英字新聞
読売、毎日、朝日各社英字新聞の主として社説を学習研究します

The Yomiuri Shimbun
Safe management, local understanding needed for running ‘minpaku’ facilities
「民泊」のルール　安全管理と地域の理解が要る

The so-called “minpaku” business of using rooms in private homes or at condominiums to accommodate tourists, in place of hotels, is growing.
　個人宅の一角やマンションの空き室をホテル代わりに使う「民泊」が広がりを見せている。

Such services may be convenient as inexpensive lodging for foreign tourists, whose number has soared recently. But they are also causing problems between service users and local residents. It is necessary to expedite efforts to draw up relevant rules.
　安価な宿として、急増する外国人旅行者らにとっては便利なサービスだろうが、近隣住民とのトラブルも起きている。ルールの整備を急ぐ必要がある。

The Inns and Hotels Law stipulates that it is mandatory for operators of accommodations to obtain permission from local governments when accepting paying guests repetitively. An enforcement ordinance also sets standards for the size and structure of facilities to ensure hygiene and safety of accommodations. Rooms used as minpaku facilities are, in theory, subject to the law.
　旅館業法は、客を有料で繰り返し泊めるには、自治体の許可を得るよう定めている。施行令で宿泊施設の面積や構造、衛生や安全の面での基準も示している。民泊として使用する部屋も、本来なら旅館業法の適用を受ける。

Yet the number of rooms rented as minpaku facilities that have not obtained official licenses is rising sharply, particularly in urban areas, due to the shortage of hotels.
　だが、都市部を中心に、無許可の民泊用の部屋が急速に増えている。ホテル不足が背景にある。

Some business operators act as online go-betweens for people who want to rent empty rooms and tourists seeking places to stay. The number of registered properties using these services exceeds 20,000 in Japan. Yet most of these properties are believed to be operating without licenses.
　空き室を貸したい人と旅行者をインターネットを通じて仲介する業者もある。国内の登録物件は、２万件を超える。その多くが、無許可営業とみられる。

The current state of affairs should be improved as local governments cannot keep up with overseeing the growing number of such business operations.
　自治体の監視が追いつかない現状は、改善すべきだ。

With the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics scheduled for 2020, the central government — which aims to make Japan a tourism-oriented nation — has established a panel of experts, tasked with studying how minpaku services should be offered. While reviewing the Inns and Hotels Law, the panel will also consider the possibility of establishing new provisions.
　２０２０年東京五輪を控え、観光立国を掲げる政府は、民泊の在り方を検討する有識者会議を設置した。旅館業法を見直し、新たな規定を設けることも検討する。

It is important to make minpaku facilities places where tourists can stay with a sense of security.
　旅行者が安心して泊まれる受け皿とすることが大切だ。

Ward offers good example

In creating rules for minpaku facilities, efforts made by Tokyo’s Ota Ward, where Haneda Airport is located, serve as a useful example.
　民泊のルール作りを進める上で、羽田空港を抱える東京都大田区の取り組みは参考になろう。

Utilizing the government-designated national strategic special zone system, which exempts certain types of accommodation facilities for foreign tourists from adhering to the Inns and Hotels Law, the Ota Ward government has put into effect an ordinance to permit the operation of minpaku facilities. The ward will become the first special zone of this kind in Japan next year.
　外国人向けの一部の宿泊施設を旅館業法の適用外とする国家戦略特区制度を活用し、民泊を認める条例を成立させた。来年には全国初の特区としてスタートする。

In the special zone, individuals can rent rooms to tourists who plan to stay long term for seven days or more at their minpaku facilities. Such restrictions are designed so that minpaku facilities will not adversely affect the operations of hotels and ryokan inns.
　特区では、７日間以上の長期滞在者を民泊の対象としている。ホテルや旅館の業務を圧迫しないようにするための配慮だ。

The Ota Ward government plans to limit the area where minpaku facilities can operate to one where the construction of hotels and ryokan inns is permitted, in accordance with the Building Standards Law. The ward will also ask minpaku facilities operators to keep a copy of their guests’ passports to prevent such facilities from becoming hotbeds of crimes or terrorism.
　大田区は、民泊の対象エリアを建築基準法上、ホテルや旅館の建築が可能な地域に限定する方針だ。犯罪やテロの温床とならぬよう、受け入れ側にパスポートの写しの保管を求める。

