Again, again. I can't help but sigh a heavy sigh.

Twelve hours ago, our Prime Minister, Yukio Hatoyama, resigned. His government lasted only about eight months. It's really disappointing. Given that he insisted just a few days ago that he wasn't going to resign, saying that it was't his way to take responsibility for what he had done, his resignation was surprising and weird. So, it's fueling the speculation. He repeatedly claims that he himself made the decision, but I can't help but wonder whether or not that's true. Also, I suppose his resignation was the only way to drag down Mr. Ozawa, who is considered a power broker. In fact, the PM's resignation forced Mr. Ozawa to resign from his high position in the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ). In a press conference, the PM said that the DPJ really needed to eliminate problems related to money and politics, so he forced Mr. Ozawa to resign because it has been suspected that both the PM and Mr.Ozawa had most likely been receiving money illegally since before their terms started last September.

Admittedly, the PM has disappointed the public. His government has failed to convince the public that it will implement the platform issued in the August election. He has shown particular lack of leadership with regards to the controversial issue of the relocation of the US Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Okinawa Prefecture, which led to a sharp decline in his approval rating. However, I didn't want him to resign. I've been really fed up with the frequent changes of our PM and cabinet members during the last 25 years. In the last election, many people didn't support the Liberal Democratic Party, which had been in power for about 50 years, because of the frequent changes, which actually contributed to the DPJ's victory.

Given that there aren't any reliable and capable politicians, that change is meaningless. There is no time for this. We have been struggling with too many issues.

These things reflect our society. Please enjoy our sense of humor.

I talked about Senryu /川柳 in my previous entries. Senryu started catching public attention during the Edo era in the 1800s. Since it enables you to express yourself and to make satirical commentary on society with a sense of humor, Japanese people have been enjoying composing Senryu.

Today, I'll introduce two senryu that appeared in the top 20 in a popular Senryu contest. These two really reflect our society. If you are interested in finding more information about Senryu and the contest, please click here and here.


★Ninth place
70歳
オラの村では
青年部

【Background and Interpretations 】
-オラ is equal to 俺 and means "I". Today, オラ is used by men and makes people think of old men in the countryside.
-There are local or neighborhood communities throughout Japan. Each community has some groups, such as a women's group/婦人部 and a young men's group/青年部.
-This senryu represents that although I'm 70 years old, I still belong to a young men's group of my local community in my village. It implies how many old people there are in the village and how many young people have left there. Since Japan has been encountering the aging society, 70-year-old people tend not to be considered as old people. In fact, it's common for around 70-year-old people to take care of their parents who are in their 90s, especially in the countryside.

★Twelfth place
地デジ買い　
財布の中も　
薄型に

Each phrase in the senryu would be translated into the following ordinary Japanese sentences.
地デジ買い→地上デジタル放送対応のテレビを買ったので　
財布の中も→財布の中身も　
薄型に→買った薄型テレビ同様、薄くなってしまった

【Background and Interpretations 】
In Japan, analog broadcasting services are due to be terminated in July, 2011. Instead, only terrestrial digital media broadcasting services will be provided. Because of this, all people in Japan are required to get ready for the switch. People usually buy flat-screen televisions that can receive the digital broadcasting, which represents that these televisions are replacing thick, CRT-based televisions. Since a flat-screen television isn't cheap, purchasing it makes a thick wallet filled with notes flat. The senryu is describing this situation. So, this senryu indicates that when I purchased a flat-screen television, my wallet filled with notes has inevitably become flat, too.

http://event.dai-ichi-life.co.jp/company/senryu/23th/best_10.html

I 'd like to wrap this topic up for today.Anyway, iPads are going to hit the Japanese market about 8 hours later. According to the news, there is currently a long queue in front of the Apple Store at Ginza. iPads have been catching considerable public attention here, too.

Do you understand our innuendo and dark humor ?

In my previous entry, I talked about how popular Senryu/ 川柳 has become recently. Today, I'll introduce some of the top ten Senryu in a popular contest. They were announced a few days ago. I hope you can understand why they are very funny and enjoy our innuendo and dark humor. If you are interested in finding more information about Senryu and the contest, please click here. The senryu that I'll introduce reflects our society.

