After two weeks in which racism has dominated the national debate comes a story of sexism that must make us wonder why out leaders are so outraged at the rantings of "fick," porcine - featured chavs and yet are always so keen to suck up to culturally unsound western powers such as Japan. For almost thirty years, successive Prime Ministers have been telling us we should be "more like the Japanese." Do they mean we should turn into a nation of woman haters?
It is a few years since a Japanese Prime Minister was forced to resign after adverse reaction in the west to his publicly stated belief that "a man is not really a man until he has raped a woman."
Disrespect to women is still a rather disturbing cultural reality in the Land of The Rising Sun though. Last weekend Japan's current health minister, in an attempt to shore up the declining birth rate, called upon the nation's "baby making machines" to up their productivity rate.
Japan of course does have a big problem with its declining birth-rate but instead of demeaning Japanese women Yanagisawa - san should look for the root of the problem, which like so many other problems that beset the world, lies in the obsession with globalisation of economics.
Like all other trading nations Japan's economy relies on constantly accelerating economic growth. The expansion of trade that fuels this growth is underwritten by ever increasing property prices. This in turn means the cost of housing imposes an unsustainable burden on the joint income of couples. There is no way a single income can support two people let alone allow them to take on the added expenses of bringing up children. This is where Japan's problem lies.
If a newly united couple plan to raise a family, adequate living space is a necessity. If you though the price of a decent sized house or flat in London was obscene just look at similar properties in Tokyo.
But as usual the politicians and businessmen cannot possibly be at fault so blame must fall on the ordinary punters, and in Japan's sexist culture who better to blame than women.