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.

Weird Japan to elimate cash to fight deflation!

So says the Times Online. Well, it isn't certain yet, but the journalist got some folks to (jokingly?) comment on the idea of eliminating cash in favor of electronic money to fight deflation.

With recovery elusive, a population doddering into old age and perhaps a decade of deflation in prospect, Japan may start mulling the most radical monetary policy of all — the abolition of cash.

Unorthodox, untried and, said one Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi strategist, “in the realms of economic science fiction”....

Several MPs* in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party believe the abolition of cash, though politically radioactive, might be technically feasible...

In theory, many Japanese could easily make the leap into a cashless world...

...the country remains a wholeheartedly cash-based consumer society. TimesOnline. (All emphasis added.)

That must be some good dope that the Asia Business Correspondent is smoking. What are the odds of any of this actually happening? What are the odds that any of it will be seriously considered in the near future?

1225PM: It [The BOJ] is unlikely... to brook anything as radical as abolishing cash. (From the same report.)

There is a point to the story somewhere.

4:10PM Originally linked to via the NYT freakonomics blog. "In Japan where the future comes early..."

*Well, that changes everything. A few unidentified politicians believe something may be technically feasible which means.......what?

Bubbles

Bubbles past is bit of a topic today, so perhaps this is a good time to link to a short article concerning the next possible bubble:

What happens when the most powerful nation in the world, with a reserve currency everyone trusts and holds, decides to push a big credit expansion — again, at the instigation of our financial sector?

...You borrowed from the Japanese at 1 percent and bought anything outside Japan that yielded a bit more (including United States subprime mortgages). The coming American carry trade is the same thing: it weakens the dollar, lifts the economy out of recession through exports, and creates inflation that reduces the real value of our debts. Economix, NYT

That'll work! Wouldn't want to be holding that debt though.

At the end of the article, the authors ask if we are laying the foundation for a much larger debt crisis. We are gonna find out...

Idiots to do an extended stay in Japan

I could never understand why people leave their country and go to a country like Japan with extremely strict drug laws and then try to sneak in drugs. I have a hard time feeling sympathy for people who do and get caught. At least they won't face execution here as they do in some other countries.

Two 20-something losers from the US who were posing as assistant English teachers, one at a high school, the other at a junior high got busted trying to have "mindcandy pills" sent to them through the mail. Naturally, they caught it at Narita.

Then again, I have never understood why anyone anywhere would risk their careers and prison for drugs. Just get drunk, it's not especially safe or healthy, but it's legal.

Apologize---if you are sorry

In May, the Japanese ambassador to the US officially apologized to former POWs of the Bataan Death March.*

Now a former Australian POW and the son of another POW are in Japan seeking an apology from PM Aso. The POWs, James Coombs and the late Patrick McAnulty (represented by his son), were slave laborers at the Aso Mining company during the war. Note that this is an apology from Aso as heir of the mining company, not an official apology by the government.

Lest anyone think that this apology stuff is going to be a habit, a "lawyer" who seemingly admits that he doesn't know what he is talking about said the following in regards to the mens request:

Katsuhiko Takaike, a lawyer who has been studying the issue of postwar compensation, admitted he was not familiar with the Aso Mining case but said Aso probably would be better off not apologizing.

"I can understand that (Coombs and McAnulty's father) suffered terribly and they want an apology," Takaike said. "But Japanese POWs also suffered illegal treatment too. We would have to start talking about that, too, or else it would be one-sided."

This is an argument of a lawyer? It sounds like one from a 5-year old. Naturally, the 5-year old mind of this fellow jumps into the everybody-did-it excuse too. A lawyer? Seriously? I knew that the government tried to increase the number of lawyers, but I didn't know that they now sell licenses at 7-11.

Waseda University visiting professor, Aiko Utsumi, author of The POW Policy of the Japanese Military, has a different opinion:

"I think should Aso meet with them — it is natural for him to apologize for the past....Aso is heir to the mine..."

Aso (and the government) denied that his company used POWs for slave labor until recently. He has not replied to letters sent by the men earlier this year.

All quotes from Pair seek POW apology from Aso at The Japan Times.

And speaking of the Death March this is interesting.

*There has been some debate on whether or not it was an official apology on behalf of the Japanese government, or a personal apology from the ambassador. However, it seems to be generally accepted as official. A video link to the speech/apology is here.

Treatment of non-Japanese to improve!!! New immigration bill soon to be passed!

"The bills are well made. Foreigners obeying the law will be treated better..."

The bills also have a provision to prevent the ministry from using that data improperly, a decision that was made to ward off criticism that "the minister" could abuse the zairyu card number to violate foreigners' privacy. But no penalty for such abuse was listed. (emphasis mine) Japan Times

No penalty? I'm sorry, but having seen so many of these "no penalty" laws, I would say that provision is an effing joke. Why wasn't non-compliance by non-Japanese made penalty-less too? Because if it had been, the law itself would have been an effing joke.

The party is over? Nah, just a toilet break...pass the beer

There's been a lot of great economic news over the last few days informing us that the worst recession since the Great Depression may be coming to an end. Actually, such a disastrous recession seems to have been little more than a slight blip. Things are said to be leveling out now, and naturally the only way to go is up.

Last September, as I watched the news over the weekend that the Lehman Brothers collapsed and Merrill Lynch was purchased by the BOA, I thought the world had changed for good. For one thing, I thought that the old idea that the US could live on the credit of foreign countries while those countries depended on over-consumption by US consumers would have to end. It seems I went a bit overboard as I don't see any evidence that any country involved is preparing for such a supposedly inevitable change.

PBS Frontline just ran a program about that September weekend and what went on behind the scenes in the deal for the Bank of America to buy Merrill Lynch. It reminds me of the story of JP Morgan in the 1907 Panic in which he locked a group of bankers in a room and would not let them out until they all agreed to sign an agreement to bail out Wall Street. This time, however, it was not a private banker doing the arm-twisting (or kneecap-breaking), but the US government in the person of Hank Paulson.

