Should have thought of that earlier

"We have just received a sharp verdict from Tokyo voters," Nobuteru Ishihara, LDP's acting secretary-general and head of the party's Tokyo chapter, said Sunday night. "We'd appreciate some time to stop (and think)." Asahi Shimbun

His daddy may get some thinking time too.

And it's already old news, but soon-to-be-ex-PM Aso has finally decided to hold an election at the end of August and to dissolve the Lower House next week.

Taihen! Poor LDP loses Tokyo Assembly majority

You know how when you were a kid you'd get all excited during elections and stay up until late at night listening to the results? OK, maybe only the nuttier kids did, but in order to try to regain some interest in the political world, I have been suffering NHK TV coverage of the Tokyo election.

Things continue to look bad for the party of MangaMan. Just a moment ago, it was DPJ 39, LDP 5, Komeito (for all practical purposes the same as the LDP) 3.

NHK showed a quick comparison to the last Tokyo election when the LDP/Komeito won 70, and the DPJ won 40 total correction: 55 total. (Will have to confirm this later...it doesn't look right. 1130pm The 55 includes other opposition parties in addition to the DPJ.)

I was a bit embarrassed to see that Ota-ku leaned a little more to the LDP/Komeito* than I wanted, but I live close enough to the ward line that I can happily claim Setagaya-ku which so far seems to have chosen a little better.

*Just heard that there is a large Komeito-related temple in Kamata which might explain Ota-ku.

Update 10:25: The gap is closing a bit: LDP/Komeito: 22. DPJ: 45

1040 pm: Oh, the rookie mistake of getting overly excited about early returns: LDP/Komeito 32, DPJ 46. Still looks like a solid win for the DPJ, but I don't want to jinx it.

1108 pm: 50 each, LDP/Komeito and the DPJ. I take back what I said earlier about Ota-ku and Setagaya-ku.

1109 pm: I despise blogger. Where did my 1058 go? Auto-not-saved.

1134 pm: LDP/Komeito 58, DPJ 52, others: 10. Still waiting for 7.

1145 pm: Counting has slowed to a snail's pace. LDP/Komeito 58; DPJ: 54; others: 11. Remaining: 4.

1200 am: LDP/Komeito: 59; DPJ: 54; others 11; remaining; 3.

The LDP has lost its majority. An urban defeat, but still a defeat. As Fish would say in Allie McBeal, "Bygones."

Even better: Ishihara, 76, is clearly anxious about the outcome as he will face a much more difficult time managing the Tokyo metropolitan government if the assembly coalition made up of the LDP and New Komeito loses its majority. Asahi Shimbun

DPJ 29 LDP 3

91 remaining at about 9:10 pm, according to NHK. Just a guess that the LDP is headed for a bit of bad news when all districts report for today's election in Tokyo. Good news for everyone else,perhaps, but even better news is that the politicians' sound trucks will finally stop.

You mean the government lies?

I don't know what all the fuss is about since the rest of the planet has known for decades about the US-Japan agreement to allow nukes to pass through Japan without prior consultation

Foreign Ministry bureaucrats ordered the destruction of copies of a 1960 secret nuclear agreement between Japan and the United States just before the information disclosure law took effect in 2001...

The Japanese government has continually denied the existence of the secret pact, but U.S. documents and statements from former U.S. and Japanese diplomats strongly suggest otherwise...Asahi Shimbun

Reischauer was involved when he was Ambassador to Japan: In Talks with Ambassador Reischauer, Japanese Foreign Minister Agrees to Lie about Nuclear Weapons.

Reischauer embarrassed a lot of people when he publicly disclosed the agreement in 1981. Only the Japanese government continues to officially deny history in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary.

Denial of history despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. Shockingly out of character---if a government can have character.

Take a leak for group accountability

Although I have found it to be personally counter-productive to spend much time focusing on discrimination---I know its around, and seeing and experiencing it at times is more than enough without reading about it every day---I can't help but to learn about some of the new tricks that our friends in the government are doing in order to help foreigners behave themselves.

