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ISSUE: July/August 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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OK, I admit it -- I know I'm a bit late putting this page online, for which I duly apologise. However, a combination of computer problems (remember when they were called 'labour saving devices'?) and a truly stinking summer Cold made punctuality impossible. A Cold, did I say? Does that mean the 'Rainy Season' finally arrived? Well, not really. Yes, we did have a bit of thunder and rain on Sunday but for less than an hour. So how did I catch a Cold when every day is sunny and over 30c? It wasn't easy! Blame it on a combination of hot, humid streets and air-conditioned buildings and trains. I suppose the contrast just got to me. Anyway, better late than never and so here comes the latest look at what's been in the news over here in sunny Japan.
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Well the main story here in Japan was the dismal performance of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party in the recent upper house elections here. The last general election proved that Japanese politics had finally evolved into a genuine two-horse race, and this latest poll has emphasised this, with Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's party winning fewer seats than the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan. With the economy recovering and unemployment down, he must have felt reasonably secure going in, but his allegedly autocratic way of doing things really upset many voters, and they showed him how they felt. According to Kyodo News, the LDP won 49 seats, one fewer than its 50 up for re-election, while its coalition ally, the New Komeito party (see story), gained one more seat at 11. In contrast, the DPJ enjoyed a surge from 38 to 50. This is only the 2nd time in Japan's history that the LDP (which has governed Japan almost continually since it was formed in 1955) has been outnumbered by an opposition party in an upper house election, following its terrible record of 36 seats in 1989. However, the numbers may be bad but the result is no change -- the LDP is still the largest party in the upper chamber, thanks to the seats it won 3 years ago when Koizumi's popularity was still riding high. What's more, the ruling coalition retain a comfortable majority, with 139 of the 242 seats in the upper house. What's more, despite this humiliating performance, Mr Koizumi has vowed to stay in position until his term as LDP president expires in the autumn of 2006. So why did his adoring public turn against him? The answer can be gleaned from the opposition's response to this result, when it announced that it plans to reinforce its calls for the government to withdraw Japanese troops from Iraq and abandon the highly unpopular pension legislation the LDP pushed through in June. However, the LDP wasn't the only party to be humiliated in the election. Japan's stubbornly unreformed Communist Party took 4 proportional representation seats but failed to win any in direct voting for the first time since 1959. Maybe now they might just get the message that calling yourself communist is no longer cool. However, it might take more than a name change to restore the LDP's fortunes!
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Japan's male population may include more than a few racists but one place where they don't exhibit their bigotry is in the thousands of 'hostess bars' scattered throughout every city and town in Japan. You see, a majority of the 'hostesses' who work in these places are non-Japanese, especially from the poorer Asian nations. So how do these ladies end up in such places? A clue to this came in a report by the US State Department, which severely criticised Japan's record on preventing sexual slavery. The report placed Japan on a "watch list" of countries with poor human rights records, lumping the world's #2 economy with such nations as Laos, India, Russia, Turkey, and Zimbabwe. The only ones lower on the list are places like Burma, Cuba, North Korea, and Sudan. The usual procedure is that nations on this watch list that fail to clean up their act can get relegated to the lower level. However, the international pressure group Human Rights Watch criticised the report as too soft, saying that as Japan has not come up with any concrete legal proposals to outlaw trafficking, it should be relegated to the bottom tier now. Something to be proud of, ah? As the report pointed out, thousands of women and even children arrive here each year from across Asia and eastern Europe, destined to be sold into prostitution by the yakuza criminal gangs the police used to deny existed. In response, a Japanese government spokesman said stopping the trade is "an urgent duty." Stable door time? However, any move would be an improvement, for believe it or not, Japan has no real law against human trafficking. This may or may not be connected with the professions of the men who frequent these hostess bars, and who might prefer to keep them 'well stocked'. However, as a firm believer in prodding Japan into action with public criticism (the basis of this whole page), let's hope the embarrassment of this report (which received scant coverage locally) makes the government wake up and do something. Nonetheless, don't hold your breath!
