View From The Porch Gets It Right

After all the hyper-ventilating and thoroughly false information we have had issuing from the American (and most of the world) media about the disaster in Japan that caused the Fukushima Number One nuclear plant to have major problems, it is refreshing to note that while the MSN with their "layers of fact-checkers" (as a senior MSN-er once opined) seemingly have no clue as to the differences between Chernobyl and Fukushima, one blogger - a BLOGGER - gets it absolutely right.

Indianapolis-based blogger Tam of View From The Porch writes,

Remember back in '50s and early '60s, when we set off something like 900 atomic bombs in Nevada? And how we just let the fallout blow wherever and it landed all over the eastern US? And how it wiped out life as we know it and all that was left from Colorado to the Atlantic were six-legged rats battling two-headed cockroaches in the glowing ruins?

Yeah. Exactly. So shut up with the panic already.

All I can say is: Precisely. Thank you Tam! Now, if you vaunted MSN only had half of Tam's common sense and understanding of nuclear design. Oh, wait, they're...JOURNALISTS! They don't need no stinking facts - they have an AGENDA - they must CHANGE THE WORLD and save it from we eeevil humans.

So of course if the facts don't fit the meme, one ignores the facts. It didn't stop them during the Bush Administration, it didn't stop them during Katrina, it certainly didn't stop them during most of the past fifty or so years, so I guess it won't stop them now. Problem is, as the great John Adams once said, "Facts are stubborn things". So maybe the truth will come out. We can hope, anyway. Preferably before we end up like Greece.

Remembering Marco Polo (Bridge)

It is instructive that so close to the anniversary of American independence is another anniversary much more somber in nature. To be specific, today is the seventieth anniversary of the battle at Marco Polo bridge in Beijing. This incident was the final straw in the long history of Sino-Japanese irritants, and led to open warfare between the Empire of Japan and the forces of Revolutionary China (led by Chiang Kai-shek's Kuomintang Party, or KMT).
As a result of the battle, China and Japan were engaged in full-scale war, as opposed to the mostly diplomatic battles they had engaged in since the end of the previous war in 1931. This war continued until Japan surrendered to the United States and the remainder of the Allies in 1945.

One side effect of the war was to allow Mao Tse-tung's Communists to grow strong as the Nationalist Party (KMT) focused its energies on fighting the Japanese. The Chinese Communists and Chiang Kai-shek's KMT were deadly enemies, and in the years leading up to the battle at Marco Polo Bridge the KMT had forced the Communists to retreat in the famous Long March, greatly weakening them. Chiang intended to destroy the COmmunists before taking aim at the Japanese. However, this policy was not shared by all of his supporters. In fact, Chiang Kai-shek was actually kidnapped by Marshal Zhang Xueliang in order to force him to agree to put resistance to the Japanese as his first priority.

Chiang did agree to focus on defeating the Japanese, but at the cost of allowing the Communists (who did virtually nothing against the Japanese) to grow strong. In fact, they grew strong enough that at the end of World War II, they were quickly able to defeat the KMT and seize control of China, although it ought to be noted that they were aided by the corruption and elitism that was prevalent in the KMT as well. Had Chiang been willing to consider land reform, he might have managed to defeat the Communists despite their strength. So in one aspect, the battle at Marco Polo Bridge was an important step on the road to China's submission to the bloody hands of the Communists under Mao Tse-tung.

English Teachers Beware

The English-teaching business in Japan has struck a major speed bump, according to the Wall Street Journal. The Journal reports that with the recently-announced bankruptcy of Nova Corporation, Japan's largest private English school, there is now a large group of English teachers and students who are hurting due to the scandal.

Teaching English is one of the best ways for non-Japanese (especially those who have no command of the difficult Japanese language) to make a living in Japan, and Nova was the largest of the many private schools that sprang up to meet the need. But it appears that Nova's business practices were causing problems that eventually landed the company in bankruptcy proceedings. The Journal reports that,

The company, renowned in Japan for the hip-shaking pink bunny in its commercials, had been on a hiring binge, setting up recruitment offices in the U.S. and the United Kingdom and prowling college campuses offering jobs.

