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ISSUE: June/July 2004 |
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Don't forget to check out the Gaijin's
Tip of the Month and Where-to-Go! |
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This Month's Topics: |
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Well over here, where the forecasters continue to try and make nature follow a timetable (announcing the very day the misnamed 'Rainy Season' will start and end), and continue to fail miserably, I for one feel a lot safer. Indeed, I'm sure that everyone here sleeps easier in their beds, don't they? I mean, knowing that North Korean leader Kim Jong Il told Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi that "Our missiles are not aimed at Japan. They are not for attacking Japan." What a relief! In case you're wondering why they made such a promise, it followed an announcement by the Foreign Ministry that if North Korea were to test-launch missiles, Japan would not give it the food aid Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi pledged to provide. But now we know we're safe, everything's alright. After all, if you can't trust North Korea, who can you trust?
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One must wonder what Koizumi-san is thinking right now. Our prime minister risked a lot of his previously impressive popularity by agreeing to send Japanese troops to Iraq, albeit in a strictly non-combat role. Now, it seems, these members of the 'Ground Self-Defense Force' are virtual prisoners, having been forced (by their ridiculously limiting rules of engagement) to confine themselves in their camp after a series of shootings in the nearby town of Samawah between supporters of the militant Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and Iraqi security officers. Of all the humanitarian missions they were sent to carry out, the only one they now seem able to fulfil is that of providing purified water to water trucks, which they do within the camp. As for the road and school repair projects, these are now done only by Iraqis, with no GSDF members in sight. So, with the Iraqi situation unlikely to improve in the near future, it seems Koizumi-san has sacrificed a large chunk of his popularity so that Japanese troops can twiddle their thumbs within a prison-like camp. Like a few other national leaders, he must be wondering if supporting the US has been worth the price! Nonetheless, this 'setback' seems to have done nothing to cool the government's determination about Iraq. In early June, Prime Minister Koizumi assured US President George Bush that Japan will continue to keep the Self-Defense Forces in Iraq, even suggesting that they will participate in humanitarian operations with a UN multinational force to be formed under the just endorsed U.N. Security Council resolution. So anyone who joined the GSDF to avoid unemployment must now be wondering if working in a convenience store or fast-food place was so bad after all!
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It seems that the xenophobic ideas of our gallant police force might have at least some justification after all. Japanese police recently made some highly publicised arrests of people accused of working with the al-Qaeda terrorist network and they now claim to have found out that Japan's 'branch' of that infamous network was closely linked with one of its senior members, a French national of Algerian descent who entered Japan on a fake passport in July 2002 and hid in the city of Niigata for more than a year while being hunted by Interpol. This may indeed confirm the anti-foreign views of Japan's right-wing but it also reveals that (a) the police never knew they had an Interpol-wanted terrorist on their doorstep, and (b) the tightened immigration controls adopted around the time he arrived here have been proven less than reliable. The Frenchman in question, Lionel Dumont, was arrested in Germany in December 2003 and has been said to have been involved in the delivery of equipment and funds to al-Qaeda, being part of the network's logistics arm. German authorities also discovered, from his mobile phone records, that he had made several phone calls to Pakistanis and other nationals living in various parts of Japan including Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama, Niigata, Gunma and Nagano prefectures, after he left Japan a few months before his arrest. The revelations of his questioning in Germany have come as a big and very unpleasant shock to Japan, as it suggests that Japan could become a breeding ground for terrorist acts. The National Police Agency has reacted to these embarrassing details by holding an emergency meeting to investigate what he got up to here and also discover why he chose to hide in Niigata, where he seems to have lived with his German wife while working as a used car dealer until he left for Malaysia last September. In case you should think that there was little a gaijin could do here without much support, think again. Japanese police following up on Dumont's arrest found bank accounts believed to have seen transactions worth some ¥1 billion (approx. US$9 million) within the past 3 years. Terrorists could do a lot with that sort of money! Dumont's involvement with al-Qaeda seems to have begun when he joined one of its affiliates whilst fighting the Serbs in Bosnia-Herzegovina during the early 1990s. He was later arrested for killing a police officer in Bosnia but escaped from his Sarajevo prison in 1999. Apart from being wanted by the Bosnians, he is also sought by his native France in connection with the attempted bombing of Lille police headquarters in March 1996, before the start of the ministerial conference on employment in preparation for the G-7 summit. Italy is also said to be interested in him. Now although Japan has many residents from South Asia, most of them are hard working and law abiding. However, it is to be hoped that to prevent their community from being treated as dangerous, they will do their bit in keeping an eye on their more radical brethren, and thereby proving that Islam is not evil, only the vile men who usurp it for their own evil ideas.
