China cracks down on 'American Idol'-style shows

Abstract: BEIJING - Chinese authorities are cracking down on how often broadcasters can air reality, dating and talent shows such as the Chinese versions of “American Idol” and “The Voice,” which draw huge audiences. Provincial broadcasters show such programs, which are cheap to produce and earn a lot of advertising revenue, on satellite channels seen around the country. The official Xinhua News Agency reported that the “American Idol” kind of talent shows now need approval from the body that oversees broadcasting, which will license one such program per channel each quarter for prime-time viewing. It also reported that new regulations require satellite channels to allocate no less than 30 percent of their weekly airtime to topics including news, economics, culture and science from next year. There have been repeated efforts to limit U.S.-style reality TV and other light fare shown on satellite TV, or push them out of prime-time viewing, with stated reasons including the need to stop vulgar content and promote more efficient use of resources. The State General Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television reportedly issued the latest regulations. Liu Shanying, a political scientist at Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said he suspected the new regulations were due to satellite channels taking too much audience away from national broadcaster China Central Television. The Communist Party administration “is helping CCTV, the TV broadcaster that has the main task of carrying forward the government’s message,” said Liu, who used to work for CCTV. “The local stations have more freedom to attract audiences with entertainment shows. And that takes away too many viewers from CCTV and they are afraid that no one will pay attention to the government’s tune.” The restrictions are expected to drive still more viewers online — where they can watch the same types of prerecorded shows — and away from state TV.


Hotelier lays food scam to staff ignorant of law

Abstract: Hankyu Hanshin Hotels Co. has been misrepresenting items on its menus for seven years at eateries in at least four prefectures, possibly scamming some 79,000 patrons in the process, and management is blaming the misdeeds on employees ignorant about the law. The hotelier said Friday it is being inundated with calls from irate customers seeking reimbursement for their meals. The wrongdoing, which according to media reports included claiming on menus that frozen fish was fresh, prepared chocolate was hand-made, and boasting a prestigious red caviar that turns out was flying fish eggs, started in March 2006 and ended last month. As of Thursday morning, the firm had reimbursed 3,480 customers to the tune of ¥12.2 million. The company estimates the final amount of compensation may reach ¥110 million. According to media reports, no patron has fallen ill from eating any of the food items. Hiroshi Desaki, president of the hotelier, told reporters Thursday the firm never intended to fabricate its menus, laying the litany of mislabelled fare on workers who lacked legal knowledge. Although employees in most cases thought misrepresenting food was highly unethical, they failed to realize they were acting illegality, a spokesman for the hotelier claimed Friday, fiercely denying the firm ever set out to hoodwink its customers. “Our employees, be they chefs or salespeople, just didn’t understand the standard laws concerning food labeling. So even in finding menus that lied about the fare, they just didn’t know they weren’t allowed to serve the (misrepresented food),” the spokesman said, lamenting the fact that because no worker ever dared to openly question the scam and explore its possible illegality, hordes of astonished reporters are now sneering at what they see as the firm’s absolute lack of moral fiber. During the press conference Thursday, Desaki apologized for betraying the public’s trust. “We never intended to rake in profits by (misrepresenting food),” he said, expressing the firm’s determination to get to the bottom of the misdeeds. Six menu items will be subject to scrutiny, including pork dishes in which the origins of the meat were falsified. The firm admitted it was wrongfully calling a ready-made chocolate sauce its own. “It appears our employees were touting the sauce as handmade because they thought that would make the (item) sound more attractive,” board director Masanobu Morimoto explained at one point during Thursday’s press conference. When asked if that amounted to deliberate fabrication, he repeated it happened due to “employees’ lack of knowledge.” Such false labelling has so far been detected at 23 restaurants and other venues operated by the firm, including eight hotels in Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka and Hyogo prefectures. A total of 10 executives, including Desaki, will face pay cuts as punishment, with the president’s salary subject to a 20 percent cut for the time being. Kazuo Sumi, president of Hankyu Hanshin Holdings Inc., will voluntarily return 50 percent of his salary.

hotels food hankyu hanshin mislabeling restaurants


Marketing that enters your brain through your nose

Abstract: On Meiji Dori, between Harajuku and Shibuya, I recently came across a tall futuristic titanium-silver contraption staring down at the street with what looked like six portholes. When I got closer, I found it had a window display of small bottles with three signs below saying “touch here!” Being the tragically curious Alice in Wonderland type, I did. As soon as my hand passed over a sensor, a cool fragrant mist drifted out from a blower above and descended over my head. Naturally, I touched the other two panels . . . And then the first one again . . . and then the other ones again . . . then the first one yet again — and I was just considering doing it all again, despite how daft I looked with my nose in the air, when it happened . . . I discovered how scent-marketing works: I saw the store behind the silver machine and walked straight in. This is how @aroma , an aromatherapy and scent-marketing company, is enticing customers into its first Tokyo store. And once you’ve been lured you in, there’s a whole range of essential oils for you to explore — this time invoked by 15 buttons. Japan has no shortage of retailers selling essential oils, but @aroma has a few things that puts it notch above. First is its gadgetry — the outdoors Aroma Shower mega diffuser is a novelty and staff will also let you test the store’s range of sleek personal diffusers (battery and USB powered). But most impressive is its Aroma Oil Blender. Hooked up to 15 different bottles of essential oils, you can push a few buttons of your choice to create your own blend and it will be dispersed in a mist above your head. If you like your custom scent, the staff will make it on the spot for you to purchase (allow for a 30-minute wait, though). @aroma products are marketed with a design-conscious consumer in mind; no flower-child or pot-pourri aesthetics going on here. The packaging is simple and brightly color-coded, while the naming of the essential-oil ranges is no nonsense — Design Air, Clean Air, Botanical Air or Eco Air. And, as a Japanese company, it also focuses on native fragrances with three of its lineups. Botanical Air Japan includes a woody Mount Koya scent, a Kyoto cedar one and a Japanese citrus yuzu one. Sense of Japan uses fragrances associated with the country — including hinoki wood, perilla and sandalwood — and is named with words associated with Japanese tradition, such as Sei (purity) Miyabi (Kyoto aesthetics) and Iki (Edo aesthetics). The Message Aroma range uses Japanese phrases as names, including the virtually untranslatable Otsukaresama (the thing you say when you finish work — a concoction of hinoki , pine, marjoram, sandalwood, clary sage, and kopa iba) and Gambate (try hard! — spearmint, rosemary, niaouli, tea tree and lime). But what about the aromas that lured me in the first place? It started with a floral Stylish Glamour, followed by an original blend called Scent of Tokyo. And when the real smell of Tokyo returned, the minty Eco Air -2 Cool Feel was enough to make me want to follow my nose into the store. A whiff of scent marketing in Japan Japan, it appears, is at the forefront of scent marketing . At least, plenty of scent marketers like to quote Japanese companies on the subject. Skyword Scent Strategy states research carried out by fragrance producer Takasago . When computer users worked with different fragrances, it found the following: 20% fewer typing errors with lavender-scented air 33% fewer errors with jasmine-scented air 54% fewer errors with lemon-scented air Micro Fragrance is rolling out Japan’s largest-ever scenting program and using thousands of Prolitec diffusion systems to pump a Pomegranate Fusion fragrance into possibly the smelliest places in country — every single Maruhan pachinko parlor. Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology announced in April that it’s working on a Smelling Screen display system, which will release different odors depending on what is being shown on the screen. Japan’s household goods market is seeing a boost in scented goods, particularly fabric-softeners, which some people are preferring to the smell of perfume. Lenor is even suggesting you mix laundry scent boosters to create your own personal aroma.

marketing
scents
aroma
fragrance
japan pulse


India's 'miracle rooster' further complicates chicken-and-egg dilemma

Abstract: NEW DELHI - The question has long been, “Which came first, the chicken or the egg?” The apparently insoluble puzzle has become further complicated in India, where a rooster in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh has been laying eggs. According to a report in the The Asian Age newspaper, people are thronging the house of the rooster’s master and some are even offering money, considering it to be a God-sent creature. Local veterinarians have suggested the “miracle cock” should be handed to a veterinary research institute where the doctors would try to find out how a male bird can lay eggs, but it is as yet unclear if that will happen. The report said Ramhet Rawat, a resident of Dharkuiyyan in the state’s Barabanki district, bought the miracle rooster two weeks ago with the intention of cooking it. For a night, he kept it under a basket with the intention of slaughtering and cooking it the next day. But when he lifted the basket in the morning, to his utter surprise, he found the rooster had laid an egg. The bewildered Rawat called his neighbors and they investigated if it was actually a rooster or a hen. Everyone, the newspaper reported, agreed the bird is indeed male, and Rawat decided not to slaughter it immediately. Three days later, the cock again laid an egg. Since then, it has been laying an egg every third day. News of the miracle spread like wildfire, and curious onlookers are still converging at Rawat’s house to get a glimpse of the country’s “miracle cock.”


