Photo/Illutration A Lower House steering committee session on Jan. 25 (Koichi Ueda)

Smartphones rule supreme today, but there was a time when train commuters had their noses in folded newspapers to kill time. 

"Reading the papers on the train every day, I began to notice subtle changes in a politician's remarks and that bothered me," said poet Takashi Arima in explaining to me how he was inspired to pen a piece titled "Henka" (Change) based on his observations that were jotted down in a notebook.

At first, the politico was saying, "I have no intention whatsoever of considering a price hike." But before anyone knew it, he had changed his tune to, "I want to avert a price hike if possible," until he declared one day, "Let's go ahead with the hike."

The Asahi Shimbun recently reported that the prices of food and everyday household items are going up across the board.

And just like in Arima's poem, an apparel industry executive was quoted as saying, "I am trying my hardest not to raise prices."

This made me presume, ungenerously, what his honest thoughts must be.

Price hikes definitely make it harder for consumers to make ends meet. However, I can also appreciate that the soaring material costs must have driven hardworking small-scale retailers to the limit.

Their wallets can get fat only if their goods and services fetch high prices. In other words, business owners need to expect increased sales commensurate with rising prices.

Under the slogan of "virtuous cycle of growth and distribution," the administration of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has proposed a tax revision bill that would push corporations to raise their workers' salaries.

I demand that the bill be subjected to thorough Diet deliberations.

Having said that, however, I had to stop and think.

And I would like to quote another poem by Arima, who enjoys wordplay: "In preparation for a plenary session/A steering committee session is held/Committee members come to the meeting late/In preparation for the steering committee session/A special committee meeting is held/Committee members nod off during the session/In preparation for the special committee session/A standing committee meeting is held/Members of the standing committee leave in the middle of the meeting."

This isn't what's in store for the tax revision bill, is it?

--The Asahi Shimbun, Jan. 31         

* * *

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.

Related News