|
|
|
ISSUE: August/July 2002 |
You're visitor No. |
|
Don't forget to check out the Gaijin's |
|
This Month's Topics:
|
|
For me, one of the biggest stories of the last few weeks has been the public criticism of the Japanese government's introduction of a national registry system that involves an identity card -- similar to the 'Alien Registration Certificate' (Gaijin Card) we foreigners are forced to carry at all times. Funny how these civil rights types didn't complain about us using ID cards & even (till not long ago) give our fingerprints. However, now it affects the Japanese, they are really kicking up a fuss! The new system is designed to link basic residency registries across the country by encoding information such as people's names, addresses, dates of birth & gender under 11-digit individual numbers. It is supposed to help decide which people can receive social benefits & simplify administrative procedures, such as passport issuance. At present, citizens will NOT be forced to carry the new ID cards but critics claim there is insufficient protection of privacy. Many local authorities are refusing to introduce the system & here in Tokyo, the head of Suginami Ward is one of the leaders of the protest campaign. No one, least of all Wards bosses, objected to foreigners having their information recorded in a very similar fashion & as a firm supporter of ID cards for everyone (not just foreigners), I hope the Government goes even further & makes people carry the new cards as a routine. However, if they tried that, these somewhat racist protestors might go completely crazy!
Japan has a well-earned reputation for being a smoker's paradise, with cheap cigarettes, a ridiculously bland health warning, & very few no smoking areas. However, there will soon be a very big no smoking area -- Chiyoda ward! One of the most central of Tokyo's 23 ward, Chiyoda (which includes Japan's legislative, administrative & judicial centres, & the Imperial Palace) had announced that it will designate 7 areas where people will not be allowed to smoke in the open or while walking around. The areas most likely to be chosen include the electronics shopping district of Akihabara, Yurakucho (near the Ginza shopping district) & around the controversial Yasukuni Shrine, where the souls of Japan's war dead are enshrined. However, as the ward has only about 40,000 residents but around a million commuting workers, the new ordinance is obviously aimed at smoking commuters who light up cigarettes after getting off trains. & we can't blame this on radical anti-smokers as the ordinance is supported by Chiyoda's mayor, Masami Ishikawa, who smokes around 30 a day. He & his staff claimed to be getting more & more complaints about dirty pavements & clothing burned by careless smokers. What's more, he won't be relying on Tokyo's 'overworked' police to slap the ¥20,000 fine on offenders. The Ward will be using 32 local officials who will patrol in pairs & will issue warnings before fining. Who knows -- Chiyoda might even become a healthy oasis within Tokyo!
Another sign of Japan's fading love affair with cigarettes is the offer of a ¥30,000 reward by the lingerie maker Triumph International to any employee who promises to give up smoking. The move is obviously being introduced to promote health among employees, but the bosses are not being completely trusting. Seems they are also offering ¥10,000 to any employee who reports a co-worker for breaking such a promise. Moreover, anyone who lapses after making the promise will not only have to refund the ¥30,000 but will have to pay a 'fine' of ¥30,000 as well! Seems that around 50 staff have already said they're ready to 'take the pledge' but it seems to me that with the economy being as it is, the bosses might be hoping they'll weaken!
I was out & about last weekend, & I noticed the way some Japanese 'salarymen' dress when they're not at the office. It's almost a uniform. A polo shirt, fastened all the way up, plus 'respectable' trousers, almost work style. It was as if they really didn't know how to be casual. Well, that idea was backed up by a report from one of Japan's biggest insurance companies, which recently introduce a 'casual Friday' dress style. According to Tokyo Marine, older workers still wore the same clothes as other days. One manager was quoted as saying 'I know it is silly, so I went to Uniqlo (a discount retailer) with my wife but nothing fit me because of my fat stomach.' It seems that elderly Japanese males have been dressing uniformly all their lives & so it is difficult, maybe impossible for them to think casual, even when it's over 35c out there, with humidity topping 85%. Sad, in a way, don't you think?
