Despite Japan being the world’s second largest economy, suicide rate here is among the highest throughout the world. Annual suicide deaths have never been below 30 thousand over the past decade. Percentage-wise, it is 20 people per one hundred thousand population. In 2008 Japan ranked eighth in terms of suicide rate, with former Soviet countries and a satellite communist country rounding out the top ten.
The news today reports that a recent investigation into causes of train delays in and around Tokyo has found that the biggest cause last year was train suicide, accounting for more than half of about 40 thousand delays. Train companies have now come up with a new way to tackle this problem: They are replacing red lights usually installed at stations with blue lights, as blue is believed to have a “calming effect” and thus could deter people from committing suicide.
In fact train delays are almost an everyday thing here and the term “jinshin-jiko” (train accident involving human injury or death) is one of the most heard 4-moji jukugo (4-Kanji-character idiom) these days.
Train workers’ jargon for gathering up mangled and scattered body parts after an accident is “tuna disposal (maguro shori),” and it’s not uncommon that travelers to Japan are unfortunate enough to witness the scene and be traumatized for the rest of their life.
On a side note, Japan will no longer be the world’s second largest economy in a few years, maybe next year at the earliest. China is going to take over that position. It is believed to surpass even the US around year 2040.
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
In the recent news
The city hosting the world's biggest sports event in 2016 will be decided on Oct 2nd. Tokyo is one of the contenders. The idea of hosting it only about 50 years after the first one was held in the city was first brought up by the incumbent governor of Tokyo. He was reportedly miffed by the fact that the country he hates most hosted the event just recently. It seems his jingoistic pride was hurt. And that seems to be the main reason he brought the idea up, with no one else seemingly getting involved in drafting the plan.
The DPJ is considering scrapping the controversial plan to relocate Tsukiji, Tokyo's huge fish market, to a landfill on the shore of the Tokyo Bay, because the soil contamination there has proven too high for such a facility to be built. The location is very close to the area where the event will be held if Tokyo becomes the winner. If the pollution is bad enough for dead fish, it would be far more problematic for people and athletes who would have to stay there, even for a short while.
I think the world has recently learned the hard way that the event should be held in a city with no pollution problems.
On the other hand if Tokyo lost, the huge amount of tax money spent on campaigning activities would be wasted. If it did, then who would take responsibility for that. But even that might be better than further wasting crazy amounts of money on an equally crazy, disgusting extravaganza in the opening ceremony and things like that.
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The DPJ is considering scrapping the controversial plan to relocate Tsukiji, Tokyo's huge fish market, to a landfill on the shore of the Tokyo Bay, because the soil contamination there has proven too high for such a facility to be built. The location is very close to the area where the event will be held if Tokyo becomes the winner. If the pollution is bad enough for dead fish, it would be far more problematic for people and athletes who would have to stay there, even for a short while.
I think the world has recently learned the hard way that the event should be held in a city with no pollution problems.
On the other hand if Tokyo lost, the huge amount of tax money spent on campaigning activities would be wasted. If it did, then who would take responsibility for that. But even that might be better than further wasting crazy amounts of money on an equally crazy, disgusting extravaganza in the opening ceremony and things like that.
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Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Sep 15
A member of the now opposition LDP who appeared on a news show today made a comment pointing out the plan of the DPJ that is characterized by a massive increase in welfare spending without tax increases is anything but realistic. He just stated the obvious. It's painfully apparent to everyone that the welfare spending proposed by the DPJ would not be feasible without the government issuing more government bonds to compensate an unavoidable huge budget deficit. However the DPJ pledge they will not consider raising consumption tax for the next four years. It seems obvious even to lay people that just cutting "unnecessary" spending that they blame on what they call "bureaucrats' empire" would in no way be sufficient to make the extra welfare money needed. If they are envisioning a welfare state like those in Europe, they should act in a more responsible way. A hike in consumption tax would be unavoidable. It's time to admit the obvious.
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Sunday, September 13, 2009
Sep 13 2009
A newspaper mentions the incumbent prime minister's inability to read Kanji correctly as one of the things that helped the DPJ with its resounding victory. That may or may not be true, but who cares now that he is history. One of the biggest things that contributed to the devastating loss would be Abe's early resignation two years before, due to his nervous breakdown and severe stomachache.
Last week the media were all about two Ichiros, Suzuki Ichiro of the Seattle Mariners and Ozawa Ichiro of the DPJ, one for his record-breaking pursuit, and the other for his role as a background fixer who was behind the scenes all along and who deserves the most credit for making the landslide victory possible. Self-proclaimed successor to Tanaka Kakuei, he would be best remembered as the true revolutionary of our time in later days.
Before and during the Koizumi era, one of the highest political agendas people were talking about almost every day was how to boost the national economy by enacting various deregulation laws and thus globalizing the country. Now a lot of people are talking about the mess the deregulations created and condemning market fundamentalism and globalization. The guy who put this line of thinking into words to be posted on a foreign newspaper is going to be the next prime minister. Next week.
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Last week the media were all about two Ichiros, Suzuki Ichiro of the Seattle Mariners and Ozawa Ichiro of the DPJ, one for his record-breaking pursuit, and the other for his role as a background fixer who was behind the scenes all along and who deserves the most credit for making the landslide victory possible. Self-proclaimed successor to Tanaka Kakuei, he would be best remembered as the true revolutionary of our time in later days.
Before and during the Koizumi era, one of the highest political agendas people were talking about almost every day was how to boost the national economy by enacting various deregulation laws and thus globalizing the country. Now a lot of people are talking about the mess the deregulations created and condemning market fundamentalism and globalization. The guy who put this line of thinking into words to be posted on a foreign newspaper is going to be the next prime minister. Next week.