Tokyo homeless, Olympics cancelled, medals given for kindness, Mandela's birthday feted

Abstract: 100 YEARS AGO Wednesday, July 23, 1913 Tales of woe abound among Tokyo jobless Summer is generally a good season for employment-seekers of the laboring classes. This summer, however, there are twice as many unemployed men as usual. The Free Lodging House of Honjo, Tokyo, for instance, generally takes in about 20 lodgers nightly during the hot months, but this season some 45 are finding shelter there every night. Mr. Ito, director of the establishment, tells some interesting facts about its residents. “In summer, the gas and electric companies require a larger force of hands,” he says, “and these places are generally sought by fewer men than in any other season. Things are quite different this summer. “Men in the prime of life come here every day starving and fagged out. The majority are from the country. They come to the city with high ambition, and write home exaggerated accounts of their success. A few years later, they go back to their homes, with borrowed money, rigged up in royal style to impress their folks and friends. When they return to the city, their debts leave them in more trouble than before. These young men generally begin as hard workers or ambitious students, then as cheap laborers or coolies, and finally loafers, sheltered in the Poor House.” Among the more interesting free lodgers there is a young man who had a highly commendable record at the Osaka Hygienic Laboratory and was once recommended to go abroad to finish his studies. Deprived of his work, he wandered around in vain in quest of employment and finally, as a day laborer, came to the brink of starvation in the Free Lodging House. 75 YEARS AGO Saturday, June 16, 1938 ‘Wartime’ precludes 1940 Tokyo Olympics The Cabinet decided this morning to urge the Olympic Organizing Committee to return the 1940 Tokyo Games to the International Olympic Committee. The Welfare Ministry decided there should be no Tokyo Olympic Games in 1940 due to the present wartime circumstances. That decision was formally submitted to the Cabinet meeting today. While the Olympic Games have been awarded to the city of Tokyo and not to Japan as a nation, the O.O.C. is expected to comply with the request. Not only financial difficulties but also the psychological effects that the Games would have on the people — of whom a higher grade of concentration is now required on the fighting in China — were given by Welfare Minister Koichi Kido as reasons for his Ministry’s decision. “If Tokyo cancels the Olympics, it will cause considerable repercussions abroad,” he admitted. “But I think it is advisable to decide our national attitude over the Games now. At this time when the nation is required to endure material hardships, we may incur disdain from abroad if we are excited over the Olympics. Some people may argue that returning the Games may discourage physical culture, but I believe such an eventuality is forestalled by holding Meiji Festival sports meets on a larger scale or by sponsoring other national sporting events.” Matsuzo Nagai, Secretary-General of the O.O.C. reported the Welfare Ministry’s decision to Mayor Itta Kobashi of Tokyo Friday afternoon. Still reluctant to abandon the Games, the mayor the same day visited several Cabinet members. “I have done all I could for retaining the Olympics and am awaiting the Cabinet’s decision,” he said. “Even if the Games are cancelled, I wish to complete Komazawa Stadium for the sake of the health of Tokyo citizens after peace is restored in China.” Those who will be deprived of work as a result of returning the Games include three German Olympic technical advisers, who have been in Tokyo nearly one year on a three-year contract. 50 YEARS AGO Friday, July 5, 1963 100 given medals for their kind deeds On Wednesday, 100 persons were awarded the first Kind Behavior Badges by the Be Kind to Others Campaign headquarters in recognition of their acts of kindness. Seven of the 100, who were chosen from among the 210 recommended to the headquarters, attended the awarding ceremony held in Tokyo. Two of the seven were small primary school pupils. One of them, an 8-year-old girl, won the award for picking up a baby’s hat near her home and promptly handing it to the baby’s mother. Among other kind deeds recognized were guiding 14 blind masseuses to safety every day and lending a bus fare to a stranger who lost his wallet. The campaign was launched by Seiji Kaya, president of the University of Tokyo, early this year to make society better. 25 YEARS AGO Wednesday, July 13, 1988 ANC Tokyo group to fete Mandela’s 70th The Tokyo branch of the African National Congress (ANC), South Africa’s anti-apartheid organization, will hold a rally Saturday to celebrate the 70th birthday of their leader, Nelson Mandela, and to demand an end to his imprisonment, which has lasted 25 years. Jerry Matsila, representing the ANC Tokyo Office, said at a news conference Tuesday that the rally will be held at the Yamanote Church in Shibuya, Tokyo, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Ambassadors from black African nations have been invited to speak at the gathering and a film depicting the situation in South Africa will be shown, he said. “Mandela means our hope. The name Mandela means freedom for us because of his contribution to the struggle against apartheid,” Matsila said. There have been similar gatherings and concerts in all parts of the world, including London, East Berlin, New York and Amsterdam, to fete Mandela’s birthday and demand his release.


What if Columbus had reached his goal: Japan?

Abstract: Every school child knows that in 1492 Christopher Columbus discovered America. Every school child knows wrongly. When the Genovese explorer’s three ships sailed westward from Palo de la Frontera, Spain, on Aug. 2, 1492, he was bound, he thought, for “the noble island of Cipangu” — Japan. Cipangu would be his gateway to “the Indies,” then the term for Asia — land of gold, spices, silks, perfumes, jewels. Columbus made four trans-Atlantic voyages, and died in 1506 certain he’d been on the fringes of Asia. That elusive land, with its riches, exotic civilizations and cities teeming with souls ripe for conversion to Christianity, would be just over the horizon, just a little farther ahead. America? He never heard of it, never imagined it. The truth would have shattered him — a vast continent and a boundless unknown ocean, the Pacific, lying between Europe and its golden dreams! What was “noble” about Japan? Wealth — fabulous wealth; or tales of it. No European in Columbus’ time had ever set foot there. Few knew it existed. Asia itself was scarcely known. Its luxuries were purveyed in Europe by Venetian traders who dealt with Arab middlemen in the lands of the eastern Mediterranean. That’s as far east as they got. Europe’s prime source on Asia was Marco Polo’s “Travels,” published around 1300. Polo (1254-1324) was a Venetian trader, one of a handful of European missionaries and merchants who, in the 13th and 14th centuries, took advantage of a brief opening of overland trade routes before they closed when the immense Mongol empire in Asia crumbled. Polo gained the trust of Kublai Khan (1215-94), the Mongol ruler in China, and remained 24 years as his adviser and emissary. He had never been to Cipangu (the name derives from “Jipen,” the Chinese reading of “Nihon”), but he had heard a great deal about it from Muslim traders in China — who hadn’t been there either. In the absence of facts, rumor is king. “Cipangu,” Polo wrote, was “most fertile in gold, pearls and precious stones, and they cover the temples and royal residences with solid gold. People (there) have tremendous quantities of gold. The King’s palace is roofed with pure gold, and his floors are paved in gold two fingers thick.” That’s where Columbus was bound in 1492, with results every school child knows. How did Japan — Spartan, resource-poor Japan — acquire such a gilded reputation? Ancient Japan did experience a modest gold rush. Gold discovered in 749 at Oshu — present-day Hiraizumi, Iwate Prefecture — was used to adorn the Nara Great Buddha, completed in 752. It was an impressive piece of statuary — 15.8 meters high and glittering with 440 kg of gold. Word got around, as it did concerning the 12th-century Chuson-ji Temple in Oshu, with its Golden Hall. There was also Kyoto’s Kinkaku-ji, the Temple of the Golden Pavilion, built by Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu in 1397 — too late for Polo’s book, so Columbus knew nothing of it. Three stories high and entirely covered in gold leaf, it dazzles tourists to this day. That is about the extent of gold-encrusted Japan. Oshu gold was never much by world standards, and petered out in the 16th century. Columbus, we know, got no closer to Cipangu than Cuba, the Caribbean Islands and the northeast coast of South America. But supposing he had made it to Japan? Japan in 1492 was temporarily at peace, following the brutal and chaotic Onin War (1466-77); by 1500 it was descending into a century of the chaotic Sengoku Jidai civil war. Historians despair of making sense of it all; land-hungry warrior-baron fought land-hungry warrior-baron. From this distance it looks like carnage pure and simple. Shogun as the Onin War began was Ashikaga Yoshimasa (1436-90) — “the worst shogun ever to rule Japan,” writes Donald Keene, his latest biographer, in “Yoshimasa and the Silver Pavilion” (2003). A despairing letter Yoshimasa wrote to his son conveys pathetic helplessness: “The daimyo (feudal barons) do as they please and do not follow orders. That means there can be no government.” There was none. In 1473, as the war raged, Yoshimasa abdicated and turned to what he loved and knew best: art. Japan’s most characteristic art forms — tea-ceremony, noh drama, 31-syllable poetry, linked verse, flower-arranging, moon-viewing, monochrome painting, calligraphy, landscape gardening — all bear Yoshimasa’s stamp. “No man in the history of Japan,” writes Keene, “had a greater influence on the formation of Japanese taste. The worst of the shoguns was … the only one to leave a lasting heritage for the entire Japanese people.” The Higashiyama culture he spawned draws its name from the Higashiyama Hills of Kyoto, where in retirement he built a palace he named Ginkaku-ji (Temple of the Silver Pavilion). Starkly, almost startlingly austere, its name is misleading — not a description (there is no silver) but a mocking rejection of the golden opulence his grandfather Yoshimitsu embodied in the Kinkaku-ji. Raised in luxury himself, accused by contemporary chroniclers of callous indifference to the suffering of the poor, Yoshimasa went on to fashion at Ginkaku-ji an artistic legacy that sought beauty in simplicity, fulfillment in poverty, happiness in sadness. The Japanese word that expresses these qualities is wabi — the spiritual peace of material renunciation. What would Columbus have made of this — or Yoshimasa of Columbus, and of Europe’s rapacious avarice, insatiable curiosity and globe-girdling restlessness? Yoshimasa died in 1490, two years before Columbus’ first voyage to what he thought was Japan, land of gold. Would Columbus have appreciated the “silver” of wabi?


Japan by the numbers (07.11.13)

Abstract: 90.8% of people in Japan do not know what a “smart TV” is , although some of that percentage had heard the term before, according to goo research. 84.5% of men who answered a poll by the Communication Design Research Institute said they are more attracted to women who eat a lot (note: most men said they prefer to see women eat healthy foods such as salad). 79% people in Japan agree with the idea of charging a fee to climb Mount Fuji , according to research conducted by Yamatokeikokusha Company. 63% of junior high and high school female students polled by Fumi Communications said they plan to vote when they reach the voting age of 20 . 56.8% of people who own digital devices such as tablets and smart phones use security software to protect their private information . 45% of single women between aged 25-29 want to have a baby within the next three years . That percentage is larger than that for married women in same age range, according to research by Dentsu Souken Mamalabo.


