Tokyo, du rififi chez les tatoués

Update : Tokyo Yakuza 21/Jan/2014

I am in Tokyo, talking with a policeman, agent specialised in gangs, he tells me coldly that the scary Mexican gangs are now working in Japan and fight with the Japanese Yakuza for narcotics business in Japan (on trafficking amphetamines)

And I read in wikipedia “The Yoshitomi Group is known working together with the Los Zetas and the Beltrán-Leyva Cartel, in illegal drug trafficking, kidnapping and contract killing in the United States, as the cartel operates in Mexico, the Yoshitomi-gumi are evidently not involved with the human trafficking ring although they are involved in political corruption, that support this cause.”

(Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoshitomi_Group This page was last modified on 4 January 2014 at 02:05)


Update : Tokyo Yakuza 15/Fe/2007

Difficile de séparer les véritables gangsters des
milieux moins flambeurs intéressés eux-aussi par le
contrôle du centre de Tokyo...

Faits et citations:

Un gros bonnet du milieu yakuza, la pègre japonaise, a
été retrouvé mort jeudi à Tokyo, après un apparent
suicide, au moment où "une guerre de gangs" surgit
pour le contrôle du coeur de la capitale. Kazuyoshi
Kudo, 70 ans, a été découvert sur son sofa par un de
ses "soldats" venu lui apporter son petit-déjeuner, a
indiqué la police, qui dit privilégier l'hypothèse
"d'un suicide." M. Kudo était le parrain du clan
Kokusai, affilié à la "famille" des Yamaguchi, de loin
la plus puissante organisation mafieuse de l'Archipel,
a expliqué une porte-parole de la police. Le gangster
se serait "tiré une balle dans la tête." La police a
immédiatement ouvert une enquête sur un possible lien
entre le décès du chef du clan Kokusai et une récente
guerre de territoires entre syndicats du crime
japonais à Tokyo. Début février, une série de
fusillades entre yakuza a animé le quartier
cosmopolite de Roppongi, artère de bars et de
restaurants, en plein coeur de Tokyo. Un mafieux a
été tué.

Eng:
The boss of a gang affiliated with Japan's largest
crime syndicate was found dead at his home in Tokyo's
Taito-ku on Thursday, apparently after committing
suicide by shooting himself, police said. Kazuyoshi
Kudo, head of the Kokusui-kai, a gang affiliated with
the Yamaguchi-gumi crime syndicate, was found dead at
his home when police arrived at about 9:20 a.m. on
Thursday. A handgun was found near Kudo's body. Based
on evidence found at the scene, police suspect
70-year-old Kudo used the weapon to kill himself.
Investigators said Kudo was lying dead on a sofa in
the second-floor living room of his home, bleeding
from the head. A gang member who found him reported
his death to Asakusa Police Station.

(This month three shootings targeting Yamaguchi-gumi
gangs have occurred. The shootings, believed to have
been carried out by members of gangs affiliated with
the rival Sumiyoshi-kai crime syndicate followed the
fatal Feb. 5 shooting of a high-ranking member of a
Sumiyoshi-kai affiliated gang. In one incident a
bullet was also shot into a condominium housing a
Kokusui-kai affiliated gang office. On Feb. 8, the
Yamaguchi-gumi and Sumiyoshi-kai reportedly agreed to
discontinue fighting, and conflict between the two
crime syndicates had died down since then. The series
of shootings was believed to have been sparked by a
conflict between the Kokusui-kai and gangsters
affiliated with the Sumiyoshi-kai over gang turf.
Sources close to the gangs said that despite the
agreement between the two crime syndicates, talk on
the treatment of Kudo had continued. Police said it
was unlikely that Kudo's suicide would lead to more
rivalry between the gangs, but warned that internal
conflict within the Yamaguchi-gumi and Kokusui-kai
related to issues including Kudo's successor could
occur. The Kokusui-kai is based in Tokyo's Taito-ku
and has about 1,060 members and affiliates. Kudo
assumed leadership of the gang in 1991. In 2005 the
gang came under the direct control of the
Yamaguchi-gumi, and Kudo was appointed as a top
advisor to the Yamaguchi-gumi. (Agencies) )



Une guerre des gangs Yakuza a éclaté cette semaine sur
Tokyo pour le contrôle de leurs activités
traditionnelles comme le racket, les prêts usuraires,
le proxénétisme, la drogue, les jeux d'argent
illégaux, les technologies de l'information, les
firmes Internet.

Les deux plus grands syndicats du crime japonais ont
signé une trêve jeudi après de violents règlements de
comptes qui ont fait craindre à une reprise de guerre
des gangs entre le Yamaguchi-gumi basé à Kobe et la
Sumiyoshi-kai de Tokyo après la mort d'un Parrain de la
Sumiyoshi.

Les Yakuza se consacrent de plus en plus au
blanchiment d'argent sale et emploient à cette fin des
méthodes de plus en plus sophistiquées. Les Yakuza
sont célèbres pour leurs tatouages, leur obéissance
aveugle à leur organisation et leurs rituels,
notamment celui de l'auto-amputation d'un doigt pour
ceux qui se rendent coupables de manque de loyauté

"Les forces de l'ordre recensaient fin décembre 84.700
Yakuza dans l'Archipel, soit 1600 de moins qu'un an
plus tôt, indique un rapport de la police. Sur ce
nombre, seuls 41.500 travaillaient à temps complet
pour un syndicat du crime, les 43.200 restants ne
prêtant qu'un concours ponctuel aux organisations
mafieuses.

