（社説）日本の死刑　課題直視して議論を

Societal Discussions: Re-evaluating Japan's Death Penalty

2024年11月16日 5時00分

「日本の死刑制度について考える懇話会」が政府への提言をまとめた。死刑が「根源的な問題を孕（はら）んでいる」と指摘し、日本の死刑制度と運用について「現状のままに存続させてはならない」とした。

Proposals have been put together during the "Meeting on Japan's Death Penalty" and are now ready for submission to the government. The death penalty sheds light on a "fundamental societal problem" and we "must not let it continue as it is right now."

　さらに、国会や内閣の下に死刑制度に関する根本的な検討を任務とする「公的な会議体」を設けることを、全委員一致で提言。結論を出すまで死刑執行を停止することの是非も検討課題だとした。

In addition, all members of the national assembly, including the cabinet, were one in proposing to create an official meeting body whose purpose is to fundamentally examine the death penalty. Included among the topics for discussion was whether or not to stop the death penalty altogether.

　懇話会は日本弁護士連合会が呼びかけ、学者、国会議員や、検事総長・警察庁長官の経験者、被害者団体の代表など１６人からなる。朝日新聞論説委員も参加した。

The meeting, which was composed of 16 people, called upon experts such as the Association of Japanese Lawyers, academicians, members of the parliament, Chief Investigators and Police Chiefs who have experience on the matter, representatives of an organization comprised of victims, etc. Asahi Shimbun News Staff also joined the said meeting.

　提言は、誤判の可能性を排除するための制度▽被害者遺族の支援のあり方▽死刑に関する情報公開や国民の意見を的確に集約する方法など、会議体で検討すべき課題も具体的に列挙した。

The proposal provided detailed examples of topics that needed to be examined by the meeting body. Examples of which included a way to eliminate the possibility of error, the way to assist the surviving family of the victim, the public opening of information regarding the death penalty, the way to accurately gather people's opinions, etc.

　「人々に残忍さの手本を与えるという点からも、死刑は有益でない」と廃止を説いたのは、１８世紀イタリアの思想家ベッカリーアだった。同時代のドイツの哲学者カントは「もし人殺しをしたなら、その者は死ななければならない」と死刑を肯定した。

The argument to abolish the death penalty due to "There is no profit in the death penalty even by showing cruelty to people." came from Italian thinker, Beccaria, in the 18th century. On the other hand, German Philosopher, Kant, who was also from the same generation, was positive about the death penalty: "If the person committed murder, he himself must die."

　以来、各国・地域で議論が重ねられ、制度も変わってきた。法律上または事実上の死刑廃止国は７割を超す。韓国は四半世紀、執行を停止。台湾の司法は９月、死刑適用に極めて厳しい条件を課した。

Since then, the system has undergone changes, incorporating lessons from various discussions conducted in several countries and regions. Over 70% of nations have abolished the death penalty due to legal and evidence-based reasoning. Korea stopped the death penalty in the first quarter of the century. As for Taiwan, in September, discussions centered on the idea that the death penalty can be enforced given extremely stringent conditions.

　司法制度は人々の価値観と普遍的な人権概念とを照らし合わせて決めていくのが望ましい。特に死刑の場合、刑罰の目的が「目には目を」という古典的な応報か、犯罪予防と社会秩序の維持か――まで立ち戻って考えねば、かみあった議論は難しいだろう。

The judiciary hopes to make a decision after conducting comparisons, along with factors like the people's value system and basic human rights. The death penalty, in particular, is likely going to be difficult to discuss by returning to the classic response, "an eye for an eye," or use reasoning such as preventing crime or maintaining the social order.

　だが日本では、「照らし合わせ」を進める国民的議論は盛り上がらなかった。超党派の「死刑廃止を推進する議員連盟」が国会に死刑制度調査会をつくる法案を出す動きも今世紀初めにあったが、実現しなかった。

However, in Japan, national discussions that advocated "comparisons" did not garner much attention. While there was a movement coming from the bipartisan "alliance of parliament members who lobby for the abolishment of the death penalty" to pass a policy that creates an organization to investigate the death penalty in the national assembly during the start of the century, it never materialized.