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Japan's struggle to come to terms with World War 2 continue. It was recently reported that one of Japan's leading textile manufacturers, Teijin, has paid ¥200,000 (about US$1,800) each to more than 10 South Korean women who were forced to work at a Japanese spinning factory in Shizuoka Prefecture during the War. What is remarkable about this news, and leads one to hope that it is a sign of a change in attitude, is that Teijin wasn't the company that employed these women, as they only took over the factory after the war! Radical stuff indeed. The company is said to have made the payment earlier this year because of sympathy for the women as a result of "humanitarian consideration," according to the women's lawyer. Sadly, this company's praiseworthy compassion is not yet shared by Japan's officials -- not by a long way! You see, the women only appealed to Teijin after the Supreme Court had unsurprisingly dismissed their appeals last year. So I should like to give Teijin a well deserved pat on the back, and as for the Japanese courts, they sadly continue to live down to my sadly realistic low expectations.
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Article 21 of the Japanese Constitution clearly states that "Freedom of assembly and association as well as speech, press and all other forms of expression are guaranteed", adding that "No censorship shall be maintained." (Check here if you don't believe me!) However, like many constitutions around this sad old world, Japan's officials seem to forget what it says when it suits them. Take, for example, Prime Minister Koizumi's recent trip to North Korea, to bring back the children of the previously returned Japanese abductees. Prior to the trip, local TV station Nippon Television Network Corp (NTV) reported that the government was preparing to give Pyongyang 250,000 tons of rice in order to make sure Koizumi-san's trip was successful. As a result, certain senior officials tried to exclude NTV's reporter from accompanying the Prime Minister on that trip. If that isn't censorship and interfering with the freedom of the press, what is? However, when their back door efforts to keep the press contingent friendly came to light, the government changed its mind and allowed NTV to cover the Pyongyang summit. I seem to remember in a British TV drama, a so-called 'maverick' politician saying that democracy needed troublemakers to keep it awake, to keep it working. I do tend to agree and so I hope (but not expect) that the official responsible for this petty but worrying attempt at controlling the media is punished. Sadly, if he is, he will be penalised not for what he did, but for being caught!
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When most outsiders think of Japanese schoolchildren, they probably imagine them to be hard working and disciplined. Many are, but sadly, many others are not! Just as Japan's streets are not as crime free as they once were, nor are the classrooms. Proof of this was contained in a recent report from Kyodo News which told how a JAL 747 was forced to abort a landing at Naha airport in Okinawa because pupils from a Hyogo Prefecture Junior High School were totally ignoring the seat-belt sign, deliberately standing up as the plane was about to make its approach. Now in countries where naive and misguided 'do-gooders' have banned corporal punishment, this might be considered OK, but Japanese parents are still allowed to chastise their kids, but often fail to do so. In this case, the Jumbo Jet, which was flying in from Osaka and was almost full with students on an excursion as well as other passengers, was forced to turn around and make another approach 20 minutes later. The episode began when 3 pupils were apparently playing around and suddenly stood up, their example being followed by three sheep-like others, despite warnings from the cabin crew. I don't know about you but the question that leaps into my mind is simple -- what about their teachers? What did they do to help the cabin crew? And what punishment did these stupid kids get for their potentially dangerous behaviour? If my flight was over 20 minutes late because of some badly behaved school kids, I would naturally feel angry towards the brats themselves, but I would also feel very displeased towards their negligent teachers!