Nozomu Sahashi, the company's quirky founder, was fired last week as president and has dropped from sight. Now, worrisome details are trickling out: The 56-year-old executive had quietly moved profits from publicly traded Nova to his private company, a court-appointed administrator alleged at a news conference. The administrators, who are scrambling to find a sponsor to help turn around Nova, showed reporters his lavish office, which has a Jacuzzi, a tea room and a secret bedroom.

Now, the Nova teachers are jobless and those who have lived from paycheck to paycheck are stuck in Japan. Some have been threatened with eviction from their apartments because Nova, which had provided housing and deducted the rent from teachers' salaries, stopped paying rent months ago. In the past week, 300 Nova teachers have swarmed the usually orderly employment agency office in western Tokyo, called Hello Work, seeking jobs.

I was once an English teacher in Japan. After graduating university over a decade ago, and disgusted with the recession during Clinton's first term (yes, Virginia, unless you worked in Silicon Valley there was a recession), I pulled out my savings and went to Japan. I stayed there for four years, learned the language, and made a lot of good friends. But even when I was there, the market for private English lessons was not what it was during the lavish bubble economy of the late 1980s. I worked for a number of private schools teaching mainly university students and businessmen, and gave private lessons on the side. I never worked for Nova, but I had friends who did, and their descriptions do not surprise me. The pay was low, the hours long and the teacher was utterly dependent on Nova for everything.

This should provide a warning. If you are planning to see a foreign country and think that teaching English is a good way to do it, learn at least enough of the local language to get by before you spend your savings on a plane ticket!

A Truly Smart Car

I posted last month about Newsweek magazine's shameless shilling for Daimler-Benz's 'Smart' car brand. However, an article in Yahoo today has brought my attention to a car that Newsweek perhaps should have shilled for instead.

Produced by Japanese carmaker Nissan, the Pivo 2 is a concept car that is scheduled to be introduced at the upcoming Tokyo otor Show later this year. The Pivo can carry three adults and features a cabin that can rotate to face forward or backwards. In addition, Yahoo says of the Pivo 2,

Its wheels also turn 90 degrees, making parking easier.

"With this easy-to-handle car, you can feel comfortable while driving," said Masahiko Tabe, senior manager of the advanced vehicle development group at Nissan Motors.

"You can go everywhere without worrying about your driving skills." The car is as yet not for commercial sale.

The futuristic, three-seat car also comes with a robotic device that Nissan said monitors the driver's expression using censors and tailors its conversation accordingly.

The device, able to converse in English and Japanese, can help an angry driver overcome road rage or wake you up if you're prone to dozing behind the wheel, the car makers said.

Now if they could only produce it in electric!

Tokugawas Still Xenophobic

Japan's Tokugawa (徳川) family is descended from Tokugawa Ieyasu (徳川家康), the victor of the Battle of Sekigahara (関ヶ原の戦い) in the year 1600 that finally unified Japan. As such they are one of Japan's most noble families. Aside from Ieyasu's success in finally unifying the country afterthe previous efforts of Oda Nobunaga (織田 信長) and Toyotomi Hideyoshi (豊臣 秀吉), the Tokugawa family is most famous for closing Japan to outside elements for almost three hundred years, until the appearance of Comodore Matthew Perry's 'Black Fleet' in Tokyo Bay in 1852. It appears that almost 150 years of foreign relations has not beeen able to enlighten the family as to the value of others' cultures, as they are opposing their oldest son's marriage to a Vietnamese woman.

According to the Shukan Shincho (週刊新潮),

"He met the Vietnamese woman about 10 years ago," a close pal of Tokugawa's tells Shukan Shincho. "He was working at the FAO's Vietnam office at the time and met her through his work. She comes from a good family. She's petite and pretty. She's a complete contrast to Iehiro, who is only 174 centimeters tall but weighs 105 kilograms. She's 11 years younger than him, too. And she looks even younger still. Iehiro said he fell in love with her charms." Iehiro apparently set his mind on marriage not long after he started dating, and he soon let his parents know of his intentions.
"Iehiro knows that he is a member of the Tokugawa clan and fully realizes exactly what that status entails. He told his parents he spent three years in elementary school in the United States and that he has very liberal ideas about marriage. On top of that, she is the woman he chose," the buddy says. "But Tsunenari, important as head of the clan, and his mother were bitterly opposed. They said they didn't mind if their son dated a foreigner, but there was no way they were going to let him marry one."