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A few days before this page went online, Japan had an election for the upper house of parliament. Amongst the many parties competing is one called New Komeito, a group I don't normally like due to their intimate link with the shadowy Buddhist group Soka Gakkai. This bunch was founded in 1930 as a lay organization of the Nichiren Shoshu sect of Buddhism. By the late 1980s, Soka Gakkai's numbers were estimated at more than 35 million, giving this party (whose name is usually euphemistically translated as the Clean Government Party) a potentially huge reservoir of support and finance. The party claimed to officially break away from Soka Gakkai in 1970, but this fiction was exposed when a Komeito Diet member was forced to resign in 1989 following criticism of the sect's leader Ikeda Daisaku. However, this bunch of closet Soka Gakkai puppets seem to be seeking a new area of support, as they seem to be trying to give foreigners with permanent residence visa status the right to vote in gubernatorial, mayoral and local assembly elections. A radical idea, you might think (how many other nations give non-citizens the vote?), but you need to remember that most of those affected by this plan are Japanese-born Koreans, descendants of slave labourers. Not surprisingly, the distinctly non-liberal ruling 'Liberal Democratic Party' is opposing the move. I can think of quite a few local LDP lawmakers who would lose their job very quickly if this became law! So, despite being part of the governing coalition with the LDP, the Secretary General of New Komeito has openly criticised the LDP, saying that "The LDP gave a written promise to cooperate in establishing the legislation when the New Komeito joined forces with the LDP in forming the coalition government." He then rather naively added that "Any political party should faithfully keep its promise to another party." As opposed to its promises to the voters, I suppose. Now I do have permanent residence visa status and so this bill might really have an impact on my life here. However, apart from helping Tokyo's Governor into overdue retirement (as most of Tokyo's Koreans would also do), I don't think this 'right' would really bother me much. Looking at the posters for recent local elections, I felt no overwhelming urge to support any of them! However, if they do give us such a privilege, I would most certainly use it, as I for one shall never forget the immortal words of my fellow countryman Edmund Burke, who so rightly claimed that "All that is required for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing." So maybe the ruling cliques are right to hesitate before letting me vote!
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That Japan has troops in Iraq should be well known, at least to every regular reader of this page. However, Japan's plan to include Japanese troops in the proposed multinational force may come as a surprise, especially as this would be the first such international military venture for this country. What is even more surprising is that the Government managed to get the necessary legislation through the Diet with virtually no real opposition, despite the fact that even the government admits that it hasn't fully dispelled public concern about Japan's expanding military roles overseas. However, one member of the government explained this by pointing out that it was almost a 'fait accompli', in that Japanese troops were already in Iraq. However, the role of Japan's contingent would still be limited to humanitarian and reconstruction aid, although the multinational force is primarily for security. To make Japan's role more acceptable to the voters, the government has already received the consent of both the United States and Britain that Tokyo will keep control of the SDF. However, I can't help thinking that Japan's Defense Agency is being more than a little naive when he defends the mission by saying that "Past multinational forces were formed to resolve conflicts, but the conflict in Iraq is over after all". If what Iraq now has is peace, it sure as hell looks pretty warlike! Anyway, a lot could change if any bodybags end up coming back to Japan, and the government knows it. However, they do spend a lot of money on the 'Self Defense Force' and are now apparently seeking to get something in return. But what do the public think of the SDF's new role? Well, when a recent poll asked Japanese folk what they think the SDF's most suitable role should be, only 1% supported participation in a multinational force, while 42% called for ensuring Japan's safety, 29% suggested a role in disaster relief, and 14% said it should be used to maintain public order. It won't take much to make such people truly turn against the government's pro-American Iraq policy!
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Who says things change slowly over here? Soon, Japan's media will be filled with self-pitying articles commemorating the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Just in time for this yearly feast of "what did we do to deserve this" comes the news that amongst that Hiroshima's National Peace Memorial Hall for Atomic Bomb Victims has just added the names of 2 US soldiers as A-bomb victims. The two, Norman Brissette, a 19-year-old from Massachusetts and Julius Molnar, 20, from Michigan, were unlucky enough to be in Hiroshima because they were prisoners of war, many of whom were used as virtual slave labour in Japan's industrial cities. Although some might wonder why it took close to 60 years to get round to doing this, these unfortunates are the fourth and fifth US soldiers to be thus registered. Strangely, the films and photos that will be shown to remember the first A-bomb attack will somehow fail to show any of the non-Japanese who died, somehow overlooking the fact that around 10% of the dead were Korean! However, most of the non-Japanese casualties had one major thing in common -- they didn't choose to be there! Either they were slave labourers, like the Koreans, or they were misused PoWs, like the aforementioned Americans. However, it's hard to try and get the world to feel sorry for you if you mention slave labour and things like that, and as anyone who's read a Japanese history textbook knows, the Japanese are very good at omitting facts that don't suit them!