Ces criminels à temps partiel choisissent peut-être
délibérément cette situation "pour infiltrer plus
facilement les milieux d'affaires et le monde
politique", a expliqué une porte-parole de la police
nationale. "Qu'ils soient à plein temps ou à temps
partiel, ce sont tous des criminels".

"Outre leurs activités traditionnelles comme le
racket, les prêts usuraires, le proxénétisme et les
jeux d'argent illégaux, les Yakuza se consacrent de
plus en plus au blanchiment d'argent sale. Ils
emploient à cette fin des méthodes de plus en plus
sophistiquées.

Il existe au Japon quatre grandes "familles"
subdivisées en plusieurs centaines de clans. D'après
la police, la violence liée à la pègre est en
constante diminution depuis qu'en 2004 la Cour suprême
a statué que les chefs mafieux étaient responsables
des meurtres commis par leurs affidés. Sur les 53
fusillades signalées au Japon en 2006, 36 étaient le
fait de gangsters, soit 29% de moins qu'un an plus
tôt." (Texte et agences)

D'autres détails en anglais :


Police moved Thursday to ward off a swelling turf war
between Japan's two largest underworld gangs, sending
dozens of investigators to raid the offices of one of
the groups believed to be behind the violence. Ending
a yearlong hiatus in gang violence, the 43-year-old
boss of a gang affiliated with the Tokyo-based
Sumiyoshi-kai syndicate was shot to death on Monday.
The killing is believed to have prompted three more
shootings this week at gangland headquarters in Tokyo.
The murderer remains at large. No other injuries have
been reported. Hoping to keep the violence from
escalating, police on Wednesday arrested two members
of a gang that belongs to the Sumiyoshi-kai syndicate.
The two are suspected of firing shots into the front
door of an office used by the rival Yamaguchi-gumi.

About 40 officers, many in full body armor, also
raided the offices of the Sumiyoshi-kai affiliate on
Thursday. Police refuse to comment on the motive for
the shootings, but shooting into the doors or windows
of a rival gang's offices are the hallmark of
underworld retaliation in Japan. The Yamaguchi-gumi,
which with 21,000 members is the largest in Japan, and
8,000-strong Sumiyoshi-kai have frequently been
involved in turf wars in recent years. Police say the
strife has been generated by the Yamaguchi-gumi's
rapid expansion of its operations in Tokyo, the
Sumiyoshi-kai's traditional base. The Yamaguchi-gumi
is based not in Tokyo but in Kobe. The high-profile
violence has alarmed residents of Tokyo, where
shootings are rare, and police have moved quickly to
quell it.

Like gangsters in other parts of the world, Japan's
are involved in extortion, gambling, the sex industry,
gunrunning, drug trafficking, and real estate and
construction kickback schemes. Because handguns are
strictly banned, most shootings in this country
involving them are related to gangland violence.
Despite the recent respite in violence, crackdowns on
gangsters -- known here as "yakuza," which means
roughly "good for nothing," have had limited results.
The number of gangsters nationwide -- including
"freelancers" who aren't formal gang members but are
loosely allied with the groups -- has grown to about
84,500, down slightly from two years ago but up
considerably from the 61,000 or so in 1991, according
to police figures. The majority belong to the
Yamaguchi-gumi, Sumiyoshi-kai and Inagawa-kai, which
is also based in the Tokyo area. (Agencies)

Extracts of : David E. Kaplan and Alec Dubro

"Yakuza Japan's Criminal Underworld"

CHAPTER TEN

OLD MARKETS AND NEW

At the height of the bubble economy, police in Chiba
Prefecture, home to Tokyo's Narita International
Airport, finally started keeping tabs on just how many
yakuza were heading overseas. The officials
identified 2,916 yakuza traveling abroad in 1988, and
3,696 during the first nine months of 1989. Those
numbers are likely conservative, given the yakuza who
undoubtedly slipped through uncounted. The newspaper
Asahi reported that of some 87,000 yakuza in 1989, an
estimated 10,000 went abroad. Half of the gangsters
identified by Chiba police were headed to South Korea,
followed by the Philippines, Thailand, Hong Kong,
Taiwan, Saipan, and Guam. Only thirty-five said they
were going to the United States, a likely response to
tougher screening by U.S. Customs and Immigration
officials. Asked why they were traveling abroad, most
said they were tourists, traveling for golf, sex,
gambling, and gun-firing practice. Chiba officials
duly notified Japanese Customs to target the gangsters
on their return home, yet oddly no notice went out to
law enforcement overseas. The insular Japanese police
opted not to alert foreign officials that several
thousand gangsters were heading their way.

Click the title to access the chapter ten

Iraq war "absurd"! Opposition leader Ozawa Ichiro tells press

Ichiro Ozawa, the leader of the opposition DPJ,
Democratic Party of Japan, said Tuesday at the Japan
National Press Club he would have urged U.S. President
George W. Bush not to start an "absurd" war in Iraq
in 2003 if he was prime minister at the time.

Ozawa also said the Japanese government should have
explained clearly the reason why Japan made the
decision to support the Iraq war, criticizing the
government for following what he termed as such a
problematic tendency in Japanese society of not being
assertive enough.

His comments came after recent controversial remarks
by Foreign Minister Taro Aso calling the U.S. policy
on Iraq "very naive" and Defense Minister Fumio Kyuma
saying the U.S. led invasion of Iraq was "wrong." "I
would have told Mr. Bush, "Don't do such absurd
things if I had been in the position" of Junichiro
Koizumi who was then prime minister of Japan, Ozawa
said in a press conference at the Japan National Press
Club.