★Second place in the contest.
「先を読め！」
言った先輩
リストラに

「先を読め！」："You have to look ahead"
言った先輩： My senior co-worker who told that.
リストラに：In the Japanese language, リストラ / restructuring often means being forced to resign due to corporate restructuring.

【Background】
-In Japan, because of the economic downturn, we've been struggling to survive at work. Workers are always afraid of being laid off or being compelled to resign since many businesses are forced to restructure.
-In Japan, workers are expected to perform their duties while looking ahead. The phrase" look or think ahead" is often heard at work.

【Ｉnterpretations】
-My senior co-worker who was taking care of me gave me a pep talk, saying that I had to look ahead. Despite that, he was forced to quit his job due to corporate restructuring. This shows that he was't able to look ahead. How ironic!!

★Third place
ただいまは
犬に言うなよ
オレに言え

ただいまは：In Japan, when we come home, we say ただいま/ I'm home.
犬に言うなよ：Don't say ただいま to the dogs.
オレに言え：Say ただいま to me.

【Background】
-In Japan, when husbands approach their mandatory retirement age, many of them realize that they don't belong to any communities other than their companies whereas their wives have many friends. After retiring, they spend a lot of time alone at home. In contrast, their wives often go out with their friends. They often wait for their wives to come home.
-Many husbands over 55 didn't care much about their wives before they retired. As a result, their wives has a stronger bond with their pets than them when they retire.
-Husbands tend to complain about this situation.

【Interpretations】
-Every time my wife comes home, she says "I'm home" to her dear dog. She should say it to me.
-Readers can understand how much the writer has been suffering from the situation where he is hardly paid attention and he has nowhere to go .

★Fourth place
「離さない！」
10年経つと
話さない

「離さない！」：I'll never let your go.
10年経つと：After ten years have passed
話さない：I don't want to talk with you.

【Interpretations】
-When we got married, my spouse told me that he/she would never let me go. It's been ten years since then. My spouse is even unwilling to talk with me.
-In the Japanese language, 離さない and 話さない are homophones, which makes this senryu funny.

Do Japanese people love innuendo? How popular Senryu / 川柳 is.

I recently read an English blog written by a British woman. She underscored the fact that many people in the UK loved innuendo and black humor. I believe that in many Western countries, a sense of humor is very important in human relationships.

In Japan, Senryu /川柳 has been very popular recently. Have you heard of it? Senryu is similar to Haiku /俳句 in construction. It's a form of short poetry that consists of 17 moras /syllables in three phrases of 5, 7 and 5 moras. Roughly speaking, 17 moras are equivalent to 17 Hiragana characters. Senryu has flexibility whereas Haiku is formal and has rules. Basically, other than the form, there aren't any specific rules of Senryu. People enjoy composing Senryu to describe their honest feelings or make satirical commentary on society. The number of words are so limited that your wit, sense of humor and ability to deliver are tested.

Businessmen/women Senryu Contest is a popular Senryu contest that is held by Dai-ichi Mutual Life Insurance company every year. The entry period ends in October, and top 100 Senryu are announced in January. After that, everyone can cast a ballot for his or her favorite senryu among them. A few days ago, the top 10 Senryu in the 23rd contest were announced. So, I'd like to introduce some of them.

The Senryu that took first place is below. It's very hard for me to explain to non-Japanese why it's very funny. However, I'll try to do that because it won the contest.

仕分け人
妻に比べりゃ
まだ甘い

It means that a certain well-known woman (*note 1) is still more indulgent and softer than my wife. To put it briefly, this Senryu implies a husband is under the control of his domineering wife. Many people seem to sympathize with the situation, which made the Senryu win the contest.

*note 1
Last year, right after our new government started in September, in order to review the entire national budget, it held an open meeting called 事業仕分け/project classification. Many taxpayer-financed projects were discussed at the meeting. Bureaucrats and other people in charge of the projects answered questions asked by members who had been chosen by the government. These members were called 仕分け人/Shiwake nin. Among them, a female member caught considerable public attention. She asked pointed, insightful questions in a forceful tone. She often put the male bureaucrats in a difficult position. She is the well-known woman referred to in the Senryu.

I'll introduce the others in my future entries.