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When
that gas attack happened on the Tokyo subway a few years
ago, I suddenly felt a lot more nervous about using public transport here. Now,
just when I was beginning to think it was safe again, comes the news that a
subway station employee was shot in the abdomen and seriously wounded by a man
at Tokyo's Shibuya Station during the morning rush hour. Luckily, the victim,
32-year-old Shigeo Nishioka, did not
sustain life-threatening injuries. According to the police, the victim was on
his way to the station office after completing his overnight shift, with a paper
bag containing his personal toiletry items when a man tried to snatch it, saying
"Give me your bag!" He then shot him from behind before fleeing with
his gun and the paper bag he snatched. Two
of his colleagues rushed to the scene after hearing the gunshot and gave him
first aid. The attacker, whom you
will be amazed to learn escaped,
is said to be in his 50s and about 160cm tall. Although, thankfully, this wasn't
a murder, it has obviously affected public attitudes about safety here. As one
62-year-old worker who uses the station regularly said, ""I will be on
my guard when using this station from now on." However, the comment which
really summed up things for me came from a 78-year-old resident of Tokyo's
Setagaya Ward, who said, "Even Tokyo has become a scary place." Sadly,
he is absolutely right!
Footnote: Despite
the above description, the man later arrested for this incident was 64. He told
police he had tried to steal money
and threw away the paper bag he snatched from the subway worker he shot on
discovering it was worthless. Oh, and you'll never guess how he managed to
escape. Seems he got away from the site by jumping on a train. Fiendishly
cunning, ah? However, police haven't yet closed the case due to the
discrepancies between the man's appearance and the description of the assailant
provided by witnesses.
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Let's start this usual solemn section with a quite amusing tale of some naughty boys were ill prepared! I refer to four Colombians who were picked up by Tokyo's Metropolitan Police over a break-in and attempted robbery. The three men and one woman were all carrying Mexican passports but the police seemed to suspect something wasn't right. So what did they do? They when they were unable to sing the Mexican national anthem in front of investigators. They asked them to sing the Mexican national anthem, and they couldn't! The four claimed they had tried to pose as Mexican nationals because the Japanese immigration background check on Colombians was stricter than that for Mexicans. Police say that the four are believed to have broken into and attempted to rob a house in Kanagawa Prefecture. They found a stolen brand-label bag and parts of a digital camera packed in their luggage just before they were about to leave Japan. Altogether, the four fakes are believed to have been involved in about 150 thefts in Kanagawa, Yamanashi and Saitama prefectures, stealing cash and merchandise worth about ¥50 million.
I know they say "It takes a thief to catch a thief" but sometimes, the line between good guys and bad guys really does get hard to spot. Take the case of Hiroyuki Tomita, a 25-year-old former Fukuoka prefectural policeman. He has been charged with forcing 3 girls, aged 7 to 9, into his car on separate occasions with intent to molest them. He drove around for about an hour each time with the girls, the indictment said. As if that wasn't bad enough. he told the court that he had been involved in 3 other abductions, which have not been pursued as criminal cases. You might be pleased to know that he was dismissed from the Fukuoka prefectural police force in June, but as these offences occurred between last October and February, that doesn't make me feel any better about the boys in blue!
A crime that is worrying in a different way revealed that robberies are getting almost as violent as in the West. What happened was this. At around 12:10pm, a group of knife-wielding thieves stole a wallet containing about ¥50,000 from an 80-year-old woman at Denen-Chofu Station in Tokyo's Ota Ward. In a brave display of public spirit, a 32-year-old male railway passenger and a 32-year-old station worker joined in by chasing the thieves, where the attackers turned on them , cutting the passenger with a knife and spraying the railway worker with pepper spray. However, police later shot one of the suspects in a nearby residential area when he resisted arrest with a knife and pepper spray. Gangs of Korean thieves are not a new thing here, with Police reporting there were 1,500 such theft cases last year in Tokyo, with454 cases so far this year.
