A Wine Tasting and Discussion about Japan Meeting was held as always on June 1, 2016 at the representative’s home. The guests included Mr. Shigekazu Torikai, the Representative Lawyer at the Torikai Law Office that has won the top position in the taxation business category in the ranking of lawyers by a newspaper company; Mr. Yuri Bulakh, the Chairman of the Russians in Japan Association who has Ukrainian nationality on his father’s side and Polish nationality on his mother’s side; Mr. Hiroaki Nishina, Founder and President of Power Japan Plus Inc. that is working on next-generation batteries; Mr. Masanobu Yamamoto, President of Yamamoto Gakko, who achieved an annual net profit of 65 billion yen as the person responsible for the North American market when he was at Sega Enterprises; and Mr. Fumiya Sako, Chairman of the Romanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Japan, who has a deep and wide range on knowledge on everything from politics to religion. They talked about a variety of topics from business to world affairs./p>

　President Obama has been active in the anti-war and anti-nuclear movements since before becoming president. He was also awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for advocating the total abolition of nuclear weapons. It seems he has now visited Hiroshima with the belief that he would regret finishing his term in office without having done anything toward this. He has written his name down in history with this visit, but it was hoped that he would say that he would come again even after leaving office. President Obama caused chaos around the world when he said that the United States was no longer the world’s policeman. However, this visit to Hiroshima and the restoration of diplomatic relations with Cuba have become his legacy. He gave a very poetic speech starting with when he said that “seventy-one years ago, on a bright cloudless morning, death fell from the sky and the world was changed.” Nevertheless, it was possible to feel there were various considerations in places where the subject was not clear. In addition, there was absolutely no interpretation at the venue where he gave his speech. This meant that there were many Japanese people listening in front of President Obama who could not understand the meaning of what he was saying. It was extremely thoughtless not to provide interpretation at such an event. However, it appears that the speech was given without interpretation at the request of the United States. Hiroshima is the only place in Japan that is visited by more Western tourists than Asians. It is possible to expect that there will be a further increase in foreign visitors in the future.
　A seventieth anniversary memorial ceremony for the Normandy landings was held in France in June 2014. However, monochrome video of the atomic bombs being dropped on Japan was also played on a large screen at the venue at that time. Various world leaders, including President Obama, applauded this. However, President Putin from Russia made the sign of the cross. It may have seemed that this was to show his condolences, but it could also have been to express the fact that the atomic bombing put a stop to the Soviet Union’s ambitions to turn the world communist. The Soviet Union successfully completed a nuclear test just four years after the atomic bombs were dropped on Japan. It was possible to develop nuclear weapons in such a short space of time because information on nuclear weapons was leaked to the Soviet Union by American scientists in order to make it so that nuclear weapons couldn’t be used. Considering that the use of nuclear weapons was also considered in the Korean War, there is no doubt that the United States would have used them if the Soviet Union hadn’t been able to get their hands on them.

　There is a debate about whether Russians are European or Asian. Russians are Caucasian from a racial perspective, but Asian from their behavioral patterns. It might well be for that reason that many Russians desire better relations with Japan. The United States is on the lookout for Japan and Russia becoming closer together. It is the United States that fuels the debate on the return of the four islands in the Northern Territories. The United States does this because it wants to avoid a settlement between Russia and Japan in which both parties would end up with two islands. Mr. Yoshiro Mori, the former Prime Minister, made connections with Russia, but this first started with his father Mr. Shigeki Mori. Mr. Shigeki Mori won the mayoral elections in Neagari Town in Ishikawa Prefecture for nine terms and also served as the Vice Chairman of the National Association of Towns and Villages. He worked tirelessly to improve relations with the Soviet Union and part of his remains were sent to the Russian city of Shelekhov (the sister city of Neagari Town) and a grave built there in accordance with his will after he died. President Putin has also visited this grave. It was precisely because that Mr. Yoshiro Mori had such a father that he looked to improve relations with Russia. However, it was also because of this that he was forced from office by the United States approximately one year after becoming prime minister. The same thing happened to Mr. Kakuei Tanaka when he looked to get closer with China. There is also a theory that Prime Minister Abe brought the wrath down on himself and was forced to resign after just one year because he declared that Japan would break free from the postwar regime and escape from American domination in his first term in office. Prime Minister Abe is now a completely different person to the one he was in his first term in office and he acts very realistically. Diplomacy is going very well in Prime Minister Abe’s administration. He has met with President Putin, the Ise Shima Summit was a success and President Obama has visited Hiroshima. He has also advocated the need to change to a system allowing for the election of the prime minister by popular vote instead of the current parliamentary system of government in order to strengthen the authority of the prime minister of Japan. However, there is a possibility that this will allow an unsuitable person to win in the same way that public elections allowed Mr. Knock Yokoyama to be elected the Governor of Osaka Prefecture and Mr. Yukio Aoshima to be elected the Governor of Tokyo, for example. There is surely less risk of this if the prime minister is chosen according to the parliamentary system of government. In addition, Japan needs long-term administrations. In the United States, two terms in office equals eight years; in China the leader serves for ten years; President Putin has held office for a total of two decades. Mr. Medvedev is also still young.
　The world was dominated by Caucasians until the first half of the twentieth century. It was Japan’s victory in the Russo-Japanese War that changed this. The Baltic Fleet was annihilated in the naval battles in the Sea of Japan. Japan also fought bravely against the Russian army in the Battle of Mukden. The United States reached out to mediate for peace because they thought it would be bad for Caucasians to so clearly continue to lose to non-Caucasians. Nevertheless, colonies around the world started to make the move toward freedom after this war. If Japan had not beaten Russia, the world may still be a paradise for Caucasians with colonies remaining. Later, Japan made a proposal to incorporate the elimination of racial discrimination in the Covenant of the League of Nations in the League of Nations Committee after the end of the First World War. However, this was rejected due to the unfair proceedings of President Wilson of the United States. It is likely that if the atomic bomb had been dropped on a Caucasian country instead of Japan, then the United States would at least have given that nation advance warning.