Things in which young Japanese people are less interested

Today, a TV program introduced some social trends. According to it, young Japanese people tend to have no interest in some things that older generations have been eager to get. Although I've written about similar things before, I'll introduce some of their tendencies.

Compared with older generations, young Japanese people are not or less interested in the following things.

1.Cars
As I often wrote about it in my previous posts, many young men aren't interested in buying a own car. They prefer to rent cars when they really want to enjoy driving or need them. The number of new car sales in 2009 in Japan fell below 5 million for the first time in 31 years. It was caused by not only the current economic crisis but also this tendency. Surprisingly, about a quarter of young people have never been interested in cars.

2. Alcohol
Older generations sometime need liquid encouragement. They like talking with their friends while drinking to release their stress. In contrast, many young people basically don't like alcohol. Even young men prefer to talk with their friends at cafes instead of bars.

3.Going out for meal

4.Going on trips

5.Watching TV

6.Going to department stores.
When I was a little girl many years ago, department stores were sort of symbol of affluence. Many people were looking forward to buying something there. Today, shopping malls are everywhere. Some of them are original and have been fascinating younger generations. So, some major department stores were already forced to close. Also, It was announced that a few long-running department stores in Tokyo and Kyoto would close this year.

7.Expensive big-name brand goods.

I think these are enough, so I'll stop listing.
As I wrote in my previous post (please click here), since young Japanese people were born and raised in the affluent Japan, they basically have no desire for purchase.

Japanese young people having no desire for purchase

In Japan, people in their 40s and 50s tend to work hard in order to fulfill their extravagant desires. Since they were raised in the times when Japan wasn't affluent enough for them to easily buy ordinary things they wanted, it's been said that they have a relatively strong desire to lead a better life along with their favourite good-quality products. High on their list of desirables is trips abroad. Especially when they were young, these desires inspired them to work hard and helped them endure long working hours. High-end, quality cars always attracted them. Many of them preferred to wear brand-named outfits. Until recently, it was apparent that young people had been driving domestic consumption.

Today, young people no longer fulfil this role, which has resulted in the Japanese market being deprived of the driving forces of the domestic economy. They basically aren't interested in making new purchases. They consider it foolish that people spend a lot of money on extravagant things that some middle-aged people are still willing to buy. They don't want to have unnecessary things and prefer to lead a simple life. Overseas trips don't provoke their interest, either.

Many of them were born in houses that were full of material products acquired in Japan's affluent times. Also, I think that they haven't developed a strong desire to purchase material items since they have been able to acquire the things that they want with family assistance, such as from their grandparents. Due to fewer children being born into families, they have more opportunities to be given things. In addition, the prolonged economic stagnation has been discouraging them to spend money on things that they consider extra and has contributed towards their prudent attitude to product consumption.

Under these circumstances, companies here have been struggling not only with the current economic crisis but also to establish their new business models. Also, the critical challenge of environmental conservation has affected young people's buying habits.

Recently, companies that have accurately fulfilled young people's needs and adjusted itself to the times have been enjoying its rapid growth and receiving a lot of attention.

Very popular Japanese male groups "SMAP"and 嵐/Arashi.

In Japan, there is a top talent agency that is well known for managing only good-looking men and boys. This agency selects potentialidols at its auditions and trains them. They receive training in singing, dancing, acting performances, comedy performances and others. After that, the agency picks out prominent, talented ones among these trained boys and officially makes them debut.

Up to about 25 years ago, the agency successfully had many boysdebut on TV as idol singers, since music TV programs were very popular here. With the fade-out of these programs, the way these boys at the agency make their debut and gain popularity was forced to change. I think that a group called "SMAP", which consists of five men now in their 30s, developed a new way (the first video, SMAP in New York, this is a cell phone's TV commercial). Although they made their debut as a singer group two decades ago, they became popular mainly through their performances on TV comedy shows. Two decades ago, it was actually surprising that good-looking guys wore funny costumes and did stand-up comedy. They have been enjoying their super popularity for more than 10 years. They have been supported especially by women of all ages and have gained a national superstar status.

After SMAP became popular, other boys at the agency have achieved great success in the same way that SMAP did. Among them, one group is very hot lately. They are called 嵐/Arashi and they consist of five men in their 20s. Since they seem to have been gaining a lot of momentum, I frequently see them on TV.

