The Global Forum of Japan (GFJ) E-Letter

1 February 2014, Vol. 7, No. 2

The New Leadership Structure of GFJ has started.

On January 15th at the Board of Governors of GFJ, Prof. ITO Kenichi, former President of GFJ, was elected as new Chairman of GFJ and Amb. ISHIKAWA Kaoru, Academic Member of GFJ, was elected as new President of GFJ.

Greetings,

"The Global Forum of Japan (GFJ) E-Letter" is delivered electronically bimonthly, free of charge, to the readers in the world interested in Japanese thinking on the relations of Japan with the rest of the world and other related international affairs by the Global Forum of Japan (GFJ), private membership organization in Japan for policy-oriented international exchanges.

It will provide the global audience with our news on "GFJ Commentary" and "GFJ Updates."

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"GFJ Commentary" presents views of members and friends of GFJ on the relations of Japan with the rest of the world and other related international affairs. The view expressed herein is the author's own and should not be attributed to GFJ.

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"Sanctity of Marriage"
                                     By WATANABE Shoichi
                                     Professor Emeritus, Sophia University

Keeping a dog will suffice to learn that a male and a female tend to go together. As a child, I knew the behavioral pattern of a male dog through observation of one we kept in our house. Thus I came to understand naturally why adults regarded an "illicit union" with contempt, and realized the meaning of "marriage" to be clearly differentiated from it. In the teaching of the Catholic Church, marriage is highly prized as one of the sacraments. In Japan, ceremonial approval has been required in the presence of a go-between in order to show to the society that a union is not "illicit." Respect of marriage is directly coupled to respect of a family. And household and family are protected as a sacred thing by law.

From time to time, however, there occurs deviancy between a man and a woman. Intercourse between a married person with someone other than his/her spouse means adultery. It used to be subjected to criminal punishment but not anymore now. However, adultery sometimes begets a child. Offspring of parents who are not legally married to each other is called illegitimate, or sometimes a love child. If a father of such a child is considerate and with property, he would be able to distribute it properly lest there be any conflict after his death.

But, what if a man who committed infidelity is survived by his illegitimate child without any proper care about it? There might occur a struggle over his inheritance among the children left behind. In the past, law was supposed to protect marriage and accordingly household. Therefore, illegitimate children were denied any inheritance rights. However, in view of the fact that there actually exist such children and that it would be a pity if they denied any right to inheritance, law has been changed so that illegitimate children could be allowed half of what legitimate children receive. This is a solution by compromise, which has been generally praised as a sort of "judgment of Solomon" in that it pays due respect to the family system based on marriage and takes care of illegitimate children as well.

However, the Supreme Court of Japan has recently ruled by a unanimous decision by more than ten judges that the right of illegitimate children to inheritance should not be distinguished from that of children born in lawful wedlock. This ruling completely ignores the significance of marriage and family system. And it is truly a wonder that not a single judge raised an objection to it.

G.K. Chesterton points out that there are two types of democracy: one is "horizontal democracy," i.e. one intended only for those who are currently alive, and the other "vertical democracy," i.e. one intended to take into account the wills of the ancestors as well as the wishes of the descendants. He warns that "horizontal democracy" has an inherent danger of becoming despotism by those who are currently alive. There is an irresistible concern that the above-mentioned unanimous decision of the Supreme Court of Japan could be a form of despotism totally ignoring the wills of the Japanese ancestors as well as those of their descendants. It seems that the judges of the Supreme Court seem to have paid no attention to the fact that whereas the average percentage of the children born out of wedlock in other countries is around fifty, that in Japan is only two.

(This is the English translation of an article which originally appeared on the e-Forum "Giron-Hyakushutsu" of GFJ on 17 October, 2013, and was posted on "GFJ Commentary" on 27 December, 2013.)

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For more views and opinions in the backnumber of "GFJ Commentary," the latest of which are as follows, please refer to:
http://www.gfj.jp/eng/commentary/backnumber.html

No.51 "Strategic Possibilities for Japan's Agriculture"

by SHIMADA Haruo, Opinion Leader Governor, GFJ / President, Chiba University of Commerce
(25 October 2013)

No.50 "The Arrival of a New Era for the Japan-Africa Relations?"

by MUTSUJI Shoji, Lecturer, Yokohama City University
(16 August 2013)

No.49 "World Economy Divided into Blocs?"

by OGATA Rintaro, former Member of the House of Representatives
(19 June 2013)

No.48 "We Cannot Afford to See PM 2.5 Pollution Indifferently"

by SAKAI Nobuhiko, Director of Japan Institute of Nationalism Studies and former Professor of the University of Tokyo
(31 March 2013)

No.47 "On Trenin's Proposal for Russia to Return Four Disputed Islands to Japan"

by HAKAMADA Shigeki, Professor, University of Niigata Prefecture
(28 February 2013)

No.46 "Japan Should Formulate the Basic Policy of Living Without China"

by OGAWA Hajime, Visiting Professor, Bunka Gakuen University
(13 December 2012)

"GFJ Updates" introduces to you the latest events, announcements and/or publications of GFJ.

The Japan-China Dialogue "Toward building Confidence Between Japan and China in 'New Domains'" Held

The Global Forum of Japan (GFJ), under the co-sponsorship with The Japan Forum on International Relations, organized the "The Japan-China Dialogue" on the theme of "Toward building Confidence Between Japan and China in 'New Domains'" in Tokyo on January 16, 2014. This dialogue was attended by 79 participants including Prof. AOKI Setsuko of Keio University and Prof. KAYAHARA Ikuo of Takushoku University from the Japanese side, and Dr. LI Shouping of Beijing Institute of Technology and Dr. WANG Guoyu of Beijing Institute of Technology from China side.

For more information, please refer to;
http://www.gfj.jp/e_new2/dialogue/20140116_cp.pdf

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