- 14 Mar 2002
- 21,050
- 18,903
I am subscribed to the "Japanese Press Weekly," a press service closely associated with the Japanese Communist Party (JCP). It describes its mission as providing information on "progressive" and "democratic" movements in Japan. It covers politics, labour issues, peace movements, social welfare, constitutional issues, Okinawa , anti-nuclear activism, and related topics. The English-language Japan Press Weekly originated as the English edition of Shimbun Akahata (しんぶん赤旗), the official newspaper of the JCP, and has been published since 1956.
While not politically unbiased, they often report news completely absent in the mainstream media, such as the one below:
It has emerged that Japan's Ministry of Defence plans to sharply increase the number of beds at major Self-Defense Forces hospitals nationwide in preparation for a possible conflict in the Nansei Islands.
The move suggests the government is steadily advancing contingency planning based on the assumption that large numbers of Self-Defense Forces personnel could be killed or injured in a military emergency. Under the plans, the SDF Naha Hospital in Okinawa Prefecture would expand from its normal peacetime capacity of 50 beds to 200 during an emergency. The SDF Fukuoka Hospital would increase its capacity from 200 to 350 beds, while the SDF Yokosuka Hospital in Kanagawa Prefecture would double its capacity from 100 to 200 beds in a contingency situation. The Nansei island chain stretches southwest from Kyushu towards Taiwan and has become an increasingly sensitive area in Japan's defence planning amid rising regional tensions.
I could not find any sources for that figure of 4.1m yen per hospital bed eliminated, but the Japanese government has been encouraging hospitals to reduce or reorganise their bed numbers as part of wider healthcare reforms and regional medical planning. In recent years, subsidies have been offered to hospitals that close, convert, or reorganise beds, especially in areas where authorities believe there are more hospital beds than needed. Japan has one of the world's highest numbers of hospital beds per person, and the government has long tried to reduce excess capacity.
While not politically unbiased, they often report news completely absent in the mainstream media, such as the one below:
It has emerged that Japan's Ministry of Defence plans to sharply increase the number of beds at major Self-Defense Forces hospitals nationwide in preparation for a possible conflict in the Nansei Islands.
The move suggests the government is steadily advancing contingency planning based on the assumption that large numbers of Self-Defense Forces personnel could be killed or injured in a military emergency. Under the plans, the SDF Naha Hospital in Okinawa Prefecture would expand from its normal peacetime capacity of 50 beds to 200 during an emergency. The SDF Fukuoka Hospital would increase its capacity from 200 to 350 beds, while the SDF Yokosuka Hospital in Kanagawa Prefecture would double its capacity from 100 to 200 beds in a contingency situation. The Nansei island chain stretches southwest from Kyushu towards Taiwan and has become an increasingly sensitive area in Japan's defence planning amid rising regional tensions.
I could not find any sources for that figure of 4.1m yen per hospital bed eliminated, but the Japanese government has been encouraging hospitals to reduce or reorganise their bed numbers as part of wider healthcare reforms and regional medical planning. In recent years, subsidies have been offered to hospitals that close, convert, or reorganise beds, especially in areas where authorities believe there are more hospital beds than needed. Japan has one of the world's highest numbers of hospital beds per person, and the government has long tried to reduce excess capacity.