All these measures are deemed necessary in operating such facilities in the area. Yet a number of challenges remain.
　地域で民泊を運用していくためには、いずれも必要な措置だろう。ただし、課題も少なくない。

Local residents may feel uneasy about seeing foreign strangers come and go from condominiums or private houses in their neighborhood.
　見知らぬ外国人がマンションなどに出入りすることに、不安を感じる住民もいるだろう。

The ordinance makes it mandatory for operators of minpaku facilities to inform nearby residents of their business plans in advance and enables ward government officials to make on-site inspections. We wonder how effective such measures would be.
　条例は、民泊の事業者に近隣住民への周知を義務づけ、区の立ち入り調査も可能にしたが、どこまで実効性があるだろうか。

Some grievances have been voiced by residents living near currently operating minpaku facilities over the ways tourists take out their garbage and the noise they make.
　既存の民泊施設では、宿泊者のゴミの出し方や騒音などに対し、住民から苦情が出ている。

To prevent friction from occurring in neighborhoods, minpaku operators should ensure their facilities are managed safely.
　地域であつれきが生じないよう、民泊施設の安全管理などに留意する必要がある。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Dec. 9, 2015)

The Yomiuri Shimbun
U.S. and intl community must not allow ISIL’s stoking of terrorism
米国のテロ対策　「イスラム国」の扇動を許すな

How can terrorism committed by individuals or a small group of people who have been radicalized through the Internet or other means be prevented? This is a tough challenge that should be tackled jointly by the international community.
　インターネットなどで過激思想に染まった個人や小グループによるテロをどう防ぐか。国際社会共通の困難な課題だ。

In an urgently televised address from the White House on Sunday, U.S. President Barack Obama warned that the “terrorist threat has evolved into a new phase.” His speech followed the shooting spree that occurred in western United States on Wednesday, killing 14 people. In the speech, Obama put forth a policy of strengthening measures against terrorism.
　オバマ米大統領は、緊急テレビ演説を行い、「テロの脅威は新たな段階に移っている」と警鐘を鳴らした。米西部で今月初めに１４人が殺害された銃乱射テロを受けたもので、テロ対策を強化する方針を示した。

The Muslim couple who perpetrated the deadly shooting had visited Internet sites related to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militant group. The wife reportedly pledged allegiance to ISIL in an online post. Pipe bombs and thousands of rounds of ammunition were discovered at their home.
　事件を起こしたイスラム教徒の夫妻は、過激派組織「イスラム国」の関連サイトを閲覧していた。妻はネットで忠誠を誓う書き込みも行っていた。自宅からパイプ爆弾や銃弾数千発が見つかった。

There was no ISIL directive to carry out the shooting, but the perpetrators are believed to have committed the crime after being influenced by a terrorism-stoking ideology that regards the United States and Europe as enemies.
　「イスラム国」からの犯行指示はなかったが、米欧を敵とみなし、テロを煽あおる過激思想に感化され、犯行に及んだのだろう。

It is a matter of concern that “lone wolf” terrorism by “home-grown terrorists,” such as the most recent case, has been on the rise globally.
　懸念されるのは、今回のような自国に長く住む「ホームグロウン・テロリスト」による「ローンウルフ（一匹狼おおかみ）」型のテロが世界的に増加傾向にあることだ。

The attack on a weekly political magazine publisher that took place in Paris in January and deadly attacks in the same city in November were both characterized by analysts as acts of “home-grown terrorists.”
　今年１月にパリで発生した政治週刊紙襲撃事件や１１月のパリ同時テロも、「ホームグロウン」による犯行と分析されている。

Since the 2001 simultaneous attacks by the Al-Qaida international terrorist organization, the United States has constantly monitored the moves of extremists to prevent a recurrence of similar incidents.
　米国は、国際テロ組織アル・カーイダが実行した２００１年の同時テロ以来、過激派の動向を常時監視し、再発を阻止してきた。

