Severe school anxiety puts teens at risk

Abstract: For the past two weeks there have been projections about a spike in juvenile suicides as the new school term approached. Suicides among junior high and high school students rise around Sept. 1, and teachers and parents were urged to pay close attention to young people. Naturally, the media paid close attention, and as of Sept. 3, two days after most schools reopened for classes, police said that in the Tokyo metropolitan area there had been three cases of what appeared to be suicide by persons under 18 and one attempted suicide by a person under 18. Various media outlets reported these deaths and even went into detail, despite warnings from the World Health Organization that such publicity can trigger other suicides. The main source of the fear regarding juvenile suicides at this time of year is a 2015 Cabinet Office study that reported 18,048 Japanese people under the age of 19 killed themselves between 1972 and 2013. Of these, 317 died on either Aug. 31, Sept. 1 or Sept. 2, an average of 105 for each of the three days over the 40 years surveyed. For the rest of the calendar year, the average would be 49 for each day, or half as many. A Sept. 2 Mainichi Shimbun article quoted Toshiaki Tanaka, a professor of child psychology at Kyushu Women’s Junior College, as saying that bullying and difficult social relationships aren’t the only reasons some students fear going back to school. There is also academic pressure and interactions with specific instructors. Tanaka urges “home room teachers, school nurses and counselors” to work together to look for signs of desperation among students. Given that the three suicides reported by the police happened before school opened, telling school personnel to be extra vigilant is like closing the proverbial barn door after the horses have fled. And while a number of related articles that appeared before Sept. 1 urged parents to do the same thing, there was another suggestion that actually sounded more effective in heading off potential student suicides. On Aug. 30, the official Twitter account of Tokyo’s Ueno Zoo posted a message saying, “If you have no place to run, come to the zoo.” The tweet was accompanied by a photo of a tapir, which, according to the zoo, instinctively dives into a body of water whenever it senses a predator nearby. The tweet continued by saying, “You don’t need permission to escape, you just run.” Ueno Zoo is a perfect place to hide out, because, it says, the animals contained therein are not subject to the rules of human society. If the purpose of the tweet was to increase attendance on Sept. 1, it’s a provocative PR scheme. All the media that reported the tweets agree that they targeted students who are nervous about going back to school, and one could argue that the zoo was exploiting this anxiety for its own benefit by directly encouraging truancy. The Mainichi Shimbun called the zoo’s publicity office and asked if the message was meant to “prevent suicides,” and the spokesperson said they don’t comment on “individual tweets.” However, another problem with Ueno’s rationale, if indeed it was trying to take certain teenagers’ minds off their dread of returning to school, is that seeing animals in captivity might have the opposite effect than the one intended. These creatures are, after all, even more subject to the rules of human society than the teens, since they are prisoners. As it turns out, the zoo’s idea wasn’t an original one. The Mainichi points out that in August 2015, the city library of Kamakura did something similar by tweeting that if you would “rather die” than go back to school, why not spend the day at the library instead? As an institution that provides enlightenment through reading, a library makes more sense as a sanctuary than a zoo. But what’s intriguing about these cases is that neither Ueno Zoo nor the Kamakura municipal library seems to have come under fire for suggesting that kids at risk should skip school. Even when Naoki Ogi, a prominent media pundit who specializes in education issues, spoke directly to such children in a recent Tokyo Shimbun op-ed, he said there was nothing wrong with staying home. “It doesn’t mean you are avoiding school,” he wrote. “It is as if you were escaping from a natural disaster in order to save your own life. Don’t feel bad or guilty about it, and if you do feel that way, remember you will recover from this feeling later.” He also told parents that if they sense something amiss they should discourage their sons and daughters from going to school. Of course, schools themselves are not telling students to stay home, and in some cases local educational committees have tried to come up with their own countermeasures. On Aug. 30, TV Asahi ran a feature about a program in Kashiwa, Chiba Prefecture, that provides students with smart-phone apps they can use to report bullying incidents to their schools directly and anonymously. As one student said, the app is helpful in that the user can type out a message rather than speak directly to a person, which bullied students tend to avoid. However, it’s not clear from the report how the school district will use this information to prevent suicides. Four years ago, the government enacted an anti-bullying law that compels schools to investigate reasons for student suicides, but in certain instances educators have been accused of using the investigations to avoid responsibility. In July, parents of a 15-year-old girl who killed herself in 2015 said the board of education in Toride, Ibaraki Prefecture, purposely formulated a survey of students that implied their daughter’s problems had less to do with bullying at school than with general depression. There seems to be no sure, permanent solution to the teen suicide problem, but at least skipping school temporarily removes a source of anxiety for an adolescent who may have suicidal impulses. And sometimes a temporary solution is enough to prevent a permanent tragedy.

suicide
mainichi shimbun
toshiaki tanaka
ueno zoo
education
tv asahi
kyushu women 's junior college


Japan's pensioners are literally getting older

Abstract: Because of the election announced by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Monday, the new Cabinet he formed last summer to boost his falling support rate will do no work, since it was launched during the summer vacation and Abe dissolved the Diet as soon as it opened on Thursday. What this means is that Toshimitsu Motegi, the economic revitalization minister who was also appointed to the newest Cabinet portfolio, minister for human resources development, may never carry out any tasks in that latter role, which will disappoint a lot of journalists who are still scratching their heads trying to figure out exactly what the ministry does. The English name is more straightforward sounding than the Japanese one, which is hitozukuri kakumei tantō daijin , directly translated as Minister in Charge of the Revolution for Creating People, a phrase that sounds part Bolshevik, part sci-fi. As a number of media have pointed out, Abe’s second administration, despite its fondness for glib slogans such as “Make women shine” and “100 million working actively together,” has shown little interest in boosting social welfare programs. But this new ministry, as well as Abe’s campaign pledge to use revenues from the consumption tax for education and better day care, would seem to be reversing this policy. Or maybe it means something else. On Sept. 1, Japan’s financial newspaper, Nihon Keizai Shimbun (Nikkei), explained the government’s aim to extend the retirement age for civil servants to 65, starting in fiscal 2019. This summer, the Cabinet formed a study group of heads of government personnel departments to come up with a plan for revising the National Public Service Law by March, with the idea of passing the revision sometime in fiscal 2018. With the exception of some top bureaucrats, the current law stipulates that the retirement age for civil servants, whether national or regional, is 60. However, the government pension system changed in 2013, gradually pushing back the starting age for receiving pensions to 65 by 2025. That means retirees may not start receiving payments when they leave their jobs, so the government feels it should adjust the retirement age so that it matches the age when the retiree starts receiving their pension. The main problem is cost. If the retirement age is pushed back for civil servants, national and local governments will have to pay them for the extra years they put in, and civil servants get paid well — especially well at the end of their careers. The new law, therefore, would probably include some sort of provision to limit pay increases during these extra years. One way to do this would be to take away certain high-level workers’ titles that allowed them to receive automatic pay raises every few years. However, even if the worker’s salary remained the same for the rest of their time on the job, it would still cost the public more than if the person were replaced by a younger colleague, whose pay would be lower. But according to the article, the government is hoping for another change as a result of the civil servant pension revision. It wants the private sector to follow this lead and extend retirement ages as well. The Diet already put this idea in motion with the 2013 senior workers stability law, which says companies must retain employees until the age of 65 if those employees wish to keep working. Companies have three options in this regard: abolish their set retirement age, extend their set retirement age to 65 or re-employ workers after they retire. Presently, 16 percent of private employers have set their retirement age at 65, according to the labor ministry, and only 2.7 percent have abolished mandatory retirement ages. The government wants to increase these numbers and the revision to the National Public Service Law is a means of showing the private sector the way. There is a corollary to this plan, however, that Nikkei doesn’t mention, at least not in detail, and which seems to be the domain of the Ministry of Human Resources Development. As economist Takuro Morinaga explained on the Sept. 11 installment of Bunka Hoso’ “Golden Radio” talk show, no major media other than Nikkei covered the new government plan. Morinaga thinks it was more of a PR article than a piece of journalism: The government presented Nikkei with a bill of goods, which the paper was then supposed to sell to the business community that comprises its readership. The real objective is to promote the idea of extended employment as a means of alleviating the labor shortage. “I’m 60 years old,” said Morinaga, “and all my friends are reaching retirement age.” They all plan to keep working, he added, and most are in the private sector. The difference between company employees and the civil servants as described in the Nikkei article is that Morinaga’s friends are not going to make nearly as much money. He estimates they will get from one-third to one-half what they received before they reached retirement age. Private companies typically transfer or assign retired workers to lower paying positions. This is very different from the situation for civil servants, who may not enjoy any more pay raises, but at least won’t suffer pay cuts. “I’m not disparaging civil servants,” said Morinaga, “but they are protected by law, and it should be the same for private sector employees.” The real goal of the government plan, according to a Sept. 14 article in the online version of tabloid Nikkan Gendai , is to extend the retirement age — as well as the age for receiving pensions — to 75 for everyone. Doing so would not only ease the labor crunch, but also help the government save billions in social security. In 2014, the labor ministry admitted as much. This strategy, says Gendai, would also force older people to spend whatever savings they have, boosting consumption tax revenues that will help pay the salaries of all those civil servants who continue to work. The 100 million will definitely work together. Right up until they die.


Should rail operators introduce men-only train carriages?