One of many misconceptions people have about Japan is that it is all one big crowded city. Well, if that was true (which it isn't), then we wouldn't get stories like the one I saw in late July about a 76-year-old flower lover who had been seeking wild plants in the mountains of Akita Prefecture (northern Honshu). Seems that the old chap found more than flowers -- he stumbled across a mother bear & her cub! What's more, mama got upset & attacked him, & the two of them then tumbled down the mountain slopes. However, the story has a happy ending. For one thing, this was a small bear, about a metre tall. Secondly, mama wasn't that upset & ran away after the fall. Not bad for a 'concrete jungle' like Japan, ah?
Japan has some of the most beautiful women in the world & most of them are slim enough to satisfy any ideas of feminine perfection. However, like most humans, they are not satisfied & so there is a big market for slimming products here. However, some recent Chinese products have given them the ultimate diet -- it's killed them! At time of writing, these products have sickened 124 people, hospitalised 49 & killed 4. Now these foolish, misled folk had no trouble finding such junk as there are more than 100 Web sites posting sales ads for Chinese 'slimming products', making believable claims as 'weight loss of 3-8 kilograms after one month.' Hey, sounds good to me -- not! After all, at least one of these products shows one of the makers in a PLA uniform. Now if you can't trust the PLA (especially after Tien An Mien Square), who can you trust! Buying anything over the Internet is always a gamble & when you read claims like that, the old adage of 'no free lunch' comes to mind. Ladies, you look great to me & a few million other discerning men, & you need to lose weight like I need more sex appeal (stop laughing). If you want to lose weight, exercise & watch what you eat. Claims like these Chinese ones are literally too good to be true!
Everyone knows about the Japanese who died in the two atomic bomb incidents of August 1945 -- the Japanese media makes sure of that! However, it is a little known fact that other races were killed & injured in those bombings. But do you think they get equal treatment with Japanese survivors? Of course they do -- not! However, a couple of recent court rulings on 2 Koreans seemed to offer some hope for overseas A-bomb survivors seeking simple equality. Unsurprisingly, the estimated 5,000 atomic bomb survivors living abroad shouldn't celebrate just yet as, unsurprisingly, the government is contesting the rulings, bringing the prospect of more years of waiting for the aging survivors. At present, the situation is simply racist. A representative of the Association of Citizens for Supporting South Korean Atomic Bomb Victims reported that the Japanese government has excluded Korean A-bomb survivors from compensation & medical treatment under Japanese law. claiming (yet again) that this was dealt with when Japan & South Korea signed a basic treaty to normalize ties. However, a brave & commendable judge at the Osaka District Court ordered the prefectural government to pay a 78 year old Korean survivor (was serving in Hiroshima in the Imperial Japanese Army at the time) medical allowances. The judge rightly ruled that the government's refusal of payment to overseas A-bomb survivors might infringe Japan's Constitution, which stipulates that all people are equal under the law. Another admirable judge in the Nagasaki District Court ordered the state to pay a 74 year old South Korean A-bomb survivor health care allowances. So how does the government defend breaking its own constitution? The Ministry of Health claims that 'The law technically cannot apply to people overseas.' Does that smell of cattle excreta or what? Oh yes, it is true that the ministry launched a new relief program for overseas A-bomb survivors by paying their travel expenses for visits to Japan for medical treatment. However, campaigners say this is unfair, as it can be very difficult for old people to make the often tiring journey to Japan. Next time the media attacks the inhumanity of the atomic bombings, maybe they should show a little humanity to the survivors, & not just the Japanese!
On a more positive note, I was very pleased to see that there has been a recent increase bin the number of Japanese women making it into the boardrooms of big companies. Some of the smartest business people I know here are female & so this is more than fair, it's plain common sense! Amongst the companies that have put women in the previously male-dominated boardrooms are Snow Brand Milk (currently struggling to survive some food poisoning & mislabelling scandals). toy maker Bandai, health care giant Kao, & Asahi Mutual Life Insurance. Some companies might be doing this just to look good for female customers but I am sure that they will soon do so because it makes sense. I am no supporter of women's lib but lets be fair, guys. Looking at the state of the Japanese economy, maybe they couldn't do worse then the men!