Debito Arudou* has written an article for the Japan Times concerning a "crackdown" in Roppongi in which non-Japanese (and perhaps some Japanese too) are being persuaded to pee for the boys in blue to prove that they aren't dopers. Of course, this seems to go against common sense---how can anyone be non-Japanese without doing drugs?

Naturally people have rights. After all, this is a democracy, not a benevolent police state run by some of the most incompetent goofs on earth. Debito was able to interview a very busy servant of the people (I am maybe going a little too far here by claiming that non-Japanese are people in the same way that Japanese are, or that a bureaucrat is serving anyone except himself or his department, but as usual, I digress.) and in a reluctant response to Debito's questions, our fearless sit-on-the-old-kiester-all-day-in-a-koban fellow clarified our rights should we be asked to whiz for him:

• Urine tests are only done "when necessary."
• Only folks who "look wasted on drugs" will be tested.
• Urine samples are only taken "after persuasion, never under threat." (See your real rights here.)
  

Naturally, we can assume that the urine samples are properly taken and tested and a strict, verifiable chain of custody is followed. Of course, you will be able to challenge these tests, and the police will have to support the procedure in your case in a impartial hearing in a court of law. The fact that you are a foreigner who probably comes from a place where everyone uses drugs, will not be prejudice anything.

I don't really know, but since I used to be very much involved in finding drugs and drug users, some of this seems just a bit questionable. No, not that I doubt that the persuasion will be done without threat: After all, wouldn't a few kind words be enough to get anyone to urinate in a cup? Maybe they could say something like: I'll pee too, if you will. Or perhaps a contest: I bet I can pee more than you! Or perhaps---for men---they'll offer to hold it for you. None of these are threats and there are even more possible ways to politely persuade.

The problem is, what if you are persuaded by the kindness, sincerity, and unquestionable integrity of the investigating officers, and the test comes back positive? A false positive. Whatcha gonna do? Hire a good lawyer who will be able to successfully defend you in court?

Seems the US military went through this sort of thing years ago and got a number of false positives. After they fined, incarcerated, or discharged the "guilty" they found that there had been problems with the testing. Oops! Had to offer to let them back in the military and upgrade discharges to honorable. Things improved as time went by, but those tests have never become infallible. (I am sure the criminal justice system in Japan realizes that and is taking steps to prevent false arrests/prosecutions.)

And really, what does a person who is wasted on drugs look like? Could someone wasted on the drug known as alcohol look and act similarly? Ahh, but the odor of alcohol would be present, and the use of one rules out the other. How about certain medical conditions? Never mind, let's not worry about these things as the police are trained professionals and a mistake here would hurt them more than you.

Unfortunately, I rarely go to Roppongi---especially since the US Embassy warned us about the place. I'd think the best thing to do now is to avoid it entirely (including Roppongi Hills and the other over-priced shopping areas there.) I am sure that the merchants, bar-owners, and massage girls, would prefer not to get money from the type who frequent Roppongi.

Oh, and speaking of competent law enforcement and government, it seems a school boy stabbed another school boy to death on a train platform with a 17cm knife. This was the same day that the ban on double-edged knives with blades longer than 5cm went into effect. Who could have foreseen that?

*I know the fellow is controversial and that he is not perfect. I have even read that he thinks Japan is the US---although not from his writing. However, he is one of the few who are actually trying to do anything about discrimination in Japan. Others write books excusing it.

I done did wrong?

Had to have. Perhaps my sin is why I have developed a severe case of blogger's block.

Friday afternoon, I was walking around the neighborhood with one of my cameras and saw the same flowers that I see every year at this time. The flowers (I have no idea what kind they are---non-native I suppose as I cannot find them in any of my paid-too-much-for books) are on a bush that hangs out in the road. They drop off about this time of year and the fallen flowers can make an interesting background for photos of those still in bloom.

While I was taking a few photos trying to find an angle that might make a halfway decent composition, I noticed an old lady walking down the road. I sensed her stopping behind me, but didn't pay much attention right away. I have generally found that old people have no problem of walking up and starting to chat in Japanese* when I am taking photos with a dSLR or larger format camera. This is shocking since everyone knows that the Japanese are shy.

A moment later she asked, "Are you taking photos of the flowers?"

"Yes," I answered.

