Read the news or issues below
and write a one-paragraph essay on the following questions using some of the
points given.
1.
NEWS: Prime Minister Shinzo Abe
confirmed Tuesday that the government will raise the consumption tax rate from
the current 5 percent to 8 percent from April 2014.
QUESTIONS
a.
Do you think this tax raise
proper?
POINTS： tax rates in other countries, no tax on foods in the countries with
high consumption tax rates, progressive taxation, public welfare, economic
slowdown, corporate tax cuts
b.
What are the problems of the
capitalist democracy?
POINTS： plutocracy, bailouts, deregulations, short-term interest pursuit,
reduction of research and development, income inequality, neglect on the
protection of the environment
2.
NEWS: The Nobel Prize Committee has
officially nominated war-renouncing Article 9 of the Constitution as a
candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize.
QUESTIONS
a. Do you think this nomination
proper?
POINTS： soft power, today’s political climate, terrorism, development aid,
domestic issues
b.
Is this award technically meaningful?
POINTS： questionable laureates and nominees in the past, public appeal
3.
NEWS: The historic change in
security policy that will let the Japanese military use force under the right
to collective self-defense has been approved by the cabinet.
QUESTIONS
a. Do you think it proper for
the cabinet having approved the change?
POINTS： democracy, involvement in wars not directly related to Japanese
affairs especially American issues, conscription, reduction of Japanese soft
power, terrorism, development aid, domestic issues
b.
In what way do you think Japan
should play a role in today’s world?
POINTS： development aid, humanitarian aid, domestic issues, nuclear
disarmament, cultural exchanges, the
environment
4.
NEWS: In July, the UN’s
human-rights committee demanded that Japan add hate speech to legislation
banning racial discrimination.
QUESTIONS:
a.
Do you think this is a fair
demand or not. Why?
POINTS: long history of
discrimination against non-naturalized Koreans, xenophobia, globalization,
bullying, war-time sex slaves (comfort women) issue, violence, freedom of expression
b.
Are people in Japan losing
their moral values?
POINTS： education, competition, corruption, breakdown of the community,
family relations, materialism, public manners, religion, the Internet
5.
NEWS: Heirs to the Rockefeller
family, which made its vast fortune from oil, are to sell investments in fossil
fuels and reinvest in clean energy.
QUESTIONS:
a.
Do you think this move is
significant?
POINTS: the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) fifth assessment report, obligation of rich
countries, Kyoto protocol
b.
What else is necessary to help
impact the mitigation of the global warming other than huge funds directed to
sustainable energies?
POINTS: international
cooperation, ongoing oil mining projects, emerging economies, population
growth, consumerism, recycling
6.
NEWS: Farmers from across
Japan staged a protest in Tokyo on Tuesday over signs that the
Japanese government will soon sign on to join negotiations for the Trans-Pacific
Partnership "free-trade" agreement with the U.S. and other nations.
POINTS: democracy, free trade,
protectionism, Korean FTA and NAFTA, domestic producers, self-sufficiency,
regulations, financial meltdown, social welfare, environment, copy-rights,
investor-state disputes (ISD)
QUESTIONS:
a. Who do you think would
benefit most from TPP?
b. Would Japanese society
drastically change due to the TPP?
QUESTIONS AND POINTS ON OTHER
ISSUES
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