Keeping Cool

It's been hot here in Tokyo with average of 35C (approx 95F) degrees, and until this last week, it didn't fall below than 30C (approx 86F) degrees at night for days on end. Every day, the news announcements say that quite a number of people were taken to hospitals suffering from heat stroke. It really makes me wonder if this is just global warming or something else.
When you go outside, you might notice most building air conditioning facilities blow hot air straight out on to the street. In addition, the road re-radiates solar energy, automobiles emit auto exhaust, and in Tokyo at least, there is little green nor dirt to lessen the impact of such heat.
Well, here's something you can do to cool down the city. Sprinkle water! There's an event you can join without going out or costing you money: "Uchimizu Daisakusen (Water Sprinkling Operation)" is scheduled from Aug 18 - 25. The concept is simple - sprinkle water around your house, work place, town, etc., at noon during this period.
The first city-wide experiment was conducted last year, and researchers found that if 1m people were to sprinkle water at the same time, Tokyo's temperature would drop an estimated 2C degrees. Uchimizu isn't anything new, but rather a tradition that people left behind when they modernized. You might still see some elder people sprinkle waters mornings and early evenings in your old neighborhood.
Uchimizu is simple. Just use a bucket, or a bottle, or any kind
of water container, and sprinkle the water on the ground,
street, or even the walls of your house/apartment. Using tap
water is not recommended, since it is a waste of a natural
resource. However, using non-potable water, such as the cooling
water from your air conditioners, bath tub, rain water, etc.,
does just fine.

Natto

July 10 is the day of Natto (fermented soybeans), one of the most unliked foods by foreigners. The date is simply a translation of the word into the Japanese number/counting system. That is: July is seven -> "na"; 10th is ten -> "to". I'm sure most of you who are non-Japanese have at some time been challenged to eat this very sticky and slightly smelly food by a Japanese friend. Well, it may surprise you to know that many Japanese, including myself, don't like Natto, either. Although, Terrie tells me that his 3 daughters living in New Zealand, love it and eat as much as they can when they holiday here in Japan???!
Have you ever had a situation where a food you've always despised suddenly doesn't taste so bad? Maybe it's just a function of maturing taste buds, but I wish that the day would come, because Natto is really quite good for you.
Indeed, these days you don't have to eat Natto to get the health benefits. Did you know that there are Natto soaps, Natto essences, Natto lotions, Natto bath salts, etc. Also, you can try unique versions of Natto these days -- such as: black bean Natto, scent-free Natto, etc. Hmmm, scent-free...
what they really need is stickiness-free, then maybe I'd like it!

So Young

Japanese television viewers were greeted with shocking news a few weeks ago when an 11-year old girl in the 6th grade killed a 12-year old classmate during the lunch break at their elementally school, using a paper cutter. The murder motive is still under investigation, but its looks like a simple case of taunting and revenge. The highlight of the case apart from the youth of the suspect is that the taunting was apparently conducted on the Internet. The suspected killer repeatedly asked the victim to stop making postings about her, but in vain.
Is this a enough reason to kill someone, especially at this age? Clearly for the suspect, it was. The Japanese media are now doing a lot of soul-searching, trying to decide whether the ability of being able to use the Internet has removed the elements of restraint and decorum from interpersonal relationships -- to the general determent of society...
All I know is that two lives were ruined in just the 6 grade.

Spirit of Travel

May 16 is Tourism Day, in honor of the famous Edo era's haiku poet, Basho. He started his trip, "Okuno Hosomichi" (A Haiku Journey: Narrow Road to a Far Province) in 1689 this day. His opening haiku of this trip is:
「月日は百代の過客にして、行きかふ年もまた旅人なり」
(The passing days and months are eternal travelers in time. The years that come and go are travelers too.)
He walked a total of 2,500km from Edo to Ogaki for 5 months, and made quite a number of famous haiku, most of which the Japanese know well.
As you've probably experienced, travel forces you into unusual situations and conditions and can literally be a trip to the extraordinary. Something primitive in you comes to the surface. Basho kept making haiku as they came to him, and following his instincts his talent was freed. Surprisingly, most of those sites that he visited and made haiku at still and have been preserved as they were. Needless to say, many people visit sites and follow his trail.
At one point, Basho quotes a monk, Kobo Daishi,
「古人の跡を求めず、古人の求めたる所を求めよ」
(Not seeking ancients' trace, seek where ancients' sought).
In this quote he discovered the truth that it is important to follow the spirit of the inherited wisdom of ancient times, not to just imitate it. As we promote tourism in Japan, I hope more people will come visit Japan to discover the spirit that this haiku saint found on his trek.

Business Morals

Bird flu is hitting Asia and damaging the major sector in the food industry, which had been on the verge of recovery after an earlier mad cow disease scare. One of the top players in the industry, Asada Nosan, which owns 6 chicken farms in Hyogo and Okayama, is at the center of a chicken flu scandal. Their chickens were suffering from the chicken flu and tens of thousands of birds had died from it. Asada Nosan didn't report the mysterious deaths for a few days, although chicken flu was already in the media everywhere. They insist they were planning to make a report, but the investigation came before they had a chance. Where the scandal comes in is that not only were they negligent in not reporting to the health authorities, but further they tried to sell most of their remaining live chickens and eggs as quickly as possible. It was found out, during the investigation, that some of the chicken and eggs made it to wholesalers and thus to the consumer markets.
Asada Nosan is guilty of a moral breach. Is this where Japanese business in general is headed? I assume they're afraid of causing a huge damage to their own business, but as a result, they ended up shutting down the firms and close the business. In addition, Kyoto Police is even thinking about pursuing the case in court. They're damaged not just business wise but socially. Hin sureba donsuru ("Poverty dulls the wit"). They sought easy money, without any hint of conscience. Consequently, the price they have to pay for this can be beyond their imagination.

Comedy Business

I hear the news says the job fair for the graduating students out number quite often due to the limited number of the job openings which is still the trend of most of the companies these days.
Yoshimoto Kogyo, the biggest entertainment company manages Japanese comedians located in Osaka will start charging those students for their company information session from next year. They usually have more than 1,000 attendees, but most of these are just banter. They hire less than 10. They're planning to cover the cost to open the session by charging the students.
At the same time, they'll have their own comedians to have their show during the session. That way, some of these attendees will like those comedians and become fan.
Well, this is the Osaka marchant's spirit, I thought. This plan is a good PR to them, they'll get money by the session, and also, it's purely a comedy show. Don't underestimate the power of Kansai....

Diet

Welcome back! After all the festivities, I guess it's now time for a diet!
These days' the trend in diets is definitely towards low-carbohydrate, high-protein menus, such as the Atkins or South Beach diets. These certainly work for some people -- like Bill Clinton, the former President of the United States.
As I recall, there has always been some trendy, effective diet that is taking the media by storm. They have been many and varied, including non-sugar, low-fat, decaf, etc. Now, even the fast food industry is looking into the lucrative diet market.
For example, KFC has announced that their fried chicken fits in perfectly with the low-carbohydrate and high-protein diet -- although as they admit on the side of each ad, "This is not a low-fat, low-sodium, low-cholesterol food." What???!
Probably a better example is Subway, which once featured in its ads proof that the menu is "diet fast food" by showing the case of Jared Fogle, a guy who ate a Subway turkey sandwich everyday and lost 245 pounds (about 110kg) in the process. Now Subway is going to start selling Atkins Diet-friendly wraps. They're made from special wheat and soy grains that are high in fiber and protein, but carry only one-third the carbohydrates.
I personally believe the diet is a matter of balancing food, exercise and life style, and those who want to lose wait should in fact avoid fast food altogether. Anyway, if you're on a diet, here are some examples of your breakfast at McDonalds':
1) a reduced-fat breakfast with less than 8 grams of fat -- such as an Egg McMuffin minus the cheese and butter.
2) For the low-carb dieter, a breakfast with less than 5 grams of carbohydrates would be a platter of double meat or eggs without the English muffin, biscuit or hash browns.
3) For those only counting calories, a breakfast of 300 calories or less would be an Egg McMuffin, a snack-size Fruit'n Yogurt Parfait or scrambled eggs with a plain English muffin.

Service

It's already December, and some of you are probably busy organizing Christmas and year-end parties. As a world-famous metropolis, Tokyo has variety of restaurants with a wide range of pricing and styles. It looks like "healing" is still the trend, and new stylish and modern restaurants with dim lighting are taking over from hard-core restaurants. Although, there are many around, it's getting harder to find a reasonable restaurant with the right mix. Many restaurants have cool decor but forget what good service is, or, the food is great but the drinks are made from canned juices or premixed cocktails, etc. Of course there are some restaurants where the shortcomings are not worth bothering about...
For example, one evening my husband and I went to a nice restaurant which has been in Tokyo quite a while. The price range was about mid-high, interior was nice and there were lots of flowers. But, the service was terrible.
Obviously they had a bunch of part-time waiters with very little experience. It made me wonder if the price I was paying made it worth eating here and I wanted to tell them what their problems were. Perhaps they could hire me as a service improvement consultant, paid by barter instead of cash. This seems to be another trend in business at the moment, and I'd be happy to provide some consulting services in this area...!

Recently some banks accept the signatures instead of seals (Hanko), but you will still encounter situations where you still you need to use a Hanko.
Originally the Hanko was an invention of the Sumerians, in Mesopotamia, back in BC4,000. In those days, seals were made from clay with distinctive patterns and were used to close off a cylinder containing a document. If the seal was broken, that meant someone had opened the package, and at the same time, the pattern on this seal was good luck charm.
In Japan, they introduced institutional Hankos in the 8th Century, but these died out as the government faded from power. Thereafter, people started using their own handwritten logos, which acted as signatures, called Kao (Flower Seal).
This system lasted hundreds of years, while there was stability and peace in the realm, but once the period of the Warring Sates started in the 16th century, Hanko came back into fashion -- because it was quicker.
Is the role of a Hanko as a good luck charm dead? Well, it's in the ink we use with Hanko. Vermilion ink (Shuniku) is made from vermilion diluted with castor oil. In ancient Japan, coffins were painted vermilion, because it was an excellent bug repellent and preserver, AND in addition it appeared that vermilion had magical properties. Namely, its color turns back to red even after being burned black in a fire. Thus, vermilion became the symbol for revitalization.
Then, how about Kao? We still use these unique signatures for formal documents. For example, the Prime Minister signs after his name on the document approving the choice of cabinet. You can see some examples of early Prime Ministers' Kao.