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Sunday, August 30, 2009
In the news last week
Every single newspaper is predicting the Dem Party's landslide victory.
The weather forecast for today, the election day, is cloudy with occasional rain in much of Japan. Though it may sound a bit counterintuitive, cloudy weather boosts voting, according to statistics. Or that makes a lot of sense considering this election takes place in summer vacation season, when people will likely choose to go to resorts or Disneylands with family over going to vote on sunny days. It is believed, though without much evidence, that the higher the turnout the more likely it is that the opposition party will win.
Ozone generators are actually a health hazard:
There have been numerous reports of health problems from people using the gadget, which is supposed to boost health by staving off flu and other viruses. It's not that they have glitches; despite what many might believe, ozone is intrinsically bad for human health, esp if supplied in excess. Their sales have seen a marked increase the past couple years. In the cases reported, the ozone they generate has contributed to triggering or aggravating asthma and similar diseases.
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The weather forecast for today, the election day, is cloudy with occasional rain in much of Japan. Though it may sound a bit counterintuitive, cloudy weather boosts voting, according to statistics. Or that makes a lot of sense considering this election takes place in summer vacation season, when people will likely choose to go to resorts or Disneylands with family over going to vote on sunny days. It is believed, though without much evidence, that the higher the turnout the more likely it is that the opposition party will win.
Ozone generators are actually a health hazard:
There have been numerous reports of health problems from people using the gadget, which is supposed to boost health by staving off flu and other viruses. It's not that they have glitches; despite what many might believe, ozone is intrinsically bad for human health, esp if supplied in excess. Their sales have seen a marked increase the past couple years. In the cases reported, the ozone they generate has contributed to triggering or aggravating asthma and similar diseases.
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Monday, August 24, 2009
Election fever
Japan is in the middle of the election campaign. Exactly the same campaign broadcast featuring the leader of each party is being rerun every morning and every night. I watched Hatoyama, the prospective winner, say,"We should put an end to the politics of the bureaucrats, by the bureaucrats, for the bureaucrats, for our better future," on TV over and over again. According to their logic, bureaucrats are our common enemies. I wonder how many people will take these words at face value. Few will deny the fact that Japan's success and prosperity since the end of the last war owes a great deal to the bureaucrats' tactical ways of making quasi-socialistic policies under the disguise of free market capitalism. As an example, Japan's health insurance system, which covers each and every one of us, was first thought up and created by truly insightful bureaucrats in the wake of the end of the occupation. They modeled the system after those of Northern European countries like Sweden, which they admired.
While lambasting the bureaucrats on the one hand, the Democratic Party is saying the "free-market-is-everything-ism" is ruining this country. Some analysts predict they won't be able to do much without help from the powerful bureaucrats, let alone have control over them.
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While lambasting the bureaucrats on the one hand, the Democratic Party is saying the "free-market-is-everything-ism" is ruining this country. Some analysts predict they won't be able to do much without help from the powerful bureaucrats, let alone have control over them.
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Tuesday, August 18, 2009
In the news today
Campaigning for the Lower House election officially started today. The election is on Aug 30. Yesterday a debate among six party leaders took place at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan, among them the ruling party leader and Prime Minister Aso, the strongest opposition party leader Hatoyama.
During the debate, Mr. Aso again made a Kanji reading error. He read 踏襲 as “fushu”, instead of the correct “toshu,” something that could be laughed at even by elementary school children. “Fushu” means the smell of corruption.
Democratic Party, the strongest opposition group, is leading in every recent poll. Hatoyama said during the debate that his party is willing to give voting rights to aliens in Japan. Personally I have no idea why he brought that up on this occasion, nor what good it will possibly do to his party in the election. Coincidentally (or not), a Korean old man who's lived in Japan for a long time committed a really gruesome crime on the same day. The abduction issue is nowhere near being solved. Grandchild of a former prime minister, Hatoyama is one of the richest politicians in Japan, with estimated assets of around eighty-four million dollars.
One party leader criticized Aso for the way he dissolved the Lower House, saying the law that allowed the long-overdue dissolution was a remnant of pre-democratic conventions and that it was just against democratic ways of doing politics. But despite the criticism, the timing of the dissolution couldn't be better for Aso's foes, as the poll figures suggest. Had he made the decision a little earlier, things might have been a bit different. Having said that, Democratic Party's victory is in no way a sure thing. At least just yet.
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During the debate, Mr. Aso again made a Kanji reading error. He read 踏襲 as “fushu”, instead of the correct “toshu,” something that could be laughed at even by elementary school children. “Fushu” means the smell of corruption.
Democratic Party, the strongest opposition group, is leading in every recent poll. Hatoyama said during the debate that his party is willing to give voting rights to aliens in Japan. Personally I have no idea why he brought that up on this occasion, nor what good it will possibly do to his party in the election. Coincidentally (or not), a Korean old man who's lived in Japan for a long time committed a really gruesome crime on the same day. The abduction issue is nowhere near being solved. Grandchild of a former prime minister, Hatoyama is one of the richest politicians in Japan, with estimated assets of around eighty-four million dollars.
One party leader criticized Aso for the way he dissolved the Lower House, saying the law that allowed the long-overdue dissolution was a remnant of pre-democratic conventions and that it was just against democratic ways of doing politics. But despite the criticism, the timing of the dissolution couldn't be better for Aso's foes, as the poll figures suggest. Had he made the decision a little earlier, things might have been a bit different. Having said that, Democratic Party's victory is in no way a sure thing. At least just yet.
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