Abstract: Men-only train carriages Commuting to work in Tokyo on crowded trains can be a tortuous affair, made worse by groping incidents that occur with a surprising degree of frequency. In an attempt to alleviate the problem, a number of rail operators have designated particular carriages to be women-only during rush hour. But what if rail operators were to introduce men-only cars? In June, market researchers Macromill asked 500 commuters living in Tokyo and Kanagawa, Saitama and Chiba prefectures whether they would support the introduction of such cars. The results are as follows: 73.9%: The percentage of female respondents that backed the introduction of men-only train carriages. 26%: The percentage female respondents that opposed the introduction of men-only train carriages. 65.1%: The percentage of male respondents that backed the introduction of men-only train carriages. 34.9%: The percentage of male respondents that opposed the introduction of men-only train carriages. Women appeared to support the introduction of men-only cars because they thought it would lead to a reduction in groping. Men supported the idea based on the notion that it would reduce incidents in which they could face a false accusation of groping. Some said it was unfair to have women-only cars, but not men-only ones. (Natsumi Komiyama contributed to this report)


'Ainori' reboot reflects attempt to attract a new generation

Abstract: When Namie Amuro announced that she would be retiring in 2018, even those who weren’t hard-core fans were shocked to hear that the pop star who had been an influential part of their seishun jidai (coming-of-age) would be leaving the music industry. The news came less than a year after SMAP’s official retirement and as the idols that have dominated the entertainment industry for the past 10 to 20 years start to bow out of the limelight, television is looking for a way to attract its target audience. Several networks appear to be using nostalgia to woo an older crowd, rebooting shows that were once popular in the 1990s and 2000s. “Tokyo Friend Park II,” a popular variety show on TBS that ran from 1994 to 2011, returned to the airwaves with a three-hour special on July 3. What’s more, “Amazing Animals,” another variety show on TBS that aired from 1993 to 2009, was revived for a three-hour special in 2016 and returned to regular programming from July 1 this year. Reboots from the 1990s and 2000s are primarily gaining traction because they appeal to the arasa (around 30) generation that watched the shows as children and teens. TV networks are relying on a show’s original audience to tune in for a cast, storyline or concept they know and love, while at the same time introducing the series to a brand new generation. It isn’t only variety shows that are receiving the reboot treatment. Netflix has had success domestically and abroad mining content from the ’80s and ’90s. Popular American TV shows such as “Full House” and “Gilmore Girls” returned with the original cast members in 2016. Now there are even plans to bring back children’s shows such as “The Magic School Bus” and “Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?” Netflix Japan recently announced it is resurrecting “Ainori” (literally, “ride together”), a popular reality show that featured seven young men and women looking for love while traveling the world in the show’s trademark pink van. The show was part travelogue, part dating show, with a twist that kept viewers hooked. When participants officially coupled up or were rejected by their love interest after a public declaration (or plea, depending how you looked at it), they would have to leave the van and return to Japan, which allowed new members to join the cast. According to the official Fuji TV website, the show visited 92 countries and brought together 44 couples, eight of which got married. The program ran for 10 years from 1999 to 2009. Twelve years after the show went off air, “where are they now” websites tracking the online presence and public appearances by former ‘Ainori’ members continue to keep fans up to date. As intended, the announcement of the reboot struck a nostalgic chord. Netflix Japan started auditioning new cast members on March 1 and the original concept remained unchanged: Participants must want to travel the world and find true love. Online users viewed the promotional video on the official Netflix JP Instagram more than 29,000 times, a huge increase compared to standard Netflix video posts that typically attract around 4,000 views. Instagram user @nonyunasara wrote, “Wow, ‘Ainori.’ I used to watch every episode. It’s been 10 years since then. I hope arafour (around 40) can enjoy it, too.” TV personality Becky publicized her role as the show’s MC with an Instagram post of a single chopstick rest. The post received more than 31,000 Likes. Comments from “Ainori” fans posted material on social media repeating the same sentiment: Natsukashii (That’s nostalgic). Instagram user @sakkkiiiiii said, “This really takes me back! I watched the show all the time! I’m looking forward to watching Becky on ‘Ainori.'” Becky herself stated that she is glad the reboot is staying true to the spirit of the original show. “What surprised me is that ‘Ainoi’ aired more than 10 years ago, but the show does not feel old at all,” she wrote on an Instagram post. “In fact, it might be perfect for this period. I would love to see young children enjoy the show.” Becky’s message reflects the network’s intention to serve multiple demographics. They want the best of both worlds by bringing back tried-and-true concepts to a generation yearning to revisit their youth, and drawing in the next generation of TV viewers on the cusp of adulthood.

ainori
netflix
becky
love bus
japan pulse


Gangsters prefer to do things by the book

Abstract: Japan’s gangsters esteem tradition and prefer to do things by the book. As a result, they appear to love manuals — they have manuals for committing certain crimes as well as guides on how to avoid punishment for carrying out those crimes. Lately, however, gangsters don’t appear to be paying as much attention to the manuals as they used to. The Yamaguchi-gumi, the country’s largest crime syndicate, celebrated its 100-year anniversary in 2015. On Aug. 27 that same year, however, a number of powerful factions broke away from the syndicate and formed a new group called the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi. On April 30, a charismatic executive of the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi, Yoshinori Oda, left the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi to form a splinter group that called itself Ninkyo Dantai (Humanitarian Group) Yamaguchi-gumi. Members of the new syndicate held a news conference in which they criticized the other factions for being old-fashioned and violent. The response of the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi to that criticism appears to have been a traditional gangland-style assassination. According to the police department in Hyogo, three cars left Oda’s residence in Kobe’s Nagata Ward at 10:05 a.m. on Sept. 12. As the cars left the property, a vehicle containing members of the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi crashed into one of the cars, approximately 100 meters from the gates. Yuhiro Kusumoto, Oda’s 44-year-old bodyguard, got out of his vehicle and got into a shouting match with gang members from the rival syndicate. At one point, Kusumoto reportedly challenged the men saying, “If you’re going to shoot, then do it.” He was shot in the head and killed. The members of the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi then fled the scene, abandoning the car and taking the gun. There was also reportedly a man on a motorcycle in the area who was allegedly scouting for the shooters and a motorcycle helmet was later found near the scene of the crime. It was a textbook assassination — carried out in broad daylight, using a motorcycle for surveillance — but it was sloppy. Within a few hours, the police had identified one of the participants. and they issued a wanted notice within a few days. This was all a far cry from the Tokyo shooting of Ryoichi Sugiura, a leader of the Sumiyoshi-kai, on Feb. 5 in 2007. At the time, the Sumiyoshi-kai was in a territorial dispute with the Yamaguchi-gumi. At approximately 10 a.m., two men wearing motorcycle helmets approached his parked car on a motorbike and fired three shots through the back window, killing the 43-year-old. The perpetrators fled the scene, ditching the handgun and motorbike nearby. It took months for the police to catch them. On the other hand, the now-defunct Yamaguchi-gumi Goto-gumi led by criminal genius Tadamasa Goto excelled at these types of crimes, according to a National Police Agency report. “The division of roles is clear from the start,” the report says. “There is a preliminary inspection of the premises. The hit man, the lookout and the getaway driver come from different areas and don’t know each other. No one is apprised of who is actually in charge of the hit, making investigation impossible. They use passenger vehicles with plates taken from outside the prefecture when perpetrating crimes, thus making investigation difficult.” It took the Metropolitan Police Department more than five years to arrest most of the members of a syndicate involved in a 2006 hit on a real-estate agent. The Goto-gumi boss escaped punishment. The Goto-gumi manual of crime clearly wasn’t passed on the rest of the Yamaguchi-gumi when his organization fell apart. These days most gangsters are more focused on not getting caught for crimes rather than committing them effectively. The recent introduction of the conspiracy law has put the fear of God into gangsters, as they are becoming aware of how it could be used to prosecute them fairly — and unfairly — for any crime they commit. The Kodo-kai syndicate has even made a manual that advises gangsters how to avoid prosecution. Its manual does not pretend that crime syndicates don’t commit crimes. However, it does warn gangsters that they could be prosecuted for conspiring in a crime they had nothing to do with. Here’s some highlights from the manual: • “If a murder is discussed, or someone prepares a knife or other weapon, that could be sufficient grounds for being arrested. Even a person who withdraws money from an ATM could be arrested as a conspirator.” • “‘Liking’ a post on social media could be taken as evidence of approving of a criminal act and thus being involved in it. From now on, you should remember that emails and phone calls are monitored.” • “If you read a Line message about a criminal plan and don’t reply, you may still be regarded as a suspect.” • “When a gangster is arrested, give them notes from the lawyer and make sure they keep good memos on their interrogation.” Everybody needs guidelines to follow — even gangsters. The most frightening thing about all of this, however, is that upon reading the manual on how to avoid being arrested for criminal conspiracy, you realize just how easy it is for anyone to be arrested and detained for 23 days under the new law. Maybe we can learn from crime syndicates about how precarious our civil liberties can be. It’s a strange new world.

yamaguchi-gumi
kobe yamaguchi-gumi
yuhiro kusumoto
yakuza
organized crime


Japan Times 1992: 'Rush hour may be making "salarymen" fit'