"They are pretty," she said. "If you would like, you can cut some and take them with you."

"Thanks."

"The house with those flowers is mine."

"Oh, really. They're very beautiful."

"Do you live around here?"

"Yes, about five minutes away."

"If it's ok with you, could you bring me one of the photos?"

"Of course."

Then she walked to her door and went inside.

I walked by there this morning and noticed that the bush had been severely trimmed. No flowers were left, and was cut back inside the fence and had lost well over a foot of height. Never, since I moved to the area 3 years ago has that bush ever been trimmed and the flowers had always been left until they dropped.

Somehow, I cannot get the idea out of my head that it was done because of me. No evidence, just a feeling that I doubt I would ever have outside of Japan. I know that it likely had nothing to do with me, but there is always the sense of being held at arm's length (thus the overly polite bakagaijin treatment some folks are so fond of) and the awareness of a forced separation from the society that I am supposed to be living in. It isn't uncommon to have some vague feelings of guilt for no reason here, or to feel that I have to show that I ain't a criminal, or that yes, Fujiwara Masahiko-chan, I can hear insects too.

Never got a decent photo, but gonna print one A4 size for her anyway and drop it off. Wonder if she really thought I would? I can even ask her what kind of flower it is since I cannot find it in any of my paid-too-much-for books. And maybe, just maybe, I'll be able to find out what (meaning why) happened to the flowers.

*Most of the time, older folks---especially women don't attempt to resort to English every time I miss something. What a relief...

Murder rate to drop beginning at midnight!

Last year, after the mass murder in Akihabara, the government took swift action to prevent such things from happening again. It outlawed the possession of certain knives---shall we call them assault knives?---with double-edged blades of more than 5cm long.

On July 4, the grace period will run out for those who possess these evil instruments. Failure to turn them in carries a penalty of up to 3 years in prison and a ¥500,000 fine. The knives, that is. The government failed to do anything about the other weapon that the creature used to run down and murder people---a rental truck. These are still readily available for nearly anyone with a drivers license. The much longer than 5cm razor sharp kitchen knives nearly every home has which seem to be used much more often in murders? Not included. Will Michael Moore show up here and do one of his "documentaries?"

This well-conceived law seems to have caused a bit of confusion for those who use double-edged knives for shelling sea critters in Hokkaido, although that is a small price to pay for the increased safety and security it will bring.

Embarrassingly stupid

But Japan distrusts immigrants too, so that makes it OK.

Of all the initiatives undertaken in the name of homeland security after 9/11, the visa screening requirements for foreign scientists and engineers have probably done the most lasting damage to America's economy -- particularly in the cutting-edge technology fields that are vital to our economic leadership and national security.

The U.S. scientific enterprise depends enormously on talented foreigners. Foreign students and researchers, especially from India and China, comprise more than half of the scientific researchers in the U.S. CFR

However, the US is taking another look at this nonsense. Wonder if Japan will since many leaders think its future seems to be tied to immigration too.

I hate blogger

Why do I have to edit html to get the post to look like the preview? And why can't blogger spellchecker spell? And why can't I edit a post from the blog on Firefox like I used to be able to do instead of having to go through the dashboard to do it? And why do post labels disappear when I do? And why does it work on Safari? And why am I starting every sentence with "and"?

Can't wait to get my non-Japan made* MS OS Netbook so I can spend more time in the computer. (Plus I'll be able to do it on a Microsoft OS instead of a Mac. Maybe it will---unlike my Mac---connect to wireless and just work.)

Ahahaha. Just joking about Mac. I love my Mac. No truck bombs through my house by MacNuts please. Hahaha. Just joking about truck bombs CIA, FBI, Japan's finest. I have no connection to Kunio Hatoyama.

And why am I posting this? End of stupid, childish, time-wasting whine.

*Why pay a premium for a Japan-made PC with last year's specs and of no higher quality than one made elsewhere?

Walk before you can ride: The professional Mamachari-ist part 2 (continued from 2008)

Warning! The photo at left is an example only: As attractive as it is, this mamachari is not properly set up for riding. The seat is much too high, there is air in the rear tire, and the wheels appear to be roughly true.

