Premium Friday is not about taking a holiday

Abstract: A good portion of the population still spends its New Year’s and Golden Week holidays in traffic jams, so I have my doubts about the success of the Premium Friday campaign, which started on Feb. 24 and was concocted by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry to get more workers to take time off and stimulate consumption. METI encourages employers to allow their charges to leave work at 3 p.m. on the last Friday of the month without any reduction in wages in the hope that they’ll shop, eat out and travel. But the scheme is so timid that it’s difficult to believe it will achieve its goals. The anonymous writer of Asahi Shimbun’s finance-related Keizai Kishodai column pointed out in the Feb. 18 edition that Japanese people only think of time off on a day-by-day basis, whereas Europeans tend to conceptualize it in week-long blocks, as “vacations.” METI is constricting the mind-set even further by delineating people’s free time in terms of hours. The business magazine Toyo Keizai called METI’s plan an “idea that comes from no idea,” since Japan has never properly institutionalized the notion of leisure . The United States and European countries have more mature approaches to the matter because their governments began promoting time off from work before World War II. It wasn’t until the early 1990s, with the end of the high-asset bubble period, that the Japanese government mandated Saturdays off for civil servants, thus setting a precedent for the private sector to do the same thing. Japan, however, then entered a long period of economic stagnation that eroded the old lifetime employment system and destabilized job security. Even when companies offer paid holidays, workers are reluctant to take them, fearing it will reflect poorly on job reviews. The government, again, has to take the lead in Premium Friday, because it’s not certain how many companies will actually cooperate. In January, the Cabinet Office sent memos to all government offices telling them to let employees off early on Feb. 24, even though it’s the busiest time of the year for the central government. The Asahi Shimbun asked several companies about their own plans. Home manufacturer Daiwa House said it was encouraging employees, including part-timers and contract workers, to leave early on Feb. 24. They could come into work at 8 a.m. instead of 9 a.m., and then go home at noon. For the rest of 2017, Daiwa House will only observe Premium Friday at the end of even-numbered months, and if it seems to work, then next year they may expand the plan to all 12 months. Since Daiwa House’s sales staff works on the weekends, they will have Premium Mondays. In its own Feb. 20 report on the plan, Tokyo Shimbun also talked to Daiwa House and added that the company was warned in 2011 by the Labor Standards Bureau about making employees work overtime for no pay. In fact, almost all the media who covered the Premium Friday topic in the past month include comments from Daiwa House, which would seem to indicate that the company sees this as an opportunity for some positive PR after having been characterized as a business that exploits its workers. Another company profiled by multiple media outlets is the trading firm Sumitomo Corp. , which is recommending that its 5,426 employees take the whole day or a half-day off. What’s interesting about Daiwa House’s and Sumitomo Corp’s Premium Friday schemes is that they treat the time taken off as part of their paid leave systems. Shimizu Corp. is doing the same thing, but allowing its workers to divide their unused paid vacations into hourly units that can be taken on a Premium Friday. Public relations firm Sunny Side Up told Tokyo Shimbun it would even give each of its approximately 150 employees ¥3,200 if they left work early on Feb. 24. The coverage passes over those companies who are not with the program, which seems to be the majority of them. The Mainichi Shimbun on Feb. 18 pointed out that due to labor shortages, small and medium-size companies will likely not participate in the Premium Friday campaign. A representative of national business federation Keidanren told the newspaper that most companies are taking a “wait-and-see” posture, which probably means they have no intention of ever taking part. The fact that Premium Friday was thought up by METI indicates that its main reason for being is to stimulate consumption, which is where the media can play more of a constructive role. Almost all the reports mention travel companies who are planning to take advantage of Premium Friday to get more people on the road and maybe extend the extra hours into three-day weekends. Japan Travel Bureau told the Asahi that in January it put on sale special weekend excursion packages with departures on Friday afternoons that offer late check-in times and late meals. Department stores and restaurant chains also made sure their Premium Friday offers got publicized in the coverage, but the two-pronged mission of the plan sets up a conundrum: For every employee who takes time off for the purposes of shopping or travel, there’s another who has to work in order to serve those purposes. Another uniform aspect of the coverage is the economic effectiveness of the Premium Friday plan. Dai-ichi Life Research Institute is cited by every outlet as saying that spending on each Premium Friday will amount to ¥123.6 billion, but that calculation is based on the belief that “most” workers in the country will leave their places of employment at 3 p.m. If only “major companies” take advantage of the plan, which is the likely scenario, the economic effectiveness is only ¥13.5 billion . According to the Nihon Keizai Shimbun , if all workers who are entitled to paid holidays actually took them in full, the economic effectiveness would be ¥16 trillion a year, so Premium Friday is not only a piecemeal solution to the overwork problem, but rather measly in terms of stimulating consumption. Getting everyone to take the paid holidays they are entitled to, however, will require nothing short of a revolution in attitudes.

premium friday
holidays
economy
consumption
vacation
overtime


Gundam towers over a transforming Tokyo

Abstract: Every day, the towering full-scale Unicorn Gundam statue in Tokyo’s Odaiba waterfront district undergoes a transformation, eliciting shouts of joy from visitors young and old, many trying to snap good photos with their smartphones. The 19.7-meter, 49-ton statue of a mobile robot from the popular Gundam series has been standing in the Diver City Tokyo commercial plaza since Sept. 24 . It replaced a previous model as part of the Tokyo Gundam Project 2017, in which the statue represents the future of Tokyo and helps invigorate the bay area. The statue undergoes its one-minute transformation at 11 a.m., 1 p.m., 3 p.m., and 5 p.m. At night, a special short movie runs every 30 minutes from 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. In the Diver City Tokyo Plaza building just behind the gigantic statue, there is a venue called the Gundam Base Tokyo, a mecca for fans of plastic models. Launched on Aug. 19 , the Bandai Inc. shop is dedicated to selling, assembling and painting plastic models of the main characters from the animated series. About 2,000 types of Gundam models are on sale, and visitors can assemble the models they purchase, learn the assembly process and take in various special events. A total of 47.3 million units of the models, called Gunpla, have been sold, making Gundam the most popular series in plastic model history. On Dec. 17, the firm will hold a “World Cup” competition for Gunpla builders selected from 16 countries and districts. A small replica of the Statue of Liberty stands in Odaiba’s waterfront district in Tokyo’s Koto Ward. | YOSHIAKI MIURA Children look at plastic models displayed at Gundam Base Tokyo in the Diver City Tokyo commercial complex on Oct. 14. | YOSHIAKI MIURA Tourists from the United States take a look at plastic Gundam models built by World Cup champions at Gundam Base Tokyo in Diver City Tokyo on Oct. 14. | YOSHIAKI MIURA