　The danger of Mrs. Hillary Clinton winning the U.S. presidential election draws closer every day. She is suspected of leaking confidential information by using her private e-mail address in official business. This is something that is subject to an ongoing FBI investigation. In addition to this, doubts have also arisen over alleged vast slush funds. Moreover, it looks like she will be entangled with a battle to win the Democratic Party’s nomination with Mr. Sanders right up until their convention. There is a view that the supporters of Mr. Sanders will vote for Mr. Trump if Mrs. Clinton becomes the Democratic Party’s nominee. The Trump phenomenon is an example which shows that society is gradually changing around the world. Similar movements to Mr. Trump’s America first principles are appearing in the form of breakthroughs by far-right political parties in Germany, Austria and the United Kingdom, among other countries. Society is being destabilized by immigration, such as in Germany where there are many Turkish immigrants or France where there are many immigrants from the nation’s former colonies. There is a debate that Japan should also accept more immigrants due to our declining birthrate. However, such easy acceptance of this is dangerous. It is surely better to solve production shortages due to the declining birthrate with AI or mechanization and to compensate for a lack of demand by an increase in tourists.

　Lithium-ion batteries are often used as storage batteries. However, they have the problem of having a short life span and being prone to explosion. There have even been cases in which people have died, such as when a mobile phone placed under a pillow has exploded. However, the influence of mobile phone carriers in the media is such that this is rarely reported. Dual carbon batteries, jointly developed by the venture firm Power Japan Plus and Kyushu University, have a long life and no danger of exploding. There are great hopes for this as the next generation of batteries.

　Why are bar associations like the Japan Federation of Bar Associations left wing? It is unavoidable for their way of thinking to be left wing because even the Self-Defense Forces would be unconstitutional if the Japanese constitution is interpreted literally. The reason for this is that it was the occupational policy of the United States to make the constitution this way. Whether this can be amended or not is up to the will of the people. Obtaining a majority in a national referendum is impossible in the current situation even if two thirds of the members of the National Diet agree with a proposal. The Article 9 Society that opposes amending the constitution is expanding across Japan. It is compulsory to join a bar association when you become a lawyer. How is it legal for bar associations to use their budgets to make repeated left-wing assertions? The activities of bar associations are not subject to the constraints of state power from the concept that lawyers should be autonomous. The Chairman of the Japan Federation of Bar Associations is determined by a vote. However, basically, the position rotates between those from the three bar associations of Tokyo and the four bar associations of Osaka.
　Legal apprentices who have passed the bar exam are required to master the court proceedings under the Supreme Court. However, a trial should be the last means of solving a problem. The thinking abilities of lawyers should be used in strategic planning in order to win without fighting. There are usually fixed ideas about legal issues. This means that a conclusion is arrived at that fits the specific facts for this. However, in order to win, it is first necessary to determine the conclusion and then consider at how to come up with a legal interpretation for that and what evidence to present. If it is possible to come up with such a strategy and then be successful in making a bold assertion to administrative bodies or courts, then you are already winning. The IBM case is one of tax avoidance that was recently contested in the Supreme Court. IBM Japan reduced its corporation tax burden by offsetting its surpluses and deficits through an exclusion from gross revenue system and consolidated taxation system with the purchase of its own shares. However, the Tokyo Regional Taxation Bureau made a demand for 120 billion yen in additional taxes as tax avoidance. IBM Japan went to court to appeal this. The stock transfer was completed before the consolidated tax system was established. This meant that the taxation bureau had no chance of winning. Eventually, IBM Japan won the case. In addition to regaining the 120 billion yen it was charged in additional taxes, the firm obtained a supplemental refund totaling billions of yen. In fact, IBM Japan had properly obtained the information that an investigation was being conducted on the consolidated tax system and so made its stock transfer before this. This was its strategy.
　Mr. Masuzoe, the Governor of Tokyo, is suspected of misappropriation of political funds. However, there is probably no legal problem. Nevertheless, his reputation has been greatly damaged and he has been subjected to repeated unpleasant experiences. In the case of the request for an investigation by a third party of two former public prosecutors, it is not possible for a person who has paid money themselves for this request to be called a third party. Mr. Masuzoe is aiming to hold on to his position in anticipation of the fact that neither the ruling nor opposing parties want an election at this time. The source of these allegations against Mr. Masuzoe is unclear. One theory is that the information was leaked to camouflage the issue of the indictment of Mr. Amari, the former Economy and Finance Minister. The perspectives of the judges are completely opposite to that of being fair and neutral; they are full of prejudices. They determine the judicial decisions they want to make in advance and then call lawyers compliant with this and give instructions to produce any evidence that is lacking for this. If you do not pretend to sincerely investigate matters instead of bluntly refusing proposals for settlement, it results in a ridiculous level of retaliation in their rulings. Judges are after all just humans.