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Well here we are in May, with the 'Golden Week' group of holidays now behind us and the O-bon August holiday still a long way off. Japan has seen a lot of goings on in the last few weeks, with government ministers resigning over seemingly petty failings and a senior member of the Imperial Family speaking out in what was, by Japanese standards, a remarkable break with tradition. For yours truly, the past few weeks have been rather hectic, even though the Japanese rugby season is officially over. (However, Japan is playing Korea on the very day this column goes online!) There is even talk of including Japan (as well as a Pacific Islands team) in the famous 'Super-12' rugby tournament, a move that I would most certainly welcome. But what else has been happening in this 'exotic' group of islands? Well, the best way to find out is to read on, and if you enjoy what you read, be sure to pop back every month around the same time. Anyway, plug over, on with the motley . . .

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One thing (one of many) that puzzles me about many of my gaijin brethren here is their love of Roppongi. Now for those of you who have never been here, Roppongi is supposedly Tokyo's main 'red-light' district, filled with bars and restaurants containing the worst segments of both the Japanese and foreign communities.  For me, it is over-priced and totally sleazy, but many gaijin I know think it is heaven, despite the pickpockets, touts, and several different kinds of Mafia (Japanese, Russian and Nigerian, to name but three). However, the dirt (physical and otherwise) of Roppongi is beginning to show, for times are tough over there. You may recall the fatal revolving door accident at Roppongi Hills that I mentioned last time, and some are blaming this for the noticeable drop in visitors to this district. As the Nikkan Gendai recently reported, Roppongi is now beginning to look like a ghost town. Even the touts are disappearing -- almost. One of the areas main highways, Gaien Higashi Dori, includes a 250-metre stretch where just a few months ago, you could expect to be accosted by 20 or more street touts, mostly Africans. Now? The Gendai's reporter encountered two or three touts at the most. A more likely reason for this drop in traffic is not some kid dying in a doorway, but a recent increase in raids by Tokyo immigration officials, which has led to local businessmen becoming a lot more circumspect about adhering to the laws, and that is bad news for the old style Roppongi. Another famous local thoroughfare, often referred to as "Oppai dori" (Tit street) due to the presence of shops where male customers could grope the obliging hostesses, there are more "Tenant Wanted" signs than lewd posters nowadays. Lean times indeed. However, the supposedly respectable side of the area, Roppongi Hills (where the fatal door accident occurred) is also suffering, though some think that the accident is actually helping in a strange way. One correspondent reported that, judging by visual evidence alone, visitors to this new upmarket shopping area may have declined by as much as 60% in just two weeks. However, as he cynically (realistically) observed, "Since some of them have told me they're just going to see the revolving door that the kid got crushed in, after the curiosity seekers are finished, I suppose the number will decline even further." No way am I a puritan by any standards, but here's one gaijin who won't be crying in his beer at Roppongi's hangover! 

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Unlike many other countries, Japan does not have 'daylight saving time', despite being far enough north to make this feasible. However, many influential folk here have long argued that such a measure should be introduced, and now they have some good financial reasons for so doing -- 46 billion of them!  The Tokyo-based Japan Productivity Center for Socio-Economic Development recently claimed that were Japan to introduce daylight saving time, it would reduce evening traffic accidents by about 10,000 cases a year. This, the centre claims, would save the nation an estimated ¥46 billion (US$406.9 million)  a year. That should get someone's attention, though I often think that Japan's generally poor standard of driving is just nature's way of keeping the population down. Do I think Japan should change the clocks twice a year? Hard to say. After so many years here, I've got out of the habit of fiddling with the clocks each spring, but if it helps make life bearable for those masochists living up in Hokkaido, why not? So long as the bars don't close an hour earlier, I don't mind!