Video game makers find a marketing recipe for success

Abstract: Sega’s popular video game character Sonic the Hedgehog is famous for running fast, but now he’s slowing down to grab a bite to eat with some extra friendly company. To help promote the upcoming “Sonic Forces” video game, which will be released in Japan on Nov. 9, Sega is turning Hooters outlets across Tokyo from the restaurant’s trademark orange to blue . Hooters outlets in Shinjuku, Ginza and Akasaka are planning to decorate their stores with Sonic dolls, hand out “Sonic Forces” coasters and offer a fast-food set that includes French fries, a Sonic-blue colored drink and a chili dog — Sonic’s favorite food. For those who aren’t up to speed, video-game-and-food collaborations have been around since the days of Atari, with video game characters showing up in children’s cereal or Pac-Man seen drinking 7-Up soda . Now, however, they’re becoming more interactive than simply slapping a sticker on a product, and several popular mashups have caught gamers’ attention this year. Kurikoan, a chain of taiyaki stalls in Yokohama and Tokyo, caught the Pokemon bug and decided to help trainers catch ’em all. Its limited-time Magikarp-yaki was shaped like the titular orange fish from the series. First introduced in late 2016, Magikarp-yaki became so popular that Kurikoan released a custard version in January . This became a social media hit, with more than 1,250 people using the hashtag #コイキング焼き (#Magicarp-yaki) on Instagram to show off their latest catch. However, it seems the marketing trend is shifting from filling gamers’ stomachs to taking over their screens. One notable example is “Splatoon 2” for the Nintendo Switch, which encourages players to duke it out over digital food. The popular shooting game, where squid-like kids spray their ink to defeat enemies and mark their territory, features a monthly battle called Splatfest. Players vote for their favorite option in a poll and then fight people who selected the alternative option, with past competitions pitting such things as rock against pop and mayo against ketchup. And then McDonald’s entered the ring. September’s Splatfest was sponsored by the fast-food chain , asking gamers to pick their favorite side: French fries or McNuggets. One might assume that people would be annoyed to see such obvious paid content in their game, but “Splatoon” fans actually embraced it. Some players created fan art based on the event, others even used the signature section of their profile to draw McDonald’s food . (Although it lost the popular vote, McNuggets ended up winning the Splatfest battle, much to the chagrin of French fries’ fans.) The only thing hotter than September’s Splatfest is probably the recent tieup between instant noodles and “Final Fantasy XV.” Square Enix’s expansive role-playing game finds its main heroes searching for new weapons, armor and magic spells. In addition, however, the collaboration adds a special item to the list: Nissin’s Cup Noodles. Certain characters in the game ramble on about how they’re craving Nissin’s ubiquitous snack, and players are even encouraged to purchase instant noodles in-game to satiate their team. Gamers will also see plenty of Nissin billboards and delivery trucks throughout their journey. Nissin’s campaign became even more in-your-face this year when it released a digital Cup Noodle hat for characters in the game , essentially turning them into goofy walking ads for the company. How does one obtain this rare item? When the campaign was launched, players had to buy a limited-edition set of “Final Fantasy”-inspired Cup Noodles in real life and redeem a code that was included with the purchase. The hat was later made available for free to any player who wanted it. The collaboration has proved so successful that Nissin has produced a spoof commercial about it. In the video, Nissin took the original commercial for the “Final Fantasy XV” game and added noodles into every scene. The video currently has more than 1 million views on YouTube . With people all over the internet sharing photos and memes about these recent collaborations, video game developers appear to have found a marketing recipe for success.

sega
hooters
kurikoan
final fantasy
nissin
mcdonald 's
japan pulse


Fatal road-rage cases highlight Japan's rise in aggressive driving

Abstract: Whatever you call it, road rage can be deadly. The term “road rage” refers to argumentative and sometimes violent behavior by drivers when annoyed by other road users’ actions. It is believed to have been coined in the United States in the 1980s, and had spread to the U.K. by the next decade. While the English “ rōdo rēji ” is understood by Japanese, the tabloids avoided use of this term in their reports of recent incidents, including a fatal accident on the Tomei Expressway last June 5. They instead have been described in the vernacular with a variety of different words. For example, Yukan Fuji (Oct. 13) used the phrase “ sobō na hashiriya ” (“violent street racers”); Nikkan Gendai (Oct. 21) called them “ kireru doraibā ” (“drivers who lose it”); Friday (Nov. 3) used “ kyōaku doraibā” (“atrocious” or “brutal drivers”); and Flash (Nov. 7) referred to the phenomenon as “ akushitsu aori unten ” (“malicious tailgating”). It was thanks to a dashcam on a truck last June that TV viewers could be shown images of what occurred the Tomei Expressway, which resulted in the deaths of 45-year-old Yoshihisa Hagiyama, an auto maintenance worker, and his wife Yuka, age 39. The Hagiyamas were driving westward, toward their home in Shizuoka, with Yuka at the wheel. It is believed that while stopped at a rest area in Nakai, Kanagawa Prefecture, Yoshihisa had complained to Kazuho Ishibashi, age 25, over the way he had parked his car. Infuriated, Ishibashi chased the Hagiyamas’ vehicle from the parking lot for 1.4 kilometers, swerving in and out of the passing lane and braking to a halt in front of the car, forcing Yuka to jam on the brakes. Seconds later, a large truck rammed the Hagiyamas’ car from behind. The couple’s two daughters, also in the car at the time of the collision, suffered minor injuries. In a bizarre case of collateral damage, J-Cast News (Oct. 19) reported that Hidefumi Ishibashi, president of a construction company in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture, was misreported as being the father of the offending driver, when in fact he was completely unrelated. But that did not discourage more than 100 trolls from posting hysterical rants and physical threats against him on 2channel and other public online bulletin boards. To ensure his family members’ safety, Ishibashi felt compelled to withdraw his children from their school. On Oct. 10, Kazuho Ishibashi was charged with vehicular manslaughter, which if found guilty provides for imprisonment from one to 20 years. Police are reportedly investigating three similar incidents in which Ishibashi was also believed to be involved, on May 8 and 9 in western Japan, prior to the fatal collision, Nikkan Gendai reports that recently such temperamental outbursts have by no means been a rarity throughout the nation. On Oct. 16, an accident occurred on a two-lane national highway in Aichi Prefecture, in which the driver of an automobile, in his 30s, stopped in the path of a truck driven by a man in his 40s. “The drivers disembarked from their vehicles and began fighting,” a source in the Aichi prefectural police relates, “when they were struck by a delivery van. The younger man was thrown some 3 meters, fracturing his elbow and pelvis. The truck driver suffered a dislocated shoulder.” Then two days later, in Kakogawa, Hyogo Prefecture, Yoshiyuki Koto, a 36-year-old auto maintenance worker, went after an 18-year-old company employee in his car, slamming into it from behind. He had been infuriated when the other car passed him, and forced it off the road at a junction. Disembarking from his car, the man waved a golf club at the terrified younger man, shouting, “I’ll kill you!” The entire incident was recorded by a traffic camera and Koto was arrested on suspicion of committing a violent act. Flash magazine (Nov. 7) invited the Japan Automobile Federation (JAF) to contribute 15 images shot by drive recorders showing examples of dangerous driving, such as passing while ignoring a solid center line, or cutting in on the right while the car in front is signaling for a right turn. From analysis of some 7,000 drive recorder images — which JAF posts on a web site called Doradora Doga ( drive-drive.jp ) — motoring journalist Atsushi Sato offered Flash readers “Ten rules for protecting oneself from dangerous driving that leads to tragedies”: 1) Drive with the flow of traffic at the posted speed. 2) After passing, return to the cruising lane. 3) Avoid frequent changing of lanes. 4) Don’t talk or text on your telephone while waiting for a light to change. 5) If you are tailgated, move aside and let the other driver pass. 6) If a driver tailgates you, under no circumstances should you brake sharply. 7) Irrespective of speed, the correct space between moving vehicles is two seconds. 8) Do not drive close to a vehicle that gives a sense of threat or intimidation. 9) Install a drive recorder and place a sticker on your car informing other drivers that you are recording. 10) Should you feel threatened, lock your door and dial 110, the emergency police number. “Initially, the drive recorder images that people submitted were attractive scenery while motoring, says Toshihiro Torizuka, a former editor of JAF. “But presently about 80 percent of the contents show examples of dangerous driving.” According to data from the National Police Agency, during 2016 a total of 7,625 drivers were charged with tailgating or otherwise failing to maintain a safe distance between vehicles. Police advise anyone who feels threatened by such a driver to report it promptly.

road rage
yukan fuji
nikkan gendai
hagiyama
ishibashi
j-cast
2channel
flash magazine
atsushi sato