"It is fine to say "we will cooperate," but what I
want to say is that you should clearly explain your
own thoughts such as "we will cooperate because of
this and that." Don't make nonsense quibbles," Ozawa
said.

On domestic politics: Ozawa stressed the importance
for the DPJ to attract voters in the local elections
in April and the House of Councillors election in July
by explaining party policies simply and easily.

As for the revision of the Constitution, which Prime
Minister Shinzo Abe has vowed to realize and highlight
as one of the major issues for the upper house
election, Ozawa said it will be difficult to become a
point of issue in the election campaign because the
public will be more interested in themes which are
closer to their daily lives.

Grilled on secret expenses by politicians: Ozawa also
indicated he may voluntarily disclose details of his
office expenses, which have been criticized by some
Cabinet ministers and senior ruling camp lawmakers for
their huge amount. "There would certainly be time
when such a method should be taken," Ozawa said.

Unclear office expenses have recently surfaced among
both ruling and opposition lawmakers, becoming a
political problem that has attracted public attention
in Japan especially since the resignation of
administrative reform minister Genichiro Sata in
December.

The Political Funds Control Law allows lawmakers to
report office expenses without attaching receipts,
thus leading some lawmakers to allegedly book
unrelated expenses.

On socia issues: Ozawa said previously at the
Parliament that Japan's income gap the top issue for
the opposition. "Politics should exist for the sake
of those who are vulnerable socially and
economically."



On minister Yanagisawa's comments : When Yanagisawa's
Health minister remark on "child-bearing machines" was
first questioned, many lawmakers in the ruling
coalition thought he should resign. One upper house
lawmaker of the Liberal Democratic Party said: "We
lost women's votes." (Yomiuri)



Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said he had issued
a warning to his health minister for degrading women
as "child-bearing machines", as approval for his
government continued to slide. Abe was grilled in
parliament by the main opposition, which said that the
premier had responsibility for the gaffe by Health
Minister Hakuo Yanagisawa. "If the remarks are true,
they are unforgivable, not as a politician but as a
human being," main opposition leader Ichiro Ozawa had
said previously in a parliamentary debate. (Text &
Agencies)

Whatever Mr Yanagisawa will voice from now on will be
targeted by media and there is not much he can say.
Maybe time to reflect on this latin maxime :
"Consultor homini tempus utilissimus." (Time shall
teach you all things)

"Marianne" et les japonaises émancipées

Dans la serie, les japonais sont ils des robots, ce
que j'ai presente l'autre jour sur mon blog,
http://asiangazette.blogspot.com/ les evenements se
sont precipites pour le ministre de la Sante, ainsi
j'ai ete invite a commenter les propos du ministre,
monsieur Yanagisawa, qui estimait, par une metaphore
douteuse et qui n'en finit plus de faire scandale au
Japon, que les japonaises etaient des "machines a
enfanter" au point que sa tete est demandee.

Pour les medias, c'est une mine d'or, un focus a donc
ete fait dans le celebre programme du samedi soir "TBS
Broadcaster" http://www.tbs.co.jp/bc/cast.html ou l'on
a evoque longuement cette affaire avec des collegues,
et j'ai presente l'exemple de la politique de natalite
en France, (comme quoi...) et c'est au titre de
journaliste - correspondant francais au Japon que j'ai
ete invite a commenter la situation politique
japonaise et a expliquer ce qui se faisait en France
(2,0). Il m'arrive d'etre invite de temps a autres
sur cette chaine au titre de chroniqueur ou
d'interviewe.

Ici (caracteres en lettre orange) je parle de
"Yanagisawa qui a ouvert la boite de Pandore" avec un
accent sur la necessaire reforme des politiques
sociales, educatives, d'egalite des chances, de
politique familiale et de liberte d'enfanter ou non
etc, et ne me suis pas prive de commenter les
comportements des hommes politiques et des japonais
macho... TBS en redemandait. Mon intervieweuse,
Mukoyama chan, etait toute ouie... Marianne et son
emancipation, un theme en or l'an prochain pour le
150e anniversaire des relations franco japonaises,
voire, un theme electoral...?

Jean Lassalle a t il gagné et sauvé ses emplois d'Accous ?

Photo de Jean Lassalle, Tokyo. (JjL)

Le député de la circonscription d'Accous, Jean
Lassalle, avait fait une grève de la faim de 39 jours
en 2006 qui avait pour but d'obtenir le maintien de
l'usine de Toyal en vallée d'Aspe, dans les Pyrénées,
car ce proche de François Bayrou craignait "une
délocalisation masquée". Avec 3,8 de tension, aux
portes de la mort, Jean Lassalle avait réussi à faire
plier les japonais de Toyo Aluminium KK, les pouvoirs
publics et les divers intervenants du dossier tel le
groupe pétrolier français Total.

Venu au Japon parallèlement à une délégation du
conseil d'Aquitaine, Jean Lassalle a reçu la nouvelle
qui est tombee en fin de journée mercredi: le PDG du
groupe japonais Toyo Aluminium KK, Masao Imasu, a
promis depuis Osaka de maintenir les emplois de son
usine à Accous dans les Pyrénées tout en exhortant le
gouvernement français à lui donner rapidement les
moyens d'y parvenir.