A wise Frenchman once said that the more things change, the more they stay the same. This is so true. I remember reading once that graffiti was found on the Roman 'Hadrian's Wall' in northern England saying 'Centurion so-&-so is a bastard.' Another classic example was a sign recently found at an archaeological dig near Japan's ancient capital, Nara. The sign, which seems to have been meant for labourers working on a temple there, said 'Do not piss here.' So guys were taking a sneaky leak even then. Sort of reassuring, don't you think?
Say That Again . . .
You cannot live in Tokyo without knowing Governor Shintaro Ishihara. Not only is his picture on many official posters, but his rather idiosyncratic ideas are a common subject of debate & his popularity is also tested by one of the random polls hosted on this very page. The following quotes are taken from a wide-ranging interview he gave to the Shukan Post magazine:
'The average age of Japanese
politicians is too high. Even if their brains and psyche haven't declined, by
the time they are reach higher positions, their bodies are practically falling
apart.'
&
'If I were to tell you the truth, I want to grow old being hated. The last
scenario I want is for people to be surprised that I was still alive when they
hear of my death. When I die, I want people to say: 'He's finally dead! Thank
God!"
Hard to say that I agree with him but I do. I also believe that with regard to his 2nd wish, I doubt if he'll be disappointed. . .
Now it may sometimes look like Japan exports everything & imports precious little but there is one item that they import loads of -- over 680,000 of them in 2001! What is this much demanded product? Beetles. That's right, beetles. Not the John, Paul, George & Ringo type, but the insect type. Now don't get the wrong idea. Collecting beetles is a very popular hobby for kids here, & a few adults take it seriously enough to pay a lot of money for rarer specimens, so importing beetles isn't such a weird business as it may sound. So which beetles are the most sought after here, I hear you cry (or maybe not)? Well, according to figures released by a Tokyo-based group monitoring trade in wildlife, the leading contenders were rhinoceros beetles (319,000) & stag beetles (364,000). Now don't you feel better knowing that?
I make no secret of the fact that I think it should be permanent open season on most cyclists here, as they treat the pavement like a speedway track & folk treat them as if they were above the law. Therefore, I wasn't too upset when I read that a man had been killed while riding a bicycle on an expressway in Fukuoka. A little disappointed that the one time they actually use a road it's the wrong road. However, the reason for this misplaced accident was simple -- the dead man was a Russian seaman. If he'd been a Japanese, there's no way he'd have been on the expressway, as he couldn't harass pedestrians there. However, the next time a cyclist expects me to step out into the road to let him use the sidewalk, I might just fantasize about him meeting the same fate as that dumb Russian, being hit by 2 trucks in succession. That should cheer me up!
Now folk who don't know Japan might be puzzled by the fact that Japanese schools teach English from an early age & yet the level of English amongst adult Japanese is poor enough to keep quite a few teachers (& wannabe teachers) reasonably busy. Well, the secret is that the way they teach English here is so bad that it's amazing anyone learns anything! However, there is a new idea here, namely, English conversation lessons in primary schools. Trouble is, the old problem has raised its head again -- teachers don't know how to teach it! There is a scheme whereby native speakers are hired as 'assistant language teachers' (ALTs) but these teachers are often left on their own, with the official teacher preferring to avoid this duty. Nonetheless, about 40% of Japanese primary schools offer English conversation lessons & this figure is expected to rise. Unfortunately, some authorities are taking shortcuts, like the one in Osaka Prefecture that has asked the alleged 'English-language school' Nova (whose academic reputation could certainly be better) to send teachers to various schools to help support ALTs. Speaking as one who occasionally dabbles in English teaching, I welcome this move towards improving English teaching in schools -- just so long as it takes a while to show results, like after I give up teaching!