Nintendo

Nintendo stopped producing the Nintendo Famicon last September. The closure marked the end of two decades of game console history. In total the company sold 110m units globally. The reason Nintendo stopped production was that they've been having major problems buying the necessary parts, due to drastic changes going on in the electronics market.
Nintendo was definitely a historical icon. Before the first Famicon appeared, the size of Japanese game market was JPY180bn, but after Nintendo's release, the size swelled to JPY700bn. Globally, the game market in 2001 hit JPY1.45trn. That's quite a lot of cash!
I remember spending hours and hours with games such as Super Mario, Xevious, Metroid, Dragon Quest, etc. Infact, my parents were always complaining about the amount of time I spent on games. Today, these games look a bit boring, but they had a great concept which made up for the lack of computer graphics. Actually, some might say that games today are too realistic.
Recent research done here in Japan suggests that up to 60% of kids and young adults who are socially withdrawn are heavily dependent on computer games, and that the games may be damaging their ability to socialize with others.
I don't want to say that games in themselves are bad, because certainly there are much more addictive "things" in this world that the troubled mind can turn to. And personally, I feel that game consoles and their characters might have actually helped some kids. Certainly everyone knows Mario and I wonder how often he was used as an ice breaker for those without much else to say?

"Green" Bathroom

I became aware one day that everything is becoming automatic, especially in the bathroom. I don't know about the men's bathroom, but everything works by sensors in the women's. You must have seen the faucet and soap work by sensor quite often, but how about the toilet? If you sit down, the water sound starts. When you finish, you can't find the flush bottom; it flushes if you walk away. Now even the toilet seat cover opens up when you approach!
I've seen many people confused by this technology, usually the elders who are used to the "old style" system, but it must be helpful for the people who are physically challenged. Also, easy to imagine, it's effective for cost cutting. For example, automatic flusher decreases the cost of water by JPY15k/month for a bathroom 100 people use per day.
Behind this trend, the big push for the renovation is Law on Promoting Green Purchasing (Law Concerning the Promotion of Procurement of Eco-Friendly Goods and Services by the State and Other Entities) set in May 2000 by the Ministry of Environment. This orders the government or governmental organizations to purchase "Eco friendly" products in a proactive way so that they stimulate the market for recycled/ecological goods.
Those goods tend to be more expensive than the generic ones. I believe it's a good thing that the government supports the Eco friendly acts, but wonder if they're spending my tax money effectively....

Spa

Have you been to Spa?
I had a chance to take a look at the press release for AVEDA about the opening of their first
Spa in Tokyo on Sep 12th.
It's been difficult to find a decent spa in Tokyo, except esthetic salons. But recently, more spas are announcing plans to do business here, such as the Mandara Spa at the Royal Park Hotel in Shiodome, St Gregory Spa, etc. Obviously the target of the spas is late 20's to 30's professional women, but if you try one, you'll be addicted.
I go to a spa almost every time I travel overseas, and I'm very curious to find out what kind of services they can provide in Japan. It's unfortunate that only the Mandara Spa has facilities for men -- so my husband doesn't get left out...

Lost & Found

Have you ever lost your belongings and had them returned to you? Most newcomers to Japan are surprised when, after leaving a bag on the train or taxi, get a call from the station or taxi call center asking you to retrieve the bag at their office, or sometimes they will even deliver it to you.
Now there is a new service to make returning lost property more efficient. A company called "Hoo", which is funded by the president of Sokuhai (speedy delivery service by motorcycles), will start a lost-and-found property retrieval support service.
The system is that you buy stickers printed with a 10-digit ID. A sticker pack costs JPY950. You then put the stickers on your belongings, such as your note PC, wallet, mobiles, etc. Thereafter, anyone finding your lost property can call Hoo and the company's call center tracks you down via the ID sticker.
There are two versions of the service: one offering a reward of JPY500, and the other one which has no reward. The company hopes to sign up 200k users by the end of this year.
Hmmm, I don't know what to think about this business plan. It seems to me that people return lost property out of a sense of good will and civic duty, not because they can get a JPY500 reward. Does this new system mean that Japan is losing its moral virtues? Certainly, making a business out of good deeds does not look quite right to me.
Do you think it will be successful?

Trademark

You might think that the term "Hanshin Victory" is a prediction of success by the Hanshin Tigers in the Japanese baseball league. But in fact is a legal challenge to the team rather than a desirable outcome of their winning ways.
In fact, the term "Hanshin Yusho" (Hanshin Victory) is actually a trademark registered by a man in Chiba back in February 2002. Apparently the man wanted to use licence the term for use on clothing, toys, goods, etc. The net result is that the Tigers can't use the term unless they also take out a licence from the current owner.
Actually, it must have been somewhat shocking to the Hanshin Tigers management when they found out that their own application was rejected on the grounds that the "same logo has been already filed." It seems that the Japanese Patent office has a trademark system similar to that used for Web domains, which is "First come, first served." So, even if you don't actually use the term or logo, you can still own and control it.
Although the Chiba man's claim is that "Hanshin" simply means the Hanshin region, which is the area around Osaka and Kobe, and "Yusho" simply means victory -- even to the most uninformed person, it is obvious that he is trying cash in on the baseball team's "Hanshin Yusho". It's a mystery to me why the Japan Patent Office approved this.
From the news I've been hearing, it looks like the Chiba guy will eventually transfer ownership of his trademark to the Tigers, but I wonder how much they'll have to pay for it. Actually, the same guy also filed for trademarks on a number of other terms, including "Kyojin Yusho" (Giants Victory)" and "Anti Kyojin". Such a smart guy...! Reminds me of the old dotcom days!

Goya

Have you ever eaten Goya (bitter melon)? It's a famous Okinawan vegetable, a green Godzilla-looking squash with dimples. You eat them before they ripen, which is about 15 - 20 days after they bloom. Waiting any longer than that and they lose their bitterness and become sweet.
Many people don't like Goya because of its bitterness, and indeed in ancient China, it was regarded as a food "only fit for a famine". A Chinese survival book written in 1406 says that Goya was one of the last desirable foods to eat during a famine, among the other total of 414 items, such as figs.
The "Goya champuru" dish is representative of Okinawan cuisine. Historically, it came from India via China in the 15th century.
Goya need at least 20C of warmth to grow, and they are a natural Uminanchu (Okinawan) plant. Goya are rich in Vitamin C, double or triple that of lemons. Also the bitterness is caused by enzymes that also happen to be effective in lowering blood pressure, and thus they can beused as a diabetes medicine.
It's not very hot yet, but I recommend you try Goya champuru with a beer to beat the summer.

Slang

When did you stop talking like a school kid? Do you remember when you stopped using the slang that was once cool? One of my friends asked me, and I couldn't answer.
Everyone must have noticed that the younger generation uses their own jargon: speech which has a unique meaning with very limited usage among kids of that generation only. Sometimes it confuses me and I feel like I have a big question mark stuck on my face when I overhear them talking.
I receive lots of sales solicitation calls at the office. I just can't believe what I'm hearing sometimes. They just can't greet their prospective clients properly and introduce themselves. Some of them try so hard to sound polite, but they sound insulting instead. As you might know, the Japanese language has 3 layers of politeness for verbs. Many of these young salespeople not only can't speak politely, they sound too casual. Just for kicks, I sometimes ask them questions about their service, and they can't answer. They're just lost and suddenly talking to me like they would talk to one of their friends. Only problem is: I don't want to make friends with them over the phone...
It's deplorable, today's crisis of slang, and it breaks my heart. This is not what I learned and studied in order to teach foreigners the Japanese language. "These days young people are..." is such a cliche, but it just keep popping up in my head.
Maybe I'm coming out the other side of the generation gap...!

Mold

Tsuyu, the Rainy Season, has started in Southern Japan already. And so with Tsuyu also comes the season of Kabi (mold).
Because of Japan's humid climate, mold becomes a problem at home. Areas such as your bathroom, kitchen, etc., provide an environment for spores to grow, and while you may feel this is a bad thing, we also have to remember that mold is a key contributor to some unique Japanese foods (and of other cultures as well).
One such food is Natto, a sticky mixture of boiled soy beans that traditionally come wrapped in straw. The bacteria responsible for Natto's smell and stickiness is Bacillus Subtilis, which propagates in straw and which makes Natto rich in Vitamin B.
Another food is Katsuo Bushi (dried bonito), the shaved brown flakes that people put on top of their Tako-yaki or Okonomiyaki. Shaved fish flakes dance in the heat of the food and are fun to watch as they move. The flakes are produced with a mold enzyme which breaks down the bonito adeps (a type of lard) and adds the taste and flavor.
Cheese is also, of course, made with the help of molds, as well as wine, saki, etc. Especially the precious is the Botrytis Cinerea bacteria's contribution to create La Pourriture Noble (Pourriture Noble wine). Botrytis cinerea requires a complicated combination of temperature and humidity, which wine makers struggle with each year.
Interestingly, with the SARS epidemic, people in Hong Kong and China have started wondering why Japanese and Koreans are not suffering from the disease. An urban myth has emerged that it may be because both cultures eat a lot of fermented foods. As a result, sales of Kimchi and Natto have soared in the region, as have those of Yakult, a fermented milk drink, made with the Shirota strain of Lactobacillus Casei bacteria.