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When I first arrived in Japan, I lived in a provincial city about 110km north of Tokyo. It seemed a quiet, rather dull place, and so imagine my surprise when I read of a SWAT-like operation taking place there! The story is that police stormed a condominium in Utsunomiya, Tochigi Prefecture, where a gangster had holed himself up with his girlfriend for 44 hours after a shootout with police officers. Police officers entered the apartment at around 5:30 a.m. and found Taketo Hatakeyama, a 41-year-old member of the Sumiyoshi-Kai yakuza organization, and the 22-year-old owner of the condo, both shot dead in an apparent double suicide. The situation began when Hatakeyama fled to his girlfriend's condo after firing 2 shots at the police through a window when they tried to search his condo for firearms. After barricading himself in the condo, Hatakeyama told police by mobile phone that there were 2 women with him, although only one woman is believed to have been there. At first, they thought the woman was a hostage, but she told them she wanted to stay with him during the standoff. Soon after he stopped answering police phone calls, police made a final attempt to persuade him to surrender before storming the condo. The dead crook seems to have liked such standoffs, as he had also locked himself in an Utsunomiya condo with a gun for about 20 hours back in 1991, when police tried to arrest him for drug offences.
One reason for Japan's continuing, albeit reduced, reputation as a safe place to live is its use of the death penalty, much condemned by nations with soaring crime rates. However, don't think the courts use this extreme sentence willy-nilly! Take, for example, the case of a woman who murdered her husband and son in Saga Prefecture. 45-year-old former insurance saleswoman Reiko Yamaguchi and 56-year-old former antiques dealer Kazuo Hokao killed her 38-year-old husband back in September 1992 by pushing him into the sea off a quay. The motive was the oldest in the book -- ¥98.7 million (about US$896,300) in insurance money. This charming couple also killed her 16-year-old son in a similar manner in October 1998, and were duly sentenced to death. However, the Fukuoka High Court recently overturned her sentence, reducing it to life imprisonment on the grounds that she had been lured by Hokao and could be rehabilitated. The man was not so lucky and so can expect to be hanged in due course.
Be careful when you go into hospital or it may be more than some organ that you lose! Police in Nagasaki have charged a man with 9 cases of theft of money or ATM cards worth ¥3.8 million (around US$34,500) at a hospital. The 55-year old unemployed man pretended to be visiting friends and stole cash and ATM cards from 3 patients' wallets. He was already in police custody when charged, having been arrested last October. For what? Suspicion of stealing a wallet from a male patient at a hospital.
I referred above to Japan's use of the death penalty, but even here, there are people who surely deserve capital punishment but don't get it. Take, for example, Yoshiyuki Imoto and his wife Saori, who lived in the Osaka suburb of Toyonaka. The woman was recently arrested for starving her 6-year-old daughter, after having fatally abused her. The husband was also arrested, for "neglecting his parental responsibilities". The poor young girl who was their victim was only 94 centimetres tall when she died in December. She weighed just 9.3kg, less than half the average weight for a 6-year-old girl. Her poor young body was covered with bruises, according to the Osaka prefectural police. For such people, even the rope seems far too merciful.
For all those who think Japan's political loonies, nutters on the far right and far left, are harmless, think again! Consider the incident back in early June when 2 men were killed and another seriously injured in a fight that broke out within one such radical group. Police report that they received an emergency call shortly after 7 a.m. that 4 men had attacked another 3 with steel pipes on a street in Tokyo's Taito Ward. It was, needless to say, these 3 who were thus killed/injured. Police claimed the attack was part of an internal struggle within the Kakurokyo, a revolutionary extremist group with a record of radical violence. As it happened in front of a condominium where a fringe faction of the group is based, I suppose they're right!