Losing your job can be a bitter blow, and although Japan doesn't have the likes of the US postal workers who bring a gun back to the post office, it came close recently when a man armed with a knife slashed a company owner who had fired him 10 days before. The attacker was arrested for attempted murder after holing up in the company's dormitory for almost 10 hours. 49 year old Tsukasa Saijo had been allowed to continue using the dormitory owned by transport company Sato Kogyo in Tokyo's Itabashi Ward until he found a place to stay. Nice reward for such generosity!
When I first came here, the official line was still that Japan didn't have a drugs problem. Well, admitted or not, they sure seem to have one now. Take the case of the 4 bar employees in the sleazy Roppongi district who were arrested, together with a customer of the bar, in connection with incidents in which several foreign nationals died or were hospitalized earlier this year after taking drugs. The arrests followed testimony from a 32-year-old Australian man who fell unconscious after allegedly taking drugs. What made this story all the more newsworthy, in local eyes, was the fact that those arrested include a 28-year-old Brazilian-Japanese, an Iranian, a French national and an Australian customer. The four were found in possession of cocaine and marijuana inside the bar when officers raided it Saturday, the police said. After all, true Japanese would never sell drugs, would they?
Heard of the fireman who lit some fires to get busy? Well how about the policemen who filed bogus crime reports so that they could make their performance look better. I'm not kidding. More than 60 Hyogo Prefectural Police officers are being investigated for falsifying some 200 investigation documents over the past two years, even inventing fictional incidents. It all began with an incomplete document on a bicycle theft incident that was found late last year, and now around 70 officers have scrutinized about 7,000 existing documents and are looking into some 300 others. It seems that officers sometimes identified thieves and having failed to specify theft victims, they pretended to be the victims themselves or used the names of homeless people. More than 50 officers took advantage of copies of forged documents to exaggerate their achievements, an officials said.
Now we all know that new-born kids can be a real pain in the lower regions, what with crying and demanding to be fed at all hours. However, that doesn't mean parents should get violent. sadly, some do. Up in the northern prefecture of Iwate, a 23-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly beating his 25-day-old daughter to death last year, after police reopened the investigation. The police claim that last June, Misato Okada hit his baby girl several times on the head because he was angry that she would not stop crying. Originally, he had told police that he had dropped her while trying to give her milk.
Reading the 'Empty Seat' might make one think that Japan's criminals are predominantly youthful, but the older generation have a part as well. Take, for example, the case of the 73-year-old woman who was arrested in Ibaraki Prefecture for the attempted murder of her two grandsons. No joke! Chiyo Kikuchi, the grandmother of brothers Reito (aged 7) and Etsufumi (aged 4) assaulted the 2 boys with a knife and then told them to say that a man had attacked them. Her motive for the attack was, according to police, that she had wanted to cause trouble for her daughter-in-law. Maybe the days of using one's parents as babysitters are coming to an end!