　誤判で死刑が執行されたら取り返しがつかない危険は、死刑が確定した袴田巌さんが一転無罪となったことを機に多くの人が痛感した。生命の尊重という基本原則を自ら実践すべき国家が個人の生命を断つことには本質的な疑念も伴う。朝日新聞の社説はこれまで、廃止に向け議論を始めることを呼びかけてきた。

The danger that there's no way to reverse a death sentence that was mistakenly decided and has already been carried out was painfully felt when Mr. HAKAMADA, Iwao who was sentenced to death turned out to be innocent. The nation itself must realize the fundamental need to respect life, which goes hand-in-hand with the fundamental doubt to end an individual's life. The Asahi News Societal Discussions called for the initiation of discussions toward the abolishment of the death penalty.

　積年の難題に取り組む会議体の設置を期待する。林芳正官房長官は「現時点では考えていない」というが、いま求められているのは、開かれた議論を通じて合意点を見いだしていく営みである。

We expect much out of the discussing body to tackle this age-old problem. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa HAYASHI says, "At this present point in time, I haven't thought considerably about this issue. However, now that this is something that's being sought out, there's work to be done to find a common ground of agreement through the discussions."

AVの暴力表現を許し続けるか　「性欲至上主義社会」で問われる責任

Permitting violence in Adult Videos (AV), a question of responsibility on the part of a society where "sexual desires run supreme"

机美鈴・田中ゑれ奈

TSUKUE, Misuzu; TANAKA, Elena

2024年11月6日 17時00分

「男尊女卑依存症社会」などの著作があり、3千人を超える性加害者の再犯防止プログラムに長年取り組んできたソーシャルワーカーの斉藤章佳さん（45）は「AVを模倣して性加害に至ったケースの相談も受けてきた」と語ります。

For several years, social worker and author of "A Male-dominated and Female-subjugated, Sexually-addicted Society", SAITO, Akiyoshi (45) has been working on a program to prevent the repetition of sexual assaults committed by over 3,000 offenders. He says, "I've also done consultation work on cases where a sexual assault was committed in imitation of scenes in AV."

　――漫画家の峰なゆかさんがインタビューで、かつての出演経験を踏まえ、アダルトビデオ（AV）の演出の暴力性を指摘しました。臨床の立場から、AVが与える影響をどう見ますか。

In an interview, Manga Comics Artist MINE, Nayuka commented on the violence found in Adult Videos (AV) when she began her acting career a long time ago. From a clinical standpoint, how do you see AV's impact on society?

　さいとう・あきよし　1979年、滋賀県生まれ。精神保健福祉士・社会福祉士。20年以上にわたりアルコール依存症を中心にギャンブル・薬物・摂食障害・性犯罪など依存症の臨床に横断的に携わる。2024年10月から西川口榎本クリニック副院長。主な著書に「男が痴漢になる理由」「セックス依存症」「子どもへの性加害－性的グルーミングとは何か」など。

SAITO, Akiyoshi was born in Shiga Prefecture in 1979. A social and mental health worker, he has handled clinical cases pertaining to addiction for over 20 years, focusing mainly on the consumption of alcoholic beverages, alongside gambling, food and drugs, and sexual assaults. Since October 2024, he has been serving as the Vice-president of the Nishikawaguchi Enomoto Clinic. In addition, he has been the principal author of publications such as "The Reason Why Men Become Perverts", "Sexual Addiction", "Sexual Violence toward Children: What is Sexual Grooming?", etc.

　私が加害者臨床でかかわったケースで、生まれて初めて見たAVが、女子生徒を同級生が追いかけ、セーラー服に精液をかけるものだった、という男性がいます。女子生徒は最初こそ嫌がっていたものの、最後はその行為を喜んでいるように描かれていたとのことです。

I first saw an AV for a clinical case that I was handling. In the AV, a female student was being pursued by a male classmate, who was saying that her sailor school uniform ought to have semen. While the female student at first hated it, in the end, she was portrayed to have gotten to enjoy the behavior.