Find clues to potential terror

Finding clues for potential attacks by terrorists of the lone-wolf type is not easy because they exchange information with other people or organizations less frequently. It is reasonable that Obama pointed out the need for establishing a system under which data on communications can be obtained through the cooperation of the Internet industry.
　だが、「一匹狼」は外部との情報交換が乏しく、犯行の端緒をつかむのは容易ではない。オバマ氏がネット業界との協力を通じて、通信情報を得られる仕組み作りの重要性を指摘したのは妥当だ。

It is imperative to uncover potential terrorists hiding in society, and preempt their attacks.
　社会に潜む「テロリスト予備軍」をあぶり出し、犯行を防ぐことが肝要である。

It may be unavoidable that the United States has decided to adopt stricter visa screening of visitors.
　米国への渡航者の査証審査の厳格化もやむを得まい。

More than half of the governors of the 50 U.S. states oppose allowing Syrian refugees to settle in their states, and the House of Representatives has approved a bill calling for barring entry into the U.S. of such refugees. The United States is urged to carry on the tradition of turning the potential ability of immigrants and refugees into national power while simultaneously seeking to deter terrorism.
　米国では、５０州の半数以上の知事がシリア難民の受け入れに反対し、下院では停止を目指す法案が可決された。移民や難民の潜在力を国力に変えてきた伝統と、テロ阻止の両立が求められよう。

Moderate Islamic leaders of the world, for their part, need to clearly condemn the radicals’ propaganda that they are waging a “holy war against the United States and Europe.”
　世界各地の穏健なイスラム教指導者の側でも、「米欧に対する聖戦」という過激派の宣伝を明確に否定する取り組みが必要だ。

Halting the procurement of weapons by terrorists is also an urgent task. In the United States, a loophole in the law in this regard is that identification does not have to be confirmed in online transactions of firearms. It is problematic that highly lethal weapons can be purchased by individuals. Obama’s call to bolster gun control is understandable.
　テロリストの武器調達の阻止も急務である。米国では、ネットでの銃器売買で、身元確認が行われないなどの抜け穴がある。殺傷能力の高い武器を個人が購入できるのも問題だ。オバマ氏が銃規制強化を提唱したのは理解できる。

Defeating ISIL is difficult as long as its stoking of terrorism is left unchecked. Terrorism is a matter of concern not only for the United States and Europe but also for Japan and other Asian countries as well. Cooperation must be beefed up in responding to ISIL’s propaganda campaign and sharing information.
　「イスラム国」の扇動を許していては打倒は難しい。米欧だけでなく、日本などアジアにとっても人ごとではない。宣伝戦への対応や情報共有で連携を強めたい。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Dec. 8, 2015)

The Yomiuri Shimbun
Lavish budgetary handouts will not solve nation’s various problems
補正予算編成　バラマキで課題は解決しない

What is the purpose of a supplementary budget? The compilation of the envisaged budget must include efforts to fully examine its objective and its effectiveness.
　何のための補正予算なのか。その目的と効果を十分に吟味した編成が求められよう。

The government is working to draw up a supplementary budget for fiscal 2015, under instructions from Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The size of the budget will likely be somewhere in the first half of the ¥3 trillion range. The government will seek to shepherd the budget through the Diet after submitting it to an ordinary session of the legislature to be convened early in January.
　政府が、２０１５年度補正予算の編成作業を進めている。安倍首相が指示したもので、総額は３兆円台前半の見通しだ。年明けに召集される通常国会に提出し、成立を目指す。

The main pillars of the budget include emergency measures to realize “a society that will promote the dynamic engagement of all its citizens,” as well as steps aimed at addressing problems affecting the agricultural sector due to a broad agreement reached in multilateral talks over the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade pact.
　「１億総活躍社会」を実現するための緊急対策や、環太平洋経済連携協定（ＴＰＰ）の大筋合意に伴う農業対策が柱となる。

Another main feature of the budget is a plan to establish more nursing facilities for elderly people, in pursuit of the goal touted by the Abe administration to ensure that no one has to quit their job to provide nursing care for a relative. It can be hoped that the plan, if translated into action at an early date, will produce even greater results.
　安倍政権が掲げた「介護離職ゼロ」に向けた介護施設の増設などは、早期に着手することで、より大きな効果が期待できよう。

