Beside The Empty Seat

This Month's Topics:

	Me, a 'Japan Basher'?
	Fatal Bullying
	Japanese Hospitality
	Japan & Korea's 'Own Goal.'
	Gaijins & Convicts
	Japan Finest
	Tokyo's Naughty Crows
	Say That Again
	Scarred Teenagers
	A New Embassy?
	WW2? Didn't Happen!
	Refugees Need Not Apply
	Tokyo's Not So Expensive Now
	Love & Japanese Practicality
	Japan's World Cup Success

First off, let me congratulate both Japan & Korea for doing a grand job of hosting the World Cup. Except for the cock-up over tickets, it was a great success. The Japanese people revealed great hospitality & their support of teams many of them couldn't find on a map made this a tournament to remember. On the other side, I should like to commiserate with those who expected foreign fans to act like invading vandals sacking Rome. There must be a lot of frustrated Cops who feel cheated at not having been able to use the anti-riot toys they showed off back in May. As for that idiot politician in Miyagi who warned hospitals to be ready to accept a flood of raped women, I hope he gets the scorn he deserves. Luckily, if this World Cup showed anything, it was that his type are very much a minority here -- thank God!

Some of my discerning readers have gained the idea that I hate Japan. This is WRONG! This 'column' may seem slightly negative but that is because strong criticism of Japan is something conspicuously absent from the media here. Therefore, working on the theory that if no one had complained about the draught, we'd still be living in caves, the 'Empty Seat' is doing that. If there is good news (like Japan's unexpected World Cup success), rest assured I shall use it -- always providing the local media doesn't indulge in overkill! Japan is a safe, clean & easy place to live in. The people are (mostly) friendly, everything works & the beer & food is good, & although the economy is in trouble, it has incredible potential -- so long as the government doesn't screw it up! So rest assured that the Gaijin is not a Japan basher. He just believes that leaving the caves was a good idea!

For those of you who doubt the power of the media, think back to what was written here last month about the increasing amount of dubbing of TV films here. Well, in the last couple of weeks, the offending Channel 12 has really cut back on dubbing. I'm not exactly getting drunk with power or anything, but it does make me feel a little less of a time waster!

Bullying is a worldwide problem, of course, & doubtless always will be. However, in Japan it is getting increasingly serious, aided by the way most problems are 'brushed under the carpet' in the traditional way. To illustrate this, we have the recent arrest of 8 Saitama teenagers (including a 16-year-old girl -- so much for 'Madame Butterfly'!) for the lynching of a 15-year-old boy. Does that sound 'unJapanese'? Welcome to the real world! As anyone who knows anything about lynching will tell you, the worst thing is that being amateurish, death is both nastier & slower. So it was here, where the victim suffered a punctured liver & died from internal bleeding, having been lynched for 4 hours. Why did they do it? The police report that the victim owed them money & they beat him up after he failed to pay them back. Now Japanese teachers are not handicapped by ridiculous anti corporal punishment laws like in the West, but since I came here, I have seen too many schoolchild funerals resulting from untreated bullying. Let's hope that someone soon lifts the carpet & deals with the problem rather than ignoring it.

As I hope all the visiting football fans appreciated, Japan really did do its best to make life easy for them while they were here, a lot more welcome than other venues have been. One big example is the ultra-efficient (& remarkably cheap) Tokyo subway system. Here are just two examples of what I mean. At the ticket barrier of my local subway station is a sign, in English, showing the fare to the station closest to the Saitama stadium where many of the World Cup games are being played. Then, once the visiting fan gets on the train, he can see window stickers (also in English) telling him which exit to use when he gets to that station. I have said it before & I shall say it again -- it is incredibly easy for a non-Japanese speaker to live here, vastly more so than for a Japanese speaker in London or Paris. Rather than just boring their friends with tales of Japan's prices or crowds, I hope that returning fans also spoke of Japan's hospitality. Then again, maybe not, as I don't want plane loads of foreigners coming over & spoiling things for the rest of us!