　中学生だった当人は、こんなことをされて喜ぶ女性がいるんだと衝撃を受けたそうです。高校に入ると同じことを下校時間帯に繰り返し、成人になってからは同種行為で刑務所に何度も服役しました。彼はそのコンテンツに出会わなければ、そのような行為には及ばなかったかもしれないと語っていたのが印象的でした。フィクションであるAVからの誤学習によって、一生を左右された例と言えるでしょう。

The offender who was a middle school student at the time was said to have been shocked to find out that there's a female who'd enjoy being assaulted in such a manner. When he entered high school, he repeated the same behavior after school hours and even after he became an adult. He has served prison for this same type of behavior numerous times. What was striking was that in a statement, he said that if he didn't encounter such AV content, he would not have ended up behaving in such a way. From this example, it could be said that a life has been swayed toward another direction after mistakenly learning from fictional AV.

　性暴力は学習された行動であり、アダルトコンテンツはそれを強化する要因の一つになっています。

Sexual violence is a learned behavior. Adult content is a factor that reinforces this.

　――アダルトコンテンツに暴力的な演出が少なくないことをどう考えたらいいのでしょうか。

How should we think about adult content where not a few violent scenes are portrayed?

　作り手は売れる物をつくりたい。より中毒性のある、支配的で倒錯的なものの方が人の脳に大きなインパクトがあり、ヒットにもつながってきた。男女が対等にセックスする姿は安心・安全を感じることはできても、刺激は薄れるのでしょう。

Its creator wants to make something that can sell. The bestsellers are linked to a subjugating form of perversion that has a huge impact in the mind. Even if the portrayal of sex between a man and a woman can be seen as safe and secure, it's likely that there would also be a thin layer of sexual arousal present.

　あるセクシー俳優の男性から聞いた話ですが、男優も生き残るためには仕事を選べないそうです。食べていくために、ありとあらゆるジャンルのプレーをしないといけない。中には暴力的なものや排泄（はいせつ）物を扱うなど自分がまったく性的関心がわかない分野でも、性的興奮や勃起した状態を保つためにどういうポイントにユーザーの関心があるのか必死でリサーチし、男優自身の中に性的興奮の新しい条件付けの回路を開発し、本番の準備をすることもあるそうです。

A story from a sexy male actor tells of a man who has no other choice but to continue on with his job in order to survive. To be able to eat, he has to play whatever part is available and in all types of genres. Even if his job is in a field that has no relation with sex whatsoever, because the video deals with violent material, he has to go study at which parts would users be most affected to be able to maintain sexual arousal, erection, etc. The male actor himself has developed a new way to produce sexual arousal, and is said to have prepared himself for the task.

　性的な欲求は、学習や条件づけと深くかかわります。業界はそのようなトリガーを作品の中に設定することを繰り返し、顧客を獲得してきたのでしょう。そこへ暴力的な演出が入り込んでいく。

Sexual desire is deeply rooted to learning and the preconditions. The industry repeatedly sets these triggers within the products it creates, so that it could acquire viewers. It is for this reason that violence is inserted in the scenes.

　そうしたＡＶはポルノ依存症を生み出してもいます。最初は刺激的と感じても、次第に刺激を感じなくなる。ドーパミンへの耐性がさらなる刺激を求め、耽溺（たんでき）していく構図です。そのことは、女性をひとりの人格を持つ対等な人間としてではなく、モノとして扱ってきたこととも大きく関わります。

Such AV produces addiction to pornography. Even if a person felt stimulated at the start, he won't feel so the next time around. So the system has been designed so that viewers would continuously crave and seek for stimulation as their tolerance for dopamine increases. It's mainly here where a female is not a human being, but an object.

性加害者の再犯防止プログラムに長年取り組む斉藤章佳さん。日本社会について、「男性は性欲を抑えられない」という価値観が日々強化される、「性欲至上主義」の一面があると指摘します。

Mr. SAITO, Akiyoshi has long been working on a program to prevent sexual offenders from repeating crime. In Japanese society, "males cannot control their sexual desires" is a value that society reinforces daily, indicating a side of "Sexual Hedonism."

――温厚な知人男性が、行き交う女性一人ひとりを即座に「やれる」「やれない」と判断していると聞き、衝撃を受けたことがあります。

There are well-informed males who have been surprised to learn the responses of women whom they interacted with and whom they asked to immediately decide whether they "can" or "can't" do something.