The budget is also likely to include allocations for such policies as antiterrorism measures to be taken in preparation for the Ise-Shima summit of Group of Seven nations in May next year, and rehabilitation work to be carried out in areas that were struck by natural disasters. They can be understood as urgent budgetary appropriations.
　来年５月の主要国首脳会議（伊勢志摩サミット）のテロ対策や、災害復旧の費用なども、緊急を要する予算であると理解できる。

However, the budgetary content currently being studied by the government entails a considerable number of items open to question. Doubts can be raised about whether they truly need to be funded by the supplementary budget.
　しかし、政府が検討中の内容には、補正予算で手当てする必要が本当にあるのか、疑問が生じる項目が少なくない。

There are concerns that the budget may include policies that could be viewed as lavish government handouts, in the guise of trying to improve the quality of social security services and addressing problems arising from the TPP accord. Such policies may serve as a means of responding to requests from elderly people and regional communities in preparation for next summer’s House of Councillors election. Each item included in the budget must be rigorously assessed by closely examining its cost-effectiveness.
　来夏に参院選を控え、高齢者や地方の要望に応えようと、社会保障の充実やＴＰＰ対策に名を借りた、バラマキ的な政策が紛れ込まないか。費用対効果を精査し、厳しく査定すべきだ。

Why limited to elderly?

One typical example of such lavishness is a plan to pay about ¥30,000 in benefits per person to elderly people who receive low pension payments. The plan has been described as a measure to address the increasing burden felt by ordinary households as a result of a rise in the consumption tax rate and rising prices due to the depreciation of the yen.
　典型的なのは、年金受給額が低い高齢者に１人あたり３万円程度の給付金を支給する案だ。消費税率の引き上げや、円安による物価上昇で家計の負担感が増していることに対応する狙いだという。

The number of elderly people eligible for such government benefits will likely surpass about 10 million, with the necessary budgetary funding expected to total as much as ¥300 billion. However, such a one-time benefit program may prove to be limited in producing good results.
　対象者は、約１０００万人超に上り、総額３０００億円規模の予算が必要となるが、一時的な給付金では効果は限られよう。

First of all, it is difficult to understand why the persons covered by the benefit program will be limited to pension recipients at a time when a large number of young people who are working in non-regular jobs for low salaries are experiencing financial hardships.
　そもそも、低所得で生活が苦しい若い非正規労働者も多いのに、給付対象を年金受給者だけに限ることも理解に苦しむ。

We believe the government should thoroughly discuss measures to aid low-income members of the population within the social security policy framework — not just try to address pertinent issues on an ad hoc basis with the supplementary budget.
　補正予算で場当たり的に対応するのでなく、社会保障政策全体の中で、低所得者対策をしっかりと議論すべきではないか。

The budget is also expected to incorporate such TPP-related measures as plans to build and improve farm roads and carry out other land improvement projects. We doubt that our nation’s agricultural competitiveness will be increased only through efforts to add such conventional agricultural civil engineering projects to the existing ones. The boost to the economy will also be limited.
　ＴＰＰ対策では、農道整備などの土地改良事業が盛り込まれるとみられる。こうした従来型の農業土木事業を積み増しても、農業の競争力強化にはつながるまい。景気浮揚効果も限定的だ。

We believe importance should be attached to implementing measures aimed at supporting farmers who are willing to adopt a proactive stance regarding their agricultural operations. Specific steps include cultivating channels for overseas sales conducive to bolstering agricultural exports and developing new high value-added products.
　農作物の輸出を後押しする海外販路の開拓や、付加価値の高い新商品の開発など「攻めの農業」の支援策に重点を置きたい。

Fiscal resources necessary for the supplementary budget will be raised by using appropriations left unused under the fiscal 2014 budget and extra gains accrued from greater-than-expected tax revenue due to an economic recovery in fiscal 2015.
　補正予算の財源は、１４年度予算の使い残しと、景気回復で増えた１５年度税収の上振れ分で賄う。