Talking of football, I see that FIFA finally came out & blamed Japan & Korea for the ridiculous chaos of ticket sales for the World Cup games. As anyone who watched the games on TV knows, there were a ridiculous number of empty seats at every game. The FIFA official in charge of ticketing put aside those who blamed the small British company that dealt with the tickets (why choose a small company for the world's biggest sporting event?), & said that the main reason for the cock-up had been delayed submissions of stadium seating data by the Japan World Cup organizing committee (JAWOC) & the South Korean World Cup organizing committee (KOWOC). Seems that the JAWOC & KOWOC were supposed to submit this information by October 15th, but didn't get round to it until March. Unlike the local officials who quickly blamed the British company, FIFA's man said they had done a superb job in a limited time & saved the World Cup tournament from a ticketing crisis. It's a rare event when the local's tendency to blame the Gaijin is so publicly revealed as bull's droppings & if nothing else came out of the World Cup, at least that was one (own) goal worth savouring!

Now many Gaijins have been trying to get the vote here, which seems crazy to me, as (a) other countries don't give foreigners the vote, & (b) there's not much worth voting for here! However, the authorities in the city of Takahama (Aichi Prefecture, near Nagoya) have taken the first step by approving a regulation that allows foreign permanent residents to vote in referendums. However, they rather took the sweetness out of it by also enfranchising prison inmates! Nice to know how they think us, isn't it? I wonder if foreigners who are also prisoners get two votes?

It seems that any lady who gets molested on the train here may not need to scream very loud for the Police. After all, they just arrested a 38-year-old police officer for allegedly groping a woman passenger on the Tokyo subway! The cop in question, a sergeant in charge of international terrorism at the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, is accused of groping the bottom of an 18-year-old girl 2 or 3 times inside a Chiyoda line subway train. The sergeant's defence is that 'The train was crowded & I was jostled around when I touched her.' If this turns out to be like the rash of corruption cases that hit the Kanagawa Cops not long ago, then the Sergeant needn't fear jail too much!

Years ago, when I used to write for a community newsletter in Tochigi Prefecture, I mentioned the way locals complain about the number of crows there are here & seem unable to connect garbage lying on the street in 'user friendly' plastic bags with the increase in crows. Some folk may have been reassured by the way Tokyo Governor Ishihara pledged to get rid of crows during his election campaign (crows once attacked him on a golf course). The crow, once considered a bird of the gods, is now seen in a less flattering light & they've even published a book of crow anecdotes. However, the writer blamed the crows on people who don't separate their garbage properly. Excuse me but a crow doesn't care whether it's 'burnables' day or not, if they detect food wrapped in thin plastic, they'll have a meal! It isn't garbage classification that makes crows so common, it's the lack of garbage bins & so long as folk use unsecured plastic bags to dump waste food, so long will the crows think Japan is one big bento (lunch box)!

Now don't get the wrong idea -- this is not the reason I'm here, but it did rather catch my eye as quote worth remembering. It was said by a gynaecologist who provides a free counselling service to girls in one of Tokyo's teenage fashion centres, Harajuku:

Talking of the World Cup, at least one man really knows how to celebrate victory. Brazilian star Ronaldo told Reuters:

In a related story, it seems that the latest fashion trend amongst young schoolgirls here is cutting their wrists, prompted by despair & low self-esteem. According to a recent survey, 73% of high school students think of themselves as useless, compared with 48% in the USA & 37% in China. However, this is not in the tradition of seppuku or ritual suicide. These schoolgirls are not cutting veins, they are just cutting enough to draw a little blood &, so they claim, ease stress. It seems that many of the schoolgirls one sees hanging around with their thick makeup & mobile phones have numerous little scars on their wrists. What about those who are paid to supervise them? 'Of course my teacher knew what I was doing,' said one girl, 'but didn't bother to talk to me about it.' One can hardly claim to be surprised if these kids are feeling depressed. after all, with the economy acting the way it is, what do they have to look forward to? Today's school kids have no real future & with parents & friends losing their job, who can they respect? It also seems likely that like teenage suicide in the west, this is a cry for help from parents who are either too busy or too uncaring to listen or spot the symptoms.

