Returned Japanese detainee recalls painful ordeal in China
Suzuki Hideji was detained in Beijing in 2016 on suspicion of endangering national security. He maintained his innocence during the ordeal.
But a Chinese court ruled he had been involved in spying, handing down a six-year sentence. Suzuki said there was lack of transparency throughout the process.
Suzuki says, "The reality is that you don't know when you will be taken into custody, or for what reason."
He added that the process needs to be transparent during such an experience, and human rights need to be respected.
He also said the independence of the judiciary and the rule of law should be promoted.
Suzuki added that one of the most important things is for the Japanese government to get its citizens released quickly.
Suzuki expressed the view that the foreign ministry should set up a special section to specialize in crisis management.
He said, "It is important to give people a sense of security and trust by doing so. It is also important that the Japanese prime minister requests that China's President Xi Jinping release the detainees."
Suzuki said the current system under Xi Jinping emphasizes national security, and that close monitoring of foreigners will continue.
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Japan Times
an hour ago
- Japan Times
Japan's rice farmers are confounded by Shinjiro Koizumi's policies
Long regarded as a key support base for the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, farming communities across Japan are increasingly showing signs of distress. After spending months in the eye of the storm — with the price of rice making headlines and fueling debates in parliament — rice producers feel left in a limbo. Yamagata Prefecture, the country's fourth largest rice producer, is no exception to this trend. Standing in front of a crowd of 1,500 people in the city of Shinjo on July 3, the day the Upper House election campaigns kicked off, farm minister Shinjiro Koizumi promised rice producers he was on their side. 'I am sure we can achieve both: consumers will be able to buy rice without any worry, while rice farmers will be able to secure a (stable) income and increase production,' he said. As he stumped for Rika Ouchi, the LDP's candidate in the Yamagata constituency, Koizumi exuded confidence. Since taking office in May, Koizumi has gone to great lengths to score some early political points. While his predecessor spent months hesitating to release stockpiled rice to cool prices and tackle what many saw as a shortage in the crop, in his first week at the ministry Koizumi radically changed course and pushed through with no-bid contracts. For decades, officials sought to reduce rice production to stabilize prices and cope with dwindling consumption. Although the policy formally came to an end in 2018, farmers are still allocated a rice quota by the prefectural government in coordination with agricultural cooperatives. But now, the days of limiting rice production are over, Koizumi said. The government is now aggressively pushing for higher production — a step seen as essential to boost self-sufficiency, cut costs and lay the foundation for a profitable sector able to win the hearts of foreign consumers. Independent candidate Michiya Haga speaks in front of his supporters in Tendo, Yamagata, on Monday | GABRIELE NINIVAGGI In a country where fields tend to be small, especially in mountainous areas, Koizumi has advocated for land consolidation and optimization of rice production. Total rice production for this year is projected to rise by 560,000 tons from last year, he wrote on X on Monday. Meanwhile, LDP members' assessment of the farm minister's first two months in office is scathing. 'He wanted to be in the media spotlight right when popular anger on the price of rice was peaking,' said Takuya Oyama, 44, the owner of a 10-acre family-run farm in Murayama city, eastern Yamagata. Voicing his disapproval of Koizumi's direct mention of his thoughts on what the price of stockpiled rice should be, he went on: 'He capitalized on the momentum, but I don't think the government had set any clear policy on prices at the time.' Like Oyama and many others, Kiyoshi Shibata, 43, the head of an incorporated farm in Murayama, has long complied with requests to reduce acreage allocated to rice. 'It's hard to know what to expect next,' said Shibata, lamenting the gap between political decision-making and the day-to-day realities in the field. After some of the farmers around him quit due to age or low profitability, Shibata has amassed rice fields as large as 35 hectares, which he now tends to with six employees. Although high rice prices provided them much needed financial breathing room, Shibata questioned the popular wisdom that rice should be cheap. 'These days, every industry is taking measures to cope with inflation and rising prices,' he said. 