Have you seen the attached picture? A few days ago, I happened to find it on Facebook. According to a Taiwanese who posted it on Facebook, this is the oil painting, "Beijing 2008", drawn by Liu Yi (劉湓), a Chinese person living in Canada, and this painting has been drawing considerable attention and becoming controversial on the internet. To see what was going on, I googled it both in English and Chinese. It seems that the painting is very popular, at least in China and Taiwan .
The picture shared on Facebook is accompanied by a very long interpretation of what the painting implies. The interpretation is originally written in Traditional Chinese, but the Japanese version translated by a Japanese person is attached. There is no information about who first gave the interpretation. Also, I'm not sure if the interpretation is exactly what the painter wanted to indicate. As a matter of fact, when I was browsing Chinese sites to see how popular the painting was on the internet, I found different interpretations on some details, but the outline is same. I think that the painting is interesting to see.
Although I don't intend to elaborate on the interpretation, I'll tell you the outline. There are four women playing mah-jong. The lady with tattoos on her back is Chinese. The bare-naked lady sitting to the left of the Chinese lady is Japanese. The lady lying on her back is Russian. The lady with a lace top is American, and her bottom half is naked. The girl standing and watching them play is Taiwanese. Their actions portray how these five countries are behaving and negotiating with the other countries. Their clothes imply the countries' situations. I'll leave more interpretations but the Japanese lady to your imagination.
According to the interpretation shared on Facebook, the Japanese lady is seriously playing mah-jong without paying attention to the other people. She is only focusing on what she is supposed to do. When I read that, I sighed deeply because I've been worried about this point. In Japan, due to the prolonged stagnation and politics in disarray, some journalists and experts have insisted that there are significant suggestions from the past, but despite that, we haven't learned a lot from the past. Especially since the Fukushima accident, the need to learn from the past has been increasing. Because of this, I've been paying more attention to suggestions from the past which some experts have highlighted.
Actually, one of the suggestions is that Japanese people pay less attention to and are less sensitive to what is going on in the world, and they are very bad at thinking with a broad view from various perspectives. I really noticed this, especially when I was outside Japan. On top of that, it seems to me that many Japanese people haven't even realized that Japan neither pays enough attention to what is going on outside Japan nor knows what other countries consider Japan to be like. Thus, when I read that interpretation on the Japanese lady, I though that it was just as I had expected and sighed deeply. At the same time, I wondered if I should consider it to be good that at least Japan is in the painting.
A few weeks ago, one of major Japanese newspapers, the Asashi newspaper, uploaded a video about two giant pandas at Ueno Zoo in Tokyo. Ｉn the video, the cute pandas are eating with gusto (Please see the Youtube video). The caption says that the pandas are becoming overweight because they eat too much.
These pandas came to Japan from China in February. At the time, it was a controversial matter since the annual rental fee for them, "about 950,000USD (78,000,000JPY)," is supposed to be paid for by tax money (The zoo is run by Tokyo prefecture). However, the 3/11 massive earthquake seemed to sweep the criticisms away. As a matter of fact, in late March, they started playing a more significant role than expected because a lot of children, not only in seriously-damaged areas but also in the Tokyo area (where all the people were shocked by the huge quakes), needed things which could cheer them up.
As you may know, on the 2nd of September, Mr. Noda was inaugurated as Prime Minister. In his address, he likened himself to weather loaches (which are very popular fish in Japan), saying that he knew he looked dowdy. He insisted that he was a weather loach, not a goldfish, so he would work his fingers to the bone in his own uncool way. I'm sorry I can't translate the statement into English well. We hope that the weather loach will do well, cheer us up and last a long time in office.
According to a news which was release the day before yesterday from Sanrio (which is a Japanese company and well known for creating many popular characters like Hello Kitty), the company has reached a settlement in a copyright suit launched by Mercis BV of the Netherlands (which is managing the copyright for Miffy’s creator DickBruna). Both of these two companies have agreed to jointly donate 150,000 euros for the 3/11 earthquake since they have reached the conclusion that they are with Japanese people and want to express their heartfelt condolence for the victims, so what they can do is that they will donate the estimated costs for the dispute to help Japan rebuilt and reconstruct the disaster-struct areas.
According to the news release and newspapers, the Dutch company claimed that Sanrio's rabbit character "Cathy" (which was created as a friend of Hello Kitty) appears too much like Dutch rabbit character Miffy (Please see the links below). In November, 2010, a court in Amsterdam upheld most of Mercis' claims, ordering Sanrio to halt production of goods related to Cathy on the grounds that Cathy infringes the copyright and trademark right of Miffy. In response to the order, Sanrio raised an objection to it. Then, Mercis launched a suit for cancellation of the trademark registration. The case was on trial until the two recently reached the settlement.