Japan's crime syndicates are shooting themselves in the foot

Abstract: Japan’s organized crime syndicates appear to be embroiled in something of a power struggle. Yoshinori Oda, who heads a splinter group that left the Yamaguchi-gumi called the Ninkyo Yamaguchi-gumi, was attacked as he left his house in Kobe on Sept. 12. Oda’s bodyguard, Yuhiro Kusumoto, was killed in the attack. Police later issued a warrant for Tatsumi Hishikawa’s arrest over the attack. Hishikawa is a member of the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi, a rival splinter group that broke from the country’s largest criminal syndicate in 2015. The relationship between the two splinter groups is complicated. The Ninkyo Yamaguchi-gumi was created in April after gang members left the renegade Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi due to dissatisfaction with internal operations on the part of upper-level management. The Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi, which is headed by Kunio Inoue, was reportedly embarrassed by the failure of the assassination attempt in September. After all, the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi had initially promised to restore the Yamaguchi-gumi’s “glorious and noble” past. Fronting a news conference in April upon announcing the launch of the new group, Oda had pledged to turn the Ninkyo Yamaguchi-gumi into a humanitarian organization that provided security services, protected the public order and upheld values such as “fighting the strong and protecting the weak.” He was highly critical of both the Yamaguchi-gumi and the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi. To some extent Oda’s slain bodyguard reflected this new direction, leaving his organized crime syndicate a few months earlier to go straight. According to sources in both gangs, Kusumoto believed he could be a “good gangster” and his last reported words were “Go ahead, shoot me if you can.” The Ninkyo Yamaguchi-gumi promoted Kusumoto at his funeral, giving him senior membership in the gang. Posthumous promotion is common in the police force for officers who are killed in the line of duty but it’s rarely done in gangland killings. Until recently, skirmishes between the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi and the Ninkyo Yamaguchi-gumi have been largely accidental in nature. Following the September attack, however, police have been paying close attention to the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi and its activities. Speaking on condition of anonymity, a police officer in Kansai says the failed assassination attempt hurts the gang’s reputation. “The Kobe group is mostly comprised of members of the Yamaken-gumi faction in the old Yamaguchi-gumi, and they’ve always been considered the combat arm of the organization,” he says. “The attack was a complete failure. The assassins killed the wrong guy. One of them showed up with a machine gun and even then they couldn’t kill Oda. They also shot an unarmed guy — that’s just not very cool. The whole thing is getting out of hand.” The Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi is now considered to be a violent gang, while people almost look up to the Ninkyo Yamaguchi-gumi. The attack has helped the Ninkyo Yamaguchi-gumi recruit more members. The Hyogo Police Department has created a special squad of around 500 officers to patrol the entertainment districts of Kobe and cut off an important source of revenue for gangs: protection money. “We will crack down on senior gang members and their finances,” the head of the criminal investigative division in Kobe declared in late August at a press conference. “We will discover who pays them off and who provides them with funds. We will cut off their income sources.” The Metropolitan Police Department has also ramped up its monitoring of gang activity within the city, placing most syndicates under 24-hour surveillance. Police in Hyogo consider the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi to be the most violent faction and have been arresting members on whatever charges they can make stick. The second most powerful member of the organization, Osamu Teraoka, was arrested on Oct. 10 on suspicion of falsifying electronic records. However, the Ninkyo Yamaguchi-gumi is also being closely monitored by police. On Oct. 25, police officers in Osaka arrested Nobumasa Tanaka, a 59-year-old member of the group, for aggravated possession of firearms under the Swords and Firearms Control Law. Officers found eight pistols and 143 bullets at his house in May. It appears the Ninkyo Yamaguchi-gumi may be trying to go straight, but they definitely aren’t planning to show up without a weapon at a gunfight.

organized crime
yoshinori oda
yamaguchi-gumi
ninkyo yamaguchi-gumi
yuhiro kusumoto
kobe yamaguchi-gumi
yakuza


Japan Times 1917: An eye-witness account of Perry's historic visit

Abstract: 100 YEARS AGO Saturday, Nov. 17 1917 Three old Japanese who witnessed the arrival of Commodore Perry at Uraga will be among the persons present at the town to welcome Mr. Hardey, who arrives there today for a visit to the former fishing village. These old men are Denroku Ogawa, aged 76, watchman of the Perry Monument there; Seizaemon Yorozuya, aged 73, a grocer at Uraga; and Shoaemon Kohitsu, aged 84, who is a rich farmer and who, it is said, has as robust a look as a young farmer, and bears some resemblance to old Mr. Hardey, especially in point of his hoary-white flowing beard. Kohitsu said, calling to remembrance the scene of the visiting “black ships” and the American mission landing at Kurihama. “From a far distance, among the wonder-stricken villagers, losing color at the sight of the ‘black ships,’ I stood aghast, wondering what would happen, staring at the unwanted objects. Meanwhile, groups of sailors landed on the beach and beckoned us. But all of us shrank from nearing these visitors from an unknown land. The sailors gave us some gifts. What the objects were we didn’t know. They were, as a matter of fact, six cakes of soap. “After several discussions among the worthies of the village, it was decided that they should be eaten. We boiled them with water in a pan. Behold, lather in bubbling suds overflowed. What terrible suspicions occurred to us! “On finding the unknown presents had a peculiar smell and a mysterious taste, as a bold farmer who dared to lick the substance learned, we put the ominous lather into a wooden tub and took it to a remote mountain, and there the first United States gift was buried deeply into the ground.” 75 YEARS AGO Sunday, Nov. 8, 1942 War prisoners enjoying life; many working American and British soldiers who surrendered to the Imperial Forces on the Hong Kong, Malaya, Philippine and other southern fronts are enjoying life at the various war prisoners camps in the Japanese mainland, Chosen and Taiwan, at which accommodation has since been found for them. Their treatment is just, in keeping with the moral principle upheld by the Imperial Forces. Their lives are perfectly safe, while they have a guarantee of their subsistence. The prisoners at the camp in Taiwan are feeling grateful to Lieutenant-General Rikichi Ando, commander of the Imperial Army in Taiwan, for the books, foodstuffs, cigarettes and other things which he gave them when he visited the camp some time ago. Some of them have written to Lieutenant-General Ando, expressing their appreciation of his generosity. The military authorities have decided to employ these war prisoners, of whom there are a great many, in various undertakings for the extension of the nation’s productive power. Many of these prisoners are already engaged in various fields, receiving proper rates of wages for their work. Vigorous activity is seen in the unloading of cargo at Tokyo Port, the front gate to the capital and the supply route for the Tokyo citizens who united as one mass of fire at hard at work in their wartime tasks with the ultimate objective of annihilating America and Britain. Men wearing beret-like Scotch caps and others wearing British navy caps are silently and orderly at work. Some of them, tucking up their sleeves, make a boastful show of their arms tattooed with the names or faces of their sweethearts. Work is done in an orderly manner here every day. Efficiency in wharf work has increased since the war prisoners came. 50 YEARS AGO Saturday, Nov. 25, 1967 More youths express desire to leave Japan At least 1 out of every 10 young people in Japan today wants to leave the country and live either in South or North America, according to a survey conducted by the Foreign Office last month. The survey, covering 46,000 persons 20 years of age or older, showed that 11.2 percent of those under 30 years old had expressed a desire to emigrate. Of the people surveyed, 6.2 percent replied that they wished to go to a foreign country. The percentage showed a considerable increase since the last survey conducted in 1965 when 2.6 percent gave the same reply. As to the countries to which they wanted to emigrate, 22.4 percent chose the United States, 20.2 percent Brazil, 10.7 percent Canada, 5.7 percent Switzerland and 5.6 percent Australia. As for the reasons why they desired to live abroad, 34.9 percent said they wanted to emigrate to secure a better living, 32.6 percent to become successful and 24.6 percent to fulfill a yearning to live abroad. 25 YEARS AGO Saturday, Nov. 28, 1992 Wives prefer to spend leisure time alone The vast majority of wives prefer to spend leisure time alone than with their husbands, according to a recent poll. Leisure Development Center in Tokyo, a quasi-govenment affiliate of the Ministry of International Trade and Industry, surveyed 200 couples in the Tama area of Tokyo and the Senri area of Osaka between July and August. It found 87.5 percent of the wives said they would like to spend leisure time separate from their husbands. The poll also found that 50.5 percent of the wives would feel comfortable if their husbands spent their leisure time outside the home. By contrast, only 21 percent of the husbands said that they would feel comfortable if their wives spent their leisure time outside the home. About 60 percent of husbands and wives said they were in favor of shorter working hours to give them more time together with their families. Yet 43 percent of the wives feared more leisure time would simply mean more housework, and 41.5 percent feared it would cut into their free time.