I think that some differences between SMAP and 嵐/Arashi reflect the ones between two generations; the middle 30s and the middle 20s. From the time the members of SMAP were young, they have frequently said they don't know about the other members' private lives. Some of them even don't know some others' numbers. They appear to consider the others as business partners or coworkers. They sometimes argue. In contrast, when you see 嵐 on TV, you might notice that all the members of the group are close. In fact, they have had a few short trips together. They try to share private time even though each of them has his own busy schedule. They are surely friends. I don't know if my observations are right. However, I can see some similar differences between the two generations I mentioned above.

The disaster revealed people's true nature??

As I mentioned in my last post, 15 years ago, a huge earthquake struck the Osaka area in Japan while I was in Sydney on vacation. When I returned to work in Osaka, a coworker of mine greeted me, saying "Welcome to hell". Since I was young and my house wasn't damaged, coworkers expected the sunburned, refreshed woman to work hard.

At the time, my office was really messed up. My team members went to their urban-development project sites in the devastated area by bike in order to examine how to deal with the serious damage. To make matters worse, many workers at my company were the victims. Some of them got out of their houses that had been flattened out by the quake. Many of them didn't know where to start even though they really had to tidy up their rooms.One thing that helped me feel relieved was that all of my coworkers were alive and they didn't lose their families.

This disaster revealed people's true nature. Many coworkers were very impressed by the brave, kind actions that a manager took, partly because they had considered him unreliable before the quake. On the other hand, they were disappointed in some people who had had good reputations. Some victims at my company tried to do something to help others even though they didn't have any regular places to sleep. In contrast, some victims always asked someone to do something for them, insisting that they weren't able to do anything because they were victims. 

Everybody had their own circumstance, so I can't say who was right or wrong. However, we saw something that we hadn't found before the quake. On top of that, a few secret office love affairs were also revealed. 

I found out about that disaster while I was in Sydney

15 years ago yesterday (on the 17th of January), I was at my boyfriend's house in Sydney on my holidays. He is Japanese and now my husband. When I was drinking my morning coffee at around 9 A.M., the phone rang. Since my boyfriend had already left for his office, I picked it up. It was his Australian friend who worked at a bank. He said that according to the latest world news at his office, something terrible was going on in Osaka, Japan, and perhaps a big earthquake had struck there. He strongly advised me to turn on a TV immediately, check the situation, and call my parents there.

The TV news televised places that I was supposed to be familiar with, but I hardly recognized them. The highway where I would drive nearly everyday was partly laid on its side. The familiar railway track was heaved up. The news was filled with inconceivable sights. I was numb with shock.

When my mother answered my international call, she was surprised because she had been unable to make any calls since the disaster occurred. Emotionally, she told me it was the strongest quake she had seen in her life. According to her story, the devastating quake, which struck around a quarter to six at dawn, woke my parents up. She felt as if she had been strongly lifted. My father held back a large tottering cupboard and managed to prevent it from hitting the floor. My mother tried to head for the the gas main to make sure it was turned off, but couldn't reach it because of the powerful quake.

I think that since my house was located at some distance from the earthquake epicenter, they were able to take those actions. In fact, my friend who lived in the focal region said that all she had been able to do was flap away at objects falling onto her bed. She felt as if she had been inside a washing machine. Even though the first floor of her condo was flattened out during the quake, she didn't realize when this happened, despite the fact that she was on the 5th floor. Although schools conduct earthquake response drills to educate children, many of the victims said that it was impossible to follow the instruction that they were taught when the powerful quake occurred. At the time, nobody expected such a severe earthquake to strike the Osaka area, although other places were warned as potential sites where major earthquakes could hit.

When I returned to work several days later, various unbelievable things were waiting for me.

Photo Gallery : the 1/17 earthquake happening in 1995
http://www.jiji.com/jc/d2?p=hds00101-4995608&d=004soc

Christmas Boots Filled with Snacks!

During the Christmas season in Japan, Christmas boots filled with snacks appear at general supermarkets. Special spaces for them are set up near the entrances of these supermarkets. Various boots are stacked in piles. Actually, they've been popular since I was little many many years ago, although apart from standard boots, the cartoon characters that are put on them often change. Every time I see them, I wonder how well they sell. However, given the long popularity, they are attractive to children and convenient for mothers when they have Christmas parties for children.

