---

Sadly, the news here has been filled, as has the news in most places, with the horrors of the South Asian Tsunami. In early January, a 46-year-old Japanese woman was identified in the southern Thai city of Khao Lak by her family members and forensic tests using her dental records, thereby becoming the 24th Japanese fatality in this disaster. I cannot and will not treat this subject flippantly, as it was a little too close to home. A few years ago, I holidayed in Khao Lak, staying at a hotel that is now erased from the map. It was such a lovely area that I actively considered retiring there, a plan that I later revised -- thankfully! OK, I'm sure that property prices there, in Thailand's worst hit province, have plummeted, but the bad side of living on Thailand's west coast are now clear, and sadly for the people of that region, a lot of foreigners will no doubt now consider avoiding western Thailand permanently. Although I changed my retirement plans before the tsunami, and even though I prefer that lovely country's east coast, I for one would not say no to a trip to Phuket or thereabouts because of the wave. After all, if I can live in the world's earthquake capital for this many years, it's going to take a lot to put me off a place! Nonetheless, I realise that maybe some of my readers may have lost someone dear in that tragedy, and so please accept my condolences. As Japan prepares to send several hundred troops to the stricken region to help with disaster relief, let's take a look at what's been in the news hereabouts apart from the Tsunami.

Return to top

???????????????????????  

To any student of 20th century history, this news might sound distinctly familiar. Remember when Churchill tried to warn the world of how dangerous Hitler was, and many tried to shut him up? Well, something similar is going on here. You see, the Defense Agency has proposed listing China and North Korea as security concerns for Japan, citing such incidents as the recent intrusion of a Chinese submarine into Japanese waters. However, despite the Prime Minister total disregard for Chinese feelings (as shown by his visits to the war criminals' shrine at Yasukuni), his office objected to this action, citing 'diplomatic considerations'. However, after some talks, it has decided to allow China to be specified. I can see why they objected. After all, why do we need to worry about a neighbour with over a billion people, one of the world's largest military setups, and which has a record of killing its own people with few if any qualms? What's a little bit of realism compared with some short-term profits for the ruling party's backers? The way things are going, if ever China attacks Japan, some of its weaponry might well be Japanese made!
Footnote: Having been brave enough to grant a visa to former Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui, the first Taiwan-born (Japanese educated) leader of that island,  for a private trip to Japan, the government resumed its China appeasement policy by urging the media not to cover his trip, following strong protests from China over the visa. At least some newspapers ignored this 'advice', I am pleased to report, and it is to be hoped that the media disregard such interference with press freedom and gave all such visits the coverage they deserve -- no more, no less! However, we can expect a lot more protests from China and its apologists, for it was recently announced that the Dalai Lama, Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, is planning to visit Japan in April and the Japanese government is expected to allow his stay. I'll bet the protests are already being posted!

Return to top

???????????????????????  

There was more than a little complaining here when German police stopped a tourist bus with Japanese passengers to check for Avian Flu, but maybe the Germans were at least partly justified. You see, it was recently reported that a former chicken farm employee has been found infected with the bird flu virus after an outbreak of flu among poultry in February in Kyoto Prefecture, in the first case of human infection from avian influenza in Japan. In all, 5 people (4 employees at a poultry farm near Kyoto and a city official who helped disinfect the farm) tested positive for avian influenza through blood tests, with one of them showing an increase in antibodies confirming an infection. None of the five have developed symptoms peculiar to influenza and health authorities state that they "are not expected to pose public health problems as there is no possibility that they will develop such symptoms or infect other people,". This isn't the first time this outbreak has made the headlines. In August, the president of the farm-owning company was given a 1-year jail term, suspended for 3 years, for failing to report the outbreak, which was only uncovered after suspicious neighbours informed authorities. This followed the report that his father and mother were found hanging in an apparent double suicide in early March after coming under intense media scrutiny for continuing to ship produce. It now seems that their attempt to cover up the outbreak led the farm employees to work without wearing sufficient protective clothing or gear. A caring employer, right? The government claims that the disease reached Japan via wild migratory birds from the Korean peninsula -- blaming foreigners yet again! As a result, the agriculture ministry has banned poultry imports from South Korea until further notice. So maybe now they'll ban the sale of Japanese chickens as well, right?