Cinderella stories inspire women to find their prince on social networking sites

Abstract: According to a recent study by Trend Soken , the phenomenon of the “Social Cinderella” is one of the driving forces behind changing attitudes towards internet dating among young women. “Social Cinderellas” are women who snag “high spec guys” (i.e. well-educated, good-looking men with high salaries) via social networking sites. As stories about these fairy-tale romances spread, more and more women have begun to warm to the idea of internet dating. Out of the 500 single women in their 20s and 30s interviewed for the study, 81% said that they felt had few chances for romantic meetings in their daily lives and 58% believed that social media was an effective tool for finding their dream man. Columnist Ai Azawa states in the report that modern Japanese women are throwing themselves into their work and are also really into self-improvement, as a result, they’ve got higher standards and are not particularly interested in settling for the men in their immediate social circle. Azawa says that she often hears Social Cinderella stories. But how common are they in practice? Out of the 61.4% of respondents who claimed to regularly use social media, 16% said that they’d encountered a dreamy guy in this way and 9.4% said they’d even managed to strike up a friendship with the guy in question. The study uses the term social-networking services to loosely refer to a whole slew of sites, from professional matchmaking websites to social networking sites like Facebook and Mixi, so it’s important to bear in mind that women are not necessarily signing up for dating services. One 26-year-old women questioned for the study mentions attending “meetings of social networking communities.” This could mean joining a group of people who meet over shared interests. Not necessarily aimed at encouraging people to hook up, social clubs tied to a hobby may be one of the ways that women are using the web to widen their social network as they fish around for potential partners. There are also matchmaking sites linked into Facebook. — sites like Omiai , which currently has 270,000 registered members. Omiai caters to the Cinderella element by boasting that 2,313 of the members are guys who have annual earnings of over ¥10 million. As many are cautious about the perils of online dating, the company highlights its safety policy which allows users to remain anonymous while chatting with a potential partner. Safety and privacy is a huge concern for Japanese women, so other social networking dating clubs take the risk out of going to meet with a stranger by bulking up the numbers. Pairs of friends who sign up for the rather unfortunately named Nikukai (meat club) service can go on double dates together at yakiniku (Korean barbeque restaurants). Nomitomi (drinking buddies) is a service that holds group mixers for singles, meaning singles don’t have to risk it alone with an unknown person.

social network
social cinderella
matchmaking
konkatsu
japan pulse


Body fat sheds calories when chilled

Abstract: WASHINGTON - Transforming fat cells into calorie-burning machines may sound like a fantasy — the ultimate form of weight control — but the idea is not as far-fetched as it sounds. Unexpectedly, some fat cells directly sense dropping temperatures and release their energy as heat, according to a new study, and that ability might be harnessed to treat obesity and diabetes, researchers suggest. Fat is known to help protect animals from the cold, and not only by acting as insulation. In the early 1990s, scientists studying mice discovered that cold temperatures trigger certain fat cells, called brown adipose tissue, to release stored energy in the form of heat — in other words, to burn calories. Researchers have always assumed this mechanism was an indirect response to the physiological stress of cold temperatures, explains cell biologist Bruce Spiegelman of Harvard Medical School. The activation of brown fat seems to start with sensory neurons throughout the body informing the brain of a drop in temperature. In response, the brain sends out norepinephrine, the chief chemical messenger of the sympathetic nervous system, which mobilizes the body to cope with many situations. In experiments with animals, stimulating norepinephrine receptors triggered brown adipose tissue to release its energy and generate heat, while animals bred to be missing these receptors were unable to mount the same fat-cell response. People also have brown adipose tissue that generates heat when the body is cold. And unlike white fat, which builds up around the abdomen and contributes to many disorders including heart disease and diabetes, this brown fat is found in higher proportions in leaner people and seems to actively protect against diabetes. With brown fat, the heat-generating process depends on a protein called UCP1; the protein is also thought to be central in preventing diabetes. Researchers are exploring ways of activating this molecular pathway. But in trying to figure out exactly how fat cells respond to the body’s being cold, Spiegelman and colleagues made some discoveries about white fat cells. In a study published last week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the researchers exposed various kinds of fat cells to cold temperatures directly. “We were a little surprised that no one had tried this before,” Spiegelman says. The researchers cooled several types of lab-grown human fat cells — brown, white and beige (white adipose tissue with some brown cells mixed in) — to temperatures between 27 and 39 degrees for four hours, eight hours or up to 10 days. White and beige cells responded in dramatic fashion. Their levels of UCP1 doubled within eight hours of the treatment. The change in UCP1 also proved to be reversible: Its level returned to normal once the cells’ temperature was set at 37 degrees. But in brown fat cells, no induction of the protein was observed, indicating that cold temperatures don’t mobilize these cells by flipping this particular switch. The researchers also found that white fat cells obtained from mice lacking receptors for norepinephrine were still able to respond to cooling by turning on UCP1 — showing that the heat-generating pathway is both specific to those fat cells and independent of the sympathetic nervous system. The finding won’t lead to an anti-fat pill any time soon, Spiegelman says, but it does give scientists new avenues to explore. “It’s a piece of the basic science, adding to an evolving awareness that fat cells have many lives that we never knew about. Now we know they can sense temperature directly. The next question is: How do they do it, and can that ability be manipulated?” “The paper is filling in an emerging picture that adipose tissue can be a more flexible, adaptive organ than we once thought,” said Sven Enerback, a physician and adipose tissue researcher at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden. “The finding raises the question of whether this new pathway has widespread effects on the animal as a whole.”

fat calories temperature heat obesity diabetes insulation food diet


Yamaguchi murder suspect nabbed

Abstract: YAMAGUCHI - Police said Friday they have arrested the 63-year-old man sought in connection with the Sunday-Monday slaying of five people and the torching of two of their homes in the hamlet of Shunan, Yamaguchi Prefecture. The suspect, identified as Kosei Homi, was found barefoot and wearing only his underwear on an unused mountain trail Friday near Shunan. Upon being taken into custody, he confessed to the slaying of his five neighbors and the two cases of arson, the police said. Police launched a major manhunt for Homi after finding the five corpses, three of which were in the gutted homes. After the police found a cellphone and a shirt that apparently belonged to Homi at around 3 p.m. Thursday, they started combing the immediate area. Despite some scratches, Homi was in good health, the police said. When they found him, Homi confirmed his identity and reportedly told them: “I wanted to die, but I failed.” The police suspected Homi in connection with the crimes, because he had not been seen since Sunday and he lived next door to one of the victims. The bodies of Makoto Sadamori, 71, and his wife, Kiyoko, 72, and that of Miyako Yamamoto, 79, were found in their homes, which had been gutted. The two houses, about 80 meters apart, both started to burn at around 9 p.m. Sunday. Homi lived next door to Yamamoto. The police suspected the two homes were torched soon after the victims were killed. On Monday, police found two more bodies, those of Satoko Kawamura, 73, and Fumito Ishimura, 80, in their homes, even though they had reportedly confirmed that Kawamura was safe Sunday night. All of the victims died instantly of blunt-force head trauma. The police searched Homi’s house for evidence. Earlier they found two cars in his garage, leading them to believe he had fled on foot. It was earlier reported that the police also found a message in a form of a haiku inside a window of Homi’s house that read: “Tsukebishite kemuri yorokobu inakamono.” (“Setting on fire, smoke gives delight, to a country fellow.”) The hamlet where Homi and the five victims lived consisted of only eight households and 14 residents. According to other neighbors, Homi did not interact well and once left the community to live in Kawasaki. After he returned, he would not exchange in any form of greeting, they said. Homi reportedly proposed a project to develop the area, but his plan was rejected by his neighbors. Some also said he had troubles with them over his dog. During the 2011 New Year’s holiday, Homi reportedly complained to police, saying, “I’m being bad-mouthed by other people in the community and feel isolated.” After having a conversation with officers for over an hour, he said he felt relieved and returned home, the police said. According to sources, instead of trying to improve relations with others in his community, Homi installed a fake security camera and pretended to be monitoring the home of Yamamoto. He also hung the malicious haiku.


Beware your heroes and heed the lesson of stargazer Galileo Galilei

Abstract: A scene from “The Life of Galilei” seems to encapsulate the dilemma Japan faces as it gropes for new leadership. “Woe betide a nation without heroes.” “Not so. Woe betide a nation in need of heroes.” This exchange from the play by anti-establishment German playwright Bertolt Brecht is a traumatic one in which Galileo Galilei returns from his encounter with the Grand Inquisitor. (The production I saw was in Japanese. The translations are my own.) The latter has managed to convince the scientist to rescind his views on celestial dynamics and shut up about the earth moving round the sun. It turns out that even the great Galileo is susceptible to threats when they are accompanied by a display of the latest advances in torture tools. The above lament over the lack of heroes is an utterance of Master Galileo’s foremost student, who did not believe even for a moment that his great tutor would capitulate. Master Galileo may or may not be just another coward. He may or may not have been putting on a show of compliance to ensure he could continue making his discoveries in secret. We never quite find out. Either way, his view on heroes is not wrong. It is highly astute. There seem to me to be two types of nations that feel a need for heroes. Neither variety is a happy one. First, there are nations whose people are oppressed. When people are being deprived of their basic human rights, arrested without proper reason, detained without trial, put to torture and massacred en masse, they are indeed in need of heroes who can come to their rescue. Unfortunately, there are still far too many nations around the world that fall into this category. That is why human rights activists have to be active and people have to revolt. Second, there are nations who have lost their self-confidence. They are confused. Nothing seems to go right for them anymore. They do not know what to believe. They do not know what to do. They keep looking back into the past in quest of an image of themselves they are comfortable with. They cannot face reality because it does not have a face that they recognize. They want somebody to tell them what to do. Japan seems to me to fall into this second category of hero-seeking nations. Thus people are apt to bemoan the lack of leadership and the absence of leaders in politics as well as management.¥ This mentality is dangerous. When people are in this frame of mind, they fall prey to charlatans and populists. Master Galileo’s warning against heroes sounded particularly pertinent to our situation as we went to the polls on Sunday. Toward the end of Brecht’s play, I was struck by another series of utterances by Master Galileo that seemed to reach out to the Japanese condition. “It is my belief,” says the Master, “that science exists for the single purpose of making the condition of survival less painful for the human race. Should scientists be goaded by greedy leaders into pursuing knowledge for knowledge’s sake, science will become maimed and all the new machinery you make might merely end up creating more pain. . . .” When one thinks of how painful survival has become for so many in the aftermath of 3/11, it is easy to realize how words like these would resonate severely with a Japanese audience. The powers that be who are in such a hurry to restart the nation’s nuclear power plants would do well to heed Master Galileo’s words. If a visit to the theater can deliver a dose of common sense to all aspiring heroes in need of enlightenment, they just might be in for a surprise.