Abstract: 100 YEARS AGO Saturday, Oct. 6 1917 Tokyo visited by the greatest typhoon A typhoon such as is rarely experienced in Tokyo at this time of year set in at about 1 a.m. on Monday and accompanied by heavy rain raged intermittently until dawn, causing considerable destruction and even deaths. The number of deaths from the typhoon and floods alarmingly increases hour by hour. According to the Metropolitan Police, the death toll in Tokyo is announced of 466, of which Kasai and Sunamura villages account for 336. These two suburban villages suffered most heavily from the floods, and the havoc wrought there and the suffering of the flood-ridden villages and beyond imagination. Todaijima, a small island off Urayasu-machi, Chiba Prefecture, was completely wiped out of existence by the sea, with all the islanders on it when the typhoon was at its height. It is reported that there were about 300 inhabitants on this little island, but not one of them has survived to tell the tale of the wholesale destruction. A relief party was dispatched to visit the island, but when it reached the scene it was greatly surprised to find nothing where it had once been. Meanwhile, it is reported that the coast of Kambe Village, Boshu, Chiba Prefecture, was invaded by the high seas and rice fields near the shore were swamped. On Monday, some farmers discovered, to their great surprise, five whales disporting themselves in the rice field under water and caught them all. Each whale is reported to measure over 20 feet in length. The typhoon is the worst storm to hit Tokyo Bay in the past 100 years. 75 YEARS AGO Tuesday, Oct. 20, 1942 Crew of U.S. bombers severely punished Captured members of the crews of the American warplanes that raided the mainland of Japan on April 18 who ignored the principles of humanity by bombing schools and hospitals and killing noncombatants have been severely punished in accordance with military law, according to a statement issued by the Chief of the Army Press Section of the Imperial Headquarters on Monday. The punishment was meted out as a result of the investigation of the captured enemy airmen, the statement said. Issued the same day was a proclamation by the commander of the General Headquarters for Home Defense to the effect that crews of any enemy aircraft raiding Japan, Manchouko or areas of Japanese military operations committing inhuman acts will be punishable even with death. During the investigations, it has been revealed that they stated that it was a proper act for them to deliberately bomb or burn hospitals, schools, civilian homes, etc that are not military establishments. They killed noncombatants even after clearly recognizing an objective as a primary school and seeing many children at play in the school grounds with the sudden thought of, “Let’s give the Japs hell,” diving and machine gunning deliberately and indiscriminately. On the grounds that the Japanese cannot tolerate such a cruel and depraved mentality nor such a cowardly and outrageous action, the army has, therefore, in accordance with military law, severely dealt with these Americans who have perpetrated such an outrage against humanity. 50 YEARS AGO Monday, Oct. 2, 1967 Ginza sees first and last Japan Times ‘tram tour’ Perhaps the most curious sight on the Ginza Sunday was a caravan of five street cars full of assorted gaijin, sprinkled with a very few English-speaking Japanese. The occasion, of course, was The Japan Times’ first and last annual Ginza Streetcar Tour — the first, because nobody thought of it before, and the last because the Ginza streetcars are due to disappear by the end of the year. One hundred and ten passengers, mostly Caucasian and ranging in hair color from strawberry blond to billiard bald, joined the tour, which began at Shinagawa Station and ended at Hyakkaen Garden near the Sumida River. Unfortunately, a light drizzle prevented the complete exploration of Hyakkean Gardens, where a closing party was held, but few seemed to care as they cozily huddled in the garden’s shelters, enjoying their free beer and peanuts and taking in the scenery, which included the international array of passengers themselves: Germans and Filipinos speaking English; Americans and Europeans speaking Japanese; and a healthy number of charming young ladies. 25 YEARS AGO Saturday, Oct. 10, 1992 Rush hour may be making ‘salarymen’ fit Weaving in and out of rush hour throngs to keep pace with a break-neck work schedule has helped Japanese men grow stronger and more agile over the past decade, researchers suggested Friday. Surprisingly, Japanese fathers, much-maligned as weekend couch potatoes, actually registered better scores in a battery of five strength and agility tests than their counterparts 10 years ago. Led by Tsukuba University professor Yoshiyuki Matsuura, researchers suggested that one cause for the improvement was a reduction in work hours and introduction of two-day weekends in some companies, allowing office workers time to recover physically. The team also suggested that the stress-laden life of the “salaryman” has led to physically stronger specimens. Men in all age groups living in metropolitan areas scored better that those in the countryside in a timed side-to-side jumping test, which researchers said approximated the office workers’ efforts to avoid colliding with people during rush hour. Men aged 30-59 registered their best average time since 1974 in the zigzag basketball dribble test and about a second better than the average 10 years ago. In the side-to-side jumping test for agility, the men in each group, with the exception of the 45- to 49-year-olds, managed an average of two to four more jumps during the 20-second test period than their counterparts in 1974.

fitness
tokyo
typhoons
military
ginza
trams
agility
wwii
weather
world war ii


Kyoto's pricey lodging tax plan spurs fierce debate over necessity, tourism impact

Abstract: KYOTO - A necessity for improving Kyoto’s tourism infrastructure or a bad decision that might convince tourists to go elsewhere? That is the question being asked in Kyoto following an announcement by the city earlier this month that it plans to levy a lodging tax of ¥200 to ¥1,000 ($1.80 to $9) per night on most visitors starting in autumn 2018. The proposal is expected to pass this week. Kyoto’s new tax structure covers all facilities, including minpaku (private lodging), regardless of their rates. With the exception of students on official school trips, all visitors face a per-night tax of ¥200 for any facility that charges up to ¥20,000 a night, ¥500 for facilities charging between ¥20,000 to ¥49,999 a night, and ¥1,000 for those charging ¥50,000 or more. Tokyo introduced its own lodging tax in October 2002, charging ¥100 to ¥200 per person per day for rooms costing ¥10,000 or more. Osaka followed suit in January this year, introducing a tax of ¥100 to ¥300 for rooms costing ¥10,000 or more. What makes Kyoto’s proposal different is that it extends the surcharge to those who stay at facilities that cost under ¥10,000 a night. Also, the ¥1,000 charge for the top-end hotels and ryokan (Japanese-style inns) is five times Tokyo’s and three times Osaka’s for comparably priced rooms. Kyoto Mayor Daisaku Kadokawa defended the plan by saying that, while the city may in a tourism boom now, Kyoto must be proactive in anticipating the need for more revenue to improve tourism facilities. He also pointed out the problems presented by the massive increase in visitors over the past few years, especially the piles of garbage and the clogged roads, streets and public transportation. “It’s not as simple as saying that, because the financial situation is tight, we’re going to place the burden on tourists. (The new tax system) is about improving the level of tourist satisfaction and creating a good experience, and convincing Kyoto residents to continue to live within the city,” Kadokawa told reporters in announcing the tax. How, exactly, the extra tax revenue will be used has yet to be decided. A committee submitted a report to the mayor last month, saying the money might be used for cultural restoration and the preservation of assets, improving scenery by removing telephone poles, and introducing more pedestrian zones. The city assembly has just begun formal debate on the tax. Some smaller Kyoto businesses that have benefited from the influx of visitors are worried the new levy will negatively affect cheaper hotels and minpaku, and drive more budget-conscious visitors to hotels in neighboring Osaka, only 30 minutes away by train. “Restaurants, supermarkets, convenience stores and other business get visitors, especially foreign visitors, who stay at the cheaper business hotels or minpaku in the surrounding area. I’m worried my own place might see fewer customers with the new tax,” said Madoka Otani, 56, who runs a small restaurant north of Kyoto Station. Kyoto received over 55 million visitors in fiscal 2016, with more than 14 million spending at least one night in town, including about 3.18 million foreign visitors. A shortage of hotel rooms has encouraged cheap minpaku lodgings to sprout up all over Kyoto — and the internet is rife with stories of price-gouging. A growing number of visitors to Kyoto also stay in Osaka, where capacity hovers between 80 to 90 percent, depending on the season.


Local, national agendas shade parties' prospects in expected snap poll

Abstract: OSAKA - As Japan gears up for an anticipated snap election at the end of October, Kansai politicians and parties are staking out their positions on issues of national interest but with their eyes very much on local political needs. For the Osaka-centered Nippon Ishin no Kai, technically an opposition party but very close to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga and their allies in the Liberal Democratic Party, an uneasy alliance with Komeito at the local level means the party is limited in the number of candidates it can field for single-seat districts. Nippon Ishin has 15 seats in the Lower House, and its leaders have set an election goal of at least 21, which will be enough to introduce their own bills. Komeito has four Lower House district seats within Osaka. Nippon Ishin’s leaders have said they will not field candidates against Komeito for the simple reason that Nippon Ishin’s Osaka-based group, Osaka Ishin no Kai (One Osaka), still needs Komeito’s cooperation to form a majority in the municipal and prefectural assemblies. Komeito also holds the key as to whether Osaka Ishin will succeed in merging the municipal and prefectural governments. Osaka Ishin, which strongly supports the idea and has made it a core goal, has battled the Osaka chapters of Komeito and the Liberal Democratic Party for years on the issue. A 2015 referendum on an earlier merger plan was narrowly defeated, partially because many in Komeito’s substantial base of Osaka supporters were opposed. Osaka Ishin is working with the other parties on a new plan, and aims to put it to another referendum next year. Two referendum failures, however, would inflict permanent damage on the party. “I want to cooperate with Komeito in drawing up a plan for the merger, so there’s no need to argue with them,” Nippon Ishin leader and Osaka Gov. Ichiro Matsui told reporters last week in announcing the party’s decision to not challenge Komeito if a snap election is called. But regardless of local politics, the national party, Nippon Ishin, remains committed to backing the LDP on an issue likely to be draw heavy coverage in any election: constitutional revision. Earlier this month, at a Nippon Ishin meeting in Osaka, members gathered to discuss proposals for amending the Constitution — in particular pacifist Article 9. Nippon Ishin has generally supported Abe’s quest to revise the Constitution and formalize the role of the Self-Defense Forces. But many members have also expressed concern that Abe’s favored draft is too vague and does not properly define the limits of military power. “Unless a balance is struck between what’s necessary for military power and what’s permissible, there’s no answer to the issue of Article 9. This is not something the LDP has talked about,” Matsui told reporters after the meeting. He also confirmed that Toru Hashimoto, co-founder of the Osaka and Nippon Ishin movements, will not be involved with any upcoming elections, and that he will continue to remain a private citizen. For Osaka as a whole, two local issues requiring Diet debate and national support over the coming months will be of interest to voters. These include a new set of laws on running and managing integrated resort casinos. Osaka still hopes to receive one of the nation’s first resort licenses once the government approves the new system. The other issue will be increased national support, in the form of funding, for Osaka if it is selected to host the 2025 World Expo. The winner will be announced in Paris in November 2018. If the election picture in Osaka is clouded by the complicated relationships and rivalries between Nippon Ishin and the established parties, the LDP appears to have a lock on one other prefecture where national policy is of strong local interest. In Fukui, a snap election offers former defense minister and close Abe ally Tomomi Inada a chance to redeem herself after a string of scandals and gaffes earlier this year led to her ouster from the Cabinet last month. Locally, though, Inada is widely credited for using her influence to help secure funding so the Hokuriku Shinkansen Line will be ready to connect Kanazawa and Tsugura, Fukui Prefecture, by 2022, and possibly begin service from her electoral district in the city of Fukui before the 2020 Olympics. That means Fukui city residents would have a direct route to Tokyo via Kanazawa and Nagano. She is unlikely to face a serious challenger, but last week, at a meeting of supporters in the city of Fukui, Inada was out meeting voters and in campaign mode, attempting to strike a populist appeal. “I’ll return to basic politics and work hard as a Fukui mama,” Inada said.