Japan's constitution makes it illegal for Japan to have armed forces & so instead, they have what is euphemistically called the Self-Defense Forces, or SDF. Even though Japan's economy is in the dumps, the SDF still has trouble getting recruits & has to place application forms on noticeboards in every neighbourhood. However, for those genuinely seeking a military life, the SDF is highly unsatisfactory & so quite a few Japanese have gone to join the Legion Etrangere, the French Foreign Legion. However, one young Japanese went further still. This unnamed 24-year-old former SDF member from Okayama Prefecture, western Japan, is reportedly fighting alongside Muslim rebels in the southern Russian republic of Chechnya. According to a journalist who claims to know the youth, he became interested in Chechnya through watching videos after he left the SDF & entered Chechnya alone in May last year. Having joined the rebel forces, he converted to Islam & received a Muslim name. Seems he & about 100 other Muslim rebels crossed into Chechnya from Georgia & engaged with Russian forces back in late July. If he learnt his military skills from the SDF, then he may not much help to the rebels. However, if he learns anything from them, maybe the SDF should re-hire him as an instructor!
Japan's traditional attitude towards suicide being the tolerant thing it is, we shouldn't be surprised to know that the present economic crisis has led to an increase in those taking the easy (& selfish) way out. Latest figures show that the annual figure is more than 30,000, mostly middle-aged & elderly (i.e., those who worked long & hard to make Japan a success). However, we must not think that the government hasn't noticed this trend. No, no. They did what they do best, set up a 'panel of experts' who recently agreed on antidepression measures, Maybe one good measure would be to get rid of the government, as they depress me a lot!
This year's Tsuyu (rainy season) was pretty short & since it faded out, the weather has been unusually hot & sticky. Apart from making life pretty uncomfortable, this is also having a more serious effect, namely, the return of smog. Tokyo & the nearby prefectures have had almost daily smog alerts & this may well prove to be a record year. With the temperature in Tokyo regularly exceeding 35c with almost no wind, the evil smog that had been common in the 1970s is returning. Usually, the traditional summer holiday period of O-bon (around the 2nd week of August) leads to a lessening of smog alerts but the poor economy means that many Japanese are skipping the holiday, meaning that traffic, industry & air conditioners may keep the smog level up at worrying levels. Tokyo may not be as bad as some cities further south, hurt by forest clearing in Indonesia, but if the weather remains as bit is, breathing could become rather unpleasant.
Walking your own path, different to the route chosen by most of your companions, is never an easy thing to do, but in Japan, a land where conformity is almost sacred, it is especially tricky. I should therefore like to praise the efforts of a 78 year old Japanese veteran named Yoshio Shinozuka. Now his background may not suggest praise, for he served with the inhuman Unit 731, the part of the Imperial Japanese Army that carried out Mengele-like experiments on prisoners & POWs during World War 2. However, unlike almost every other veteran of that disgusting unit, he feels regret for what they did & is trying to show his penance by telling the truth about Japanese war crimes committed in China -- something the government is unlikely to ever do! This penitent old man was just 15 when he joined Unit 731 in early 1939, & had no idea of what kind of work they were doing. On arriving at its base near the Chinese city of Harbin, he was given three basic instructions: Don't look. Don't listen. Don't tell. This sad old man admits that he took part in vivisections & confirms that the unfortunate victims were officially called 'muruta', the Japanese for 'logs'. Shinozuka has already been punished for his crimes, having served 6 years in prison camps for war criminals in China. However, he says he was surprised to have received humane treatment while in the camps & this helped him decide to tell the truth, despite pressure to remain silent. Being truthful isn't easy, as he claims there were few people who wanted to listen to his stories. Some idiots even said he had stayed too long in the Chinese camps & had been brainwashed. However, his penance isn't limited to Japan, for he has visited China several times, co-operating with Chinese victims of the biological warfare experiments who filed a joint lawsuit seeking damages & apologies from the Japanese government. A ruling in this suit is due to be handed down on August 27 but few expect any surprises. Sadly, his efforts to spread his truth in the US was stopped not by Tokyo but by the US Government -- he was barred from entering the US at Chicago because he was considered a war criminal. Nonetheless, this is a war veteran who deserves a lot of support & assistance, & I for one would like to wish him all the best. Even if no-one in Japan seriously listens to him, his courage & candour deserve recognition.