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Not that I would dare to say Japan is racist, but the Japan has had a distinct aversion to Korea ever since before the West knew there was a Japan or Korea. Ever since Japan's cruel colonisation of Korea at the beginning of the last century, this feeling of animus has been returned, but due to the slave labour policies of old Japan, there are far more Japanese-born Koreans than vice-versa, and these are often considered easy targets by the more hateful of Japan's scumbags. This cowardly bigotry was recently underlined by four separate incidents where female students of Korean high schools in Tokyo were harassed by having their traditional Korean clothing slashed on trains and being pushed down the stairs at a train station. Nice, ah? Japan's large Korean community is divided into those who support the South and the idiots who prefer the North. Being more nationalistic, it is the pro-North schools which dress their girls in the traditional 'chima chogori' dresses, and these often seem to act like a red rag to a bull. The latest slashing incident involved two students commuting on the JR Chuo Line to and from their school in Tokyo's Kita Ward. In one case, the middle-aged 'man' who did the slashing shouted at the girl to "get off the train," according to one source. On that same train line a bit later, the skirts of two other high school students were slashed, with the heroic patriot involved fleeing immediately afterwards. The kidnapping of Japanese citizens by the North has given sick cowards like this an easy excuse for attacking these poor girls, as if the 'rape of Nanking' was sufficient reason for Chinamen to slash Japanese ladies clothes! If that happened, you just watch the fuss Tokyo would make. As it is, no-one seriously expects anyone to be arrested for these attacks, nor are they likely to stop. With an elected Tokyo governor referring to Koreans using a Japanese term akin to 'nigger', there isn't much hope of that!
Footnote: As if the Koreans didn't have enough reason to resent Japan, the UN just gave them another. As you can clearly see when you look in any atlas, the stretch of sea between Japan and Korea is named 'The Japan Sea'. Just as France objects to the term 'English Channel', so South Korea objects to this. They have repeatedly asked the UN to officially refer to this bit of water as "Tonghea", Korean for "East Sea." However, the UN has said that it will continue using the name "Sea of Japan" in its official documents. I wonder if this will lead to attacks on Japanese school kids? Maybe not.

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Remember those Japanese civilians who were taken hostage in Iraq recently, despite being repeatedly told by their government that Iraq was not safe? Now you might think that anyone with enough brains to wake up in the morning wouldn't need telling, and certainly wouldn't be astonished if they got hurt whilst over there. However, now that those incredibly naive hostages are safely back in Japan, they may have another ordeal waiting for them -- an expensive on at that! Now as someone who hates to see tax revenue wasted on idiotic do-gooders, I was very interested to read that the Japanese government plans to ask these three 'innocents' to pay it a total of ¥2.37 million (about US$20,700) to cover airfare expenses it incurred after their release, including one-way tickets for the 3 from the United Arab Emirates to Japan, return tickets for 2 relatives and a lawyer, and domestic airfare after they returned to Japan. I don't know whether this was due to any sense of embarrassment, but the government made the announcement via a nongovernmental organization, the International Hospitality and Conference Service Association, which normally coordinates trips for governmental officials. The government is also considering asking them to pay at least part of the cost of chartering the plane they took from Baghdad to Dubai, officials said. The reasoning behind this 'request' is that the 3 travelled to Iraq despite ministry warnings not to go there. Now if you ask me (which you probably won't), this seems a pretty good idea. Imagine a new kind of 'advisory' for all citizens, telling them that they can to combat zones if they want, and if they get kidnapped, the government will try to free them. However, there will be a big, fat bill waiting for every one of them when they get home -- credit cards not accepted! Maybe if being naive proves to be costly, people will wise up. Then again . . .
Footnote: I recently read that the three ex-hostages are said to be suffering from acute stress disorder due not only to their ordeal but also the "storm of public criticism" for being in Iraq in the first place. So as well as repaying the taxpayers, they'll also have to find a way to pay psychiatrist's fees! Being stupid sure can be expensive.

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Back in the Meiji period at the end of the 19th century, Japan went from a feudal society to an industrialised major power in a very short time. They did so by learning remarkably fast and remarkably well. One thing they did learn well was the noble art of brewing and thankfully, they didn't stay at Budweiser! So it is that Japanese beer, which is generally of the lager variety, is very drinkable, especially during the long, sweaty summer. The most prominent brewer hereabouts is Asahi, whose 'Super Dry' is usually the best selling beer in Japan. Therefore, when Asahi makes a policy change, it can often affect the whole market -- including modest(?) consumers like me! I was therefore very interested to read a report from the Kyodo News Agency that said Asahi Breweries had announced that like its main rival, Kirin, it would stop suggesting wholesale and retail prices. As these two companies control around 75% of the domestic beer market, this is big news and could mean some price wars between various watering holes. Now this might well be bad news for some small, old style bars but as a customer, I selfishly hope that this will make drinking a bit cheaper here. With lager costing between ¥850-¥1,000 (about US$8 or so) for a large3 glass, my wallet might appreciate a price war, so let the battle commence! 