Gundam's 20-meter replacement statue unveiled in Odaiba

Abstract: Gundam’s upgrade was unveiled in Tokyo’s Odaiba waterfront district on Sunday, giving hope to its corporate sponsors that the giant robot statue will become a new tourist attraction ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The towering, full-scale 19.7-meter Unicorn Gundam replaces the previous model, which was removed in March. “I know that many people were waiting so long for this day to arrive. I was one of them,” Toshinobu Maeda, managing director of Tokyo Port Terminal Corp., which is in charge of the project, said at the media preview Saturday evening. “The Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics are coming up in three years, and the waterfront area has been chosen as one of the sites for the games,” he said. “I expect this Unicorn Gundam . . . to become the source of further revitalization for the waterfront area.” In August, at DiverCity Tokyo, Bandai Inc. opened a shop dedicated to selling, assembling and painting plastic models of the main character from the popular animation series. Yoshitaka Tao, chief Gundam officer at Bandai, said the company hopes more tourists come to see the statue and the Gundam Cafe nearby. “By offering products, services and events, the Bandai Namco Group hopes to continue sharing excitement and surprises with the fans. I’d like the world to know about the concept and history behind the ‘Gundam’ series,” Tao said. After the ceremony, an event was held to show how the Unicorn Gundam transforms from “unicorn mode” to “destroy mode,” as seen in the TV shows. Although details of the ceremony were not made public, some lucky fans who were passing by at the time were able to see a demonstration of the Unicorn Gundam’s transformation the day before it was shown to the public on Sunday. “It’s incredible. It’s perfectly modeled,” said Takei, a 19-year-old Gundam fan who was visiting with his friend Hayashi, also 19. Both declined to give their first names. “It’s absolutely something that Japan should be proud of,” Takei said, adding that he prefers Unicorn Gundam over the previous statue because the new one lights up. Hayashi said he can’t wait to take a closer look. “I’ll consider coming back here again,” he said.


Cephalopods show signs of intelligence

Abstract: Is it morally acceptable to eat intelligent animals? Everyone can make their own mind up about this. Some people think that there’s nothing wrong with eating any kind of animal. For me, I drew a somewhat arbitrary zoological line in the sand and decided that any animal “above” a fish was off-limits. In other words, birds and mammals are off the menu, whereas fish and invertebrates are OK to eat. For the most part, this has served me pretty well. As Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain put it, “it’s okay to eat fish, cause they don’t have any feelings.” And I didn’t mind eating prawns from a welfare or intelligence point of view. But there was a problem: cephalopods. Octopus and squid are invertebrates, so following my “rule” they were perfectly acceptable for me to eat. However, their lack of a skeleton does not mean they lack intelligence — far from it. Octopus and squid — and cuttlefish, which are also cephalopods — are some of the most intelligent of all animals, and that includes dolphins, crows and apes. I brushed these concerns under the carpet and carried on eating them. My will was put to the test when I stayed at a camp site on Hachijojima, an island in the Izu chain, almost 300 kilometers south of Tokyo. I went snorkeling with a Japanese fisherman and he caught a large octopus. He carried a large metal spike and used it to prise the animal out from a small cave. Once we got back to shore he drove the spike into the octopus’ head and mashed its brain. To my surprise, the animal didn’t seem to die. Two of its tentacles wrapped around my arm up to my shoulder. My fisherman friend had to unpop the octopus from me. I didn’t know at the time that a significant part of an octopus’ nervous system is located outside of the brain, in the “shoulders” at the top of each tentacle. So destroying the brain does not immediately immobilize the animal. The fisherman then set about scrubbing the top membrane from the skin of the animal and, while most of it was still wriggling around, he cut the octopus up and offered me some. This was obviously a test of my resolve. I’d made the decision that it was OK to eat octopus, and here was one to eat. Did it matter that the animal was still clinging to me? If by my rules octopus was acceptable, it would be hypocritical to say no. I took a piece of tentacle from the knife and chewed. It was incredibly chewy and not at all pleasant. Since then I’ve learned more about cephalopod intelligence and my misgivings about eating them have hardened. (Incidentally, I learned that the suction cups on octopus tentacles can detect a wide range of chemicals — when it was stuck to my arm, that octopus was literally tasting me.) Octopus and cuttlefish have the highest ratio of brain to body mass of any invertebrate. Some octopuses can navigate mazes and use tools — clear signs of high intelligence. Their brains have evolved on a different track to those of vertebrates, so represent a different kind of intelligence. Shuichi Shigeno, a Japanese biologist based in the Italian city of Naples, suggested in a paper published this year that the cephalopod neural system may form the basis for developing strong artificial general intelligence. Meanwhile, Noriyosi Sato from Nagasaki University has found that pygmy squid use ink for predation — the cloudy ink confuses prey — as well as defense. All cephalopods are masters of mimicry and disguise, but I would like to end by focusing on cuttlefish, because they are arguably the most neglected of this extraordinary group of animals. Kohei Okamoto at the University of the Ryukyus in Okinawa keeps pharaoh cuttlefish in his lab. One day he noticed an unusual behavior. The cuttlefish had raised their front tentacles and bent their rear tentacles as if they were jointed. The animals were moving in an odd manner, and changed color. They were mimicking hermit crabs! But why? They could have been acting that way to avoid being eaten, but mindful of species that use ink to conceal their attack, Okamoto conducted a few experiments. His team found that cuttlefish appeared to mimic hermit crabs when small fish were present. Perhaps they were attempting to trick the fish into thinking there were no predators nearby? Crabs are filter-feeders and scavengers, and therefore pose no threat to fish. But the cuttlefish also behaved in a similar crab-like manner when they were introduced into a larger tank for the first time. The cuttlefish were behaving like crabs, to be on the safe side. Just in case there were any predators around in the new space they were entering, the cuttlefish mimicked an unpalatable species. It’s just another example of the extraordinary intelligence of this group of animals. And talking of unpalatable species, the more I’ve learned about the intricacies of cephalopod behavior, the less I’m inclined to eat them. These days, octopus and squid are pretty much off the menu.


Political protest or textbook harassment?