Return to top

???????????????????????  

Some Japanese cartographers seem to have a strange idea of geography, for almost every local map of this country includes 4 islands to the north of Hokkaido that are, officially and in fact, part of Russia. Ultra-nationalists such as Tokyo's beloved leader have long been demanding these icy rocks back, but Russia has failed to please, leading to a long-term rift in Russo-Japanese relations. Well, the nationalist's cause received a serious dent recently when Russian President Vladimir Putin dismissed Japan's claim for sovereignty on all the 4 islands, stressing his position to resolve the dispute thorough the return of 2 of the four islands in line with a 1956 bilateral declaration. He went so far as to say he felt baffled as to why Japan continues to claim all 4. He seems to have made this statement in order to make his feelings well known before a visit to Japan expected next year. August 9, 1945, three days after the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima and the day the atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, the Soviet Union, violating this neutrality pact, entered into war against Japan that was already on the brink of defeat. A week later, on August 14, Japan accepted the Postdam Proclamation and surrendered to the Allied Powers. The 4 islands (known in Japanese as Etorofu, Kunashiri, Shikotan, and Habomai) were seized by the former Soviet Union on September 3, 1945. The USSR had opportunistically broken its 5 year neutrality pact with Japan on August 9, 1945, just 3 days after the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima and the day the atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. Stalin incorporated the islands into Soviet territory by a Decree of Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, dated February 2, 1946. He then saw to it that the Japanese residents of the islands (approximately 17,000 in number) were forcibly deported. However, Stalin may be dead and reviled, but Russian nationalism remains as strong as ever, and so it seems highly unlikely that those barren rocks will return to Japan within the near future. This, of course, will spare the Japanese Government the unpleasant choice of emulating Stalin by expelling the islands' Russian residents, or accepting a large number of non-Japanese Japanese citizens. What an awful choice!

Return to top

???????????????????????  

For most visitors, Japan seems a very crowded country. However, the government wants it to be even more crowded, and is starting to act to counter Japan's falling birthrate. The latest effort in this campaign is a recently approved 5-year plan to help working parents, which includes the admirable goal of introducing child-care leave in all companies. It also seeks to reduce the number of employees working long hours by at least 10%, which is supposed to help young people to balance home and work. At present, according to government figures, about 60% of companies offer child-care leave as of 2002, with about 12% of employees working more than 60 hours per week. Another uniquely Japanese problem is unclaimed leave, with less than 55% taking all the paid leave they are entitled to. I kid you not! However, the main concrete measure proposed, one that will be welcomed by many young families, is a planned drastic increase in the number of child-care centres where parents can leave children temporarily when they are sick. Another welcome proposed measure is a plan to remove physical barriers at busy train stations and airports so that baby strollers can move freely. On the dark side, so to speak, the government plans to set up a network of child abuse prevention centres across Japan. All this activity is in reaction to this nation's plunging birthrate, which reached a record low of 1.29 in 2003. However, welcome though most of these measures are, the government does need to examine all the reasons behind the decline in families, such as women marrying later or even opting to remain single. However, dealing with those problems will need a lot more than a few proposed reforms.

Return to top

???????????????????????  

One reason why Japan's crime rate is so low is the strong, hard punishment convicted folk receive here, but this might be changing. A recent report read more like something from one of the more liberal European countries. I refer to the report that a 22-year-old man who murdered 2 children in Kobe in 1997 when he was 14 has been fully discharged from a medical reformatory in suburban Tokyo. The man, who strangled and decapitated an 11-year-old and bludgeoned to death a 10-year-old, was actually released on a provisional basis last March, but his probation ended December 31st, Justice Ministry officials said. They claim that the killer underwent rehabilitation and education programs for more than 6 years at the Tokyo institution. According to the what the ministry told the victims' relatives, the murderer has been living with a guarantor at an undisclosed location since the provisional discharge and has been a full-time employee since August. I'm sure that made them feel a lot better. I do know that anyone with kids must now feel rather nervous, and might be expected to view any new neighbour with suspicion. I make no apologies for my view that killers should die, whether they are sane or totally ga-ga. After all, what do we do to mad dogs? You see my point. OK, the death penalty (which Japan does have and use) might not reduce crime much, but one thing it most certainly does is prevent repeat offenders. If this sick rat does decide to kill again, I hope that the courts will be less lenient, and that the officials who ordered his release are standing on the gallows right beside him!