leisure
wwii
world war ii
marriage
pows
commodore matthew perry


Elephant's paintings auctioned in Hungary

Abstract: BUDAPEST - Paintings created by an Indian elephant who enjoys wielding a brush were auctioned off by a Hungarian traveling circus on Saturday. Three of 42-year-old elephant Sandra’s abstract canvasses, with colored lines flowing across them resembling rivers, fetched about 40,000 forints ($150) each. A painting depicting Sandra herself, done by a Hungarian painter, sold for 260,000 forints. The money will be offered to an elephant sanctuary in Malaysia. Sandra paints with her trunk purely for pleasure, according to her owner and trainer Florian Richter, a horse acrobat and circus director. Sandra, who was already well practiced in a circus trick involving a shaving brush, was given a paintbrush and she quickly adapted her skills to the canvas. Richter said that unlike many elephants in Thailand that are thought to be forced to paint, Sandra does it by herself when she is in the mood. “I only help her with changing the brushes and putting them into paints, but she does the rest by herself, more or less. I praise her by saying, ‘Oh, this is really good — or not so good,'” Richter said. “We have been together for 40 years, so this is a family connection.” Sandra arrived as a baby elephant at the circus where Richter grew up, as a seventh generation member of an acrobat family.

elephants painting auctions hungary animals art circuses


Some 30,000 elderly drivers in Japan show signs of dementia

Abstract: A total of 30,170 drivers ages 75 or older showed signs of dementia, according to the results of a recent cognitive test required of elderly license holders under the country’s revised Road Traffic Law. In the nearly six months since the law took effect on March 12, about 1.12 million elderly drivers took the test, 674 had their licenses revoked after doctors diagnosed them with full-on dementia, provisional figures released Thursday by the National Police Agency showed. Under the revised law, drivers who are 75 or older are required to undergo a cognitive test when they apply to renew their licenses and if they commit certain traffic violations. Those showing signs of dementia under the test are obliged to see doctors and will have their licenses revoked or suspended if they are diagnosed with dementia. About 2.7 percent of drivers taking the test were judged as being at risk of having dementia. Of the 7,673 such drivers who were ordered to see doctors by the end of September, other than the 674 who had their licenses revoked, 23 had them suspended. Some 4,326 drivers were allowed to keep their licenses but were told to submit certificates from doctors again six months later. A total of 6,391 elderly drivers voluntarily returned their licenses before the test while 1,267 who did not surrender their licenses had them invalidated after failing to see doctors. The agency previously estimated that about 50,000 drivers annually will need to see doctors following the cognitive test, with the expectation that some 15,000 of them would have to have their licenses revoked or suspended after being diagnosed with dementia. The actual figures fell short of estimates because many drivers chose to give up their licenses before the medical examination, an agency official said. Elderly drivers are allowed to retake the cognitive test depending on their health condition at the time they take the first test. The test results of nearly 4,000 such drivers improved when they were retested. The agency also said the number of drivers aged 75 or older who returned their licenses in January-September totaled around 184,900, surpassing the 2016 full-year total of some 162,300. There were 294 cases of fatal traffic accidents involving drivers 75 years or older between January and September, down from 328 from the same period last year, according to the NPA. But it is still high compared to other age groups, it said. “We would like to further promote comprehensive measures to prevent traffic accidents by elderly drivers,” said NPA chief Masayoshi Sakaguchi during a news conference Thursday. The police screenings also showed that a majority of elderly drivers, about 780,000, had no problems with their cognitive abilities, while 300,000 were found to have minor issues. Among fatal traffic accidents involving elderly drivers in recent years, a truck operated by an 87-year-old man in Yokohama near Tokyo ran into a group of school children in October last year, killing one boy, while an 83-year-old woman in Tokyo lost control of her car at a hospital the following month, causing two deaths. To mitigate the risks associated with dementia, poor vision and deteriorating physical strength associated with seniors, an NPA panel in June proposed several new rules, including limiting them to vehicles with automatic braking systems. It also urged the government to create a new license that limits seniors to vehicles with advanced safety systems that can automatically brake or prevent unintended accelerations. Seniors could also be restricted to driving at certain times of day or in certain areas. The panel also recommended continuing ongoing campaigns urging the elderly to voluntarily give up driving. Similar practices have been put in place in other countries, including the United States and Germany.

dementia
police
cars
old age
driver 's license


Japan drops by three to 114th in gender equality rankings by World Economic Forum

Abstract: LONDON - Japan was placed at 114th in the World Economic Forum’s global gender equality rankings for 2017 released Thursday, down from 111th last year and the worst standing among the Group of Seven major economies. The fall chiefly reflected a decline in the political empowerment of women in the country, the Geneva-based think tank said. The WEF survey, covering 144 countries, measures gender equality by analyzing women’s participation rates and gaps between men and women in the categories of politics, the economy, education and health. Japan’s rating improved in educational attainment because more women were enrolled in higher education. In economic participation and opportunity, it rose to 114th from 118th due to a narrower income gap. However, Japan fell from 103rd to 123rd in political empowerment due to low proportions of female lawmakers and Cabinet ministers. Iceland topped the rankings for the ninth straight year, followed by Norway and Finland, according to the WEF, the organizer of the annual Davos meeting of business and political leaders. Rwanda came fourth, up from fifth, thanks to a rise in women’s economic participation. The WEF warned that the global gender gap is now widening, following a decade of slow progress toward parity between the sexes. In recent years, women have made significant progress toward equality in a number of areas such as education and health, with the Nordic countries leading the fray. But the global trend now seems to have made a U-turn, especially in workplaces, where full gender equality is not expected to materialize until 2234. “A decade of slow but steady progress on improving parity between the sexes came to a halt in 2017, with the global gender gap widening for the first time since the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report was first published in 2006,” the report said. A year ago, WEF estimated that it would take 83 years to close the remaining gap. But since then women’s steady advances in the areas of education, health and political representation have plateaued, and for the fourth year running, equality in the workplace has slipped further from view. Thursday’s report said that at the current rate of progress, it will take a full century on average to achieve overall gender equality. The estimated time needed to ensure full equality in the workplace meanwhile has jumped from 80 years in 2014 to 170 years last year to 217 years now, according to the report. “In 2017, we should not be seeing progress towards gender parity shift into reverse,” Saadia Zahidi, WEF head of education, gender and work, said in a statement. Even more than in the workplace, political participation stubbornly lagged behind, with women still accounting for just 23 percent of the world’s decision makers, according to the report. But political representation is also the area where women have made the most advances in recent years, the report said, estimating it will take 99 years to fully rectify the situation. The picture is not all bleak. The march toward gender equality in education could reach the finish line within a mere 13 years, it said. And the situation varies greatly in different countries and regions. For instance, while Western European countries could close their gender gaps within 61 years, countries in the Middle East and North Africa will take 157 years, the report estimated. Overall, the Nordic countries once again dominated the top of the table: Men and women were most equal in Iceland, followed by Norway, Finland and Sweden in fifth place, after Rwanda. They were joined by Nicaragua, Slovenia, Ireland, New Zealand and the Philippines in the top 10, with Syria, Pakistan and finally Yemen at the bottom of the rankings. Among the world’s 20 leading economies, France fared the best, taking 11th place overall, up from 17th place last year and 70th place in 2006. France’s rise is largely thanks to increasing numbers of women in politics, including complete parity among government ministers. The United States meanwhile dropped four spots to 49th place due to women’s dwindling political representation, with a “significant decrease in gender parity in ministerial level positions,” the report said.