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Crime File

• This may just seem like a case of doing just what comes naturally, but the police disagree. I am referring to the Kyodo News report that a US Navy Petty Officer has been arrested for touching a woman's breasts at a pub in Yokosuka, a little south of Tokyo and the main US Navy base hereabouts. Now as I'm sure many of us know, pubs around navy bases rarely attract the shy or maidenly type, but maybe this poor slob was just unlucky. Seems that this 25-year-old sailor touched the breasts of a 21-year-old Japanese woman as she came out of the pub toilets sometime just after midnight. Instead of reaching for her pricelist, this particular lady notified a shop attendant who then called the police. Just shows that a man can't be too careful over here! 

• As if the above were not proof enough that being a US service person over here isn't all cherry blossom, we have the judicial conclusion of a case that was first reported in an earlier issue of this noble page. It concerns US Navy Petty Officer 3rd class Eric Heinz and a 37-year-old gangster named Tomoyuki Matsumoto. Mr Heinz was unlucky enough to be on the same street in Hiroshima as  Matsumoto-san last October, for which he was shot. Remember? The unlucky American was shot in the waist at around 3:55 in the morning by this low-life, who then turned himself to police. As if he were proud of his actions, this hoodlum told police he shot Heinz because he was annoyed when the serviceman cut in front of his car.  Japanese hospitality, ah? Well, last month, this crook was sentenced to 10 years in prison and unlike some western nations, those won't be 10 easy years -- although he'll probably enjoy reuniting with so many buddies! 

• I'm not the only one who thinks the local police could do better. It seems that the Chinese Government has lodged a formal complaint with Japan over damage caused to its consulate in Osaka when a Japanese rightist group crashed a sound truck into the consulate gate, whereupon a fire broke out near the driver's seat. The fire was soon extinguished and no-one was injured. Osaka police said they had arrested a man in the truck who is thought to be a member of the 'Nihon Kominto' rightist group. The Chinese Embassy in Tokyo said that it felt "dissatisfaction" that the police sentry did not stop the incident. Dissatisfaction, maybe, but surely not surprise. Luckily for the consulate, the rightists seem to be as cack-handed as the police!

• Racism often seems to prove useful for Japan's less pleasant citizens. Take for example a motorcycle gang in Nishio, Aichi Prefecture. A dozen of these creeps attacked four 16-year-old boys (at a shrine of all places!), killing one of them and slightly injuring the others. They also stole various items, including a wallet containing about ¥1,500 and a bike helmet. Not content with this crime, they then instructed the boys to say they had been attacked by foreigners. This is exactly what one of them did when he called for help. Nice to know that even gaijin have their uses, if only to save gutless bikers! However, luckily in this case, this racism was wasted. 11 boys aged between 16 and 17 later turned themselves into the police, claiming they had attacked the boys because they did not like the way they were riding on minibikes! Despite this highly convincing excuse, I hope the judges truly throw the book at them.

• Now I know (all too well) how a spouse can get you down sometimes, but this was taking things a little too far! Down in Japan's 2nd city, Osaka, a knife-wielding 39-year-old man was arrested after taking his wife hostage and holing up in a convenience store for over 3 hours. During the standoff, he stabbed his 35-year-old wife as well as a police officer who tried to subdue him. This sordid tale began just before lunchtime when the woman ran into a FamilyMart convenience store crying out that she was being chased by her husband on a bike. He later followed her in and her hostage, barricading himself inside the store's office and storage area. The convenience store employees escaped unhurt. Having tried unsuccessfully to talk him into surrendering, police stormed the storage area at around 2:46 am, as the man was threatening to kill his wife. It later turned out that he had 9 knives on him when he was arrested. Police, in a shining example of stating the obvious, said they suspected the incident was due to marital troubles.

• Now I'm sure every red-blooded male agrees that Singapore Airlines hostesses are distinctly worth looking at, but a Japanese man recently crossed the line. As a result, a Singapore district court fined the 29-year-old sales executive S$4,500 (about $2,669) for molesting two female flight attendants on a flight from Seoul to Singapore. It seems this young cretin squeezed the buttocks of one flight attendant and placed his hands on the hips of another. Believe it or not, this hopefully now unemployed creep claimed the squeeze on the buttocks was a friendly form of greeting. Yeah, right!