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The following story was sent to me by a pal, who added the justifiable comment that can you imagine anywhere else in the world where a city would experience 100 extremely sadistic rapes in 3 years, all with the same MO, without any public outrage? Well, welcome to Osaka! Parts of this city experienced a brutal serial rapist whose exploits only ended when his "penchant for perversion" led to his arrest, according to the Shukan Shincho. However, don't go thinking this pervert was a dirty raincoat type. Oh no, he was an executive viewed as one of the brightest upper echelon prospects at Kashima Corp., a general contractor best known for its huge building projects. At the tender age of 36, he had already entered the company's middle-management ranks and the married father was said to be on his way to the top. However, when his time at the office was over, he started to play. Beginning in May 3 years ago, police in northern Osaka started to receive an inordinately large number of reports of rapes, over 70 women from their teens to 30s, living alone in one-room apartments in condominiums with security locks at the main entrance. The attacker would break in while wearing pantyhose over his head, but would gradually remove his clothes and was usually naked by the time he had finished, which usually meant after he had subjected his victims to ordeals lasting around 4 hours. However, police did find his fingerprints all over the place and he was even captured on a security camera. So why wasn't he arrested before? Good question, and one that is unlikely to be answered! The police, of course, are all basking in the glory of having arrested him at all, never mind how late. His capture resulted from some cops showing his photo around Juso, a red-light district known for its many establishments catering to all manner of sexual tastes. Knowing that this rapist was more than a little sadistic, the cops concentrated on the S&M clubs. Then, one night in June, he showed up at just such a joint, paying for 50 minutes of bondage and domination. However, even S&M joints have standards and so employees contacted the police to alert them of his presence. It was while he was 'having fun' that officers stormed in and arrested him. Although the scumbag initially denied the allegations, a raid on his home turned up a 'Rape Record,' in which he had detailed sex attacks on over 100 women. He then admitted it, saying that he was forced into rape because his wife had refused to have sex with him. Apart from coming up with such a truly lame excuse (which could probably be used by around 90% of married men), this guy has also proved that no-one need panic here. Even if they have your fingerprints and your picture, you still have a bloody good chance of getting away with it! Mind you, if he'd been a foreigner, you can bet he'd have been caught sooner -- and there would have been a hell of a lot more press coverage, too!
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I have often had reason to doubt the suitability of some Japanese teachers for their profession and sadly, I recently read about yet another example. It seems that over in Aichi, a high school teacher gave his pupils a quiz on history, including a question on the Iraq war. Those students who acted in good faith and showed support for the deployment of Japanese troops in Iraq were immediately given zero marks. Those who answered that they opposed the dispatch were given the maximum five points. Nice, huh? I wonder what they would have been given if they'd said the Nanking Massacre was a fact? Anyway, following some bad publicity, the local education board has instructed the school to invalidate the marks. However, I have yet to read about any proposed punishment for the teacher concerned, meaning that this could very easily happen again! Now it is true that a vast majority of Japanese opposed the use of the SDF in Iraq, as they showed in the recent upper house elections. However, in a country where schools do precious little to encourage pupils to think for themselves, this sort of behaviour could set things back a long way. It could also encourage those who think only the central government is 'wise' enough to set such quizzes, and so if he isn't now one of the jobless, he damn well should be!
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Many male visitors often try to find some way of meeting local ladies, who are remarkably often a delight for the eye. One way of doing so is to attend a 'gokon', a matchmaking party, organised by some group and basically a bunch of ladies and men brought together with some booze and snacks. Having been extremely popular during the 'bubble', they are now making a comeback. However, don't think that all you have to do is turn up. Japanese women are a lot more picky these days, and they won't be content with just anyone. Forget your muscles, it's who you work for that counts! I kid you not. In case you're interested, a new book ('OL Gokon Shikiho,' Tokuma Shoten) ranks the most popular companies for prospective matchmaking party attendees, based on the preferences of 4,434 women who work in offices at Tokyo. Top of the list is the advertising giant Dentsu, whose male employees are thought to have status, wealth and the right personality. As Dentsu men in their 30s are said to earn up to ¥10 million (around US$92,000) a year, this is hardly surprising. However, if advertising isn't your thing, try second place Sony, whose employees earn more than their counterparts at similar companies, and can also take long paid holidays. According to the somewhat mercenary ladies polled, this makes them more stable and ideal as a marriage partner. Other companies whose males are on the want list are Toyota, Japan Travel Bureau (JTB), advertising agency Hakuhodo, and Mitsubishi Corp. Having established that money is a turn on, what, you might ask, is a turn off? Well, the ladies listed things like " making arrangements with other women," "Being only interested in attractive women," "tight with their money and wanting to go Dutch," or "boasting how they got things at a cheap price." So now you know! However, the important thing to remember is, as caricaturist Mayumi Kurata said: "Women are more serious about matchmaking parties than men are. Men should realize these parties are more than a game for women." You have been warned.