"If you don't get with the program and you don't sign this piece of paper, tomorrow morning you could turn on the television and see Hank Paulson talking about your bank in a negative way..."

and I'm beginning to get about enough of Paul Krugman again, who appears in the program just long enough to utter this brilliant insight:

"...[Paulson] doesn't strike me as the most reflective guy...but he must have been sitting there saying..."My god, we may be presiding over the second Great Depression..."

I can sure see why Mr. Krugman won a Noble Prize. Time to go back to the day job at the New York Times of blaming everything on earth on Little Bush. No, wait, Bush is gone. Maybe Sarah Palin.

At the end, we are assured that:

"This was one of the pivot points in American history. That old way of looking at things; that old way of puttin' on a party...It's over.

How can we tell? Other than the government running half the private sector now, and perhaps a few adjustments in financial regulations, what exactly has changed?

The program is one hour and a much better way to spend time than watching some goofy movie on WOWOW or a noisy variety show.

Hatoyama, the hero

Who would have ever thought that Kunio Hatoyama would have become so famous, so quickly, not for making a bigger fool of himself, but for making Aso look like a fool? A quick glance at the morning TV news programs showed a number of stations poking fun at Aso and the LDP using by using Hatoyama. Hatoyama came off looking pretty good and Aso as the Aso who couldn't read kanji of a few months back.

What if the Hatoyama resignation/firing is the final push that knocks the LDP out of power? Kunio Hatoyama.

More Peter Schiff

discussing the Japanese government's enthusiastic confidence in the US dollar via AnarchyJapan---thanks Matt.

Also on Japan Economy News Blog at left.

Another overseas organ transplant

Eleven-year-old Hiroki Ando will likely die if he does not get a new heart.

Hiroki suffers from cardiomyopathy, which inflames and impairs the heart. The same disease killed his sister five years ago. CNN

He's under 15 which under current law prohibits him from getting a transplant in Japan---however his folks and others were able to raise enough money to get him sent to New York where he is awaiting the transplant. I think the CNN headline Boy not allowed to get life-saving transplant in Japan is true but somewhat misleading since it makes it seem like he's in Japan dying at the hands of some cold-hearted bureaucrat. Gets folks to read it though, and I suppose that's the point.

An amendment to eliminate the age restrictions is currently being debated in the Diet.

He has a "diary" on his mother's blog, which is written simply enough that even I can read it.

Spammed again

Apologies to those who have e-mailed me through this blog if you are getting spammed with garbage with my address. This is the third address from this blog that it has happened to this year. One account was even stolen. It's getting to the point that I will have to change it once a month.

Or maybe not...Bobbsey Twins in the DPJ's future

The rumor of the LDP's K. Hatoyama and the DPJ's Y. Hatoyama joining together in the DPJ continue:

..."If the DPJ secures a majority in the election, Kunio would have a good chance of getting a key post"...

...Signaling their increasing closeness, the Hatoyama brothers formed a political school last year called Hatoyama Yuai Juku (Hatoyama Fraternity School) to promote a philosophy of fraternity as advocated by their grandfather, with the aim of creating a society based on love and happiness...Japan Times.

Kumbaya. The future is bright. Kunio is here to stay. I wonder if his stand on the Japan Post Holdings mess was due to principles or something less noble?

(Kunio) Hatoyama just fades away

What a lovely Friday. So nice that although I am brokenhearted over Kunio's goodbye, I have been unable to shed any tears. I still hear that he may resign the LDP and so I should worry that there could be some truth to the rumor that he might join his brother's DPJ. I have been assured, however, that this could never happen, since the two "hate" each other.

Even if K. Hatoyama does resign the LDP, he should have plenty of contacts with more exciting options for the future than the DPJ could ever offer.

Of course, this is said to damage the LDP's election prospects too. Just another thing to weep over when I get the time.

Peter Schiff commits blasphemy

His ideas on the US economy are way too cautious and pessimistic. Japan and China have no choice but to continue to fund the US party anyway...we hope and pray.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Peter Schiff
thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Newt Gingrich Unedited Interview

12 June: Edited to clarify that my comments were meant as sarcasm.

Ol' Duke and the DPRK

When I was in the USAF, I once had a drug dog named Duke.

Now Ol' Duke was a somewhat nutty dog, in fact one of the nuttiest that I ever handled or trained. What made Ol' Duke nutty was not only that he was flaky and hard to train as a drug dog, but the fact that he played bad-ass all the time---especially with me. Rub his stomach and he'd growl and give me the eye like he was ready to chew my arm off. Tell him to get into a vehicle and he'd do the same. Tell him to get out and ditto. Sometimes, he even growled when he peed.

One day, when I was taking him back to the kennels to put him away after a midnight shift, he seemed to sense that I was going on break for 3 days. He was not especially enthusiastic about that. When I reached over to grab the leash and take him out of the car, he grabbed my forearm with his mouth, looked me right in the eye, and put just a little pressure on---not enough to really hurt, but enough that I could feel his big canines pushing into my skin.

Now I had seen all of Duke's tricks before, and although I usually just laughed at him, this was different. Duke may have been a bit of a bluffer, but he had bitten a previous handler and was, of course, attack-trained. I wasn't afraid of the old boy, but I did have respect for what he could do.

Ol' Kim Jung Il et al of North Korea have been making noises again. Just a day or so ago, they changed their stance that any nukes that they produced would only be for defensive purposes and said that they would now use them in a "merciless offensive".

I no longer have any access to any classified information. About all I can do is read media reports and items from various sources on the Internut, and everyone knows how unreliable those often are. But I do think that I "know" enough to guess that the DPRK's latest growls are nothing but growls, for exactly what nukes are they gonna use? I suppose they could have more ready to go than the two that they tested, but I kinda doubt it.*

Ol' Duke had more sense as he had something to back up his growls and it wouldn't have gotten him killed if he did. Is far as I know, the DPRK can only fully back up theirs by killing thousands of South Koreans in Seoul and starting a war which would assure the destruction of the regime.