Abstract: In 1979, The New Yorker ran a very long article by Frances FitzGerald about American history textbooks and how they had changed over the years. She said that the framing of history depends on who is writing it and, more importantly, who is supporting that writing. Publishers present history in such a way as to make their product more palatable to a very general audience. As a result certain aspects of history are lost or distorted. During the early years of the Cold War, for instance, America’s motives for past military adventures were invariably justified in contemporary textbooks, whereas after the combative 1960s those motives were questioned. These distortions were manifested by cultural and economic considerations rather than political ones. The prevailing mood of the country at any given time dictated how history was addressed. The federal government wasn’t involved, at least not directly. In Japan, the central government is involved in the production of textbooks, since they screen potential publications for use in the country’s schools. Generally speaking, the media assumes that the government’s view of history is a conservative one, especially when it comes to World War II, but it isn’t conservative enough for some people, or even for some media. On Aug. 8, the Mainichi Shimbun ran an article about Nada Junior High School, whose students often go on to the best universities. For more than a year, the school, located in Kobe, had been receiving postcards objecting to its use of a history textbook, “Tomo ni Manabu Ningen no Rekishi” (“Human History We Learn Together”) published by Manabisha. The messages on the postcards take issue with the book’s handling of the “comfort women” who sexually serviced Japanese soldiers during the war. The textbook said that the Imperial Army was involved in setting up and managing the so-called comfort stations ( ianjo ), and printed part of then-Chief Cabinet Secretary Yohei Kono’s 1993 statement admitting that women were forced to work in these military brothels. Manabisha also added a passage saying the Japanese government maintains there is no documentary evidence proving women were forced, but this contradiction is not explained. In an interview, Nada’s principal told the Mainichi that in Dec. 2015, after his school began using the textbook, they started receiving postcards, some anonymous, some not. The majority of the cards were obviously coordinated because they were so much alike in appearance and content. The senders accused Nada of being “anti-Japanese” and “ultra-leftist” for using the books. The principal was perplexed, because the textbook had been approved by the government. The Sankei Shimbun later ran article about how the textbooks were a “problem” and named some of the schools that had adopted them. “It was political pressure” to stop using the book the Nada principal told the Mainichi. The Sankei article, which appeared March 19, 2016, said Manabisha’s was the only junior high school history textbook that mentioned “comfort women,” and identified some of the “more than 30 schools” that were using it, including “elite schools that are difficult to get into.” These schools were either national or private, meaning textbooks were chosen by the schools themselves rather than local government education committees, as is the case with public schools. The article also pointed out that when Manabisha submitted its first version to the education ministry it was rejected, and then the publisher made some of the passages “softer.” After that, the ministry approved the text. Equally notable to the newspaper was Manabisha’s treatment of the “Nanking Incident,” in which many historians say tens of thousands of Chinese civilians were killed and raped by Japanese soldiers. In Sankei’s view, Manabisha “kindly” took into consideration the testimony of Chinese people. The publisher also relegated the only mention of the Japanese abducted by North Korea “to a table” rather then discuss the matter fully in the body of the text. Many of the schools contacted by Sankei declined to comment. One said the comfort women issue had little to do with its decision to adopt the textbook. Nada told the newspaper that since the government approved the textbook, “We don’t need to give our reason for selecting it.” Manabisha denied it had edited the volume “with elite schools in mind.” NHK went deeper into the story on a recent edition of its news show, “ Close-up Gendai .” According to its research, 38 junior high schools use the Manabisha textbook, of which 29 admitted they had received protesting postcards. The majority of the cards were either one of two types. The first were picture postcards, mostly from alumni of the schools targeted. The photos depicted scenes of Chinese civilians welcoming Japanese soldiers during World War II. NHK tracked down the source of the postcards, a man named Masanori Mizuma, who says he has done his own research into Nanking and the military brothels. He said the postcards were not threats. The purpose was to “enlighten” the schools. The second type of postcard featured uniform printed messages, though the postcards themselves were mailed from all over Japan. NHK contacted some of the senders and found that they had attended local seminars about Japanese history where they wrote down their names and addresses. These people, as well as some politicians and public officials, understood the reason for the postcards and agreed with the message printed on them. As NHK pointed out, controversy over textbook content is nothing new. What’s different about the Manabisha case is that the protesting parties, including the Sankei Shimbun, are targeting specific schools rather than government organs or publishers. They deny that their mission is to intimidate, but one school official in Nagoya told NHK that he found the postcards “creepy,” and some of the schools that received the cards told the Mainichi that if they continue receiving them then the next time they choose a textbook they’ll be more careful.

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Japan regulator scrutinizes regional banks' fund buying as risks soar

Abstract: The nation’s regional banks, desperate to boost returns with interest rates around zero, are coming under scrutiny from regulators as they increase purchases of risky investment trusts. The Financial Services Agency (FSA) has been talking to bankers to gauge whether the firms have the knowledge and structure to handle those products, which cover everything from stocks to real estate, according to its officials. Some of the lenders don’t appear to, the regulators say. The FSA has told them to strengthen their risk management, for example by adding staff if needed, said the officials who asked not to be identified due to the agency’s policy. Regional banks have struggled in recent years as a shrinking population and narrowed lending margins hurt their loan business, while investment in government bonds loses its appeal with yields below zero. To boost returns, so-called first-tier regional lenders poured a record ¥1.94 trillion ($18 billion) into a category of securities that includes investment trusts and other funds in the year ended in March, according to Regional Banks Association of Japan data, bringing the total outstanding amount to ¥7.02 trillion. “To put it simply, they are taking on more risk,” said Ryoji Yoshizawa, an analyst at S&P Global Ratings in Tokyo. It would be a problem from a credit perspective if banks lacking sufficient capital or solid profitability keep adding those investment trusts, he said. Investment trusts in Japan are like mutual funds in the U.S. — financial institutions such as brokerages raise money from investors and management firms make investments with the funds. Privately placed trusts are sold mostly to financial companies, and there were more than 5,000 of those funds covering equities and bonds in Japan as of August that managed a combined ¥78.81 trillion, according to the Investment Trusts Association. Japanese lenders’ foreign debt holdings have also been monitored by the FSA after investors suffered losses last year due to the jump in U.S. interest rates on Donald Trump’s election to the White House. Five of 11 regional banks surveyed by Bloomberg said the surge in U.S. Treasury yields caused significant damage to their portfolios. Some of those banks are turning toward private equity, hedge funds and real estate in search of higher returns, according to the survey. Regional banks accounted for 40 percent of the ¥1.36 trillion being invested in Japan’s private real-estate investment trusts as of June, according to the Association for Real Estate Securitization. They are less liquid than regular REITs traded on the exchange, and their owners generally have to ask the issuers to take their shares back or find buyers through financial firms if they want to exit. Other regulators have also been eyeing some of the risks.


China sets up first quantum communications network

Abstract: BEIJING - China has set up its first “commercial” quantum network in the northern province of Shandong, its latest step in advancing a technology expected to enable hack-proof communications. China says it is at the forefront of developing quantum technology. In August it sent its first “unbreakable” quantum code from an experimental satellite launched a year earlier. The Pentagon has called the satellite a “notable advance.” Now the country’s “first commercial quantum private communication network” has been set up for exclusive use by more than 200 government and official users in Shandong’s provincial capital, Jinan, the official Xinhua News Agency said late on Tuesday. It did not elaborate on how the system would be commercially operated. “Hundreds of pieces of equipment connected by hundreds of kilometers of fiber optics were installed within five months,” Xinhua said. The network provides secure telephone and data communication services and is expected to be connected to a Beijing-Shanghai quantum network, the news agency said. Quantum channels send messages embedded in light; attempts to disrupt or eavesdrop on them create detectable disturbances. Other countries, including the United States, have been working on their own quantum networks for years.

china communications hacking cyberattacks


Saving heart attack victims? Now there's an app for that

Abstract: Suppose you are at a station and happen to see someone passing out after a heart attack. A crowd of worried onlookers gathers. Somebody shouts, “Call an ambulance!” What should you do next? Tokyo-based social venture Coaido is launching an iPhone app that helps bystanders assist as effectively as possible in the crucial few minutes after a cardiac arrest. The app prompts the user to send an SOS to people trained in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) nearby, checks whether they have already contacted the emergency number, 119, and connects them with facilities where automated external defibrillators (AEDs) are available. Coaido CEO Makoto Gensho, 36, came up with the idea for the app in 2013 at a “hackathon” software programming event, and founded the company in 2014. He has since enlisted support from people with medical expertise — including Takahiro Ozawa, a paramedic with 10 years’ experience in ambulance care and eight years teaching paramedical students — to develop and improve the all-in-one app. “While working at a fire department, I experienced firsthand how very few of the people (who experienced a heart attack) survived,” Ozawa, 44, said. “Nine out of 10 people did not.” Ozawa stresses that the odds of survival fall if no action is taken until the ambulance arrives. According to 2016 Fire and Disaster Management Agency (FDMA) statistics, it took an average of 8.6 minutes for an ambulance to arrive after an emergency call was made. Experts say that without resuscitative efforts, a person’s chance of survival falls by around 10 percent each minute. As such, it’s extremely important that citizen volunteers do all they can to help — to give a heart massage to someone who is unconscious and attach an AED — without waiting for an ambulance, Ozawa said. “Many people know the AED is important,” he said. “But if you just wait for an AED and don’t give CPR, the person’s brain and heart get damaged from lack of oxygen. The key is to keep up resuscitation efforts until help arrives.” That’s where the app, Coaido 119, comes in. When a user launches the free app, the “self-triage” screen shows up. At the top of the screen is a red section. A user is urged to tap the section if someone is unconscious and does not respond even on contact. The app then shows a map of the user’s present location, with a small pop-up window to show a real-time video of the location. The app then displays the number of pre-registered volunteers capable of offering CPR nearby. The user can send an SOS to these CPR-capable volunteers, who include doctors, nurses, paramedics, police officers and others who have registered beforehand with certificates of their CPR training. The app also checks that the user has called 119. The sender of the SOS can communicate with the registered volunteers through video, voice chat and text messages. “Our goal is for three to five certified helpers to arrive at the scene within two to four minutes,” Ozawa said, noting that the more quickly first action is taken, the greater the chances of survival. In 2015, of the 24,000 people across Japan who had cardiac arrest and whose condition was recognized by those around them, only 13 percent survived and just 8.6 percent had returned to normal lives a month after their heart attack, according to the FDMA. In addition, the app automatically contacts nearby facilities with AEDs, so someone from those facilities can bring a device to the scene. Coaido 119 directs users to other agencies in less serious cases, to steer people away from calling ambulances unless absolutely needed. For example, a section of the app’s self-triage screen, colored green, shows what to do with “light injuries.” By tapping the screen, the user can dial #7119, where an operator asks a series of questions to determine whether the caller really needs an ambulance, or calls a 24-hour hospital information service (for Tokyo residents only). Late last month, with funding from the industry ministry-affiliated Information-Technology Promotion Agency, the firm started testing the service in Toshima Ward, Tokyo. The app can be activated within a radius of 1 kilometer around JR Ikebukuro Station. So far, 90 people have registered for the six-month-long project as potential senders of SOS messages, among whom around 30 people are also registered as CPR-certified responders. Yuuki Imaura, director-general of the Toshima Ward disaster prevention/crisis management division, rates the app highly. He added, however, that getting more people to enlist as users of the service will be key. “We need at least 10 times more registered users,” Imaura said. “By getting qualified professionals to participate, I hope the ward will see a dramatic increase in the use of AEDs and the number of lives saved,” he added. Coaido, which has received funding from investment firm Mistletoe run by Taizo Son, aims to contract with municipal governments to offer its services. Gensho said the firm also wants to promote the app to developers of high-rise condos, where ambulance crews have difficulty reaching residents on upper floors. Gensho added that he hopes to see citizen-driven pre-ambulance response take root ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. “Every day, 200 people die from heart attacks,” Gensho said. “It’s 18 times more than the number of fatalities from traffic accidents. If we work harder on early responses, these lives could be saved.”


