Prime Minister Abe Shinzo stated in his new-year speech that an innovative plan to rebuild the country has been fully on track. That means Premier Abe is determined to stay in power longer to be successful in amending the Constitution. His modus operandi is to prevent people from heightening indignation. His ambition is reflected in the budget plan for Fiscal 2017, to launch financial measures along his plans: to impose make-shift programs on people, while highlighting military expenditure as a new priority.

IMPROVISED MEASURES TO MAINTAIN POWER FOR LONG TIME

The total amount of general account is the biggest in the history as initial budget compilation, counting 97 trillion 454.7 billion Yen. The sum exceeds that of the Fiscal 2016 by 732.9 billion Yen. The Abe administration’s aim is to appease people’s every day dissatisfactions so that criticisms may not confront the government. However, the so-called quantitative and qualitative monetary easing policy of the Bank of Japan, which was hailed as a potential tool to boost the economy, has been aborted. The government shifts to a fiscal stimulus policy, which has been implemented since the second phase of supplementary budget compilation of the Fiscal 2016.

A sum estimated to additional government bonds amounts 2 trillion 750 billion Yen in the second supplementary budget compilation and as much as 1 trillion 852.6 billion Yen in the third stage. For an initial budget plan of the Fiscal 2017, it accounts 34 trillion 432 billion Yen. The government’s show-off, it says a compilation to symbolizes both economic rehabilitation and fiscal soundness, has proven to be an outright lie.

Fervent in Improvisation

The government explains its policies on the expenditure in this way: to realize a society in which all 100 million people work properly and happily and to reform way of working. It presents plans to improve status of nursery teachers and health care workers, to create a fellowship program in which recipients are not required to pay back, to convert a working status from an unstable, irregular employment into that of a regular employee, and to provide enterprises with subsidies to support a day-off system in which employees may suspend his/her job so as to take care of the elderly. As for a nursery teacher, however, a proposed salary increase is only by 6 thousand Yen a month on the average, which is far from a drastic reform. The Abe government is simply eager in carrying out improvised policies.

Meanwhile, expenses for social services are decreased by 140 billion Yen in the estimate, though an increase is expected due to a natural growth of the elderly. Heavier burdens are imposed on senior citizens.

The Three Biggest Expenses

In contrast to the above-mentioned policies, outlay is well made to the Ministry of Defense, which counts 5 trillion 125.1 billion Yen, to the Maritime Safety Agency, it is 210.6 billion Yen, and to the sports promotion programs, 33.4 billion Yen. Characteristically, these are the three biggest items.

Let’s analyze the expenses.

Ministry of Defense (a military budget in a narrower sense):

Increases have been made consecutively for five years, the total being 5 trillion 125.1 billion Yen. In addition to expenses for ‘defense of islands in the south-western region’ and ‘responses to ballistic missile attacks’, the ministry obtains money to ensure ‘technological superiority’ and ‘production of military equipment and maintenance of technical basis’. It gains costs for (1) unmanned devices, (2) smartification and networking of systems and (3) researches for high output energy technologies. As for researches on an under-water drone vehicle, the expenditure counts 900 million Yen. Concerning ‘a national security technology research promotion program’, which arranges studies of universities and enterprises with military usages, a huge increase is made, from 600 million Yen of the 2016 budget to 11 billion Yen. We must pay keen attention to the allotment.

Maritime Safety Agency (a military budget in a wider sense):

The 2017 budget is the biggest since its foundation. Already in the second and third supplementary compilations was allotted 67.4 billion Yen and another 3 billion Yen, respectively, in the Fiscal 2016. That is to pay for construction of big patrol boats to be deployed in the Senkaku Islands area and a personnel augment for the purpose. The agency tries to compete in vain with China.

Sports Promotion Programs:

They are for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympics Games. Combined with programs to train athletes, new national training centers will be built up. A total construction cost accounts 22 billion Yen; in the Fiscal 2016’s second supplementary compilation 2.406 billion Yen was already allotted. As the Fiscal 2017’s initial estimate 3.6 billion Yen is appropriated.

Two Pillars to challenge Government

Firstly, Articles 25, 26, 27 and 28 of Constitution should be emphasized: they pledge the state’s guarantees for employment and universal social welfare.

Secondly, an emphasis on Article Nine, which is to lead Japan to being stripped with military potentials and, in a combined way, to set up a multilateral scheme of no-war and peace in the northeast region of Asia.

Let’s make Year 2017 happy, in which constitutional rules should be well flourished to today’s necessities.

January 17, 2017