I felt sorry for Ol' Duke** and stayed late playing with him that morning and later came back during my break to spend more time with him. Who will feel sorry for Ol' Kim?

*24 June: Estimates are that they have enough plutonium for at least 6. I have seen other estimates that they may already have several more. There seems to be few who believe that they have the ability to mount any on missiles yet.

**Alas, poor old Duke is long gone, unlike the should-have-been-history-by-now Stalinist government of North Korea.

More concerns that DPRK will push Japan to nukes

At the same time that the US is considering putting North Korea back on the terrorist list, and placing more financial restrictions on the country, and the UN Security Council seems to be getting a little more serious about tougher sanctions, North Korea has sentenced two US journalists to 12 years in prison:

North Korea on Monday sentenced two American journalists to 12 years of hard labor in a case widely seen as a test of how far the isolated Communist state was willing to take its confrontational stance toward the United States. NYT article

Obama appears to have gotten fed up with DPRK's repeated games and won't offer any new incentives for it to dismantle the nuclear facility, and fears that Kim Jong-il and crowd will start a nuclear arms race in northeast Asia:

...Mrs. Clinton said the United States feared that if the test and other recent actions by North Korea did not lead to “strong action,” there was a risk of “an arms race in Northeast Asia” — an oblique reference to the concern that Japan would reverse its long-held ban against developing nuclear weapons. NYT US Weighs Interecpting North Korean Shipments.

North Korea has threatened war if the UN imposes sanctions or if the US/UN interferes with its vessels. Of course they've threatened war many times since the last war they fought in which they would utterly defeated until China felt threatened enough to intercede. But who really knows what Kim will do?

Weirdo Japan story from the US, again......

This made the weirdo news run in Japan too, though I'd take it as the typical entertainment fluff. Could be wrong though.

And so could she:

Fukasawa [Who coined the term "Herbivore Men"] estimated some 20 percent of men are what she would call "herbivorous" and said their attitudes were influencing others. Indeed, she said, it was a return to the norm for Japanese men, rather than a departure.

"It was after World War II and the post-war economic growth that Japanese men gained the reputation as a sex animal through the competition with the West. Looking back beyond that time, older literature talks a lot about men with the kind of character we see in the herbivorous boys." CNN

After WW2? Before that men were passive guys not interested in sex? What about Genji of the Tale of Genji? Why where'd Lady Murasaki get the idea for his character? Not interested in money? How did the samurai get indebted to the merchant class if nobody was interested in money? Must of been the women's fault.

Ministry in cover up to protect corporate interests over citizens'

The farm ministry uncovered 879 cases of mislabeled food products last year but only disclosed 110 of them in order to protect the companies responsible, according to documents obtained from the ministry Saturday. Japan Times full article.

The penalties for the companies involved were warnings and guidance and the fraud was covered up to prevent "a big social blow" to the crooked companies involved? I am sure none of that will ever happen again as they have no doubt learned their lesson.

Didn't the friend-of-a-friend-of-terrorists, Kunio Hatoyama,who is now head of the Ministry of Communications, just recently issue a warning to one of the TV stations (Fuji?) for reporting something that "wasn't true"? Who will lecture and warn the bureaucrats?

Enjoy your next meal, whatever substance it is and wherever it came from.

What's the keyword?

Over on Japan Economy & News Blog, one can read a number of reports on the continuing decline in sales at department stores. I suppose there are many reasons for this, but one thing is for sure: Poor service has nothing to do with it, for Japan is as well-known for its uniformly good---even superior---service as it is for being hygiene-obsessed and uniquely having 4 seasons.

Imagine my surprise when due to what she called bad service, the wife decided to go down to Minatomirai for lunch instead of our usual Takashimaya. She didn't actually refuse to go, but said she'd eat at Takashimaya (reluctantly) but would do no shopping.

So off to Yokohama we went, with her explaining her reasons---repeatedly over the 20+ minute ride---for cutting up our Takashimaya credit card and ditching thoughts of investing in Takashimaya stocks*. Seems she was so upset by the service at the Shinjuku Takashimaya that even after several complaints and entirely phony apologies, she is planning on sending a written complaint to the president of the company.

A week or so ago, she had stopped at the Shinjuku branch of Takashima to pick up some sushi and discovered that they were holding a special event there for Kyushuu foods. After picking up some ¥200 each fish cakes from one vendor, she went into line to pay. The clerks were telling folks which line to stand and wait in because it was quite crowded.

Finally, she got to the Money Taker. The MT woman said, "Keyword, please."

A**ko: Huh? What keyword?

MT: Didn't you see the TV CM? You have to have the keyword.

The wife, not being the submissive little Japanese lady of myth and fetish was less than pleased to be bothered with such nonsense and let the woman know it. The "embarrassed-looking" Money Taker went to ask the "Idiotic-Looking Manager".

I-LM: We're very sorry, but we can't sell you those fish cakes without the keyword.

A**ko: Do you mean I have to watch TV for a keyword and I can't buy anything here if I don't? I don't care about the discount, I just wanna buy these.

I-LM: Sorry. There are many other items that may be useful to you that you can buy here, but since this is a special event, you cannot by those fish cakes without the keyword. It's only those which you cannot buy.

Ready to punch an Idiotic-Looking Manager A**ko: You don't have any signs saying that a keyword is needed. None of your staff told anyone. I stood in line to buy these. Why don't you let people know before they waste their time?

I-LM: Well, if we put a sign up, then customers will tell each other the keyword and anyone could buy it.

After a few minutes of this, and perhaps fearing for his life, he offered to call someone higher up "to apologize." She refused as "I didn't want an apology! They wouldn't admit that they did anything wrong, they just wanted to apologize because I had to wait."

She sent an e-mail through Takashimaya's website complaining about that, and they wrote back and said that they would set up a sign informing customers of the need for a keyword in future events. Since they still "have not admitted they they did anything wrong," she still refuses to accept any vague non-apology apology.