Ailing utility resumes offering jobs to new graduates for first time since 2011

Abstract: Tokyo Electric Power Co. has resumed offering jobs to prospective graduates for the first time since the Fukushima nuclear crisis started in March 2011. Tepco officials said Tuesday they plan to hire about 100 new recruits next April. They will be students due to graduate in March from technical high schools, universities and graduate schools. Some offers have already been made, the officials said. The utility had hired up to about 1,000 new recruits every year through fiscal 2011. But after the Fukushima No. 1 catastrophe, Tepco refrained from hiring new employees two years in a row. Meanwhile, 1,177 employees, mainly executives and employees tasked with key operations, left the company between the start of the crisis and the end of fiscal 2012. Aside from the planned hiring of 100 new graduates, Tepco is set to offer about 50 jobs in Fukushima as part of its effort to help improve employment conditions there. Tepco had planned to hire about 500 new graduates next April 2014. But because the utility was required to further streamline operations before increases in household electricity rates were approved, it decided to limit new hiring mainly to essential technical personnel. As Tepco has been cutting wages sharply and its business prospects remain uncertain, there is a possibility that students may spurn any job offers. “I am worried how many will actually join, but hope as many people as we need will enter our company,” a senior official said.


Lincoln statue vandal suspect is Chinese national

Abstract: WASHINGTON - Moments before District of Columbia police found Jiamei Tian hiding in a bathroom stall at Washington National Cathedral, a family of tourists had spotted her in a back pew of the Children’s Chapel guarding two bags and muttering softly in a foreign language. Tian’s unsettling behavior continued Tuesday, when the 58-year-old Chinese national made her first appearance in D.C. Superior Court to face charges in connection with a string of vandalism in which churches and tourist attractions across the city were spattered with green paint. Tian refused to cooperate with the D.C. police department’s Asian Liaison Unit, according to officials at her court appearance. She wouldn’t say where she stayed in Washington. She told police that she had lived in Los Angeles, but prosecutors said they could find no evidence of that. She speaks little or English. Her visa to visit the United States expired three days ago. As authorities investigate crimes that marred the Lincoln Memorial, a statue of the Smithsonian’s first secretary and sanctuaries in two churches — one with a toxic mixture of paint, urine and feces — it may be as challenging to understand who Tian is as it will be to determine a motive for the vandalism. D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier said Tuesday the suspect may have “mental health issues.” D.C. Magistrate Judge Lori Parker ordered Tian to remain in jail until her next hearing Aug. 2; so far, she faces a single charge of defacing property for an attack on National Cathedral, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a fine up to $5,000.


Tepco trying to keep radioactive water from reaching sea, but can it?

Abstract: Tokyo Electric Power Co. only recently admitted radioactive water is flowing from its crippled Fukushima No. 1 plant into the Pacific. Although Tepco is giving assurances that it is taking and planning steps to prevent more tainted groundwater from reaching the sea, it’s unclear how effective those efforts are, considering the difficulty of even pinpointing the problem. Here are questions and answers regarding the tainted flow. When was the leak noticed? According to Tepco, the utility began more closely monitoring the radiation levels of groundwater in wells 25 meters from shore in May. In June, the utility announced it had detected high levels of radioactive material in the groundwater taken from the wells near the reactor 2 turbine building. Though the groundwater flows toward the sea, Tepco initially ruled out the possibility it was reaching the Pacific. Last week, it finally changed its tune. The firm said data showed the well water levels were changing with the tides, indicating the seawater and the groundwater are intermingling. How did the groundwater become radioactive? Inside trenches connecting the reactor 2 turbine building and a pump room right by the shore, there are pipes to carry seawater for cooling as well as electrical cables. Since the start of the Fukushima crisis, tainted water has accumulated in these trenches, which rest on highly permeable gravel. Experts believe radioactive water is leaking from cracks in the trenches and passing through the rushed rock, reaching the groundwater. “It’s very important information that there is crushed rock (under the trenches),” Kunihiko Shimazaki, a commissioner at the Nuclear Regulation Authority, told an NRA meeting last week. Tepco also suspects that residual water from a leak of highly radioactive water that reached the Pacific through a section of the trenches in April 2011 may be a source of the groundwater contamination. A sample taken last Friday from the trench contained 750 million becquerels of cesium-134, 1.6 billion becquerels of cesium-137 and 750 million becquerels of other radioactive substances, according to Tepco. A sample from April 2011 contained 1.8 billion becquerels of both cesium-134 and cesium-137 per liter. Meanwhile, the basement of the turbine building is flooded with the tainted water from a leaking containment vessel. Radioactive water there is possibly leaking into the trenches connected to the basement. How much radioactive water has flowed into the sea? Tepco said it is unclear how long tainted water has been leaking into the sea — or how much. It continues to claim that the contamination of the sea is limited to the plant’s port. What is Tepco doing to stop the flow? Tepco is trying to remove the source of contamination and block the flow of the tainted groundwater. It is currently injecting liquid glass between the reactor 2 turbine building and the sea, hoping the glass will serve as a wall to stop the groundwater from reaching the Pacific. Tepco also plans to build a wall in the immediate harbor to contain the radioactive water. Its construction won’t be completed until September 2014. The utility is also planning to remove and process the tainted water in the trenches and backfill a part of them with filling materials. Are such measures enough to end the problem? Experts remain uncertain. “The underground situation is complex. It’s not necessarily easy to figure out,” said Shigeaki Tsunoyama, president of the University of Aizu, one of the NRA panel members monitoring the Fukushima No. 1 plant. “Building walls seems simple in a drawing, but when you think about a complex underground structure, it won’t be that easy,” he said, adding that it is still not certain where exactly the contamination is coming from. Although it is a difficult job, Tsunoyama said Tepco should try to figure out what is really going on underneath the plant. The NRA also urged Tepco to dig more wells to determine how far the radioactive groundwater has spread. Reactors 1, 2 and 3 all suffered core meltdowns, and unit 4’s building was destroyed in a hydrogen explosion, exposing its spent-fuel pool. There are monitoring wells around the other damaged reactors, but unit 2 appears to so far be the only area where radioactive groundwater is showing up.

tepco
radioactive water
fukushima no . 1


Lightning kills one as rainy season's exit kicks up storms

Abstract: Two lightning strikes left a man dead and a woman injured Monday as the sudden departure of the rainy season and a high-pressure system from the Pacific sent temperatures soaring in much of the nation. In Tokyo, three men in their 50s and 60s were struck by lightning near the Arakawa River in Kita Ward after a thunderstorm developed, leaving one dead, police said. According to witnesses, the three were hit while sheltering under a tree at around 3:50 p.m. Police are still trying to identity the dead man. A woman in nearby Saitama Prefecture was later knocked unconscious in a separate lightning strike in Tokorozawa at around 5:15 p.m. The woman, 53, was struck while working on a farm and remains unconscious, police said. The Meteorological Agency said temperatures soared well into the 30s in much of the nation after active convection currents near the Philippines stimulated a high-pressure system in the Pacific earlier than usual. It also said the rainy season had come to a premature ending virtually nationwide, two days after declaring it over in the Kanto-Koshin region, which includes Tokyo. Areas in the north, the northeast and the Sea of Japan side of central Honshu are still getting rain. In regions southwest of central Japan, the rainy season ended six to 13 days early. Predicting highs of over 35 in many places, the weather agency issued a high-temperature advisory warning people to stay hydrated and to use air conditioning to prevent heatstroke. By Monday morning, the mercury had hit 36.2 in Kamikitayama, Nara Prefecture, 36 in Tajimi, Gifu Prefecture, 35.8 in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, and 35.7 in three cities in Yamanashi, Kyoto and Tottori. On Sunday, the heat wave caused the death of a 50-year-old man and sent at least 740 other people to the hospital due to overheating. The man who died was in the city of Shikokuchuo, Ehime Prefecture, when he was taken to a hospital. He apparently died of heatstroke. Heatstroke can usually be confirmed by a core body temperature above 40.5 degrees, but fainting may also be a symptom. Other clues include headache, dizziness, failure to sweat, cramps or nausea, rapid pulse or breathing, or even seizures. According to local police and fire stations, 10 junior high school students taking part in a baseball game in Saitama Prefecture were taken to a hospital on Sunday after exhibiting symptoms of heatstroke. Marathoners were also affected, with six runners in Aomori Prefecture and others in Tottori hospitalized. Off the coast of Matsuyama, Ehime Prefecture, a 15-year-old boy drowned, while in the city of Gero in Gifu Prefecture, a 10-year-old girl and her 4-year-old brother were swept away by the Hida River. Both siblings were washed away when the girl tried to rescue her brother after he slipped into the river.