Parks

May is the month when Tokyo's greenery becomes noticeable. The weather is nice, with lots of sunshine, and its only natural that most of us decide to take a walk and/or a picnic in the park.
Public parks came into being in 1873 in Japan. Each prefecture chose suitable locations. In Tokyo, Sensojii/Asakusa Park, Zojoji/Shiba Park, Kaneiji/Ueno Park, and Tomioka Hachimangu/Fukagawa Park were all among the first public parks to be established. By no coincidence many of the parks are in the precincts of famous temples. Apparently, the parks were an appeasement by the central government in return for prior neglect when innovating the land distribution system.
Before this, Japan didn't have parks. Instead, people went to shrines and temples to enjoy manicured landscapes. The first such publicly developed temple grounds were at Asukayama, opened in the Edo era (1716 - 36). At this time, the masses started enjoying cultural pursuits that previously had been restricted to the ruling class.
Each nation with a park tradition, has had a different reason for developing them. For example, with the industrialization of England and the increase of blue collar workers (who liked dog fighting and other "low-brow" sports), parks were created as a place to escape for the mid- and upper-class residents of London. In Germany on the other hand, parks were created to provide an uplifting of the general public's spirit -- which they achieved by building many statues of patriots and public achievers in the newly created public spaces.
How about Japan? The government was totally focused on modernizing the nation and thus in 1903 established Hibiya Park as a place that would reflect the moral ambitions of the time. Unfortunately, the park soon became overrun with peddlers, street performers, carriages and rikishas.
Well, considering that this was the exact same thing that such people did at the various shrines and temples, their actions were actually quite normal.
Today Japanese parks serve not only as places of recreation, but also as fire breaks. When the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923 hit Tokyo, it caused about 43% of the city to burn. The other 60% was protected by parks, squares, rivers, and similar open spaces.

Local Tourism

The Gifu Prefectural government will open a new theme park in Minokamo City, called Nihon Showa Mura. It has a period theme and features an old theater, 50's style houses decorated with seasonal flowers, and entertainment from the 50's and 60's. Gifu has been building the park since 1990 and will leave management to a management company called Farm Group.
During the bubble years, the penchant of Japanese local governments to open up huge theme parks became a real problem, and resulted in the disposal of such sites as Sea Gaeia in Miyazaki, at fire sale prices. So it's rather amazing that somewhere like Gifu is still trying to do this.
Still, given the current problems in the world and the reluctance of Japanese recently to travel overseas, maybe the "Build it and they will come" mentality is about to make a comeback. SARS has all but killed off the overseas travel industry for this Golden Week, so there is likely to be a lot of people stuck at home this year who will want to take their families somewhere -- maybe Gifu is the place to go.
Or how about New Zealand-mura, in Tohoku? Maybe you can find out what makes Terrie tick... ;-)

Edo

The recent building boom is escalating: followed by the launch of the Maru-biru in front of　Tokyo Station recently, Shiodome City Center opened on April 10, and Roppongi Hills will open on April 25. All of these complexes have business offices supported with the latest urban facilities such as restaurants, hotels, shops, etc.
I have heard that the number of young women applying for jobs with companies located at these trendy offices is increasing. They chose to work in such locations not for income only, but also for the lifestyle. Their logic appears to be that if the working conditions are almost the same as where they are now, then they may as well work somewhere where they can have a good time with their friends after work.
Naturally these new building complexes need services people to support the huge number of new tenants. For example, Maru-biru houses about 140 tenants and has 50 service companies with about 5,000 workers supplying those services. Most of these support companies still need staff to handle their operations start-ups. Given that Osaka has had such a hard time recently, I personally hope that the opening of "Namba Park" in October will have the same effect down there. More foot traffic means more business and improved money flow to that area.
By-the-way, April 11 is a famous day for Japanese history. It is the day that the last Shogun was forced to surrender Edo Castle to the Emperor's forces in 1868. The Meiji Period started thereafter and Japan began to industrialize. The city of Edo (Tokyo) has changed a lot since that time. But in a way, this city still needs to be opened up to the world...

Thunderbirds Are Go!

Have you heard about the TV show "ThunderBirds"? It was a puppet show that went on the air in the UK in 1965. NHK will broadcast the original series (which was broadcast in 1966 in Japan) over digital as part of its 50th anniversary of TV broadcasting. The show will be aired from April 13.
The story is about the Tracy family, a father with 5 sons, which protects people from disasters and accidents in 2065. Jeff Tracy, the father is well to do, and was able to organize the INTERNATIONAL RESCUE (IR) team -- using technology beyond the capability of nations and regular rescue groups. Their hi-tech　arsenal includes a rocket, aircraft freight lifter, space　station, a fancy pink Rolls Royce, etc.
What a shame we can't call on the IR (no, not investor relations) team to help out in the Middle East. We need someone who can solve　the life-threatening problems there that full nations　can't do on　their own. I wonder if the screen writers ever imagined that the　world would have　more complicated problems than even IR could help with -- especially, a rescue team that　wasn't influenced by politics or leader's egos...

Internationalization

On March 14 in 1873, the Japanese government authorized international marriage in Japan, providing permission was first sought from the government. Japan been closed for about 200 years prior to that date, except for ports such as Nagasaki, and international marriage was illegal. If you wanted to marry a foreigner, you had to go overseas.
According to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, in the year 2000 (the latest date for such statistics) one out of 22 couples who submitted a marriage application had at least one foreign spouse. There were 36,263 international marriages, an increase of 13.6% over the previous year. You might think this trend was only evident in Tokyo, but in fact, in Yamagata and Yamanashi Prefectures, international marriages occurred in one out of every 14 couples -- about 7% of all marriages registered. And in Hokkaido, Miyagi, Gifu, and Oita, international marriages increased 30% to 40% over the previous year.
Nowadays, almost everyone I know has at least one foreigner within the family -- so it's not so surprising any more. I am willing to bet that the number of international marriages will continue to rise and in 50 year's time, Japan will look very different to how it does now.

Hotel Boom

As you may heard, the large Dutch-themed Nagasaki resort, Huis Ten Bosch applied for court protection from bankruptcy (Chapter 11) this week, with debts of JPY228.9bn. Sasebo, where Huis Ten Bosch is located, has both a seaport and airport where it had hoped to receive large numbers of visitors, especially from China/Taiwan/Hong Kong. Now that the resort is bankrupt, the big question is whether to use public funds to support it -- given all the tourist dollars that will be lost otherwise.
Ironically, there is now a hotel-building "bubble" going on in Tokyo, and many hotels will open around 2006. To counter those newcomers, existing Japanese hotels has been re-investing to improve their facilities, with investment increases of 49%, JPY73bn, over last year. The amounts are significant: Tokyu Hotel chain JPY2.4bn, ANA Hotel Tokyo JPY1.7bn, Kobe Port Pia JPY1.2bn...
Small onsen (hot springs) in remote parts of Japan have also become popular again, and now for some places reservations stretch as far as two years from now. It seems that with all the chaos going on around us, lots of people are looking for some peace and quiet, without TVs, clocks, and even telephones. Some of these places aren't cheap, either.
Just looking at these trends, I have to wonder if it's an imbalance or just a case of diversification by the public. I had the impression that hotels would lose money in a recession. For example, that people would tend to have weddings somewhere cheaper than the city hotels -- so now these hotels would have to be seeing their profit margins get battered as most of those staying there are eating buffet style, rather than banquets.
Me? Well, I'd rather sit back and relax in quiet onsen now....

Eating

Did you hear the news that the NY Federal court dismissed the liability claim of obesity and overeating against McDonald's?
The plaintiffs were a couple of teenagers who claim they gained weight and damaged their health by eating McDonald's products several times a week. Their claim is that the products are dangerous because they are addictive...
The Judge, Robert Sweet (great name!) said, "It is not the place of the law to protect them from their own excesses." then "Nobody is forced to eat at McDonald's. (Except, perhaps, parents of small children who desire McDonald's food, toy promotions or playgrounds, and demand their parents' accompaniment.)"
I just thought, what would this plaintiff's lawyer get by defending these teenagers? Did the idea come from their parents or from watching Judge Judy on TV (while scarfing down Mickey D burgers?)? Either way, the plaintiffs clearly miscalculated the stupidity of the legal system - turns out it isn’t so stupid afterall.
After reading this article, I imagined my mother in law waiting in line, ordering the kids meal at Burger King so as to get the all 4 Simpson's talking watches that come with the meal, as a Christmas gift. I'm sure they were not forced to be there, but rather went their of their own free will.

Amazingly, the plaintiff’s lawyer says he will file amended suits!

Foie Gras

If you're vegetarian or pro-animal protection, please don't read this column, because I'm writing about foie gras.
As you may know, this French delicacy is the fattened liver of a duck or goose. The birds are force fed lots of corn to create the right effect. You may think this is cruel, BUT, it tastes so good!
Originally, people in Egypt started eating migrating geese that were wintering along the Nile river, on their way from Europe. Around 1 B.C., the Romans discovered that the liver of fat geese were delicious, and serving it with figs makes it taste better. This preparation secret was been kept by the Jewish people for a long time, because it was one of the few meats they could eat without conflicting their religion.
The ancient Romans used to worship a particular type of goose known as the "Roman Capitoline Goose." The bird got its name after the myth that goes something like this... While the Romans were fighting the Gauls in the Gaulish invasion attempt of Capitolino, a Gaulish sneak attack was forestalled thanks to a goose's honking after being startled by the approaching Gauls.
I rather admire the wisdom of the ancients to have discovered and developed such an awesome food. Certainly, I will be looking on delicious foie gras with even more reverence and worship! ;-)

Well, it's already December -- how the year has flown by! Everywhere I look I see the colors and sights of Christmas -- and this is Tokyo that I'm talking about! Looks like more Japanese kids have started believing in Santa Claus, too.
Actually, if you really want to track down Santa Claus and his reindeer, NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command) has a new Santa tracking system on its web site. For those of you who may not know, normally NORAD is a fearsome aerospace protection system run by both the US and Canadian military. So what's with the Santa deal?
According to NORADs Christmas website, the fifth year in a row that they've prepared one, the system tracks Santa's movements by using satellites and infrared radar that can detect Rudolph's red nose.
The site is in English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, and even Japanese!
I don't want to say that the whole thing is a waste of time, because some of you out there may have kids who like using the Internet. But I do think it's a bit paradoxical that the story of Santa is being perpetuated by two of the most technically complex systems known to mankind: NORAD and the Web. Still, please show it to your kids --they'll have a ball!
http://www.noradsanta.org

Digital

I came to the realization that I have to give up on using a conventional camera for overseas trips, after being X-rayed twice at airport security damaged my holiday snaps...
So, of course, I went on to the Net and searched for a "digital camera". There're so many types and sizes that I can't really tell the difference. In the land of "small things are beautiful" Japan, you get smaller, thinner, and lower price.
One of the good things about a digital camera is you can put pictures on the Net to share with your friends and families no matter where they are. And if broadband becomes more prevalent, you will be even be able to watch a wedding in real time from a remote area.
Well, before talking about the broadband, I have to figure out how to make my Yahoo BB connection work with my computer/mac at home. I've had a hectic 2 weeks since the modem was delivered and still haven't hooked up...