It's been quite a long time since I wrote anything about one of my favorite hobbies---road biking---but recent events have made it necessary for me to do so again.

First and foremost, there is the great news that the law has changed to allow mothers to carry 2 children on their hi-quality (Made in Japan! Maybe...) mamachari bicycles which have outstanding brakes and safety equipment. There are probably some troublesome cynics around who would say something like: "What's the difference? They ignored the law and rode them before anyway." Pay no attention to such nitpickers.

Second, two Japanese riders may participate in the Tour de France this year: Fukiya Arashiro and Fumiyaki Beppu who previously rode for the Discovery team, although not in the Tour de France.* I have not seen confirmation yet, but if so, it will be quite an achievement. Anyone who learned to ride a bike in mamachari-land would have to unlearn every single thing that they learned in order to ride a road bike safely anywhere---especially in competition. The mere fact that anyone survived a bike ride in Tokyo is cause for celebration.

Third, road bikes are becoming more popular in Tokyo as some are switching to them for weekday commutes to work instead of taking the wonderful Tokyo subway system---can't figure out why. Plus, more and more books and magazines are being published about cycling. I was so happy to see a couple of books about cycling along the Tamagawa published recently---more cyclists on road bikes with mamachari skills!!! Encountering one of these folks provides me with excellent workouts as my heart rate jumps 300%--way above a training heart-rate zone of 5c into zone 100z. Cardiovascular fitness by terror---little physical effort required!

A little over a year ago, I posted about how to purchase and prepare your own mamachari. I had planned to do another post about how to ride one, but never got to it. I mean, how is a guy who cannot figure out how to walk down the sidewalk without being pushed, shoved, run into, stepped on, forced into the busy road, and such gonna be able to tell anyone how to ride a bike?

Well, I don't ride a mamachari---I'm not skilled enough---but I do ride 4000-5000 miles** per year and have seen enough mamachari riders and observed their expertise, skills, good-manners, safe-riding habits, and concern for others to be able to give some advice. But before you can ride, you gotta know how to walk.

Again, I have to emphasize that I am unable to walk properly in Tokyo. I can't even figure out how to cross a marked crosswalk without risking instant death. But I have observed how the assimilated do it. So if you can answer yes to the following questions, you will be ready to embark on the challenging path to becoming a professional mamachari rider.

• Do you walk down the middle of crowded streets while playing with your cell phone and not bother with a single glance of where you are going?

• Do you routinely run into other people and pretend that you didn't?

• If you are a very short, grouchy old man, do you elbow people who irritate you by their mere existence?

• If you are a young woman, are you able to sound like a galloping horse with a lame foot as you run at a snail's pace to the station in your absurd high heels?

• Do you walk slower than a dead turtle when approaching an intersection with a green crossing light and then, just when it starts flashing just before turning red, take off like a bat-out-of-hell, running into anyone and everyone in your way so that you can rush into the intersection just as the light turns red?

• Do you walk down the middle of the sidewalk in order to cause as much trouble as possible for other pedestrians trying to get by you in either direction?

• Do you pick up your snail-pace into a mad, insane rush when you see an empty seat on the train while trampling little old ladies with canes to get to it?

• Do you rush, elbow, kick, bite, shove, and fart to be the first out of a train and then, as soon as you're out, slow down and block the exit and platform for everyone else?

• Do you wait until the last possible second before collision (or later) with another person before yielding a single millimeter of your sidewalk?

• Do you lack any sense of anticipation or danger? Are you entirely unaware of your surroundings?

• Do you rush just to get in front of others even though you are in no hurry and intend on slowing down to your basic 148 year-old peg-legged grand pappy pace just so you can be first?

• Do you stop to answer your phone or check your e-mail at the narrowest part of the sidewalk thus causing as much inconvenience for everyone else as possible?

• Do you avoid walking in a straight, predictable line like the plague, but instead do a random side-to-side wobble while running into other folks or forcing them into ditches or active streets whenever possible?

• Are you an idiot, or can you at least do a good imitation of one?

• Oops. Forgot a vital skill: If with others, do all of you spread out to take up every square millimeter of the road, sidewalk, or football field?
  

