Today is the Day of Seven Herbs in spring. It is said to be a day to pray for a year of good health, and to give rest to the weakened stomach from New Year’s celebratory meals and drinks by consuming seven herb porridge.
However, what remains a concern is the Noto Earthquake. Prime Minister Kishida has announced a policy to allocate 47.4 billion yen from this fiscal year’s reserve fund, and on the evening of the 5th, explained the plan to gradually use the remaining 460 billion yen in this fiscal year’s reserve fund for earthquake response. This means exhausting the reserve fund for the fiscal year 2023. The estimated total damage from the Noto earthquake at this point is approximately 800 billion yen, but the reconstruction cost is expected to exceed 1 trillion yen.
The national budget for the new fiscal year 2024 is 112 trillion 71.7 billion yen, which is lower than the original budget for fiscal 2023, which was the largest ever, but exceeds 110 trillion yen for the second consecutive year, with more than 30% of the financial resources coming from national bonds (debt). The difficult financial situation continues. The rigidity of national finances continues to progress. This year has only just begun, and we do not know what disasters may occur during this year. At a time like this, is it okay to hold an extremely slipshod “Osaka Expo”?
The Tokyo Olympics held in 2021 initially had a budget of 734 billion yen, but eventually swelled to 1,698.9 billion yen, and when including related expenses such as road construction, the total amount soared to 3,684.5 billion yen. The Osaka Expo is trying to follow this bad precedent.
“In the first place, Yumeshima, which will be the site of the Expo, does not have electricity, water, or sewage systems, and the construction is yet to be done.” It is said that the total cost of the Osaka Expo is likely to easily exceed 1 trillion yen. If we want to avoid a repeat of the Tokyo Olympics, I think we should cancel the Osaka Expo and use the 1 trillion yen for reconstruction costs for the Noto earthquake.

今日は春の七草の日。一年の無病息災を願って、正月の祝膳や祝酒で弱った胃を休める為に七草粥を頂く日とも言われています。
しかしやはり気になるのは能登大地震の事です。岸田首相は今年度予算の予備費から47億4千万円を支出する方針を表明し、5日夜には、4600億円が残る今年度の予備費について、順次、地震対応に活用する考えを説明しました。23年度の予備費を使い切る訳です。能登地震の現時点での被害総額は約8000億円と推定されていますが、復興費用は１兆円を超えると予想されています。
新年度2024年度の国家予算は112兆717億円で、過去最大だった2023年度の当初予算は下回ったものの、2年連続で110兆円を超え、財源の3割以上を国債(借金)に頼る厳しい財政状況が続いています。国家財政の硬直化は進むばかりです。今年はまだ始まったばかりです。この１年にまたどんな災害が起こるか分かりません。こんな時に、杜撰極まりない「大阪万博」を開催していいのでしょうか。2021年に開催された東京五輪は、当初予算は7340億円でしたが、結局は1兆6989億円に膨れ上がり、さらに道路整備など関連経費も加えると総額は3兆6845億円に跳ね上がりました。「大阪万博」はこの悪しき前例を踏襲しようとしています。
「そもそも万博会場になる夢洲には電気や上下水道も通っておらず、整備はこれから」と言う「大阪万博」の総費用は軽く1兆円突破は確実と言われています。東京五輪の二の舞いを避けたければ、「大阪万博」を中止し、この１兆円は能登地震の復興費用に回すべきだと考えます。