Trash

I was in NY a couple of weeks ago to attend friend's wedding. During my stay, one of my friends took me to a steak house, and I saw the bartenders throw everything into one single garbage bin: glasses, glass and PET bottles, combustibles - literally anything. They told me that NY can't do recycling anymore due to the financial difficulties that the city has. I was very surprised. This kind of thinking is totally against the social responsibility trend all over the world.
Maybe no recycling will save some money and help overcome the $5BN deficit caused by the clean up of Ground Zero - where the World Trade Center used to be. However, I wonder what will happen to the homeless people who used to collect recyclable items as a living? Now, maybe it's because I heard the news, but nevertheless, I thought I saw more bums on the streets and subways of New York that I have done in the past.
NY is not a very clean city at the best of times, unfortunately. But to see trash cans in every corner of Manhattan is such a stark contrast to Tokyo and its trash bin-free subway stations, that I can't help wondering why it is that New Yorkers can't look after their habitat a bit better.

Whither the Economy?

I think many of you have heard that Louis Vuitton opened another new store in Omotesando recently. The media say that the sales on opening day reached JPY125m. Apparently, this is a record for a single store. More than 2,800 people visited on opening day, including 1,400 young women who spent up to two days lining up for over one kilometer to get in! The store is a good size: 8 stories aboveground and two floors underground -- all together there is a total of 3,300 sq./m displaying more than 1,500 products.
In this economic downturn, it is unbelievable that Louis Vuitton's sales increased to JPY117.9bn in 2001, a 17.6% increase from the previous year. I'm sure they're happy with the great success, but, it this is not a healthy picture. The Japanese economy is in the pits and a recent survey found that there were 1,718 bankruptcies in July, leaving behind debts of JPY1,161bn. Indeed, an average 1,725 companies have gone bankrupt every month since the beginning of 2002. Unemployment for July was is 5.4%. Deflation is getting worse -- and yet... people are willing to spend so much money on the goods to show their status.
I wonder where the Japanese economy and our society in general is heading...?

Smoking

Have you heard of a nicotine gum called "Nicorette"? It's produced and imported by Pharmacia, and sold by Takeda Chemical Industries. Sales have reached a surprising JPY9bn in just 10 months. The company says that sales indicate about one million people are trying to quit smoking.
Nicorette-type nicotine replacement products originally were invented in Sweden in 1967, to help submarine crew smokers control their cravings. Later in 1978, Pharmacia of Sweden developed the first nicotine gum.
According to survey, the cost of smoking -- including tobacco, lighters, etc., based on two packs a day -- is about JPY180,000 for the average smoker. An additional JPY8trn in public costs is blamed on the social damages caused by smoking: fires, lung disease, etc.
It's ironic that tobacco was once a medicine that was said to be effective for virtually every illness, but it's now the cause of many forms of sickness. I wonder if the ancient Native Americans using their "Calumet" (peace pipe) had any inkling what a huge impact their habit would have on future generations....

Memories

Images of Japanese summer are seen everywhere: elementary school kids doing "rajio taiso" (exercises broadcast on the radio every morning at school), watermelons, baseball games on TV, beer and "edamame" (boiled green soybeans), etc. Since I moved to Tokyo, these images appears frequently on TV and on the sides of buses, in newspapers, etc. But are these images real?
When you're little, you take it for granted that everything you and your family do is the way everyone else does it, too. Everyone eats fried eggs with fermented soy beans on it, everyone has their own rice bowl, their own miso soup bowl, and their own chopsticks, everyone takes care NOT to eat "mochi" (rice cake) on New Years day, etc. But then I grew up and came to Tokyo, and the reality I knew changed; TV brainwashes you about what a "typical" Japanese person does.
I read that the human brain has a very strange function: if you're continuously told that you did something you actually didn't do, your brain starts creating such memories and eventually you accept such memories as fact, and you believe that you really did do it. Maybe this has happened to me. I feel very comfortable with the image of edamame and beer -- but if I remember hard, I realize that back home we never ate edamame while drinking beer. In fact, we didn't really eat green soybeans at all, but rather boiled fava beans. And we certainly didn't eat fava beans with a beer in hand.

Shaved Ice

So many continuously hot days in Tokyo make me feel like eating shaved ice. It just so happens that July 25th is Shaved Ice Day. Inaugurated in commeration of the hottest summer's day in Japan, July 25th, 1933, Yamagata City in Tohoku sweltered in 40.8C heat.
Back in the old days when people didn't have freezers or ice machines, ice was a precious luxury allowed only to the imperial family and aristocracy. In the Edo era, a system of ice storage started, with local governments transporting huge ice blocks to the Emperor and Shogunate on June 1st. Special efforts were made to get these monstrous ice cubes to Tokyo in record time -- getting here as quickly as 5 days, when usually it took 10 days or more to make the trip by horse.
I'm planning to go to our local store to have shaved ice this weekend...

Clones

The Japan Institute of Immunology has set up a new venture company, which will develop technology to regenerate human hair. The company will make practical use of a technology that a Hiroshima University professor discovered -- which lets clinicians implant cells into the skin and thereby stimulate the regeneration of a patient's hair. Sumitomo Electronics also looking at becoming the retailer for such a chemical stimulation procedure.
It seems that humans can regenerate a lot more physical parts of the body these days. Cloning of humans is banned more than 40 nations, but there's a big argument going on at the US Capitol Hill right now over this very subject. I personally find it hard to accept the idea of cloning, though it's possible and some academics are pursuing this line of research. In my opinion, cloning will open a Pandora's box of problems.
The end result will be that someday we will be able to engineer human body cells so that they just keeps on growing back, just like lizard's tail......

Ter Teru Bozu

Rainy season continues, sort of, but I think we are having less rain than normal. I remember when I was a kid that we used to make "Teru Teru Bozu" (literally: Sunny Sunny Monk) to bring good luck and make the next day a sunny day.
This custom came from China about 1,200 years ago. Originally the doll was of a woman made of red and green cloth and carrying a broom to wipe the clouds away and make a sunny day. Over time the doll changed to a "Teri Teri Hoshi" or "Tere Tere Bozu" (Sunny Sunny Monk/Minstrel) by the 19th century. In days of yore, people hung the doll under the eaves, and if the weather became sunny, they drew eyes/nose/mouth.
According to a folklore, monks with hair (usually they shaved off their hair to show obeisance to Buddha) and who were married were engaged in agriculture when they weren't conducting a weather ceremony was called the "Hairy Monk" (sounds like a dance!). The ceremony, "Hijiri" eventually made people monks could tell the weather, therefore it became natural to ask a monk to make the next day sunny.
There is a children's song about the Teru Teru Bozu, that has an interesting end. It goes something like this:
"Sunny Monk, Sunny Monk, please make tomorrow a sunny day, just like the sky in a dream. If it is sunny day, I'll give you a golden bell, if you make my wish come true, I'll give you a sweet drink -- but, if it's still cloudy and raining, I'll decapitate you."
... Nice song, huh?

More World Cup

No matter what you do during June, you'll be inundated with sights and sounds of the World Cup. This massive event influences not only the media, but the other areas of our daily lives, e.g., the stock market -- such as a TV advertiser's stock price going up or down depending on whether their spots appear during scheduled games. TV viewer figures are hitting over 61% when the Japan team is playing, and even when other national teams are playing, ratings are still around 23%, which is pretty high. Some companies are reportedly thinking about changing their commercials featuring new players other than those from the French National Team -- which has already been knocked out of the competition.
In other news, the song used for the Nike TV commercial, "A Little Less Conversation" by Elvis vs JXL has hit Number 1 on the UK music charts. Also, the Ministry of Education has apparently given approval to their workers to watch the soccer games during work time. And for those who are supposed to still be working, clearly streaming video connections are an alternative point of access -- which appears to be slowing down the Japanese segment of the Web, crashing servers, etc. The World Cup is a global festival and such problems will be with us for another 3 weeks -- enjoy!

World Cup Soccer

The World Cup is starting and excitement fills the air. Every TV station has something featuring soccer -- almost all the time.
Security is a big issue in Japan, but perhaps nothing compared to Korea, where the Korean army has issued weapons to men standing by for trouble. Here in Japan, some "official" hooligans have already deported at Narita airport.
I'm personally not that interested (sorry to those of you who are soccer lovers!) in the World Cup. But as I've found out recently, it's become very important when arranging business meetings, phone calls, etc., to check the game schedules first! Suddenly lots of overseas managers are coming to see their Japan operations, and are asking us for early morning meetings so that they can make their way to the various stadiums. Infact, in the case of some of our British customers, I'd had to completely avoid booking meetings for days when England is playing.
The World Cup is indeed a global festival. Estimates are that 1 out of every 4 people in the world is soccer fan. And as with many festivals, a level of hysteria, World Cup Fever, is highly likely to happen. I hope no major accidents occur, but at least the "fever" will have a beneficial effect on the economy.