Return to top

???????????????????????

Some of you may have seen our revered Prime Minister trying to attract more tourists to Japan using TV commercials. Well, the latest move in this campaign, which is bound to be an uphill struggle as Japan presently attracts fewer tourists than tiny Macau, was recently unveiled by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, one of the handful of government bodies supposedly in charge of tourism here. They announced that foreign tourists will be invited to try their e-NAVI data service on personal digital assistants for sightseeing in Tokyo and its vicinity in February and March. They will be loaned to foreign tourists for free at Narita airport if they agree to answer questionnaires on the service before leaving Japan, it said. At present, they plan to make available a total of 100 PDAs — 50 in English and as many in Chinese and Korean. These devices will provide sightseeing data in the form of letters and photos, plus unlimited Internet access. They may also be used for free phone calls within Japan, the official said. So there you are. The Prime Minister has given you an invitation, and you even get a free PDA while you're here. Why aren't you packing?

 

Return to top

???????????????????????

Crime File

• A friend's baby recently spent some time in a local hospital, but rather than any sickness, maybe his family should have other reasons for being thankful he came out OK! I refer to the recent incident where a man suffering from liver cancer stabbed two other male patients to death and seriously injured an assistant nurse at a Tokyo hospital. Police arrested the 59-year-old man at Shirahigebashi Hospital in Sumida Ward. So why did he stab the 3 with a kitchen knife? He told police that he had become desperate due to his "incurable disease," and that he resented being peeped at by other patients in the ward.

• Rugby players often seem to have a reputation (undeserved, of course) for rowdy or even violent behaviour, but it was a football team that recently hit the headlines here, when 14 members of the Kokushikan University soccer team were indicted for a group molestation of a 16-year-old girl. The players are said to have sexually abused the girl for around 7 hours at a condominium belonging to one of them. Very sporting, ah? Now, of course, we merely have to wait before some member of the ruling party claims such behaviours is merely a sign of virile youth, and shouldn't be criticised!

• Police forces around the world are struggling to deal effectively with email crimes, but Japan's National Police Agency recently confirmed Japan's first case of email fraud in which swindlers email recipients and trick them into releasing credit card numbers and other personal information through bogus websites. Although the NPA didn't release details of the crime, known as "phishing," they did say that it involved several hundred thousand yen in damage. The NPA has now set up a national hot line to respond to email fraud reports, the number for which will be posted on its website, www.npa.go.jp.

• The Japanese love of pachinko, a bagatelle-like game played in crowded, noisy parlours all over the nation, has always puzzled the hell out of me, but now this mindless pastime has turned fatal. Down in Mie Prefecture, a couple went to play this idiotic game at around 9:30 a.m., remaining thus occupied for about 12 hours. However, during this time, they left their 6-month-old baby girl in their car in the parking lot. Although they claim that they returned about 10 times to check on the baby, they didn't feed her "as she seemed to be asleep". The bay duly died and it wasn't till around 9:30 p.m. that they realized something was wrong. Pachinko parlours' carparks seem to need some sort of time limit, don't you think?

• Parents around the world have problems with their teenage offspring's phone bills, but maybe you should be careful about how you discuss this with them. Down in Osaka Prefecture, a 19-year-old college student was recently arrested after he confessed to stabbing his mother to death after a quarrel over increasing cell phone charges he was logging. Police say he stabbed his 48-year-old mother in the neck and right hand with a paring knife after he was scolded by her over the size of the phone bills. The unfortunate mother was found dead by her 21-year-old daughter. However, this was no crime of passion, for the creep told police he had bought the knife "around October" intending to kill his mother as she had kept nagging him over the phone bills. The fatal cell phone bill was about ¥90,000 (US$880) for 3 months, police said. What's more, he tried to disguise the incident as a crime by a pervert by cutting his mother's trousers, as well as trying to burn her body. 

