English-Club-ET15

A Forest they Once Walked through?-Repetition of Mistakes

     A headline “Don’t repeat the run-about of emergency patients in medical institutions”
was notable in today’s Asahi. According to the article (February 13, 2003), an eight-
month old baby died last September in Ichinoseki City in Iwate Prefecture after he was
sent around to some emergency hospitals. The baby was not treated because there was
no pediatrician in those hospitals. However, the article reminds us of some similar stories,
because passing the buck has killed many emergency patients so far. That is, there is no
end to such dreadful stories. How unbearable it is that such tragedies are repeated!
     The URL of the association appeared in the newspaper:
http://www3.famille.ne.jp./~toyotoyo/rai/. The writer hence sent a mail of
encouragement to “Rai-Chan-No-Shi-Wo-Muda-Ni-Shinai-Kai” (The Association
for not Wasting Rai-Chan’s Death). The homepage has pointed out that Japanese
underpopulated areas do not have many pediatricians. In fact, there are only eight
pediatricians in Ichinoseki City and the neighboring towns and villages. The Ministry
of Health, Welfare and Labor has established 360 spheres of medical treatment, but
it is only 74 medical spheres in which a 24-hour treatment system for children is
available. This is just 20 percent of all of the spheres. Besides, the homepage has
stated that more than about 50 percent of emergency patients are children. After all,
the insufficiency of pediatricians is left as a long-term unsolved problem. The Japanese
government should establish a 24-hour medical treatment system for every patient as
well as children even by using public funds (taxes). However, the problems of
emergency medical treatment have not been settled yet because of the lazy administration
of the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Labor. Many people will notice that this is “a way
they once passed,” which means “an issue they once ignored.”
     Also, today’s Asahi reported another interesting story. It said that about 1,000
part-time workers for government offices in the Kasumigaseki district in Tokyo were
adopted through nepotism That is, they got jobs through the recommendation of
members of the Diet and members of prefectural assemblies. However, this is not a
wonder, for it has been well known that not only government offices, but also many
private companies, have adopted their applicants through nepotism. For example, the
adoption of stewardesses (flight attendants) of the biggest airline company in Japan
was said to be limited to the applicants who had connections in it. Even now setting
up contacts in a company is important to job hunters. In brief, nothing has changed in
Japan throughout the ages, both in government offices and in non-government ones.
The same things have been repeated indefinitely.
    A similar type of article happened to appear in the same Asahi. It said that the
Japanese government was taken aback because France, Germany and Russia spoke
out against the U.S. policy to attack Iraq. They certainly “showed the flag” in a
different way from the views that Mr. Armitage, the Deputy Secretary of State, stated
to Japan on October 5, 2001. The Japanese diplomatic standpoint about Iraq,
however, has not been decided yet. Japan is taking up a stance of just “waiting” as
usual. She never takes the lead in international issues. France, Germany, and Russia
have determined their attitudes clearly, but Japan is still hesitating. Different from them,
Japan does not have an interest in Iraq, so her duty should be to mediate between the
U.S.A. and Iraq. Japan will be able to contribute to world peace by making use of her
convenient position. Unfortunately, Japan is just looking on with folded arms.
Meanwhile, she will be seen to side with the U.S.A. Japan has no independent
diplomatic policy. If she continues to take such a random diplomatic attitude, she
may fall into danger with North Korea, as well as Iraq, sometime when Japanese
people do not realize it. When they find themselves in a military problem, they will
notice that “this is a way they once passed,” which also means “repetition of
mistakes.”.
     The articles about medical treatment, business, and diplomacy show that Japan
has not changed at all. The same man-made disasters, unfairness and cowardly
politics are repeated endlessly. Meanwhile, it will not be very long before they
remember that these are the same things they once ignored, but it will be too late.