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ISSUE: Oct/Nov 2002 |
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Don't forget to check out the Gaijin's |
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This Month's Topics:
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Well, the big news this time was provided by Mother Nature, when one of the biggest typhoons since WW2 hit Japan's main island of Honshu. Typhoon Higos (or typhoon number 21 as the unimaginative Japanese Meteorological Agency called it) hit the Kanto region (around Tokyo) late on October 1st, killing 4 & injuring 18 , as well as doing a lot more destruction than the much feared soccer World Cup supporters. Now the first fatality was genuinely sad, being a poor hard working security guard on a building site in Yokohama who was hit by a window that fell from the 9th floor of a building. However, the other one was a real candidate for the Darwin Awards. This scientifically curious chap was electrocuted when he touched a severed electric cable, according to Chiba prefectural police. You're standing in the pouring rain so what do you do -- you play with electricity! Duh! However, in my area, the typhoon passed pretty quickly & without incident & the next day began with warmth & sunshine. It's very rare for an October typhoon to hit Honshu but don't relax yet -- the season is by no means over.
Now this might bore you if you don't live in Japan, but if you do live here, then Immigration is one of the pillars of your life. Therefore, any change in Immigration affects all of we Gaijin sooner or later. Now on a recent visit to my local Kuyaksho (Ward office), I discovered that the Immigration rules have changed, especially for long term residents like me. First off, no-one needs to give their fingerprints any more (previously, anyone staying here more than 90 days needed to supply fingerprints). Second, Permanent Resident or 'Special Permanent Residents' (I've no idea what this means) no longer need to list their occupation or place of work on their 'Gaijin Card' (the ID card all foreign residents must carry at all times), nor update their records when they change jobs. Lastly, the monolithic Immigration Department HQ at Otemachi will soon be just a fond (?) memory. It seems they are moving to a new office block over on Tennoz Island here in Minato ward next year. Now who said 'The Empty Seat' wasn't useful, ah?
We get so used to cover-ups here that we tend to forget that such things are not the norm elsewhere. However, the world's largest electricity company, TEPCO (Tokyo Electric Power Company) has been reminded of this. It was recently announced by the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that they are ready to dispatch a team of experts to Japan to investigate a recent series of cover-up scandals involving that company. Seems that the IAEA thinks that maintaining the transparency of nuclear safety is important. Let's just hope that the government here can be convinced that he's right but that looks sadly unlikely. It was announced in late September that Japan's Nuclear & Industrial Safety Agency has decided not to penalize TEPCO over its covering up nuclear plant defects, claiming insufficient evidence. What's more, Japan's statute of limitations has run out on some of the 29 cases in question, it said. Japan is such a convenient place to do business in . . .
Japan's Prime Minister often gets criticised, even in this 'column', but I really do think he deserves more praise for his recent trip to North Korea. Just going there must have upset the looney right of the ruling party & when he apologised for Japan's colonial mistreatment of Korea, that must have a few of Japan's less realistic citizens frothing at the mouth. Now he's under attack for not doing enough to follow up North Korea's unexpected admission that it had indeed abducted Japanese citizens. The fact that Mr Koizumi actually got them to confess is unjustly overlooked. Many people forget just how close Japan is to the world's last real danger spot & what with historical guilt to consider, Japan has to be very careful how it treats either of the Koreas. I think that Mr Koizumi did a grand job over in Pyongyang (a city I visited twice -- twice too often!) & although he & his government should lean heavily on them to send home the bodies & survivors of the abductees, it's dumb to expect anything to happen quickly. Kipling may not be in favour as a poet but he was right when he wrote of 'the epitaph dear…"a fool lies here who tried to hurry the East."
The government here often complains about the falling Japanese birth-rate & claims to want to change it. If so, then maybe they read a new book that recently came to my attention. Written by an associate professor at Chiba University, Yoshihiko Morotomi, the book, "Samishii-otoko" ('Desolate men,' published by Chikuma Shobo) refers to the painfully long working day of most Japanese males. This, combined with a lack of goals or aspirations means that men lose their 'get up & go', which naturally affects them between the sheets. Many Japanese men work very hard but see the economy sinking, & so they may well wonder what all their efforts are for? According to Professor Morotomi, this apathy at work affects their ability to form relationships, which in turn affects their sex drive. What's more, Japan's version of 'macho' doesn't make it any easier. Being taciturn might traditionally be thought of as an ideal characteristic but it doesn't attract the ladies much! This might explain why Japanese women seem to feel that Japanese men are less attractive than foreign guys -- a fact that I shall not complain about! However, luckily (for them), the younger generation of Japanese men seem to be realising not only that work is not the reason we're born, but also that treating women like serfs or dogs doesn't improve one's sex life & so things might change. If it does, then maybe we foreign males might find Japan less attractive, but that hasn't happened yet!