• It can't be easy being a teenage mother, even though there seem to be so many of them, but that's no excuse for the recently arrested 18-year-old mother in Aichi Prefecture. She was arrested on suspicion of beating her 7-month-old daughter into a coma. Her 20-year-old husband made an emergency call after returning home from work and finding the baby vomiting. The child was taken to a hospital, which informed the police. The girl has claimed she is innocent, but as the hospital found old bruises all over the baby's body, police suspect the mother may have been routinely physically abusing the child. In a display of sexism that must please some folk hereabouts, the couple also has an 18-month-old son but he bears no signs of physical abuse, police said.

• In a fine example of some degenerates voluntarily removing themselves from the gene pool, 3 people were killed when their car collided with a Hankyu express train on a crossing in Hyogo Prefecture, the car being crushed after it was dragged 200 meters by the train. Why did they drive onto the crossing of the Hankyu Kobe line with the crossing bar already down? Because they were being chased by a police patrol car. Why were they being chased? According to police, the car was chased on suspicion the driver was drunk. I would say that he mode of demise makes that suspicion a certainty!

• Police around the world often come across unusual murder weapons, and Japan's form-filling constables are no exception. Take, for example, the recent arrest of a 56-year-old former truck driver in Nara. He is accused of killing his wife and their 2 grown children by hitting them with a 5-kilogram dumbbell, police said. He was quoted by police as confessing that he killed his wife, 28-year-old son and 20-year-old daughter because he felt pessimistic about the family's future. He then called the police, saying he had "killed three family members."

Return to top

???????????????????????  

Remember Aum Shinrikyo? The weirdo sect, led by a blind former masseur, that staged that gas attack on the Tokyo Metro? Well, maybe you thought that attack was enough to make sure they never raised their head again, but if that's what you thought, you don't know Japan! Eventually, after a lot of time wasting and meetings, they were banned, whereupon those members who had managed to avoid jail merely renamed the group "Aleph", and then seem to have gone on with 'business as usual'. Proof of this was recently to be found in the report of a man, an Aleph member, being found dead in a bathtub at the group's facility in Tokyo. In case you're wondering, he didn't die of gas or anything like that. He died, believe it or not, from what group members euphemistically suggested may have been an accident while going through "thermal training" in which followers soak for long hours in hot water, i.e., temperatures of about 50c/122f. Now bear in mind that it is extremely doubtful that he was dragged screaming into the bathtub, or that anyone forced him to stay there. He seems to have undergone this 'training' voluntarily. Hell, he might even have paid for it, as groups like this are rarely unprofitable. I admit that I braved the cold on Christmas Eve night to attend Midnight Mass, but that's about as much discomfort as I suffer for my faith, or am likely to. A sucker born every minute? He was being far too conservative!

Return to top

???????????????????????

Someone once said that religion was the best legal business there is, and Japan has plenty of evidence to back that up. Not far from me is a Buddhist temple with large, expensive apartment blocks all around it, all belonging to the temple. The entire Tokyo district of Yutenji, where a friend of mine bought a house but couldn't buy the land, is owned by the local temple. What's more, the older Shinto faith is equally canny, with plenty of sound business investments. So some real cynics (me? heaven forbid!) might find a touch of irony in the news story that emerged just after New Year. As is the custom here, millions of people visited various Shinto shrines soon after the year began, but some of them were less welcome than others. You see, police reports show that about 300 10,000 yen bills were used by swindlers in shops near shrines and temples in Tokyo and 11 other prefectures during the New Year's holiday season. According to police, this whole operation may have been the work of a single group, as many of the fake notes had identical serial numbers. Maybe you heard that the Bank of Japan had recently issued new currency notes that were supposed to be harder to fake. However, all the counterfeit bills are believed to have been colour-copied from the previous version of 10,000 yen bills, which are still very much in circulation. How many more of these fakes, which don't seem to have been very professionally done and totally lack a watermark, are around is anybody's guess, but I'll bet there are a few monks, abbots & priests saying some very unholy things about some of their holiday visitors!

