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2024 February 21 - 27 TOP3 [POLITICS]

Kishida gov’t seeks to introduce contingency legislation forcing flower growers to plant potatoes

As shown in recent Diet meetings, the Kishida government appears to speed up its move to turn Japan into a nation fighting wars.

In a House of Representatives Budget Committee meeting on February 22, Japanese Communist Party representative Tamura Takaaki opposed the government plan to submit to the current Diet session a bill that will enable the government to order farmers to expand or switch to production of rice, wheat, soy beans, and potatoes in the event of an emergency such as warfare.

Tamura pointed out that under the bill, flower growers will be ordered to plant potatoes in contingency situations and punished if they refuse to follow the government order. The JCP lawmaker criticized the bill as being like the prewar National Mobilization Law. Pointing out that the bill is linked to the three key national security documents, Tamura said that the introduction of the bill is part of the government move to turn Japan into a war-fighting nation.

At the February 26 meeting of the Lower House Budget Committee, when asked if the government plans to construct shelters in preparedness for a possible enemy attack, Prime Minister Kishida Fumio said that the government will establish a basic policy for the construction of air-raid shelters and set guidelines for the structural design of air-raid shelters by the end of March.