So I gather it is OK to toy with foreigners' affections, but never ever think of making a permanent relationship, as they simply aren't good enough for a Japanese family? This is so ridiculous, I hardly know where to begin. Firstly, it is amazing that any family should be so arrogant as to discount the feelings of the objects of their scions affections. And I would say that if this is what they believe, then I would hope that their daughters and sons would suffer heartbreak at the hands of their romantic playthings. After all, all is fair in love or wwar, and this family is due for a fall.

However, the main point seems to me that some families simply cannot accept that foreign families might be as good (or in many cases better) than native. This is true no matter what race or culture one is discussing. However, it is true that many cultures and/or races do tend to prefer their own. And no one culture or race is automatically better than another. One can always find areas to criticise, and it is apparent that some cultures seem to be better at certain things than other cultures. But when one is dealing with individuals, one must learn that any single individual can be as good or as bad as one wishes.

One's nationality, race or color should be secondary to the personality and talents of the individual in question. This is especially true in cases of romantic involvement. Most mature races have learned that lesson. It is a pity that the Tokugawas, for all their historic achievements, apparently have not progressed to that point.

Globalization- A Wonderful Thing

There is a product in Japan called SalonPas (サロンパス), which is a pad that you stick onto your skin over an area that is experiencing aches and pains. According to the SalonPas US webite,

Katakori is a Japanese word used to describe physical symptoms like the stiffness in your neck and shoulders that reflect the amount of effort you put into a demanding, stressful day at work. More than just a medical term, Katakori is an everyday topic of conversation around the world. SALONPAS® offers soothing relief from the daily pain and strain of Katakori, allowing you to enjoy a healthier, more physically active lifestyle.

.

Both my (Japanese) wife and I have used SalonPas extensively, and one of the things we have been regretting is that this wonderful product was not available in the United States. Until now, that is...

Costco is now selling SalonPas both in stores and online. So if you are suffering from nerve of muscle tension and stress, this stuff is wonderful for soothing your discomfort. And according to my source, it appears that another Japanese product, Roto eyedrops, is available at Wal-Mart, though a search of their site did not turn it up.

I think globalization is a Very Good Thing, personally- at least as long as it brings things like SalonPas and Roto to my neighborhood shopping area. Hat tip to Expat Leo.

On Media Seriousness...

The US media is justifiably reviled for its political pandering, its readily apparent bias and its refusal to actually report on news that might (gasp) make the sitting President look better than the media wants him to. However, at least the US media has not completely gone into fairyland, unlike its Japanese counterpart.

When American pledge drives or other charity auctions occur, they are normally filled with things that evoke a wide variety of feelings- baseballs from a 700th home run, valuabnle artifacts and so on. However, the Japanese network Paradise TV has a slightly different focus- on pornography. And of cours the Japanese journalistic world is only to happy to cover said fundraiser- in detail.

The Shukan Taishu (週間大衆) reports that Paradise is planning to host a wall-to-wall porn giveaway for its annual fundraiser, including,

Among the features of the telethon will be "Oppai Bokin (Tit Collection)," where contributors to the charity fund are permitted to knead the breasts of an adult movie actress; and the Tekoki Jinja (Hand Job Shrine), where a cash handout will be returned with a hand out of an entirely different kind.

At least our media has not yet descended to the depths that necessitate reporting on this kind of thing, despite their incomprehensible interest in the affairs of nobodies such as Paris Hilton and other "celebrities" of that nature.

Hot (Pants) in Japan

Japanese girls have been noted in recent times of falling for all kinds of fashion fads. Some of these included the body-conscious (ボディコン) girls of the late 1980s and early 1990s, the "T-back" craze of the mid-1990s and the '70s retread craze of the early 2000s. It appears that Japanese girls now love to wear hot pants, or very short shorts. And this has apparently irritated the fashion police in Japan.