'I find it puzzling that, when it comes to rice, people say it's too expensive and the government should enforce some sort of price cap.' So far, the government has released 810,000 tons of stockpiled rice — although only portions of that amount have reached consumers. Once that happens, government reserves will stand at 150,000 tons. After falling below ¥4,000 for the first time in over two months, the average supermarket price of a 5-kilogram bag dipped further to ¥3,602 in the week through June 30, the agriculture ministry announced Monday. Liberal Democratic Party candidate Rika Ouchi campaigns in the Shonai region of Yamagata Prefecture on Monday. | Rika Ouchi's X account Oyama echoed Shibata's thoughts. 'I understand people feel rice is expensive,' Oyama said. 'At the same time, I also want them to understand the reality of what it takes to grow rice and the costs it requires.' In 2023, a Japanese farm earned an average annual income of around ¥1.14 million ($7,660), up 16% from 2022. In graying Yamagata, where farmers averaged 67 years of age in 2020, Oyama and Shibata represent the future leaders of agricultural communities. Both express pride in producing Tsuyahime, Yamagata's signature rice brand. Thanks to strong backing from the prefecture, Tsuyahime is rapidly establishing a presence nationwide, they say. The dire straits of the LDP However, discontent over Koizumi's methods appears to have amplified long-held frustrations many in rural communities harbored toward the LDP. In the last Lower House election, the LDP seized all three Yamagata constituencies, but in the last three Upper House polls, the opposition triumphed. In the 2016 Upper House election, when Koizumi championed reforming agricultural cooperatives as chairman of the LDP's agricultural committee, the party lost five out of six single-seat races in the Tohoku region — including Yamagata. A former member of the Yamagata Prefectural Assembly, Ouchi runs under the slogan 'Third time's the charm.' It's her third attempt to reboot her political career, after an unsuccessful bid for local governor in 2021 and for the other Upper House seat a year later. This time, she has secured the backing of the local branch of the Japan Agricultural Cooperatives (JA) as well as a majority of the prefecture's mayors. In her speeches, she says that she has never lost faith in her ability to make it. On Thursday, Koizumi campaigned next to Ouchi a second time. While he helps as a volunteer for Ouchi's campaign, Shibata said he's unsure of which party to vote for — maybe Sanseito, he said. In the Yamagata constituency, Sanseito has fielded Tomoaki Sato, the head of a local auto parts company. Protest vote or simple disillusionment? Other opposition parties are also riding the wave of brewing farmers' discontent against the LDP. 'What I've felt most since the start of the campaign is the intensity of the farmers' anger. They come to me and ask me if there's anything I can do with Koizumi,' incumbent Michiya Haga told his supporters in a speech in the city of Tendo on Monday evening. Haga is running as an independent supported by the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, the Democratic Party for the People and union confederation Rengo. Unlike in 2019, when he was first elected, he can't count on the support of the Japanese Communist Party, whose own candidate, Osamu Miidera, is fighting his own battle. A number of early polls have suggested Haga — a former newscaster affiliated with the DPP and well-known across the prefecture — is leading the race for the seat. Building on the platforms of the two parties, Haga is calling for a system to provide direct subsidies to farmers — an updated version of a measure already implemented during the government of the now-defunct Democratic Party of Japan. 'Let's bring back policies that can allow farmers to have hopes and dreams,' Haga told the audience. Shota Kawase stands in front of his rice field in the Higashimurayama district of Yamagata Prefecture. | GABRIELE NINIVAGGI It's hard to imagine, however, how such a system would help reverse the disillusionment farming communities have toward politicians. 'If they need to take the money away from something else to do that, then it's better to avoid it in the first place,' said Shibata. 'When they propose something like that, that means they'll take money somewhere else,' said Yoshio Kakimoto, 68, a farmer and the owner of a shop selling rice and agricultural chemicals in Shinjo. Kakimoto said he hasn't made up his mind over who to vote for in the upcoming elections. 'No politician really knows much about agricultural policy,' he said. 'During elections, they all talk about farming policy, but once it's over, it all stops. I don't see how any of the parties would really care and work for us.' That same dissatisfaction with the current state of things could drive others to the polling station on Sunday. Shota Kawase, 24, a young farmer in the Higashimurayama district, took over his grandfather's farm six years ago, a year after finishing high school. Though he wasn't particularly drawn to farming at first, he's grown to enjoy the work over time. He has never voted before, but, this time, he's thinking of casting his ballot. 'Despite all the talk on the price of rice, they've yet to really take effective measures. Meanwhile, prices go up, but our salaries don't,' said Kawase. 'I find that hard to accept.'