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It isn't that long ago since the time when the idea of Japanese kids being in danger on their way to and from school would have been completely laughable. Sadly, that time is over. Proof of this came in a recent story reporting that a primary school in Wakayama Prefecture (near Osaka) is planning to provide electronic tags to be placed on pupils' effects that will allow parents and teachers to monitor their safety on their journey to and from school. The tags -- like the ones placed on merchandise at retailers for inventory control -- will be attached to pupils' school bags or nameplates, with tag readers installed at the school gate and locations the parents and teachers think might be dangerous. These readers will log the times pupils pass and alert the school when they approach designated 'dangerous' areas, according to the local Bureau of Telecommunications. Interested parents will be able to receive this information via email sent to their mobile phones, giving those pesky devices a long overdue genuinely useful function! This hi-tech idea will be tried out in October or November, with a spokesman for the Bureau saying that, "We hope to build a system that helps enhance safety for pupils, when interest in such an issue is growing." I don't know if schools in the west have such a system, although many certainly should. However, in some cities, maybe there are too many 'dangerous areas' to be covered! However, although it is reassuring that Japan's reputation for technology is being used to safeguard young life, the fact that such a scheme should be considered necessary is very worrying. It is true that one can regularly see very young schoolchildren travelling long distances on their own, using the trains and subways in rush hour crowds with seemingly little concern. I for one hope that they can long continue to do so, but with the way Japan is going, it seems sadly doubtful.
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We recently had two announcements that seem to truly prove that Japan's economy is out of intensive care. First came the report by the British financial magazine 'Banker' that the Mizuho Financial Group has regained its status as the world's biggest bank, in terms of assets in 2003, knocking Citigroup of the United States into 2nd place. It seems that Mizuho's total assets reached $1,285.4 billon, while Citigroup's were $1,264 billion. However, they may not hold that position for long, for we now hear that two different Japanese banks, UFJ and Mitsubishi Tokyo, are seriously negotiating a merger that would lead to the creation of the world's biggest bank. If the plan is realised, Mitsubishi Tokyo would take over its struggling rival to create a new group with assets of ¥188 trillion. Many financial experts have welcomed the merger proposal as proof that Japan's top banks are determined to ease their chronic bad loan problems, claiming that it virtually rules out the possibility of a major bank failure in the near future. Osaka-based UFJ is currently Japan's 4th-biggest bank but has had serious problems dealing with its ¥3.95 trillion in bad loans. While the top 3 Japanese banks recorded their first profits for 3 years at the end of March, UFJ reported losses for the 3rd straight year, forcing the resignation of its top executives. What's more, the local financial watchdog reprimanded UFJ for trying to frustrate inspections into its performance. Sounds like a buyout might be just what the doctor ordered, and anything that is good for the Japanese economy must be good news for we poor dopes living here!
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Say That Again . . .
Sadly, this page has often
reported how fanatical and sick some Japanese teachers can be. Well, this one
seems in line to take the biscuit! This so-called teacher, who works in the
Kyushu city of Fukuoka, caught a pupil repeatedly sleeping in his class. So what
did he do? He handed the boy a paper cutter and ordered him to write an apology
with his own blood. I kid you not. His excuse for this evil behaviour?
"I
wanted him to realize the importance of things, but I didn't think he really
would write in blood."
Would you trust your kids to this kind of freak?
&
Japan's Mafia, the Yakuza,
likes to hide its criminality behind a whole bunch of traditions and talk of
honour -- just like its Italian/American counterpart. One such 'tradition' is
the atonement for a misdeed by cutting off one's little finger. However, with
the police here (at long last) starting to treat the Yakuza as criminals, this
has led to some embarrassment for ex-Yakuza, which has created a whole new
market niche for Japanese ingenuity! As Yukako Fukushima, a man who has made
prosthetic 'pinkies' for more than 100-ex hoodlums, explained:
"Without a pinkie, it's hard for
gangsters to leave the yakuza world and get a job."
After more than a dozen years in
Japan, I keep thinking I'm beyond surprise -- but I'm not!
&
Different people have
different reason for coming to Japan, and that includes celebrities. One of the
latest such VIPs to visit Tokyo was Cameron Diaz, who came here to promote 'Shrek
2.' She said:
"I always think of Japan as poetic chaos.
I'd love to come back, not to promote movies, but to try the baths."