Cashing in on Fuji fever

Abstract: Since the announcement that Mount Fuji, Japan’s most iconic landmark, had finally won World Heritage status on June 23 , Fuji fever has swept the nation. As souvenirs commemorating the event hit the shelves, sales of Fuji-themed merchandise were brisk. Stores selling climbing gear to those who have been inspired to make the pilgrimage up Fuji have also been doing well. Loft in Shibuya reported that sales of Fuji merchandise, which had been growing steadily prior to the announcement, suddenly shot up by 150% — the bestselling item being a Fuji-san folding fan that retails for ¥2,100. They’re not anticipating a downturn in trade either: When the shop gets a refit in September there’s going to be a special area in the new “Japan Souvenir” floor dedicated to Fuji souvenirs. New products also went on sale to commemorate the occasion. Among these is a Mount Fuji wooden cup and ball game that costs a rather eye-watering ¥6,090, and a rubber stamp that incorporates elements of the famous 36 views of Mount Fuji , which would set you back ¥3,360. In addition, blue traffic cones with a snow capped peaks have suddenly popped up in car parks around the country. Formally sold mainly to businesses in the area around Mount Fuji, 300 of these cones were sold in the last month, three times the amount of typical annual sales. The climbing season for Mount Fuji began this month and shops selling climbing equipment have been cashing in. Sales have also been boosted by the inspiring news back in May that 80-year-old Yuichiro Miura managed to scale the summit of Everest . Mizuno outdoor sports told Sankei Biz that sales of hiking gear for women are almost double that of last year, an indication that the yama girl trend is continuing to climb. Mizuno outdoor sports store also runs hiking schools and a trip to Mount Fuji for July sold out almost as soon as it went on sale. But hordes of hikers heading for the mountain are putting a strain on local infrastructure. The authorities of Fujinomiya, one of the gateways to the mountain, have announced that the toilet facilities available will not be sufficient to deal with the increased volume of hikers and are asking climbers to take their own portable toilets with them. While toilets will be in short supply, Wi-Fi access in the area ought to be excellent. As of June, Yamanashi, one of the prefectures Fuji is located in, has 933 free Wi-Fi spots . Visitors surfing the web might want to download a free new app from Fuji-san Beno , which tells you what events are going on in the area during the day of your visit. More info can be found at Fujiyama Navi . The site launched July 8, and offers tours, hotels, and, of course, Fuji-themed merchandise. More Fuji goods on our Pinterest board: Mount Fuji mania Read more about the economics of becoming a UNESCO World Heritage Site at our sister blog, Yen for Living. Photo by Midori via Wikicommons

mount fuji
loft
yama girls
yamanashi
unesco
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japan pulse


Effects will become more obvious as Japan's climate changes

Abstract: Residents of Japan’s big cities, and of Tokyo in particular, are well aware of the heat-island effect — especially now with the onset of summer. The effect occurs because concrete and asphalt retain radiant energy, making the whole city a vast absorber and then emitter of convected heat, which creates powerful thermals that trigger sudden “guerrilla storms” — and renders the nights barely more agreeable than the stifling, claggy days. And if you think summers have been getting worse — you’re right. Figures from the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) show that annual average air temperatures nationwide rose by a rate equivalent to 1.15°C per century between 1898 and 2010. This is considerably higher than the global average temperature rise of 0.74°C over the last century (according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s “Climate Change 2007: Synthesis Report Summary for Policymakers”). Not only have temperatures been rising in Japan, but they’ve been rising faster here than they have elsewhere — with some of that difference accounted for by the heat-island effect found in cities and dense urban areas. I’ve just been looking at the first comprehensive report into the impacts of climate change in Japan. A few points jump out: Plants are flowering earlier each spring and, counterintuitively, insects are appearing later — perhaps because their pupal stages need a certain period of chilling in order to develop, so with winters getting warmer they take longer to develop. In addition, species’ ranges — the physical areas they inhabit — are expanding northward by between 18 km and 140 km per decade. That report’s lead author is Yuko Ogawa-Onishi, who works at my old research base, the National Institute for Environmental Studies in Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, and at the University of Oxford. Ogawa-Onishi, with colleague Pam Berry at Oxford, reviewed as many publications as they could about observed and projected impacts of climate change in Japan, using both local and international publications. By reviewing JMA weather-station data, the pair found evidence that the heat-island effect also occurs in relatively small cities. However, they point out that urban and industrial areas of Japan cover only 5 percent of the land area, while mountains, forests and agricultural regions account for more than 80 percent — so heating due to urbanization can only have a limited effect. As for future conditions in Japan, they found some predictions suggest that, by 2100, temperatures are likely to increase by 2°C to 3°C (relative to a baseline average temperature between 1981 and 2000) — with summers getting wetter, and other seasons drier. That’s bad, but a more pessimistic prediction — and by that I mean a mathematical model, not something someone has read in their tea leaves — has Japan’s mean temperature increasing by a whopping 4.8°C by 2100, with a 10 percent increase in rainfall. Ogawa-Onishi and Berry’s report appears in the journal Biological Conservation (DOI: 10.1016/j.biocon.2012.06.024) — but what do its findings mean for iconic Japanese natural phenomena? For cherry blossom, we’re looking at flowers coming 2.2 days earlier per decade. The first cicadas will sing 2.5 to 4.3 days later per decade. The Great Mormon swallowtail butterfly ( Papilio memnon , okay so it’s not really iconic, but I like it) will move 130 km north per decade. Likewise, Sika deer (of Nara photo-op fame) will move northward. “Plants and animals can adapt to climate change, but there is a limit,” says Ogawa-Onishi. “In southern Japan, we have already witnessed cherry trees not blooming after extremely warm winters, which indicates the limits to their adaptive capacity.” Most people in Japan are very aware of the changes in natural events, in particular, the flowering of cherry trees. Similarly, seasonal food is popular with most people in Japan, and they are aware that the availability of seasonal vegetables and certain fish at particular times of the year has changed. Some species can adapt, others can not adapt as well, says Ogawa-Onishi. Some things important to Japanese culture will certainly change. But the changes that Ogawa-Onishi and Berry explore aren’t just important for pretty national emblems. Japan is a biological hotspot. With more than 90,000 species of fauna, flora and fungii in an area of 380,000 sq. km, it is a globally important biological region (which was one of the reasons I went to study insects in Japan — there are so many of them, and there are some very cool ones). However, a major impact will be on the rice harvest, which will suffer a decrease of up to 40 percent in central and southern Japan. So rice imports will increase. And, although if you travel around Japan you will find a profusion of paddy fields in rural areas, specialist foods everywhere you go, and every town seemingly famous for a certain fruit or fish — some 60 percent of the nation’s food is actually imported — and that proportion is set to rise. For comparison, the United Kingdom imports about 25 percent of its food, and the United States exports more food than it imports. In the face of this sort of ominous news, Oxford scientist Berry says there are easy ways to get involved and influence things for the better. She cites both the kind of steps that help reduce (mitigate) our impact, and ones that help adjust to the effect of climate change. “There are simple mitigation actions that involve the use of less fuel, for example turning down the thermostat in winter or using less air conditioning in summer,” she says. Such advice may sound obvious, but a difference of 1°C can save about a ton of carbon emissions a year. Meanwhile, switching off electronic devices rather then leaving them on standby can save 15 percent of a household’s energy bill. “Every little helps, and if enough people did these things there could be a real difference,” says Berry. And there are ways to help species adapt to the effect of climate change. “People can help biodiversity by leaving some wild areas in their garden or planting wildflower mixes,” says Berry. And she calls for us to make sure there are “permeable” areas in our towns and cities, and to plant trees and generally “greenify” our urban jungles.


Data show twisters form over Kanto in September

Abstract: Damage to people and property by tornadoes made headlines over the past week, with the latest in Tochigi Prefecture injuring three people while destroying houses and other buildings. Here are some questions and answers regarding twisters: Are twisters common in Japan? About 17 were observed each year between 1991 and 2006, according to statistics compiled by the Meteorological Agency. That number is just a mere fraction of the roughly 1,300 that typically form every year in the United States, but when taking into account the amount of area covered, it would be inaccurate to say tornadoes are rare in Japan, the agency warns. Although Tochigi, Saitama and Chiba prefectures, all located in the Kanto region, were struck by tornadoes in the past week, twisters have occurred from Hokkaido to Okinawa. The tally from 1961 and 2006 shows that September is the peak month, with 1 p.m. being the most likely time of day for a tornado to strike. Geographic and weather conditions in the Kanto region are favorable for tornadoes. The mountainous region to the west, the humid hot air coming in from the Pacific and cooler wind coming in from the north this time of year all help. The Meteorological Agency has confirmed that weather conditions were nearly identical when the tornado touched down in Saitama and Chiba on Monday and when the Tochigi tornado hit Wednesday. Have there been more tornadoes in Japan recently? The Meteorological Agency states it is difficult to tell whether tornado counts have risen in recent years because the survey methods continue to change. Occurrences also vary every year and there are no consistencies. There were 28 tornadoes and/or microbursts, a strong, localized downdraft also known as wind shear, in 2012, 15 in 2011, 37 in 2010 and 23 in 2009, according to the agency. How do tornadoes form? The agency said that because they form so suddenly, the mechanism of how they are created is still not completely known. A collision of warm, humid air with a cooler, dry front causes a spiral ascension of the wind. Soaring cumulonimbus clouds also play a role in the formation of tornadoes, especially supercells with mesocyclones. Because atmospheric conditions are the key ingredient, twisters can form not only over open land but also in areas like Tokyo with skyscrapers. What are supercells? A supercell, which spawned Monday’s tornado, is a giant cumulonimbus that is capable of causing massive damage. Supercells are so huge that they differ “from ordinary thunderstorms in that the rotation of their updraft enables them to overcome the self-limiting mechanisms that bring demise to regular storms,” according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Has Japan seen any particularly devastating tornadoes? On November 7, 2006, a tornado touched down in Saroma, Hokkaido, at about 1:30 p.m. It struck buildings near a construction site, lifting some into the air and killing nine people. What is the Fujita scale? The Fujita scale is a measurement of tornado intensity created by the late meteorologist Tetsuya Fujita, a Japanese native who did his research at the University of Chicago. The New York Times wrote in Fujita’s obituary in 1998 that he “devised the standard scale for rating the severity of tornadoes and discovered the role of sudden violent downbursts (microbursts) of air that sometimes cause airplanes to crash.” Fujita, who died at age 78, was known to many as the Tornado Man or Mr. Tornado, according to the article. Fujita linked the damage caused by a tornado with its wind speed in his scale. According to his hierarchy, an F0 tornado boasts a wind speed of 17 to 32 meters per second and is strong enough to bend antennas or small branches on a tree. The strongest tornado on the scale is an F5, which can obliterate houses and lift automobiles and train cars with wind speeds that can reach 142 meters per second. The 2006 tornado in Hokkaido that killed nine people was classified as an F3. No F4 or F5 tornado has ever been recorded in Japan, according to the Meteorological Agency. Can the government issue better and quicker warnings for tornadoes? Signs that a tornado may be forming include darkening skies, hailstorms and even a jetlike roar. But some reports said fair conditions continued Wednesday until 10 to 20 minutes before the Tochigi tornado formed, so prediction remains difficult. The Meteorological Agency has been using radars to track wind movements inside clouds and began providing new forecasts for tornadoes and microbursts in 2008. However, records show that the agency has been able to accurately predict a tornado only 5 to 10 percent of the time.

