Monday, January 28, 2002

Jobs

The official Afghanistan Reconstruction session was held in Tokyo last week, and I saw many black limousines led by police cars, running red lights in the Shibakoen area. From time to time, I've also seen politicians answer interviewers questions on TV, and comment that their target of rebuilding the nation is become like Japan. I'm happy that they like Japan, but I wonder if they've really thought about Japan. Certainly I would be interested to know what their impression of Japan is, anyway.
I've heard that one of the biggest causes of crime and general craziness in Afghanistan is that people don't have jobs. Therefore they join terrorist groups just to live. They grow drugs because that's the almost only thing their depleted and destroyed land is any good for now. The amount of donations made has been reported often, but since none of us really knows whether this money actually gets there, instead, how about sending over mid-aged skilled Japanese technology and industry experts -- the selfsame people who are getting fired in their thousands here in Japan.

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うえの桜まつり@上野公園

晴天の中、ずらりと並んだ屋台。お昼がてらにあれやこれやを。 福島のお酒もあり、3種をいただく。肴は、はまぐり&つぶ貝。 吉野の桜が植えてあり、江戸時代以前はこれだったんだろうな。