雑談日記（徒然なるままに、。）

↓はりまくろう！　

※「柳沢伯夫厚生労働相の問題発言 (自由研究：オイラ観察日記)」のトラックバックがあった。しかし、トラックバック先に行ってエントリーを読むと、自民党擁護で、かつ、おのれの方は「トラックバック受付なしＴＢ」である。よってＩＰアクセス制限をし（220.209.110.126）、トラックバックも削除した。なめるんじゃねえぞ、小僧。（笑）

※以下、「ビデオニュース・ドットコム　インターネット放送局」の無料配信です。

無料放送中、３００ｋ
プレスクラブ （2007年02月02日）
｢産む機械｣発言に反対　記者会見（東京・外国特派員協会）

福島瑞穂 参議院議員（社民党党首）
後藤博子 参議院議員（国民新党女性局長）
石井郁子 衆議院議員（共産党副委員長）
円より子 参議院議員（民主党副代表）

女性は「産む機械、装置」　松江市で柳沢厚労相【朝日】

　柳沢伯夫厚生労働相は２７日、松江市で開かれた自民県議の決起集会で、「産む機械、装置の数は決まっているから、あとは一人頭で頑張ってもらうしかない」と女性を機械に例えて少子化問題を解説した。

　柳沢氏は「これからの年金・福祉・医療の展望について」と題し約３０分間講演。出生率の低下に言及し「機械って言っちゃ申し訳ないけど」「機械って言ってごめんなさいね」との言葉を挟みながら、「１５－５０歳の女性の数は決まっている。産む機械、装置の数は決まっているから、あとは一人頭で頑張ってもらうしかない」と述べた。

　厚労省は昨年１２月、人口推計を下方修正。この時、柳沢氏は「子どもを持ちたいという若い人たちは多い。その希望に応えられるよう、できる限りの努力をしていきたい」と話していた。
（共同）
（2007年01月27日 20時54分）

ＢＢＣも報じたね。（笑）

Japan women called child machines

Japanese children are fewer and further between

Japan's health minister has referred to women as "birth-giving machines" in a speech to a local political meeting.

Hakuo Yanagisawa called for women to do their best to bear children in order to counter Japan's plummeting birth rate and rapidly ageing population.

"Because the number of birth-giving machines and devices is fixed, all we can ask for is for them to do their best per head," he said.

He added: "Although it may not be so appropriate to call them machines."

Recent figures show that Japanese fertility fell to an average of just 1.26 children per woman in 2005.

Last year saw a slight rise for the first time in six years, but the country still faces a long-term trend that may see a 30% drop in the population in the next 50 years.

A rate of 2.1 is needed to maintain population levels.

Japan has the world's highest ratio of elderly to young people.

The trend raises serious concerns about the country's future economic growth and how it can fund its pensions.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has pledged to bring in policies that will tackle the falling birth rate.

His recent draft budget sought to increase support for child-care services.

ＡＰ通信も、。（笑）

Japan's health minister criticized for calling women 'birth-giving machines'
The Associated Press
Published: January 28, 2007

TOKYO: Japan's health minister drew criticism for describing women as "birth-giving machines" in a speech on the falling birthrate, as the government announced a council to craft strategies to tackle the country's shrinking population, news reports said Sunday.

"The number of women between the ages of 15 and 50 is fixed. The number of birth-giving machines (and) devices is fixed, so all we can ask is that they do their best per head," Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Hakuo Yanagisawa said in a speech Saturday, the Asahi and Mainichi newspapers reported.

Yanagisawa reportedly apologized even as he made the remarks, and later told Kyodo News agency the language he used was "too uncivil."

But Democratic Party leader Yukio Hatoyama was unmoved by his expression of regret.

"It was extremely rude to women. Having children or not having children is naturally a matter that women and households are free (to decide themselves)," Hatoyama told reporters Sunday.

Japan's population of 127 million contracted for the first time on record in 2005, mostly because of a drop in the birthrate, raising the prospect of severe labor shortages and difficulties in paying health bills and pensions for large numbers of elderly.

The country's birthrate was 1.26 babies per woman in her lifetime in 2005, a record low, and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has said his government wants to develop measures to encourage more couples to have children.

A proposal adopted in June calls for increasing child care, promoting greater gender equality, and encouraging companies to be more flexible in allowing staff time to take care of family responsibilities.

But the high cost of raising children, as well as the lingering notion that women should quit their jobs after giving birth, has meant many opt to have few or no children.

The strategy council, to be chaired by Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki, will hold its first meeting in early February and focus on issues such as employment patterns and resources available to families with children, the Asahi and The Nikkei newspapers said in unsourced stories Sunday.

The council will be comprised of bureaucrats and experts in various fields and is expected to present an interim report to the government in mid-June, and a basic strategy plan later in the year.

Cabinet Office officials could not be reached for comment Sunday.

関連で数日前の記事だが、続発するスキャンダルと安倍の急落する人気について、フィナンシャル・タイムズ。

Abe speech fails to mollify critics

By Michiyo Nakamoto in Tokyo

Published: January 26 2007 19:02 | Last updated: January 26 2007 19:02

Japan’s governing Liberal Democratic party on Friday faced the possibility of a serious setback in national elections after Shinzo Abe, the embattled prime minister, failed to shore up his sagging popularity in a keenly awaited speech.

In his first policy address in the Diet, Japan’s parliament, since he succeeded Junichiro Koizumi in September, Mr Abe pledged to give priority to education, reforming Japan’s pacifist constitution, implementing a new economic growth strategy and reining in public spending.

But Mr Abe’s programme for creating a “beautiful country” with a bigger international role failed to include any big initiatives in domestic policy, regarded as his main shortcoming.

The speech was thought unlikely to trigger a recovery in Mr Abe’s approval rating, which has fallen by more than 25 points to less than 40 per cent in four months, raising the prospect of a poor performance in February’s regional elections and crucial upper house elections in the summer.

Disappointing results for the LDP would not bring down the government but could curtail Mr Abe’s period in office. “It’s not working,” said Kiichi Fujiwara, a professor at Tokyo University. “His days may be numbered.”

Friday’s speech was seen as an important opportunity for Mr Abe to send a strong message to the public that he is in touch with the nation and able to deliver reform.

Instead, commentators said it was likely to reinforce the impression that Mr Abe cannot get anything right. The prime minister has been criticised for everything from a new year’s stay with his wife at Tokyo’s ritzy Grand Hyatt hotel to his choice of cabinet ministers, who have failed to impress the public. Close observers say he has become excessively sensitive to criticism.

“There was nothing different from what he has said before. I am deeply disappointed,” said Takao Toshikawa, editor of Inside Line, a current affairs newsletter.

Mr Abe’s difficulties have deepened in recent days because of scandals over alleged inappropriate accounting for political funds by some MPs and claims of bid-rigging in the construction industry, a big contributor to the LDP.

Mr Abe has lost one cabinet minister and a political appointee to allegations that they misused public money, while he himself took a three-month pay cut for his part in a scandal in which the government paid attendees to ask scripted questions at meetings that were meant to be public forums on government policy.