tornado
meteorological agency
weather
q & a


Summer heat killed 87 in 2013

Abstract: Record-high temperatures this summer caused at least 87 deaths from heat-related maladies and record-breaking downpours that triggered landslides across the country. According to the Meteorological Agency, temperatures from Kyushu to the Kanto-Koshin region began climbing between July 6 and 8, when the rainy season ended unusually early. During the three-day period from July 10 to 12, the mercury exceeded 35 degrees at more than 100 of the 927 observation points across the country. The heat wave subsided in late July but resumed on Aug. 7 — the first day of autumn under the lunar calendar — and continued for 16 days with temperatures above 35 degrees at more than 100 points. The hottest day of the summer was Aug. 11, when temperatures in 297 places topped 35 degrees. On Aug. 12, the mercury hit its highest ever in Japan — 41 degrees — in Shimanto, Kochi Prefecture, which baked above 40 degrees for four days through Aug. 13. In step with the elevated temperatures, the number of people hospitalized for heat stroke also rose. The Fire and Disaster Management Agency said there were 87 deaths among the 54,000 treated for heat exhaustion in the three months from late May.

summer
temperature
heat wave
heat stroke
weather


Fukushima: health disaster or PR fail?

Abstract: One thing about having a nuclear accident in a rich country is that at least there is going to be good medical care and long-term monitoring. The repair and clean-up operation is another matter, of course — which is why Japan is currently under pressure to accept help from abroad in fixing the appalling mess caused by the three reactor meltdowns at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant. But having great monitoring, assessment and medical treatment of citizens is one thing. It is quite another making sure information is communicated to the public clearly and openly. That is something at which neither the plant’s operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co. (Tepco), nor the Japanese government have succeeded at all well. And without good communication, fear and misinformation about radiation can understandably grow. I was talking about this last week with Gerry Thomas, who runs the Chernobyl Tissue Bank (CTB) at Imperial College London. The CTB collects and analyzes samples of tissue from people exposed to radiation after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in the USSR (present-day Ukraine) in 1986, and monitors the occurrence of thyroid cancer in contaminated areas. About Fukushima, she is dismissive of the health risks. That might seem cavalier to people in the Tohoku region of northeastern Honshu who are worried about radiation contamination, but Prof. Thomas has seen what happened in Chernobyl — which released far more radiation than Fukushima has to date. “Fukushima is nothing compared to Chernobyl,” she told me. “It really is nothing, it’s a tenth of the dose of cesium.” (For the World Nuclear Association report on this, see bit.ly/17urZKd ) The problem in Japan, she says, is more one of communication than public health. “They’ve got a huge problem out there — largely a PR problem; it’s not a health problem because none of this is going to do anything health-wise,” the professor said. Our conversation came about because I’d seen a news clip on NHK reporting 18 cases of thyroid cancer in a monitored population around Fukushima. Fukushima Medical School monitors some 360,000 people who were aged 18 or younger at the time of the March 11, 2011, Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami. What you might conclude from the report — but you’d be mistaken — is that there is a direct link between the cases of cancer and the release of radioactive material following the meltdown. I asked for Thomas’ opinion. What we don’t know, she told me, is whether these thyroid cancers are to do with the environment in Fukushima — or whether there is something about the genetics of the people monitored. We also don’t know, she pointed out, whether the frequency is similar to that seen in other areas of Japan. In Chernobyl (where children were exposed to more than 100 times the maximum dose of radioactive iodine seen after Fukushima), thyroid cancers did not present themselves until four or five years after the disaster. “Given what we know about radiation dose and time elapsed since the accident,” says Thomas, “I personally cannot see how this finding can be related to the radiation — the doses were too low and the time too short, based on what we know from Chernobyl.” She directed me to a recent scientific paper reporting the results of radiation monitoring of adults and children around Fukushima. The paper, published in Proceedings of the Japanese Academy, Series B (which you can see for yourself; DOI reference: 10.2183/pjab.89.157), reports on the whole-body radiation screening of nearly 33,000 people. “Internal exposure levels of residents are much lower than estimated,” write Ryugo Hayano and colleagues of the University of Tokyo. In the town of Miharu, about 50 km from the stricken power plant, Hayano’s team monitored 95 percent of schoolchildren (aged 6-15). The radioactive cesium in the bodies of all the children was below the detection limit. In other words, they are emphatically not eating food contaminated with radiation. This sort of nonsensational, reassuring result isn’t something that will generally get reported by NHK or other media outlets. We are all exposed to radiation, all the time (this fantastic dose chart makes it clear: xkcd.com/radiation ) There is, however, a special fear of radiation that is introduced to the environment by human activities. But that fear can get out of hand. Far more radiation was released in the Chernobyl disaster than has been so far from the Fukushima plant, but even the Chernobyl disaster — the world’s worst — can be put into context. “If you compare Chernobyl with what we allowed to escape into the atmosphere as a result of the nuclear tests in the Nevada desert, that was far, far more than Chernobyl,” Thomas says. “We’ve got a short-term memory about things like this. Instead of looking back and saying, ‘What do we know from exposures in the past?’ we just panic about the next one.” Her advice: Talk to people. The Japanese authorities — whether officials from Tepco, the government or monitoring agencies, or academics — ought to be open and learn to communicate better. As Thomas puts it: “They have got to talk to the local population, they have got to talk to the fishermen, and they’ve got to make people understand that low levels of radiation don’t matter because we’re all exposed to it all the time.”

fukushima
great east japan earthquake
nuclear energy
radiation leak


Pax No Man's Land needs more than Fed's tapering to smooth things over

Abstract: U.S. Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke hints at policy change. He is looking for an exit from quantitative easing whereby he has been buying financial assets to the order of $85 billion per month since the end of last year. He has emphasized the exit shall be a “tapering” procedure — no abrupt moves, no jumping on the brakes. Everything will be nice and gradual. Believe me. You really won’t see me go. I shall just fade away. And yet for all the care that has been taken to massage the markets’ fears, emerging economies are in turmoil. Capital is leaving their shores. Their stock markets have plummeted. Their bonds are losing value and their exchange rates are falling. There is much tension building in global financial markets, and it seems poised to snap once the summer holidays come to an end and people start getting back to work. Is this just one more case of America sneezing and everyone catching a cold? Are we still living in a world where “the almighty dollar, that great object of universal devotion” (Washington Irving) swings us about with its every move? So it seems, at first glance. And yet a more careful inspection suggests otherwise. John Connally, who was treasury secretary in the Nixon administration, famously remarked that “The dollar is our currency but your problem.” He said this to a bunch of grumpy European finance ministers who had come to complain about U.S. dollar policies and their inflationary effects on the rest of the world. That Connally felt he could say such things with impunity tells us a lot about how things stood back then. Mind you, he was not able to be so blase about his dollar policies for long. Shortly thereafter, the United States was forced into terminating the dollar’s gold convertibility. At that point, the dollar became at best a first among equals, rather than that “object of universal devotion” Irving remarked upon. Be that as it may, the point is that there was indeed a time when the U.S. could afford to stare the rest of the world down in the face of complaints and say “it’s your problem.” Those who are the center of their universe can say that sort of thing. Kings and princes can just go ahead and do whatever they like, and to hell with the consequences. People just have to cope. ‘Tis mine not to worry about others, yours not to tell me what to do but to take my actions as given. That is what living in Pax Americana was all about. But now we are living in a global era. This is Pax No Man’s Land. It is a place where if anybody sneezes, everybody catches pneumonia. The very fact that Bernanke has to talk about tapering and go to great lengths to ease market jitters points to the altered state of affairs: Bernanke cannot just say “your problem” any more, because if he stirs up too much commotion in the emerging world, the ripple effects will only too quickly come back to strike the U.S. economy — with a vengeance. Pax No Man’s Land is a precarious place. Nobody is really safe, but everybody has to have a hand in keeping it safe. The other alternative is for everyone to stop minding each other’s business. Everyone could impose capital controls, chase foreign capital — perhaps even foreign people — off their shores and be done with it. That would spell the end of Pax altogether, never mind whose. But that would never do. All currencies are now everybody’s problem. Everyone beware.

fed
taper
ben bernanke
noriko hama
emerging markets


Students suggest policies to increase female scientists

Abstract: A group of university students on Wednesday handed the government some policy proposals for achieving its stated goal of increasing the ratio of female scientists in Japan to 30 percent by 2020. Eight science majors, including five past winners of fellowships from UNESCO and Nihon L’Oreal K.K., the Japanese unit of the world’s largest cosmetics maker, L’Oreal S.A. of France, presented the policy proposals to Masako Mori, minister for gender equality, at an awards ceremony for this year’s winners at the French Embassy. The proposals include obliging science faculties across Japan to employ at least one female professor to increase the number of female role models in science, creating more suitable environments for women at research laboratories and better informing potential science major candidates about life in research. Mori said it is “indispensable to boost the number of role models and mentors” for female scientists and pledged to carry out measures to help women continue pursuing their careers after giving birth. At present, women make up just 13.6 percent of the scientists in Japan, the lowest among 34 members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the Paris-based club of economically advanced nations.