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Who said honesty was the best policy! One of my many gripes about shopping in Japan has been the fact that you had to do mental arithmetic (not my best subject) to factor in the 5% consumption tax when looking at prices. Some cynics claimed that this was done so that the gullible public wouldn't realise the true price, but I thought the Japanese were too smart for that to be true. Now it seems I was wrong! The government introduced a new regulation back on April 1st that forced all retailers to show the tax-inclusive price, as is the case in many other countries. And what happened? Some 60% of Japanese supermarkets reported sales declines, reported the Japan Chain Stores Association. Now in Britain, where the VAT (Value Added Tax) is 17.5%, I can understand folk struggling to make the mental calculations, but is 5% so difficult to work out -- even for dunces like me? Seems so, and now that the average Japanese punter has realised what prices here are really like, she's stopped spending! I recall reading that H. L. Mencken once said that "No one ever
went broke underestimating the taste of the American public." Maybe the same is true of underestimating the IQ of the Japanese public!

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Never fear, citizens of Tokyo. Our beloved Governor, Shintaro Ishihara, is well prepared to protect us from terrorists. And what is the mainstay of his anti-terrorist policy? Telling the police to use their guns. Simple, ah? As some of you may recall, it was back on March 18th when an Arabic newspaper reported that the al Qaeda-affiliated Abhahus Al Masri organization  declared that it was prepared to carry out terrorist attacks on six countries including Japan. Governor Ishihara immediately alerted the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department. Beginning by dismissing the current national safety law as "defective", he went on to say that Tokyo would have to act in advance. He then crossed the danger line by saying that as police may face situations where they have to use guns, "I have instructed them to do whatever is necessary. Any momentary hesitation may lead Tokyo to catastrophe. Whatever they do, I will take full responsibility." I feel so comforted, how about you? Knowing that every Tokyo cop might now feel safe as houses no matter how he uses his sidearm? Makes one feel warm and fuzzy inside! Ah, but Japan does have some laws protecting human rights and privacy, right? Correct, but our Governor thinks of everything. He went on to say that " If terrorists attack Tokyo, I will do whatever I can, bypassing all current laws and regulations." Like the man said, be afraid -- be very afraid. Now in many ways, Tokyo is a nice place to live in, but think how much better it might be if the Ishihara-san could remember that he is governor, not prime minister! 

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The rape of Nanking is one of WW2's worst horror stories, but many apologists and fascists here continue to argue that it never happened. To refresh your memory, it was just after its conquest of the then Chinese capital Nanking in late 1937 that units of the Japanese Imperial Army are said to have carried out atrocities against the city's population. In an event filled with depravity, one of the more deplorable incidents was an alleged competition between 2 army officers called "hyakunin-kiri kyoso," literally "competition to remove 100 heads." As this suggests, the 2 unsheathed their swords and went looking for "suspected stragglers from defeated Chinese army units", including those who had transformed themselves into women and children. Apologists claim this contest never happened, being nothing more than Chinese propaganda, a view supported by publications such as the Sankei Shimbun. However, a brave Japanese journalist named Toru Hoshi, writing in a less nationalistic publication, claims to have come up with new evidence of this grisly event, obtained from the microfiche archives of the Kagoshima-Okinawa edition of the Osaka Nichinichi Shimbun (forerunner of today's Mainichi Shimbun). Back on January 25th, 1938, the paper's front-page featured an article reporting that 2 Japanese army officers, Lt Toshiaki Mukai and Lt Takeshi Noda, had engaged in a competition to decapitate Chinese army stragglers, which ended with Mukai winning by a score of 106 heads to 105. There was even a photo of Lt. Noda with the story. The article went onto report that Noda didn't put back his sword until he had reached a total of 253 heads. He was quoted as pledging to continue until reaching 1,000. Inspired by this heroic act, a fellow officer named Muguruma composed a commemorative song entitled "Hyakunin-kiri Nippon-to Kirimi no Uta" or "The ballad of the sharp-edged Japanese sword that could take off 100 heads."  This evidence supports earlier media reports, such as  one Akira Shishime's December 1971 recollection of a meeting with Noda, in which he recalled the officer visiting a primary school in his home prefecture of Kagoshima, where he boasted of being "the warrior from our home district whose 100 beheadings contest was reported in the newspapers." We cannot question the two creeps who carried out this orgy, as both Noda and Mukai were hanged in 1947 for war crimes. However, it will be interesting to see how the apologists get around this. Maybe Japan's newspapers in the 1930s were secretly controlled by China? Or maybe the devilishly cunning Chinese replaced the entire microfiche archives. Sadly, whatever futile arguments they come up will be believed by far too many folk here.