"Nous allons continuer et renouveler nos efforts pour
faire développer notre marché européen depuis Accous",
a déclaré M. Imasu à l'issue d'une rencontre avec le
président de la Région Aquitaine, Alain Rousset, (PS)
en visite à Osaka (centre du Japon). Dans une
déclaration signée par MM. Imasu et Rousset, la
société Toyal Europe, filiale de Toyo, s'est engagée à
"maintenir sur le site d'Accous l'effectif actuel qui
s'élève à 143 personnes".

En contrepartie, la Région Aquitaine s'engage
notamment à "soutenir les projets d'investissements en
recherche et développement de l'entreprise".
Toutefois, le patron japonais a demandé au
gouvernement français de "respecter sa parole dans
l'esprit du protocole" signé en 2006.

En avril 2006, le groupe nippon avait conclu un
protocole d'accord avec le ministre de l'Intérieur,
Nicolas Sarkozy, pour agrandir son usine d'Accous
après avoir voulu dans un premier temps acheter des
terrains à Lacq, propriété du groupe pétrolier Total,
situé à 65 km de là. M. Sarkozy avait alors assuré
aux dirigeants japonais que "l'Etat (français), Total
et les collectivités locales étaient prêts à compenser
financièrement le surcoût éventuel de l'implantation à
Accous". En novembre dernier, l'Etat et les
collectivités ont soumis à Toyal Europe une première
proposition sur l'aménagement d'une plateforme
industrielle à Accous, proposant de prendre en charge
90% du coût total des travaux, estimé à quatre
millions d'euros. Mais cette proposition, qui laisse
une participation de 460.000 euros à l'entreprise, est
"inacceptable" pour les dirigeants de Toyal.

Toyal Europe a présenté à l'Etat français une
contre-proposition, en offrant une participation de
58.000 euros, correspondant au prix du terrain à Lacq.
La négociation est en cours. "Déjà au mois d'avril
(2006), en signant le protocole, nous avions indiqué
que nous n'allions pas quitter Accous, mais il faut
que le gouvernement respecte l'esprit du protocole", a
souligné M. Imasu. Le président de la Région
Aquitaine et le député Jean Lassalle ont entrepris
depuis dimanche, séparément, une visite de plusieurs
jours au Japon afin de "rassurer" les dirigeants de
Toyo Aluminium KK.

Jean Lassalle doit rencontrer à son tour le PDG de
Toyo vendredi matin à Osaka. (Textes & agences)

Les "machines à faire des enfants" !

Nouveau dérapage d'un ministre japonais sur les
femmes.

Le ministre japonais de la Santé, Hakuo Yanagisawa, a
suscité des remarques virulentes après avoir qualifié,
durant une réunion politique, les femmes de "machines
à faire des enfants", leur demandant de relancer le
taux de natalité dans le pays.

"Le nombre de femmes entre 15 et 50 ans est fixe...
Etant donné que le nombre de machines à faire des
enfants ... est fixe, tout ce que nous demandons est
qu'elles fassent de leur mieux", a déclaré le
ministre.


M. Yanagisawa, 71 ans, a par la suite "demandé pardon
pour avoir employé le mot "machine". "Je suis désolé
d'avoir appelé (les femmes) des machines", a-t-il
ajouté. Ces commentaires ont suscité l'ire au Japon.
L'écrivain Michiko Yoshinaga a estimé qu'ils
révélaient "le vrai visage" du ministre, et elle lui
conseille de se pencher plutôt sur les raisons qui
empêchent les Japonaises de ne pas avoir plus
d'enfants. Le taux de natalité au Japon se situait à
1,26 enfant par femme en 2005 et devrait atteindre
1,21 en 2013.

"Bush was wrong on Iraq" Japan's new defense minister says.

Today I had a great news at my press club, the Japan
National Press Club in Tokyo (Nihon Kisha Club in
Japanese language). This guy is tough! Tokyo rumors
that he could be positioned as a future Prime Minister
should the political pendulum changes and bring back
the "doves" into the Japan's archipelago.

Quotes of agencies :

"Japan's defense minister has admitted that US
President George W. Bush was wrong to invade Iraq and
warned that Tokyo could not automatically renew its
air force mission to the war-torn country. The rebuke
from one of Washington's closest foreign allies came
hours after an embattled Bush used his annual State of
the Union address to plead for public support to send
more troops to Iraq.

"Mr. Bush went ahead in a situation as if there were
nuclear weapons, but I think that decision was wrong,"
Defense Minister Fumio Kyuma said of the 2003
invasion. Japan's former prime minister Junichiro
Koizumi, a close friend of Bush, strongly supported
the invasion and took the landmark step of deploying
Japanese troops to Iraq.

Koizumi withdrew the troops last year before leaving
office. But Japan has continued to deploy its air
force, which hauls personnel and goods into Iraq for
the US-led coalition and the United Nations. Kyuma
said Japan had not decided whether to extend the
mission when it expires in July. "We must look very
carefully at what the United Nations will continue to
request from Japan. Just because the US decided to
reinforce troops does not mean that Japan should do
the same. It's not so simple," he said.

"What can Japan do to reconstruct Iraq? Is it
impossible without Japan's (Air) Self-Defense Forces?
We must look at the overall assessment to give a final
decision," he told a news conference.

...

Kyuma, who took office in late September, has
repeatedly criticized the US handling of the Iraq war
and former US defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld. In
his latest remarks, Kyuma also rejected Bush's
frequent comparisons of Iraq to post-war Japan. The
US president has repeatedly pointed to the alliance
with Japan as proof that former adversaries can become
allies. "Just because it worked in Japan does not mean
it would work in Iraq," Kyuma said. "It worked in
Japan because the US left the emperor system."