Personally, I find this shocking! Less than perfect service in Japan? And an improper apology from the always polite citizens who always sincerely apologize? Perhaps the wife has been spoiled and no longer understands Japan.

*We would not invest in the stocks expecting to gain anything, but because stockholders get a 10% discount on purchases. Mitsukoshi offers a similar scam deal and she is now considering an "investment" there. This isn't an uncommon thing in Japan from what I have heard and it is done for the discount and other benefits, not as a "normal" investment.

Tiananmen debate at NYT

It's obvious that to many, the killing of Chinese citizens in June 1989 by the PLA is not universally seen as an evil.

Nicholas Khristof's Answering Your China Questions at the NYT has comments by folks who hold differing views:

Mr. kristof, I can’t believe that you’re so ignorant you said university students nowadays don’t know the names like Wang Dan in China. How many students have you talked to? As I know, most of my classmates and friends in university watched vedios about the Tiananmen Square,...Baowei

...we Chinese must be doing something very right. Is that because our undemocratic government did not screw up the economy? Or is that your universal human rights idea is neither universal nor human, and we are the foremost counter example? "A Chinese."

...What started as a legitimate protest by the students was quickly taken over by the CIA thugs who wanted to fish in a revolt river, but since the Chinese Government knew better, these CIA criminals failed miserably. "Mella"

...not a single comment to the effect of ‘let us honor the memory of the innocent dead that fell in Beijing twenty years ago’...Lei

Another historical event has become something which didn't happen, or if it did was completely exaggerated, or was caused by foreigners and will be a subject of endless debate.

But it's different here.

This is Japan. No, not talking about bigotry being uniquely acceptable in Japan 'cause Japan is special like some fellows of foreign origin who write occasional gomi for a certain English language newspaper in Japan say. Instead, I'm talking about this.

More "mutual understanding"

Mutual understanding seems to be spreading since it has worked so well in the past. (I think "understanding" means pretend to accept what ever happens. Don't complain or criticize no matter what.) China, which has obviously observed how this process works, has decided to pursue it with the US too.

In celebration of June 4 1989 Tienanmen Square:

Chinese police aggressively deterred dissent on Thursday's 20th anniversary of the crackdown on democracy activists in Tiananmen Square, ignoring calls from Hillary Rodham Clinton and even Taiwan's China-friendly president for Beijing to face up to the 1989 violence. AP

China has gone through enormous changes in 20 years, so what is the government worried about? The one-hour plus PBS Frontline online The Tank Man (2006) is a good reminder of those days and more recent times. It enhances mutual understanding.

9:55PM: The Frontline video has a section with four young Chinese students who could not identify the famous photo of the man and the tank. Knew nothing about it.You can find denials that anything out of the ordinary happened at Tiananmen in many places on the Internet, for example in the comments to a The Online Photographer post from one of the anonymous posters (#6 at 4:05PM). The Chinese government has done its work well. The assertion of some at the time that China did no more than what the US government would do under similar circumstances has taken hold. It always come back to the US somehow...

Speaking of Tiananmen, the late Premier Zhao Ziyang's Prisoner of the State: The Secret Journal of Zhao Ziyang is sorta available at amazon.jp as long as you are in no hurry to get it. Zhao Ziyang was the guy who went to the square and was sympathetic to the student protesters which ultimately ended his career. The book was recently discussed on the PBS Jim Lehrer Newshour.

Justice delayed, justice denied

A man wrongly imprisoned for murdering a 4-year old has been released from prison. As is commonly the case, he had "voluntarily"confessed to the crime, but later withdrew the confession. Since the criminal justice system had locked up the wrong guy, they have so far missed out on searching for the real killer whom we might assume is still running around free. Since there is a statute of limitations even for murder in Japan, the 17 years that have passed may be very significant if they are counted towards the 25 year limit.

"I'll never forgive the real culprit, even if the statute of limitations expires," Toshikazu Sugaya, 62, told reporters in Chiba after his release. "From now on, I will work to support people who have also been (wrongfully) convicted."

...Manabu Sasamori, a lawyer in Sugaya's defense team, slammed the prosecutors, saying: "It is only natural that he be released. Actually, this step came too late."...The prosecutors will probably admit they forced a confession out of Sugaya once his retrial begins, Sasamori added. [His conviction is expected to be overturned in retrial] Japan Times

Perhaps this sort of thing might be prevented or at least reduced if recording of police/suspect interviews was required. But no, according to confessed terrorist contact Kunio Hatoyama*'s "Justice" Ministry successor, considering that "would be difficult."**

Serving 17 years in prison for nothing is probably just a bit difficult too, but since politicians and bureaucrats very, very rarely ever serve that kind of time none of them are gonna worry too much. And besides, we've often heard those guys who run the system with kobans---I refuse to call them professional law enforcement officers---say that to record those interviews would damage the "trust" that suspects and Japan's finest develop. I wonder what Mr. Sugaya would say about that trust? Imagine just how stupid they must think the public is to even make that kind of statement. (Or perhaps how apathetic/passive the public is?)

Speaking of the boys in blue, in Okayama a 29-year old officer in charge of theft investigations was apprehended by two high school boys after he snatched a purse from an old lady. No word on whether or not he has apologized yet.**

Were I a religious person, I'd be praying for a DPJ victory. However, there is a horribly frightening rumor going around that the friend of a friend of terrorists, Kunio Hatoyama, may be considering going to the DPJ!

* This fellow is still a government minister. Why?

**Both shown on the 6PM news.

Old news about Roos

Spending days avoiding non-work related computer stuff has some benefits. One can actually read a book, for example. Unfortunately, it also results in missing a lot, sorta like living in the past. That isn't necessarily all bad, but the the past of the 21st century seems to be about 3 days ago instead of the years and decades we used to think of as the past.

