COMMUNICATIONS

May 21 is Nichibunken’s foundation day. Nichibunken started life on that day back in 1987. It is an in-between sort of date, lacking distinction. Some may well wonder if it might not have been a better idea to launch an academic research center at the start of April or September.

The foundation day was actually scheduled for April 1. But 1987 was the year in which the government was considering the introduction of a “sales tax,” later known as the “consumption tax.” The diet was in a tangle over whether to approve the new tax or not. That session of the diet was repeatedly extended on account of the endless arguments. Nichibunken suffered the consequences.

While we should have been up and running on April 1, the enactment of the bill to approve Nichibunken’s foundation was delayed by the extension of that diet session. We too were engulfed by the chaos that accompanied the creation of the new tax law…

Every year, as we approach Nichibunken’s foundation day, my thoughts turn to the consumption tax. What a messy business that was. On the other hand, when I pay my consumption tax, I very rarely think of Nichibunken...

Nichibunken's early years...from Nichibunken's 30th anniversary photo book