This year, these boots appear to be less luxurious. The piles of them are smaller. The current recession has greatlyinfluenced everything.

Unique ? Weird? Christmas in Japan --part 2: Christmas for unmarried young people

In Japan, Christmas is a special event for young unmarried people. Many of them really want to spend their romantic Christmas with their boy/girlfriends. Some of them fiercely look for someone to date for it if they don’t have boy/girlfriends. They appear to feel unbearably lonely if they spend Christmas Day without a lover. When the economy was good, many young couples had an excellent Christmas dinner and spent their romantic nights at high-class hotels. Many young women received expensive gifts from their boyfriends. Some couples went on short skiing or snow boarding trips. Some couples spent Christmas at Disneyland in Tokyo. Although few young people can afford such luxurious Christmas celebrations these days (thanks to the economic downturn), they seem to enjoy their romantic Christmas in various ways based on their incomes.

When I was a college student many years ago, young couples already considered Christmas special. I don’t know how or when it became special to young people, but I can think of a few possible reasons. The first one is that in order to boost their sales, many businesses created enough of an special atmosphere to convince young people that Christmas was special. Actually, it has been highly commercialized here. In addition, young people used to be the most attractive target, although these days, they are not the driving force of consumption anymore. The next one is that you are free to arrange your own Christmas plan however you want since it is neither a traditional nor a religious event for the majority of Japanese. The final reason is that the 23rd of December became a national holiday when our current emperor ascended to the Chrysanthemum Throne 20 years ago because that day is his birthday. Since then, it has been easier to take a few days off around Christmas although we don’t have any Christmas holidays. This has made people pay more attention to Christmas.

Finally, I’ll introduce the TV commercials that had great influence on young people. These were broadcast from 1988 to1992 by JR Central (JR 東海) in order to boost the number of passengers on bullet trains (Shinkansens/新幹線) between Tokyo and Osaka. The song in this commercial is still very popular as a Christmas song. The second version was the most impressive to me (there are five different versions in the YouTube video). Incidentally, the Japanese economy was good from 1988 to 1992.

Unique ? Weird? Christmas in Japan --part 1

Christmas in Japan is probably unique. Since the majority of Japanese people are not Christians, we don’t celebrate it. Christmas is highly commercialized and seen as an enjoyable event. In this sense, Christmas has firmly rooted in the Japanese society, and we have been familiar with it. However, I don’t know exactly how and when Christmas was introduced to Japan.

Within the last 10 days, as a part of their holiday decorations、big Christmas trees have appeared everywhere, mainly in shopping malls. Many of these trees appear to be less gorgeous and bright than usual. When I saw them, I wondered if the economic downturn has probably influenced these trees. I think that for Japanese people, Christmas means enjoying Christmas decorations, romantic illuminations and atmosphere. During December, when you enter any stores or restaurants, you will immediately put you in a Christmas mood. Many people put up Christmas decorations in their houses. In the last decade, lighting up your house has become popular, although it's still not a common occurrence.

In Japan, around Christmas Day, we don't enjoy family gatherings and don't exchange Christmas gifts. Speaking of Christmas gifts, many people may think of gifts given by Santa Clause. Almost all the small children believe that Santa Claus exists. They usually find their gifts from Santa Clause beside their beds when they wake up on the 25th of December. 

From the beginning of November, mothers start asking their small children what they want Santa Claus to bring to them, and they prepare the Christmas gifts. During this period, I often hear mothers telling their children that if they don’t study hard enough (or something like that), Santa clause won’t bring gifts to them. Needless to say, once the children realize that Santa Clause doesn’t exist, they cannot receive their Christmas gifts from Santa Clause any more.

The Top 10 Words Describing the Japan of 2009

There is less than a month left this year. In Western courtiers, many people are already busy preparing for Christmas. In Japan, we don’t have the custom of celebrating Christmas since the majority of Japanese people are not Christians. In December, we are busy preparing for our most important, traditional event/festival the “New Year’s Holidays”, and there are various events through which we look back on the year that is coming to an end.

