Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos drew international attention for its discussion of global governance and new rules for big data within the WTO framework.
Yet upon returning to Japan, political debate quickly shifted to sensational discussions about statistical irregularities at the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.
Quoting the Nikkei column “Oiso-Koiso,” the author argues that Japan’s domestic debate reveals a striking gap in enthusiasm and literacy regarding economic policy compared with the level of discussion seen at Davos.

2019-02-15.
Listening to the policy debates in Japan after the Davos meeting makes one keenly aware of the enormous gap in enthusiasm and literacy regarding economic issues.
The following is from today’s Nikkei newspaper column “Oiso-Koiso.”
Aside from its reporting on economic trends, the Nikkei often reads like a second-hand version of the Asahi Shimbun and frequently carries articles strangely accommodating toward China, yet this column occasionally produces essays that every Japanese citizen should read.
The day before yesterday, while watching NHK’s watch9, I was so enraged by the severity of its biased reporting—by what can only be described as the conduct of agents of China and the Korean Peninsula who dominate the newsroom and behave like outright traitors—that I rebuked them in Nobunaga’s thunderous voice, shouting, “You fool!”
The author perfectly proves the reason for my anger and the correctness of my argument.
Through my translation, people around the world who read this essay will understand that even Japan—a country where the Turntable of Civilization turns according to divine providence—has people afflicted with the same leftist infantilism that infects the United Nations and the media in many countries.
These people not only repeat biased reporting while calling themselves journalists.
Just like in your countries.
Agents of anti-Japan states such as China and the Korean Peninsula spread anti-Japan propaganda whenever possible and strive to shape public opinion in that direction.
This essay was written by a man of true discernment who stands at the exact opposite pole from the malicious actors inhabiting Japan, the developed world, and the United Nations—those who attack Japan, halt the progress of the Turntable of Civilization, and plunge the world into chaos.
It should also make perfectly clear why I say that Arima of watch9 has already become a traitor to the nation.
Indeed, people of that kind are the most pernicious.
Lamenting the gap with Davos.
Japan will serve for the first time as chair of the G20 summit to be held in Osaka this June.
Against this backdrop, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s speech at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos in late January drew great attention.
About one third of the speech dealt with the results of reforms in the Japanese economy, while the remainder discussed how to manage an increasingly unstable world.
It was a discussion worthy of the dignity of the G20 chairmanship.
Specifically, he spoke of how the future use of big data will fundamentally change the structure of the economy and society, that new global rules should be created on this issue, and that the Osaka summit would become a historic first step.
His clear statement that such a framework should be created under the World Trade Organization drew strong praise.
Yet the moment the prime minister returned to Japan, he became engulfed in talk-show-style debates over statistical irregularities at the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.
Certainly, falsifying statistics is an obvious violation of the law, and the ministry’s attempt to close the matter through an internal committee is also problematic.
However, arguments that use this issue to completely deny Abenomics are far too abrupt.
Some criticize the fact that real wages were negative, but wages are a lagging indicator, so this is not unusual during a recovery phase.
Conversely, after the collapse of the bubble economy, real wages continued to rise for a long period.
The remaining problem of Abenomics is that productivity has not improved sufficiently.
Unless productivity rises, real wages will not increase.
This requires bold structural reforms to enhance industrial renewal and to accelerate regulatory reform.
Yet some opposition parties and media outlets that criticize stagnant real wages are themselves opposed to such reforms.
This is a clear contradiction.
To borrow the words of Jean Tirole, author of Economics for the Common Good, it is “like shooting yourself in the foot.”
Behind the statistical irregularities lies the fact that statistical specialists are not valued within the Kasumigaseki bureaucracy and that budget and personnel allocations to statistical departments are insufficient.
Constructive debate on correcting this should be the theme of the Diet.
Listening to Japan’s policy debates after the Davos meeting makes one keenly aware of the enormous gap in enthusiasm and literacy regarding economic issues.
(Yumekaze)