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One area of Japanese life that often comes in for criticism on this page is the legal system, with inexperienced (of real life) judges having far too much power due to the lack of a jury. However, Japan is changing and the judiciary are, I am pleased to report, not immune! The latest proof of this was the judicial reform law passed in May that will introduce a lay jury system. What's more, the bill had the support of both the ruling and opposition parties, meaning almost everyone accepts the need for change. The jury system will be introduced in 2009, starting with trials for serious crimes only, such as murder and assault resulting in death, of which there are around 2,800 cases a year on average. Under the proposed system, 6 people will be selected per case to work with 3 professional judges, and will be expected to decide a verdict and sentence by a majority vote. Any eligible voter aged over 20 can be appointed as what Japan calls a 'lay judge', but the procedure for selecting jurors would ensure that citizens would not be assigned to dangerous cases, such as trials involving underground crime groups or terrorism. As in the West, jury participation will be considered a public obligation, although people can opt out of serving for specific reasons including religious belief, poor health, child rearing and nursing care. To me, this is a very big step in the right direction, and should do a lot to make the courts less subservient to the government. Now I know many people think the jury system is highly fallible and undependable, but in my opinion, it is like what Winston Churchill said about democracy -- it is the worst form except for all those others that have been tried!
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Staying with the subject of Japan's judiciary and its need of reform, what about the case of the judges who ruled that the when the Constitution guarantees equal treatment under law, this does not rule out what they called "reasonable discrimination"! Sounds like an oxymoron to me, but I suppose unreasonable discrimination is when its applied to Japanese! This truly weird pronouncement came in a ruling rejecting a claim by an American resident of the northern city of Sendai who objected, strangely enough, to being barred from a sports event because he was a foreigner. Japan, racist? Of course not! The story is simple. Every year, the Japan Amateur Sports Association holds a 'national sports festival' and in 2001, they held it in this man's prefecture. He tried to enter the ice hockey game but was told he couldn't because he wasn't Japanese. Needless to say, the district and high courts ruled that this discrimination was OK and then, in early June, the Supreme Court came up with that beauty about 'reasonable discrimination'! Not surprisingly, past displays of sports racism have led to persistent criticism, and so to appease the barbarians, non-Japanese high school students have been allowed to take part in the festival since 1981. However, adults remain unsuitable. Now maybe I'm too cynical (maybe?), but I can't help thinking that maybe the Japan Amateur Sports Association is afraid that foreign adults might just win, and so the only way to guarantee a Japanese victory is this pathetic version of apartheid. I think their dictionary is missing the page that includes 'sportsmanship'!
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Talk about career change! A recent issue of the Nagoya daily 'Nikkan Gendai' reported on Yoshiko Fuse, a young lady who not long ago was a popular pop singer. However, musical success having proved short lived, she now deals with a somewhat different public -- by working at a "soapland", the Japanese euphemism for a massage parlour-cum-sex shop. Using the name 'Yoshiki', this versatile young lady recorded songs as one half of a duo called "Chez Vous," cutting her first record in 1998. One of her songs was used as the ending theme for a hit TV drama. However, 3 months ago, she decided to put her talents (I am struggling to avoid some very obvious puns here) to better use, joining the staff at a soapland in Omiya, in the prefecture on a Tokyo's northern border. To her credit, Fuse-san is not apologetic. As she said, "It's a more honest way of earning a living than show business, and besides I like doing 'etchi' (sex), so it's like killing two birds with one stone." As if to prove how successfully she has adapted to her new job, she added that "Last month I was ranked the second most popular girl in the shop, and cleared ¥1.2 million (almost US$11,000). I plan on sticking with it until I make enough to buy my own place." Her transformation comes hot on the heels of another well publicised career move, with a well known model now working as a leading lady in 'adult' videos. Someone pointed out that many former club hostesses try to move into the singing and modelling business, and all these ladies have done is to reverse the trend!