Although I didn't know about the dispute, since articles on the settlement drew attention, the news reached me.
Hi Japanese politicians. What do you think about the settlement? How long more will we have to wait ? When will you start working closely together? As you really know, if the special government bond bill doesn't pass Parliament in June, Japan will be likely to face a revenue shortfall. I've heard that it will pose problems for the reconstruction of the disaster-struck areas. I beg you. Please work out the solution immediately.
Our Prime Minister Naoto Kan survived a no-confidence vote yesterday. Three hours before the vote was held in the parliament's lower house, it was expected that he wouldn't be able to survive the vote because many members of his own party had said that they would throw their support against the no-confidence motion. Surprisingly, two hours later, PM Kan announced that he would pass on various responsibilities to the younger generation once he was sure that the bulk of quake recovery work was done. Responding to the announcement, the members who intended to rebel against PM Kan shifted in supporting him. As a result, he survived the no-confidence vote with significant backing from his own party. However, the issue of when he will step down became controversial immediately after he survived the vote. There is still no sign that political battles will be over. Needless to say, the infighting and the no-confidence motion submitted by opposition parties aroused the resentment of people, especially those who are staying at shelters in disaster-struck areas.
Anyway, a few hours ago, I happened to read an article in a newspaper (Please see the link below). The article says that the German magazine ”Die Zeit”created the illustrations of G8 members in France which was held a few days ago, but PM Kan isn't there, and former PM Aso is there instead. It's reported that the magazine carelessly created the illustration of Japanese PM based on an old picture. It shows how frequently Japanese Prime Minister changes. Actually, even for Japanese people, it's not easy to list past prime ministers of Japan in order. Kan, Hatoyama, Aso, Fukuda, Abe, Koizumi......... I can't help but give out a big sigh.
Yesterday, the LDP (the Liberal Democratic Party, which held power for 54 years until September, 2009) and two other opposition parties submitted a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Naoto Kan. Due to the DPJ's (the Democratic Party of Japan, which is the ruling party) stable majority in parliament's lower house, if all the members of the DPJ support PM Kan, the motion will be unlikely to pass. According to the news, many members of the DPJ, including former PM Hotoyama and the power broker Ozawa, intend to throw their support behind the opposition's no-confidence motion. Since the issue of whether or not the motion will pass today depends on how many members of the DPJ will throw their support behind the motion, right now, the political wrangling is growing intense. Needless to say, a lot of ordinary people say that there is no time for political wrangling.
Every time I hear politicians criticizing PM Kan, I can't but wonder. Why does nobody explain why PM Kan isn't capable? Why does everybody just criticize him, saying that he won't be able to overcome the immediate crisis? Why does nobody say who would be the next PM if PM Kan were forced to step down? Why does nobody offer alternative policies? Since nobody touches the important parts, I suspect what the ulterior motive of the non-confidence motion is. Since the LDP held power for 54 years until September, 2009, big names in the LDP still have strong connections to business leaders. Mr. Ozawa also has strong connections to them. Does it have to do with the motion?
Anyway, many people including myself consider the immediate crisis an opportunity to change Japan. I think that if Japan cannot change, Japan won't be able to overcome the crisis nor have a future. As you may know, Japan has been struggling to get out of the prolonged economic stagnation for the past two decades. Although both the government and the public already realized that they had to change some outdated and traditional systems, they weren't able to make it happen. So, now is the right time to make it happen.
I really hope that the political battle won't mess up the chance of Japan changing.
While Prime Minister Naoto Kan was struggling to dispel doubts about disclosure on the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant in the G8, a lot of politicians were lobbying in Japan to get him to step down as PM. Lamentably, some who are supposed to support him started criticizing him, saying that he should not have done things in that way. Former PM Hatoyama, who is often considered as a troublemaker, says that PM Kan is doing things wrong. The power broker Ozawa is engineering something to get an opportunity to come back to center stage. I am speechless. The Democratic Party of Japan (which is the ruling party, and the party of the three aforementioned members) has been spending time dealing with power games within the party since it took power in September, 2009. Even after the 3/11 crisis, there is no sign that all the members work closely together.
On the other hand, the Liberal Democratic Party, which held power for 54 years until it suffered a major defeat in 2009, seems to be making more effort to recapture power than to overcome the current crisis. It often criticizes the Kan administration, but it hardly offers alternative plans. Despite being largely responsible for our nuclear energy policy, it seems to pretend as if it doesn't have the responsibility. The party still doesn't seem to understand why the public said no to it in 2009.