'Traditionally, the Japanese have 2
gift giving seasons a year. The midsummer gift giving is called O-chugen &
the year-end gift giving is called O-seibo. During this time, department stores
run adverts for all sorts of 'suitable' gifts, from cooking oil gift sets to
ultra-expensive melons'
(Taken from the 'Gaijin's
Guide to Living in Japan')
&
'With the hot weather here to stay
for a while, why not check out some of Tokyo's parks? Here are a few suggestions
but you can find a better list at
Gaijin's
Guide to Enjoying Tokyo'.
GYOSEN PARK. Has zoo with petting area, open 24hrs. Nishikasai Subway;
HAMARIKYU GARDEN. Riverside park. Includes ferry pier for Asakusa Water Bus.
9-5pm daily, entrance fee. Shimbashi JR/Subway; HIBIYA PARK. Tokyo's most famous
park. Formerly a Samurai's home & a military parade ground. Open 24 hrs.
Hibiya Subway/Yurakucho JR; HORIKIRI IRIS GARDEN. Very beautiful floral display,
many works of art on show. Wed-Sun 9-4.30pm. Horikiri Shobuen (Keisei line); KYU
YASUDA GARDEN. Nice park with tidal lake. 9-5pm daily. Ryogoku JR; NEW OTANI
GARDEN. 400 years old with 42 lanterns from famous temples dating back over 800
years. 7-10pm daily. Akasaka-Mitsuke Subway; NEZU INSTITUTE OF FINE ARTS
GARDENS. Garden has 4 tea houses & beautiful pond. 9.30-4.30pm, Closed Mon.
Free. Omotesando Subway; ODAIBA BEACHSIDE PARK. Spread over 6 islands in Tokyo
Bay in the shadow of the Rainbow Bridge. Odaiba Kaihin Koen (Yurikamone line);
SHINJUKU GYOEN. One of the best parks in Tokyo, a 150-acre oasis of quiet.
9am-4:30pm, Closed Mon. Shinjuku JR/Shinjuku Gyoenmae Subway; SHINOZAKI PONY
LAND. Free rides for kids, daily. Shinozaki Subway; SUMIDA PARK. Occasional free
demonstrations of Yabusame (traditional Japanese archery, performed on
horseback). Open 24hrs. Ryogoku JR; TOKYO METROPOLITAN MEDICAL PLANT GARDEN.
Many medicinal herbs & Tokyo's only legal opium poppies. 9-4pm daily.
Higashi Yamato-Shi (Seibu Shinjuku line); YOYOGI PARK. One of Tokyo's biggest,
open 24hrs. Includes the Yoyogi Park Bird Sanctuary & a popular jogging
path. Harajuku JR/Yoyogi-Koen Subway. For more information, check out the 'Gaijin's
Guide to Enjoying Tokyo'
Miss last month's 'Empty Seat'? Not to worry. You can check out the Gaijin's previous ramblings as easily as clicking below.
Well, like a lot of other Tokyo folk, I'm off on my holidays in a few days but never fear -- I'll be back in time to burden you with my views again next month. If you've got nothing better to do (what a depressing thought), feel free to pop in again around the middle of September for the next fascinating set of diatribes from your very own 'Tokyo correspondent'. Only if you're in the neighbourhood, of course. Whether you do or don't, take care of yourself, dear reader, & may the wind be always at your back.
The Gaijin
Don't forget: If you want to know when the next 'Empty Seat' is online, or you just want to contact the ol' Gaijin, you can always use the Guestbook link just below. Everything will be read & then . . . Well, we'll see!
| * | Regular travellers
on Japan's buses & trains know that the seat next to a foreigner
will usually remain empty, even during the rush hours. This can rankle at first but should really be seen as a relief in a place where space is hard to find. It is also amusing to see a tired 'salaryman' torn between sitting next to a foreigner or remaining on his feet! |
|
|