Answer yes to most or all? Perfect. You already have many of the basic skills needed. If not, don't worry. You can perfect the skills you lack while wobbling your new junkpile mamachari down the street or sidewalk. This is not a complete list, of course, but it should be enough to get anyone started.

I hope to have the mamachari riding tips ready in time for the first few days of the Tour which begins Saturday. Should one need to read up on proper bike selection and set up, see Assimilation in Tokyo: The Mama Chari.

*July 3 update: Both will start: Beppu for Skil-Shimano and Ashiro for BBOX Bouygues Telecom.

**Not hard to do. An annual average of 350-400 miles per month on rural roads and along the Tama River, five hours per week or so will do it. The hard part is training properly and avoiding accidents.

LDP's Shiozaki, All-American

The LDP's (well, which party would you expect?) Yasuhisa Shiozaki has defended the recent revisions to the immigration law requiring non-Japanese to carry residence cards with them at all times by showing his own iron backbone: Well, America does it too.

One of [the DPJ's Ritsuo] Hosokawa's proposals that Shiozaki did not agree to was eliminating a clause requiring foreigners to carry residence ("zairyu") cards.

"We can't give in on that," Shiozaki said. "Carrying green cards is mandatory in the Unites [sic] States as well."* Japan Times

An excellent reason! No simpleton he. It is always impressive to see a politician with his own moral standards and irrefutable logic.

Unfortunately, Pot-Iron Shiozaki did not mention why the penalty for not carrying the card in Japan would be so much higher. There is, however, little reason to believe that money from the huge fines to be imposed will be used to pay for a Japanese war with Vietnam and its future invasions of a few Middle Eastern countries. The US, after all did those things, and Japan is already late.

There is also no truth to rumors that Shiozaki is spearheading efforts to give non-Japanese rights equal to those of permanent residents in the US or to introduce legal penalties with teeth---again like those in the US---prohibiting racial discrimination. Unfortunately, the interview ended before the reporter could ask when Shiozaki planned on pushing for an amendment to the Japanese constitution to allow citizens to possess firearms.

And can you believe that Hosogawa said these words: ..."illegal foreigners who are as good a citizen as ordinary Japanese"...My god, we can't let the DPJ win with members like him running around! This article and full in-context quote is here.

*I wonder---if the US repealed it's law, would Ol' Iron Balls support repealing the Japan version?

Stupidest conversations of the week

1: Blogging Idiot: ...and after that my wife and I had curry at a small restaurant...

A-san: eeeehhhhh! What kind of curry, Japanese or Indian?

Blogging Idiot: (sensing imminent nausea) Japanese.

A-san: eeeeeeeeeeehhhhhhhh! Japanese!!!

(A-san was impressed---or pretending to be---that I eat Japanese food. In Japan. With a Japanese wife. Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeehhhhhhhhhhhhhh!)


2: N-san: ( A friend who went to school in Canada and speaks English.) So you still take Japanese lessons?

Blogging Idiot: Yea, maybe I'll never stop.

N-san: So when you go to a shop to buy something, do you speak Japanese?

Blogging Idiot: (Thought, but not said: WTF kind of stupid question is that?) Uhhh, yes. Sometimes though people will start answering me in English even though they can't speak English.

N-san: HaHa. You don't look like the type who can speak Japanese.

Awkward pause as I tried to come up with an appropriate response that was not overly-direct, and as he---realizing what he just said---tried to avoid getting an overly-direct response.

N-san: Well only a few Westerners speak Japanese like a native.*

Blogging Idiot: ..............Unable to reply......(Thoughts: %#@#*&!!! Possible appropriately childish reply thought of too late: "You don't like like someone who can speak English. In fact, you don't sound like it either.)


3. U-san: The government is going to pass a new law which will make it easier for Japanese women to work while raising children. I don't know if it will work though, as it is a cultural problem.

Blogging Idiot: Is that so?

U-san: Yes. In the US, people can be single until they are 35-40 because it's a good image. They are just playing around---like playboys. But in Japan, people have to marry soon.

Blogging Idiot: ??????? (Last surviving braincell dropped dead.)

*And the Blogging Idiot certainly can't.