world economic forum
politics
women
jobs


Manga series highlights Nagoya's unique charms and cuisine

Abstract: A popular cuisine-themed comic series is now trending on social media — and winning the hearts of those who know Nagoya. In a recent installment of “Ichinichi Gaishutsuroku Hancho” (“Squad Leader’s One-Day Leave”), the serial comic by Tensei Hagiwara, released Oct. 30, the main character visits Nagoya and experiences the city’s unique food culture and customs. The character cannot quite describe what he feels about Nagoya, saying, “There’s something out of place.” In reply, a local resident, who appears in the biweekly series published in a weekly magazine, quips, “That’s because Nagoya is an independent country!” Many have found the depiction of Nagoya in the manga to be spot-on. “Ichinichi Gaishutsuroku Hancho,” published in Young Magazine by Kodansha Ltd., follows the adventures of squad leader Otsuki, a middle-aged foreman in an underground labor camp who uses his one-day leave to visit different places and try their delicacies. The Oct. 30 installment shows Otsuki on his first trip to Nagoya, savoring the taste of the city’s famous ogura (sweet bean paste) toast in a cafe and wandering around the Osu district. However, the more he enjoys the streets and food of Nagoya, the more confusing the city becomes to him. After learning that fried prawns, considered Nagoya- meshi (Nagoya’s local cuisine), was not a specialty that originated in Nagoya, he bursts out in astonishment, “Then why is it so delicious?” Seeing an old-style rifle range next to a fancy cafe in Osu, he complains, “There is no order in (the layout of stores)! This whole area, it’s so … random.” The series is a spinoff from “Tobaku Mokushiroku Kaiji,” a manga series about gambling. The work by Nobuyuki Fukumoto was adapted into a live action movie in 2009. Kaiji’s trademark use of the Japanese onomatopoeia word zawa , for the sound demonstrating an uneasy atmosphere, is also featured in the spinoff. After the magazine hit the stands, many readers took to Twitter to express their thoughts. “It shows all of Nagoya,” one wrote, while another reader commented, “It makes me want to visit.” Among the readers was Takumi Sugiyama, a 22-year-old university student from Nagoya’s Moriyama Ward. He grew up in the city and often visits Osu. “The character said that ‘the street layout is somewhat random.’ It absolutely is and I cannot argue with that,” Sugiyama said. The author himself made his first visit to Nagoya in mid-September, and his experience is reflected in the character’s story. Hagiwara chose Nagoya because of “its interesting, unique food culture.” “The food was very delicious, and because of the randomness of the whole area, I was always able to enjoy the city with a fresh feeling,” he said. The comic series has become popular at a time when Nagoya is increasingly being featured in the media. Japan’s first outdoor Legoland park opened in Nagoya in April, while the city, in an ironic twist, has earned the title of “No. 1 city that people do not want to visit.” “Buratamori” (“Tamori’s Stroll”), a popular weekly travel television series on NHK, featured Nagoya’s geography and history for two weeks in a row in June. The show broadcast on Nov. 18 focused on the city’s manufacturing industries. Nagoya-based musicians, including Boys and Men, an all-male, Nagoya-born idol group, and Team Syachihoko, a Japanese female pop idol group, have been performing well in the music charts. On top of mainstream media exposure, social media culture popular among youths is also viewed as instrumental in raising Nagoya’s profile. Shinobu Eguchi, a Nagoya Gakuin University professor on regional economy, said, “In the past, Nagoya had a very strong negative image, seen as stingy or unsophisticated.” But Eguchi said the younger generation, mainly through social media, is increasingly embracing the idea of acting slightly different from others to stand out, making them “accept what is different about Nagoya in a positive view.”


Flawed Nissan and Subaru vehicle inspections seen as an issue of compliance rather than quality

Abstract: People’s trust in Japanese cars has been questioned following revelations that two domestic automakers that enjoyed strong reputations — Nissan Motor Co. and Subaru Corp. — allowed unauthorized employees to conduct final quality checks on finished vehicles. The scandal has caused Nissan to cut its operating profit forecast for the business year, which ends next March, by ¥40 billion to ¥645 billion due to costs related to the flawed inspections, including the recall of around 1.2 million vehicles in Japan, the company said earlier this month. Meanwhile, Subaru has recalled 395,000 vehicles and costs for corrective measures may top ¥20 billion. Despite the misconduct, both carmakers claim vehicle safety and quality were never compromised, and that the core of the issue has more to do with compliance than quality. The following are some questions and answers about vehicle inspections to explore these issues in more detail. What domestic inspections are required? The transport ministry requires that all vehicles undergo state inspections to confirm their safety, quality and road worthiness. Carmakers can carry out the inspections at their assembly plants with the transport ministry’s approval, eliminating the lengthy process of having all completed vehicles undergo state-run tests at a designated center. Before manufacturing a new model, carmakers need to register with the government a sample car and a manufacturing blueprint that includes the method for inspecting a finished car at an assembly plant. If the carmakers clear the screening process, they can skip state inspections by submitting a document declaring that inspections will be performed under the procedure approved by the government. The regulation also applies to imported cars, which means foreign automakers also need to have their vehicles clear government screening before being sold in Japan. Likewise, domestic carmakers need to follow local regulations when selling cars in foreign markets. What do carmakers do in the final checks? At the end of the assembly process, automakers check if the finished cars fulfill the quality standards endorsed by the government. The tests are extensive, and include braking functions and wheel alignment, headlights and the accuracy of the speedometer. According to the ministry, quality checks are supposed to be conducted by designated, highly skilled and knowledgeable employees. But the certification criteria vary by companies as the ministry does not set unified requirements for in-house inspectors. This is because the assembly process varies depending on the carmaker and model produced, a ministry official said. What were the problems at Nissan and Subaru? Both Nissan and Subaru did not comply with the inspection regulations they had arranged with the transport ministry. Nissan said in September the nation’s No. 2 carmaker had let uncertified staff carry out the final inspections. The company later announced that the improper practice continued even after the transport ministry’s on-site probe revealed the misconduct, suggesting the practice was rooted deeply in its manufacturing culture. On Friday, the Yokohama-based automaker revealed improper inspections at the company’s assembly plants have continued as routine for more than 30 years, citing lack of communication between workers and managers, shortages of certified inspectors and poor awareness of compliance as root causes for the misconduct. In Subaru’s case, its in-house regulations had stated trainees who are not yet certified inspectors need to be involved in the final quality checks for a certain period to gain experience, a rule that contradicts state regulations. The Tokyo-based carmaker said the practice had possibly continued for more than three decades until the transport ministry ordered the company to conduct an in-house investigation, after the Nissan scandal revealed potential problems. Both companies admitted having unauthorized staff use personal seals bearing certified inspectors’ names, a finding that suggests the misconduct was intentionally concealed by making records appear as if quality checks were performed by authorized personnel. Are there safety concerns? At a news conference last month, Nissan President Hiroto Saikawa emphasized that from his perspective the problem is about lax governance, not the safety or quality of its vehicles, because inspections were performed. “We are highly motivated to make good cars and I’m confident we have a system to produce good cars. But we were not careful enough about properly following regulations,” Saikawa said. Subaru President Yasuyuki Yoshinaga also insisted vehicle quality had not been compromised as a result of the misconduct, claiming only trainees who were deemed to possess the skills and knowledge “100 percent” were involved in the final checks although the company had not certified them as authorized inspectors. “Maybe we have set the hurdle (to become an authorized inspector) too high,” Yoshinaga said at a news conference last month. “We had never thought our rules were flawed” until the Nissan scandal broke, he said. No accidents linked to the misconduct have been reported, although both companies decided to recall cars that may have gone through the flawed quality checks. What is the impact of the misconduct? The misconduct may not have caused critical financial damage to Nissan and Subaru . Their sales mostly come from foreign markets, and both companies say cars for export were not subject to the flawed quality checks because the issue is about violations of regulations specific to Japan. Of 2.73 million vehicles sold worldwide from April to September, only 283,000 units were sold in Japan, Nissan said. The unit sales on the domestic market surged 34.1 percent from the same period last year, thanks to solid sales of new Serena minivans and Note e-Power electric vehicles, the carmaker said. Subaru’s unit sales in the domestic market during April to September also increased, by 21.0 percent from the previous year to 82,000 units. The company sold 449,000 units outside of Japan during the same period, of which 364,000 units were sold in North America, Subaru said. But it is still unclear how the scandal will affect their sales toward the end of the year, as Subaru President Yoshinaga said he was “extremely concerned” about damage to the company’s brand image.


