Writing for an Academic Discussion One aspect of your country tha tyou would like the government to improve or change - revised -

What is one aspect of your country that you would like the government to improve or change?

 

 

☆Let’s Think

1.        What is the problem or what is your concern about your country?

2.        What needs to be done to deal with the issue?

3.        What are the expected drawbacks, if any? Are there any countermeasures?

 

☆Hints for Points

1.        Low birth rates are shrinking the population because young people are not earning enough to get married and have children. → Undo the deregulation of the labor law prohibiting irregular employment of unskilled workers. Raise the minimum wage to keep up with the inflation. Japan is the only developed country whose minimum wage has not increased for 3 decades.

2.        Japan has gotten poorer. → Government-led investment in innovation would be necessary. Increase the budget for education. Facilities are getting outdated and the quality and quantity of school lunches are going down. Raise the payment and improve the working conditions of teachers. Schools and nurseries are losing teachers because of the demanding working conditions and the low pay.

3.        The wealth gap has been widening over the last 15 years. → Redistribute by increasing welfare. Cancel the consumption tax, which is siphoning money from the majority to the privileged. It was supposed to be used for pension but actually has been used to make up for the tax cut for the savings of huge corporations and the wealthy, even though they have been making profits. Also, stop the invoice system to protect solo proprietors and small companies. Stop disimproving education and attacking teachers. The government occupied by the superrich wants the public to be ignorant. Ministry of Finance controls the government for their golden parachute. Establishing the government pension system will make government bureaucrats cooperative to reforms of the government by the cabinet.

4.        Public services are deteriorating. → Deprivatize public services such as Japan Railways, Japan Post, and water of some prefectures for the public good.

5.        Self-sufficiency is very low (10-40%). → Protect farmers from low-priced imports. Be nice to China, to which we depend on for foods and fertilizer. Improve technology related to agriculture.

6.        The healthcare is at stake. The death rate has been rising especially after the COVID-19 pandemic. Clinics are closing. Long covid, COVID-19’s after-effect, is increasingly affecting people including the young. → Promote ventilation, face-masks, and early treatment by putting COVID-19 back to the 2^nd grade and make PCR testing free. Take measures to lower the high cancer rate by tightening regulations on food-safety and air and water quality. Redo the worsening of the universal healthcare coverage. Stop linking it to the MyNumber card not to let American insurance companies intervene.

7.        Immigrants are having a hard time. → Accept before assessment. Soften immigration laws. Improve conditions of migrant workers. Prevent discrimination by making laws like anti-hate speech ordinance.

8.        Threat of radiation is increasing. TEPCO is not only reactivating nuclear power plants but also building new ones even though megaquakes are increasing. The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plants are releasing stored contaminated water which contains not only tritium but also other radioactive nuclides into the ocean. Tritium itself is reported to cause cancer and influence heredity. Decontaminated soil from Fukushima is to be used as materials throughout Japan. Rokkasho Reprocessing Plant sits on a fault at the tip of a thin peninsula. Its collapse can contaminate the whole northern hemisphere. → Phase out nuclear power following the examples of Taiwan and Germany. Cover the crippled power plants with concrete. Stop the radioactive water release and solidify the water with concrete.

9.        Japan can go to war again. Ultra-rights are up to change the pacifist Constitution into the same one that Imperial Japan had. Defense budget has been increasing. The money will go to the US military industrial complex and the related politicians. → Seak diplomacy through economic ties with other Asian countries and the countries of the global south. Make the core articles of the Constitution unchangeable.

10.     The Liberal Democratic Party has ruled Japan since the end of WWII except for a couple of years, corrupted the whole society as well as the politics. → Coalition of the opponents is a must. Abolish the single-constituency system for politicians from other parties to be elected. Abolish the high deposit for candidacy and tax the inherited political fund to vote out corrupt politicians who never work for people.

 

☆Response for Ideas and Expression

【Thesis】I would like the government of Japan, where I live, to stop controlling the media.

【Supporting Details】The freedom of the press was lost under the late former prime minister Abe. He had Sanae Takaichi, then the Minister of General Affairs and Communications, change the interpretation of the Broadcast Act to control television stations and make them refrain from broadcasting any dissenting opinions or inconvenient information that disagrees with the government propaganda. Magazines and newspapers have also been compromised by the appointment of Abe’s cronies to their CEOs. This has prevented people from learning the truth and made them ignorant, garbling the disinformation of the state affairs and revisionism of the Japanese war crimes. Now, access to correct information is available only through some independent media and social media. This situation is deteriorating our democracy and allowing fascism.

【Follow-up and Conclusion】Even though the Japanese affinity with totalitarianism is also the cause of this situation, the plummeting ranking of our press freedom corresponds with our political decline, so rejuvenating the media is the priority in the government. (175 words)