Return to top

???????????????????????

Japan is expensive, yes, but that is partly due to the stupid prices some folk here are willing to pay to get a little status or prestige. I mean, take cherries for example. Do you like cherries? I'm rather take-them-or-leave-them myself, but some folks do like them. However, would you pay nearly US$10 for a single cherry? No? Well some Japanese would, as one very businesslike farmer in the northern prefecture of Yamagata knows. He recently made his first shipment of the year of his greenhouse-grown cherries, which last year sold for about ¥1,000 a piece, or some ¥40,000 (US$390) for a 300-gram pack. Kazuo Hanawa, 56, shipped about 100 boxes of these overpriced delights, which are (for you technical types or connoisseurs) of the popular Sato Nishiki variety. Now I sincerely hope that most people will be willing to wait till the regular cherries reach the market as usual, in the early summer, but for those who want to enjoy some very pricy one-upmanship, Hanawa-san grows his much faster in a greenhouse. I'll bet his bank account grows even nicer!

 Return to top

???????????????????????  

Hackers are usually a pain in the lower regions, delaying e-commerce or upsetting useful websites. However, even these pathetic geeks sometimes do something worth smiling over, and that was very true in Japan recently. You see, hackers staged a series of attacks on the website of Yasukuni Shrine (http://www.yasukuni.or.jp), the controversial memorial that honours Class-A war criminals from World War II along with Japan's war dead. The attacks have been going on since September, a shrine official said, adding that the hackers are believed to be working from China. Why would China want to attack a friend of war criminals? Beats me! One tactic used by these geeks was to stage an unusually large number of access requests, totalling up to 15,000 hits per second, making the website difficult to access. The shrine also claimed that Chinese-language spam using the shrine's email address as the sender was sent in massive numbers to third parties and infected many computers on the receiving end. Some of the emails were found to have been sent using a Chinese mail server. The shrine, which like many such places is not poor and so can afford some high grade advice, said that it had taken steps in cooperation with the police and other related authorities to build a system to protect its website from the continuing attacks -- at least for the time being, which is the best most webmasters can hope for! However, since such attacks on the site have occurred on and off since Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi began making annual visits to the Shinto shrine in August 2001, I doubt if they will completely stop until he does. Now in case you don't know, the Yasukuni Shrine was established (just outside the moat to the Imperial Palace) in 1869 as the Tokyo Shokonsha, or Shrine for Inviting the Spirits.  In 1879, it was renamed Yasukuni Shrine, which means Shrine for Establishing Peace in the Empire. The names of the 2,500,000 people who died in Japan's conflicts between 1853 & 1945 are inscribed in the shrine's Book of Souls, and venerated as "gunshin", or war gods. The shrine authorities alone decide whose spirit is enshrined, regardless of family wishes. The present controversy arose in 1978, after 1,068 convicted war criminals, among them executed wartime prime minister Hideki Tojo and 13 other Class A war criminals, were secretly enshrined there. Referring to the convicted war criminals, an explanatory pamphlet published by the shrine and aimed at schoolchildren says: "Some 1,068 people, who were wrongly accused as war criminals by the Allied court, were enshrined here." Now almost forgotten but situated just across the road from Yasukuni lies the Chidorigafuchi Cemetery for the War Dead, which houses the remains of around 320,000 unknown soldiers who died since the Sino-Japanese war of 1937. Some politicians and commentators have suggested it might represent an internationally acceptable alternative venue for commemoration of the war dead, but our revered Prime Minister said that if an alternative shrine were established, he wouldn't visit it! Anyway, about eight million people a year visit Yasukuni, but maybe even more will 'visit' their website!

Return to top

???????????????????????  

Say That Again . . .