We find it reasonable to avoid issuing new government bonds under the budget. In consideration of the nation’s critical fiscal condition, however, it should not be forgotten that the reasonable option for utilizing an unused portion of budgetary allocations is to set it aside to repay debts.
　新規国債の発行を回避するのは妥当だが、危機的な財政状況を考えれば、本来、余った予算は借金返済に充てるのが筋であることも忘れてはなるまい。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Dec. 7, 2015)

December 6, 2015 (Mainichi Japan)
Kaleidoscope of the Heart: My life is fine as it is
香山リカのココロの万華鏡: 私の人生　これでよし　／東京

I recently appeared on a radio program as a guest.
　ラジオの特別番組のゲストに出た。

The subject of the program was songs that speak our feelings.
テーマは「私の気持ちを代弁してくれる歌」。

We collected requests from listeners for songs.
生放送中にリクエストを募るのだが、

Perhaps because the radio host, myself and the other two guests were all women, we received emails and fax messages from female listeners across a wide range of ages.
パーソナリティーも３人のゲストも女性だからか、幅広い世代の女性リスナーからたくさんのメール、ファクスが来た。

Every person wrote not only the name of the song they wanted, but when and under what circumstances they listened to it in the past.
　どの人も、曲名だけでなく、いつ、どんな状況で好きだったかを書いてくれる。

"When I lost my husband of many years, I was cheered up by this song," wrote one listener.
「長年連れ添った夫を亡くしたとき、どれほど励まされたか」

"I quietly handed this CD over to my son, who was becoming a shut-in," wrote another.
「引きこもりぎみの息子にそっとＣＤを渡しました」といった感動的な話から

Yet another listener sent a story that made me worry a bit, reading, "When I reunited with this person who I used to like, we were both married.
「好きだった人と再会したときはお互い既婚者。

I now keep in contact with this person as a friend, and I put my feelings in this song."
いまは友だちとして連絡している私の気持ちを曲に託します」など、思わず「大丈夫か」とドキドキしてしまう話まであった。

At any rate, I really feel that women have a lot of changes in their lives.
　それにしても、つくづく「オンナの人生、いろいろなことがある」と思う。

From marriage to childbirth to child-raising, their roles in life change around quickly and drastically.
結婚から出産、育児と立場が目まぐるしく変わり、

Sometimes they may live overseas as their husband's jobs are relocated, or they may suddenly have to deal with caring for an elderly relative.
ときには夫の転勤などでいきなり外国に住んだり突然介護の問題が迫ってきたりすることもある。

Having children is a happy thing, but they are also the source of great concern, such as when they won't talk to their parents, or when they are slow in becoming independent.
子どもがいるのは幸せなことだが「親と口をきかない」「いつまでも自立しない」など大きな悩みの種になることもある。

Women's lives don't go at all according to their plans.
自分でいくら人生のプランを立てても、ちっともその通りにいかない、というのが女の人生だ。

Neither the radio show personality nor I have children.
　パーソナリティーを務めた女性アナウンサーにも私にも子どもはおらず、

We occasionally do jobs together once every few years, and our situations are similar.
何年に一度かいっしょに仕事をする機会があるが、お互い状況はあまり変わらない。

When the radio show ended at around 11 p.m., we went out for drinks, and remarked on our carefree lives.
放送が夜１１時近くに終わってから「飲みに行こう」と街にくり出し、「私たちはずいぶん気楽な生活だな」と苦笑してしまった。

The national government is pushing a goal to ensure active lives for all citizens, creating a society where people can have and raise children without concern, and not have to worry about quitting their jobs to care for elderly family.
　政府は「１億総活躍」というキーワードを掲げ、安心して子どもを産み育て、介護で仕事をやめる必要のない社会を作ろう、と言っている。

I will be perfectly happy if that happens, but I don't want the national government or government organs telling people how to live, and even if people decide their own lives, things don't necessarily go to plan.
そうなるのはおおいに歓迎だが、それでも「こう生きなさい」と国や行政に決められたくはないし、自分で決めたとしてもなかなかうまくいかない場合もある。

When things don't go to plan, we don't have to think of our lives as failures.
そのときに「私の人生、失敗ね」と自信を失う必要はない。

