Charity Makes an Orderly Case for Global Debt Relief

In the run-up to this weekend’s summit of the world’s leading industrialized nations in Okinawa, a ragtag band of students, nuns and charity workers straggles past Japan’s Ministry of Finance waving banners and flowers. Their message: The privileged group must forgive billions in debt owed by the world’s poorest countries because these sums are ultimately not payable and divert scant resources from the neediest.

In a distinctly Japanese-style demonstration, however, the Japan chapter of the Jubilee 2000 global charity group stays in line, follows all instructions by the police, waits for traffic lights and clears all schedule and itinerary details in advance with the authorities.

Few Tokyoites give them a second glance. And the couple hundred who turn out are a fraction of what similar demonstrations at international summits in Seattle, London or Washington might attract.

“Our support in Japan is not as strong as elsewhere,” said Lucy Matthew, a Jubilee 2000 spokeswoman.

For the global debt-relief group, however, gaining Japan’s ear is crucial. Japan is the world’s largest aid donor, has the largest debt owed to it and is the chair of this year’s summit.

Behind tepid Japanese public support, experts say, may be a different view of charity relative to many Westerners. Traditionally, Japanese feel more comfortable helping those in their inner circle as part of a culture that stresses mutual obligation, says Seiko Yamasaki, associate research director with the Dentsu Institute for Human Studies think tank.

Extending a hand to far-off countries becomes rather abstract, she adds. “Generally,” she said, “Japanese empathy has not reached a global level yet.”

Another reason may be a strong belief in financial self-sufficiency--and public shame for those who stumble. Bankruptcy still carries a huge stigma here.

“Japanese Confucian philosophy holds that those who owe debts should repay them by any method,” said Masao Yoshida, professor of development at Chubu University.

Government officials defend their stance. Japan supports debt relief but believes that it is neither a panacea nor a replacement for economic reform.

“We are standing on a very thin line with public opinion,” said Masaki Matsumoto, a loan-aid expert with the Foreign Ministry. “Jubilee 2000 doesn’t reflect the view of every Japanese.”

Jubilee officials, meanwhile, credit Japan with softening its opposition recently to fall more in line with the other top industrialized nations. Still, Japan retains some unique bureaucratic and regulatory hurdles.

Any country that fails to repay Japanese aid, for instance, loses its access to all future loans. Furthermore, Japan’s definition of debt forgiveness still requires repayment. The difference is that the poorest countries now have 40 years to pay instead of five or 10.

Despite Japan’s public ambivalence, however, Jubilee officials credit other levers with changing Tokyo’s stance. As host of the industrialized nations summit, Japan is wary of being an extremist on the issue.

And some Japanese have started to question why the government can’t support debt relief, given the $1 trillion it has spent on economic stimulus, bailouts, corruption scandals and boondoggle projects over the last decade.

“The bureaucrats spent $10 billion trying to save the banks, so they should be able to do something,” said Toshimasa Yamamoto, executive secretary with the National Christian Council in Japan. “African children are dying on the heels of Japanese yen.”

At last year’s summit, the industrialized nations announced a $70-billion package of debt relief for the 40 poorest countries, but almost none of that has been delivered. Jubilee officials hope that this weekend’s Okinawa summit will prove a watershed for greater, faster debt cancellation.

In the meantime, Jubilee supporters in Japan hold out hope that they can raise political awareness. “For the next 10 years, every Japanese taxpayer might have to give up [$2.14],” said John Merrifield, creative director at Saatchi & Saatchi Japan, which supports the campaign. “I’m willing to give up a beer.”

Hisako Ueno of The Times’ Tokyo Bureau contributed to this report.