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ISSUE: July/August/September 2003 |
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This Month's Topics:
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The good news is that this issue of the 'Empty Seat' is a pretty big one, as you can see from the index above. The bad news (or maybe this is the good news) is that the Empty Seat will be skipping a month. The Gaijin is off on his holidays, escaping from Japan & so unable to keep up to date with the weird & wonderful happenings here. I will also be escaping the heat & humidity of early August, when Tokyo temperatures reach the upper 30s Celsius (that's 98+ for those still limited to Fahrenheit) & the humidity regularly stays above 90%. Not a good time to be in a huge, crowded city. Anyway, while you bravely hold back a tear as you consider a month without the Empty Seat, let's get on with looking at what's been in the news here in Japan.
One news story that didn't exactly get sympathetic coverage here concerned the deliberations at the annual meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) in Berlin. Now I'm sure you all know that Japan is one of the few (not the only) nations that clings to this barbaric form of hunting, claiming it is part of their culture. (So if cannibalism is part of some tribe's culture, we should let them eat visitors?) After years of doing damn-all to protect the Earth's largest creatures, the IWC has taken a decidedly non-Japanese stance by declaring itself squarely for conservation. This was, of course, considered a major victory by the majority anti-whaling nations, who rightly believe that this will safeguard the whale population. But guess who is acting like a schoolboy who didn't get the present he wanted from Santa? That's right, Japan. In a vivid display of its support for the democratic way & will of the majority, Japan has said it might leave the commission -- like it left the old League of Nations when its invasion of China was criticised. To quote the Japanese team leader, Masayuki Komatsu: 'This is ridiculous, it's out of order. I'm resentful & I'm angry.' , Now don't get the wrong idea. Japan isn't the only spoilsport sulking after losing the vote. Another diehard anti-conservationist, Rune Frovik from Norway, said: 'We'll be encouraging the whaling nations - Norway, Japan & Iceland - to organise whaling outside the commission.' What's more, the 3 whaling countries said after the vote they were reserving the right not to take part in or fund the initiative. I wonder how the all-powerful LDP (Japan's ruling party since WW2 almost without a break) would feel if one of the opposition parties said it disagreed with the election & was going to start its own government? After almost 13 years of living in Japan, I can tell you that whale meat is rare & expensive here, & most Japanese wouldn't notice if it went off the market. To claim it is part of their culture is a historical distortion. After all, during the Edo Shogunate (1603-1867), Japanese were forbidden to travel overseas & so how the hell did they catch this cultural food if they couldn't leave Japanese waters? You don't see many whales in Tokyo Bay! Trouble is, many Japanese (even those who have never tasted the stuff) believe the government's misinformation & support this 'cultural heritage' moonshine, just as some still believe that Japanese stomachs cannot digest American beef. I suppose all those customers in McDonalds are really cleverly disguised foreigners!
Japan is often considered something like an American colony, judging by the way it thinks anything that comes across the Pacific is a gift from the gods. However, there is one idol who is definitely not American but who is treated almost like a god & that is the British footballer David Beckham. He may have been turned down for a slot on the Simpsons as not being famous enough, but on his recent trip to Japan, he was mobbed wherever he went, usually by young Japanese girls. (What, me, jealous? Of course not!) Of course Japan has football, the vastly over-hyped 'J-League', but as one lady fan said, "He's just so much more exciting to watch than Japanese players." What's more, it's hard to escape him here, as his face is used to sell products from engine oil to chocolate, beauty salons to mobile phones. What's more, last year, a 3 metre-high chocolate statue of the footballer was created by a local confectionery manufacturer, one of a number of companies which pays him handsomely for endorsements. & don't go thinking that his recent move to Spain will lessen his popularity here. After all, Spain & England are both a long way from Japan, & when you have women travelling all night just to stand in a crowd at an airport to watch him stroll by, who he plays for doesn't really matter.
One thing that makes the hot, humid summer here worthwhile is the tradition of the summer bonus, when everyone's pay-packet is usually a bit fatter. However, whereas the recent semi-recession made last summer's bonuses seem like they were on a diet, things seem a bit better this year. I should explain that most major Japanese companies pay bonuses twice a year, & this year's summer payouts are set to rise by an average of over 4% , with those in the car industry growing by more than 10%. This is the first such rise in several years, & could be very good news in an economy where consumers reluctance to spend has been a big problem. Traditionally, these bi-annual bonuses make up as much as 20% of annual earnings for employees of big companies, & have been used to pay for big-ticket items such as cars & expensive electronic goods. Many shops even let you delay payment for an item till your bonus, no matter when you actually buy it! OK, a 4% rise may not seem much but this might, just might be the beginning of a return to the 'good old days' when Japan's rubbish dumps were filled with hi-fis & TVs in perfect working order, just dumped because their owners preferred newer models. That may sound wasteful, but speaking as someone whose income depends on people's spending power, it's good news for me!