Sicilian Mafia unlikely to ever again allow one 'boss of bosses' like Salvatore Riina

Abstract: ROME/PALERMO, ITALY - The death of Sicilian Mafia boss Salvatore “Toto” Riina on Friday does not mark the end of Cosa Nostra, but the crime group is unlikely to allow one man such power ever again, a top magistrate and former mobster said. The 87-year-old Riina died in a hospital in Parma, the northern Italian city where he had been serving 26 life sentences for murders committed between 1969 and 1992. “The end of Riina isn’t the end of Cosa Nostra,” said the chief magistrate in Sicily’s capital of Palermo, Francesco Lo Voi. “What remains to be understood is whether the men of Cosa Nostra will seek a direct successor or a new organizational structure.” Gaspare Mutolo, who admits to having strangled some 20 people, agreed. Mutolo, now 77, turned state’s witness in the early 1990s at the age of 51 and became a key witness in dozens of mafia cases. He shared a jail cell with Riina in the 1960s and became his bodyguard and driver afterward. Mutolo, who still wears a balaclava to hide his identity from cameras, felt “pity” when he heard his former friend and cell mate had died, he said. “He was a friend. He helped me. He even saved my life. I saw him a little bit as a father figure,” Mutolo told foreign reporters in Rome. Riina’s death changes little in Sicily, he said: “Palermo still has the Mafia.” As several recent cases show, the mob still extorts business owners on the island, and it still seeks to win lucrative public contracts through back-room deals with corrupt politicians and bureaucrats. “I can’t imagine politics without the Mafia,” Mutolo said. But the future of Cosa Nostra without Riina, whose brutality undermined the trustworthiness of the organization by driving mafiosi like Mutolo into the hands of the state, is uncertain. The Calabrian mob, known as the ‘ndrangheta, has had few turncoats and has taken over drug routes once dominated by Cosa Nostra. The Calabrians now are major importers of cocaine from South America to Europe and North America. Even politicians are wary of doing deals with the Sicilian mob now, Mutolo said. “Cosa Nostra is not the same as it was in the 1980s, mainly because of the turncoats,” Mutolo said. “The Calabresi have taken over because they are more trusted.” Cosa Nostra has always had a military-like structure, but before Riina there was no single “boss of bosses.” Power was divvied up by territory, and the local bosses met together in a “commission” to discuss strategy and settle disputes. But Riina made himself the dictator of Cosa Nostra. “It’s not a given that Cosa Nostra will see a charismatic leader as a necessity” in the future, Lo Voi said, returning to “a decentralization of operations and decision-making.”


China hopes to build nuclear-powered space shuttle by 2040

Abstract: China is hoping to achieve a “major breakthrough” in its space program by 2040 — including the development of nuclear-powered space shuttles that will allow for the mining of asteroids and “large-scale space exploration” — state-run media have reported. The ambitious goal of becoming a global leader in space technology by 2045 was detailed in a report issued by the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp., a major contractor for the country’s space programs, the official Xinhua News Agency reported Friday. Developing nuclear-powered space shuttles will “support large-scale exploration and development of space resources, and make mining on asteroids and space solar power plants possible,” Xinhua quoted the report as saying, without adding further details. According to the road map, China hopes to launch its Long March 8 carrier rocket by 2020, which it says will “significantly lower the cost of sending a satellite into low-medium orbit, boosting the country’s ability to provide commercial launch services” to other countries. China will also aim to develop reusable suborbital carrier rockets by 2025 and heavy carrier rockets to support manned missions to the surface of the moon and a Mars probe that would bring back samples around 2030. It also envisions developing completely reusable carrier rockets and “future-generation intelligent carrier rockets” by around 2035, the report said. “By then, common people will be able to take reusable carrier vehicles to travel in space,” Tang Yagang, the director of carrier rocket development at the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, was quoted as saying by state-run China News Service. By 2045, with advanced space transportation capabilities, China will be able to carry out the large-scale exploration of planets, asteroids and comets in the solar system, as space exploration enters a stage of rapid development, the China News Service quoted Lu Yu, a senior rocket engineer with the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp., as saying. Critics of the plan, however, have pointed out that China has not yet even built a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and is still grappling with some basic problems of conventional rocket technology. Nuclear-powered rocket concepts are not new — the United States conducted studies and ground tests from 1955 to 1972 to determine the viability of such systems. But these tests were halted when plans for a crewed Mars mission were deferred. Since then, nuclear thermal propulsion has been revisited several times in conceptual mission studies and technology feasibility projects, including NASA’s Nuclear Thermal Propulsion project, which began in late September.


Donald Trump's visit dominates Japan's conversation online — until he leaves

Abstract: Japanese netizens spent the days following U.S. President Donald Trump’s first visit to Japan trying to figure out who came out of the trip looking the best. A week later, a consensus was seemingly reached. “ Pikotaro gets the MVP! ” one 2chan poster wrote on Nov. 8, a sentiment that echoed across the internet and beyond. The brains behind last year’s “PPAP” song appeared at the state dinner held for Trump, a decision initially generating derision from all sides. Yet as reports from the event came out, it became clear the cheetah-print fanatic transformed a snoozer of political networking into something stupidly fun , with one Foreign Ministry employee telling the Sankei Shimbun they’d never seen a state dinner like that before. The web ate it up. It’s a fitting snapshot of how Japanese users online tended to view Trump’s visit to Tokyo as a whole. While a fair amount of users on social media sites took sides during his two-day stop in the capital, the majority of people treated it as a joke, creating memes and approaching every detail with detached interest. It dominated online conversation — until Trump went to his next destination, wherein netizens shifted discussion to the Zama serial killer. During Trump’s visit, however, all eyes were on his blossoming friendship with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The moments online users focused on mirrored the same ones Western observers obsessed over — Trump and Abe eating hamburgers, playing golf and the pair feeding carp together , with the U.S. leader dumping all of his pellets into the water at once. Users on both sides of the world created countless memes riffing on this — the Japanese memes leaned more toward anime, although Turkish chef Salt Bae popped up across the board — and debating whether it was fair to ridicule Trump’s feeding method when Abe had done the same thing first. Yet for Western folks online, every little thing Trump does is a flash point — the koi feeding, for example, spurred many in America to denounce the president’s manners, while others transformed into pond-scale Jacques Cousteau to explain just how damaging Trump’s actions were to fish. Japanese users joked that such reactions must be “American style” and moved on. Everything Trump does forces Twitter users in America to react, either to condemn the president’s latest actions or defend him to an almost comical degree. Imagine if Pikotaro was an American viral star who had met the U.S. leader: One half of the internet would call him a monster for meeting Trump (which many Americans actually did do following the dinner), while the other half would go out and buy 50 copies of “PPAP” if only to stick it to liberals. In Japan, however, online users predominantly viewed the trip as peculiar — almost reflecting how they viewed the fact that Trump was elected president in the first place. Which isn’t to say all social media users remained apolitical. One of the big takeaways from the visit was that Trump and Abe now seem pretty chummy — which means 2chan, a message board like 4chan in the U.S. that leans heavy to the right, defends Trump as being a proxy for Abe. Whenever someone tweeted something negative about Trump, supporters would call them “stupid” and tell them to move on. At most, these 2chan types chastised news shows for being “anti-Abe,” focusing too much on the carp feeding episode. Critics of the prime minister, meanwhile, reveled in footage of him falling down a sand trap while playing golf , making it the top trending video following Trump’s visit. (The best jibe, though, goes to Twitter user @huraiburaijin, who criticized Abe for not leaving the bunker in the condition another golfer would expect to find it — a breach of golf etiquette). Those were minority reactions, though. Most simply observed and made jokey posts about the trip. Trump came, dominated a news cycle, left and Japan moved on. The tone was different when he arrived at his next destination — South Korea, where the government served shrimp from the contested Liancourt Rocks and brought out a former “comfort woman” to meet the president . Those moves enraged Twitter users far more than anything that happened while Trump was in Japan and offer a reminder that netizens in Japan have their own issues to blow a gasket over — they certainly don’t need Trump for that.