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You have to give Japanese scientists credit for being ingenious, you really do! I mean, where else would you get a story like this. One of the most prized and expensive delicacies in Japanese cuisine is 'fugu', a fish better know outside Japan as Tiger Puffers. The problem with this dish is that the Tiger Puffer is a highly poisonous type of Blowfish, and eating such a dish prepared by a non expert chef can lead to a painful death! Fugu chefs have to be licensed by the government, in order to limit the number of dead diners. However, some inspired scientists at Nagasaki University's faculty of fisheries have now managed to breed non-poisonous Fugu, making such a meal a lot less stressful. This breakthrough will obviously expand the supply of edible blowfish, but how, you might ask, did they achieve such a feat? Simple, they merely fed them an innocuous diet in an isolated environment. So maybe a plate of Fugu and chips to celebrate? Safe or not, maybe I'll pass!
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On a more serious note, a recent crime has truly shocked Japan to its complacent base. I refer to the murder of 12-year-old Satomi Mitarai by her 11-year-old friend and classmate at an Elementary School in Sasebo, Nagasaki Prefecture. Such a tale would be shocking even in America but here, it is truly earth-shattering! It seems that Satomi died of massive blood loss after her neck was slashed with a paper cutter. And what was the motive, you may ask? Believe it or not, police believe they argued over Internet messages! The 11-year-old murderer told police that her victim had posted a message on an Internet bulletin board mocking her for being a "goody two shoes" 4 days before the incident. Some 'goody-goody' she turned out to be! Anyway, that message and others criticizing her weight and appearance made her angry and so she decided to kill her. Unbelievable, but true. Now under Japanese law, suspects under 14 are governed by the Child Welfare Law and cannot be punished under the Penal Code. Police are required to send such cases to local child consultation offices, which then rule on whether to send them to family courts or place suspects in special juvenile facilities. However, many people here now believe that the current Juvenile Law is simply inadequate to deal with the increasing number of serious youth crimes. In response to such public disquiet, a government panel headed by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi adopted guidelines last December saying the law should be revised to allow children under 14 to be sent to reformatories. However, bearing in mind western experience, this may well prove equally ineffective.
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Bearing in mind the above shocking story of violent school crime, you may be wondering what Japan's education officials are doing in response. Well, I can tell you -- they are checking on how loudly pupils are singing the national anthem. I kid you not! Seriously, the city board of education in Kurume, Fukuoka Prefecture, have actually checked on how loudly local students sang the "Kimigayo" national anthem during this year's graduation and enrolment ceremonies! I wish I was joking! The clearly highly sophisticated board asked officials attending such ceremonies last spring to check on the volume levels, which were to be classified as "small," "medium" or "loud" . The results showed that 5 or 6 schools were classified as singing in a "small" voice, whereupon they were given a verbal warning and told to improve their supervision of students. Not surprisingly, even in unquestioning Japan, this waste of taxpayer's money has prompted complaints from local residents as to why it was carried out. The board's defence was that this action was taken to see if schools were complying with the education ministry's curriculum guidelines which stipulate singing of the national anthem. Now I earlier reported on murder in the schoolyard and misbehaving pupils disrupting a 'Jumbo Jet' during landing, . However, I am sure parents and taxpayers are comforted to know that their education officials are just too busy dealing with truly vital matters like song volume to deal with such trivial side issues!
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However,
it isn't only local politicians who have a funny way of responding to that horrific
murder. A member of the national government has also responded in a pretty
perverted way. According to the 'Disaster management minister', one
Kiichi Inoue, the reason for that poor girl's murder is simple. Blame it all
on women's social advancement. That's right, you didn't misread it -- I wish
you had! The 72-year-old in charge of Japan's reaction to major disasters
said, and I quote "It seems to show that assertive women are
increasing." He added that "The gap between men and women appears
to be have been narrowing recently." Well if he is representative of
the male sex, let's hope it doesn't narrow too much! Can you believe this
old fart? His senior colleague, the Chief Cabinet Secretary, was quick to
distance himself from these looney comments, calling them
"inappropriate". However, I would have preferred something along
the lines of "Pack your bags and vacate your office!"