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Back in late April, a man stole a passenger car near the international flight terminal of Tokyo's Haneda airport and drove it through construction fences onto the airport premises. He then commandeered a limousine bus and later took off in another car. Now the airport police did react but for some reason known only to themselves, they forgot to tell some one important -- the airport itself! That's right, the airport police failed to inform the Haneda airport's operators, who only found out nearly 10 minutes later, when it was notified by the airport transport authority. I wonder how much else they have forgotten to pass on? Shortly after this incident, Prime Minister Koizumi publicly criticized the police and Haneda airport operators for their "lack of communication". He said that they should take a hard look at themselves as they failed to overcome bureaucratic barriers even though they were working at the same place, and urged officials to prevent similar incidents from happening. For once, Koizumi-san, you and I are in complete agreement. However, please forgive me if I still thank heaven that I almost never have to use Haneda! . 

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Say That Again . . .

Many people think of the Japanese as being work-addicted, far too serious. It now seems that they may be right, for a local beauty parlour chain is now offering what it calls 'smile therapy'. I kid you not! As the chain's president said:
"Japanese are truly hopeless at smiling. That's caused the loss of so many business opportunities."
So long as he teaches them how to genuinely smile, and not imitate an air hostess's fake grin, I'm all for it!

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Many regular readers of this page may have gathered that my opinion of Japan's police could be better. However, yearn as I might for them to prove me wrong, they just keep playing true to form. Take, for example, the explanation given by a Hiroshima prefectural police spokesman when asked why several recent cases of sexual harassment of policewomen by senior male colleagues had been hushed up:
"We recommend that sexual harassment cases within the police force not be disclosed if they can be settled between individuals." 
All totally reasonable -- so long as your a male, and a perverted one at that. Imagine a New York or London police spokesman coming out with that line? No, nor can I!

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I have previously mentioned the perverts who think of trains as some sort of kinky nightclub where they can touch up women at will. Well, as if that were not low enough, these perverts don't even have the courage to perform alone. Introducing "chifure," groups of men who gang up to molest female train passengers. As an Osaka policeman put it: 
"Basically, it seems the idea of several people doing something wrong at the same time appears to diffuse the amount of guilt they feel." 
If there's one thing worse than a sicko, it has to be a cowardly one! 

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'Tis often said that race hatred is usually based on ignorance of the other side. This may be true. For take a look at the case of Jack Caplan, an ex-British POW. Perhaps justifiably, he had borne a deep hatred for the Japanese and had refused to visit this country. However, after 57 years, he relented and came over. The result, according to his wife Claudia, was: 
"just like black and white. He changed completely. He was bowled over by the Japanese."
Some of my family suffered in the Pacific War, and my Mother was shocked when I married a Japanese. However, maybe if there is more inter-marrying, there will be less animosity on both sides, as it's hard to hate your grandparents. Much of what Japan did in WW2 was horrible, but we can no more blame every Japanese for that than blame every Christian for the excesses of the extremely bloody Crusades!

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Less than 1% of Japanese are Christian but it is amazingly fashionable for folks to get married in a fake Christian ceremony. They stroll up to some part-time English teacher dressed in vaguely ministerial garb and they get married. Japanese businessmen have not been slow in cashing in on this quirky trend, especially when, as the editor of the Bridal Industry Newspaper pointed out: 
"Initial investments are only those in the cross and an altar." 
With regular Japanese weddings costing almost as much as a mortgage, there has been a proliferation of mini-chapels where couples can get married on the cheap. So don't think every church-like building here is church -- it probably isn't!

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As I have commented before, most Japanese are sadly uninformed about the world outside and this is especially true about the non-white world. With Iraq now filling world headlines, their total ignorance of Islam is a problem but at least one Japanese knows something about it. Dewi Sukarno, the Japanese-born former first lady of Indonesia, is herself a non-practising Muslim and she recently observed that:
"Japanese hardly know anything about Islam. Muslims are also human beings, you know."
Sadly, it isn't just Japanese who are guilty of such ignorance!

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Recently, more than one senior politician has been forced to resign for 'forgetting' to pay into the compulsory government pension scheme. One official who seems to have been especially guilty of this is our own beloved Governor Shintaro Ishihara. His excuse for this 8-year oversight was:
"I left pension matters to my wife and since she does not have much expertise in that field, they were taken care of by tax accountants."
I wonder if I can use the same excuse for forgetting to pay my city taxes?