As reported by the Sunday Mainichi newspaper (毎日新聞), fashion critic Ichida Hiromi is unhappy with this turn of events. Ichida complained to the Sunday Mainichi that,

Ichida says Japanese aren't suited for skimpy hot pants.
"If Japanese women were built like their Western counterparts, it wouldn't be so bad, but hot pants just don't suit Japanese," she says. "It's the same as ultra-mini skirts. They were first brought here from Europe and Japanese adopted the fashion, but it's not so easy to adopt body shapes. I really want the women decked out in revealing clothes to take an objective look at their bodies. It's going to take another three or four generations before Japanese have similar proportions to Westerners. It's still premature for Japanese to go around talking about beautiful legs," Ichida tells Sunday Mainichi. "I can understand if the women were wearing hot pants over a swimsuit when they went to the beach, or something. In fact, in those cases, they're quite cute. But these girls are wearing the short shorts everywhere. And I can't stand it!"

I suspect that Ichida may be jealous of the women who can wear such attire, or perhaps she genuinely yearns for the days of the kimono. While I confess to a secret appreciation for a lovely Japanese girl properly dressed in the traditional kimono (I consider kimono one of the most lovely forms of clothing ever developed), I also appreciate the difficulty most modern Japanese women have in actually wearing said attire. Not only is kimono exceedingly difficult to wear, it is an increasingly rare Japanese woman who actually knows how to put one on, and often requires the assistance of others to get properly worn. I can remember my own wife, on our wedding, required her mother's assistance in order to get her kimono properly draped and tied.

Ultimately however, Ichida's complaints ring false. If the Japanese women are not suited for hot pants, then their friendswill surely let them know. In the meantime, I am certain that the male population is enjoying the fad while it lasts. And the media, as always, is milking it for all it is worth. After all, an excuse to run pictures of gorgeous women in skimpy clothing justifies any minimal "journalism" such as this piece by the Sunday Mainichi.

Japanese Bullies Move Online

Japan's school system has long had problems with bullying. Known as 虐め (ijime) in Japan, this practice has in the past been aimed at anyone who the bullies (often aided and abetted by teachers) felt didn't "fit in". Despite increasing publicity, the practice has not gone away, though in recent years it has become less conspicuous.

However, according to Japan's Weekly Playboy magazine, the practice has simply moved to the burgeoning online world of the Internet. Playboy reports that,

"Last year alone, the National Police Agency received 8,037 reported cases of online slander or defamation, a 39 percent increase over the previous year. Of these, 57 developed into criminal defamation cases where arrests were made. Both the number of reports and the number of arrests hit record highs," a police beat reporter for a national daily tells the weekly.

It appears that the problem is exacerbated by the fact that while the students are quite technically competent, the teachers who are responsible for teaching the subjects in the school system are not. In fact, according to an expert interviewed by the magazine,

"There's not a school teacher in the country who specializes in information technology education," Net crime expert Fujita tells Weekly Playboy. "IT in schools is being taught by teachers who know a bit about computers, but the vast majority of teachers don't know anything about computers and are petrified of the day they're ordered to teach information technology classes."

The article advises students that the best way of dealing with the bullying is to simply ignore it, but I would recommend that the object turn the tables on the perpetrators by learning the technology and then counter-attacking with the attacker's own methodology. Bullies typically cannot deal with a strong opponent, so in this case, the best form of defense is attack. And it is high time that Japan's schools realize that if they are going to teach a subject, it requires a true subject matter expert. Just as so many Japanese teachers of English are in fact incapable of carrying on a conversation in English, too many of Japan's computer teachers seem to be incapable of understanding the subject as well.

And American teachers might want to think about this as well- too many of them seem to believe that a degree in a social studies field, for example, qualifies them as an expert on international relations or military strategy. Concentrate on your subject and realise that just because you hold a degree does not automatically qualify you as an expert on fields outside your discipline. This is particularly true of journalism students, whose discipline is among the weakest and easiest to complete, yet who somehow believe that an ability to pontificate somehow makes them experts on any issue they choose to discuss.

NY Times Discovers U.S. Isn't So Bad!