So now it's official. The well known corporate journal Fortune magazine has labelled Japan's economy a "zombie" in its September 30th issue. Speaking of the many companies that are avoiding bankruptcy despite huge debts, the magazine said 'In fact, Japan is now known as the zombie economy — because so many businesses remain alive when they should have died long ago'. It referred to Japanese banks & the capital markets as 'supremely dysfunctional'. (Bear in mind that bank loans account for almost 60% of all corporate debt in Japan.) What's more, Fortune went on to say that 'The chief difference between the way the US economy works & the way Japan's does is that the Japanese system isn't really capitalism — at least not the way we define it'. For many years, Japan credited its post-war success to its version of capitalism, but now maybe it's time to adopt the variation used elsewhere.
Can you imagine the publicity if the owners of Yankee Stadium or Wembley Stadium were to have a close & cosy relationship with a major Mafia family? Well, a recent news story here that received much less publicity is strikingly similar. The IHT-Ashai Shimbun newspaper, amongst others, recently carried a report that claimed the owners of Tokyo Dome (a huge, indoor baseball stadium that is home to the Tokyo Yomiuri Giants & the Nippon Ham Fighters) & the funfair next door have been giving free tickets & more to one of Japan's biggest organized crime groups for several years. Not only were the Yakuza guys allowed to watch baseball games for free, but they were also given almost free run of the adjoining hotel & amusement park, at discount prices. The owners point out that the Yakuza 'godfather' was a shareowner but this doesn't exactly make it sound much better! I used to teach near the Dome & on certain days, the area is flooded with touts selling horse racing papers. It now seems that some of these guys were also associated with the Sumiyoshi-kai crime syndicate, & were given permission to operate on company premises without charge. Nice, ah? However, enough may be enough & the Metropolitan Police Department said they ordered the syndicate not to enter Tokyo Dome's property after receiving complaints from the company on September 11th. Let's see if they take a damn'd bit of notice!
Many folk make fun of the way American pet owners pamper they creatures with various comforts & devices, but Japan seems to be heading the same way. A Japanese toy maker, Takara, has announced a new product that they claim can analyse dogs' emotions & translate them into Japanese. I kid you not! The new device, called 'Bowlingual' (what else?), classifies your pooch's barks into several emotional groups, like happy, sad, angry, etc. It does so by analysing it's voice patterns, using a small mike attached to the dog's collar. This must-have gadget then picks a corresponding expression from its database & either displays it on a LCD or , wait for it, 'speaks' to the owner. That's all I need, waking up with a hangover & hearing my mutt telling me it's breakfast time! However, if you're thinking of rushing out to Tokyu Hands to get one, you'll need around ¥15,000. The old phrase 'more money than sense' does seem apt here.
Say That Again . . .
The temporary return of the abducted Japanese from North Korea has embarrassed more than just the government, as many pro-Pyongyang folk (ethnic Koreans & others) have long been claiming the abduction theory was nonsense. Amongst these was Akihiro Emori, a former member of the Education Board for Machida City, in outer Tokyo. His denials of the kidnapping rather upset the good people of Machida & so he is no longer on that board. However, Akihiro-san had a different version of events, claiming:
'I'm busy on the speech tour, so I asked the mayor to take me off the board..'
Now which version do you believe? .
Japan has a justifiable reputation as being a very safe place but we do have criminals here. A recent capital case concerned a rather unusual crook -- a playboy murderer! To make things worse, he was a loan shark! Now I should explain that Japan has 2 kinds of loan shark -- the legal kind, some of whom are even listed on the stock exchange, & the illegal type, like this chap. However, he obviously had more than his fair share of charm, for he had 2 mistresses at the same time, & he used both to murder 2 men & poison another to collect large life insurance payouts. Shigeru Yagi was sentenced to death by the Saitama District Court when his mistresses fingered him in return for avoiding the hangman. Unsurprisingly, he denies everything. According to police, Mr Yagi & his mistresses forced a 45-year-old jobless man (who had borrowed heavily from the shark) to marry one of the mistresses & make her the beneficiary of his life insurance. They then fed him aconite-laced buns, earning them about ¥300 million (app. US$2.4 million) from various insurance companies. A few years later, they forced another debtor to marry the other mistress & then started to feed him cold tablets for several months. However, their luck was out, as the ¥176 million policy payout was delayed by a suspicious insurance company. Undeterred, the trio picked on & forcibly married another debtor. However, the best laid plans of mice & men -- he survived! You just can't rely on anything these days!
On the subject of crime in Japan, there was a distinctly western sounding story in the papers lately. Seems a Tokyo lady was run over & killed after she & her hubby tried to stop 2 men from stealing their car. That may sound fairly routine to you folks but here, both the theft & the effort to stop it are unusual. This is shown by the way in which that unfortunate lady tried to foil the thieves -- she stood in front of the car & tried to block it. The car was found abandoned in a parking lot just 500 metres from the lady's home. The police say they don't have any clues to the identity of the thieves yet but when found, they will be charged with suspicion of murder during a robbery.
