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Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Monday reiterated his pledge to prioritize the nation's economic situation, as the battle with deflation ensues as the fall out from the April first tax hike continues to take its toll on households and businesses, as recent trade data has shown.
But at the beginning of Japan's two-month extraordinary Diet session beginning on Monday, the prime minister said of tackling delation he is largely on schedule and his fiscal reforms have enabled both the Bank of Japan (BOJ) and the Finance Ministry to meet the half way mark.
"We are aiming to revive the economy and proceed with fiscal consolidation at the same time, and ensure a virtuous cycle in the economy," Abe said towing the government's recent line regarding inflation.
"A major mission of the Abe cabinet is to make people in every corner of the country feel the economy's recovery," the prime minister said.
To this end, the government will submit 30 pieces of legislation to parliament during the 63-day session, those of which comprise bills connected to Abe's signature policies of " regional revitalization" and "creating a society in which women can shine."
Abe went on to say that these reforms were just a part of the overall picture, with plans for reforming social security, rebuilding education and streamlining the government also actively in his Cabinets pipeline and expected to take shape soon.
The leader of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) also told parliament on Monday that the nation needs to utilize the idiosyncrasies of local economies and create a platform from which every women, "the key to the future of Japan's virtuous economy," can play an active role in society and by pooling this largely untapped resource of working potential from wide swathes of Japan, the nation's economy could stand to benefit exponentially, the prime minister suggested, as his "Womenomics" initiative continues to gain ideological traction.
But analysts remarked, as was the case when the prime minister initially started waxing lyrical about "Abenomics," that rhetoric has been backed up with very few details and specifics on how such an agenda will be implemented as an augmented workforce means more facilities and more paychecks.
From this perspective, Abe kept quiet about the controversial issue of whether Japan will raise the consumption tax again, to 10 percent from 8 percent in 2015, in light of the fact that the initial sales tax hike this year, from 5 to 8 percent in April, sent the economy spiraling down into its deepest near-recession since the 2009 global financial crisis and concerns have been rife among leading economists here that a second hike to 10 perfect could irrevocably damage the economy.
Abe remained mute when it came to whether or not to implement the second tax hike and said that he would make a decision by examining economic data in the current quarter.
The prime minister also swerved the topic of legalizing Japan's right to exercise self-defense, and specifically legislation needed to be passed to allow Japan's forces to come to the aid of an ally under attack.
Defense sources have said that Abe will likely wait until next year to submit a series of bills to legalize Japan's exercise of the right, or defending allies under armed attack even when the country is not being actively threatened, given that reworking the postwar security framework has proven unpopular, the sources said.
"Japan will step up preparations to develop security legislation to respond to contingencies in a 'seamless manner'," Abe said equivocally.
Japan has seemingly been stepping up its efforts to forge diplomatics relations with both China and South Korea, which have spiraled to all time lows of late following misperceptions of history and territorial issues, but Abe believes there is hope that the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum to be hosted by Beijing in November may provide an opportunity for Abe to have a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Abe has vowed to improve ties with China and South Korea, countries both infuriated by ongoing territorial disputes with Japan and Abe's continued revisionist and nationalist approach to dealing with outstanding matters of history.
But Abe, who came to office in December 2012, has not met bilaterally with the leaders of China and South Korea since taking office. The prime minister allegedly is keen to meet Xi on the sidelines of a November Asia-Pacific summit in Beijing.
"In order for Japan and China to build a stable friendship, I'd like to achieve a summit at an early stage and further promote a mutually beneficial relationship based on common strategic interests through dialogue," Abe said Monday, adding that, "Japan and China are an inseparable pair. China's peaceful development means a big opportunity for our nation."
But while Japanese foreign minister Fumio Kishida has met his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, a veteran Japan-handler who speaks fluent Japanese and had served as an ambassador to Tokyo, and a former Japanese prime minister and a major business delegation also visited China recently to meet senior officials, a move seen as helping Tokyo's efforts, a diplomatic gulf between the two countries still remains.
While remarks made by Abe have been portrayed by local media here as concerted efforts to improve diminished ties with Japan's neighbors, there remains a number of issues that Japan has yet to fully explain or atone for, including Japan's unilateral claiming and illegal purchasing of some of China's Diaoyu Islands as well as antagonistic moves towards its neighbors.
The moves include constant visits of Cabinet ministers, including Abe and hosts of lawmakers, to the notorious Yasukuni war-linked shrine in Tokyo, where 14-Class A war criminals are honored.
This along with recent legislative moves away from pacifism and towards, autonomous, right-wing militarism has also fanned the flames of mistrust against Japan in both Beijing and Seoul, and Abe will have to contend with this if he hopes for any face time in Beijing next month.
In his address to parliament, and regarding nuclear power, Abe was unwavering in saying that he plans to see the nation's nuclear reactors, idled in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011, brought back online to serve the nation's electricity, provided they have passed the new stricter safety checks by the Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NRA).
Abe said that his government will also be looking to lower its carbon footprint and battle climate change by looking to utilize more sources and methods of using renewable energy, although the premier opted not to give specific goals or targets for the nation 's carbon reduction goals policies in this direction.
On the issue of stalled Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement talk with the United States, Abe was again equivocal, saying that, "economic cooperation with other countries, Japan will strategically promote ongoing talks on a TPP agreement and other economic partnership accords with the European Union and East Asia, " he said.
