Sports bolster spirits in a time of crisis
Japanese professional baseball's regular season starts Tuesday as the 12 teams of the Central and Pacific leagues play their openers. The pennant race begins, though belatedly, while wounds from the March 11 catastrophe remain fresh.
As the nation faces a difficult time, players are urged all the more to do their best to give hope and vigor to disaster victims and the nation as a whole.
Both leagues were originally scheduled to start the season on March 25. This was the first time for the opening days to be changed since Japanese pro baseball was divided into two leagues in 1950.
The PL decided early on to postpone the start of the season because the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles' home ballpark in Sendai was damaged in the Great East Japan Earthquake.
The CL, which tried to launch its penant race before the end of March, drew criticism for reasons including a shortage of electric power.
Players, clubs and fans share the desire to invigorate society through baseball as soon as possible.
As Rakuten catcher Motohiro Shima put it, "Let's demonstrate the potential power of baseball, players and fans!" Shima, head of the Rakuten players' association, gave this exhortation during a ceremony before an April 2 charity game with the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters in Sapporo. Similar charity games were also held elsewhere that day and the next.
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A shot in the arm
The players of all 12 clubs will have the message "Hang on, Japan!" written on their helmets throughout the season.
Players must put on exciting games so pro baseball, supported widely by the people, can serve as a shot in the arm for recovery from the disaster.
Many people are looking forward to seeing spectacular performances by "golden generation" rookies, including pitchers Yuki Saito of the Fighters and Hirokazu Sawamura of the Yomiuri Giants.
Needless to say, care must be taken to pay maximum consideration to the serious electricity supply situation in holding games.
As part of measures to economize on electricity consumption, such as for lighting, no night games will be held this month in ballparks located in areas served by Tokyo Electric Power Co. and Tohoku Electric Power Co. Even day games will not be held at Tokyo Dome and Seibu Dome in Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture.
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Flexibility a must
If the power supply becomes tighter in summer, rescheduling or other flexible measures will be called for.
When the simultaneous terrorist attacks on the United States occurred on Sept. 11, 2001, the major leagues resumed games six days later. New York Mets catcher and slugger Mike Piazza delivered a message to the spectators urging them to forget the terrible incident for the two or three hours of the game.
Everyone in the Japanese baseball world shares this feeling.
Tohoku High School in disaster-stricken Sendai took part in the recent national high school baseball invitational tournament. The team's level of play impressed the people.
In soccer, the Japan national team and a team of players selected from J.League clubs recently played a charity match. Ratings for the TV broadcast of the game reached 30.1 percent at one point in the Sendai district.
At a time of national crisis, the role that sports can play is far from small.
Voters approve Ishihara, give DPJ a shellacking
Voters went to the polls in unified local elections Sunday, concluding the first round of this year's quadrennial nationwide battles. Campaigning for the first half of the simultaneous polls was exceptional, with candidates holding back from roadside speeches amid widespread restraint in festive and other activities after the cataclysmic March 11 earthquake and tsunami.
Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara was reelected for a fourth term. During his reelection campaign, the incumbent had the backing of the Liberal Democratic Party and New Komeito, dominant forces in the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly. Ishihara also was able to expand his support base to include voters who previously backed the Democratic Party of Japan, as well as floating voters. His victory appears to reflect voters' desire to elect a figure who can demonstrate strong leadership in the wake of the Great East Japan Earthquake.
There are a mountain of tasks to be tackled by the Tokyo governor, including minimizing the effects of disasters that could strike the nation's capital and overcoming the continued financial difficulties facing the Shinginko Tokyo bank. Other challenges include reducing the number of children on waiting lists for day-care centers and addressing various issues confronting elderly people. We hope Ishihara will grapple with these problems with all sincerity.
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DPJ loses locally
Sunday's elections included three gubernatorial races in which the DPJ and the LDP squared off. The DPJ-backed candidates were defeated in all three cases. The DPJ's loss of the gubernatorial races in Tokyo, Hokkaido and Mie has dealt a blow to the ruling party. Secretary General Katsuya Okada's electoral turf lies in Mie Prefecture.
The DPJ also fared poorly in 41 prefectural assembly elections, a setback that can be attributed to the DPJ-led government's failure to properly run the nation. The current administration's record of failure runs from gridlock in efforts to honor the DPJ's manifesto for the 2009 House of Representatives election to its inadequate response to the aftermath of the March 11 quake-tsunami disaster, as well as various blunders in dealing with other nations.
Indications are that an increasing number of DPJ members will hold accountable the party's top cadre, led by Prime Minister Naoto Kan. The DPJ may find it difficult to ensure cooperation between the ruling and opposition parties in addressing a host of issues facing the nation at home and abroad, given the anticipated offensive to be launched by the leading opposition LDP. The prime minister should take this stark prospect to heart.
Despite its success in clinching victory in most of the latest prefectural assembly elections, the LDP was no less vibrant in reversing a continued decline in its popularity when it came to races in that category.
Setbacks for the existing political parties were mirrored by large electoral gains by new parties headed by the top leaders of local governments. Osaka Ishin no Kai (Osaka restoration group), led by Osaka Gov. Toru Hashimoto, won a majority of seats in the Osaka prefectural assembly race. This was combined with gains for the group in the Osaka and Sakai city assembly elections. Meanwhile, the Aichi prefectural assembly race handed a certain number of seats to Genzei Nippon (tax cut Japan), a group led by Nagoya Mayor Takashi Kawamura, and Nippon Ichi Aichi no Kai (Japan's No. 1 Aichi group), led by Aichi Gov. Hideaki Omura.
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Unresolved issues in Osaka
These results may well be perceived as an indication of voters' distrust in established parties--rather than popular support for Hashimoto's plan to abolish and reorganize Osaka Prefecture and the cities of Osaka and Sakai, thus launching a metropolitan entity comparable to Tokyo, as well as the Aichi politicians' proposed cut in the residence tax.
These politicians should think and act responsibly in running their governments--not just relying on their popularity as "leaders with distinctive personalities."
The controversy over Hashimoto's ambitious plan should not be reduced to a mere tug-of-war between the Osaka prefectural and city governments. It is important to calmly debate what kind of system should be adopted to govern large cities.
The electoral gains by the regional parties can also be regarded as a message from voters that their local assemblies have too many members and assembly members are paid excessive salaries, despite their inability to have an impact on local administration. The local assemblies must know it would be difficult to regain voters' trust unless their activities come to vivid life.
The impact of the massive earthquake could cause quake-hit local governments to depend on the national government for post-disaster rehabilitation. This could delay the ongoing transfer of some administrative powers to local governments.
However, it would be possible to put safety-net measures in place--through which the national government could aid local governments during a crisis--while at the same time making progress in decentralization of power in ordinary times. The newly elected local government chiefs and assembly members must demonstrate such wisdom and determination.
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