Japan increases TPP possibilities but not its own competitiveness

Abstract: Japan finally entered the trade talks for hammering out the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement during the 18th round last month in the Malaysian resort of Kota Kinabalu. The delegates joined the talks on the afternoon of July 23 after Japan’s participation was cleared by the U.S. Congress. The TPP is a framework that aims to liberalize trade in the pan-Pacific region. It started as an accord that was signed in June 2005 (and took effect in May 2006) by Singapore, Brunei, Chile and New Zealand with the goal of eliminating trade tariffs virtually without exception. Later, other countries including the United States, Australia, Malaysia, Vietnam and Peru negotiated to join, and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced in March that Japan would take part as well. The international talks revolve around the conflicting interests of the parties. Resistance lingers in each to give up vested interests, and protections for Japanese farmers and U.S. automakers are two areas where the most heated debates are anticipated. Detroit’s recent bankruptcy filing, the biggest municipal bankruptcy in American history, could cast a shadow over the talks. On the other hand, consumers benefit a lot from being able to buy imported products on the cheap after tariffs are eliminated. It also must not be forgotten that Japan’s participation provides the following benefits to all parties. First, the sheer expansion in market size. With Japan’s entry, the combined gross domestic product of all the negotiating parties jumps from $18.8 trillion to $24.3 trillion. The bigger the market, the larger the opportunities to expand trade. Second is the expansion in potential benefits to the United States. Of the combined GDP of the 11 parties who entered the TPP talks before Japan, the U.S. accounted for a dominant share of 75.8 percent, followed by Canada (8 percent), Mexico (5.8 percent), Australia (5.4 percent), Chile (3.1 percent) and Malaysia (1.2 percent). The other five combined account for less than 1 percent. With Japan’s participation, America’s share drops to 58.5 percent, which means more opportunities for the U.S. to trade with the other TPP members. Third, participants other than the U.S. will now have a larger say in the negotiations. A country with a larger GDP share in the TPP market will have more influence over the negotiations, and the non-U.S. participants now account for 41.2 percent, compared with 24.2 percent before Japan entered. This is perhaps what everyone outside Uncle Sam expects Tokyo to bring to the talks. The fourth benefit is stability in the Asia-Pacific region, including China. Southeast Asia is becoming wary of China’s rapid ascent, which is being led by its military strength. At the moment, China, despite having the world’s second-largest GDP, is not qualified to take part in the TPP because of its various regulations, such as foreign exchange control. The expansion in the free trade bloc afforded by Japan’s entry will shed light on China’s true power and could ultimately press China to transform itself into a market economy with the same qualities as the TPP economies. Balancing the different interests of the negotiating parties will not be easy, but those obstacles need to be overcome in light of the benefits to be gained from a TPP deal. Last but not least, it must be noted that Japan, in order to actually join the TPP, needs to become more competitive. Each country’s requests for exceptions to the TPP’s overriding negotiating principle reflects their lagging competitiveness in the fields being protected.


J-blip: Bandai's smartphone panties

Abstract: httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Muobpsb_5PI A new line of smartphone underpants has recently gone on sale. The mini panties, made by Bandai, are worn at the base of the smartphone, covering the home button. A home button sticker is also provided to protect your phone’s most thumbed area when the knickers have been removed. Aimed at teens of 15 years and above, the first range was introduced in March this year and sold so well that a brand new line has just gone on sale. You can find them in Gashapon machines. Costing just ¥200, the new styles include Mount Fuji, a banana print and lurid pink. To see the full range check out Fashion Snap’s gallery .

smartphones
mobile phones
iphones
japan pulse


Koda's baby gaffe may find different reception now

Abstract: Five years ago, singer Kumi Koda caused an uproar when she joked on a late-night radio show about how a woman’s amniotic fluid ( y ō sui ) becomes “spoiled” as she gets older. The subtext of the comment was the advantage of having babies at a younger age, but those quick to ridicule Koda’s lack of gynecological expertise (including this column ) fixated on what they saw as a swipe at women who put off having children due to careers and other exigencies of life. If Koda made the remark today, she might not receive such a negative response. Though amniotic fluid does not “spoil” as one gets older simply because it does not remain in a woman’s body over time, the notion that it is more difficult for older women to have children is now an intensely discussed health issue in Japan, where the birthrate continues to decline. And while Koda’s grasp of biology was flawed, her premise — that an essential feature of a woman’s ability to procreate becomes obsolete with age — wasn’t far from the mark. Ovarian follicles, which produce eggs for reproduction, are present in a female’s body before birth, and decrease in number as she gets older. Scientists estimate that the average girl has about 300,000 follicles at the onset of puberty, and thereafter loses about 1,000 with each menstrual cycle. When the number reaches 25,000, the chances of becoming pregnant drop considerably, which happens at about age 37, depending on the individual. This past spring, the government announced it would produce and distribute a handbook about pregnancy and childbirth for teenage girls in order to get them thinking about having children, but women’s groups objected to the implication that women’s only value to society lies in their ability to reproduce. The plan has since been shelved, but in a sense it had the desired effect, and not only on the targeted demographic. According to a recent article in Aera, an increasing number of working women in their 20s are seeking advice on in vitro fertilization later in life. Interest in the procedure was sparked by an NHK documentary aired late last year about the difficulties experienced by women over 35 when they try to conceive and bring a child to term. Aera says this interest has boosted the profiles of services that offer to freeze eggs. Women who think they may want children someday have their eggs extracted and stored so that they will have viable material if and when they do decide to become mothers. The government has not weighed in on these services, but a health ministry advisory panel is currently working on new guidelines for fertility treatments, which are not covered by national health insurance. However, the government does provide partial subsidies to married couples who undergo such treatments. At present there is no age limit for receiving the subsidy, only an income ceiling (¥7.3 million a year), and a couple can be reimbursed for up to 10 treatments over a period of five years. Subsidies were first made available in 2004, when 17,000 were granted. Last year, 135,000 payments were made for a total of ¥20 billion. The maximum amount of a single payment is ¥150,000, while the cost of IV fertilization is between ¥300,000 and ¥400,000. Since 2010 only 29,000 babies were born as a result of IV procedures covered by the subsidy. The new guidelines will take into consideration the effects of aging on childbearing. A woman’s chances of conceiving a baby drop from 1 in 5 at age 32 to 1 in 50 at age 43. In addition, the rate of miscarriage increases by 50 percent after 35. Consequently, the panel is recommending an age limit of 42 for the subsidy. Asahi Shimbun reports that the panel originally wanted to set the limit at 39, but 30 percent of subsidies now go to women over 40. In addition, the number of subsidies allowed for one couple would be cut from 10 to six, but the time period will be removed. The purpose of the revisions is to persuade couples to have children earlier, whether it be by natural or artificial means. But the operative word is still “couples,” and while the implied inclusion of men in the decision-making process might placate people who think that too much of the burden for increasing the birthrate is being shouldered by women, limiting the discussion to married people has had an effect the government probably didn’t intend. In all the Aera interviews, young women say they are interested in egg storage as a fallback measure. They want to do something now to increase their chances of conceiving later in life, but none are married. Nor do they have boyfriends (one does, but she doesn’t consider him husband/father material). Though they attend matchmaking sessions and are on the lookout for potential mates, they are too busy with work, and Aera implies this isn’t going to change. For one thing, men know about this biological-clock problem, too, and those who associate marriage with families are looking for younger mates, which would seem to mean the older these women become, the less their chances of getting hitched. If they still want to take advantage of their stored eggs when they’re older, many may end up doing it alone. Dr. Yasunori Yoshimura, a health ministry advisor, tells Aera that women need to be better informed of the drawbacks of the technology, but he also says the government has to look at the issue in a larger context. Sex education should not just be about contraception and STDs. It should also be about the “social environment” of having children, including a woman’s choice to give birth without a partner, something the government discourages by limiting subsidies to married couples. And according to a survey carried out by Asahi, many doctors advocate using national health insurance to pay for such treatment, though, of course, given the probability of success such a move would benefit health-care professionals more than it would the government. In the cold terms of cost-performance, maybe having kids isn’t worth it.