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I'm sure that whenever beer was first sold in cans, many folk objected and claimed the idea would never catch on. Well, evolution being what it is, beer is about to take the next step. Japan's number 1 brewer, Asahi Breweries Ltd, has announced that it will sell beer in newly developed plastic bottles later this year. Just wait for the cries and moans to quieten down! Asahi claims that plastic bottles had previously been considered unsuitable as they allow enough permeation of air and light to weaken the beer's quality. However, with good old fashioned Japanese ingenuity, they have overcome the problem, developing a PET bottle whose inner surface is covered with a silicon oxide. What's more, the bottle's outside surface will also be protected by a light-shielding label, plus and there will be a lightproof pad in the bottom. All clever stuff, sure enough. It really is a sobering thought that so much technology has been especially developed just to make it possible for me to get my beer in a PET bottle. Indeed, sobering thoughts like that might easily drive a man to drink!
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Back at the beginning of this page, I mentioned Japan's lack of racism when it comes to hostess bars. Well, the nations represented within that 'industry' might increase if a recent trend continues. You see, a large percentage of the beautiful young ladies working here as hostesses and hookers are here on 'entertainer visas'. Now many might argue that what they do is indeed a form of entertainment, and the authorities have tacitly agreed thus far. However, not any more, it seems! Starting last April, Japan's immigration authorities began a rigorous crackdown on foreigners, resulting in 1,699 being charged with visa violations. of these, around half were either hostesses or sex industry workers. As one official pointed out, "It's a violation of the terms of their visa to sit and chat with customers," and so not only is this ongoing crackdown the largest of its kind to date, it also seems to be the beginning of a drawn-out campaign to expel illegals. The authorities plan to cut the roughly 250,000 illegal workers by half over the next 5 years, but as it is estimated that 130,000 foreigners enter Japan on entertainer visas each year, that seems rather ambitious. However, with demand unlikely to diminish, supply will find a way to get round the crackdown on entertainer visas. The obvious solution seems to be hiring women staying here on tourist visas, like many other black-market industries, This could lead to a big change in the hostess business. Currently dominated by ladies from the Philippines and China, this change in tactic could lead to more from places like Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary and the Baltic countries, nations with which Japan waives short-term visa requirements. A bit of variety might be OK, actually, and I'm sure quite a few salaryman will get an extra kick from being with a Caucasian rather than the usual former Japanese Empire type they're used to!
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This page has often carried reports of teachers acting in a disgusting way towards their students, and the size of this problem has led to a nationwide campaign against sexual harassment in schools. Long overdue, sadly. The Osaka-based National Network for School Sexual Harassment Prevention began by issuing booklets publicising school harassment, including stories by victims' mothers and surveys on sexual harassment in schools. This revealed that in the 2002 academic year, a record 175 elementary, junior high and high school teachers were subject to disciplinary action for indecent behaviour. Well, in a renewed effort to reach out to the victims of these acts, the campaign recently organised 2 days of free telephone counselling for children who have been thus victimised by teachers and school officials. The Network arranged for female clinical psychologists and other specialists to man the phones one weekend in early July. It is hoped that this opportunity to speak about their suffering will help the victims, who often have trouble being believed. Akiko Kamei, representing the network, said that many people often believe that teachers never sexually harass their students, and often sympathize with the perpetrators. Of course we would all like to trust our teachers implicitly, to believe they are noble people in a noble profession, but the evidence suggests that this is certainly not how it is in reality. Sexually mistreating children is never forgivable, but when its a teacher, it is a thousand times worse. I am sure most Japanese teachers do a great job, within the confines of their Victorian curriculum and whitewashed textbooks. If this move is a step on the road that leads to the sick perverts within the teaching profession being weeded out, then it just has to be good.