Remember when the police chief of Bangkok said there were no prostitutes in his city? Well, although less extreme, Japanese police chiefs also seem to live in world of their own. After all, what would you call it when the Kanagawa prefectural police chief, Shigeo Ito, vowed to close the 240 "parlours" (some only about two meters wide) used by hookers in Yokohama's Koganecho red-light district. He explained himself by saying:
"Prostitution is not suitable for Yokohama."
Yokohama is a port, one of the world's busiest. Ports are filled with sailors. Who is he kidding!

&

Seems there might be hope for me after all! You see, here in Japan, we have a popular magazine called 'Leon', whose main claim to fame is the tips and tricks it carries for middle-aged men on how to be a lady-killer. As the editor-in-chief said: 
"There will come a day when youth will pass away. 'Oyaji' should have a competitive edge by attaining techniques that cannot be mimicked by youngsters."
 A little too unreal? Hey, let me dream, will you!

&

One reason some foreigners object to learning Japanese, which is a remarkably complex language, is that it isn't that useful, being spoken by only one country without much of a 'Diaspora'. However, this argument was recently answered by Shigeki Hakamada, the author of a report for the Japan Forum on International Relations He said:
"It is important to promote the Japanese language even outside of the country, so it does not lose out to Chinese."
Hey, judging by the distinctly lacklustre way Japan promotes itself as a tourist destination, there isn't much hope of their promoting their language in any meaningful way -- especially if the government gets involved!

&

Now I don't want to push your credulity too far, but it seems that some bankers are not too fussy about where the money deposited with them comes from. Shocking, ah? Well this wouldn't matter so much in an honest society, but sadly, Japan doesn't seem to fit that description. As a professor at Keio University and former vice finance minister for international affairs recently explained:
"I'm not saying that all rich people in Japan are shady, but a substantial portion are engaged in some kind of shady business or a business that is in a grey area."
He was referring to the recent case whereby Citibank was forced to close its private banking operations here because of several ethical lapses, including some that may have helped criminals to launder money. Well I'm disillusioned -- aren't you?

&

As I have sadly often noted in the past, there is a good reason why the local police cars don't have 'To serve and protect' printed on them. If you consider that too cynical, consider the case of a Japanese lady who went to the police to try and get an injunction against a man who had been lurking around her and bombarding her with email and fax messages. Unfortunately for her (and for justice), this creep held an important company position, and so the police response was:
"We wouldn't do anything that results in damaging a person's social position or status."
Sexual equality is a wonderful thing, don't you think?

&

Talking of sexual equality, some of you might find it hard to accept that in the 27 Japanese companies that are on Fortune's Global 200 list, there are only 2 female directors. This is the 21st century, right? Anyway, this shameful statistic was explained by one of the 'lucky' 2, Ginko Sato, the only woman on Hitachi's board of directors. She said:
"They don't want to use women who, they fear, will get dragged down by family commitments. Given equal ability, they'd rather go with a man."
Whatever you think about equality, any real business person must surely hate the simple waste of potential talent!

&

It seems that I'm not the only one to consider Japan a lot less safe than it used to be, or than it is often portrayed. This sad disillusionment is borne out by a recent piece of evidence, namely the success of knife-resistant clothing for children. As Tomoaki Takahashi, the president of Toide Sewing, which makes this product, said:
"The fact that this type of clothing is selling well shows that anxiety is spreading in society."
Sadly, such anxiety is justified. 

&

I have previously reported on talented employees who sued their company to get some payment for their inventions. Well, this trend continues, with company bosses acting like feudal lords. One man who recently won (sort of) a case against his employer, Nichia Corp, was Shuji Nakamura, inventor of the blue light-emitting diode (LED). However, the experience left him saddened, and so he said:
"I plan to recommend scientists and engineers go to the US where their abilities are reflected in their income."
He reluctantly agreed to a ¥840 million (US$8.2 million) settlement but still says Japanese corporations don't respect their employees' contributions. Hard to believe, right?

