Keidanren publishes business circles' plan for remaking Japan

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Keidanren publishes business circles' plan for remaking Japan

On January 1, the Japan Business Federation (Nippon Keidanren) headed by Mitarai Fujio, who assumed the chairship last May, published a report called the "Mitarai Vision" that shows business circles' plans for remaking Japan over the next ten years.

Consumption tax hikes, corporate tax cuts

This Vision called for a two-stage increase in the consumption tax rate to 10 percent from the present five percent, by which the amount of consumption tax will increase by 13 trillion yen.

On the other hand, it demanded a cut in the effective corporate tax to 30 percent from the present 40 percent which will give Toyota Motor tax cuts of 100 billion yen and Canon Inc., which Mitarai Fujio heads, 40 billion yen.

These corporate tax breaks amounting to five trillion yen will be fully made up for by the increase in the consumption tax rate.

Minimize government roles

The report states that the society will deal with the negative effects of widening social gaps with a "minimum required safety net" which they in fact want to make as small as possible. The report even proposed that such a safety net should not necessarily be provided as public services. In short, the report seeks to reduce the role of the government in the public services sector.

At the same time, it called for large scale national projects that will bring benefits to a handful of large corporations as well as foreign assistance programs that prioritize promotion of private sector economic activities.

Deregulation

The report proposed changing the local government system by introducing in FY 2015 a "doshu-sei" regional system to replace the current prefectural system. The "doshu-sei" will bring about broader economic zones fitting into large corporations so that these zones will better serve multinational corporations, according to the report.

Even today, local governments spend enormous amounts of tax money to attract large corporations. Taking advantage of economic globalization, Keidanren aims at establishing a system in which multinationals can exploit local government funds even more than they do today.

Creating more disposable workers

Pointing out that rules to protect workers have become a drag on a smooth transfer of the workforce to benefit corporations, the report emphasized that labor regulations must be reduced to a minimum.

In order to cut costs, large corporations have drastically replaced regular employment with non-regular and unstable employment. The government, for its part, has relaxed labor regulations to meet business circles' demands. This has resulted in the growing social problem of the "working poor."

By promoting deregulation, large corporations can make larger profits, but workers are turned into disposable workforce, thereby contributing to an increase in poverty and widening social gaps.

To turn Japan into a country fighting wars

The Mitarai Vision put forward the revision of Article 9 in order to enable Japan to take part in U.S. preemptive wars. It also attaches importance to instilling the public with patriotism, calling for hoisting the "Hinomaru" flag and singing "Kimigayo" in schools, public offices, workshops, and sports events on a daily basis.

Abandoning Article 9, however, will only isolate Japan from the international community.

Peddle influence with corporate political donations

The federation stressed the importance of maintaining the policy of giving corporate donations to political parties based on its own evaluation of party policies. This is nothing other than influence-peddling to have parties carry out policies favoring large corporations.
- Akahata, January 7, 2007