Russian TV reporter punched in face while broadcasting live from Moscow park

Abstract: MOSCOW - A man walked up to a journalist broadcasting live from a Moscow park on a popular Russian television channel and punched him in the face. The journalist was reporting Wednesday for the NTV channel from the park, which was filled with former paratroopers lazing in the sun as Russia celebrated the annual Airborne Troops Day. He was approached by a burly, bearded man in a T-shirt and shorts, who was spewing curses at him. The journalist, Nikita Razvozzhayev, asked the man to keep away. The man then delivered a right hook to the journalist’s face and walked off. The network cut the broadcast. The attacker, who Russian media said was drunk, was arrested shortly afterward. Police described him as a known soccer hooligan. Angry social media users blamed the incident on paratroopers, labeled in Russia as a rowdy bunch who drink in public places, bathe in fountains and harass passers-by.


Speed bump won't stop Kiyomiya, Japanese baseball's teen powerhouse

Abstract: So far 2017 has been a banner year for sports prodigies. In June, Mima Ito and Hina Hayata, both 16-year-olds, became the youngest pair from Japan to reach the semifinals of the women’s doubles at the Table Tennis World Championships, winding up with a bronze medal. The same month, 14-year-old Sota Fujii won 28 straight official matches, equaling the all-time winning streak in the traditional board game of shogi. As Japan’s youngest professional, the modest Fujii received celebrity-level coverage on TV and in the print media during his streak, and has been credited with inspiring a shogi boom among the country’s youth. While no one is disparaging these pursuits, they cannot compare with the media’s coverage of baseball, which is solidly established as the nation’s most popular sport. Out of the 24 recipients of the People’s Honor Award bestowed by Japan’s prime minister, for example, professional baseball players have accounted for four, more than composers, actors, singers or practitioners of any other sports. When the Waseda Jitsugyo High School baseball team was eliminated from competition on July 30 by Tokai University Sugao High School by a score of 6 to 2, the nation let out a collective groan of disappointment. Elimination meant that Waseda Jitsugyo would not go on to this month’s summer high school baseball tournament at Koshien, which means that Japan’s all-time record of home runs by a high school player, held by 18-year-old slugger Kotaro Kiyomiya, would not be beaten for a while, if at all. While he did hit several in the playoffs, Kiyomiya is currently stalled in a two-way tie with Hiroki Yamamoto, formerly of Kobe’s Shinko Gakuen High School, at 107. Kiyomiya, son of Waseda University’s former rugby coach (who now heads the Sungoliath team sponsored by Suntory Ltd.), has demonstrated an impressive ability to knock baseballs into the outfield bleachers. It has not escaped fans’ notice that Waseda Jitsugyo High School also happens to be alma mater of all-time baseball great Sadaharu Oh. As a left-handed pitcher, Oh led his team to victory at Koshien in 1957 and was recruited by the nation’s most popular team, the Yomiuri Giants. After a coach recognized Oh’s batting ability he was moved to first base, where he could play every day, and he proceeded to slug a career 868 home runs. This figure, remarkable by any criteria, far surpasses U.S. major league record holders Barry Bonds (with 762) and Henry Aaron (755). Some fans have begun comparing Kiyomiya to another high school prodigy, Hideki Matsui, who also batted left and threw right. After joining the Giants and dominating the sport in Japan, Matsui enjoyed several productive years with the New York Yankees and other MLB teams. “I think Kiyomiya compares favorably with both Matsui (who hit a total 507 home runs in Japan and the U.S.) and Kazuhiro Kiyohara (525 home runs in Japan) at this point in his career,” said sports consultant Marty Kuehnert, the former general manager of Sendai’s Rakuten Eagles, who’s been involved in professional baseball for over 40 years. “Kiyomiya is big (184 centimeters, 100 kilograms), has great power, excellent bat speed, good balance and real skill at hitting, demonstrated by his ability to hit the ball with power to the opposite field. Come draft time in October, I’m sure many teams will be going after him.” At this stage in his career, Kiyomiya is already drawing large crowds. Shukan Bunshun (Aug. 10) reported that at one of Waseda Jitsugyo’s earlier games, Tokyo’s Jingu Stadium was a complete sellout. When Kiyomiya hit his record-tying 107th home run — a long shot to the left-center field stands — the fan who caught the ball was besieged by reporters. Clearly irritated by the cameras and microphones thrust into his face, he grumbled, “Hey, lay off and let me watch the game, will you?” Shukan Asahi, a weekly magazine published by the Asahi Shimbun, which sponsors the Koshien tournament, has accorded Kiyomiya what could be described as an unprecedented honor: for the duration, he’s the exclusive topic of a weekly column by sportswriter Yuji Yanagawa. After the loss to Tokai University Sugao ended his chance to vie for the nation’s top high school team at Koshien, Kiyomiya unashamedly shed tears before the TV cameras. And perhaps Kiyomiya wasn’t the only one feeling let down. The aforementioned Shukan Bunshun quoted several academics and researchers who have made a study of the business side of baseball — or, if you prefer, “ Yakyū -nomics.” One calculated that Kiyomiya’s team’s failure to make it to Koshien meant that a potential economic impact of ¥4 billion would not materialize. “Calculation of the estimated revenues are based on sales of tickets, food and beverages, souvenirs, plus expenditures to travel to Koshien, overnight lodgings, and so on,” said professor emeritus Katsuhiro Miyamoto of Kansai University, who cited the adage that “When many people or things move, money moves too.” In any event, sighed Shukan Shincho (Aug. 10), with the Koshien tournament now out of the picture, young Kiyomiya is facing a “looooong summer vacation.” The Aug. 1 edition of Tokyo Sports predicted that by “X-day,” probably in late September, Kiyomiya would announce his future plans: to turn professional, attend university or explore other options. Among those other options is rugby. Nikkan Gendai (Aug. 3) reported that Kiyomiya, who played the sport through his fourth year of elementary school, has been the subject of speculation online that he’ll keep in shape by playing for a team during the winter season. “Many high school baseball players play rugby during the winter, so it wouldn’t be particularly rare,” a source in the Japan Rugby Football Association is quoted as saying. Whether home runs or scrums, a star has been born.

baseball
media
koshien
kotaro kiyomiya
hideki matsui
weeklies
magazines


Bitcoin exchange operator arrested amid new questions about Mt. Gox theft

Abstract: Ever since Tokyo-based bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox filed for bankruptcy in February 2014, investigators have been puzzled by the disappearance of virtual currency worth hundreds of millions of dollars from its digital vaults. Mt. Gox, which claimed it once hosted around 80 percent of bitcoin trading worldwide, closed in 2014 after admitting that 850,000 coins — worth around $480 million at the time — had disappeared from its vaults. Former CEO Mark Karpeles blamed the loss on hackers. Karpeles later claimed he had found some 200,000 of the lost coins in a “cold wallet” — a storage device, such as a memory stick, that is not connected to computers. And yet investigators were never able to trace the remaining 650,000 missing coins. Police then arrested Karpeles in August 2015 over allegations of embezzlement and data manipulation. However, none of the charges he faces are related to the theft of the virtual currency. In its opening statements at the trial in July, Karpeles’ defense team, headed by Nobuyasu Ogata, argued that Mt. Gox’s former CEO was only arrested after investigators failed to solve the case. On the other side of the Pacific, however, U.S. authorities last month made some headway in the investigation, charging a 38-year-old Russian national of violating money laundering laws. Acting on a warrant, police in Greece arrested Alexander Vinnik in Athens on July 25. It was multinational effort, involving investigators in Greece and U.S. agencies as the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Secret Service and Homeland Security, among others. The U.S. indictment filed on July 26 alleges that Vinnik was the owner and operator of BTC-e, one of the world’s largest digital currency exchanges. The investigation revealed that BTC-e received more than $4 billion worth of bitcoin over the course of its operation. Among violations outlined in the indictment, Vinnik is accused of using BTC-e and Tradehill, another U.S.-based exchange he owned, to process funds “obtained” from Mt. Gox between 2011 and 2014. BTC-e is believed to have processed more than 300,000 bitcoins in transactions that can be traced to the theft. Kim Nilsson, a cybersecurity expert, has been investigating the collapse of Mt. Gox for the past two years. “Vinnik is our chief suspect for involvement in the Mt. Gox theft (or the laundering of the proceeds thereof),” he wrote in a July 27 blog post on WizSec. “This is the result of years of patient work, and these findings were surely independently uncovered by other investigators as well. Everyone who worked on the case have patiently kept quiet while forwarding findings to law enforcement, so as not to tip suspects off and to maximize the chances of arrests.” A special agent working on the case in the United States said he was surprised that Karpeles had been arrested in Japan. “Mark Karpeles may be a terrible businessman and may have run his company into the ground,” the agent said, speaking on condition of anonymity. “He may have realized the BTC (bitcoin) were taken earlier than announced. But we have known for a long time that his firm, like Bitcoinica, was targeted by Eurasian hackers and the stolen BTC cashed out via BTC-e. Karpeles cooperated with the Silk Road investigation. He cooperated with this investigation. In our eyes, he’s a good guy and he hasn’t always been rewarded for doing the right thing.” Silk Road is an online black market that was using bitcoins to trade guns and narcotics. In fact, corrupt Drug Enforcement Administration and Secret Service agents not only sold Karpeles out to the criminal organization running the platform, they froze Mt. Gox funds worth $5 million and seized the firm’s accounts. They also used Mt. Gox to launder the bitcoin they stole while working on the Silk Road case. “We know we’ve got the right guy in this money laundering investigation,” the agent said. “We sort of wonder why the Japanese police arrested Karpeles rather than tried to work with him. But, then again, we don’t really understand the Japanese justice system.” I’d be surprised if they were alone in thinking that.