At least not compared to some other countries, including socialistic Japan. The New York Times today is surprised to discover that foreign justice overseas is not exactly like that practiced in the United States. Outside of rogue District Attorneys such as Mike Nifong of Durham (who of course was aided and enabled by hack reporter Duff Wilson of- the New York Times!), prosecutors here are not known for forcing confessions from innocent people. And our justice system, on the whole, tends to bend over backwards to protect the accused. Remember the ideal of innocent until proven guilty, Mr. Wilson?

This is not the case in other countries. Any American who has visited Mexico knows that Mexican justice is a misnomer, based as it is on violence, graft and corruption. But Japanese justice is also not perfect. The Times has discovered what any expatriate who lived in Japan and reads the Japanese papers knows- that Japanese prosecutors and police tend to believe that one is guilty until proven innocent. An acquittal is a black mark for the prosecutor and judge, and they will use psychological torture to achieve it. For the Times staff, that would be real torture, not what was practiced by our Intelligence officers to try to keep us safe from violent Muslim terrorists.

The Times writes that,

The Japanese authorities have long relied on confessions to take suspects to court, instead of building cases based on solid evidence. Human rights groups have criticized the practice for leading to abuses of due process and convictions of innocent people.

...

The law allows the police to detain suspects for up to 23 days without an indictment. Suspects have almost no contact with the outside world and are subject to constant interrogation, a practice that has long drawn criticism from organizations like the United Nations Human Rights Committee and Amnesty International.

Suspects are strongly pressed to plead guilty, on the premise that confession is the first step toward rehabilitation.

For all the faults in the United States' justice system, such as ambulance-chasing attorneys and overly activist judges, I think our system is much fairer than most. Yes, O.J. got off, but that was the result of a flawed prosecution, not a flawed system. On balance, we are privileged to live in the wealthiest and most free country on Earth. The New York Times has spent the better part of the past six years trying to help Islamic terrorists desstroy this country. Maybe this article will open their eyes to what they are trying to destroy. At least we can hope. Hat tip to Glenn Reynolds.

Sayonara, Ai-chan

Ijima Ai (飯島愛) is a remarkable person. After starting her career as an AV (adult video) star, she became a hostess on the late-night Tokyo Television show Gilgamesh Night (ギルガメッシュ ナイト). The show was a thinly disguised celebration of the Japanese AV industry, and featured the starlets of the moment doing many silly things so they could show off their unclothed figures. However, it was a pleasantly mindless way to pass the time in 1990s Japan, and I confess to having watched it more than a few times myself.

Iijima herself, however, managed to parlay her hostess role on Gilgamesh Night into regular roles on more mainstrweam shows and eventuallyt became an accepted part of Japanese television. She released her autobiography in 2000, and watched it become a best-seller, while continuing to perform on Japanese television, and simultaneously running her own talent agency.

However, according to the Shukan Post (週間ポスト) and via the Daily Mainichi (毎日新聞) Wai-Wai online pages, Ms. Iijima is retiring from show business at the tender age of 34. She is citing a pelvic illness and also her parents' infirmities, but Wai-Wai reported that she also was embezzeled to the tune of over a million yen from her talent agency.

I thoroughly enjoyed watching Ms. Iijima perform through the years in her various incarnations, and would like to wish her the best in whatever field she turns her talents to. I trust that she willk repair her health and prevail in her embezzlement case. Good luck and thanks for the show. Sayonara.

Photo of the Week

This photo, courtesy of RidingSun, is hilarious. Don't forget to read the captions as well.

Courtesy of gaijinbiker.

Baby-Boom Ethos Reaches Japan

It has long been recognized by most responsible people that the Baby Boomers, especially the free-love, drug-addiicted, lefties who are the face of the late Sixties and Seventies in this country are responsible for severely damaging the United States' long and proud tradition of self-reliance through their spoiled, arrogant assumption that only they know best. People like Barbra Streisand, Jane Fonda and Teddy Kennedy- cosseted, spoiled brats who have never had to work for a living and have not been forced by the largely partisan media into paying for their sins. However, it appears that this phenomenon is not unique to the United States.