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If you are a smoker, then Japan can sometimes seem like the promised land. Not only are cigarettes ridiculously cheap but no-smoking zones are rare and complaints from non-smokers equally uncommon. However, despite a smoker friendly government (influenced possibly by its large share in the recently privatised 'Japan Tobacco' corporation), things might be changing. What makes this seem possible is a recent precedent-making decision made by the Tokyo District Court, which awarded damages of ¥50,000 (US$458) to a municipal employee over passive smoking he suffered at his workplace. Now that amount may seem almost ludicrous but the decision itself is the main thing. This is the first ever such ruling in Japan. The case began when the man, who works for Edogawa Ward in eastern Tokyo, told his employers that he had been medically warned that his health would deteriorate if he remained in the same work environment. Give them credit, the ward did transfer him to another office with a designated smoking area 3 months later. However, the court decided that "Leaving him unattended for three months is a violation of the municipal government's obligation to take safety precautions," the judge said. The man had complained of respiratory problems and pains in the neck and shoulders, which he claimed were due to passive smoking. He duly requested that the office come up with designated smoking areas. However, the ward responded by installing ventilators, but did nothing like creating a smoking area or relocating his desk, and so he did something very unJapanese -- he took them to court. So although the amount might seem a joke, this might well be the first of many nails in the coffin of Japan's complacency towards smoking. Now don't get me wrong -- I smoke. But I also respect the right of those who object to my smoke, and creating no smoking areas seems fair enough. A few more cases like this and many others might think the same!
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Many readers might think that I sometimes mock Japan's often less than impressive police. However, it seems that I am not the only gaijin to do so. In line with the often seemingly racist views of the local gendarmes, the number of crimes by foreigners in Japan reached a record 40,615 in 2003. As this number increases, police claim that foreign criminals are becoming more daring and violent -- are taking the piss, to use the vernacular! It seems that when asked why they choose to 'work' in Japan, many of the foreigners arrested here said that one of the reasons is that Japanese police are too lenient toward foreign criminals. As one Chinese offender said, "Japan rarely jails a foreigner for a first offence, preferring to deport him. That's why we decided to come to Japan. If I had been jailed in Japan, I could have watched TV in a clean cell. That never happens in Chinese jails." Sure enough, he was duly deported without serving any jail time. However, it isn't just the local cops leniency that attracts foreign crooks. It is also -- dare I say it -- their lack of 'little grey cells'! A Japanese ex-con recently released from a Tokyo prison said that he was told by a Chinese inmate that Japanese police are perceived as being stupid. "The Chinese insisted that he could not speak Japanese when he was first picked up by the cops and throughout the investigation. And they bought it. But the guy speaks Japanese fluently." Sound familiar? I know that when asking for directions or what have you, police are usually less than helpful, being almost completely monolingual, and it seems the crooks agree with me. A writer on this subject recently argued that "For most Japanese police, it is a hassle dealing with foreign suspects. For one thing, the language barrier hampers their investigation. That is why they have a tendency to repatriate foreigners without any real punishment." Now it may be true that for most Westerners, a period as a guest of the Japanese police might be an experience that feeds nightmares for years to come, but it seems that for other Asian races, such a stay is nothing to worry about. Now what does that what tell you about police methods elsewhere, ah?
'Now that summer seems
to be well and truly upon us, newcomers might be worried by the mosquitoes
that makes some evening walks unpleasant. Now while it is true that Japan's
mosquitoes are a damn'd nuisance, and their bites itch like blazes, please
remember that Japanese mosquitoes do NOT carry malaria. They irritate, but
that's all!'
(For more like this, please visit the 'Gaijin's
Guide to Living in Japan')
'With the Upper House elections recently in the news, you might be interested in seeing where those elected end up working. Well, Japan's parliament, known as the Diet, was built between 1920 and 1936, and interested folks can take a tour. For more information, call 3581-3111. Nagatacho is the nearest subway. You can also check out the Diet homepage at http://www.sangiin.go.jp/eng/guide/f_c_7.htm, or take the Diet quiz at http://www.sangiin.go.jp/eng/know/index.htm.'
(For more suggestions, check out the 'Gaijin's Guide to Enjoying Tokyo')
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2002 |
2003 |
2004 |
And so we say farewell to another issue of the 'Empty Seat'. For those of you who having been waiting eagerly for this update (and there may be some poor souls who do so), I sincerely apologise for the delay. However, the good news is that I won't be taking a summer vacation this August, meaning that the 'Empty Seat' will be renewed next month as usual. This isn't good news for me, of course -- August in Tokyo might be a little less crowded than usual but it is still unpleasantly hot and humid. However, I gladly sacrifice my comfort for the good readers of this renowned page -- always supposing someone out there reads it! Anyway, time to leave you to it, so take care, make the most of what nature gave you, and catch you around the same URL, same time next month.
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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| * | 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!