On second thought on the now ancient news about John Roos, maybe the appointment of a unknown with no specific knowledge of Japan as US Ambassador to Japan is not a big deal. After all, one of the early Japan apologists and US Ambassador, Edwin O. Reischauer, was often said to be confused about which country he represented---Japan or the US. Don't think we need another of those. On the other hand, I have heard that Roos was handed one of Reischauer's books to bone up on Japan. Oh, goody.

International marriage analyzed by TV star

An exciting new TV drama is scheduled to begin on NHK called Plastic (Vinyl?)Sheets Blowing in the Wind. In it, a Japanese woman marries her American boss at the Tokyo Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (an ironic location for such an office). Naturally problems ensue. Staring i a TV show and going to eikaiwa lessons gave the star, Kasue Fukisii, special insight into the mysterious world of international marriage

"I take English conversation classes, and when I say to my American or English or Canadian teacher that I'm making this or that drama, they say 'Who is in it?' And when I tell them they are like, 'Hmmm.' They have no idea who I am talking about," Fukiishi explained.... "If that sort of gap becomes apparent in just a 40-minute conversation lesson, imagine what would happen during a whole life together!"...

and to show that she does not work for a bunch of manipulative goofballs with next to no morals: "my management office recommends I date a foreigner — to improve my English language skills." Japan Times

I can't wait to watch. I am sure that it won't be the typical program of its type full of simple-minded stereotypes.

Judge a book by its cover and

learn the same old lesson.

Was talking with a fellow who seemed somewhat bright. Doesn't work for one of the big Japanese companies, but for a Tokyo branch of another company headquartered in northeast Asia. Things were going well for the first 5 minutes we spoke, then he mentioned the recession and the record drop in Japan's GDP. This was because folks had stopped spending money and were saving it instead, he informed me. He then told me how he had heard that Westerners behave differently than Japanese in a recession---don't reduce spending and such. He asked for my thoughts on this puzzling issue.

Honored as I was to be asked to speak for all Westerners, I didn't really have much of a clue about what New Zealanders or the Spanish, or even Canadians do. Maybe they spend more in a recession, but I expect they are humans too, so maybe they don't. How could anyone enjoy a recession if they keep on buying and making and selling things?

Although I wanted to ask him if he were naturally stupid or if it were something that he worked at, I could think of nothing clever or polite to say. In the end, I simply let the poor fellow know that, no the Japanese were nothing special, most folks reduce spending in a recession. I then found a reason to excuse myself.

The odds were, of course, very strong that he was a university graduate. A university graduate, and a "professional" who not only lacked even the slightest understanding of economics, but of the human race. Should I ever meet this fellow again---and I might---I will see the word baka written on his forehead.

Nihonjinron/nihonron: Deny that natural, widespread human tendencies, emotions, customs, and so on could possibly be shared with non-Japanese. Instead claim those things as especially or uniquely Japanese. This will advance the much blabbered about "mutual understanding."

1236AM: I am certain that I could go back to the US or nearly any other country and have an equally idiotic conversation with someone about Japan.

*He stayed in Florida.

Relax, the DPRK is not governed by suicidal nuts

I used to listen to Radio Pyongyang on shortwave, and it was always somewhat amusing as it sounded like some bad propaganda film from the 50s. So in a way, it's hard to take the loud threats from North Korea too seriously.

Then again, one has to remember the South Koreans, Japanese, French, Americans and others that the regime has kidnapped or killed over the years. And Ragoon, Burma* where in 1983 North Korean agents blew up and killed a number of ROK government officials in an attempt on the president's life. Or its bombing of a civilian aircraft (CAUTION:Wikipedia link). The USS Pueblo. The attacks on the US Army on the "DMZ" during the Vietnam War which left at least 75 members of the US military and 299 ROK soldiers dead; its ax murder of a US Army major in the mid 1970s, again in the "DMZ;" its attempt to murder the then president of South Korea, Park Chung-hi.

Those things are generally considered purty close to being acts of war. So it's hard to be reassured by those "in the know" that Kim Jung Il and the North Korean leadership are not nuts and wouldn't really risk a suicidal war.

Now the leadership of North Korea has decided to say the Korean War truce is no longer valid and threatened to attack South Korea if its ships are searched as a result of the little nuclear detonation and missile launch games they are playing.

Analysts in Seoul said they regarded North Korea's warnings as serious but doubted the willingness of Kim to provoke a large-scale confrontation.

"The problem is that both sides cannot afford to make a concession," said Dong Yong-seung, a senior fellow at the North Korean division of Samsung Economic Research Institute. "It is like a game of chicken." NYT, non-Onion version (?).

And that's probably true. Trouble is, one of those playing chicken has shown numerous signs in the past of being just a bit unstable in the noggin' by most standards, regardless of its real goals and intentions.

If Japan had the bomb, none of this would be happening of course. There's magic in them thar bombs.

*Some prefer the military dictatorship's "Myanmar."

Nothing has changed in decades

“People who tell you they know what’s going on there don’t know,” said one official, who spoke anonymously because he was not authorized to speak publicly. “What’s undeniable is that there are substantial challenges to all the previous approaches to North Korea.” NYT

Flu Panic Spreads as North Korea sets off nuke

THE TIMES OF NEW YORK

Unmasked residents, eyes pixelated in fear,

flee across the street after an uncovered sneeze
was reported in a local eyeglass shop.

TOKYO--Panic spread out of control in Japan today as it was announced that the unpredictable leader of North Korea had set off a nuke just days after Iran got in the headlines by testing a new missile. To add to the nuke fears, a shortage of masks in Tokyo and as far away as Nagano prefecture has caused many to flee in hysteria at the slightest hint of a cough or sneeze. Government officials have been in meetings since the detonation to determine if these combined panics are necessary or not. Reports that the WHO is considering revising its pandemic alert levels to eliminate Level 6 "Pandemic" and go straight to a Level 7 "Kiss your ass goodbye" are adding to the chaos.