donald trump
pikotaro
shinzo abe
trump in japan


Osaka may be facing political headwinds in its quest to host World Expo 2025

Abstract: OSAKA - “Look and see which way the wind blows before you commit yourself.” — “The Bat and the Weasels,” Aesop’s Fables One year from now, representatives from Osaka, along with Paris, Baku, Azerbaijan and Ekaterinburg, Russia, will gather in Paris. One city will be awarded the World Expo 2025 by the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE). To win an expo, a candidate needs more than a strong theme that is relevant and timely, yet idealistic and future-oriented. Beyond the technical requirements (available venue, ease of location, adequate transportation infrastructure) and cost concerns, there is the “diplomacy” issue. Why, exactly, should the 170 members of the BIE vote to ask the world to visit your expo, your city, your region and your country? Diplomacy by local entities requires outward-looking political and business leaders who know that how things are done at home isn’t always how things are done elsewhere. Success depends on tact, an ability to not be petty or spiteful, and an understanding of how to win, or at least not lose, in the court of international public opinion — qualities not always attributable to local politicians anywhere. Osaka’s leaders, including Gov. Ichiro Matsui, who also heads Nippon Ishin no Kai, traveled to Paris last week to lobby BIE delegates. Osaka may well win regardless of its diplomatic efforts. Paris is due to host the 2024 Olympics and, so the logic in Osaka goes, it would be “unfair” for the City of Light to win two major international events so close together. But nothing is certain and Osaka finds itself forced to be nice to the BIE just as it finds itself in a spat with sister-city San Francisco over the erection of a “comfort women” statue in that city. At the very moment when Osaka needs good headlines in the world’s media to raise its profile among BIE delegates (not a problem for Paris, obviously), it has picked a needless fight with an American city that has a longstanding international reputation for tolerance and liberal values, especially on human rights issues, over a decision by the democratically elected San Francisco city assembly. Privately, many in Osaka are furious with Mayor Hirofumi Yoshimura and understand his actions could impact their chances of winning the expo if the bid rivals decide to use them to paint Osaka as a city of anger and intolerance, a place whose values contradict the ideals of an expo. Nor, perhaps, will Matsui get the central government support for the expo bid he hoped for before the Oct. 23 election, where Nippon Ishin suffered badly. Sure, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will do the minimum required to sell Osaka’s bid abroad over the coming months. But Matsui’s Osaka-based party is no longer as influential as it once was and Abe already knows that, on constitutional reform, Nippon Ishin will, at the end of the day, stand with him regardless of how hard he pushes its expo bid. Osaka also wants to host the 2019 Group of 20 Leaders’ Summit, but is competing with Aichi Prefecture for that honor. The winner will be chosen in late January or February. Given Abe’s long, close relationship with powerful Aichi Prefecture-based Central Japan Railways (JR Tokai) Chairman emeritus Yoshiyuki Kasai and a politically weakened Nippon Ishin, there is worry in Osaka that Matsui no longer has the diplomatic skills or political leverage with Abe to win that challenge. Osaka has now committed itself to bidding for two major international events. How well it diplomatically handles any domestic and international political and media winds blowing against it depends on whether its leaders are attuned to the direction of those winds and, more importantly, whether they have the sense to navigate a course through calmer waters.


Japan's shifting attitudes toward prostitution

Abstract: Sex is a necessity and a pleasure; it’s also a problem. It exalts some, degrades others. It generates offspring. It’s dynamite. Taboos concerning it are as old as humanity. Laws regulating it predate civilization. Nowhere is the human libido absolutely unfettered. Incest is nowhere tolerated, marriage in some form, until very recently, everywhere requisite to socially sanctioned coupling. Prostitution is called the world’s oldest profession. That it is so testifies to something lacking in marriage. Even in early Japan, where a nobleman could take as many wives as he pleased, the trade flourished. Prostitutes were known as asobi-onna (women of pleasure; asobi for short). A courtier named Oe Yukitoki (955-1010) writes, “The younger women melt men’s hearts with rouge and powder and songs and smiles, while the older women give themselves the jobs of carrying the parasols and poling the boats.” Boats. It was, in part, a riparian trade. “By the end of the 10th century,” explains historian Janet Goodwin in “Selling Songs and Smiles,” “asobi had developed their distinctive practice of using small boats to stage entertainments for men at ports” on rivers near Kyoto, the capital. She quotes a courtier writing a friend to propose a visit to a boat: “In one evening of delight, we’ll forget that we must grow old.” Oe continues: “If there are husbands, they censure their wives because their lovers are too few. If there are parents, they wish only that their daughters were fortunate enough to be summoned by many customers. This has become the custom, though no human feeling is involved.” It sends a pang to his heart. On the one hand, “A tryst in a boat on the waves equals a lifetime of delightful encounters.” On the other, “we must sigh in regret at such a persistent custom. Why don’t we take our hearts that are so fond of making love and embark upon the road to loving wisdom?” His question echoes down the ages. If we loved wisdom as much as we love love, we’d be very wise indeed. It’s worth sighing over. Christian Europe and Shinto-Buddhist Japan saw prostitution differently: the former as sin, the latter as art. Sordid economic necessity, it is true, underlay both traditions. Still, there’s no European equivalent to the resplendent gated pleasure quarters that graced, or disgraced, all Japanese cities of any size from the 17th century on. Standards in the best of them were high. Courtesans modeled themselves on the elegant ladies of “The Tale of Genji,” a novel of 10th-century court life. They were entertainers, artists. Sex was one of their arts. The courtesan who was not also a poet, dancer, singer and conversationalist ranked low in, if not out of, a rigid, quasi-aristocratic hierarchy. Christian and Japanese attitudes regarding prostitution clashed head-on in 1872. When the Maria Luz, a Peruvian ship transporting Chinese coolies, docked at Yokohama for repairs, a coolie jumped overboard, complaining of ill-treatment. The matter came before a Japanese court, whose investigators found that the coolies were indeed treated like slaves. The ship’s lawyer protested. What business was it of Japan’s? And who was Japan to set standards? Didn’t it treat prostitutes like slaves? It was a telling thrust, recognized as such by Kanagawa Prefecture Deputy Gov. Taku Oe. The pleasure quarters were gilded cages, but cages all the same. The women were chattel, sold more often than not as children by impoverished parents under a patriarchal system of government that accorded the male head of a household absolute authority over its members. The women were not free to come and go. A courtesan’s best hope and highest aspiration was for a well-to-do customer to succumb to her charms, buy her contract and keep her as his own. As late as 1896, the statesman Ito Hirobumi (1841-1909) called licensed prostitution “a splendid custom” — it allowed filial daughters to sacrifice themselves, in fine Confucian fashion, for their families. Oe was ahead of his time. Inspired by the Maria Luz incident, he crafted legislation banning bonded prostitution in Kanagawa. For a brief time the ban spread nationwide, but tradition dies hard, sometimes not at all. The reform was soon rolled back. The “splendid custom” persisted, impervious to challenges by such parties as the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union, until the American Occupation that followed World War II. Christian revulsion finally had its way. On American orders, the licensed quarters were abolished. Not prostitution itself, however. The new setup ostensibly turned the former quasi-slaves into free businesswomen. It was 1872 revisited, with the difference that now most of the business came from American soldiers. So matters stood until 1952, when the Occupation ended. It was a brand new country, with a new Constitution guaranteeing free elections and gender equality. Elections in 1947 brought women into the Diet; in 1953 came more. One issue united them across party lines: prostitution. Hadn’t the time come, once and for all, to put an end to the demeaning commerce in women’s bodies? No, said many men, some women and all brothel owners. The latter invoked the Constitution’s Article 27: “All people shall have the right and the obligation to work.” Self-serving it may have been, but some prostitutes said the same, one demanding, “Among (reform-minded women legislators) … all done up in their finery, mincing about so proudly … are there any women like us who couldn’t have survived if they hadn’t prostituted themselves?” There were not, of course, but the reformers’ implicit answer to the challenge of women’s brute survival had been evolving, if not since the days of the asobi-onna boats at least since the Maria Luz. The answer was not prostitution but equal status for women and men. The 1956 Prostitution Prevention Law hardly achieved that. It didn’t even prevent prostitution. But it was a symbolic victory — backed, interestingly enough, by the infant Liberal Democratic Party, as conservative then as now but sensitive, as no governing authority had ever had to be before, to something that had never existed before: a female constituency.