Women are turned into sexual objects for man's consumption, something to which males have since become accustomed. Moreover, this has been used to enforce the bond among males.

Meanwhile, there are males who've gained attention for coming to the side of the females and voicing out a "No" on social media as protest. While it's still necessary to pay attention to these statements which have words like "discrimination" and "uncomfortable", what we find is that what comes first is the sense of protest and outburst, rather than accountability. Therefore, such reactions are merely thoughtless criticisms and are a "backstab" launched by those who actually regard females as objects.

The Manga Comics Artist TAKINAMI, Yukari has contemplated about this hedonistic side of Japan where "a male-dominated" society permits the sexual desires of men.

There's a tendency to say that males have difficulty in controlling their sexual appetites.

If males really can't control their sexual desires, they shouldn't be able to continue to work at their jobs. If they're berated with "You can't control your sexual appetite," they should have felt insulted right from the start. However, the view that "males are living things who can't control their sexual desires" has never been negated even today; instead, it's reinforced in society everyday.

Among sexual offenders, not all pertain to erection and semen. On the contrary, from my clinical experience, using sexual excitement as the motivation is among the minority of those cases that inflict harm. However, when the case is escalated to a penal offense, there are quite a number of wives who testify against their husbands when they're asked by investigators regarding their lifestyle and their husband's before the occurrence of the incident. Here, there is bias in that "the husband committed the sexual offense, because the wife couldn't manage her husband's sexual appetite."

Even the police during investigations would hear of shocking incidents that have occurred because the sexual desires of men could not be controlled. Reporters end up getting police presentations as they are, and "discussions for the reason behind sexual desires" in society are getting even more fixated on the inability of men to control their sexual appetites.

When people who've committed violent sexual acts first come for diagnosis, they're asked why they had to resort to such means. Responses included "I wanted to dominate", "I wanted to relieve myself from stress", "a gaming sense of experience", "a feeling of achievement", and such things expressed in various words. Sexual violence is an extreme form of vice that is learnable and wherein many varied forms of pleasure are compressed into a short span of time.

With regard to power relations, according to a former Osaka District Chief Prosecutor's case where an offender attempted to rape the victim, if structures exist for violence to occur, sexual violence could happen anywhere. Upon considering this scenario, Japanese society uses sexual desires as a magic pill in sex scandals for its efficacy in cleverly hiding accountability.

In a rehabilitation program for people who've compulsively committed sexual offenses because they cannot control their sexual behavior, there has also been a proposal for them "to try to stop masturbating in a period of one month." While there are people who worry that "it'll be a distressful undertaking," in truth, there are many who voice out that it was actually "weirdly the opposite," and "it was, on the contrary, easy." This realization can be attained if the statement that "it's easier to produce deviant behavior when sexual desires accumulate because the person doesn't regularly masturbate" doesn't move beyond the realm of thought.

It's likely that not a few people habitually use AV to masturbate "before sexual desires accumulate too much." Actually, that itself is something that I'd want to point out as having a money-draining aspect especially for people who sexually behave compulsively and struggle with the problem of sexual addiction.

First of all, what is this desire to harm others?

When the problem of not being valued by other people or the feeling of loneliness after being pursued and having one's self-respect damaged become psychological, it's easy for the person to self-explode and behave wildly. Their self-worth and self-respect return by hurting other people and dominating those who are weaker than themselves. "Sadism" is not restricted only to males; it's a normal desire among human beings.

To be able to control that desire when conversing with friends and people whom one values is a mark of a mature adult. However, I think that violence and such suppressed desires come out quite frequently in adult content.

I think that it's never really the case that we should regard "violent expression in adult videos as unavoidable and that they exist for the sake of letting loose one's sexual desires." Wouldn't it be more important to examine the impact of violence and bad behavior in adult content and discuss these from various points of view?

When speaking about evaluating AV, I think that while focusing on the process hits the mark, what ought to be really asked is actually something rather different. Quite a number of adult content would have scenes that portray a young and minor-looking actress, who is short-in-height, carrying her school bag on her back. I think that it would be better if we examine critically people's tolerance and goading of this form of expression where children are made into sex objects.