Real Life

Do you want to live in Harrods? They're recruiting 4 people to spend a week as a family at the front window of the famous Harrods department store in London. This is an event sponsored by LG, the major Korean home electric appliances company. They will display the latest their own product, such as fridge, washing machine, microwave, etc. which are networked and operational via internet, in 4 rooms (kitchen, dining, etc.), to actually demonstrate these during their real everyday living life.
The real life TV show's been pretty popular these last a couple of years. In US, "The Osbournes" in MTV is such a huge hit. It's a real life TV show of the Ozzy Osbourne's family. Strange family (off course, the father is the guru of rock!) with usual life events decorated with extraordinary people/events. Maybe the expectations of the unexpected happenings are high, or people are too remote from the real encounter in their real life.
On the other hand, I see lots of happenings, good or bad, in the office, every single day. The truth is stranger than fiction.

Okinawa

Do you know the song "Shimauta", a song written by a band called "The Boom"? It became the Argentina soccer team's official theme song for the world cup. "La Cancion de la Isla" is a cover song by Alfredo Casero: sung in Japanese. Many of the Nikkei people in Argentine a are descendants of Okinawa immigrants, and of course the tune feels familiar to them since Shimauta is based on Okinawan music.
Okinawan music has a very unique scale: do mi fa so shi do. This plus their language also being very different from regular Japanese, we can't help noticing that they have a different heritage. That said, though, music is a universal communication tool, as has become obvious from the Argentinean experience.
If you read the lyrics of Shimauta along in context of the history of Okinawa: then you start to understand the significance of the terms. "Deigo no hana ga saki (Deigo flowers came to bloom)" is the time around when the war started, the US occupation was "Arashi ga kita (storm came)", "Deigo ga saki midare (Deigo flowers run riot)" denotes the war between Japan and US being started by the fierce Peal Harbor attack. By the time "Deigo no hana mo chiri (Deigo flowers die, falling as fluttering petals )" in June, the resistance in Okinawa was over. Deigo is Okinawa's state flower, also called Erythrina Orientalis Murray. I hope the "Towano yunagi wo (forever the calm water)" will be delivered "Umiwo watari (across the ocean)" with this song.

Honest Politicians

The 108th Mayor of the City of New York, Mr. Michael R. Bloomberg has become a poster boy for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) foundation. They're trying to get Marijuana usage legalized in the Unite States. His comment was "You bet I did. And I enjoyed it." The ad says that finally there is an honest politician.
Hmmmm, "Honest politician," is an unlikely combination of words. It's not that I have any particular prejudice about Mr. Bloomberg, but the "politician" itself has the connotation of "dishonest" to me.
The news these days is full of politicians and their scandals. I think we're all starting to get fed up with the bribery and carrying on, and can't put aside the feeling that almost everyone's is somehow involved in the sleaze at Kasumigaseki. Compared to the daily embezzlement of public money, smoking Marijuana doesn't seem that big of a deal, indeed, it's legal in some countries.
Mr. Bloomberg's comment was quoted from the New Yorker magazine before he announced he was running for mayoral office. So, he was not an "honest politician" at that time. He was a simply honest person. I wonder if he would say such things now...?

Free Time

Do you like domestic chores? A research company in Michigan reported that Japanese men spend 4 hours per week for housekeeping. This is about 1/4 of what men in the US do, and 1/6 of men in Sweden. Although I thought the Japanese average would be higher, I expect that the reason it isn't is that Japanese men are away at work longer, and therefore have less time to spend for housekeeping. But the survey was taken before the current economic slump, so maybe Japanese men really will be able to spend more time at home on housework in the future.
Another interesting point from the research is that Japanese spend more time for leisure! Especially Japanese women -- whose TV hours are far longer than anywhere else. Hmmm, that could be me... it's so addictive!
What do you spend most of your time doing?

Four Leaf Clover

Sun Mar 17 was St. Patrick's day. The parade was in Omote sando, where they blocked off half of Omote Sando Dori, and lots of Guinness was consumed!
The shamrock is one of the symbols for this day. I remember that I used to look for a 4-leaved clover in the school ground for hours and hours. It's said that the 4-leaf clover brings you luck. One even saved Napoleon when he found it on the battle field and as he bent down to pick it, a bullet passed where his head would have been -- or so they say, anyway...
Your chance of finding a 4-leaf clover is about 1/100,000, so there certainly is some luck involved in finding one. However, if you can't find one in the fields, you can at least see them in the city -- Alfa Romeo's logo is a "QUADRIFOGLIO" for its sports and racing cars.

Spring is Coming

It's getting a lot warmer these days, and you can feel the spring is there. Plums are in full bloom, scent of Daphne odor (Jinchoge), and even cherry blossoms are starting to boom.
Spring is full of scent. Especially Daphne odor is in everywhere. Though the flowers are so small, you can't imagine how these tiny flowers smells so sweet and strong. Or since it's very small, they have strong scent to appeal to livings. This flower came from China, and it was called "can smell from far away". Even it's prohibited to use for the traditional tea ceremony in Japan due to this strong scent; it distract people from concentrating on tea.
I saw a flog out on the ground the other day, probably woke up from hibernation already. I should go out, carried away by the fine spring weather.

Ogata-san

Was it just me who was relieved to hear that Ms. Ogata declined the offer of Foreign Minister? I mean, it would be great if she took the position, but I honestly didn't want her to waste her time and energy with the politicians she'd have to deal with, by taking this position. She's too good for that. She is one of the very few Japanese I know of who is able to perform on a global stage. In 1991, she was elected as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and was re-elected to this position until 1999. She visited practically every country which had fallen into the abyss because of war, politics, and/or starvation. At age 74, she is still active, as was apparent at the Afghanistan Reconstruction session.
Undaunted and unabashed, Ogata-san is also very dependable. Of course her family background has something to do with this. Her father was the ambassador to Finland, her grandfather was Japan's Foreign Minister, her husband was a Vice President of the Bank of Japan. She herself went to Georgetown, and completed a Doctorate in Politics at UC Berkley.
Ogata-san has been an inspiration to generations of young Japanese. She has fought strenuously for the things she believes are right. Certainly, I believe that it's very important to have a vision and attitude of truth: unlike many Japanese politicians argue over very stupid matters....
Yes, it would be great for Ogata-san to take the Foreign Minister position, restructure the ministry bureaucrats, and develop the better a better diplomatic core. But personally, I want Ogata-san to keep working for the 22 million refugees worldwide who need her help more...

Marriage

I found a rather interesting article recently that more and more junior/high schools in the USA have started a new curricula called "marriage." Its purpose is to prevent immature marriage and divorce. Some of the subjects covered include: "solutions to husband-wife quarrels", "Life management", etc. The courses simulate a wedding and help students create a budget plan for their honeymoon.
I wonder if such courses will really be useful to reduce divorce rates. There are a lot of things you can learn from books and classrooms, but marriage is one of those things you can't really understand until you actually encounter the event. Also, given the fact that the USA is a cultural melting pot, I wonder if such courses doing impinge on the rights of other regions and religions?
For example, in Mongolia, wives are sometimes shared among brothers. While one goes to the mountains to look after the herd, the other looks after the wife. Maybe this custom started because the birthrate of women was way lower than men. Or...
Herodotus wrote that, in ancient Egypt, women went to work, and men stayed home to weave. Daughters, not the sons, were responsible for taking care of aged parents. The main reason for this turnabout was that women inherited family property at that time. Interestingly, about 670 years ago in Japan, women also inherited the family house and assets.

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.

Smell

There is a "Scent of Spring" - a daffodil's aroma that I can smell now in the office. Yellow Plum ("roubai") is also the scent of early spring to me. They say that scent is directly connected to your memory, and it brings you flashbacks of past memories. The sense of smell is kind of unique out of the five senses. You can feel heat, for example, but it's hard to connect touch with the heat of a fire or to differentiate it with the heat of a sunny day. With smell, however, you can see flashbacks: grandmother's kimono - camphor, mother's perfume, old photo albums, flaming briquettes, the ocean, freshly mown lawns, etc.
In ancient Japan, there are 2 words used for smell. "Niohi" is more visual that contains the meanings that you can "smell" the color, elegance, and complexion if an aroma. "Kaoru" on the other hand is more physical, and describes the olfactory interaction for smells like perfume, incense, fragrance, odors, etc. Then the usage changed as the time past, and these days "Niohi" means general sense of smell, while "Kaoru" is used for good smells.
What's your "Kaori" for the season?

Taxes

Have you seen the TV commercial in which a woman says to the man who is about to smoke, "If you want to smoke, go to Japan!!". Then the scene cuts to a newscaster announcing "In Japan, smoker refugees are increasing....." with some footage of people on a rubber dinghy being welcomed by Japanese guys on the beach. I think it's very funny.
The plan of increasing taxes on tobacco and low malt beer was suspended this time at the Diet (Japan's parliament), but they went ahead and approved the consolidate taxation for corporates. Also they increased the medical costs that have to be paid out by patients. I can understand that the government has to increase their "income" by increasing the tax, but if it were a company this business model wouldn't work. You can't put prices on your services up year after year and not cut your own costs. Maybe the politicians think they're making sure the nation doesn't go bankrupt, but when they don't seem to want to cut their costs while companies here are really struggling, then you seem them for the rats that they really are...
As a recent survey conducted by EIU, Economist group, shows that Japan is the most expensive country in the world in which to do business. The corporate tax is the second highest. Japan scored 100, on the scale, compared to the US with a score of 66.3. I wonder if we will have less Gaishi, or "refugees", coming to Japan in the future...?

Taxi

How often do you take a taxi? One night, I was too tired and took a taxi back home, and was more than a little surprised. The taxi had a car navigator system but even so, the driver was about to fail making my turn-off, it I hadn't noticed and told him where it was. Obviously he was a new driver and didn't know the back roads as well as me.
Then the next surprise was that he also had a speed radar detector. Suddenly a machine voice announced, "Slow down, slow down, danger, danger! and after a couple more minutes we passed by a police car. I might have been impressed except that we were only doing 20 km/h...
The newspapers say that the Japanese unemployment rate for October reached 5.4%, which is the worst since 1953. I bet that there will be a lot more new taxi drivers in Tokyo over the coming months. While they may not know where they are going, I hope they at least will drive carefully, and make their customers comfortable.