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Don't let it be said that this page only deals in negative news, or that I don't pat on the back when such a gesture is merited. I am now about to pat the back of none other than the Toyota Motor Corp, for this world leader has set one of those records that can never be beaten -- being the first! In this case, the authoritative Nihon Keizai Shimbun reports that Toyota is set to become the first Japanese company to post a group net profit of more than ¥1 trillion. To be exact, Japan's leading business daily said Japan's largest automaker is projected to post a group net profit of about ¥1.1 trillion for the fiscal year ended March 31. Now if that doesn't deserve a hearty 'well done, boys', what does? This news also helps to prove that the reports of Japan's economy being on a recovery trend are justified. Just so long as the government doesn't see this as proof that the worst is over and relaxes before the much needed economic reforms are finished!

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Something that often puzzles visitors to Tokyo is the number of foreign street vendors one sees in almost every fashionable area, selling a wide range of trinkets, handicrafts and fake famous brand watches. Police have been looking into this phenomenon and have discovered that about 80% of the hawkers are Israeli. Boy, are they a long way from home! Most of them are, unsurprisingly, illegals, staying here on tourist visas. When asked, they all tend to claim that they were introduced to these  'jobs' "by friends." However, bearing in mind their sales tables, lighting and power generators, dropped off at the sales site each evening by supply trucks, police have come up with the amazing conclusion that these "tourists could not come up such a large amount of goods on their own," and that they must be aided by a large organization. Doubtless emboldened by this stroke of genius, the police reasoned further that the lack of conflict between the Israeli peddlers and local crime syndicates (Japan has crime syndicates?) proves that "they have an arrangement to pay 'protection' for the right to sell on the sidewalks". How do you do it, Sherlock? However, now that they have reached these momentous conclusions, the police are starting to react. Following pressure from legitimate manufacturers, police have increased their checks on the merchandise these vendors sell, with the result that more than 14 persons have been detained this year so far on charges of violating the trademark law for selling counterfeits. That may not sound too impressive but bear in mind that this is about double the number of cases since 2002! Now I bought a few fake watches while I was living in Taiwan, and mostly they were pretty good watches. However, anyone who feels cheated after buying a Rolex for less than 1% of the regular price from some rather unsavoury looking street character needs a sharp kick up the rear to remind them that this is the real world we're in. These vendors don't really bother me but if you ever feel tempted to use them, don't say you weren't warned. Oh, and maybe you should practice your Hebrew if you plan to haggle!

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In a country whose constitution guarantees freedom of the press (Article 21, to be precise), there is one group of people who are usually completely repressed, with almost every word and act being strictly controlled. I refer to the Imperial Family, who may be the official head of state here but who often seem to be virtual prisoners. The unelected body that imposes this burden is the Imperial Household Agency, which does all it can to act as a buffer between the imperials and their people, thereby ensuring their own jobs and power. It was therefore very surprising for most Japanese when Japan's Crown Prince Naruhito made some amazingly candid comments about his wife, Princess Masako, and her health and state of mind. He really seemed to be speaking from the heart instead of the usual boring script. The Agency responded by saying it would take a serious look at the issue, as well it should. In case you didn't get this story, the crown prince said at a press conference that Princess Masako "has completely exhausted herself" in trying to adapt to life in the imperial family since their marriage, and still faces ups and downs in terms of her health. The Harvard-educated Princess had been a highly talented and successful diplomat prior to their marriage and unlike the British royals, she had to give all that up to marry the prince. Her father was later rewarded with a prime diplomatic posting but his daughter's sacrifice seems to have had some unfortunate side effects. As Prince Naruhito said, "It is true that there were developments that denied Masako her career as a diplomat and went against her personality". The 'normal' stress of living in the unreal regime imposed by the Agency has been multiplied by increasing pressure to produce a male heir. What's more, as His Highness pointed out with remarkable and admirable candour, the princess had been keen to use her diplomatic experience to promote exchanges with other royal families, but the royal couple had not been allowed to travel overseas for several years after their marriage. The Crown Prince was speaking just before leaving on a 12-day European tour, on which she was unable to accompany him. The top man in the Crown Prince's Household, with the 'Ruritanian' sounding title of grand master, said, "We are sorry about this, because she might have been able to go on the trip if we responded appropriately much earlier and let her rest." Efforts were later made to dilute the effects of these comments, with the aforementioned 'Grand Master' telling the press that the prince had later explained that his remark was not meant to criticise the Agency's top dog, ' Grand Steward' Toshio Yuasa, who was named to his post in April 2001. However, when asked what the Prince's real meaning was, the Grand Master said, "I have no idea. But it may have been about events in the past." Now I had never though much of the Crown Prince before but I must say that this 'outburst' has raised my opinion of him. It is to be hoped that he will continue in this trend and hopefully reform the ridiculous situation concerning the Imperial Household Agency, so that in future, it serves the Imperial Family rather than vice-versa! Whatever happens, and if this wouldn't be considered a serious case of lese majesties, a hearty 'well done' goes out to the Crown Prince, as it would to any man who puts concern for his wife before the concerns of petty bureaucrats!