Every life is a unique one that only that person can live.
どんな人生も、その人にしか歩めない、世界にふたつとないものだからだ。

Whether that life is one that we chose or one that came unexpectedly, we should be proud and say, "My life is fine as it is."
それが選んだ結果であっても期せずしてそうなった場合でも、自分で「私の人生、これでよし」と誇りに感じるべきだ。

I myself did not live focusing solely on my work.
　私にしても、「これしかない」と強く思って仕事ひとすじに生きてきたわけではない。

But before I knew it, I had become this age.
はっと気づいたらこの年齢、という感じだ。

Still, as I drank good wine with that radio show host who I've long known, I felt, "This life isn't so bad."
それでも長いつき合いの女性アナとおいしいワインで乾杯していると「まあ、この人生、悪くないな」と思えてくるからおもしろい。

(By Rika Kayama, psychiatrist) （精神科医）
毎日新聞2015年12月1日　地方版

--The Asahi Shimbun, Dec. 5
EDITORIAL: Stench of corruption lingers over Futenma relocation plan
（社説）辺野古とカネ　移設の陰の不透明さ

An Okinawa construction company that won a public works contract related to the U.S. military base relocation plan in Nago donated 900,000 ($7,310) yen to six candidates in the 2014 Lower House election.
The six all won their single-seat districts in the prefecture. A political donation linked to a national election made by a central government contractor represents an illegal act banned by the Public Offices Election Law.
The company won a contract to build an embankment on Nago’s Henoko district shore, where the government plans to relocate the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma from Ginowan, also in Okinawa Prefecture.
　沖縄・米軍普天間飛行場の辺野古移設工事を受注した建設業者が、昨年の衆院選の前、当選した６人に計９０万円を寄付していたことが分かった。
　国と契約を結ぶ業者からの国政選挙に関する寄付は、公職選挙法で禁じられた違法行為だ。

The Asahi Shimbun has learned that the contractor also made donations to candidates for local government chief elections in the past.
　受注業者は、首長選でも候補者側への寄付を重ねていた。

These dubious campaign donations inevitably raise suspicions. They suggest that the company paid the cash in the hope of building collusive ties with politicians to gain favor with regard to government contracts for the gigantic public works airbase project.
　辺野古移設という巨大な公共事業をめぐり、選挙支援と引き換えに政治家の利権に期待する建設業者――。そんな癒着が疑われても仕方がない構図だ。

Both the politicians and the company should, of course, start behaving with greater integrity.
　政治家も、業者もきちんと襟を正すのは当然のことだ。

This is not the first time that shady cash payments related to the Futenma relocation plan have come to light.
　辺野古移設に関して、不透明なカネのやりとりが明るみに出たのはこれだけではない。

It has also been disclosed that three members of a government panel to study the project’s environmental impact, including the committee chairman, received donations totaling 11 million yen from contractors undertaking the construction work.
　移設工事を環境面から監視する専門家委員会の委員３人が、委員就任決定後に受注業者から計１１００万円の寄付金を受け、

Another committee member received remuneration from a corporation affiliated with one of the contractors.
他の１委員も受注業者の関連法人から報酬を受けていたことも先に明らかになっている。

The central government set up the panel to discuss the project from a scientific viewpoint and inform them about developments in related projects.
　委員会は国が設置。移設事業を科学的に審議し、工事の変更などを国に指導する。

The fact is that the experts tasked to assess the environmental impact of the construction works received cash from the companies that carry out the works.
その任をゆだねられた専門家が、事業を請け負う業者からカネを受けとっていた構図だ。

The government claims the panel has been discussing issues in a fair and neutral manner. But it’s hard to believe the companies that paid the money expected nothing in return.
　政府は「委員会は公平中立な立場で議論が行われている」としているが、カネを出す業者側に何らかの期待がないとは思えない。

Refusing to receive money or other gifts from any interested party is the minimum ethical requirement for members of such a committee.
利害関係者から金品を受けとらないことは、委員の最低限の倫理ではないのか。

There has also been a case of questionable payments with regard to the project by the government itself.
　政府自身が不透明な公金を支出する例もある。