Dog

I bet most of you have noticed a lot more dogs in the streets these days: especially miniature dachshunds and chihuahuas. I love dogs and if I had to choose I would go for a dog rather than a cat. But since my apartment prohibits pets, I can't have any, unfortunately.
But for those people who are really stuck on the idea of having a dog, how about a virtual experience? Sega made a simulation game of walking your dog! You walk the trend mill, holding the leash. You'll encounter obstacles and accidents throughout the course, but you have to reach your goal without irritating the dog, and you can't simply pat it to calm it down.
Sounds like fun, but I can't help feeling that there is something missing in these types of games...

Asakusa

My husband and I went to Asakusa the other day, to check out Kimono for men. It was very interesting for me because usually I'm looking at women's kimono, not men's. And even when I do, what most department stores carry is formal, for weddings and other celebratory use, so there isn't much variety.
We checked several stores in the back streets of Asakusa. Of course, thinking about it, clearly people used to wear kimono on a daily basis so it is natural to imagine that there are lots of styles, materials, colors, etc. Nevertheless, to actually go see the selections available is quite eye-opening and educational. If you're at all interested in Japanese traditional clothes, you'll definitely get a kick out of going to Asakusa.
What we saw were kimonos made out of almost every conceivable fabric, including: silk, wool, synthetics. There were used ones and new ones, and interestingly, some which although men's kimono were imprinted with women's fabric patterns -- for cross-dressers! -- as well as yellow fabric for comedians and Kabuki actors.
It was a quite fun to talk to the owners, too. They tell you to pick what ever you want to wear, without excessive formality, and yet can expertly guide you about matching colors, patterns, and other design rules -- without making you feel like you're being pressured.
So, we spent about JPY50k at the store, and went home with our minds made up to go back there again. Why don't you try shopping for something traditional in Asakusa? It's really fun!

Teddy Bears

Saturday is Teddy Bears' day. There's a famous story that the stuffed bears were originally named after Theodore Roosevelt, and this Saturday is his birthday. The original teddy bear (not necessary known as a Teddy Bear back then) was made by Steiff, a German stuffed animal company, back in 1880. An original old Steiff bear is now worth more than a few million yen.
I use to make some stuffed animals, and it's very hard to make one with a good smiling face. Positioning the eyes is especially difficult! It might be one of the reasons why I can't help buying cute stuffed animals whenever I see them -- because I know it's almost impossible to make the exact same face. My mania for stuffed animals sometimes makes me the target of fun by my male friends. But then, I have to ask them, "What's up with all your toys: robots, pikachu, PCs, audio equipment, and such...?" That usually shuts them up!

Mousephone

Mobile phones have advanced amazingly in the last few years, but the other day a unique new accessory caught my eye -- a mouse pad phone! This strange looking device is a fully functional push phone made out of a flat rubber molding. It has a microphone and ear phone built in, so that you can use it hands-free. It's got 2 modular jacks so that you can connect a regular phone and modem. You can even pick a color scheme of blue, green, red, and yellow.
I've seen unique mouse pads, such as one with a calculator, one made of china, etc. But seeing one with a built-in phone really takes the cake....

Photography

Polaroid in the USA applied for Chapter 11 protection last week. They've announced their restructuring plan, but given the market trends of digital cameras, it's hard to say whether they can really make any improvement. Digital means that there is no more anticipation while you shake the photo to speed up its development -- instead you get instant gratification.Easy and fast were the key phrases used by Polaroid. No longer is either adjective true when used in comparison to digital cameras. Recently I've been hearing that even some professional photographers have given up using manual cameras. And that teachers at some photography schools are telling students not to bother with the courses about exposure or lighting, because they can correct the photos digitally later. On a personal level, a man who runs a photo store in NY told me he has to shut down soon, because he can't keep up with digital camera techniques and technology. He's an old guy and started his career in a development lab about 50 years ago.
If digital cameras dominate the photography world, then can everyone be a photographer? I think the reality is that they can all be picture takers, but it takes emotion and creativity as much as it does technology to take photos that have meaning...

Smell of Autumn

Autumn Equinox has passed, the air is becoming cooler and a little drier everyday. I tend to walk a little longer than usual these days to feel the air and the fragrance of Kinmokusei (Oleaceae/Osmanthus) which has started to bloom. The sweet scent of the flowers makes me feel that life is not that bad. I can walk, see, hear, eat and smell. Maybe this is a kind of aromatherapy after the brutal heat of Tokyo summers.
It's often said that lavender is good for relaxing, but there are some other smells that I love, such as the smell of coffee in the morning, roasting tea leaves, tubs made of Japanese cypress, new green tatami mats, and martini -- even though I don't drink.
Close your eyes, and enjoy your favorite aroma -- Fall in Japan is the right time to do it.

WTC

I'm sure everyone's shocked at the sight of the World Trade Center towers crumbling and collapsing in real time. It wasn't a movie, SF nor CG. Who could've thought they would fly an airplane into those buildings? I was there just 2 weeks ago, wondering why the security check at the airports was much looser than it used to be. As I have Japanese passport, and also obviously am Japanese-looking, usually my security check is easier than for passengers from other countries, but I somehow felt it was much looser than it should be.
The search for the missing is still going on, and I believe some of may have friends or family in that area. I do have some relatives and friends living in Manhattan, and fortunately we found them all safe after sending them e-mail. The phone system was overloaded most of Tuesday, and the only communication tool that worked was e-mail. If I didn't have this, I would've really panicked....
Technology is great but somehow it scares me how it can give you so much detailed information. You can check a 3D diagram at CNN.com of how the plane crashed into the towers. As I watch this surreal scene and in so much detail, it makes me feel numb.
We have no idea what's going to follow at this stage, and I hope things will get better very soon.

Yukata

This weekend (by the time you read it, last weekend) is the Azabu Juban Festival -- a pretty big festival in central Tokyo. I'm going to wear my Yukata (Summer kimono) and just walk around, absorbing the atmosphere of the festival. This is the almost the only chance these days that I get to wear my Yukata. So it's getting harder and harder to recall how to wear it.
When I used to live with my family, my grandma use to dress me. She still wear her Yukata all summer, and it's nothing but a normal piece of apparel to her. But I tend to forget how tight the belt should be, or the length of Yukata, how to fold it, etc., -- all those trivial details.
What I can't forget, though, is the joy of wearing it to go to festivals or fireworks displays. Of course, I know that the wearer will suffer, especially females, from the heat, tightness, and
difficulty in walking with the crowds. But, somehow, it still excites me to wear one.

Parasite Economy

For the last 2 weeks, it's been bargain season at Japanese department stores. I, of course, went to Ginza and did some shopping. I assume most men in the company get bored going out with their partners for shopping. I saw lots of dads and boyfriends lounging around on couches, chairs, stairs and anywhere else they could sit down at stores. They were typically half asleep or gazing dazedly at nothing in particular. On the other hand, I saw hundreds of women actively hunting for new clothes, shoes, bags, accessories, etc. It was like watching a swarm of ants working a picnic lunch...
There is no doubt in my mind that women are the key for Japan to increase its consumption rates, if only because for many of them, they have almost 100% disposable incomes. We've been hearing in the media for some time now about "parasite singles" who live with their parents, while the boyfriend pays for the dates. What a great, if not rather boring life it must be to be a parasite....
As for me, I felt guilty even buying 2 pairs of shoes, but at least I felt a little better once I realized that I was doing my bit to help the economy....

Summer Heat

Boy it's hot! In the evening, even with the air conditioner on, the evening heat has been keeping me awake. I know that it's not really good for you to keep using the aircon all night, but I don't think I could function at work the next day if I didn't. So of course, I'm expecting to get a summer cold because of the temperature fluctuations.
I can't really remember what it was like before we had air conditioners, but I do remember loving to have my mother gently fans me at night as I went to sleep. Was it the light touch of the fan's breeze or the fact that my mother cared enough to do it?
Believe it or not, the real summer isn't due for another month or so! What will you do to survive the next 8 weeks of heat in Tokyo?

Brand Name Goods

Did you notice a huge orange box in Ginza for about an year? That was the construction facade for the biggest Hermes shop in Japan, which finally opened on June 28. More than 1,000 people were waiting in line before the opening at 11:00am, including one 25-year-old woman who waited since 22:00 the night before!
The sale of such brand name goods slowed back in '97 due to the instability of the Asian economy, but it's been climbing back upwards record levels since '99. While it's amazing that people are willing to pay so much for such expensive goods, it's also amazing how much money these big brand names have been plunking down for Tokyo prime properties. For example, Cartier spent about JPY7bn to purchase their building in Ginza. Prada Japan paid about JPY6bn for land for a building they are constructing in Omote sando, and Hermes Japon paid JPY9bn for the new store in Ginza.
The top selling brand is Louis Vuitton and their sales result was JPY720bn for 1999, followed by Hermes at JPY23.65bn.
You have to wonder why Japanese young women get so excited by such expensive brand name goods...

Restaurant-athon!

One of the discussions at the Diet has been about how to improve regional revenue sources. So, how about this unique event to boost the regional economies?
Nakayama Restaurants Association in Nakayama-cho, Yamagata prefecture is organizing a "Town Drink Triathlon" for June 29. Participants have to finish 23 dishes and drinks designated at each restaurant in town, such as Udon, Soba, Beer, etc. You can start anything you want. Additionally, you have to sing Karaoke at one of the 5 Karaoke bars in town!
The event is limited to 100 participants, and only costs JPY3,000. If you want to join this digestive organ triathlon, call 023-662-2207 by June 26 to enter...!

