Hiroko's Hitokoto

Have you noticed only female employee in banks and the other large corporations wear a common uniform? Since the for Equal Employment Opportunity Law was passed, and because of the slow economy, more companies are letting female employees decide on their own clothes. It can save a company about JPY200m per year. On the other hand, those women who have to buy new work clothes spend JPY20k to JPY50k per month. This money goes to the Department stores and the apparel industry in general and is probably helping the economy. But I do feel sorry for those women who have to spend a big portion of their salary to buy new clothes. It use to be a very typical office scene that men wore a suit and women a uniform. I think it would be much easier if I had a uniform so that I didn't have to think what I should wear every morning. Of course, in a way I do have a uniform: T-shirt and jeans. I'm seeing a lot more people dressed in such a uniform at LINC Media recently!

The obon season is coming, and I believe many of you are taking a vacation during this period. The word "bon" came from an old Sanskrit phrase "ura bon e", originally meaning "agony". It came from India via China, and eventually reached Japan. The term came from the fact that your ancestors' spirits come back to your home town during obon, and you have to be careful not to have any accidents least the spirits try to take you back [to their] home with them... Please take care and enjoy your vacation.

I found out that August 4th is the "Day of Chopsticks." Eight is "hachi," and four is "shi." Thus 8/4 can be read as "hashi" (Japanese for chopsticks). Hashi are very popular tool worldwide, and I guess that many of you may be even more comfortable using hashi than regular cutlery. I know that for our foreign staff, though, you must get sick of Japanese who keep asking if you can use hashi. From New York to New Delhi, Japanese and Chinese food is both popular and usually served with chopsticks. So I wonder why Japanese are stuck with the notion that somehow they are the only nation using them. One of my friends from US was sick of being asked over and over about his hashi handling abilities, and started responding by asking his hosts if they could use a knife and fork. Since cutlery is widely used here now, their initial reaction is to wonder why he'd ask such a silly question... and then, they realize what he is trying to tell them. Being at