However, even after enforcing stricter monitoring, management and evaluation, the situation is as it has been with regulating dangerous drugs in the past; the task is, in fact, a cat-and-mouse game. Eventually, the side of the viewers, who are the receivers of information, will realize that any harm inflicted should exclude themselves. Therefore, it's important to ask how people choose information. To nurture this capacity is education.

Two years ago, when I was doing clinical work with sexual offenders, Ms. SAKURAI, Yuko, a midwife, and I began working on an inclusive form of sexual education that employs a viewpoint without gender-bias. This was initiated by a strong desire on my part to address the issue after having been told by the offenders at the time, "Our only sex education textbook was AV. We want to formally study sex."

Sex education is based on human rights like procreation, gender, private zones and sexual agreements, which include the age when to have sexual intercourse, but without any prejudice whatsoever such as "Women should do this to be happy", "Sex is done in this way."

While I've found that it's possible to study sex at any age, what's important above all is to create opportunities for learning starting from childhood, well before victims are produced. (TSUKUE, Misuzu; TANAKA, Elena)

SAITO, Akiyoshi was born in Shiga Prefecture in 1979. A social and mental health worker, he has handled clinical cases pertaining to addiction for over 20 years, focusing mainly on the consumption of alcoholic beverages, alongside gambling, food and drugs, and sexual crimes. Since October 2024, he has been serving as the Vice-president of the Nishikawaguchi Enomoto Clinic. In addition, he has been the principal author of publications such as "The Reason Why Men Become Perverts", "A Male-dominated and Female-subjugated, Sexually-addicted Society", "Sexual Violence toward Children: What is Sexual Grooming?", etc.

Since a long time ago, I've jeopardized my relationship with people like my partner and my girlfriend after saying something embarrassing and thoughtless and which I said simply out of curiosity. Even now, I answer my own questions whenever I'd wonder if I would hurt women without realizing it. Since birth, I've worried about how to confront this inner desire to harm others, which is like an installed app that cannot be removed. (30s)

Japan's AV have a tendency to depict women as "mere holes" and are mainly for men. Accepting and beautifying perversion and rape have also made an impact in sexual crimes committed in actuality. We need to acknowledge the mistake brought about by the deluge of wrong information. Sex education is necessary for males and females to respect each other. (50s)

I feel that this desire to dominate in AV and erotic Manga Comics, as well as the emptiness that follows go in the same line of thought as the sexual harm inflicted during the war. Even males who've experienced power-tripping harassment in the military have somehow kept their self-respect intact by inflicting sexual harm on the women in their target location of attack. Nowadays, there are many males who attempt to solve the problem of misogamy by not acknowledging their duty to head the patriarchal family. (60's)

How do you find what Mr. SAITO pointed out regarding "Males do not tire of viewing females as objects for their consumption?" Please write your thoughts and feelings, as well as experience on the matter. Comments can be posted after adding "@asahi_shimbun" among your friends on LINE. For emails, please send them to: gender@asahi.com

外国語の犯罪関連情報見抜け　ベトナム人留学生がSNSをパトロール

Vietnamese students patrol social media to decipher crime-related information in a foreign language

浅田朋範

ASADA, Tomonori

2024年11月3日 12時00分

留学生ボランティアらが警察と協力し、同郷の外国人犯罪を防ぐ――。そんなサイバーボランティア「フォーシブ」（FRCV）の活動が、埼玉県警の呼びかけで始まっている。

International student-volunteers are working with the police to prevent crimes committed by foreign nationals residing in the same town... The Foreign Residents Cyber Volunteer (FRCV) initiative began from a call for assistance by the Saitama Prefecture Police.

　県警によると、全国初の取り組みで、これまでに100件以上の投稿に警告し、削除につながったという。参加する留学生は「活動を通して犯罪を減らしたい」と話す。

According to the Police, this is a nationwide campaign, where over 100 posts on social media have been reported and have subsequently been deleted. The international students who participate say, "We want to reduce crime through this initiative."

