Greetings

Greetingd!

Most of the media and leading figures in Japan pointed out that the Japan was currently inward-looking, which means that Japan is not interested in the developments outside the country. It could be understandable that Japan currently is faced with several important domestic issues, some of which got deteriorated through the improper handling of the ruling party and the one-sided irrational comments by the opposition party. Reliability of the public pension fund system is one area. There are not a few other areas.

However, Japan is constantly challenged both domestically and internationally. What is understood as the necessity of reform in the Koizumi period should not be forgotten even though the supporting base of Fukuda Government is considerably weak especially as the Upper House is dominated by the opposition party. I strongly hope that the next general election in the Lower House should see the substantial competition of the policy proposals of the two parties and that the Japanese should vote after comparing such political assertions.

Currently both parties do not want that the elections should take place right away. LDP seems to hope that it would take place after the Summit Meeting in Hokkaido in July, whereas the opposition party seems to welcome one around the end of March or early April, in my personal impression.

I had a bad cold early this new year and had to spend the holidays mostly in Japanese bed. I hope to recover soon.