Father's Day

How many people were aware that yesterday was Father's day? Compared to Mother's Day, it looks like fathers get short shrift from the marketing and business world. According to some news reports from department stores, popular gifts this year are drinks, snacks, beer servers, and summer clothes such as polo shirts and Jimbe-e (a kind of short, separated kimono two-piece). But I just wonder if these rather tawdry goods will really cheer up a stressed out father. It hardly seems worth the effort.
Personally, if I'm going to give a polo shirt to my father, then at least I want to make the actual experience pleasurable for him. My tactic is to take him to a museum or somewhere else where he feels it's worth going, and on the way, suggest stopping by some golf clothing stores. Like most Japanese men, he doesn't buy his own clothes and doesn't have any idea what to do, so I let the store clerks take care of him. Of course, taste-wise he doesn't listen to his family members, so I just let him take his time being fussed around by the store clerks, and let him enjoy his shopping. What makes it all worth it is the satisfaction of seeing his satisfied, smiling
face as he walks out of the store with the efforts of HIS shopping expedition!
What did you do for Father's day?

Train or Plane?

How do you prefer to travel: by airplane or Shinkansen? News is that JR East has started trying to win customers away from the airlines by serving breakfast on the Akita-Tokyo Shinkansen, from June onwards. Their problem is that it takes 4 hours by train versus 1 hour by air, to get to Tokyo. Their strategy is to pamper customers with breakfast, tea, oshibori, and slippers -- all free of charge.
Their target is business people, who take the early train to Tokyo. Over 40% of the passengers travel early in the morning. So, although you can eat breakfast in comfort, or even take a nap on the way to work, the problem is that if you have to be in the office by 9:00 a.m., then you have to leave home before 4:30 a.m.!
Personally, I would rather sleep than have a free meal. Do you think this marketing ploy will work? We'll find out in a month or two, I guess.

Table for One?

Do you go out lunch by yourself or with your "lunch mates"? Recently the newspapers have been reporting that young people are unhappy to have lunch alone but are not brave enough to ask others to join them for lunch. The phenomenon even has a name: "Lunch Mate Syndrome".
Doctors say it's because of the low social ability of some people, and their being too sensitive to develop their interpersonal skills. Some high school students are even dropping out school because of this syndrome. Some OLs ("Office Ladies") even make lunch appointments several days ahead, fearing that if they simply ask just before going to lunch, that they will be rejected.
Another new syndrome is the "Idle Conversation-phobia Syndrome". This is where a person is scared of taking lunch or some other break, because they can't think of idle conversation to enjoy with their friends.
Overall, both phenomenon are due to the lack of forming proper human relationships, not having enough experience in forming bonds during their pre-school days. That's one reason why keitai e-mail is booming here, especially among young people, because it means that they don't have to face each other but instead can communicate by e-mail.
Good grief! Are we creating a nation of wimps or what? Personally, I would love to spend long breaks just gossiping...

Back To Work

The long Golden week holiday is over, and it's kind of hard to recall what was going on before hand at work. One of the seasonal terms these days is "Gogatsu-byo (May sickness)". It's slang for the symptoms a student has when they return to school: a sinking, helpless feeling. Since the Golden Week is so long these days, a new version of Gogatsu-byo has appeared, and is called (of course!) "Rokugatsu-byo" (June sickness). It refers to people have burned out and reach a stage of no stress and no tension after a long holiday.
I believe it's rare for LINC Media people to catch Rokugatsu-byo, because of the excitement of the job itself. But even so, if the type of person who finishes each day feeling really tired and drained, then maybe a break is in order, before you get the dreaded July sickness. Don't ask me what
the symptoms are...!

Golden Week

Did you make a plan for the golden week holidays coming up next week? For those of you who are not going overseas, there are lots of interesting towns in Tokyo where you can hang out. The newest one is Harumi Triton in Kachidoki. It's a group of apartments, office buildings, shopping mall, restaurants and a theater -- which just opened last Saturday.
Last year, Odaiba opened and it became THE place to go on a date. Before that, Queen's Square in Yokohama was the place to be seen. QSY is located right next to the ocean, and still looks good 6
years after it opened. Then of course there is Ebisu Garden Place, Tokyo Disneyland, and Universal Studios in Osaka.
The only problem? Lots and lots of people... But anyway, let's hope the weather will hold for Golden Week!

Sleeping

I commute on the bus every day, and often see freshmen off to their new offices and little kids going to kindergarten. One morning, I saw a kid doze off on the bus. Poor little tike was obviously really tired and looked like he was going to miss his stop. But somehow he woke up just in time, and got off at the right stop. Amazing. He's definitely got the Japanese habit of being able to take a nap on the ride, though he is only 5 or 6 years old!
I believe it's one of those Japanese habits, being able to fall asleep while commuting -- just like bowing your head when speaking on the phone, even though the other person can't see you. Yes, if
you live Japan too long, you too will start to fall asleep on the train....

Freshmen

Have you been seeing lots of freshmen on the streets while out and about visiting clients? I see them as being the "Springtime" of the employment cycle. It's the custom that all freshmen wear
new suits and shirts and carry a huge bag around. They really stand out, giving new meaning to the word "Fresh-men (and women).
As you may know, the number of job seekers and the jobs available are mis-matched. These days companies are looking for more skilled/experienced people, and so the employment environment for these freshmen is becoming rather severe. I wonder if these people will see the next generation like I see them... recalling our own first spring in our careers.

Layer 8

The funding for Layer-8 Technologies (which we're nicknaming L8T to keep it short) will have closed by the time you read this newsletter. There are still some more documents for me to handle, but now L8T is on its way. Time for the team to now do its thing, and accelerate the business forward. The expectations by the investor are high, and everyone who is involved in the deal hopes that L8T will have a major part to play in the upcoming mobile market both here in Japan and overseas. Now Goro's team needs everyone's support. Please wish them the best of luck!

Sushi

Do you go to "Kaiten Zushi" often? If you want to try a new "on demand" type of sushi, you should know that a new place just opened in Osaka has customer touch screens for ordering.
The screens have fishes swimming around on them, and you press a fish to order it in your favorite Maki. The images even include short notes, such as "rich in vitamins," and "good for
stomach and head aches." Plus it also includes the biology of tuna and other species. This rather radical advance in sushi ordering has had good reactions from families with kids, who are
less likely to get bored. Although you now don't need to search through the rotating plates to find what you want to eat, you do still have to wait for the plate you ordered to show up.
In terms of human psychology, this new system reminds me of a Kaiten Zushi I went to in Chiba. There I saw a lot of sushi on the rotating belt, but they were all made of wax, not the real
thing. The cook was there, and he asked what I wanted, made the sushi, and instead of handing it out to me, put it on the belt. I remember wondering why he didn't just give me the plate as he made the dish. I guess that the anticipation of waiting for your plate to come through makes the customers hungrier. He at least was able to balance customer psychology with the cost savings of reducing uneaten plate wastage...
Which do you prefer for your sushi, a human or IT interface?

Cash, Card, or Phone?

Do you use bus card and other pre-paid cards for transportation? Ten years ago, JR started issuing iO cards. Then Metro cards and bus cards followed. At first I thought it was pretty convenient, but I found a problem. The fact is that these days, you probably don't use your phone cards often, because most of us have a mobile. Well, there was a news item recently that mobile phone users will be able to buy credits on their cell phones, that will act like tickets/cards for your daily transportation needs. Every time you exit a ticket gate, even without showing your phone, the ticket machine will let you through and record the transaction via your cell phone -- which you can just simply leave in your bag.
As some of you might have noticed, Japanese are not used to using credit cards, but instead tend to overdepend on cash. Debit cards certainly haven't worked well here, and the preference for chash may be one of the reasons. Maybe the banks should try to add debit card functions to mobile phones, so the consumer doesn't have to carry around so many cards...

Neighborhood

On the weekend, I took a walk around Azabu Juban. It's about 15-20 min walk from my home and I enjoyed it because there are lots of small stores with "natsukashii" stuff from the old days. It's been a long time since I was there last, and I was surprised that the street was filled with lots of tourists. It looks like they come down on the Ooedo line. Even the bread store I often go to was filled with people, and I gave up trying to buy bread. Everywhere I went was crowded,
and I ended up buying nothing. It must be good for the stores there that they have more customers coming, but my feeling is complicated: the town I used to know is changing. The new Mori building in Roppongi will bring even more people in future too.
I think everyone has their favorite town, and somehow you call it your own. I know it's selfish, but somehow I wish my space would just stay the same as it always was. I guess it's time to make an expedition to a new area -- and become one of those tourists I've been complaining about.

Bus

The other day, I took a bus home from Shibuya, and the bus stopped because the engine overheated. Luckily another bus soom came to pick us up, so the passengers didn't have to
wait in the cold weather too long. I don't remember the last time I was in a bus in Japan that actually broke down. So it was a kind of unique experience and in a strange way a little bit enjoyable...
I remember that I loved taking the very front seat of the bus when I was in elementary school. I guess I wanted to feel like I was driving the bus. Somehow, I started choosing the seat in the very back of bus in high school. You can see that the other kids and students have the same
tendency if you're on the bus.
Some people don't like taking the bus because it's never on time and some drivers speed and drive like crazy, but I like it because I can check out different views of the city which I can't see from the train. With only JPY200, you can go almost anywhere in Tokyo by Toei Bus. Time for a bus trip?

Brand

I heard the news that Converse filed for Chapter 11 protection, meaning that effectively they went bankrupt.
I remember when I was in 5th and 6th grade at school, we all joined the basketball team as part of our school activities. Everyone wanted Converse basketball shoes. But as time went by, I stopped wearing my Converse shoes and never really bought any more. Even though the brand recognition of Converse is still pretty strong, maybe we're entering an era where just brand image can't drive a business anymore. In which case, operators with strong corporate and brand management experience, like RVMC, will start moving in even more aggressively and buying up yesteryear's famous companies...

Real Work

We had a group of students from France in the office other day. It was part of their MBA course to come visit real companies in Japan. They went to some big Japanese outfits such as NTT Docomo, but commented that they liked visiting us best, because they could ask lots of questions to "real" people doing "real" work. The other companies tended to show off their beautiful office space, expressing how great they are. On the other hand, our office has used office furniture's almost everywhere since cost-effectiveness is key to making profits. The students were excited about how we run our own servers and make websites, programs, magazines -- in fact, we do pretty much everything by ourselves.
They are so young, and don't know what kind of challenges they'll face in future, but I hope that we could stimulate their interest in being entrepreneurs in the future.