Yesterday, the top 10 winners of the 2009 buzzwords and new words of the year contest were announced. Since these words reflect the social conditions of the year, many people pay attention to the contest. The grand prize was awarded to “政権交代/ Change of administration/government" which was used over and over by our current Prime Minister until the last election in August. Unlike the results in previous years, this year, there were three words relating to politics in the top 10 words, which shows that we cannot talk about the Japan of 2009 without discussing the change of administration and the policies of the new government.

http://www.47news.jp/47topics/e/135935.php

The other two words relating to politics were 脱官僚/debureaucratizing or debureaucratization and 事業仕分け/project classification. The former was a campaign slogan used by a remarkable politician. The latter is a very hot phrase. The new government, in order to review the entire national budget, held an open meeting for 9 days, and the meeting ended only a few days ago. Among about 3000 taxpayer-financed projects, the government first picked out 477 projects in which there were uncertainties and the need to review their budgets. The 477 projects were discussed in the meeting. Only an hour was allocated to each project. The bureaucrats and other people in charge of projects answered questions asked by members of the meeting, who had been chosen by the government. They also had to deliver effective presentations within that hour to persuade the members to approve their budgets. Anyone was able to watch the meeting at the meeting place and through live blogs. Although the meeting is controversial among specialists, politicians and the other people involved, it’s been reported that the majority of the public shows afavorable attitude toward the open meeting. It’s true that the meeting led to many people becoming more interested in how and for what their taxes have been used.

The Reasons why the Movie are Receiving Public Attention

In this post, I’d like to supplement the information relating to my last two posts.

In the 1980s, Japan became affluent enough for ordinary people to travel overseas. At the time, apart from foreign airlines, only Japan Airlines (JAL) covered international routes. I suppose that many people, especially those who went abroad for the first time, somehow felt relieved when seeing JAL’s “red crane" logo at the airport in other countries. Many Japanese believed that JAL was the most reliable and safest. Until about 15years ago, many educated women aspired to work for JAL as flight attendants. Partly because of this fierce competition, JAL’s flight attendants were beautiful.

In the evening in August 1985, JAL betrayed the public’s trust. A JAL’s airplane crashed into Osutaka Mountain on the way from Tokyo to Osaka. This evening flight between major two cities was very popular for businessmen/women. A president and board members of major companies died. 坂本九/Kyu Sakamoto, who was well known for the singer of Sukiyaki songs in Western countries, lost his life. Additionally, it was during summer school holidays. The flight was full and many children were on board. Although only four people miraculously survived, the death toll rose to over 500. Some passengers wrote letters to their families on the plane snaking between mountains when realizing that they were going to die.These remains moved people to tears.

Both JAL and the government announced the findings of their investigations on the crash, but there were so many inconsistencies in their reports. Their explanations never satisfied people, especially the families of the victims. About ten years after the crash occurred, the novel” 沈まぬ太陽/shizumanu-taiyou” written by a famous author 山崎豊子/Toyoko Yamasaki was published. This novel drew public attention back to the crash. Right after its publication, the novel became controversial. JAL insisted that the novel would lead to misunderstandings. Although some TV and film companies announced that they would attempt to adapt the novel for the screen, they weren’t able to make it happen. It's been said that they were forced to give up producing it because of great pressure and harassment by JAL and the big names involved.

With the times changing, today, the movie “沈まぬ太陽/shizumanu-taiyou” was finally released. It’s been about ten years since the novel was published. In my opinion, if JAL had seriously examined their problems at that time, it wouldn't be standing on the edge of precipice now.

A Remarkable Japanese Movie is going to Be Released Today

A remarkable movie “沈まぬ太陽/shizumanu-taiyou” is going to be released today, on the 24th of October. The movie is based on a best selling novel written by 山崎豊子/Toyoko Yamasaki. She used to be a journalist/writer at a major newspaper. Since she became an author, she has been known for writing her novels based on her years of investigations on some questionable incidents. These investigations include a lot of interviews conducted by her with some of the people involved. Although her novels are categorized as fictions, everyone knows that her stories contain some facts and truths that were never revealed to the public. On top of that, politicians and major corporations often appear in her novels. Although their real names aren’t used, their assumed names are so similar to their real ones that you can easily guess and identify who or what they are.