At the end of last month, the administration decided to provide state subsidies to the three districts of Kushi, Henoko and Toyohara in Nago, collectively known as the “Three Kube Districts.”
The three districts, which are located near the site where the new military facilities are being built, will each receive up to 13 million yen in state subsidies for the current fiscal year.
　政府は先月末、名護市の移設先周辺の「久辺（くべ）３区」（久志、辺野古、豊原）に今年度は１区につき最大１３００万円の補助金を出すことを決めた。

The Three Kube Districts, however, are not official administrative units like Tokyo’s 23 wards. They are more like neighborhood associations.
　区といっても東京２３区のような自治体ではなく、町内会のようなものだ。

The decision represents an unusual move by the central government. It will supply the public funds directly, bypassing the authorities of Okinawa Prefecture and Nago, whose chiefs are opposed to the government’s plan to relocate the Futenma air base to Henoko.
移設に反対する県や市の頭越しに、３区だけに公金を出す異例の施策である。

The government seems to have lost sight of administrative decency and fairness in a rush to build the new base.
　辺野古移設を急ぐあまり、行政としての公正さ、公平さを見失ってはいないか。

Actually, there have been a number of cases across the nation in which questionable cash payments related to public works projects have divided communities.
　沖縄に限らず、公共事業をめぐる不透明なカネが地域に分断を生んできた例はこれまでも数多い。

It should be noted that many local construction companies struggling to stay afloat depend on public works projects for survival.
疲弊する地域の建設業者にとって、公共事業が「命綱」である側面もあるだろう。

Even so, politicians and bureaucrats should strictly prohibit themselves from getting involved in any opaque or questionable cash payments. This kind of shady money only deepens distrust among local populations, undermines the arena for honest public debate and causes divisions within communities.
　だとしても、政治家や行政が不透明・不自然なカネのやりとりにかかわることは、住民の不信を広げ、ともに考える土俵を損ね、住民の間に分断を持ち込むだけだ。厳に慎むべきである。

For both advocates and opponents of the Futenma relocation plan, fair and above-board procedures for related decisions and measures must be the minimum precondition for discussions on this issue.
　手続きが公正・公平であることは、基地移設への賛否を超えて、この問題を議論する最低限の前提でなければならない。

--The Asahi Shimbun, Dec. 3
EDITORIAL: Doubts remain on effectiveness of corporate tax cut
（社説）法人減税加速　効果が見通せない

The Abe administration has decided to lower the effective corporate tax rate to less than 30 percent next fiscal year. The reduction of taxation on corporate profits will come earlier than originally scheduled.
　企業の利益にかかる法人実効税率が予定を早めて引き下げられ、来年度に３０％を切る見通しとなった。

The Finance Ministry and other related government bodies had agreed with Keidanren (Japan Business Federation), the nation’s most powerful business lobby, to lower the rate more gradually, from the current level of slightly higher than 32 percent to below 30 percent in fiscal 2017.
財務省などの関係省庁と経団連は、今は３２％強の実効税率を段階的に下げ、１７年度に２０％台とすることで一致していた。

But the prime minister’s office, which has been keen to push through corporate tax reform, has decided to quicken the pace of the tax reduction.
それを法人税改革に熱心な首相官邸が前倒しした。

If the proposal is implemented, the effective corporate tax rate will have been lowered by a total of 7 percentage points since Prime Minister Shinzo Abe returned to power in December 2012.
第２次安倍政権の発足以来、計７％幅の引き下げになる。

The corporate tax reform is aimed at re-energizing the economy by encouraging companies to raise wages and expand their investment in equipment and facilities.
　改革の目的は、賃上げや設備投資の回復につなげて経済を元気にすることだ。

Both wages and corporate capital investment are showing signs of growing, but only moderately. Instead of spending heavily to increase wages and capital investment, companies are building up their cash reserves.
しかし、賃金、投資とも改善の傾向にはあるものの力強さを欠き、企業は手元資金を積み上げている。

Will simply accelerating the pace of tax reduction produce expected results? Or is there a more focused and effective approach to stimulating companies to ramp up their spending?
　これまでの取り組みを加速すれば効果が期待できるのか。企業のおカネを動かすために、もっと的を絞った対策はないのか。