Incorporation

As you might can see/hear I "scream" quite often these days. Yes, I'm working on yet another company incorporation: Layer-8. This time the process is much easier than last time with daijob.com, because now I know how it works. Time flies. The anniversary of daijob.com's
incorporation is just around the corner, on Jan 21st. I won't forget the days and nights we spent on the daijob incorporation/funding last year.... Now that DJ is doing so well, and I can happily let them leave the nest soon.
I'm thinking now how to get others to help me work on this stuff, particularly how to set up new companies. Of course, we could just use a consulting or law firm to take care of all the procedures, but the thing is that once the job is done they leave you. So later on if you need to know why certain decisions were made or how the company was described in the articles of incorporation, you have no knowledge within the company. In other words, you lose the flexibility to change the corporate documents as the company itself changes. So, we're going to keep doing the establishments in-house.
But the fact remains that I do need help, so my New Year's resolution is to pass my know-how to other people inside LINC Media.
Yoroshiku onegaishimasu!

Robots

It's said that the people are seeking better forms of relaxation and relief from the stress of working. The engineering department of Ibaraki University made some firefly robots. They even tested the robots effects on the public and the result was that people did indeed relax. Actually, many of them were surprised when they were told that the fireflies were not real.
The boom of aibo and the other pet robots is probably because people are looking for alternatives to their current life style. Particularly, they're looking for easy-to-be-around pets, but without the inconvenience in their small apartments of having to feed and take care of them.
I'm still scared of robots because they're not natural. Think about it: 20 years ago, robots couldn't walk by themselves, and now Honda has one that even walks naturally. Maybe we'll be able to
make an Astro Boy in the 21st century....?!

Pearls

I had a chance to go to a small pearl trading company to help one of my friends do some Christmas shopping. It's run by a foreigner who's been here for about 38 years, and they offer
pearls with pretty much your own design for a very reasonable price. The owner told us a story while we were waiting for my friend's pearls to be set.
Apparently, one day, a 15 year old kid came to the store, looking for a present for his girlfriend. He could afford only 10,000 yen which was a little short for what he could get at the store. Of course he was hesitating, but the owner was a real smooth talker and said to the kid, "You know, sonny, of course you could buy her nice clothes, bags, or books... but you're not going to win her with something so common. If she wants a real pearl, how badly do you want her?"
Of course the kid bought the pearl (with help from his mom), and the shop owner successfully made another sale. I had to smile at the story, when it comes to women getting their way, men are so easy to mind control -- even if by another man!

Old Friends

I went to the wedding of one of my old friends from kindergarten last weekend, and found it very interesting. I'm happy that she found someone good for her, and can share their lives together. But at the same time, I had this haunting feeling that I didn't belong to their culture anymore.
The ceremony was a typical Japanese one. She married a man whom she met at the office, which is the Tokyo Waterworks Department. They're both government employees, and of course, there were many people from their office. Both their bosses gave long, dry Japanese speeches (you know what I mean...), started karaoke, etc. All the guests looked like they were enjoying themselves with the conversation, food, and drink. Of course the older Japanese guys forced everyone to drink beer even though the person didn't or couldn't do so.
Many of my old friends were there, and I enjoyed meeting and talking with them a lot, but I also felt like a stranger. Half of the girls are married, and what they talk about is having babies, neighbors' gossip, etc. It's kind of difficult to enjoy this kind of conversation unless you live in the
neighborhood and share a lot of time together -- which I don't because I work.
Do you have ever had the experience of awkwardness when meeting a close friend after a long time and finding you have nothing in common?

Shogi

Do you play Shogi/Japanese chess? Nov. 17 is Shogi day, which hails back to the annual Shogi competition held by the Shoguns from Edo era.
The origin of Shogi is "Chaturanga" in India around BC200 - BC300. Chaturanga passed to the West as Chess. It also spread East, the you can see many similar games in Asia: Shatranj in Arabia, Makrook in Thailand, Karton in Vietnam, Tjyangi in Korea, Xiangqi in China,
etc.
The original game "Chaturanga" is a game for 4 people with 8 x 8 grid chess board, and it has 4 different forces, infantry, cavalry, tank, and elephant troops. It reflects the battle scenes around that time where many small nations fought with elephant troops. Likewise, Shogi has its characteristics influenced by the Japanese way of war. You can use the opponents pieces after you capture them. It might reflect that they use to accept captives as their slaves.
We use a 9 x 9 grid chess board for Shogi now, but there use to be more variety in size and rules: 12 x 12, 15 x 15, 17 x 17, 19 x 19, and 25 x 25!
As chess is a game of strategy, I guess that being in LINC for some of our staff is like playing 4 to 5 games of chess at the same time....

7-11

I watched a documentary of Seven Eleven Japan on TV the other day. It was very interesting how they grew their business to not only become the top convenience store, but also the top retailer.
The story goes like this: 2 employees from Yokado went to the US to purchase the brandname license for Seven Eleven, and over 100 folders of manuals. Since 7-11 US didn't plan to enter the Japanese market at all, they instead suggested a very expensive royalty. Although they staked their fate on this deal, Yokado, their employer, wasn't happy about it at all and became negative about the whole project. So, in the end the company decided to finance only 50% of the capital for the 7-11 Japan project. Those 2 employees left Yokado, dumped their savings into the new business, took out mortgages on their houses, and approached the banks to loan money. For two years, they worked more than 16 hours a day.
They started the business with the whole world against them. The concept of "convenience store" was very new in 70's, and there were a lot of resellers at that time. The two ventures looked very hard on how to cut into the market. One of their disadvantages is that they were all amateurs, but it turned out to be a blessing in discuss; although they were not experts for
logistics, wholesale, and retail, they were however flexible enough to change the old systems. Of course the wholesalers were not co-operative to those amateurs.
They checked inventory everyday by hand since they didn't have POS at that time; negotiated with the wholesaler to stock sufficient goods, not the minimum order of dozen; etc. What 7-11 has now, looks very simple to me, but no one ever tried to change this system before them. By this very painstaking process, they made their own manual, and which will 7-11 US in future to
restructure their business.
These 2 ex-employees are now Chairman and the President of the 7-11 Japan and they still run their business.
With passion, faith and the hard work, they achieved their today's status, and it's even taken as a reference to the Harvard University MBA class as a successful business next to the Kanban from Toyota. There are a lot of things we can learn from the pioneers but basic denominator looks that they can tell what is the common sense and what is not, and how to implement it to their business with enthusiasm. Does it give you a tip to your business?

3-day Weekend

It's getting chillier and chillier, and the season of food and reading is on its way. In case you haven't been watching the calendar, we will have a national holiday "Cultural Day" on Friday, Nov 3. I am eagerly looking forward to this 3-day weekend -- where I'll curl up with a good book and eat some
delicacies that my husband Ren (are you reading this?) will make for me!

Korea

There have been several Korean movies showing in the theaters lately, and I noticed the recent boom compared to a situation 2-3 years ago, where we never saw a Korean movie.
In 1998, the Korean gov't decided to deregulate Japanese movies, videos, and publications: gradually allowing the Japanese pop culture back into that country after 50 years.
Korea is close geographically, but it's very far from us mentally. Of course, WWII is the biggest and the worst reason why the two countries have taken so long to come closer together, but still,
it's surprising that we haven't even exchanged pop culture until recently.
My hope is that this kind of cultural exchange will it help people to develop a better understanding of each other's countries so that we get past the stereotype of Korean people eating Yakiniku everyday, and start a meaningful interaction between our two very unique nations.

2000 Yen Bills

Do any of you have a JPY2,000 bill? I've seen one, but never owned or used one.
When I was on the bus, I saw a notice saying "This bus does not accept JPY2,000 bills" stuck to the ticket machine. I remember that the media made a big fuss when the MOF decided to release the new JPY2,000 bills with the picture of Okinawa, but it turned out that they're not that popular.
The MOF Printing office printed 270m notes through to the end of August, but information sources say that only 120m notes were actually transferred to public banks. The remaining 150m notes are in the Bank of Japan vaults gathering dust. Amazingly, the MOF Printing office still plans to print another 10 billion notes by the end of next March.
So now everyone has to make new machines which can read JPY2,000 bills, including: ATMs, vending machines, etc. Or maybe not. Apparently, a lot of key players have said that they'll just ignore the bill's existence altogether.
When Japan's ex-prime minister announced this great (?) idea to stimulate the economy by releasing a new note, I knew it wouldn't work. But as bureaucrats always do, the MOF has no intention to stop printing; and they'll sell the notes to the Bank of Japan for JPY16.2392 billion. This will become revenue for the MOF. I guess we should think of the whole mess as a memorial bill for the millennium Okinawa summit!

Housework

The other day, I did a personal experiment of how housewives spend their time during weekdays. I had a compensation holiday during Terrie's business trip. I did laundry, cleaning, washing dishes, fixing my bicycle, buying groceries and consumables, and cooking meals. Many of you might think that housekeeping is not a professional job, but I can tell you that it's a lot of work. It's easy to imagine that the more family members you have, the more work you have to do everyday.
A few months ago, a book that bashes housewives was published, and I read that a lot of housewives strongly reacted to the ideas covered in the book, such as that they are: lazy, have
no motivation, get 3 square meals and a nap everyday (Sanshoku Hiru-ne tsuki). I believe it's their choice to stay home and do housework, just like the other people working in the office
choose their jobs. But this doesn't give others the right to accuse housewives of having it easy.
I guess that housekeeping is an essential part of your daily life, but perhaps you don't recognize its importance and necessity. When you're young and healthy, and out all the time, this is understandable. But what about if you get old or sick -- then you will definitely need someone's
help. That's one of the reasons why home helpers and the other nursing care businesses are becoming successful business areas.
If you had the choice would you like to be a housewife or house-husband?