bitcoins
mark karpeles
alexander vinnik
mt . gox


Parsing gender stereotypes in Japan's media landscape

Abstract: Tomomi Inada’s resignation as defense minister ended a tenure that often made reporters wonder if her transgressions had more to do with ignorance than with incompetence. It would be wrong to associate her failures with her sex, though there were some in the media who harped on her fashion sense or supposed emotional instability as indications that she wasn’t suitable for the job. Inada didn’t actively discourage these indications. In June, she addressed the second plenary session of the International Institute of Strategic Studies’ Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, where she expressed in English how privileged she felt to “share the podium” with other defense ministers, namely Marise Payne of Australia and Sylvie Goulard of France, saying that “We belong to the same gender … the same generation and, most importantly, we are all good looking.” As mentioned in a June 14 article in the Huffington Post, Mayumi Mori, the Asahi Shimbun Singapore correspondent, noted that Inada was obviously making a joke “to relieve tension,” and that there were a few chuckles in the hall. The correspondent from Le Monde said the joke was in questionable taste. Regardless of Inada’s qualifications for her lofty post, she didn’t know how to read a room. The author of the Huffington article, editor-in-chief Ryan Takeshita, wrote that Inada has always played “cute” to be accepted by the men who control Japan’s political world, but even if her remark about the female ministers’ looks was made in jest, it reinforced the idea held by many people that appearance is paramount, especially for women. Japan doesn’t have a monopoly on sexist behavior and attitudes , but according to a recent series of forums in the Asahi Shimbun the Japanese media still subscribes to gender stereotypes in advertising and reporting. As one Asahi writer pointed out, these stereotypes are the media’s problem, not the public’s. In fact, responses to a survey conducted by the newspaper indicated that the general public is acutely sensitive to gender references in commercials and news bulletins. A cited example was a two-minute ad for Unicharm diapers featuring a young mother having a rough time caring for her newborn. What offended some viewers was the almost total absence of a man in this scenario, implying that mothers should expect to go it alone. Then again, the CM also had female defenders who said they admired the spot’s honesty, since in their experience husbands, despite PR to the contrary, still are too busy to participate in child rearing. At least the Unicharm spot stimulated a debate about how the media portrays gender roles. More problematic were older ads canceled due to sexist themes: a campaign for the Lumine department store in which a male boss ranks his female subordinates’ looks; a spot for Shiseido cosmetics showing two women celebrating their friend’s 25th birthday by saying, “You’re not a girl any more”; and a Suntory ad that portrayed women as convenient sexual targets. But the ad that received the most attention in this regard was Miyagi Prefecture’s recent PR campaign to boost tourism. Featuring actress Mitsu Dan, who is famous for flaunting her allure, the ad is filled with double entendres that make travel to Miyagi sound like a sexual adventure. The campaign triggered a backlash, but initially the governor of Miyagi, Yoshihiro Murai, said that such a reaction was intended — that the purpose of advertising is to get people’s attention, and the Mitsu tourism spot had done exactly that. Murai obviously adheres to the philosophy of “there’s no such thing as bad PR,” though he forgets that while people will surely gravitate to an ad because they are curious about all the fuss surrounding it, they could very well react negatively. But what Murai’s attitude really reveals is that he recognizes the sexism inherent in the ad and cynically accepts it because he thinks it sells the product. This position is a corollary of the old cliche that says everybody (meaning every man) has these nasty thoughts, so why not admit it? The problem — and it is just as manifest in Inada’s IISS speech as it is in the Miyagi ad — is that the appeal to appearances and impulses has little to do with the subject at hand, be it world security or tourism promotion. Though political correctness has been knocked lately for creating an atmosphere of intolerance, it has forced people to question their conventional values. The U.K., for example, says it will crack down on advertising that sets forth any kind of gender-specific roles. One of the most celebrated commercials shown during the 2017 Super Bowl was for the auto manufacturer Audi . It appealed directly to people with daughters and the message was clear: If you are proud of them, then you must demand that they be paid the same as your sons. Among the comments by respondents to the Asahi survey were objections to media assumptions that men’s and women’s tastes and sensibilities were by definition different; concern that salacious content was held to be automatically appealing to men; and strong feelings about how physical appearance was often the basis for comedy routines, particularly when it came to women. One exception to the general tenor of the responses was a man from Kyoto who wondered if discouraging or banning gender stereotypes wasn’t an undemocratic form of “mind control.” And a gay man complained about the thrust of the survey itself, which seemed to be “biased toward women.” These issues have been discussed for years in Japan, but the editor of the Asahi forum said that instead of obsessing over gender, the media should present the news in such a way as to “promote equality.” Nevertheless, there are just too many conventions that still hold sway. In sports and show biz reporting, for instance, female professionals are invariably described as bijin (beautiful women). Though the word is meant to be flattering, it makes these women’s achievements secondary to their appearance. It’s probably a word Inada uses often, perhaps because it informs the way she sees the world.

gender
stereotype
tomomi inada
dan mitsu


Japan Times 1967: 'Iconic Ginza streetcars are on their way out'

Abstract: 100 YEARS AGO SUNDAY, AUG. 5, 1917 Woman kills herself after keeping lost cash A message from Urawa states that one Miyo Sekine, a woman of 49 years, living at Hirakata-mura, Kita-Adachigori, Saitama Prefecture, committed suicide by throwing herself into a well in her neighborhood on Thursday. The woman picked up the other day a ¥5 bank note lost by one Hidekichi Shimadzu in her village but did not report it to the police. Hidekichi on the other hand lamented over the loss of the bank note, so much so that he at last killed himself by throwing himself into the Arakawa River on July 25. When Miyo heard of this, she was tormented with keen remorse, which finally led to her rash act. 75 YEARS AGO Tuesday, Aug. 18, 1942 Experts debate need of language for sphere The question of the language of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere demands an urgent solution as the great task of realizing the idea of the sphere progresses. Odoru Kenmochi, an expert in matters relating to language, has the following to say on this question: It is plainly evident that no language has greater claim to be the language of the Co-Prosperity Sphere than the Japanese language. This is the language of the country which is leading the races and the people of Greater East Asia. Moreover, it has been increasingly used in Manchoukuo since the Manchurian Affair, and in China since the China Affair. Thanks to the brilliant victories scored by the Imperial Forces in Greater East Asia , Japanese is coming into general use throughout East Asia. Some people talk of the difficulty of learning the Japanese language. However, these people have in mind the complicated system of expressing in characters the words of the language. This is a question of form and is not essential. Intrinsically, Japanese is far simpler than any of the languages of Europe. Dr. Kanae Sakuma says that Japanese is better suited than any other language to be the international language, and gives some features of the Japanese language on which he bases this contention: 1. The vocal sounds are simple. 2. The system of demonstrative words is complete. 3. The inflections of verbs and adjectives are simple and clear. 4. There are no rules concerning grammar such as gender, case, number. 5. There is a method of expressing the tense and mood which may be regarded as complete. 6. The method of expressing number is simple and quite according to reason. Everything points to the fact that Japanese is best fitted to be the language of East Asia than any other tongue in the world. 50 YEARS AGO Tuesday, Aug. 22, 1967 Iconic Ginza streetcars are on their way out The streetcars that have tootled along Ginza, Tokyo’s most glamorous shopping center for the past 56 years, will bow out by the end of the year. The Ginza lines, one running from Kyobashi to Shimbashi along Ginza Street, and the other, from Sukiyabashi through Ginza to Miharabashi near the Kabuki Theater, are the first among Tokyo’s total 37 tram lines that will completely disappear from the world’s most populous metropolis five years from now. “Poverty can never overtake diligence” says an old Japanese proverb. But this strikes an untrue, ridiculous sound for the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. Because officials of the bureau know from painful experience that the harder the tram motormen and conductors work, the deeper their bureau sinks in the red. In recent months, the tram service has been losing money at the rate of ¥100 for each running kilometer. To keep Tokyo’s 37 tram lines with a total extension of 194 kilometers in operation every day means an additional deficit of ¥20 million a day. The worsening traffic situation is the direct cause of the deficit. The average speed of a streetcar dropped from 14 kilometers per hour to 11.9 kilometers over the past 10 years. As a natural result of slowed speeds, streetcars lost passengers and revenue declined. This is the main reason why Tokyo Gov. Ryokichi Minobe was forced to clear Tokyo streets of old trams. For another, the tram service has outlived its usefulness as a means of transport. Today, the tram people live in humiliation and despair because they know the image of the streetcar has been reduced to that of a “big old clumsy good-for-nothing” conveyance in the eyes of daily commuters by subway and bus, especially car drivers. According to the Traffic Bureau, the abolition of the tram service will affect some 3,000 motormen, conductors and other workers. But practically all of them will be given new jobs in other sections of the metropolitan government, the officials said. 25 YEARS AGO Sunday, Aug. 2, 1992 Smoking ban starts at Yamanote Line stations All 29 Yamanote Line stations in metropolitan Tokyo implemented smoking bans on Saturday, East Japan Railway Co. officials said. However, the company has provided one or two smoking areas at each stop, they said. The officials said that if the move on the Yamanote Line wins passenger support, they will expand the ban to other stations on other lines. JR East has removed all ashtrays at Yamanote Line stations, except in smoking areas, and has provided new signs identifying smoking areas. At each of the stations on Saturday, railway workers used public address systems to reiterate the request that passengers cooperate with the ban. However, not everyone affiliated with JR East is happy with the move. Officials of East Japan Kiosk, a subsidiary of JR East, lamented the campaign, saying the regulations will probably hurt cigarette sales at the stations. The officials said Yamanote Line passengers annually buy ¥10 billion worth of cigarettes at platform kiosks.