Throughout Japan, there is a lot of criticism of the government because of growing concerns about the Fukushima plant. However, when I hear it, I can't help but wonder how many people have prepared themselves for bearing the heavy burden of overcoming the crisis. Given our country's outstanding debt and fiscal deficit, I'm sure that we have to be ready for crushing tax burdens and other such phenomena. Personally, I think that unless every single person prepares themselves for the struggle to overcome the crisis, Japan won't have a future.
Many people are complaining about the government, saying that it can't make quick decisions according to the situation and that it often tries to shun its responsibilities, although people prefer doing things"step-by step". I also don't approve of some of the government's responses to the crisis. However, I think that our government reflects us. As I wrote in my previous post, Japanese people are not good at making quick decisions by themselves and taking actions especially when they have to make decisions under unexpected circumstances. In my opinion, unless we all try to change and improve this ability, a capable government won't appear in Japan.
I've been watching American TV shows a lot to improve my listening skill in the past three years. Despite such long-term practice, I haven't improved much. If I took it seriously, I would feel like giving up. Yet, as long as I have fun with the shows, I intend to keep watching them, believing that I will someday be able to listen to English without focusing my full attention on it.
Anyway, in the past few weeks, I've been watching "Gossip girl". As you may know, the show is set in a high school on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.Most of the main characters are students from wealthy families. They lead extravagant lives surrounded by luxurious things. On the other hand, they are subject to restraints which ordinary people are free of. They often have hidden agendas and play all sorts of power games. Meanwhile, they sometimes suffer from remorse. Although I know that the show is a fiction, I feel that similar things are likely to happen in our lives.
By the way, it was announced the day before yesterday that Mr. Maehara had just stepped down from the position of foreign minster. Although I don't intend to elaborate it, the battle between the ruling party and the opposition party over the stuff which forced him to step down somehow makes me think of the show "Gossip Girl". The battle is ridiculous and futile. Many politicians seem to be being overcritical in order to hinder others. I guess that there is a tangle of ulterior motives since it has been said that Mr. Maehara is very likely to become Prime Minster in the near future.
Although I know that political power games are inevitable anywhere, I really want politicians to compete against one another in policy. Actually, a lot of people have said so in the past five years because they have really realized that Japan is in a critical situation. Despite that, there is no sign of productive bipartisan discussions on major policies.
Have you heard of the Japanese phrase 客寄せパンダ/kyakuyose-panda? 客寄せmeans to lure customers and パンダmeans pandas. The phrase means to use people or things to draw attention. Can you guess why pandas are used in this phrase? Actually, it was created around 1980. Then, it became very popular over the next two decades.
In 1972, Japanese-Chinese diplomatic relations were normalized. Responding to that, China presented two giant pandas to Japan as a symbol of friendship. Ueno Zoo in Tokyo was a new home for them. A huge number of people swarmed the zoo to take one look of the cute pandas named ランラン/ran-ran and カンカン/kan-kan. Very long lines were formed at the zoo every day. It didn't disappear for a long time. These circumstances created that phrase.
The popular, adorable pandas greatly helped Japanese people develop an affinity for China. After the pandas died, three other pandas were presented to Japan, and also came to Ueno Zoo in Tokyo. However, since the three pandas were given around when Japan's Official Development Assistance to China started and around when the amount of the ODA yen-loan to China sharply increased, the coined phrase "パンダ外交/panda-diplomacy" appears whenever these presented pandas are being discussed in the news. Incidentally, now, it's impossible to give and be given pandas due to the Washington Convention. In April, 2008, the last panda which belonged to Japan died in Ueno Zoo in Tokyo.
Currently, there are eight pandas at a zoo in Wakayama next to Osaka. The zoo has been doing Chinese-Japanese joint research on giant pandas and their breeding since 1994. Although six of the pandas were born there, all eight belong to China. Other than them, four pandas were born there and already went back to China.
Anyway, a few hours ago, two pandas arrived at Ueno Zoo in Tokyo. From Shanghai, they took an ANA panda jet, which was introduced in 2007 on routes between China and Japan to celebrate the 20th anniversary of ANA's service between the two countries. Ueno Zoo has high expectations for the pandas since it has been suffering from a decrease in visitors. On the other hand, the pandas have become controversial since it has been widely reported in the past week that the annual rental fee for them is about 950,000USD (78,000,000JPY). Ueno Zoo is run by Tokyo prefecture, so the rental fee will be paid from tax money.
