VOX POPULI: Election offers a chance to reflect on the Upper House's purpose

Asahi Shimbun

10 hours ago

A baby is 0 years old until it celebrates its first birthday.
That's common sense nowadays. In the olden days, however, every person was 1 year old on the day of birth, and then 'gained' another year when New Year's Day rolled around.
This system of age reckoning, known in Japanese as 'kazoe-doshi,' is translated into English as 'East Asian age reckoning.'
It was replaced by the present system in 1949 when a so-called 'law concerning how to count age' was enacted at the initiative of the Upper House.
Author Yuzo Yamamoto (1887-1974), who was a member of the house at the time, explained to the education committee why the Upper House was backing this legislation.
'The people are being taxed, but goods are scarce,' he began. 'They are feeling quite despondent.'
Postwar reconstruction was in progress, but the times were still hard, with rampant corporate bankruptcies and unemployment under the General Headquarters for the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers (GHQ)-led austerity budget policy.
And that was precisely why the old kazoe-doshi age counting system had to go, asserted Yamamoto.
'The new system makes everyone one year younger, and that seems to somehow lighten the hearts of the Japanese people,' he insisted.
From his stance, I sense the vibrant postwar atmosphere of complete renewal, as well as the depth and playfulness of the Upper House that was nicknamed the 'chamber of common decency.'
In its early years, the chamber possessed greater 'individuality' than it does today. While the Lower House became embroiled in interparty disputes, the Upper House asserted its presence by sponsoring legislation on its own and amending bills.
One Upper House member even challenged the prime minister during a question-and-answer session by telling him to his face, 'The Lower House engages in politics of numbers, but the Upper House has no place for cheap party interests and maneuvers.'
The Upper House election campaign kicks off today.
Have its members become trapped in party politics that have progressed over the last 78 years since its establishment?
The chamber is in the unenviable position of being accused of being 'the Lower House's clone' when it agrees with the latter, and being blamed for 'creating a political impasse' when it disagrees with the Lower House.
But now that divisiveness and extreme arguments seem to have become the norm in Diet politics, there must be some function that only the Upper House can fulfill.
Until election day, I would like to keep thinking anew about the significance of the Upper House.
—The Asahi Shimbun, July 3
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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.