Some of you may recall that I have occasionally criticised the quality of Japanese TV programmes. Well, one local chap decided to make sure his complaints were listened to! This 31 year old man was arrested after trying to enter the head office of Fuji Television carrying, & I kid you not, a crossbow, 6 arrows, a knife, a stun gun & a tear gas spray can. Reckon he was unhappy about something? According to Fuji Television officials, the man reportedly told them that he wanted "to ask about the sexually harassing content of your programs," & had demanded a meeting with Fuji Television's chief executive. Now it still isn't clear whether he thought their programmes were too sexually harassing or not enough. However, I doubt if it will change anything. The regular diet of TV shows where scantily clad young ladies are publicly placed in embarrassing or provocative situations will remain on screen just so long as viewers tune in to watch 'em! Not me, of course . . .
Japanese males have a reputation as being like worker ants, putting their job before family or anything else. For a while, this seemed to be lessening, as young folk started to think more about life outside the office. However, possibly due to the recession, things seem to be heading backwards. According to a recent survey by the Japan Productivity Centre for Socio-Economic Development, almost 80% of new hires in Japan put work before romance, reflecting the tough job market facing young Japanese. When these frustrated young Romeos were asked what they would do if they were ordered to work overtime on the day they had a date lined up, 79% said they would stay on the job. However, don't think it's just the guys. The figures were broken down to show 85% of women willing to work the extra hours, compared with 75% of men. & they wonder why the birth-rate is going down!
There are many reasons why I live here in Japan but now I've just discovered another one. Japan, the most expensive country, that you know, but Japan, the land with the cheapest broadband access in the world? That's right. What's more, this low access cost is en route to making Japan, once an Internet laggard, one of the world's most wired nations by 2007. This information comes via a Telecommunications Ministry white paper which predicts that 60 million Japanese -- nearly half the population -- will be surfing the Net on high-speed broadband networks by 2007, compared with about 20 million now. Until very recently, Japan lagged far behind South Korea in adopting high-speed Internet connections, but showing some of the spark that helped it recover from WW2, it has caught up quickly since service provider Softbank Corp launched a cut-price ADSL (asymmetric digital subscriber line) service in late 2001. Japan now ranks third in the number of broadband subscribers, behind the United States & South Korea, but (& here comes the surprising part) boasts the cheapest broadband access charges in the world, the report said. Hard to believe, ah? Well get this. Charges for bandwidth in Japan are around one-16th those of the United States, which had 18.7 million broadband subscribers in 2002, the report said. However, analysts say that while competition has been a boon for Japanese consumers, providers are dripping red ink. Softbank, Japan's biggest broadband provider, posted a group net loss of ¥100 billion (US$846 million) in the last financial year, widening the previous year's loss of ¥88.8 billion due to the high cost of promoting & building its service. However, Softbank's Yahoo BB, a joint venture with affiliate Yahoo Japan Corp, charges around ¥2,400 a month for unlimited access, & other providers, including the giant Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp (NTT, which is what I use), have been forced to follow with their own cut-rate offerings. However, consumers may be eagerly reaping the benefits but Japanese businesses are not, being as resistant to new ideas as always According to Yoshinori Shibayama, deputy director of the Telecom Ministry's general policy division: "The Internet content market in Japan still hasn't really got off the ground ... there simply isn't enough attractive content out there." Not including this page, of course!
Remember that dumb Japanese photographer who thought unexploded ordinance was a nice souvenir, & thereby killed a Jordanian customs official? Well that guy is as lucky a man as ever breathed, unlike the poor Jordanian he wiped out. Can you believe he was released from prison recently following a special pardon from Jordan's King Abdullah II. Hiroki Gomi, 36, of the Mainichi Shimbun newspaper, had been sentenced to 18 months in prison, which was already incredibly soft by my reckoning. But now the gracious King of Jordan, a man who is doing a lot to help peace in that troubled region, has done his bit to keep Japanese aid donors happy by releasing the idiot even earlier. Me, I'd have given him a community service order -- to be spent clearing up unexploded ordinance back in Iraq. The man concerned has now returned to Japan, & I'd like to think he will have learned a good lesson, but somehow, I doubt it.
Say That Again . . .
One thing that has never been fashionable here is chivalry, & things like groping of female passengers on public transport is sadly common. To combat this, Nagoya's Higashiyama subway introduced women's-only carriages on some trains. However, this has led to an increase in groping in other carriages. As one policeman said:
'Some guys believe that because women can go to the women's only carriage, they can feel up women in other carriages with impunity.'