The Abe administration has made the decision without holding sufficient debate on these and other questions that should be sorted out.
詰めるべき論点を素通りしたと言わざるをえない。

The process leading to the decision raises even more questions about the wisdom of the measure.
　今回の検討の過程を振り返ると、疑問はいっそう膨らむ。

In its talks with business leaders, the Abe administration made repeated requests for wage hikes and expansion of investment even though decisions concerning these issues should in principle be left to individual companies.
　最終的には個々の企業が決める賃上げや投資増について、政権は「官民対話」の場で要求を繰り返し、

Those in the business community responded to these requests by saying they need a corporate tax cut and other measures to ease their burden.
経済界は「それには法人減税などが不可欠」と切り返してきた。

In the end, Keidanren expressed the “expectation” that profitable companies will give their employees bigger wage hikes next fiscal year than the increases in the current year. The business group also made the “projection” that corporate capital spending will increase by 10 trillion yen ($81.6 billion) from this year to more than 81 trillion yen in fiscal 2018.
　結局、賃上げについて「収益拡大企業への、今年を上回る引き上げへの期待」を、設備投資では「今年度と比べて１０兆円増の８１兆円強に増えるとの見通し」を経団連が表明し、

The administration welcomed Keidanren’s replies as “important messages” and decided to push down the effective corporate tax rate.
政権が「重く受け止める」と応じて、税率下げの前倒しが固まった。

During the talks between the government and the business community, however, more time could have been spent on such relevant issues as the merits and demerits of so-called special tax measures.
　官民対話では、たとえば租税特別措置（租特）の功罪について議論を深めてもよかった。

Special tax measures could degenerate into hotbeds of vested interests, but they often produce immediate effects.
　租特には、既得権の温床になりかねないマイナス面の一方、即効性がある。

There are currently special tax benefits in place for achieving such policy objectives as promoting capital investment and research and development spending by companies and stimulating wage and job growth. But there may be room for improvements and upgrades in these measures.
今も設備・研究開発投資の促進や雇用増、賃上げを狙った特別措置が実施されているが、改善と工夫の余地はないだろうか。

Proponents of lower corporate taxation claim the effective tax rate in Japan is high by international standards and serves as a factor that discourages foreign companies from expanding into Japan.
　実効税率の引き下げにしても、「日本は国際的に高く、だから海外の企業が日本に来ない」とされるが、

But is the corporate tax rate really the main cause of stagnant growth in foreign direct investment in Japan?
対日投資が伸びないのは税制が主因なのか。

The government and the ruling coalition intend to adjust the rules concerning the corporate enterprise tax, a local tax, to prevent the cut in the effective corporate tax rate from making a big dent in the tax revenue.
　政府・与党は、法人実効税率を下げる一方で地方税の法人事業税を見直し、税収減を防ぐ考えだ。

Specifically, the scope of so-called pro forma standard taxation, which is based on measures of the companies’ size, such as payrolls and interest payments, instead of profits, will be expanded to increase taxation on money-losing companies. Only large companies with capital exceeding 100 million yen are subject to this local tax.
資本金１億円超の大企業を対象に、利益ではなく人件費や利払い額を基準に課税している「外形標準課税」を広げ、赤字企業への課税を強める。

This policy of expanding the taxation base by using pro forma standard taxation while reducing the effective tax rate is in line with the latest international trend.
　外形標準課税などで課税ベースを広げつつ税率を下げる方向性は、最近の国際的な傾向に沿う。

But there can be a serious debate on whether it is appropriate to exempt small and midsized companies, many of which are unprofitable, from the tax.
ただ、赤字が多い中小企業が対象外のままでよいのか。

Individual taxpayers in this nation are facing the prospect of a higher consumption tax.
　国民は消費増税に向き合っている。

Unless they become more convinced of the benefits of the corporate tax reform, Japanese consumers could start feeling strong doubt and discontent about the tax system as a whole.
法人税改革の成果が見通せないと、税制全体への疑問や不満が高まりかねない。

The Abe administration needs to be aware of this risk.
政権は自覚してほしい。