12 May 2003
Dear supporters and friends,
This week we may have very tough days. It is supposed that the bill is to be passed through the Commitee possibly on Friday, May 16. If it is passed, the government gets advantage, of course the bill must be approved by the Upper House. Then we ask all supporters and friends to enhance activities to stop this reckless policy which ruins the academic sector of Japan.
I would like to ask you to do the following things:
1) Please send emails or faxes to the members of the Committee of the Lower House to express your concern.
Mail address of Chairman Keiji Furuya is "furuya@ka2.so-net.ne.jp".
List of members with e-mail addresses and fax numbers:
http://www003.upp.so-net.ne.jp/znet/znet/kokkai/CECSST.html
2) Please send email or fax to the presidents of the state-run universities, especially to the President of the Association of National Universities. This association has long been conspiring with the government in this issue and betraying the trust of university staffs and people of Japan. If you send it as open letter and send us its carbon copy, we can put it on our website so that it cannot be neglected or left unread.
President prof. Makoto Nagao (President of Kyoto University)
koryu52mail.adm.kyoto-u.ac.jp
Vice President prof. Hiromitsu Ishi (President of Hitotsubashi
University)
jj00067srv.cc.hit-u.ac.jp
Vice President prof. Minoru Matsuo (President of Nagoya University)
intlpost.jimu.nagoya-u.ac.jp
Association of National Universities: FAX (81-3) 3818-8656
phone 5841-7950, 5841-7951, 3813-0647, 3811-4760
website http://www.kokudaikyo.gr.jp/eng/index.html
Full list of the affiliated universities is found below.
http://www.kokudaikyo.gr.jp/kanko/txt/h13_5en3.html
3) Please urge UNESCO to pay attention to this catastrophic situation of Japan's academic sector and not to neglect the problematic policy of an affiliated country which is breaching the recent declarations of UNESCO, of which Japan is just one of the assentors. We sent a letter to the General Secretary last year, and afterwards I asked them repeatedly to respond by e-mail and fax, but we have not received any reply.
Our appeal to UNESCO:
http://www003.upp.so-net.ne.jp/znet/znet/appealtounesco.html
Secretariat of the Executive Board FAX N: (33-1) 45 68 57 02
4) Please let your friends and colleagues know what is going on in Japan. Please introduce our website to them. There is an English translation (now completed) of the bill.
Main part of the bill in English:
http://www003.upp.so-net.ne.jp/znet/znet/docs/NUClaw-extract.html
Other related docs in English:
http://ac-net.org/dgh/e-index.html
I would like to tell you about the very recent development. In the last session of the Committee on Education of the Lower House held on May 7, four witnesses presented their opinions at the Committee. President of Hiroshima University Mr. Taizo Muta expressed his support to the proposed bill. Ex-President of Kagoshima University Mr. Mitsuhiro Tanaka criticized the bill as it is illegal and undermines the basis for the development of sciences in universities. A buisinessman from a food company supported the bill, and the opinion of Mr. Yamagishi, a journalist, was nearly half-and-half. I heard that the public gallery of the room, as well as the TV room, was full of concerned professors and university staffs.
Unfortunately our Diet has no custom of exchanging opinions between MPs. They only interrogates the Minister and government officials who propose the law and witnesses they invite. And that's all. They don't argue among themselves. 'Discussion' is only a ceremony before, or a prelude for the vote counting. In fact, last year the Committee approved an ammendment of the School Education Law. Curiously enough, no opinion to support the ammendment was presented. Those who expressed their opinon were only the oppositions. The number of votes are foreseen with full certainty because MPs' votes are automatically determinded by the decisions of the parties they affiliates. Usually no rebellion takes place.
It is only the public opinion at home that can change the situation. But voices from abroad will be greatly helpful in changing the opinion at home. Please send me a carbon copy if you send e-mails to MPs, to UNESCO, or someone else.
Our friends has succeeded to raise money to put an advertisement on Asahi Shinbun, one of the major newspapers in Japan. They are preparing for the second run. Demonstrations around the Diet will be held by our friends in Tokyo this week.
Sincerely yours,
Kouichi Toyoshima
University of Saga
1 Honjo, Saga-shi, 840-8502 Japan