...

Kyuma this month became Japan's first defense minister
since World War II after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's
government pushed through a bill to give him cabinet
status. "By upgrading to a defense ministry, everyone
seems to have the illusion that ... Japan is becoming
a military power," Kyuma said. "However, it is
performing under the government's limited budget"
under which military funding is decreasing, he said.
"Also, if we maintain the current constitution, there
should be no such worry," he said." End of quotes.

If... we maintain the current Constitution is indeed
to watch. Japan is a rare nation with a peace
promoting Constitution. Might be that US pushes Tokyo
to become less pacifist, and the question remains,
will Japan's political world on Nagatacho (Nagata
Hill) have enough guts and courage to say "No" to
refuse the spiral of violence harvested by the
estrange military-industrial complex linked to the
security alliance imposed by the US to the point of
denying Japan's sovereignty ?

"Amitiés à l'Asean, sauf aux Birmans"!

La Birmanie, Etat narco trafiquant pourchassant
impitoyablement les opposants qui croupissent en geôle
depuis des années ou ont été massacrés lors de féroces
répressions, ainsi que les minorités nationales des
hauts plateaux Birmans ou des zones frontalières
telles que les Karens, est à présent dans la ligne de
mire du président Français Jacques Chirac à l'occasion
de la première visite du japonais Shinzo Abe dont le
pays entretient des relations teintées de grande
ambiguïté avec la Birmanie. Un Etat aux riches
gisements énergétique avec lequel la France entretient
aussi de fructueuses relations gazières malgré des
accusations d'atteintes aux droits de l'homme portées
par des organisations "caritatives" américaines.

Citation agences :

"L'entrée du Japon au Conseil de sécurité de l'Onu et
la Corée du Nord ont dominé l'entretien et le dîner de
travail entre Jacques Chirac et le nouveau Premier
ministre japonais, vendredi soir à l'Elysée. Les deux
dirigeants se voyaient pour la première fois depuis
l'accession de Shinzo Abe à la tête du gouvernement
nippon, en septembre. Qualifiée de "très amicale" par
le porte-parole du président français, Jérôme
Bonnafont, la rencontre a notamment porté sur
l'élargissement du Conseil de sécurité, que Jacques
Chirac a qualifiée d'"urgente" et de "capitale".

En raccompagnant son hôte à sa voiture, Jacques Chirac
a demandé à Shinzo Abe de transmettre ses "amitiés aux
membres de l'ASEAN, sauf aux Birmans". Lors de
l'entretien, le président français a exprimé "le
souhait que la communauté internationale parvienne à
susciter une évolution démocratique dans ce pays". Il
a notamment évoqué le cas de la lauréate du prix Nobel
de la paix Aung San Suu Kyi, toujours assignée à
résidence à Rangoon. Quasiment au même moment, au
siège new-yorkais des Nations unies, la Chine et la
Russie opposaient leur veto à un projet de résolution
présenté par les Etats-Unis pour inciter la junte
militaire birmane à entamer une transition
démocratique.

Alors que Shinzo Abe cherche à promouvoir l'idée d'un
rôle accru du Japon dans les questions de sécurité
internationale, Jacques Chirac a "souligné
l'importance du dialogue entre l'Union européenne et
le Japon ainsi que l'intérêt des décisions prises lors
du sommet de l'Otan à Riga". Les deux dirigeants ont
également évoqué la situation en Afghanistan, au
Proche-Orient, la question du développement en Afrique
et celle de l'environnement. Le Japon doit participer
à la conférence sur la gouvernance écologique mondiale
prévue à Paris les 2 et 3 février.

Shinzo Abe termine par Paris sa tournée européenne de
quatre jours - la première depuis son accession au
pouvoir en septembre -, qui l'a emmené à Londres,
Berlin et Bruxelles."

Fin de citation



La presse européenne discriminée par Shinzo Abe?

Shinzo Abe a rompu avec la coutume qui est de recevoir
les journalistes correspondants de la presse
internationale accrédités au Japon avant sa tournée
européenne. Mais il a accordé une interview exclusive
a BBC et a Reuters TV! Le bureau du premier ministre
Abe a présenté ses excuses a certains journalistes,
expliquant que le temps était limité après les fêtes
de nouvel an et que le premier ministre donnerait une
conférence de presse ouverte a tous a son retour
d'Europe et de la réunion de Manille de l'Asean.

En outre, un article jugé insultant sur la personne de
l'épouse du premier ministre Abe, qualifiée
d'alcoolique par un article du quotidien le Figaro
citant, avec une certaine légèreté professionnelle, un
torchon réputé pour sa désinformation et ses
scandales, a attiré une grosse colère des services de
relations avec la presse.

Les 2 événements sont ils liés? Des collègues
japonais estiment que le fauteur de trouble japonais
et maitre-censeur n'est autre que le "Special Advisor
to the Prime Minister Hiroshige Seko", ancien chargé
des relations publiques de NTT, connu pour son ton
très arrogant et cassant avec les médias. Les
diplomates japonais se sont ainsi précipités sur les
médias français de Paris qui ont été conviés a
déjeuner, pour leur présenter habilement les buts du
voyage d'Abe Shinzo et ont démenti avec gravité ce
qu'ils estiment être des insultes prononcées contre la
First Lady japonaise, Akie sama, dont les journalistes
japonais connaissent bien le tempérament amical et
enjoué, héritière d'une dynastie de l'agroalimentaire,
dans la ligne de mire de la presse a scandale nippone.