Murayama: SDP must find allies to stay in game

Abstract: The Social Democratic Party doesn’t have a future and should consider disbanding and uniting with other opposition forces to create a united front to protect the war-renouncing Constitution and rid Japan of nuclear power, said former Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama, who remains an SDP member. “Parties should join hands on issues like (opposing plans to) amend the Constitution that would decide the fate of the nation, and create a single party,” Murayama said Sunday on moves by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his ruling Liberal Democratic Party to go after war-renouncing Article 9. He said the SDP can offer its nationwide network of local chapters to support a campaign to form a unified opposition bloc to counter the LDP. Earlier in the day, Murayama said on a TV program that it is important to create an opposition force that will keep the LDP’s “monopoly” in check until the next Lower House election. He also criticized Abe for omitting words of remorse for Japan’s wartime aggression during the ceremony last Thursday to mark Japan’s surrender in World War II. In the 1990s, as prime minister, Murayama issued a war apology that used terms like “remorse” — wording that subsequent prime ministers, including Abe from 2006 to 2007, annually voiced.


Texts alleging forced observance of anthem, flag axed

Abstract: YOKOHAMA - A Japanese history textbook that takes a critical look at the national anthem and flag controversy has been dropped for use at public high schools in Kanagawa Prefecture starting next school year at the prefectural board of education’s request. The unusual intervention by the board drew flak from teachers and publishers. Prefectural high schools texts are typically selected by the schools themselves, subject to board approval. The board took issue with two textbooks by Jikkyo Shuppan Co. In explaining the flag and anthem law, the books say: “The government made it clear through Diet deliberations that the public is not mandated to raise the national flag and sing the national anthem. However, there are moves to force this on public employees in some local governments.” Kanagawa prefectural board of education chief Koji Gushiken told reporters the texts “contained lines not necessarily compatible with the thinking of the prefecture” and the board showed “good judgment” in curbing their use. The board has repeatedly said that raising the flag and singing the anthem are “obligations” for teachers, “(who are) not coerced.” Teachers nationwide, however, have been punished for not observing the national symbols during school ceremonies, and have sued. Jikkyo Shuppan’s textbooks have also been questioned by other boards of education, including in Tokyo, which said they are “inappropriate for use,” and Osaka, which claimed their “descriptions are one-sided.” Of Kanagawa Prefecture’s 144 high schools, 28 picked Jikkyo Shuppan’s book. The board requested their principals rethink the use of the textbooks, saying they would not get board approval because they are not in line with the prefectural policy. The 28 schools eventually opted for other textbooks. “The result of more than one month of deliberations was overturned in one day. Are we at the mercy of the prefectural board of education?” a social studies teacher in his 50s at one of the schools that dropped a Jikkyo Shuppan textbook asked. Last year, the board approved one of the Jikkyo Shuppan history books with an identical description about the issue and five schools are currently using it. The change in the board policy may be largely due to a Supreme Court ruling in April, one board official said. The court rejected a suit by Kanagawa teachers challenging on privacy grounds the prefectural policy of requiring principals to report teachers who do not stand when the anthem is sung at school ceremonies.


Hiroshima, Nagasaki warn Obama on plutonium tests

Abstract: HIROSHIMA/NAGASAKI - The mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki separately sent letters of protest to President Barack Obama on Tuesday after the United States revealed it had conducted an experiment using plutonium to examine the capabilities of nuclear weapons between April and June. “I just can’t stop being angry,” Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui said, pointing out that Obama two months ago in Berlin proposed reducing stockpiles of U.S. nuclear weapons by up to one-third. Nagasaki Mayor Tomihisa Taue said in his letter that the latest testing “let down a lot of people and hurt the sentiment of the bombed places.” He then called on the United States to stop all nuclear tests and take the initiative in abolishing nuclear weapons. Hiroshima Gov. Hidehiko Yuzaki also sent a letter of protest to Obama saying the United States is supposed to play a leadership role in worldwide efforts to abolish nuclear weapons, but its action disrupts those efforts. Regrettable comment JERUSALEM JIJI Israel has expressed regrets over comments by a senior official that he was sick of “self-righteous” memorials for the victims of the 1945 U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japanese and Israeli officials said Tuesday. Yaakov Amidror, Israeli national security adviser, phoned Ambassador to Israel Hideo Sato and expressed regrets over the comments, said officials at the Japanese Embassy in Tel Aviv. According to Israeli government sources, Amidror told the Japanese side that the senior official’s comments do not represent the opinion of the Israeli government.

hiroshima
nagasaki
israel
atomic bombings


'Barefoot Gen' pulled as anti-war images strike too close to home?

Abstract: The decision by the board of education of Matsue, Shimane Prefecture, to limit students’ access to the manga series “Hadashi no Gen” (“Barefoot Gen”) at school libraries continues to cause a stir. While some support the move, others say it disrespects the best-selling anti-war classic, which tells the story of a young boy who survives the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. Meanwhile, it was reported Wednesday that a public library in Tottori Prefecture had also pulled the series from its shelves a few years ago over concerns about its graphic content. Here are some questions and answers regarding “Hadashi no Gen” and the controversy surrounding it: What’s the history of “Hadashi no Gen”? The series, by the late Keiji Nakazawa, first appeared in Shukan Shonen Jump, a weekly comic magazine, in 1973. While most of the comics in the magazine depicted giant robots and other flights of fancy, “Hadashi no Gen” was the gut-wrenching survival story of a 6-year-old boy during and after the war, focusing on the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. “Hadashi no Gen,” which concluded in 1985, has been translated into more than 20 languages and adapted into TV series, plays, feature movies and musicals. Nakazawa himself was a hibakusha, having survived the 1945 Hiroshima bombing. He lost his father and two siblings that day. “I still remember the weight I felt when I picked up my younger brother’s skull,” Nakazawa said during a speech in Tokyo in 2007. “My wish is that the readers of the book continue their efforts to create a world without war and nuclear weapons,” he added. Nakazawa died of lung cancer last December. Why did the Matsue board of education limit access to the series? It began with a petition by city residents last August. Although “Hadashi no Gen” offers an anti-war message, it also contains graphic drawings of the atrocities committed by the Imperial Japanese Army, including rapes and beheadings of Chinese. Though the board’s decision was not unanimous, one member felt the series “escalates as it proceeds and starts to contain extremely violent sentences and graphics,” according to the transcript of one meeting. “It may not be the proper way to describe it, but (“Hadashi no Gen”) could be considered an inappropriate book.” Another member of the board disagreed, saying the manga “depicts the tragedy of war and importance of peace” and therefore should be available at anytime for anyone to read. According to a Kyodo report, a majority of the 49 elementary and junior high school headmasters in Matsue told the board they thought “Hadashi no Gen” was appropriate for school libraries. Nevertheless, the board decided to remove the series from library shelves and curb student access to it. What else about “Hadashi no Gen” is considered controversial? Gen and other characters in the series are often critical of the Emperor, at times calling him “a murderer.” They hold the late Emperor Hirohito responsible for the deaths of millions in Japan and across Asia. Gen at one point even goes so far as to say that if it weren’t for the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Emperor and other leaders wouldn’t have ended a war already known to be lost. Was this the author’s belief? Criticizing the Emperor makes one an easy target of conservatives and right-wingers, but Nakazawa was known to make even bolder comments in real life. “I wanted to jump on him, considering that he killed my father and did so many things to us,” Nakazawa said in an interview with Hiroshima City University in 2007 describing how he felt when Emperor Hirohito visited the city in 1947. “I absolutely cannot tolerate the Imperial system. We need to question its existence,” he said. How has the author’s family reacted to the controversy? Nakazawa’s widow, Misayo, recently told the Saitama Shimbun that she was “surprised” by the actions taken by the Matsue board of education. The book was written “with utmost consideration to what should be read by the children,” she said, adding there “is no way to depict the war without any graphic images.” How has Hiroshima reacted to Matsue’s decision? Hiroshima Gov. Hidehiko Yuzaki was quick to criticize the move, telling reporters Tuesday it is “unnecessary” to regulate “Hadashi no Gen” and the series “has been read by many people for a long period of time as a reference on the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima.” Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui has also said that it is “important for the readers to witness the horrible drawings of atomic bombings and understand the need to prevent it from ever happening again.” Meanwhile, since its launch on Aug. 16 on Change.org , over 17,000 supporters have signed an online petition to reinstate “Hadashi no Gen” in Matsue libraries. What is likely to happen? The city of Matsue may not backtrack on its decision but is scheduled to hold a meeting with the board Thursday. Jiji reported Tuesday that the Matsue board of education may consider various options, including withdrawing the restriction to access the series, given the objections from various corners, quoting one of its board members, Nobuo Shimizu.

matsue
hadashi no gen
hiroshima
barefool gen


Cyberterror threat stalks Japan's high-end toilet users

Abstract: Cyberterrorists could strike at your most vulnerable and least expected moment because of a glitch in a smartphone-controlled high-tech toilet system manufactured in Japan. According U.S. security firm Trustwave, high-end Lixil Corp. toilets, which can be controlled with Android smartphones, could easily be hacked to allow anyone to “activate the bidet or air-dry functions, causing discomfort or distress to the user” via remote access. The glitch can further empower hackers to “unexpectedly open/close the lid,” the security firm warned. The latest toilet sold under Lixil’s Satis brand, which comes with a price tag of around ¥350,000, includes state-of-the-art technology for its heated seat, adjustable bidet and a built-in speaker. The product went on sale in February. Users can download to their smartphones the My Satis application, which enables them to control multiple functions — including the bidet location and power — while a Bluetooth connection can stream music from their phones over the toilet’s speaker. The toilet even enables users to keep a record of their bowel movements in a diary format “which will make it possible to easily comprehend your health status every month,” Lixil stated. But the bug discovered by Trustwave in the My Satis app means any third party could hijack the toilet’s functions. A spokeswoman for Lixil, based in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo, said Friday that there is no need to raise the alert level, assuring the glitch does not pose an imminent threat. For cyberterrorists to capitalize on the application flaw, they must first be able to pair their smartphone with the target toilet, and then remain a few meters close by to access its control system. A Satis toilet also doesn’t activate unless someone is seated on it, meaning a hacker wouldn’t be able to wastefully hose bidet water around while no one is using it.