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Just above, you may have read about the idiot photographer whose stupidity killed a Jordanian airport security official back in May. As I reported, he was given a special royal pardon by the Jordanian King, & what he said upon returning to Japan has to be a masterpiece of understatement. He said:
'I have a feeling that perhaps I may not be qualified to work in journalism.'
Seems his employers agree with him -- he was fired soon after he returned!
& you won't believe this!
A local form of lowlife who shall remain nameless (unless you read the full story further down), but who is paid by my taxes for being a Liberal Democratic Party politician recently said, & I quote:
'Gang rape shows the people who do it are still virile, & that is okay. I think that might make them close to normal.'
I kid you not. Read more for yourself!
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Another senior government type, the state minister in charge of deregulation zones & disaster management, came up with a rather extremist idea of how to punish the parents of a 12-year-old boy suspected of slaying a 4-year-old boy in Nagasaki. He recommended:
"You could have the parents decapitated as punishment after dragging them around the town."
I can think of a few government types who might also merit such a 'bonus'!
Another nail into the coffin of Japan's crime-free reputation! It was recently reported that the bodies of 2 adults & 2 children were found in the sea of Japan's southern island of Kyushu. Now it turns out that Shinjiro Matsumoto & his 2 children were handcuffed while his wife Chika was attached to a weight when they were found in Hakata Bay, police sources said. The police reported that post-mortems had revealed that Matsumoto, a 41-year-old clothing merchant from Fukuoka, & his wife 40 year old wife had drowned, while their 11-year-old son & 8-year-old daughter had died from strangulation. The theory seems to be a joint suicide that selfishly included the murder of their own children. Sadly, with suicide being viewed as an honourable thing here, the selfishness of those who do it is often overlooked. After all, if this self-interested creep had financial problems or something similar, those problems didn't drown with him. Someone will have to see to them, & so my opinion that suicide is usually the choice of a coward remains true.
What do you do when you have a product whose sales are rising but your economy is in trouble? Simple -- you increase the tax on it! Here in Japan, one of the most popular summer drinks is "happoshu", or low-malt-beer. One reason for this drink's popularity is that it is cheaper than beer, but with a very similar taste. However, as if embarrassed that any product should be selling extra well, the Japanese government has decided to impose a higher tax on happoshu. However, maybe in the hopes that the government will get real, Japan's breweries have introduced new low-malt beer products, which are selling explosively. To show you what I mean, compare the latest sales figures . In the first quarter of this year, beer sales of the 4 major breweries dropped 13.5% quarter-on-quarter, whereas happoshu sales rose 12.8%. In an effort to make people continue buying the newly expensive happoshu, the breweries are painting their various versions as a healthier kind of booze, trying to attract the health conscious & the ladies. Whether this will compensate for the government's short-sightedness remains to be seen.
It has always been one of my claims that in Japan, everything works. The phones, the water, electricity, you name it & it works as it should. However, that claims might soon become false, as the world's largest electricity provider, Tokyo Electric Power Co. (or TEPCO as it is better known) has begun "electricity forecasts," providing information on the day's electricity supply capacity & expected maximum demand, using TV & radio broadcasts as well as its homepage. Why are they doing this? Simple. Due to recent scares concerning safety at TEPCO's nuclear power stations (duly reported in this column, of course), TEPCO has had to close down these potentially dangerous power providers for safety checks & improvements. Now Japan is very non-PC & relies heavily on nuclear power, & so removing these stations just before the hot & humid summer is bound to result in a very un-Japanese phenomenon -- power shortages & maybe even blackouts. We haven't been affected yet, but then it's still the rainy season, & so not that hot. However, come August & even the nights hover around 30c & 95% humidity, & those air-conditioners are going to really test TEPCO's ability to keep Tokyo lit up. I shall be escaping Tokyo for a couple of weeks next month, so I shall be doing my part to save on energy. However, when i get back & the humidity is at its peak, a power cut might make me one very irritable gaijin
Just when you think Japanese politicians, especially from the allegedly 'ruling party', cannot get any lower, they prove you wrong. Take, for example, the case of Liberal Democratic Party (not a group renowned for good conduct) expressed the opinion that
Just when you'd given up hope of a linguistically challenged idiot like me living happily in Japan, here comes a reprieve! One of the few pastimes where some knowledge of Japanese is necessary is travelling by taxi, as Japan's address system is complicated beyond belief & few cabbies speak more than a couple of words of English. However, a Tokyo-based taxi company, Nihon Kotsu, said it will begin accepting calls in English for taxis in the Tokyo metropolitan area. So I can finally get out & about more! It seems the company has decided to set up a 24-hour special telephone centre with people who can handle calls for taxis in English to provide a better service to customers from abroad. This will be the first such English service in Japan, but hopefully, not the last. However, it will spoil one of my few chances of practicing my limited Japanese. However, now they've solved the language problem of riding in taxis, all I need to solve is the problem of finding the money to pay for the ride!