&

Despite that ridiculous survey that once reported that around 90% of Japanese consider themselves middle class, Japan does have poor people, and they are growing in number. As Yutaka Iwasa, former chairman of business magazine publisher Diamond-sha, recently observed:
"Japan is fast becoming a more polarized society with the very wealthy at one end, and at the other, those who can't even afford to shop at Ito Yokado supermarkets." 
Judging by the growth in the 'tent cities' that scar almost every park here, he's pretty damn'd right!

&

Another news item that has frequently found space here has been the way the Tokyo and other education authorities try to compel their teachers to be ultra-patriotic. This is, of course, ridiculous, for as one of the dissident teachers said:
"Patriotic feelings can't grow by force. They should grow naturally." 
Former Tokyo teacher Mitsuo Kondo was fired because he wouldn't stand up and sing the national anthem at school.
.

Return to top

???????????????????????

In the old days, when the Immigration Department's HQ was in the downtown Otemachi area, before it moved to its ¥18 billion new home on Tennoz Island, it was a regular event to see the queue of illegal immigrants each Monday morning, all waiting for a free trip home. The routine was simple. Come to Japan on a tourist visa, work illegally till you'd saved enough money, or had enough of Japan, then hand yourself in and fly home. However, recent changes in visa regulations have made this routine even more attractive, funnily enough, and so 4,150 foreigners turned themselves in to immigration offices in December, according to the Justice Ministry (which runs Immigration here). You see, the new rules allow those who overstay their visas to turn themselves in to the authorities and immediately leave the country without being detained in exchange for lighter punishment — a 1-year ban on re-entry instead of the old 5-year ban. Obviously, a large number of hostess bars had a change of face recently, for 1,107 of these eager deportees were Filipino, with 1,050 Chinese and 511 South Koreans. Judging by the queue I saw when I last had to visit Tennoz (and no one visits unless they have to) outside the visitors area of the Immigration prison (housed in the top 5 floors), maybe one reason for the change in the rules is that they're running out of space in the jail! (You can read about the 'Tennoz Kremlin' at http://metropolis.japantoday.com/tokyo/468/feature.asp)

 Return to top

???????????????????????  

It's an ill wind, so they say, that blows no-one any good. So it is that Japan's ban on importing beef from suspected BSE-hit regions has severely hurt farmers in places like the USA. However, it has been a blessing to Australia's beef farmers, with imports of Australian beef rising by a dramatic 40.9% in 2004, reaching an all-time high of 393,471 tons, Meat and Livestock Australia announced recently. This figure, which beat the previous record of 325,699 tons back in 2000, has made Japan Australia's largest beef export market, easily surpassing the United States. However, I also see signs of Japan's maturing in this incident. After all, not one Japanese politician has claimed that Japanese stomachs are unable to digest Australian beef, as one senior LDP politician did when the government was first trying to justify banning US beef, long before BSE entered our vocabulary. Hopefully, idiots like that, and like the one who claimed that Japanese snow was unsuitable for imported skis, have been silenced forever. Hopefully, but probably not! 

Return to top

???????????????????????

North Korea is nobody's friend, not even its protector, China. However, just as the Koreans often hate Japan for its WW2 excesses, so many people here now hate the North for its abduction of Japanese nationals and for its recent lies about reluctantly returned remains it claimed (incorrectly) were those of a Japanese abductee. Therefore, many must have raised a worried eyebrow upon seeing in the schedule for 2006 Germany World Cup final round qualifiers a soccer game between Japan and North Korea. Some, including our revered Prime Minister, might have memories of the anti-Japanese sentiments displayed by hostile Chinese spectators at the Asian Cup soccer tournament last August, and might fear a similar, albeit less passionate display by Japanese fans. The first of the 2 controversial games is scheduled for February 9th, and will take place in Japan. The 2nd leg will be in Pyongyang in June, so if there is any misbehaviour next month, I wouldn't recommend any Japanese to follow their team to the June match -- not that anyone would visit that ultra-boring city without a damn'd good reason! Though North Korea have achieved little since their shock quarter-final appearance at the 1966 World Cup in England (which I reluctantly admit to remembering), the vice-president of the North Korean football association said "Politics will not come into it," adding that "we are very happy with the draw and our players are confident about their chances." Crowd control is highly unlikely to be a problem for the Pyongyang constabulary, as few if any Japanese fans will be able to get in. However, the Japanese can be boisterous when they're roused, and so next month's match is not being treated lightly. No less a personage than our worthy Prime Minister has become involved, calling on the Japanese people to be level-headed when watching the game. Referring to the Asian Cup incident, Mr. Koizumi was quoted as saying, "I hope that Japanese people will not do anything like that." I hope he's right, but let's see how many of the North Korean squad actually return home!