Acccording to the Japanese Shukan Post (週間ポスト) there is a similar, though probably less-dangerous impulse currently sweeping Japan as well. According to the Post, young Japanese are engaging in sex at younger ages and refusing to enter into the all-out work life that marked their forebears. The Post also comments that their paerents are increasingly living in joyless lives of their own and are seeking romance outside of marriage, as well as increasingly not enjoying the fruits of marriage between themselves. The general drift is that society is breaking down and the new generation will be the death of the Japanese nation.

While I do not believe that the young Japanese are as bad as the Post seems to think, I do agree that the breakdown of society is not always a good thing. The so-pleased-with-themselves Baby Boomers have contributed virtually nothing positive to the United States (despite their claims to the contrary) and the young Japanese risk falling into the same trap. So the Post's article comes as a warning shot. Too bad the media in this country are too busy trying to destroy another Presidency they dislike to take heed to the dangers they are attempting to sow.

Hat tip to Mentok.

Japan Trip, Part 2

I was in the electronic mecca of Akihabara this weekend. I remember my previous trip as one where the streets were filled with foreigners and foreign-worshipping Japanese, all of whom were milling around the elecronic goodies prominently displayed. However, I was surprised to find that Akihabara has changed rather drastically.

In the streets, were legions of the sub-group known as 'cosplay', folks who dress up in anime- or manga-inspired costumes and who seem to have become more intense about their hobby with each passing day. The amount of money and detail contained within many of these costumes was startling. Then it also appears that the 'companions' who hawk various merchandise and/or services become younger as well. I could have sworn that this trip they appeared to be around high-school age!

Finally, there is a dearth of low-price options. Japan was never known as a bargain-hunter's paradise, but I did not notice any deals that particularly caught my eye. However, I shall be taking another trip this week, and this time I shall take my camera to provide some documentary evidence. In the menatime. Japan has definitely changed- I am not yet sure if that is for the better or not

Japan trip, Part I

I am in Japan for the next two weeks on a business trip, and I will be blogging on the changes since my last trip. The main thing that is dominating the newspapers is the Livedoor scandal. It appears that wunderkid Horie Takafumi, the erstwhiel founder/president of Livedoor, cooked his accounting books to make it appear that Livedoor was doing better than it actually was. This scandal has mostly flown under the US media's radar, but it is dominating the media here in Japan. I have been amused at the feeding frenzy as every move by police and prosecurotrs is followed by a swarm of media members. It reinforces my opinion of most media members as fatuous, slavish followers who rarely if ever have the knowledge or professionalism to actually do their own homework.

In other news, it appeare that Japan is finally starting to come out from the post-bubble blues that have affected its economy for so long. I am noticing that there are fewer stories in the news about the bad economics, although that may have something to do with the approaching Olympics, which the J-media usually follows obsessively- at least as long as there are Japanese medal hopes.....

And in Japan...

The new year 2006 brings new predictions of what's hot and what's not from the Asahi Geino, courtesy of the Daily Mainichi's Wai-Wai. Among the predictions- butts replace breasts as a focus in pin-ups, ramen noodles are going to be at the forefront of a price war and Japan's safety is not as sure as it once was.

While these predictions can be taken with a large grain of salt, every once in a while they do stand the test of time. Read the whole thing. Now if only Oprah could do that for the United States. I would love to know what is going to be hot next year in advance. It would greatly simplify my investment strategy!

Hiroshima Revisited- Part Deux

Speaking of revising history as regards the atomic bombs, Thomas Sowell has a good rebuttal over on Townhall.com today. Pity that most of the Obsolescent Media is too busy bashing their own country or paying tribute to Peter Jennings to think about taking a good hard look in he mirror at themselves.

Hiroshima Revisited

I observe that the annual hair-tearing, soul-searching anniversary of the First Use of Atomic Weapons by the usual suspect, the Horrible Terrorist Amerika has arrived. Spare me. More eloquent scholars that I have made the case for the use of the Bomb, and I will not revisit the affair here. However, as Jeff Jacoby points out today, this anniversary (the 60th, for those keeping score at home) is not being argued with the strength of the fiftieth. He is right. I was in Japan ten years ago, and I can still remember how bitter (even from across the Pacific Ocean),the battles were over the Smithsonian's Enola Gay exhibit.

Unfortunately, I also observe that the Japanese themselves are still making the case of victimhood- when they can tear themselves away from this sort of thing, that is!