Many Monday commuters were seen holding their breath to avoid being infected by either Swine flu virus or radioactive fallout from the North Korean blast. Due to the shortage of anti-Swine flu masks, only one person in Tokyo was spotted wearing the life-saving item.

Millions flee a station exit
gasping for air in a blind panic
after holding their breath for the
duration of their commute.


By noon Monday, the outspoken but harmless nationalist, Governor Shintaro Ishihara was seen mounting a tank in preparation to lead a preemptive strike against dangerous, criminally-inclined, rioting non-Japanese and little old ladies.

UPDATE: Tokyo--Prime Minister Aso announced that the elections scheduled for later this summer were to be postponed indefinitely. "We cannot afford to play politics as long as there are nuclear weapons and viruses on the planet," Mr. Aso reluctantly stated.

In a separate and entirely unrelated development, the Tokyo prosecutor's office announced an investigation into the DPJ's new leader Yukio Hatoyama over past claims that Hatoyama had contacts in terrorist organizations. Prosecutors vigorously denied any political motives when it was pointed out that it was the LDP's Kunio Hatoyama who had made those claims about himself while Justice Minister, not Yukio Hatoyama. A spokesman said that the charges were very serious and that Yukio Hatoyama had to be impartially, but thoroughly investigated to make sure that he was not Kunio Hatoyama.

Visiting Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman said that the Bush administration was responsible for all these problems.

Ima Loony, head of the NPO "Ethics in Eikaiwa Chain Schools" and Oi Bakero of "Reporters with No Standards" contributed to this article from under a blue tarp along the Tama River.

Glimpses of Japan

New to me, despite subscribing to magu-magu mail magazine, is a site of weekly posts by a 39-year resident ---since 11 April 1970---of Japan at Glimpses of Japan. Short observations of life in Japan. His latest post is an observation on the Japanese media frenzy over Swine flu. I agree, but it ain't any worse than the media anywhere else as far as I have seen. (I'm stayin' inside today myself in order to avoid the panicked, screaming hordes of mask-wearing folks in crisis mode that I've been hearing about.)

He also had a 2004 post about "American coffee" which you can find in a lot of restaurants and cheapo coffee shops. In the past the choice was "blend" or American which was akin to choosing between be executed by hanging or firing squad. I'll take a wild guess and say it may have come from coffee served in U.S. Army mess halls and sold black market during the occupation. I often have people---maybe just after telling me about Japan's unique four seasons and the fact that non-Japanese have wet ear wax while Japanese have dry---that American coffee is very weak. You mean Starbucks I ask? Confusion results.

3:48PM: It's unbelievable, but after reading through most of 5-years worth of his posts, I have not discovered the mysterious, uniquely-unique Japan of the media and myth. Why, it seems like a normal country with some good points and some problems. Imagine that.

Thanks Uncle Sam

Nissan Motor Co. is likely to receive more than ¥100 billion in low-interest loans set up by the U.S. government to promote the development of and transition to electric vehicles and other fuel-efficient cars, sources said Friday.

Nissan is the first foreign automaker that is close to winning approval for the direct loans... Full story at the Japan Times.

Japan's crisis mode over, but do we panic or not?

TOKYO, May 22 (Reuters) - Japan relaxed rules for dealing with the new H1N1 flu on Friday, concerned that strict regulations could harm the economy and needlessly restrict the public, given that most of its nearly 300 cases have been mild.

Japan's plans were drafted with the deadly bird flu in mind, while studies show the new swine flu is behaving like seasonal flu.

However the WHO says

Countries should be ready for more serious H1N1 flu infections and more deaths from the newly discovered virus, World Health Organization chief Margaret Chan said on Friday.

Pressure has been growing for [WHO chief] Chan to factor in the severity of the newly-discovered disease as well as its geographic spread before sounding the pandemic alarm that several governments said could trigger unnecessary panic.
Reuters again.

DO NOT PANIC UNTIL IT BECOMES NECESSARY TO PANIC!!!

The original, the classic

and Hatoyama to the rescue:

The one below is still much better.

Who is John Roos?

While trying to catch up on some news after a week of trying not to catch up on some news, I discovered at GlobalTalk 21 that some fellow named John Roos will (might?) be the next U.S. Ambassador to Japan. Surprising as that was to me and about everyone else, at Armchair Asia I discovered that the White House appears to be in the dark on its choice of Roos too.

The cynical would suspect that Roos' main qualification for the job---if being a U.S. Ambassador requires any qualifications---is that he got folks to fork over big globs of cash to the Obama campaign as a fundraiser.

Roos is little known among U.S. and Japanese officials, raising some doubt about his qualifications. Breitbart.com

On second thought however, one of the main duties of the U.S. Ambassador to Japan seems to be to find a way to get Japan to fork over big globs of cash for various U.S. adventures which makes him a perfectly logical, nearly ideal choice. That plus the fact that he was a Silicon Valley lawyer. If he knows next to nothing about the country, it would strengthen his qualifications even more.

Glad to see yet more "change" from the (no-longer) new administration.

John Roos '80: Lawyering to Silicon Valley's Elite

NYT goes Onion on Japan

Over the last few weeks, the New York Times has published a number of bizarre, half-nonsense articles on Japan. This week they've been on a roll, publishing two in a row.

First thing this morning they came up with an article of "hygiene-obsessed" Japan going into crisis mode over Swine flu complete with an obviously cropped-to-mislead photo of folks wearing masks on a Tokyo train meant to give the blatantly false impression that everyone---or at least a majority of people are wearing masks.

The story, despite the title (With flu fears rising Japan goes into crisis mode) and photo was mainly about Kobe which I think is in Japan, but is not Japan.

The crisis mode seems to be mostly in the media as most people I know are aware and concerned, but not in a crisis mode. One friend told me about not being able to find masks---probably because of all the imaginary mask-wearers on the Tokyo subway---but did not seem to be overly concerned.