I read her long novel “沈まぬ太陽/shizumanu-taiyou” right after it was published many years ago. This novel is well known as the semi-fictional tale of the terrible JAL(Japan Airlines) crash in 1985. However, as far as I remember, rather than focusing on this crash itself, the story focuses on bringing out deep problems hidden within JAL. Moreover, through laying bare the reality of the big corporation, the story makes you think about human essence. (If you want to know more about JAL, please see click here).

The main character of the novel is an employee of 国民航空 (This is an assumed name that indicates JAL). He was transferred to various countries in Africa and the Middle East. Through his over ten-year working in these countries, he came to realize how ruthless, absurd and greed his company（国民航空） was and began to question his company. When his company had a devastating plane crash, he was assigned to handle and support the crash-bereaved families. Through this assignment, he noticed that his company always gave priority to their profits and they ignored the safety of their flights. He thought that this crash was an accident waiting to happen. On top of that, he became aware of corruption, cozy relationships among politicians, bureaucrats and businesses. Although he received constant harassment from his company, he kept on fighting his company.

Since JAL is currently being required to restructure in order to receive a taxpayer-financed bailout, I’m wondering what JAL will think about this movie. On top of that, there is a phrase in this novel that has stuck in my head. The main character loves animals. One day, he went to a zoo. When he reached the exit of the zoo, there was a big mirror on a wall. The phrase “No animal in the zoo is more awful than the one in the mirror, mankind is the most awful animal on earth” was beside the mirror.

Japan Airlines Receiving Public Attention

My first trip abroad was to San Diego when I was a college student many years ago. I went there by myself. On top of that, it was my first time taking an airplane. Because of this, I was very nervous. I vividly remember how I got a little panicked when I was trying to figure out how and where to take my connecting flight at an airport in Los Angeles. This was because I was overwhelmed by how big LA international airport was and I didn't know how to get to the domestic terminal from the international one. Although an American lady at the information desk told me that I had to take the free shuttle bus, I assumed that she couldn’t understand my terrible English, since it didn't make sense to me that I had to take a shuttle bus. It was actually the first time that I realized how different things are between the US and Japan. I also remember how relieved I was when I saw Japan Airlines’red crane" logo ( the attached picture). When I asked a Japanese woman at the Japan airlines (JAL) counter how to get to the domestic terminal, the ensuring conversation with her calmed me down.

Speaking of which, JAL (it was a government-run corporation until 1987) has been struggling with its poor performance for a long time. Recently, JAL announced that it was going to start negotiating with Delta Air lines to form a capital alliance. Since it seems unlikely that JAL could successfully turn around its business without government aid, it's projected that it will receive taxpayer-financed bailouts.

During this time when JAL has been receiving public attention, a remarkable movie is going to be released in a week. The title of the movie is 沈まぬ太陽. The film is based on a novel written by 山崎豊子/Toyoko Yamasaki. Since the novel is the semi fictional tale about the terrible JAL crash in 1985, every time a film company attempted to adapt the novel for the big screen in the past, they gave into strong objections made by JAL.

In Japan, everything is inside train stations.

In Japan, there are many rail lines. This is especially true in the big cities. Generally, workers in central cities are not allowed to commute by car. In cities, people mainly use trains and subways for transportation. They are very familiar with the trains and their train stations. Thus, people tend to prefer to find their house located within a 15 minute walk from the nearest train station. It seems that houses located within 10 minutes by bicycle are their second choice. Needless to say, there are many people who have to take a bus from the station to their house. At any rate, train stations are the center of cities and towns. Inevitably, there are shopping malls around major train stations.

Recently, the places inside train stations have been catching the public attention. The word “inside” here means the places that you can get into with train tickets. A few years ago, an excellent shopping mall opened inside Tokyo Station which I’m very familiar with. The mall consists mainly of many grocery shops, cafés and casual restaurants. There are various prepared meals at reasonable prices. When you are tired after work, you’ll feel compelled to purchase them on the way home. You also can get high-quality sweets and unique products that you rarely get in other places. In Japan, the companies pay train fares for their regular employees. Workers usually buy commuter train passes that offer discounts. The pass holders are free to get into and out of any stations between their office and their house.

