Back-to-back tragedies for Japanese abroad, first from the terrorist attack in Algeria and now the stabbing spree in Guam, combined with an out-of-control yen devaluation, risk encouraging an already isolated and isolationist Japan to withdraw deeper into its domestic shell. In an age when Japan is losing more and more of its competitive edge in trade and education, will charging headfirst into the quagmire of constitutional change help?
The real solution for Japan must be to become more, not less, internationally respected in all aspects of its policies and its people's presence abroad. Rather than tinker constitutionally with its war limitations and commit to a nihilistic nuclear future, Japan should emancipate its education system from a puppetmaster bureaucracy that is only interested in feathering its own nest.
In contrast to the self-serving administrative funds that ministry mandarins and politicians grant themselves, couldn't more money be invested into an honest and more open school system?
Until the really essential reforms are carried out, Japan will continue to wander in circles and its people will never be able to adjust to the realities beyond its shores.
The opinions expressed in this letter to the editor are the writer's own and do not necessarily reflect the policies of The Japan Times.