Geography doesn't seem to be a subject the Japanese excel at, or least not some of them. A friend of mine runs a website that deals with the history & culture of what was once called Rhodesia (present day Zimbabwe). He jokingly calls the site 'The Rhodesian Embassy.' Well, the joke didn't get through too well as he recently received an email from the folks at Tokyo English Life Line (who do an excellent & much needed job, well worth supporting) addressed to 'Embassies in Tokyo.' The email was talking about their very useful calendar & said, to quote a few selected parts, 'Every year we ask embassies for information. We are just checking up this year again, to make sure all the information is still up to date.' the information they wanted included a 'Calendar of National Holidays of your country from September 2002-December 2003' & ' Calendar of Special Events from September 2002- December 2003.' Hard to do when the 'Republic of Rhodesia' ceased to exist over 20 years ago! However, I think he should have given them what they want, especially as they closed by saying that his 'organization would be listed under 'Diplomatic Missions.'' Now wouldn't that upset a few folk, especially Mugabe's boys at the Zimbabwe Embassy in Shirogane!

One of the questions posed in the little poll held on this page concerns Japan's attitude to what it did during World War 2, & as if to prove that this is a question that needs to be asked regularly, we have news of the Tokyo District Court having turned down a suit filed by 3 Chinese who survived a massacre by the Imperial Japanese Army in a suburb of Fushun city in Liaoning Province on Sept. 16, 1932. Now this isn't a new story, as I cannot recall any Japanese court ever honouring such a claim, as the less than neutral judges are loath to admit that the Japanese military ever acted in an ungentlemanly way. Trouble is, quite a few officials & even citizens, even educate citizens, tend to agree. Take for example, the decision by the Kagoshima prefectural assembly (in Southern Japan) to have the Nanjing Massacre Museum in China excluded from the itinerary of high school trips. Now don't blame just the local politicians -- they were reacting to a petition. Now why do they not want their children to find out what happened in Nanjing? Because, & I quote, it is a stronghold of anti-Japanese brainwashing. However, the petitioners were not just a bunch of housewives, oh no. This group is the 'Japanese Society for History Textbook Reform', who seek to justify Japan's colonial rule in Asia. This ban will have an effect, as groups from around 10 high schools in Kagoshima prefecture visited the museum every year until this petition was submitted. A few more moves like this & the good will established during the World Cup will disappear very quickly, & rightly so. Now you can't cure a sickness unless you admit you're sick & so the sooner someone of influence here admits that Japan acted barbarically in China & other places, the sooner Japan can become a bona fide member of the international community, which it is NOT yet. Wake up & smell the coffee, guys. You did wrong, so admit it!
(Interesting little footnote to this never-ending story. As part of their efforts to gain sympathy, the city of Hiroshima offered a free trip to Japanese journalists to Hiroshima to cover issues on the 1945 atomic bomb attack but the program attracted virtually no interest from the domestic media. Not even the locals want to hear that story again!)

Those cultured folk who read this page on a regular basis (your secret is safe with me) may recall we touched upon the subject of Japan's reluctance to accept refugees. Well, now the UNHCR has joined in, accusing Japan of lagging other nations in this area. Japan is a signatory to the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees but seems to be very reluctant to do more than sign. & it's not just the UNHCR. The Washington Post called Japan the worst country among industrially developed nations with regard to receiving refugees fleeing from war, starvation, & political persecution. The figures speak for themselves.
    Germany: About 118,000 people applied for refugee status in 2001, of whom 22,700 were acknowledged as refugees.
    France: Applicants = about 47,000; Recognised = 9,700.
    USA: Applicants = about 59,430; Recognised = 28,300.
Japan recognised 21 people as refugees in 2001. Need we say more?
Oh, & while we're on the subject, remember that incident at Japanese Consulate General in Shenyang, China, where some North Koreans were dragged out by Chinese Police? Well, after the justified media outrage over this incident, & the nonchalant way the Japanese officials reacted, Japan's Foreign Minister ,Yoriko Kawaguchi, has ordered two senior officials from that consulate recalled to Japan for 'their inappropriate handling' of the incident. Maybe I'm getting too cynical after so many years here but to me, that reads as 'their letting someone film the incident'. Seems that even Japan has an 11th Commandment -- don't get caught!