Even inside local train stations, there are many shops that satisfy passengers. Inside Ueno station in Tokyo, there is a sport club. I’ve heard that it's welcomed by busy commuters. The nurseries for children that many people are always waiting for a vacancy of are located inside or in front of train stations, since busy working parents, who are often required to work long hours, can save time.

The pictures are of a shopping mall inside Tokyo Station.

Is Tommy Lee Jones Interested in Appearing in Comedy Shows ?

You've probably heard that many Hollywood stars appear in Japanese TV commercials. I've heard that they usually dare not to appear in TV commercials in the west, especially in the US, even when they are offered a good deal. I don’t know for the fact if they don’t appear in TV commercials there though. I guess that they want to avoid their images being affected or blemished by their commercial appearances in the US. In Japan, in contrast, there is a low risk of that if the broadcast is limited to inside Japan only. On top of that, I suppose that many Japanese corporations offer lucrative endorsement contracts to them and accept their many requests. For them, Japan might be an attractive place to make extra money.

Brad Pitt has appeared in the Softbank (a mobile phone company) TV commercials since 2006. The commercials aren't often broadcast, and are intensively broadcast during a certain time of a year. This winter and spring, George Cloone appeared in the Honda TV commercials. I think that these commercials are ordinary and predictable, which means that they are made based on their own images in movies. The Suntory canned coffee commercials that Tommy Lee Jones has been appearing in for more than three years, in comparison, are surprising. In these storyline commercials, he is an alien. The alien came to the earth in order to see what is going on there. The commercials with him have been frequently broadcast for such a long time. Additionally, they are kind of comedies. He has been doing a comedy in the commercials. I started assuming that he is really interested in doing a comedy. Otherwise, why has he been doing that? Just for money?

Tommy Lee Jones

George Cloone

Surprising behavior in safe Japan

Although security in Japan has been getting worse recently, I think that Japan is still relatively safe. There's a good example to prove it. When my Chinese friend who just moved to Japan a few months ago went to an electric retail store, she put her purse somewhere and left the store. A few hours later, she realized that she had forgotten it. She immediately went back to the store and asked a shop staff whether or not the store had her purse. Against her expectation that it would not have been found, the store had her purse. Despite being valuable things in her purse, she got it back without anything being stolen. This incident actually astonished her.

I'm proud of the safety in Japan, and hope that the safety will continue to be preserved. However, I'm sometimes surprised by Japanese people's careless behavior toward their personal belongings. This may be because my experiences when living abroad have made me accustomed to always keeping my eyes on my personal belongings whenever I go out.

When I went to a self-service cafe with my Slovak friend in Tokyo, some behavior of Japanese women stunned her. To reserve seats for themselves, they first left their personal belongings on the table and the chair, and then went to a counter to buy a cup of coffee. Some of them even left their cell-phones on the table. They seemed to be fully confident that their personal belongings left on the table wouldn't be stolen, even though it was impossible for them to keep their personal belongings in sight. It actually took them some time to return to their reserved seats because of a long line in front of the counter. My friend was surprised and asked me whether or not anybody would intend to steal their personal belongings.

I think that behavior is not acceptable any more even in Japan.

Many Japanese are attracted by the speeches of Barack Obama

Asahi press publisher seems to be hardly affected by the economic crisis. One magazine "The Speeches of Barack Obama" published by the publisher hit the bestsellers list a few months ago. The magazine was originally published for English learners, so it is provided in English and Japanese and is accompanied with a CD-ROM. It's like textbook, and there's nothing attractive about it. Nobody expected it would hit the bestsellers list.

According to the TV news, most of people who bought the magazine felt something attractive when they saw Barack Obama delivering a speech on the news, and then they didn't understand English and understood the whole content of the speeches after they read the magazine in Japanese. Moreover, the more they understood the speeches, the more they were attracted by the speeches.

I understand how they feel. Our prime minister often makes a slip of the tongue and changes his policies, and then his speeches are sometimes inconsistent, so a large number of Japanese people have been disappointed by him. With the serious economic downturn, they/we need something which gives them hope. "Yes, we can" or "change" might encourage them to face the difficulties and try to overcome the serious situation.

When I saw Mr. Nakagawa making a blunder at G7, I felt embarrassed to be a Japanese person. I think we also have to change now.