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It has become quite fashionable for urban Japanese to make a great show of getting out into the countryside, communing with nature and 'roughing it' in the wilds, albeit wearing designer label outdoor garb and using new 4x4 to get there. However, one group of Japanese recently had cause to regret their efforts at 'living off the land'. I refer to the report that 11 people who had had a barbecue in the wild forests of Nagasaki Prefecture in March last year, consuming some wild boar meat in what they probably thought was a pretty neat way of showing how they could survive in the wild and live off the land. However, the 11 were recently found to have been infected with hepatitis E, an unfortunate souvenir they hadn't planned to acquire! This was the first time a group of this size has been collectively infected by this virus in Japan, and led to a local medical centre making the obvious but sadly unheeded plea for people to cook game properly before consuming it. Having been raised in a land where barbecuing was a way of life, and where eating wild game wasn't so rare, it is easy to see how those without such experience could end up making a hash of a woodland BBQ. All I can do is hope that their compatriots learn from this, though, to paraphrase Sydney Smith, "with no very lively hope of success."

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Surely, you would think, if there's one thing the world surely doesn't need, it's more lawyers, especially in countries where lawyers famously outnumber postmen! However, Japan has astoundingly few lawyers, a happy state of affairs that seems unlikely to last. You see, it was recently announced that 68 new law schools were opened across Japan in April in a move designed to boost the number of lawyers here. That's right, you didn't misread that. These new schools will offer 2- and 3-year courses aimed at those interested in becoming lawyers, prosecutors and judges (law graduates choose whether to become lawyers or judges in the Japanese system). Upon graduation from these new schools, students will be granted a "doctor of judicial affairs degree" and become eligible to take the new bar exam due to be introduced in 2006. This is set to replace the present exam, which does not impose any restrictions on the qualifications of those taking the test. One reason for Japan's dearth of lawyers is the notoriously difficult bar exam. Last year, 50,166 people sat this, but only 1,070 passed! The government has said it wants to increase the number of passes to 3,000 beginning around 2010. According to the Japan Federation of Bar Associations, Japan has 20,240 registered lawyers at present, but the government plans to double this to about 50,000 by 2018. At present, Japan is a very non-litigious society, with few people or companies resorting to the courts with their disagreements. Of course this has a bad side, encouraging the big boys to ride roughshod over the little guy, but it has also avoided the ridiculous hot coffee-style lawsuits seen elsewhere. However, I suppose this is like Japan's slowly increasing crime rate, in that the old crime-free Japan was a nice state of affairs that couldn't last in this sad old world of ours. Still, one can't help letting a sigh of regret pass one's lips.



Gaijin's Tip:

'When visiting a friend's apartment block or hospital room, don't be surprised if the numbers skip from three to five. You see, 'Four' in Japanese is pronounced the same as death and is considered unlucky. Therefore, many hospitals and apartment blocks have no 4th floor. Bit like the western aversion to 13.'
(For more like this, please visit the 'Gaijin's Guide to Living in Japan')

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Gaijin's Where-to-Go

'Having mentioned the Imperial Family above, you might like to take a look at where they call home. Well, why not visit the Imperial Palace Cycling Course. This 3km route around the Palace Gardens is open every day with free bikes on Sundays between 10-3pm. nearest Subway is Nijubashimae (Chiyoda line). For more information, call 5572-6412 (weekdays), 3211-5020 (Sunday).'

(For more suggestions, check out the 'Gaijin's Guide to Enjoying Tokyo')