Footnote: Following a week of protests and opposition
demands that this old goat step down, he finally succumbed and
retracted his insultingly ludicrous comment. He claimed that his statement
had "caused misunderstanding", which is a way of saying that he
suddenly realised his senility had taken him a bit too far that day. The sad
thing is, there are probably plenty of Japanese males, and even some
females, who agreed with him. Sex equality may be the law here, but so long
as the cabinet's age is higher than its IQ, it won't exist in real life!
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Say That Again . . .
Many Japanese schools
complain that their students pay more attention to checking their email on their
mobile phones than they do to their lessons. However, maybe these erring
students are merely following the lead of their political rulers, for even Prime
Minister Koizumi has recently had cause to tell young politicians:
"From my seat, I can see you
checking mail on your cell phones. It looks bad when shown on TV."
It wouldn't be so bad if they were
checking on email from their constituents, but somehow I don't think they are!
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One might expect that in
an earthquake prone place like, safety rules would mean something. Not to
everyone, it seems. Take, for example, the floor manager of a large store in
Tokyo's famous electrical shopping district, Akihabara. He was criticised by the
authorities for piling up products near escalators and stairs. His response?
"We can't just put nothing in those areas. If we follow those instructions,
sales will decline."
Really makes one feel safe, doesn't
it? A true case of 'Caveat emptor' (let the buyer beware)!
Many foreign males come to
Japan with a very unrealistic view of Japanese females, roughly based on Madame
Butterfly or geishas. However, they aren't the only ones who seem to consider
Japanese ladies as being angelic, and this idea does have a dark side. As
university psychology Professor Masashi Usui recently said:
"Troubled guys have this image of
young girls being like angels. That's what has probably had an influence on why paedophilia
has become almost an accepted practice in this country."
In my opinion, the main reason why paedophilia
is so tolerated here is that it is still a male-dominated country, and old males
at that. The same reason that helped Viagra get through the government's
pharmaceutical testing process so remarkably quickly and delayed the female
contraceptive pill so long, that's why!
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Once a week, I struggle
manfully to improve my knowledge of the Japanese language. However, it seems
that maybe Japan's youth should be attending these classes with me! Recent
trends in communications are having a sorry effect on the language, for as
writer Saiichi Maruya recently observed:
"TV and the Internet are eroding
reading skills and cell phone babble is replacing rational speech."
Now in many western
countries, young people hate the police and sometimes even attack them. Some
folk may have thought this was the motive behind a recent incident when three
16-year-old teenagers crashed a moped into a police box in Tokyo's Suginami
Ward. However, not so. As one of the arrested youths explained:
"We don't hate the police. We just
thought it would be fun to be in the news."
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Some of you may know that
the families of suicides who use the railways as their means of death are
routinely billed for the disruption the selfish act caused. Maybe you've
wondered how much this bill was. Wonder no longer! According to Karin Amemiya,
author of "The Cost of Suicide,":
"Suicides that halt rush-hour
trains carrying tens of thousands of passengers can result in the victim's
family being billed as much as ¥8 million."
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Most of my gaijin friends
have Japanese wives, but many Japanese men are choosing Chinese ladies instead
of their local talent. How come? Well, one explanation provided by a local
international marriage broker was:
"Chinese women make much better
wives than their contemporary Japanese counterparts."
Well my 1st wife was Chinese and my 2nd was Japanese, so which do I rank top?
Hey, go find out the hard way, like I did!
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Talking of wives, in the
West, many men accuse their spouses of losing interest in sex. However, like so
much else, this seems to be different in Japan. The actress Aya Sugimoto got a
divorce last year on the grounds that her 11-year marriage had become sexless.
She has now written a book about sex, titled "Orgasm Life," and
according to her:
"In the last few years, there's
been an increase in men who can't view their wives as sexual partners."
