Covert

Hi folks,

It's election time here in Japan, and you know what that means: more
clouding of the real issues at hand, tons of promises, and little or no
action taken to address the problems once all the noise is over.

Following is a newspaper editorial in today's Japan Times newspaper that
gives some idea of what those in official circles are thinking during
this election campaign about child-related crime.

I say "official circles" because despite its independent status, the
Japan Times is well-known for historically having a very cozy
relationship with the Japanese government. The paper has dutifully earned
its reputation as the "mouthpiece" of Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs
on just about every economic and political issue you can name. One of the
newspaper's past presidents, Mr. Shintaro Fukushima, in fact, has
formerly served as Japan's ambassador to the United Nations.

But for what it's worth, here's the editorial. Not too surprisingly, the
article never delves into the influence that Japan's oppressive school
system has on the psyches of these so-called "young miscreants." Oh well,
maybe in the next election....

Now, if you'll excuse me, I hear a campaign soundtruck coming up the
street, and I must go outside and get my daily dose of noise pollution. <g>

Brian Covert
(KnoK NEWS)
in Osaka, Japan

---------------------------


EDITORIAL - The Japan Times
Tuesday, June 20, 2000


AGE IS NOT ALL THAT MATTERS


With the volume favored by candidates' loudspeaker cars, it can be
difficult to tell what issues they are addressing in the campaign leading
up to Sunday's election for the House of Representatives. Both the ruling
and opposition parties are engaging in the usual name-calling and
sloganeering and not giving more than superficial attention to some of
the main concerns of potential voters. One of these is the rising tide of
juvenile violence that parents, school authorities and the police all
seem powerless to control.

A number of heinous incidents this year have all involved 17-year-olds.
But as each day's news brings a fresh report of yet another case of
youthful criminal behavior, the age level of the perpetrators has dropped
to as low as 15 or even 14. Meanwhile, all the political parties are
mainly concentrating on the idea of lowering the age at which young
people legally become adults to 18 from the present 20. Prime Minister
Yoshiro Mori, campaigning nationwide for the Liberal Democratic Party and
its partners in the governing coalition, is having some success in
controlling his tendency to make provocative statements that embroil him
in instant controversy. He is putting the emphasis in stump speeches on
reducing the age at which minors can be tried in criminal courts for
serious offenses from 16 to 14.

This appears to be what all the parties have in mind, in the wake of the
public's disappointment at the failure of the regular Diet session, which
ended June 2, not only to pass but even to discuss the widely heralded
bill aimed at revising the Juvenile Law to better deal with the increase
in youthful crimes of violence. As a result, the bill was scrapped.

The present Juvenile Law, which came into effect in 1949, stresses the
rehabilitation of young wrongdoers. The Family Court has jurisdiction
over cases involving young people under 20. Serious cases involving
youths 16 or older can be referred to prosecutors for handling in a
criminal court, although until recently this has rarely occurred.
Juveniles under the age of 14 who engage in acts that legally would be
considered criminal offenses are referred to a special consultation
office for children. But as the level of youthful violence has escalated,
and the types of crimes perpetrated have become more serious, many people
now believe the law is too lenient.

Young people in Japan today certainly are more physically mature than
their counterparts of half a century ago. They also are more
sophisticated, thanks to rapid developments in mass communications and
the influence of unsavory elements in the media. Whether they are more
mature emotionally is debatable. Many are clever enough to admit, if
challenged, that they are sometimes tempted into risky behavior by the
knowledge that they will be treated lightly if they happen to get caught.

If the youth of Japan are to be empowered to vote from the age of 18, a
step many other nations have already taken, then it stands to reason that
the Juvenile Law should be revised to apply to young people under that
age. Before this is done, however, any proposed revisions must be
discussed and debated in detail, with testimony provided by educators and
law-enforcement officials. Voters should not allow politicians to fall
back on hollow promises. Vague suggestions of cracking down on teenage
criminal behavior do not solve the problem.

The issue is not simply the age of the culprits. The larger question is
why so many young people in this country now resort to violence so
easily. A recent survey of male junior and senior high school students by
the Management and Coordination Agency found that the older they are the
more likely they are to consider physically attacking their parents or
teachers. The National Police Agency has just reported that police
throughout the nation arrested 31 male juveniles suspected of murder or
attempted murder from the beginning of this year through the end of
April, double the number in the same period of 1999.

It is all too easy, however, to use the threat of severer punishments as
a cure-all. Some youthful lawbreakers deserve and require time in
juvenile reformatories, or possibly even in adult prisons. The motives
for the violence and the warning signs that are often ignored by parents
and teachers need to be considered. Too-hasty moves to incarcerate young
miscreants with adult offenders will only succeed in turning more of them
into hardened criminals.


[Copyright - The Japan Times: June 20, 2000]