L'auteur de ces lignes ayant lui-même rencontré Akie
sama, lors d'une présentation ou elle est apparue
élégante et sympathique, mais fragile et un peu
timide. L'administration du premier ministre Abe a
encore des leçons a prendre des grands communicateurs.

La prise de Pekin par la Royal !

Le suivi journalistique de Segolene Royal en Chine a
atteint des records. Tour de force et super pub,
etant donne le non evenement. Il est vrai que les
socialistes francais du Mitterrand & Cresson's team,
auquel appartenait Segolene Royal, y ont de bons amis,
et ont donc quelques dividendes a esperer, depuis que
les dossiers des plans et des equipements militaires
et electroniques des celebres fregates de Taiwan de
l'Operation Bravo (Les Lafayette) se sont retrouves
sur les bureaux des hauts dirigeants Pekinois,
epaissis de quelques liasses destinees a faire oublier
les mauvaises pensees. Interessant au passage de
suivre l' itinineraire des enfants, petits enfants etc
des dirigeants "indemnises" alors de Pekin a Shanghai
et Taipeh... Et des liens familiaux des
intermediaires Kwang et Li Liu avec ces memes
dirigeants.

Mais au-dela de ce rappel historique, quel interet
offre cette visite royale hormis la couverture
(partielle he ho!) de quelques faits d'actualite
chinoise tels l'excellent reportage de France 2 sur
les migrants a 2.000 yuans par mois, sujet tourne
debut decembre.* Que cachait donc ce manteau blanc de
Sego qui lui en revanche serait une gaffe
ethnologique, le blanc en Asie est la couleur du
deuil. A moins que ? Elle etait pourtant entouree d'
Orientalistes distingues pourvoyeurs des petites
phrases (d'un nul) qui n'etaient pas, mais alors loin
de la, ignorants des pensees de Confucius ou de
Mencius dont "les quatre principes ("si duan" en
langue chinoise) : les sentiments de la misericorde,
de la honte, de la courtoisie, et du bien et du mal
sont, rapportait Mencius, innes chez l'homme", mais
pas chez la candidate a la presidentielle.

Donc, reussir a instrumentaliser 1,3 milliards de
chinois courtois pour une election d'un territoire a
peine plus grand qu'une province chinoise, la encore
chapeau bas. La prise de Pekin par la Royal vaut son
pesant de cacahuetes. Fortiche mais indigeste surtout
le mauvais chapitre sur les droits humains pour qui
sait ce que signifie une arrestation en Chine pour un
motif ridicule, arrestation qui peut se transformer en
un enfer des annees durant. Mais de cela, les flics
chinois n'ont pas eu a s'en inquieter, car nos
collegues de passage se sont tres bien conduits.

And if the US were to close the umbrella in Asia ?

How long time for Japan to break ties with the US as
seen in recurrent disagreements about realignment, or
the hostility of the Japanese population towards US
troops occupation on Okinawa, or diplomatic
manipulation from Washington when Tokyo stated it is
time to think about acquiring the nuclear bomb if the
US do not fulfill their role because of other regional
conflicts such as Middle East Oiland, and "close the
umbrella in Asia"? How long time until an Asia
alliance with China and India, independently and with
reciprocity, comes to reality?

But to achieve this target, Japan needs to work harder
or to review processes. Japan's intention towards the
outside world is viewed as improper, mysterious,
unintelligible at best, or immoral in the worst case.
Why is it so? Why do the polls in Asia show a great
discomfort about Japanese policy?

Is it because Japan did not follow recently the keen
advises of two major opinion leaders, the ex prime
minister Nakasone Yasuhiro and the Yomiuri Newspaper
Watanabe Tsuneo and the latest in the rank LDP policy
maker Nakagawa Shoichi?



Is it because Japan diplomacy ends where trade and
industry starts? Is it because of a lack of freedom
in analyzing Japan's status in Asia and in the
concert of other nations? Is it because of its
natural trend to look inward sea rather that outside,
and last but not last, is it because of an
intellectual stubbornness and systemic corruption of
the society as one can see in the Shinzo Abe's
government stained by recent political case of
corruption? Is it a system permanently frozen about
reform and progress albeit all "tatemae" statements
that prevents the Japanese opposition and the Japanese
intellectuals to weight all their power into the
political and "societal" debate?

All of these reasons are most probably acceptable but
one option is also to consider : Is it because of
complacency and easy reliance on his ally, the US
maintaining a strong military force especially on the
Okinawa islands? Then, what are the real reasons
behind Mr. Abe's journey to Europe 9th to 13th January
prior to a "normal" visit to Washington? A new Nato
with a Pan Asia Pacific alliance? A move opposed by
France and most probably by China and Russia.

More realist is a quest for information transfer and
future international cooperation at an age when the
world is viewing new alliances in Asia. Among the
Asian nations China is the first one courted by so
many already, Indians, Japanese, Europeans, Africans,
Arabs, Latin Americans. Today's China still appears
as a gigantic laboratory with an enigma and the
questions remains to know what is Beijing
INTENTIONALITY's policy? *



At this juncture of historical events and the
resurgence of the dangerous alliance policy, everyone
indeed remembers the "Alliance system" created the
horror of World War I with its millions of deaths for
a few lost acres of lands, at a moment when the spine
in the US feet troops in Middle East transforms into a
major catastrophe for the US Bush administration, some
believe it is time to re analyze the current trend of
the relations that Japan has with his so called ally.
Until when?