Makes me wonder if there isn't an
opportunity here for we males not thus afflicted!
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A Japanese friend of mine
recently pointed out that statistically, Japan's weathermen were more accurate
in the late 19th century than they are now! Having received some nasty sunburn
on a day forecast to suffer thunder and heavy rain, and with the so-called
'rainy Season' refusing to follow the weather bureau's script, I can well
believe it! One reason for this lack of progress was summed up by Toshio
Nakazawa, a space industry analyst who said:
"Meteorological Agency weathermen
never look up at the sky."
Remember the old music hall song
which said "As soon as I touched my seaweed,
I knew it was going to be wet." A little more seaweed and less reliance on
computer data and satellites might be in order!.
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Talking of naughty North Korea (as I was at the top, remember?), the figure for Japanese abducted by Pyongyang recently had to be revised . The reason was simple. A chap who had been listed as missing since 1974 and was believed to have been abducted by the reclusive state was found alive in Tokyo! Oops! He was found by 'The Investigation Commission on Missing Japanese Probably Related to North Korea', a group that looks for links between missing Japanese and the North. They report that the 'missing' man, who was 29 at the time of his disappearance, was confirmed to be alive in Tokyo. What's more, he's the 4th of about 200 missing people publicized by the group to be suspected of being abducted to North Korea found alive in Japan. Seems to me that there are plenty of disgruntled husbands and unsatisfied wives living all over Japan, hoping that their nearest and dearest will think they were kidnapped by North Korea. Won't they be pleased when this bunch reveals they weren't!
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Misbehaving
Marines on Okinawa have done more to harm their
country's reputation than a 747-full of soccer hooligans could, and so it is
no surprise that the US military authorities have finally responded by
implementing an "off-base liberty card program" and imposing a
nighttime curfew on almost all Marines up to and including the rank of
sergeant. Better late than never, I suppose. How the marines will view this
move is open to debate, especially as this is the first time a curfew has been
imposed on US service personnel since the Okinawa summit of the Group of Eight
countries in July 2000. All Marines at USMC bases in Japan, not only those in
Okinawa but also at Camp Fuji in Shizuoka Prefecture and the Iwakuni base in
Yamaguchi Prefecture, are to be issued with 'red cards' that prevent them from
going off base between midnight and 5 a.m. However, there will also be 'gold
cards', issued to senior service members and those who have demonstrated
'exceptional' conduct; for these lucky folk, off-base liberty will be
unrestricted. Marines aged under 21 will receive special 'Under 21 cards' to
stop them drinking alcohol. Yeah, right! According to an official statement,
"Liberty cards will be checked at all gates as service members enter and
leave Marine Corps installations and may be checked by courtesy patrols off
base." According to the US military newspaper Stars & Stripes,
Lt Gen Robert Blackman, commander of the US Marine Corps based in Japan, said
the curfew is in response to crimes involving US service members in Japan,
which have been on the rise since 1998. In Okinawa Prefecture alone, there
were 112 criminal cases involving US military personnel in 2003. Now most
Japanese, especially the young, dislike the presence of foreign troops on
Japanese soil, conveniently ignoring the fact that their own military couldn't
guard a dog kennel! What's more, knowing that these bases make Japan more of a
target for terrorists and looney North Korea doesn't add to their popularity.
So let's hope this move reduces the number of US arrests, and reminds
potential wrong-doers that they're not in Kansas any more!
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It comes as no surprise for anyone living here to read that Japan has maintained its record as the world's most expensive city, according to the latest cost of living survey by Mercer Human Resource Consulting. However, it may have come as a shock for homesick Brits to learn that London was ranked 2nd. Another good reason not to go back! Moscow signed in at 3rd place, with Osaka at 4th, giving Japan the unique distinction of having 2 cities in the top 10! Homesick Americans may have been hit by the complete lack of US cities from the top 10, with their most expensive metropolis, New York, dropping to 12th place, partly due to the weak US dollar. However, don't start wondering whether I need a Swiss bank account to live here, for this survey, which is compiled twice a year, looks at the expenses of people working for big international corporations and maintaining fairly high standards of living, not local residents. So where can one go to find a cheap place to live? Well, the cheapest of the 144 cities examined in this survey was Asuncion in Paraguay, but maybe Tokyo is worth a bit of extra expense! I certainly have no plans to move, but then again, I don't plan to start living like an expat, either!
