Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's decision to call a Diet Lower House election Sept. 11 solely on the question of post office privatization is curious.
Most post office users agree that the existing service is good, excellent even. Many fear, rightly, that privatization would force closure of post offices in remote rural areas, despite Koizumi's promises to the contrary.
But Koizumi's "real intentions," as they say in Japanese, lie elsewhere. He believes that privatization will stop the corruption and waste that results from the bureaucrats and politicians being able to finance pet projects from the 350 trillion yen -- the so-called zaito funds -- that the post offices collect in savings and insurance premiums. He believes that these funds in the hands of banks and private investors would do much more to revive the economy.