The subway lines I use may be special, but there seemed to be no more than 4-5 mask-wearing-folks-in-crisis-mode per car yesterday morning or last night. The photo with the Hiroko Tabuchi NYT article shows that there were at least three mask-wearers hygiene-obsessed Tokyo train.

Wait, didn't Hiroko have the half-witted, half-the-story, back to the 80s piece about secure jobs and lifetime employment in Japan a few days ago in the NYT too? I wonder: After all the increasingly large percentage of the work-force who are temporary workers are laid off, what happens to employees at smaller companies when "suppliers are squeezed"? (Except for the small company, Shinano Kogyo, mentioned in the article where everything is wonderful.) And after all of these folks are fired, how can a reporter write an article about Japan's obsession with keeping its workers employed? Easy, count only "regular workers" and to hell with the rest. Just like the companies.

1540: Perhaps I was a bit early in the criticism of the Onion NYT article as none other than the authoritative Japan Times is reporting a panic near the wife's hometown after Swine flu was detected in some high school girls who had visited an unhygienic, disease-filled foreign country. Looking at the photo of Mizonokuchi station there---again conveniently cropped/framed for (misleading?) editorial purposes---it seems that a huge number of folks are donning masks. I missed that as I didn't work today and as usual avoid crowds and trains whenever I can. Panicked calls concerning the virus have increased from 150 per day to 250 since last evening. Seems a lot of folks have suddenly begun to feel that they have a fever. (Isn't this easy to determine?) Oh my god, we're all gonna die after all!!!!!! Do not panic.

And whatever you do, do not visit the real Onion and do a search for Japan.

I want to visit Japan

I've obviously never been there:

"...a national obsession with cleanliness that makes even Switzerland look messy. Masks are common on subways because it is considered rude* to lack one if you are sneezing..."

..."Kobe residents rushed to hospitals, where doctors in biohazard suits checked people for fever in tents set up in parking lots"...NYT

As the masks of very, very questionable effectiveness are now out of stock in nearby drug and convenience stores, I'd like to get ahold of one of those biohazard suits. Actually, I'd like a number of them for the whole family. Fortunately(?), we stockpiled several boxes of masks earlier because we want to try to avoid a flu of any type, especially for older family members. Seems like a lot of others forgot.

Take a look at those masks. Ever notice that few people wear them correctly? Notice the large gaps between the mask and skin. Notice how when someone coughs or sneezes the mask moves away from the face. Then you have to wonder how you take them off without touching the outside where the virus from the saliva of those who cannot keep from coughing all over everyone** collects. If you do manage that, where do you put the contaminated mask? In your pocket? A difficult to find trash bin? What do you do, carry a dozen around with you?

Several weeks ago I heard one official in the US claim that masks were next being to a fraud for preventing the spread of a virus and only a very few brands were effective even under the best of circumstances. Perhaps it's different here (whatever country this is), but I think the masks are just about as useful as gargling or placebos. I suppose though, when you have to ride crowded subways where a number of rude people seem to cough and sneeze without masks or handkerchiefs or tissues, it's better than nothing.

*I wonder, could it be that even if it is considered rude (which coughing and sneezing openly is) that rude people can easily---very easily---get away with doing unbelievably rude things in public places because very few will ever complain? That's how it seems to be in the country I live in.

**I have heard that this sort of thing does not happen in Japan either. What a perfect country that place must be.

What you say?!!

Published in the NYT and it is not some sort of idiotic fantasy-world pap like some of the recent stuff has been. I'll have to read and reread this to make sure that I am not dreaming as it seems to make some sense. Not that it will make any difference...

...in view of the deepening quagmire in Japan’s domestic politics, U.S. policymakers may need to scale down their ambitions for the role they wish to assign Japan. More than 60 years after World War II, Japan is still generally isolated in the Asian region. It remains heavily dependent on the United States for its defense and the health of the U.S. economy for its growth — not a positive state of affairs for U.S. policymakers trying to cope with rising regional powers and economic difficulties of their own...

...mounting voter frustration in Japan with an unresponsive political system leaves the door ajar for nationalist politicians and policies...A must read at NYT

The authors go on to state that the 60-year old contingency scenario for Korea is no longer adequate and that perhaps the security relationship with Japan should be "multilaterized." Someone shut these guys up before they influence US policy to move past the 1950s. Fortunately though, US foreign policy does not change until change is forced.

Maybe I am just a bit too sensitive to the rants of the nationalists, but methinks the door is a little more than ajar already.

(Speaking of NYT nonsense, I have never been to Norway and know nothing about it, but I'll just bet that this is oversimplified goofiness.)

Man Overboard!

Although it's been days since the fearless Captain Ozawa woke up and decided that perhaps it was maybe possibly time for him to step aside, I have not been able to come up with a single thing to say. Perhaps that will change tomorrow as the "new" DPJ leader is scheduled to burst upon the scene and save us* from another 60 years of LDP leadership, but Ichiro's announcement left me just about as underwhelmed as I was to hear reports that some members of the US Congress may have known about waterboarding and such techniques, raised no objections until it became politically popular to do so, and then lied and lied about knowing.

Anyway, as a (yet again) final tribute to the good captain:


(I tried to find the original CM, but could not on YouTube. You'd be surprised---or not--- how many anti Ozawa/DPJ videos you can find there posted by shall we kindly say "right-leaning folk" including some overseas folks (in Canada and elsewhere) who love the LDP and Aso. This is probably better than the original anyway.)

*I realize that some folks would be offended by my use of the term "us" as I am not a Japanese citizen, but frankly I don't give a (censored) what those types "think".

Oh Sh*t!

Spotted lurking around in Yokohama Bay...


He's back!

Hospitals take action to avoid (foreign) flu germs

Some patients were rejected by hospitals after reporting that they worked at Narita International Airport or have a foreign friend. Japan Times.

As usual, some hospitals are refusing to treat patients for some rather curious reasons. That's not a problem though, for they can do that here even if someone dies (a number of such cases have appeared in the news over the last few years).