We introduce here extracts of the article of Douglas
Bandow, vice president for Policy of Citizen Outreach.
He is the author of "Leviathan Unchained :
Washington's Bipartisan Big Government Consensus". He
is a former senior fellow at Cato Institute, a
libertarian think tank. He resigned in 2005 due to a
payoff scandal involving lobbyist Jack Abramoff. He
worked in the Reagan administration as special
assistant to the president and also edited the
political magazine Inquiry. He is also a conservative
Presbyterian. His views here reveal a lot of the
American concerns towards Japan's policy.

Quote :

"Normalize relations with Japan"

" ... Washington needs to look for other, and
quicker, sources of relief. By encouraging Japan to
become a normal nation with normal defense
responsibilities, Washington can shed some of its
outdated Asian military commitments.

America's relationship with Japan remains heavily
freighted by history, including Article 9 of the
so-called peace constitution, which formally bars
creation of a military. But Japanese pacifism soon
lost its appeal to Washington in the midst of the Cold
War and Tokyo creatively reinterpreted the document,
allowing development of a potent "self-defense force."

Increased wealth has generated pressure on Tokyo to
play a greater international role. Even more
important has been a growing sense of vulnerability
from North Korea and China.

Alas, several of Japan?s bilateral relationships have
become more truculent. Some wounds have been
self-inflicted: Japanese officials, including Abe
before his elevation to prime minister, have continued
to visit the Yasukuni war shrine.

But it isn't all Japan's fault. Countries like China
and South Korea themselves are increasingly
nationalistic and have used anti-Japanese sentiment
for political advantage.

Neither can seriously believe that Tokyo will again
invade and occupy them. Beijing's stench of hypocrisy
is particularly strong, given its own historical
public amnesia.

Even as it begins to do more, Japan hopes to hold onto
its American defense subsidy. After taking office,
Prime Minister Sinzo Abe proclaimed: "The Japan-United
States alliance forms the foundation of our foreign
and security policy."

First, every security commitment is expensive, since
the U.S. has to create force structure to make good
on its defense promises. That's an important reason
why Washington now spends as much as the rest of the
world combined on the military.

Second, defense guarantees risk war. Washington's
promise to fight is expected to deter anyone else from
risking war. However, deterrence can fail, in which
case American involvement is inevitable, or almost so.

Moreover, providing superpower backing encourages
allied states to engage in potentially irresponsible
behavior. They certainly have less incentive to
invest in their own militaries.

Finally, acting as everyone's protector puts
Washington in the front lines of virtually every
regional controversy. There is no intrinsic reason
why America should, for instance, care who controls
the Paracel, Spratly, or Dokdo-Takeshima Islands. But
if its defense clients care, the U.S. is inevitably
involved.

In short, military alliances risk becoming
transmission belts of war, in this case with the
People's Republic of China.

In a future world of an assertive, powerful China, is
the U.S. better off with a gaggle of weak allies
dependent upon it, or a coalition of strong,
independent friends able to constrain Beijing on their
own? Obviously the latter.

American foreign policy should be adjusted to fit
changing circumstances. In the aftermath of World War
II, Washington had little choice but to shield
friendly states. Today, South Korea and Japan, in
particular, could defend themselves.

Washington should phase out its current troop presence
in Japan, already scheduled to drop by 8000 in 2012.
At the same time, the two countries should reach an
accord maintaining base access for U.S. air and naval
forces.

There also might be value in propositioning some
equipment in readiness for unpredictable
contingencies. Moreover, Washington should use its
diplomatic offices to help smooth the way for a more
significant Japanese role.

Some wonder whether Tokyo could be trusted with the
bomb. Do they mean compared to unstable Pakistan or
authoritarian China? The Japanese do not possess a
double dose of original sin. Moreover, the U.S.
government now risks Los Angeles to protect Tokyo.
Facing down China in a crisis would not be the same as
confronting Serbia or Iraq. Americanizing and nuclear
disputes between China and its neighbors is a policy
of potential catastrophe.

... the alliance needs to be updated for a new age.
Japan should become a normal nation with normal
defense responsibilities. The transformation won?t be
easy, but it is both necessary and inevitable.
Washington should make the process as smooth as
possible. "

End of quotes from the Examiner.

Is it in the interest of Asia, really...?



* Intentionality ! The magic word to understand
China.

The term " intentionality " is often simplistically
summarized as "aboutness" or the relationship between
mental acts and the external world. Originally
intentionality was a concept from scholastic
philosophy. The concept of intentionality was later
reintroduced in 19th century contemporary philosophy
by the philosopher and psychologist Franz Brentano in
his work Psychologie vom Empirischen Standpunkte. The
concept of intentionality received more widespread
attention in current philosophy, both continental and
analytic. French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre, in
Being and Nothingness, identified intentionality with
consciousness, stating that they were
indistinguishable from one another, a position that
was a stark contrast to Brentano's position that
intentionality is but one quality of mental phenomena.
German philosopher Martin Heidegger, in Being and
Time, defined intentionality as "care" (Sorge), a
sentient condition where an individual's
existentiality, facticity, and forfeiture to the world
identifies their ontological significance, in contrast
to that which is the mere ontic (thinghood). In the
field of social cognition and the study of folk
psychology, intentionality has a different meaning.
Human perceivers consider a behavior intentional when
it appears purposeful or done intentionally, that
is, based on reasons (beliefs, desires) and performed
with skill and awareness. N.B. intentionality (tion)
is not to be confused with intensionality (sion), a
concept from semantics. (Online Diction.)