　さいたま市中央区の日本語学校「東京日語学院」の教室で、ベトナム人留学生、ルオン・ティ・ナさん（19）とボ・ティ・ヒエンさん（19）がスマートフォンに文字を打ち込み始めた。表示されているのはアルファベットの一部に記号のついたベトナム語。2人は在留ベトナム人が参加するフェイスブック上のグループで、「通帳」「キャッシュカード」「買う」などの単語を順に検索し始めた。フェイスブックを使っているベトナム人が多いといい、通帳の売買などの犯罪関連情報を見つけるのが目的だ。

In a classroom at the "Tokyo Japanese Language Institute", a school in Chuo District in Saitama City, Vietnamese students LUONG, Ti Na (19) and VO, Ti Hien (19) started to enter text characters in their smartphones which displayed a portion in the Vietnamese alphabet. Both students are part of a Facebook group composed of Vietnamese people staying in Japan. They searched in sequence vocabularies like "Passbook", "Cash Card", "Buy", among others. Given that there are many Vietnamese using Facebook, their objective is to find crime-related information such as the buying and selling of passbooks.

In 20 minutes, Ms. Na announced, "I found it," showing her smartphone to the reporter. Written on the post was, "We buy cash cards and passbooks from all banks." Included were several images of the passbooks. Ms. Na shared with the Prefecture Police, the images, the Japanese translation of the post and the URL.

During the last day of the meeting, Ms. Hien also found a post written in the Vietnamese language saying, "We buy company bank accounts", and reported it to the police. Both students are usually active during their vacant times between class hours and when they're at home.

To escape exposure, the posts also use abbreviations and slangs.

According to the Prefecture Police, the posts on social media also have plenty of Internet slang and abbreviations to escape exposure by Japanese investigators. A post, for example, would have "m.u.a.", which is the word "mua", meaning "to buy" in the Vietnamese language. There was also an example that displayed the abbreviation "blx" in the Vietnamese language to mean "Driver's License."

About 40,000 Vietnamese nationals reside in Saitama Prefecture. This is followed by Chinese nationals. The Prefecture Police continues to verify incidents where information is exchanged concerning illegal employment and the buying and selling of bank accounts and medicines amongst a portion of the Vietnamese population. They use abbreviations and Internet slang, such that there are times when crime-related posts are missed by Japanese interpreters.

Therefore, the Prefecture Police sought the assistance of the Japanese language and vocational schools where residing Vietnamese students study to help out in the cyber-patrolling campaign. Three organizations responded, so that right now, there are about 20 participants, which include international students whose mother tongue is the Vietnamese language as well as company employees.

The Prefecture Police posted warnings to also expose the suspects.

When the Prefecture Police decides that the information reported by the volunteers is related to crime, they'll post a comment in both the Vietnamese and the Japanese languages as a form of warning, "In Japan, it is a crime to buy and sell passbooks and cash cards." After they've been identified, they can also expose the suspects.

Since July of the previous year, and in a span of a year of testing, 97 posts have been reported. 75 of the posts have been stopped and deleted, among others. Since officially starting this initiative in July of this year, in about three months, 41 posts including the reports from the Prefecture Police Patrol have been submitted. The police says, "When slang is used for crime, the volunteers could find them, because they're speakers of the language, which is their mother tongue. Later on, we hope that through this FRCV initiative, the suspects who buy and sell accounts would be exposed. We want to continue with this campaign to tackle this problem."

NAKAZAWA, Shunichi, the General Manager of the Tokyo Japanese Language Institute agreed, "We want to raise the awareness of our students about crime prevention, while they work together with the FRCV as volunteers." Ms. Hien says, "It's sad that there are Vietnamese people connected to criminal activities. We want to reduce crime through this initiative." Ms. Na says, "We're happy to be of help to the police."

