Monday, June 15, 2009

Council for the Realization of a Reassuring Society

Prime Minister Taro Aso held the 5th meeting of the Council for the Realization of a Reassuring Society at the Prime Minister's Office.

A final report was compiled at this meeting and the report of the Council for the Realization of a Reassuring Society, A Japan of Reassurance and Vitality, was handed to Prime Minister Aso by Mr. Yutaka Narita, Chair of the Council. The report defines a reassuring Japanese society as, first of all, "a society of fairness and vitality where labor is rewarded," secondly, "a society where rich connections in the family and community are nurtured," and thirdly, "a society in which people support each other in labor and life." The report also states that the coordination of the "five scopes of reassurance," employment, child raising, education, medical care, and pensions and nursing care, are important.

In his address, Prime Minister Aso said, "I believe that up until now, the scopes of reassurance have been pensions, medical care, and nursing care. Now, employment will be central to the scopes of reassurance as well as education. This will be the first time that employment will be a focus.

"Next, concerning the targets for securing reassurance, reflecting on the tendency to focus excessively on the elderly when considering social security, the report states the necessity of continuous security throughout life including for the young and the generations working now. We regard this point as being highly significant.

"Lastly, regarding the burden, because there is a distrust of the public toward the administration, institutions, and various systems, it has been pointed out that it will be difficult to form a consensus. However, this distrust will cause an increase in the burden on individuals. A strong sense of awareness that this chain of distrust must be stopped permeates throughout this report and as the government, we must put measures into action based on the report that we have received."