Tokyo seems to be reeling as the news reveals that it is no longer the World's most expensive city (Hong Kong now has that dubious honour). However, this fall from the top spot is well earned. Deflation is hitting Japan hard & so many famous companies are cutting prices. For example, McDonald's has announced that the price of a regular hamburger will fall next month from ¥80 to ¥59 (68¢ to 50¢), a price-slashing move also being seen at companies like IBM Japan Ltd & Toyota Motor. As if deflation were not bad enough, the Japanese consumer remains stubbornly determined not to spend, & the government seems unable to induce them to change this trend. The government may be right when it says that the Japanese economy has bottomed out but things are still not OK. A major Japanese insurance company predicts that the traditional summer bonus will fall by over ¥65,000 ($550) from a year before, which is bound to further dampen consumer spending, which accounts for 60% of the gross domestic product. So yes, life here is indeed cheaper than it used to be, especially if one lives carefully, but while I have no wish to see Tokyo resume top place in the expensive city list, I do hope that someone in power does wake up & smell the coffee before this deflation hits even worse!

you really do have to love the way Japan is so practical. The best example of this is the 'Love Hotel'. Unlike the West, where lovers & others have to use expensive motels & cheap, grubby hotels, Japanese folk seeking somewhere for intimacy can use a place that is clean, affordable & discreet. I was reminded of this (because I haven't used such establishments, of course!) by the recent publication of a book called 'Love-hotel-no-chikara' or 'The power of love hotels' (by Yukari Suzuki, published by Kosaido Publishing at ¥1,300). For those of you who have never been here, 'Love Hotels' is a rather euphemistic title as people rarely go there for romance. Most of them have two rates, a full rate (all night) or 'Rest', which is also euphemistic, as this 3-4 hour rate is not intended for those seeking a rest! But what is it like inside a love hotel, I hear you ask -- as you have also never used one, of course! well, the rooms vary a lot, with some including round & animated beds, transparent baths, mirrored walls & ceilings, & other 'extras' such as computer games, karaoke & 'sexual aids.' Japan being what it is, these features are really only meant to stimulate male guests, as women are supposed to be already aroused, or good actresses! In case your curiosity has been aroused (no pun intended), you can see a wide variety of love hotels beside any expressway leading out of Tokyo or, closer to downtown, round Doganzaka in Shibuya. If ever you see a building whose architecture resembles UFOs, space shuttles, Japanese or European castles, or defies description, chances are it's a love hotel -- or a pachinko parlour, where guys go who can't find someone to take to a love hotel!

Lastly, & on a positive note, I would like to congratulate the Japanese Rugby Team on qualifying for the 2003 Rugby World Cup. This is an achievement that received scant mention in the Japanese media, as rugby is Japan's best kept secret. Although Japan are not exactly top class at this noble sport (they have only ever won one game in the finals), they do qualify fairly regularly & beat Korea twice in order to do so. Sadly, the lack of a proper club structure (most rugby teams are company or college) & a dinosaur-like ruling body seriously handicaps the team, but credit where it's due. England's famous Saracen team are visiting here in August & the ol' Gaijin will be there. Why not join him & take a look for yourself!!

'Before you can buy a car in Japan, you must show the authorities official proof that you have a place to park a car off the road, such as a rental agreement for a car park or garage.'
(Taken from the 'Gaijin's Guide to Living in Japan')

'One of Tokyo's many weird & wonderful museums really worth visiting during the hot, humid summer is the Sapporo BEER MUSEUM. Located within the fashionable Ebisu Garden Place complex, this shows the history of beer & brewing in Japan, old beer prints, ads, etc. There is also a testing lounge where you can sample various Sapporo beers for about ¥200 a glass! Open from 10-6pm, closed on Mondays, Free admittance. Ebisu JR/Subway. Call 03-5425-7255
(Taken from 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, that's it for another month! We'll have the Japanese period of 'O-bon' coming up before the next issue so if you're bored or not working, feel free to pop in again around the middle of August for the next engrossing discourse from your very own 'Tokyo correspondent'. Only if you've nothing better to do, mind. Whatever happens, take care of yourself, dear reader, & may the wind be always at your back.

*	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.