I'm wondering what role the new pandas will play. Hi pandas, thank you very much for being patient during the long journey anyway.
For the past few days, I have been talking about the top 10 winners of the 2010 new words and buzzwords contest which were announced a several days ago. I've already described five of them (Please see the links below).Today, I'll talk about three of one's remaining,
1.脱小沢/datsu Ozawa
As you may know, there was a political power shift in Japan 15 months ago. It was the first full-fledged shift since 1955. Since the event was remarkable, 「政権交代/ the political power shift / the change of power/administration」won first place in the same contest last year. From 1955 to 2009, the Liberal Democratic Party/自由民主党 had taken power. In August last year, the Democratic Party of Japan/民主党 won in a landslide victory, and Mr.Yukio Hatoyama/鳩山由紀夫 was inaugurated as Prime Minster. However, during the Hatoyama administration, it was frequently reported that the administration was controlled by the power-broker, Mr.Ichiro Ozawa/小沢一郎, not by PM Hotoyama. Actually, it has been said for many years that Mr. Ozawa is an influential politician and deserves to be the PM. However, the public is skeptical of him largely because there is always bad news surrounding him, such as receiving illegal contributions.
In June this year, Mr.Hatoyama was forced to step down as PM under great pressure, and then Mr. Naoto Kan/管直人 assumed power. The public expected Mr.Kan to appoint cabinet members who were distant from Mr.Ozawa. Because of that, the current cabinet members aren't influenced as much of Mr. Ozawa. Whenever the administration is being discussed, the phrase/脱小沢 comes up. 脱/datsu indicates 脱する/get out of etc. So, 脱小沢 means removing Ozawa's influence.
2.食べるラー油
It was very hard to buy for a while because of a production bottleneck due to the surge in popularity. I talked about it a month ago. Please see the link below.
3.～なう/.....now
It comes from the English word "now". It means that "Now, I'm doing......." etc. A high school boy started using it on Twitter, and then it exploded in popularity. The surge in popularity of Twitter made the phrase become very popular. On Twitter, you can always see sentences including ～なう such as:
-New York なう/ Now, I'm in NY.
-京都なう /Now, I'm in Kyoto.
-会議なう /Now, I'm having a meeting.
-勉強しているなう or 勉強なう/Now, I'm studying.
Needless to say, these sentences are grammatically incorrect. Even Japanese people who are unfamiliar with Twitter can't understand them.
There are two phrases left: 「ととのいました/totonoi mashita」and 「無縁社会/muen syakai」. The former is very challenging to explain. The latter is a newly coined phrase by NHK, the public broadcasting service, and requires me to explain the social background. I'm sure that 無縁社会 will be very popular and will continue to be used for many years like 家庭内離婚 (click here) has been often used since it was selected in the contest in 1986. I'll try to explain these two in my future posts.
Recently in Japan, the news has been filled with the political conflict between Japan and China over the vessel accident that occurred near the island in Okinawa, Japan. This statement is based on the Japanese perspective, but I know that China and Taiwan have different perspectives. The conflict is arousing controversy and leading to various speculations. Many people assume there are agendas and ulterior motives, but ordinary people don't have any way of getting to know the truth. As far as I know, national interests among China, Japan, Taiwan and America are complexly intertwined.
This conflict inevitably and strongly makes Japanese people realize that they seriously have to think through how to protect Japan, as it has made them feel like China is likely to do anything, including the use of force, in order to achieve its goals. Some people say, "Through this conflict, our government exposed its lack of ability to conduct diplomacy, disappointing people. However, the conflict made people feel that Japan needs to enhance its defense strategy. It might be convenient for our government since it has been having a very hard time dealing with the issue about the Futenma US Force in Okinawa in the past year." I hope that the public objectively and unemotionally discusses Japan's defense policy.
The impact of various countermeasures taken by China is expected to be so serious that many people have finally realized that over dependence on China is very dangerous and that they need to build new business models. Speaking of over dependence on China, I was told by some Westerners that it was ridiculous that many Japanese companies invested a lot of money in China to open their businesses there. Even I sometimes wondered whether or not Japanese companies were thinking about diversifying risks. Recently, foreign companies have tended to shift their factories from China to other countries due to frequent strikes by workers, whereas Japanese companies are still having difficulty acquiring sites in other countries.
This conflict shows that now is the time for Japanese people to think through what Japan will be like, and decide polices based on our vision. Both Japanese people and our government haven't done that since Japan became a developed country.
Needless to say, our government needs to improve its ability to conduct diplomacy.