Now some are refusing to treat people with a fever, instead telling them to go to the special flu clinics set up earlier. This doesn't always work, for some who have visited a flu clinic have still been rejected by hospitals after being directed to go to one by a clinic.

The Tokyo government might investigate these incidents as violations of the medical practitioner's law. Thank goodness! Expect immediate and decisive action to end this sort of practice forever!

Wonder what happens when someone with a foreign friend who happens to be non-Japanese herself asks for treatment at one of these sleazy places? I wondered how long it would take before the "dangerous foreigner" angle appeared. It is never a question of if, but of when and to what degree.

Google prejudiced

Google included some historical maps of Japan in its online collection which showed the boundaries of burakumin "lower-caste" areas. These folks were and are still discriminated against.

...still face prejudice, based almost entirely on where they live or their ancestors lived.

An employee at a large, well-known Japanese company, who works in personnel and has direct knowledge of its hiring practices, said the company actively screens out burakumin-linked job seekers.

(The same thing can still happen to those of Korean descent, illegal or not.)

"If there is an incident because of these maps, and Google is just going to say 'It's not our fault' or 'It's down to the user,' then we have no choice but to conclude that Google's system itself is a form of prejudice," said Toru Matsuoka, an Upper House Diet member. (He is also a member of the Burakumin Liberation League.)

When complaints reached Google, they removed any reference to burakumin on the maps.

The result?

"This is like saying those people didn't exist. There are people for whom this is their hometown, who are still living there now," said Takashi Uchino from the Buraku Liberation League headquarters in Tokyo.

The Justice Ministry is investigating. Not sure, but it seems that the discrimination against these folks is not Google's problem but Japan's and hiding the fact of continuing discrimination is not going to resolve anything. But then again, "This is Japan." One of E.O Reischauer's sugary books (The Japanese Today, I believe) mentioned the eta/burakumin and those references were removed from the Japanese edition. Reischauer must have been a bigot too.

All quotes from the May 5 Japan Times article.

Oops. Swine flu may actually be no worse than a mild cold

Or something like that. After every news station, Internet site, and newspaper in Japan, the US, Britain, France, Germany, and probably elsewhere (Overseas TV news programs are broadcast every morning via NHK BS. BS being the satellite station, not a comment on their news content.) Now, after they and the WHO said we were all going to die but not to panic, it seems that there was a slight miscalculation on the number of folks who actually had it in Mexico and thus the severity may have been exaggerated. Don't worry though, there is still a chance that it will mutate to a really deadly flu and spread worldwide eliminating both humans and pigs.* Imagine the ratings!

It's too late for me though, as I read in the Japan Times that when people sneeze, cough, or even talk, they spray saliva 2 to 3 meters. I now find myself calculating the distance between myself and anyone who coughs or sneezes to see if I am outside the spit zone. I have not been yet. Ever wondered how wide a train is? I have a pretty accurate estimate now.

I try and try to be like my buddy from Down Under whose main concerns are along the lines of the CIA/Area 51/UFO/JFK assassination link and when the next party is, but I have not been able to reach that "Happy Boy" nirvana.

*5:18 PM The latest reports are now saying that perhaps it is too early not to panic as a global pandemic of total death could still occur:

The World Health Organization cautioned that the swine flu outbreak could gain momentum in the months ahead, despite claims by the health secretary of Mexico -- the epicenter of the outbreak -- that the virus "is in its declining phase."

"I ... would like to remind people that in 1918 the Spanish flu showed a surge in the spring, and then disappeared in the summer months, only to return in the autumn of 1918 with a vengeance," [WHO spokesman] Hartl said. "And we know that that eventually killed 40 million to 50 million people." CNN International

Everything may still go horribly wrong and kill almost everyone. Please do not panic. Stay tuned to CNN for the latest.

Ex-Thug writes book, gets rich, has interview,

becomes confused:

...he raises social, political and media facts...[Emphasis mine]

Asked why Japan allows the yakuza, he gives the old "the US does it too" whine as part of his answer:

The (U.S.) government is in fact the biggest gangster group. That's why they are engaged in acts of torture at Abu Ghraib prison (in Iraq) and confinement (at the Guatanamo Bay detention center in Cuba). Compared to the level of atrocities committed in these places, acts committed by Japanese gangs probably rate only about one 100-millionth.

... I think the yakuza show the maturity of a country's democracy. I think a society with the yakuza is a sound society...

He then warns us about countries/governments that have eliminated their organized thugs---Nazi Germany, Pol Pot, North Korea. Therefore, if we eliminate organized child porn producing, drug dealing, extortionist, murdering gangs, we'll become like Nazis. "Where the yakuza aren't involved, nations are."

Although he earlier gave us the fact that the US is the world's biggest gangster group because of Abu Ghraib, he doesn't hesitate to show us that Japan is actually a worse gangster:

...Japanese prisons are said to be worse than Abu Ghraib in the treatment of inmates...From where else but the Japan Times

He (Manabu Miyazaki) also opposes the new lay judge system because a democracy is run by "specialist bureaucrats" who "can often make efficient and fair decisions" and that citizen participation might not always be good*. On the other hand, he is not happy about the charges against Ozawa's secretary and believes that the prosecution has political motives.

The ex-loan shark then gives a very shrewd, shallow analysis of Obama's election: People didn't like Bush, so they elected Obama who is like former PM Koizumi because both are populists.

Of course one should read the full article to get the full impact and meaning.

*Edited to more accurately reflect his actual (translated) words.

We're doomed

"When patients cough, sneeze or speak, viruses in their saliva fly 2 or 3 meters," he said. Flu may be transmitted if the infected saliva reaches someone else's mouth or nose, or their hands and they rub their eyes or eat with them, he added.

Those worried about infection should also be careful when removing their masks...

...."You don't want to touch its surface, which has probably absorbed other people's saliva." Japan Times.

Think about that on your next adventure in public.

Meanwhile, folks in New York have other things to worry about: "...to air-kiss or not to air-kiss?"