155 Journalists "Put to the Sword" in 2006

Déclaration des Droits de l'Homme et du Citoyen 1789

Article 4. - La liberté consiste à pouvoir faire tout
ce qui ne nuit pas à autrui : ainsi, l'exercice des
droits naturels de chaque homme n'a de bornes que
celles qui assurent aux autres membres de la société
la jouissance de ces mêmes droits. Ces bornes ne
peuvent être déterminées que par la loi.

Article 10 - Nul ne doit être inquiété pour ses
opinions, mêmes religieuses, pourvu que leur
manifestation ne trouble pas l'ordre public établi par
la loi.

Article 11 - La libre communication des pensées et des
opinions est un des droits les plus précieux de
l'homme ; tout citoyen peut donc parler, écrire,
imprimer librement, sauf à répondre de l'abus de cette
liberté dans les cas déterminés par la loi.




2006 was one of tragedy for the world's media as
killings of reporters and media staff reached historic
levels, according to the International Federation of
Journalists.

Quote :

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) said
today that 2006 was a year of tragedy for the world?s
media as killings of reporters and media staff reached
historic levels with at least 155 murders,
assassinations and unexplained deaths.

?Media have become more powerful and journalism has
become more dangerous,? said Aidan White, IFJ General
Secretary. ?2006 was the worst year on record ? a
year of targeting, brutality and continued impunity in
the killing of journalists.?

During the year the numbers began to accumulate with
civil strife and resistance to military occupation in
Iraq. The IFJ says media became prime targets of
terror attacks or victims of poor soldiering. By the
year?s end, 68 media staff had been killed, bringing
to 170 the number killed in the country since the
invasion in April 2003.

Elsewhere, the IFJ says continuing violence in Latin
America, particularly Mexico, Colombia and Venezuela,
claimed the lives of 37 media staff while in Asia
relentless attacks in the Philippines and Sri Lanka
pushed the total of killings to 34.

The only positive sign came in the final days of the
year, says the IFJ, when the United Nations, for the
first time ever, issued a statement condemning
targeting of journalists and calling for prosecution
of the killers of media staff.

In a resolution passed on December 23 the UN Security
Council unanimously called on governments to respect
international law and to protect civilians in armed
conflict. The Council called for an end to impunity
and for prosecution of the killers of journalists and
agreed to prepare annual reports on the risks facing
media.

?This was the only bright spot in a year of
unremitting gloom,? said White. ?For the first time
the United Nations has put the focus on a deepening
media crisis. It is long overdue. We want to see
action against countries that allow impunity in the
killing of journalists.?

The IFJ totals for 2006 are as follows: Murders,
Targeted Killings and Unexplained Deaths: 155 Not
included -- Accidental Death while on duty: 22

The previous high was last year when the IFJ recorded
154 deaths, a number inflated tragically by the deaths
of 48 Iranian journalists on a military assignment.
But this year there were many fewer accidents ? just
22.

The full details are set out in the IFJ report
?Journalism Put to the Sword ? to be published in the
middle of January. The report also covers the work of
the IFJ Safety Fund, which provides humanitarian aid
to the victims of violence and their families.

The focus once again is on Iraq, where the IFJ has
been campaigning vigorously over impunity in the
killing of journalists. For the last three years the
IFJ has organised a day of protest on April 8 ? the
day in 2003 when three journalists died under US fire
in Baghdad. There have been 19 such killings in Iraq
and in all these cases media organisations and
victims? families are still waiting for independent
and credible reports about what happened.

In October a judge in the United Kingdom said one of
the victims, ITN journalist Terry Lloyd, was
unlawfully killed by American soldiers outside Basra.
His interpreter Hussein Osman was also killed and
cameraman Fred Nerac is missing believed dead. There
have been calls for prosecution of US servicemen
involved in this and many other cases.

Nevertheless, during 2006 the vast majority of
killings have been at the hands of terrorists and
sectarian gangs who have made the streets of Baghdad
and other major cities no-go areas for many news
teams.

But the IFJ says that the crisis of impunity is not
confined to conflict zones.

On December 12 the Federation joined with other
international press support groups to launch an
International Commission of Inquiry into the killings
of journalists in Russia. The action follows the
assassination of investigative journalist Anna
Politkovskaya in Moscow on October 7. Her death was
the latest in more than 200 killings of journalists in
Russia since 1993. Many of these have been explained,
but since President Vladimir Putin came to power
around 40 killings of journalists have taken place and
none of them have been satisfactorily resolved.

Second only to Iraq among the most dangerous spots in
the world for active journalism is the Philippines,
says the IFJ, where 13 journalists died in 2006,
bringing to 49 the number of media staff murdered
since Gloria Arroya came to power in 2001 ? surpassing
the numbers killed under the 14-year Marcos
Dictatorship.

And in Latin America journalists in Mexico moved ahead
of Colombia as the deadliest country for journalists
covering crime and corruption with 10 deaths, many of
them investigative reporters.

In Africa countries wracked by internal conflict also
proved to be the most dangerous for journalists.
Swedish freelance Martin Adler was shot while filming
a demonstration in Mogadishu and veteran journalist
Mohammed Taha, a Sudanese editor, was kidnapped and
killed.

?It has been a year in which small steps have been
taken to confront this media catastrophe,? said White,
?The issue will figure strongly at the IFJ World
Congress to be held in Moscow in May. But we must do
more, particularly to help the victims of violence and
to bring the killers of our colleagues to justice.?

The IFJ represents over 500,000 journalists in more
than 100 countries worldwide.

End of quote