was quite simulative for creating an advanced theory of economics to help people enjoying their lives.
LOCAL ACTIVITIES IN JANUARY
1. FUKUOKA BRANCH
On January 8, the branch organized a reading meeting of the January edition of “Nihon-no-Kagakusha” (Journal of Japanese Scientists) in Fukuoka City, where they discussed “Four hard questions presented to science” such as: (1) What is the universe composed of? (2) Can we know how life originated? (3) Memory: How can we make a bridge between psychology and neurobiology? (4) Is global warming caused by human activities?
2. KYOTO BRANCH
1) The individual members held the 28th regular meeting at Kyoto University on January 11, where Prof. Ikegami (Emeritus Prof. Kyoto Univ.) made a lecture under the title “The future education for citizens and comfortable town management”.
2) On January 13, the branch organized a new-year gathering at the branch’s office, where they had a council meeting, which was followed by a get-together meeting.
3. OSAKA BRANCH
The branch organized an exchange meeting on January 13 at a branch office, where Prof. Yamamoto (Osaka Sangyo Univ.) gave a seminar on the title “Participation in scientific movement as my hobby”, which was followed by a new-year lunch gathering.
4. HYOGO BRANCH
The Upper House at its plenary session on December 15 passed the Defense Ministry-related bill with the majority approval of the Liberal Democratic, Komei, Democratic and People’s New parties (the Japanese Communist and Social Democratic parties voted against the bill that would completely transform Japanese defense policy). The new law passed against a number of citizens’ voices “no” mandates that the Self-Defense Forces (SDF) engage in oversea activities as their primary task, and upgrades the status of the Defense Agency to the Department of Defense. The SDF’s oversea mission as its principal task basically violates Article 9 of the Constitution, and preempts an adverse revision of the Constitution, at which the above parties voted “aye” have long been aiming. The Department of Defense then functioned from January 9, 2007.
The branch organized a regular meeting “What happens in Japan after the inauguration of The Department of Defense” on January 13 in Kobe City, where Prof. Wada (Kobe Univ.) made a seminar on the theme “Development of military-related legislations after 1990s and the question of adversely revising the Constitution of Japan”.
5. TOKYO BRANCH
1) On January 20, the 3rd citizens’ colloquium to think of intellectual property rights was held in Tokyo, where they discussed (1) copyright protection problems, (2) enterprises and intellectual property rights, and (3) recent movement about intellectual property rights.
2) The 23rd Machida science forum was organized on January 24 in Machida City, where Dr. Hatayama (Tokyo branch) gave a seminar on the Latin-America’s autonomy.
6. OKINAWA BRANCH
The branch organized a new-year regular meeting entitled “Let’s discuss our education and autonomy” on January 25 at Ryukyu University, where Prof. Takara (Ryukyu Univ.) gave a commemorative lecture on the Constitution for peace and the revision of the Fundamental Law of Education, which was followed by view-exchange and enthusiastic discussions on the above theme.
7. MIYAGI BRANCH
The branch held a new-year exchange meeting on January 27 in Sendai City, where Dr. Takahashi (Miyagi branch) lectured on (1) the coexistence of human being with nature, (2) verification of the theory of “sustainable development”, and (3) a charcoal burner practice, which was followed by a get-together meeting in honor of the coming scientific activity.
WE ARE AGAINST THE GOVERNMENTAL “DEREGULATION PANEL’S PROPOSAL” CALLING FOR WHITE-COLOR EXEMPTION SYSTEM
On December 25 (2006), the Governmental Council for the Promotion of Regulatory Reform submitted its final report to the prime minister, which calls for deregulations in 11 fields, including labor and education, in order to meet business circle’s demands. The important of the report are as follows. (1) The report proposes that the government submits to the Diet session a bill to establish a white-color exemption system that will remove restrictions on working hours for workers with a set annual income, the amount of which is to be decided later after enacting the law. (2) The report calls for the promotion of private-sector entry into childcare services. (3) In the educational field, it proposes the introduction of a system in which ① schools will be ranked according to their academic level, ② pupils and students will choose a school to attend, and ③ public funds will be allocated to each school based upon the number of pupils and students (so-called education vouchers). (4) It calls for an outsourcing of social workers who work in the area of livelihood protection assistance. Nevertheless facing criticism that deregulations have caused a widening social gap, the report pushes for deregulations in many fields, which will only accelerate the growth of social disparities.
We never allow the government to enact a law to introduce the white-color exemption system in any workplace, since the business circle has long been proposing to make much more profits under the slogan of “Labor Big Bang”. The white-color exemption system will remove working-hour regulations (8 hours a day, 40 hours a week) from workers who are promoted to “near” managerial posts so that employers can force these workers to work much longer hours without overtime pay. The system will further increase Japan’s excessively long working hours that have caused deaths and suicides from overwork under the mostly depressed environments, which is extremely contrary to “the nation of a free working style not bound by time” propagated by the government and business circle. We must make a front to (1) prevent the government and business circle from destroying the style “8-hour day” that was established as a major principle of modern society through tough workers’ struggles, (2) oppose the major adverse revision of labor laws, and (3) make every effort to bring about a decent way of working, which must be coupled with the struggles to eradicate the two illegal corporate practices, ① unpaid overtime and ② disguised contract work. (S. YUASA)