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Country
women, you would think, are more likely to be housewives, to stay home and
look after the kids. City women, especially in the capital,
are more likely to be career women, making the most of the few rights the law
allows. Think again! It should come as no surprise to learn that in Japan,
things are different. According to a recent government report, women here in
Tokyo are much more likely to stay
home and take care of their children than women in other regions. This is
related to the fact that in greater Tokyo, fewer mature women are employed or
want to work than the national average. Trust Japan to be different, right! To
be precise, the Tokyo figure is
66.3% of women in the 45-49 age group, compared with the national average of
70.3%. However, this isn't too surprising when you remember how big 'greater
Tokyo' is, and how far most commuters have to travel each day. Getting home in
time for school finishing would require many women to leave the office in
mid-afternoon, which isn't likely to suit their boss. As a result, 39.4% of
Tokyo area housewives aged 24-44
said they had to give up their jobs to have and care for children. So much for
sex equality! What's more, the provision of child care facilities in urban
Tokyo is woefully inadequate, and what little there is costs quite a bit. A
friend of mine who had a baby not long ago now pays around ¥55,000 (close to
US$500) a month to have the kid cared for between 9.30 & 19.30 5 days a
week. The local government-run facilities are much cheaper but there's a
waiting list as long as a fisherman's tale to get in! So yes, city women are
probably more interested in maintaining their career after giving birth, but
they are also less likely to get the chance to do so!
'Japan has vending
machines for everything, from porno magazines to formal ties, but especially
ice cream and drinks. What's more, with the hot weather now upon us, you might
feel tempted to get a drink from one of these omnipresent machines. However,
be careful. The prices on drinks vending
machine are often raised without publicity so check before you insert your
coins.'
(For more like this, please visit the 'Gaijin's
Guide to Living in Japan')
'If the misnamed 'Rainy Season' remains as warm and sunny as it is at time of writing, you might want to stay outside. If zoos are your thing, why not visit the Ueno Zoo, famous for its pair of Pandas, etc. Set inside one of Tokyo's most popular parks, it's open 9.30-4.30pm Tue-Sun. Nearest station/subway is Ueno. For more information, call 3828-5171.Check it out before the schools begin their summer break!'
(For more suggestions, check out the 'Gaijin's Guide to Enjoying Tokyo')
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2002 |
2003 |
2004 |
Well what do you know -- there goes another issue! A lot of my friends, gaijin and Nihongin, are talking about their summer holiday plans, which mystifies me. Yeah, it is true that there are more comfortable places than Tokyo in the summer, with humidity in the upper 90s and the temperature often reaching the upper 30s (that's 95-100f for my American readers), but what do you most associate with Tokyo? Crowds, right? And what is the most noticeable thing about central Tokyo in August? No crowds! I have even been known to get a seat on the subway -- I kid you not! However, in my case, this positive outlook is partly a case of making a virtue of a necessity, as I doubt if I shall be escaping this city until at least the autumn. "If you have perspiration, prepare to sweat it now,' as the Bard never said! However, if your summer travels take you anywhere near a computer around this time next month, take a cooling break at this URL, why don't you? You know you'll be most welcome. That said, I shall now love you and leave you. Take care, and may the wind be always at your back.
The Gaijin
Don't forget: If you want to know when the next 'Empty Seat' is online, or just want to contact the ol' Gaijin, you can use the Guestbook link below. I'll read every entry, honest, and then . . . Well, we'll see!
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Sign my guestbook!
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| * | Regular travellers
on Japan's buses and 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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in 2004!