The Prefecture Police are looking into widening the campaign's scope to include other social media and other languages besides Vietnamese. (ASADA, Tomonori)

米インテル赤字、過去最大の2.5兆円　7～9月期、リストラなどで

U.S. Chip Maker Intel in the red, its largest loss in history, amounting to 16.63 billion USD, company restructured, among others, between July and September

ニューヨーク＝真海喬生

@New York; MAMI, Takao

2024年11月1日 9時23分

米半導体大手インテルは10月31日、今年7～9月期の純損益が166.3億ドル（約2.5兆円）の赤字だったと発表した。赤字幅は過去最大で、赤字は3四半期連続。半導体の製造設備の減損やリストラ関連の費用がかさみ、巨額損失に陥った。

Giant U.S. Chip Maker Intel has posted this October 31, its largest gross loss at 16.63 billion USD from July until September of this year. It's the company's largest loss in history. The semiconductor maker has been continuing to lose money for three consecutive quarters already due to losses incurred from its manufacturing facilities and its company restructuring, among others.

　パット・ゲルシンガー最高経営責任者（CEO）は31日の会見で、「よりスリムで収益性の高いインテルを構築するため」に構造改革などに取り組んでいると述べた。

CEO Pat GELSINGER said at a meeting on the 31st that the chip maker is working on restructuring the company "to build a slimmer and profitable Intel."

While Intel continuous to worry over its key strength which is making chips for personal computers, it's lagging behind in developing semiconductors for use with AI whose market is rapidly expanding. In addition, while the company is putting in efforts to meet demand for more chips, its business is struggling after incurring 5.8 billion USD of losses between the period of July and September.

To get back up, the company aimed to cut costs amounting to 10 billion USD by laying off 15,000 of its employees in August, spinning-off divisions that are incurring losses, and by studying capital funds that it has received from its divisions based overseas.

On the 31st, it announced that it has lost 15.9 billion USD from its manufacturing facilities, while it was 2.8 billion USD from the restructuring. A portion of the loss is reported to be due to the "Surplus Expenses" it incurred to meet the demand for chips used with personal computers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Its highest sales had been 13.28 billion USD, 6% lower than the previous year of the same period.

As the company's performance worsens, the value of its shares has been sluggish, dropping by over 50% when the year began. There is speculation that the company will be bought by U.S. firm QUALCOMM, an expert in smartphone semiconductors and is also in the same industry. Moreover, there are discussions about investment funding. (@NY; MAMI, Takao).

フォルクスワーゲン、ドイツで10％の賃下げを提案　業績悪化受け

Volkswagen is planning to lower salaries by 10% in Germany due to worsening performance

ベルリン＝寺西和男

@Berlin, TERANISHI, Kazuo

2024年10月31日 8時53分

独自動車大手フォルクスワーゲン（VW）は30日、労働協約の見直しに向けた労使交渉を行い、従業員の賃金の10%引き下げを柱とする人件費の抑制策を提案した。業績が悪化しており、収益力を高めるのがねらい。労組側が反発していたドイツ国内の工場閉鎖案については言及はなかった。

Giant German Automaker Volkswagen (VW) met with its labor union on the 30th to negotiate and review its labor workforce agreement, proposing a pillar policy to reduce employee salaries by 10%. Its objective is to raise company profits amidst worsening performance. Meanwhile, there were no statements about closing down factories in Germany, a measure strongly opposed by the labor union.

　労働協約はドイツ国内10工場のうち6工場の従業員ら約12万人が対象。経営側は、労組側が求めていた7%の賃上げを拒否し、賃下げに加え、複数のボーナス制度の廃止なども提案した。

The labor workforce agreement will affect a total of about 120,000 employees in six of the 10 factories in Germany. Executives had refused the 7% salary increase that the labor union sought, and in addition to lowering their salaries, they also proposed to have several bonus packages, among others, abolished.

　経営側はドイツ国内のコスト負担が重く、競争力を弱めているとしており、「賃金水準を引き下げたとしても、業界内では、依然として非常に魅力的な水準だ」と訴えている。

Company executives explain that costs in Germany have become a heavy burden as its competitive power weakens. However, "Even if we lower the base salary, it's still an extremely attractive sum in this industry."

On the 28th, at the meeting composed of VW employees, executives announced that they're considering closing at least three local factories in Germany. This announcement was met with strong opposition due to as much as tens of thousands of employees would be laid off.

While no plans to lay-off employees were mentioned during the negotiations on the 30th, the labor union who opposed the massive employee layoffs to reduce costs is demanding the company's shareholders and executives to also share in the pains of the cost reductions. (@Berlin, TERANISHI, Kazuo)