Japan Times
an hour ago
- Japan Times
Sanseito third-most popular party in Upper House race: poll
Rising political party Sanseito is the third-most popular pick among voters ahead of Sunday's election for the Upper House, a Jiji Press opinion poll for July showed Thursday. The survey found that 6.9% of respondents plan to vote for Sanseito in the Upper House's proportional representation bloc, up 3.4 percentage points from June and improving its ranking among political parties from sixth place. The ruling Liberal Democratic Party remained the front-runner at 20.9%, albeit down 3.6 points. In second place was the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, up 0.8 points at 9.1%, while the Democratic Party for the People was fourth at 6.1%, up 0.1 points. Komeito, the LDP's coalition partner, came next at 4.9%, up 0.9 points, followed by Reiwa Shinsengumi at 3.6%, up 0.5 points, Nippon Ishin no Kai at 2.7%, down 1.7 points. The Conservative Party of Japan logged 2.3%, up 1.6 points, the Japanese Communist Party 1.9%, down 0.3 points, and the Social Democratic Party 0.9%, up 0.4 points. The proportion of respondents who favor no particular party came to 38.2%. By age group, those under 30 backed the DPP most at 13.4%, followed by Sanseito at 12.5% and the LDP at 10.7%. All older generations favored the LDP most. The proportion of respondents who want to see the LDP and Komeito retain their majority in the Upper House in Sunday's election came to 31.1%, less than the 42.5% who hope to see the opposition bloc take the majority. Meanwhile, 36.1% said they hope that the ruling bloc will comprise the LDP, Komeito and one or more of the opposition parties after the Upper House poll, while 24.7% hope for a government led by the opposition and 18.6% want a government comprising just the LDP and Komeito. As measures to tackle inflation, 67.4% preferred consumption tax cuts over cash handouts, against 21.5% saying the opposite. A total of 22.8% said that information on social media is important in deciding whom to cast their votes for, while 64.8% said that it is not important and 12.4% said neither or that they do not know. As for Ishiba's Cabinet, the public approval rating dropped 6.2 percentage points from the previous month to 20.8% in July, its lowest ever level. The disapproval rating jumped 6.6 points to 55.0%, the highest since Ishiba took office last October. The support rate fell below the previous low of 20.9% marked in May. Approval had picked up to 27.0% in June, apparently due to the appointment of Shinjiro Koizumi, son of popular former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, as agriculture minister, before falling again. The interview survey, conducted over the four days through Monday, covered 2,000 people aged 18 and over in Japan. Valid responses came from 59% of people.
Japan Times
an hour ago
- Japan Times
In uncertain times, Japan needs responsible leadership
While the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party did not submit an op-ed in the lead-up to this Sunday's Upper House election, the LDP submitted the following statement. Please note that this is a statement from the LDP as a whole, not a manuscript or personal message from the party leader. This Sunday's Upper House election is a crucial one that will determine the future course of our nation. At present, the global economy is increasingly uncertain due to the tariff policies of the United States, and the international community is growing more unstable due to the escalating situations in Ukraine and the Middle East. In such a precarious environment — where not even a moment of negligence can be afforded — if we become preoccupied only with immediate issues and pursue shortsighted, populist policies, we risk leaving serious problems for Japan's future. Precisely because we live in an unpredictable era, we must face the current realities with sincerity and engage in honest politics. Will we pass the burden on to future generations just for short-term gain or will we firmly build a 'present' that looks toward the future? As a responsible political party, we are determined to consistently pursue policies that are accountable to future generations. The Liberal Democratic Party In the lead-up to the July 20 Upper House election, The Japan Times reached out to the nation's major political parties requesting an op-ed for our Opinion pages on why this election is so crucial and why their party deserves the citizens' vote. We are publishing all those who responded.
