I heard the news which is about bribe. Former Guatemalan President was sentenced to five years and ten months in jail for taking bribe from Taiwan.

Our discussion group talked about whether bribes are wright and, when it is wrong, how to prevent from taking bribes.

For example, you may say that hospitality – we Japanese sometimes call them Omotenashi – can be a kind of bribe because hospitality and bribe are both used for negotiation. But I think what is essential to both of them is the size of society they contribute to. Even the word bribe sounds bad, I think they are good when they contribute to large societies and many people. On the other hand, I cannot say hospitality is good when it enriches the very small number of people.

And then, how we prevent from bad bribes? This will be a very, very difficult problem. I think we cannot prevent perfectly at all. But if we give up them all, bribes and corruptions will increase much, which can violate our human rights. I think indeed we have to give up some bribes being taken, but keep an eye on the people disposed of our money and rights. We have to make effort to reduce bribes and punish the people who take bribes.