A few issues ago, I mentioned the fact that a large percentage of those arrested for 'stalking' in Japan are actually women. Well, it seems that some of these hunter amazons are resorting to some strange tactics in order to snare their man. I refer to the case of Maki Sakaguchi, a 29 year old woman from the southern city of Kitakyushu. She was arrested back in late June for stalking
Ah yes, the good old days of college life. Struggling with exams, getting drunk & acting like a 4-year old, raping women. What was that? Yes indeed, college life here in Japan seems to have acquired a new aspect, as it seems university students are increasingly becoming involved in sex & money-related crimes. The most famous (or infamous) of these concerns a student organization centred at one of Japan's top private universities, Waseda, known as the Super Free Club. Several members of this club have been arrested for a variety of crimes this year, including a gang rape. The Super Free Club labels itself as an organization that promotes 'friendship' among all universities. However, it seems this idea of 'friendship' involves inviting co-eds to a party & then committing violent rapes. What's more, if any prudish Super Free Club member refuses to join in a rape, he could be lynched! All this came to light after the arrest of 5 Waseda & Gakushuin University students on charges of gang rape. It seems that back in mid-June, a group of 20 students, including one co-ed, were having a party at a Japanese-style pub in Roppongi. After getting drunk (not a time consuming task here), 5 of the male students took the co-ed outside & took turns raping her on the stairs. The co-ed, acting with admirable responsibility, reported the crime to the Police. What's more, her courageous act encouraged many other women students to report that they too had been raped. It turned out that the leader of this club, a 28-year-old sophomore (?) scumbag named Shinichiro Wada, protected himself by always involving several members in every rape, making sure no one could go to the police because they were also involved. He also videotaped or took pictures of the rapes in order to ensure the victims' silence. After raping them, the creeps took the girl's shoes, purses & cell phones so they could not escape. According to one club member, they carried out these rapes about twice a week. One of their victims was badly chosen, however, for she managed to employ a Yakuza (organized crime) group to get revenge. They demanded that Wada pay ¥10 million yen to her, but he managed to get this cut in half, suggesting that Wada had connections with organized crime groups. Now as anyone who knows Japan will appreciate, college life here is different to the west, with many colleges guaranteeing a degree to anyone with good attendance. However, if this is the way the students fill the free time this frivolous system gives them, maybe it's time universities here began to act like places of learning -- a radical change for some of them!
'The wetness of the recent Tsuyu or rainy season has provided ideal conditions for some of Japan's less welcome residents -- mosquitoes. So if you haven't checked your netting for gaps, now would be a good time to do so. However, if the little sods do get inside your home, don't worry too much. Remember, Japanese mosquitoes do NOT carry malaria, they just irritate!'
(Taken from the 'Gaijin's
Guide to Living in Japan')
'The Gaijin is off to the beach but if you have to spend the summer here in Tokyo, then don't forget this city has its own beach, over on Odaiba Island. It may not be Waikiki but it's a beach. What's more, there is a very nice park nearby, the Odaiba Beachside Park. It is spread over 6 islands in Tokyo Bay in the shadow of the Rainbow Bridge. You can get there by ferry or by bus from near Hamamatsucho JR Station, by train using the driverless Yurikamone line (to Odaiba Kaihin Koen) from Shimbashi, or you can walk across the Rainbow Bridge & get some great views. For more information, call 5531-0851.'
(For more suggestions, 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 with remarkable ease by clicking on one of the links on the right. |
2002 |
2003 |
Well, as I said in the introduction, I am off on my holidays at the end of July & won't be back until the 15th of August. This means that I will not be able to put together a worthy August issue of the Empty Seat. Therefore, I thought it best to skip August & wait till September. Whether you see this as good or bad news depends on just how masochistic you are! However, I shall be lazing around on various beaches during early August, but my thoughts will naturally be on the Empty Seat -- honest! However, the Empty Seat will return to it's usual slot around the 15th of September, & if you'd care to pop over & take a look, you'd be most welcome. Until then, if you have vacation plans, enjoy. If not -- well, life's a you-know-what but it's better than the alternative. Take care of yourselves & see in September!
The Gaijin
Don't forget: If you want to know when the next 'Empty Seat' is online, or just want to contact the ol' Gaijin, you can use the Guestbook link below or drop me an email. I'll read it all, honest, & then . . . Well, we'll see!
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| * | 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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since 03/07/15 !