ginza
trams
smoking
yamanote line
lanaguage


Native hunters kill protected gray whale that made its way up Alaska river

Abstract: ANCHORAGE, ALASKA - A gray whale making a rare sojourn up an Alaska river was killed by Native hunters in boats who peppered the massive, federally protected animal with gunfire and harpoons. The 37-foot whale was then retrieved from the Kuskokwim River and cut up for distribution among Alaska Natives in the Yup’ik village of Napaskiak. Honorary chief Chris Larson told Anchorage TV station KTVA that the whale was “like a gift” to the community. Gray whales are off limits to Alaska hunters, including Alaska Natives. But many in the region believe the river brought subsistence food and it would be against Yup’ik culture not to accept it. Federal officials are investigating what they say appears to be the unauthorized harvest of a gray whale on Thursday.

gray whale
alaska
native americans
protected species


Low-cost prostheses give thousands of Indians chance to lead near-normal lives

Abstract: JAIPUR, INDIA - Vishnu Kumar had barely reached adulthood when he lost his limbs in a freak electrical accident, seemingly condemning him to the life of penury endured by millions of amputees in India. A year later, the 22-year-old is preparing to walk again with the aide of a “Jaipur Foot” — a no-frills prosthetic made locally. These prosthetics allow amputees to work in muddy fields, sit cross-legged on the floor and comfortably use Indian-style squat toilets without needing to remove the limb. The manufacturers can churn out 50 prostheses a day from a simple workshop inthe western state of Rajasthan and, thanks to donations, fit them for free. According to government figures, an estimated 10 million Indians live with some form of movement impairment. It is common to see amputees begging at traffic stops or dragging themselves about on wheeled carts. Kumar, who worked as an electrician, feared he would endure a similar fate after his limbs were blown off in a catastrophic accident involving a high-tension wire. Just a fraction of those maimed in accidents have access to artificial limbs or other aids. “I was devastated thinking I will have to spend the rest of my life on crutches,” said Kumar, fighting back tears as he waited for a fitting at Bhagwan Mahaveer Viklang Sahayata Samiti, the charity behind the unique design. “These limbs have given me new hope.” Prostheses cost thousands of dollars and take weeks to manufacture in many parts of the world, but for 50 years the creators of the foot have been making dozens of limbs a day for roughly $60 apiece. “The technology we use is such that the limb can be made very, very quickly,” said Devendra Raj Mehta, the 80-year-old founder of the charity behind the Jaipur Foot. Mehta credits frugal engineering for the success of the design and its proliferation across India. Made from durable plastic piping the limb — available for above and below knee amputees — requires little maintenance and can be fitted in hours. Wearers can leave the clinic able to run, swim, climb trees and ride a bicycle, Mehta said. A unique design allows movement in the ankle and unlike models elsewhere they can be worn without shoes — a huge plus in a region where everyone goes barefoot in kitchens and temples or mosques. As the prosthesis endures wear and tear, or the shape of the leg changes over time, new fittings can be arranged quickly and free of charge. “I am getting my fourth leg and I didn’t have to spend a penny. It’s just like getting an all new gumboot,” said 50-year-old Rajkumar Saini, who lost his leg in a road accident 13 years ago. The design has been so successful that it has found its way abroad, assisting amputees in countries from Africa and Asia to Pacific islands. More than 25,000 artificial limbs and other aids have been distributed worldwide since Mehta’s charity first rolled the Jaipur Foot off the assembly line in 1975. It is now branching out into more advanced technology. One of its most successful new creations is a self-lubricating, oil-filled nylon knee replacement that can be manufactured for $20, a mere fraction of the $10,000 charged for models elsewhere in the world. Created in collaboration with Stanford University in the U.S., the artificial knee is considered so cost effective it was named one of 50 best inventions in the world by Time magazine. The advent of 3-D printing has opened up new possibilities, too. The charity has teamed up with Prashant Gade, a 24-year-old Indian engineer, to print inexpensive artificial hands using the revolutionary printing technology he was gifted at an MIT conference. Funding remains a constant challenge, but Mehta is confident his thrifty operation will continue to reach those in desperate need. “I strongly believe that even if 1 percent of people in this country or in the world are compassionate, we shall survive.”


Filipino wins first Elvis in Asia contest

Abstract: MANILA - More than 20 Elvis Presley impersonators shimmied, gyrated and belted out classics like “Jailhouse Rock” in Manila on Saturday at the first Elvis in Asia contest. The King of Rock ‘n’ Roll died 40 years ago last week and contest organizers said they aimed to keep his style and music alive for a new generation of fans. With trademark pompadours, side burns and bejeweled jumpsuits, 23 performers from the Philippines, Thailand, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia and Australia paid tribute to their idol. “His music is timeless,” said Filipino Jun Espinosa, who won first prize after his rendition of the Elvis classic “Burning Love.” “Every generation can enjoy his music because it’s so natural and it’s so awesome and great. That’s king Elvis,” he said. First prize included a free trip to Graceland, the Presley estate in Memphis, Tennessee, where thousands of fans gathered last week to mark the anniversary of the singer’s death. The contestants at the Manila event were judged on their appearance and their ability to imitate the charisma and music of Elvis. “It’s incredibly difficult,” said Japan’s Yukihiro Nishijima who sang “You Gave Me a Mountain.” “Probably more difficult than any other artist because he has a ‘rainbow voice’ meaning he has seven different voices. Anyone who is a singer would know this,” he said. Elvis died suddenly at age 42 on Aug. 16, 1977, from heart failure after battling health problems including weight gain and a dependency on prescription drugs.


Shiga tops in volunteerism; Osaka finishes in last place: leisure survey

Abstract: OSAKA - If you’re the kind of person who prioritizes volunteer work, enjoys playing badminton and has an interest in studying, Shiga Prefecture might be your ideal home in Kansai. On the other hand, if education and learning new skills are your top priorities, you’re not too bothered about volunteer activities and you enjoy playing some sports, you might consider moving to neighboring Kyoto Prefecture. And if you don’t care at all about volunteer activities, but do enjoy learning, especially foreign languages other than English, you might want to consider Osaka Prefecture. These are just some of the conclusions that might be drawn from the results of the latest survey by the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry on how people in Japan’s 47 prefectures use their leisure time. Results for the fiscal 2016 survey, which drew responses from 200,000 people in about 88,000 households nationwide, were released last month. For Kansai’s prefectures, which compete with each other for business and tax revenue, the survey is a benchmark highlighting the more attractive places in the region to live. Shiga was No. 1 nationwide in terms of the number of respondents (33.9 percent) who said they’d participated in volunteer activities over the past year. But only Fukui (32.2 percent) and Nara (26.8 percent) scored above the national average of 26 percent in this category, which was also Hyogo’s average. Osaka (20.6 percent) was dead last among the 47 prefectures in terms of volunteer activities. Why are Shiga residents so keen to volunteer? One resident suggested that Lake Biwa — the largest freshwater lake in Japan — might have something to do with it. “The presence of Lake Biwa and the feeling among residents that they need to work to protect it is likely a big reason why the volunteerism spirit is strong in Shiga Prefecture,” said Ayako Fujii, a long-term Shiga resident who has advised the Environment Ministry and been involved with many local nongovernmental organizations, especially NGOs, over the past four decades. “There are also ties between Shiga volunteers and international environmentalist movements.” Osaka, on the other hand, made the top 10 list in the learning and training category, placing ninth, with 37.7 percent of the prefecture’s respondents saying they’d undergone some kind of study or training during the past year. Tokyo (46.2 percent) was No. 1 nationwide in this category, followed by Kanagawa (43.9 percent) and Chiba (41.1 percent). But Kyoto (41.1 percent) came in at No. 4, and Shiga (39.9 percent) at No. 5. Hyogo (38.9 percent) and Nara (38.7 percent) also made the top 10, which hover above the national average of 36.9 percent. Shiga was also the top Kansai prefecture and tied at No. 4 with Chiba nationwide in the category of participation in sports, with 71.6 percent of respondents saying they’d engaged in some kind of sports activity. Kyoto (70.1 percent), Hyogo (69.5 percent) and Nara (69.5 percent) prefectures also made the top 10 in this category, though neighbor Osaka ended up in 22nd place with only 66.9 percent of Osakans saying they’d engaged in sports during the past year. Among the many different sports, Shiga had the most residents who said they’d played badminton (8.6 percent versus the national average of 6.7 percent). When it comes to learning foreign languages, however, Tokyo was No. 1 nationwide across two categories. But Kyoto was the top prefecture in Kansai and fourth nationwide in terms of respondents (14.2 percent) who said they’d studied English in the past year. As for studying other languages, Kyoto was No. 3 nationwide (5.3 percent) and Osaka was No. 4 (4.1 percent). The survey, conducted every five years since 1976, is carried out on Japanese and foreign residents 10 and older. It is used by politicians and bureaucrats in Tokyo and other governments as a basis for policy decisions on work-life balance, dealing with a graying society, low birthrate and gender equality.

shiga volunteering osaka leisure kyoto nara