Return to top

???????????????????????  

Talking of press freedom (as we were a few paragraphs ago), it was recently revealed that Japan's BBC, public broadcaster NHK, deliberately changed a 2001 TV programme dealing with a mock tribunal on Japan's use of wartime "comfort women" before it was aired 4 years ago, all because senior Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers exerted "political pressure" on NHK. Nice, ah? I don't know which is worse, that NHK should cave in to such pressure, or that the ruling party should include such creeps. The programme was originally to have included footage of a mock trial organized by a civic group that found the late Emperor Hirohito guilty of permitting wartime sex slavery. However, this section was substantially cut before NHK aired the programme. According to Satoru Nagai, the programme's senior producer, senior NHK officials met with Shinzo Abe, the then deputy chief Cabinet secretary, and an LDP lawmaker, Shoichi Nakagawa, on January 29th, 2001, the day before the programme was scheduled to be aired. Nakagawa, currently minister of economy, trade and industry, at that time headed a parliamentarians group on history textbooks, and we all know how accurate they are! A senior official at NHK's broadcast bureau told Nagai to alter the programme immediately after the meeting, he said. Abe has admitted that he had urged the public broadcaster to alter the programme as he felt the contents were "biased." Well, he should know all about that! Oh, in case you're wondering, political pressure on NHK is easily exerted, as NHK's annual budget is subject to parliamentary approval. I can imagine the huge fuss that would erupt if the BBC were to do something like that -- not that I'm saying they haven't or wouldn't, but the resulting furore would be immense. Here, the story has barely ruffled the headlines. Mr Nagai believes there should be a probe into the case as he thinks (understandably) that it represents a possible violation of the broadcasting law, which guarantees the freedom of broadcast programme production. However, this isn't the first time the constitution has been 'interpreted favourably' by the government, and sadly, it won't be the last!
Footnote: Just before this page went online, Mr Shoichi Nakagawa categorically denied having applied political pressure regarding a 2001 NHK television program on a mock tribunal on Japan's wartime sex slavery. However, as the lady who helped bring down a government in the British Profumo affair once said, "He would, wouldn't he?"

 Return to top

 



Gaijin's Tip:

'Now that the winter weather is well and truly here, maybe (like me) you are in need of a doctor. If so, you'd probably feel better dealing with a doctor who speaks at least some English, yes? If so, check out the Tokyo Metropolitan Medical Information page at http://www.himawari.metro.tokyo.jp/qq/qq13enmnlt.asp. This lists English-speaking doctors and clinics all over this great city, and is how I found my own doctor, whom I gladly recommend (he's in the basement of the Miyako Hotel). Alternatively, you can use their emergency translation service by calling 03-5285-8185. These helpful folk speak English, Chinese, Korean, Thai and Spanish, and can help you communicate with any monolingual medic.'
(For more like this, please visit the 'Gaijin's Guide to Living in Japan')

&

Gaijin's Where-to-Go

'It's rainy today, so if you're looking for somewhere that you can get dry on the outside but wet on the inside, check out the Beer Museum and Gallery in Ebisu Garden Place. This shows the history of Japanese beer and includes a virtual reality brewery, plus a display of old beer prints, ads, etc. What's more, there's a tasting area at the end where you can sample some of Sapporo's brews. It's open from 10am to 6pm, Tuesday-Sunday, and admission is free. (Sadly, the beer samples are not, but they are cheap!) It's a short, covered walk from Ebisu JR/Subway. For more information, call 03-5425-7255.'

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