Japan Times
READERS IN COUNCIL
June 10, 2001
In his June ４ article, ”Japan needs its own third way,”Takamitsu Sawa says that the Japanese government should aim to achieve both market and third-way reform through the creation of an equitable welfare society where all its members are "included" without discrimination, that is, a society that does not exclude anybody.
Although I have no argument with Sawa's comment, he does not mention three aspects of Japanese society today that need to be addressed. First is the issue of the lack of consumer sovereignty, which as a result places consumers at the mercy of certain producer groups such as the agricultural sector and the government, who dictate to the people what kind of foodstuffs they can or cannot buy from abroad. Second is the lack of transparency in the government and certain areas of the private sector, as exemplified by recent incidents involving the dubious use of funds by the Foreign Ministry and the lack of accurate figures on bad loans carried by financial institutions. Third is the issue of the lack of true equal opportunity in various fields of economic and social activity, such as in the telecommunications sector, where a lack of true competition arising from equal opportunity has prevented the spread of Internet broadband services in Japan.
A society without discrimination is, of course, an essential goal that Japan should strive to achieve. For Japan to be a truly equitable society, however, it needs to build a society that is open and transparent and to ensure that there is equal opportunity and justice for everyone.
KO UNOKI
Fujisawa, Kanagawa
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