Competition is not something Japanese companies like, cartels being both illegal & common here. Therefore, I maybe wasn't the only one to feel dismayed at the news that 2 of Japan's main airlines, Japan Airlines (JAL) & Japan Air System (JAS) had virtually joined up to form a new holding company named Japan Airlines System Corp, the world's 6th-largest airline group in terms of passenger miles. Domestic airfares are already ridiculously high here, which is one reason why Okinawa, with its tropical islands & sandy beaches, is Japan's poorest prefecture! The 2 companies will presently maintain their separate identities but by April 2004, they will completely merge, forming 3 companies: Japan Airlines International, Japan Airlines Domestic, & Japan Airlines Cargo. Looking at those names certainly seems to indicate the true winner of this project. I suppose it isn't so much a case of JAL gaining a partner as losing a competitor. Don't expect a cut in domestic airfares from that bunch in the near future!
Sundays are pretty dull here, with newspapers being thinner than during the week & the TV being filled with dreary interview & discussion shows. However, the scenery may soon improve. Now before anyone accuses me of being a sexist, I'm Sir Galahad compared with the norm over here, where a teacher was recently found to be taking photos up girl's skirts! However, on with the story. Nippon TV, one of Japan's many commercial stations, recently announced that they were appointing a 24 year old beauty to co-anchor a new Sunday news programme. Now although the lovely Miss Kikukawa has over 20 TV commercial contracts, she is no bimbo, holding a bachelor of engineering degree in architecture from the prestigious University of Tokyo. However, don't leap to the PC idea that she earned her place by brains alone. When she was first offered the post, she expressed concern over her inability to read kanji (Japanese written in Chinese characters), to which the network replied 'That's no problem at all. Our other anchorwomen cannot read kanji either!' According to NTV rumours, the fair Kikukawa-san (whose commercials often concentrate on her legs) may only be used as decoration. An earlier anchorwoman, Setsuko Komiya, was credited with helping the ratings of 'News Station' with her legs, & so maybe Kikukawa-san will do the same. Maybe I've been here too long but I think its not a bad idea. After all, if I have to hear bad news, I might as well get some visual compensation!
America is a country Japan often seems to copy but the US's admirable 'Freedom of Information Act' is unlikely to catch on here. Covering up seems to be a way of life, sometimes. For example, according to a government report, Japanese companies covered up a frightening 126 cases of illegal work-related accidents in 2001, thereby preventing the injured workers from receiving medical treatment or insurance compensation. Not surprisingly, 102 of these cases were in the construction industry, still dominated by day workers hired using Yakuza (Japanese Mafia) brokers. This number compares with 29 ten years ago but let's look at the positive side. At least they've announced the figure. However, with the economy heading for the toilet, such accidents are almost certain to increase (construction is booming, with more new sites appearing every day), so let's hope the companies concerned are really hammered. Yeah, sure!
Just as this 'column' was about to go online, Japan had 5 very special tourists. I refer, of course, to the Japanese citizens abducted by North Korea to train their spies in Japanese culture & language. What it will feel like for these poor souls is something we can only guess, returning to their homeland after more than 20 years in captivity. However, the crazy crew over in Pyongyang are still doing their best to keep these people on a short leash, as their children were forced to stay in the 'worker's paradise', just to make sure these victims don't tell the truth about their treatment or the mysterious deaths of the other abductees. So the day when these unfortunates are allowed to truly return home is not yet in sight, but this doesn't seem to bother the Japanese Government. after all, Japanese agents played a part in the abduction of the man who is now president of South Korea, so I suppose they can't really make too much fuss about these 5. Nonetheless, I think I would feel rather neglected if I were one of them, & if ever I were allowed to stay in Japan, I would want to find out why it took so long for Tokyo to secure my release.
Anyone who has been here, & especially been to the electrical retail centre of Akihabara, will know that Japan has every gadget than you can imagine, plus a few that you can't. Now let's take a look at just two recently introduced gadgets that I thought be tickle you folks. One is a barmaid doll costing around ¥5,000 (about US$40) that looks like a local 'talent', Yumiko Shaku. This doll serves you automatically, saying 'Good job!' or 'Drink more' in her voice. What's more, if you don't use it for a while, the doll also says 'Don't you like me serving you?' or 'You have been a bit cool to me recently, haven't you?' I don't know who'd buy such a thing but they must be pretty pathetic! Another item that might become a fad here is wave motion condoms. These claim to make women feel much better but make sure you don't put it non inside-out or you'll be the only one who benefits!
'During the soccer World Cup, a
Japanese company called Jorudan set up a very useful website called the Japanese Traffic Guide.
They took the site off line after the cup but after a few emails pleading with
them to bring it back, it is once more online. Using this site, you can work out
the quickest, easiest & cheapest way of getting from anywhere in Japan to
anywhere in Japan, using trains (JR & private), subway, buses, whatever.
Well worth a visit!'
(Taken from the 'Gaijin's
Guide to Living in Japan')
&
'The weather's a bit changeable recently so here's a place you can enjoy in fine or foul weather. The Yuasa Memorial Museum is an interesting archaeological museum set in a 6 million sq. ft forest. It's open 10-5pm but closed on Sundays. To get there, take JR to Mitaka & then a #51 bus . For more information, call 0422-33-3340.'
'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, the long, hot summer is now just a memory & winter is on the way. That mean's most of you Northern Hemisphere folk will be online more, avoiding the cold, so feel free to drop in on the ol' Gaijin around the middle of next month for the latest moans & groans. Until then, take care & keep on keeping on.
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! |
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