Our Prime Minister, Naoto Kan,/菅直人, managed to survive the political fuss created by a power-broker named Ichiro Ozawa /小沢一郎 and averted another disaster: the change of our PM in three months (click here).PM Kan prevailed because he was greatly supported by the public opinion that the frequent change of our PM doesn't make sense. The public really wants our government to spend time reforming our ailing economy, wondering if the politicians understand how fiercely people are struggling to get through life, even though the cabinet members insist that they've realized that Japan is in a critical situation.
One day after that big day, the Bank of Japan finally but unexpectedly intervened in the foreign exchange market to stem the soaring Yen, as if PM Kan tried to dispel the impression that he has a lack of leadership. Some experts project that this intervention has temporarily worked, but the super strong Yen will continue since many developed countries struggling with the recession want to accept the super strong Yen in order to climb out of the recession.
Now, PM Kan is selecting new cabinet members.I hope that all of the politicians will be able to cooperate closely with one another in order to overcome this crisis.
These days, many things make us feel gloomy. Precisely because of that, I always try to fully enjoy my life.
These days, a historical figure named Ryoma Sakamato/坂本龍馬 (1836-1867) is very popular in Japan. Not only the popular TV drama, Ryoma-den/龍馬伝, but also his policies, have boosted his popularity since now is a good time for us to adopt his policies.
Ryoma played important roles at the end of the Edo Era when Japan was being forced by some Western countries to give up its long-term national isolation policy.At the time, even though Japan was subject to the danger of foreign incursions, many key people paid a lot of attention to the struggle for supremacy. Ryoma insisted that Japan didn't have time to compete for power, and warned the key people to cooperate closely with one another in order to overcome the crisis and protect Japan from attacks by foreign countries.
Two days ago, a big political fuss was created again by a power-broker named Ichiro Ozawa /小沢一郎. I don't want to explain the details here since it's a long story. Speaking briefly, we are suffering from the possibility that our Prime Minister will change "again". As a result, even though many Japanese people want our government to take effective measures against the strong Yen immediately, the government will most likely spend about two weeks competing for power.
About a year ago, we selected the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) as the governing political party since the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) had disappointed us for many years. Thus, we bore responsibility for this situation. However, I didn't expect the frequent competitions for power. A year ago, I was ready to wait a few years for visible results made by the new government, but I now feel like my patience will be more likely be in vain. We need Ryoma now.
In Japan, it's believed that the spirits of our ancestors come back to see their descendants around the 15th of August, so there is a tradition of visiting family graves during that time. It is referred to as Obon/お盆. Because of this tradition, many factories temporarily suspend their production for a few weeks around the 13th to the 16th of August in order to give their employees a long holiday. Even people working for other companies still tend to take their summer holidays around this time, although recently more and more people take them during other periods in the summer to avoid the peak season crowds.
Elderly parents, especially those living far from their children, expect them to come home during the Obon period. This is mostly because older generations consider it to be a traditional day of family gathering. In contrast, younger people tend not to want to go back in part because the return home costs them a lot more money than they would like to spend. In addition, many of them want to take advantage of their long holiday and travel overseas, since the summer holiday is the longest holiday for many workers.
According to the news, this year, a lot more people are expected to depart for foreign countries during the Obon period than last year because of the strong Japanese Yen and people being tired of pinching pennies（節約疲れ in Japanese). because of many people being tired of pinching pennies these days, プチ贅沢 is a catch phrase to appeal to consumers. プチ/puchi is from the French word "petit," and 贅沢/zeitaku means luxury, so the phrase means spending a little more money than usual to make yourself happy. Yesterday, McDonald's Japan announced that it had been very successful during the first half of this year due to high sales of new burgers costing four to five US dollars each. This is significantly more expensive than ordinary burgers, and the new burgers were introduced in order to meet the needs of customers desiring プチ贅沢.
It's been said that many Japanese people try to save a high proportion of their disposable income, regardless of the state of the Japanese economy. As a matter of fact, the high propensity of the Japanese to save has enabled Japan to avert a critical crisis, as it is able to borrow locally to finance its budget deficit. On top of that, it's known that the number of suicides in Japan has been increasing for years. Some of the Japanese elite are suffering from depression.Given these circumstances, if people can afford it, they sometimes spend a little extra money to help ease their stress, not considering it extravagant.
It's said that Japan could get enmeshed in an irreversible situation like Greece if our government doesn't take action as soon as possible. Because of this, the hike in consumption tax from five percent to ten percent is being discussed. I'm sure that the hike will be enforced sooner or later.
Anyway, every time summer comes around, I start wanting to listen to the following song. I think that this song reminds many Japanese of the old days.
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.
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.
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.
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.