Libya migrant trade survivors talk of fake rescuers and cabbies, rape and high-seas murder

Abstract: YAOUNDE - When uniformed men boarded the overloaded rubber dingy carrying Christelle Timdi and her boyfriend to a new life in Europe she thought the Italian coast guard had come to rescue them. But the men took out guns and began to shoot. “Many people fell in the sea,” the 32-year-old Cameroonian said as she described seeing her boyfriend, Douglas, falling in the water and disappearing into the darkness. The gunmen took Timdi and her fellow passengers back to Libya, where they were locked up, raped, beaten and forced to make calls to their families back home for ransom payments to secure their freedom. Timdi, who flew back to Cameroon last week, told her story as an international outcry escalated over a video that appeared to show African migrants being traded as slaves in Libya. Libya’s U.N.-backed government has said it is investigating and has promised to bring the perpetrators to justice. Timdi said she had not seen the footage broadcast by CNN, but had witnessed the trade in humans while in Libya. “I saw it with my own eyes,” she said, describing how she had seen a Senegalese man buying an African migrant. Libya is the main jumping off point for migrants trying to reach Europe by boat. Timdi said many traffickers posed as marine guards, police officers and taxi drivers to ensnare victims. There were around 130 other migrants on her boat when the gunmen opened fire in the middle of the night, Timdi said. After being taken back to Libya they were locked in an abandoned factory building where men would grab and rape the girls and women — and sometimes even the men. “We tried to hide the younger girls among us,” Timdi said, describing the terrifying moments when the guards would scour the room with torches, searching for their next victims. “I was heavily pregnant — that’s why I wasn’t raped. And it’s all done in front of others — they say it’s so that you know what will happen to you if you don’t pay up.” Timdi said the facilities used by traffickers appeared to be well organized and guarded, adding that most people inside wore fake police or military uniforms. “The place was surrounded by army-style vehicles with guns ready to fire, so we didn’t dare try and escape.” Timdi’s family paid 1 million CFA francs ($1,800), frantically collected from relatives and friends, to free her. But she said ransoms were no guarantee of safety. The traffickers work with a network of taxi drivers who are supposed to transfer released migrants to migrant camps — but who often re-traffick them, Timdi said. “If they send you a good taxi, you’ll arrive at your destination, but if it’s a bad taxi the driver will sell you on to someone else,” she said. “There are people who have been resold twice, three times. And when you call your family to tell them that you’ve been resold once again, no one will believe you, they won’t send more money to free you.” Timdi was released by her captors in October and gave birth to a baby girl, Brittanie, in a Libyan hospital just days later. Foka Fotsi, a Cameroonian migrant who was trafficked twice, said the clandestine trafficking networks in Libya comprised many nationalities. Those in charge of one of the places where he was held included Ghanaians and Nigerians, he said. Unable to find work to support his family, Fotsi decided to leave Cameroon last year, but fell into the hands of a Libyan kidnap ring before reaching Europe. “There was torture like I’ve never seen. They hit you with wooden bats, with iron bars,” he said, removing the hood of his sweatshirt and showing the still raw red wounds on his skull. “They hang you from the ceiling by (your) arms and legs and then throw you down to the floor. They swing you and throw you against the wall, over and over again, ten times. “They are not human beings. They are the devil personified.” Timdi and Fotsi were among 250 Cameroonians who were flown home this week by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) as part of a voluntary return scheme for migrants stranded in Libya. The program, funded by the European Union, provided returnees with clothing and medical checks. The most vulnerable, including pregnant women, also received around €400 ($475). IOM Cameroon head Boubacar Saybou said it was launching a program to help migrants set up businesses, and will also provide startup funding. “We need to create opportunities for them here. That’s what’s important,” he said. Fotsi said he hoped to follow up on the scheme. But for now his most pressing problem was finding a place to sleep. “I pray that God gives me work that I can do here,” he said. “If we don’t get work you’ll find many of us walking the streets again.”

libya
coast guard
cameroon
cnn
eu
human traffickers
slave trade


All Beijing kindergartens to get permanent inspectors in wake of alleged child abuse incidents

Abstract: SHANGHAI - Beijing will hire permanent inspectors to provide oversight at every one of its kindergartens following child abuse allegations at a facility run by the New York-listed RYB Education, the official Xinhua News Agency said late Sunday. The Beijing Municipal Education Commission said educational inspectors stationed at kindergartens throughout the city will submit reports on safety, sanitation and management to a central database, according to the Xinhua report. It said safety checks are currently underway and kindergartens will be ordered to make immediate improvements should problems be found. RYB Education said late Saturday it has fired the head of one of its kindergartens as well as a 22-year-old female teacher following allegations that children were abused. Xinhua reported earlier that police were checking allegations that children were “reportedly sexually molested, pierced by needles and given unidentified pills.” The scandal has sparked outrage throughout China and RYB’s New York-listed shares plunged 38.4 percent on Friday.

child abuse
abuse
education
children
china
schools


Japanese lawmaker sparks nationwide debate by taking her baby to work

Abstract: A female politician’s decision to bring her baby to an assembly session to highlight the difficulties faced by working mothers is drawing support on Twitter, with users saying they don’t mind if people take their children to the workplace. The use of the hashtag #KozurekaigiOK , which roughly translates as “It’s OK to bring a child to a meeting,” is believed to have been triggered by filmmaker Kazuaki Kiriya’s tweet Friday that he’s fine with people taking their children to business meetings. “Anyone who works with Kiriya can bring their child along. Whether it’s a meeting, an interview or a film shoot, I don’t mind at all,” he tweeted after news articles about Kumamoto Municipal Assembly member Yuka Ogata began appearing. The filmmaker’s tweet caught on, and many more users, including disabled celebrity author Hirotada Ototake, posted support for parents with small children who sometimes have no choice but to bring their kids to the workplace. As the hashtag spread, however, those who oppose the idea began posting their opinions with the hashtag #KozurekaigiNG , which means, “It’s not OK to bring a child to a meeting.” The heated debate sprang to life after Ogata, 42, brought her 7-month-old son to the municipal assembly chamber last Wednesday. The speaker and the secretariat urged Ogata to take the baby out as it is against the assembly’s regulations to bring anyone other then assembly members or staff members to the floor during a session. Ogata gave in and left her baby with a friend. Due to the incident, the session was delayed by 40 minutes, prompting some members to urge disciplinary action against her, according to the secretariat. The mother of two said she consulted with the secretariat about bringing her child to the assembly, but when she did not get any positive response she decided to go ahead without consent. A secretariat official disputed her account on Monday, saying they were not consulted about bringing the baby to the session and were bewildered by Ogata’s action. This is not the first time Japan has seen a public debate on this issue. In the late 1980s — when it was the norm for women to quit work after giving birth — singer and actress Agnes Chan sparked the “Agnes controversy” by taking her baby to a TV studio. While some women, such as novelist Mariko Hayashi, criticized Chan’s decision as unprofessional, others, including sociologist Chizuko Ueno, were sympathetic. Since then it has grown more common for women to retain their jobs after childbirth, and the government is actively encouraging women to play a more active role in the business world under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s call to “create a society where women can shine.” But even 30 years since the Chan incident, the concept still sparks arguments. Mari Miura, a political science professor at Sophia University and a gender equality expert, said Ogata has brought attention to the important issue of creating an inclusive environment in the political arena, which is still dominated by men. After all, Miura said, legislatures across Japan still operate based on the assumption that lawmakers are healthy males. Because of this assumption, there is no system for lawmakers to take child-rearing leave, nor is there enough consideration for assembly members with disabilities who need the support of helpers. “Opinions of people with different backgrounds should be reflected in any decision-making process. And women with children should not be excluded from this process (due to difficulties in juggling work and child-rearing),” Miura said. “We need to create a system or environment to include those people in legislatures. “Japan is quite an intolerant country,” she continued. “People even raise their eyebrows at mothers carrying a baby stroller on a train. But (this attitude) has resulted in the declining birthrate that we face today. We must think about that.” According to the Geneva-based Inter-Parliamentary Union, Japan as of Oct. 1 ranked 165th among 193 countries, after Samoa, Botswana and Belize, in percentage of female members in national legislatures. Japan dropped in the World Economic Forum’s global gender equality ranking this month, to 114th from 111th last year, mainly due to a decline in the political empowerment of women, the Geneva-based think tank said.

politicians children kumamoto women gender


Med schools offered subsidies for surgical training via donated corpses to curb malpractice

Abstract: To reduce malpractice, the government will encourage medical schools to introduce a surgical training program for practicing doctors and dentists that makes use of donated bodies, health ministry sources said Sunday. The ministry has requested ¥500 million ($4.5 million) from the state budget for fiscal 2018 to subsidize universities that introduce the training program, which is more than 10 times the amount allotted for the current fiscal year, the sources said. The use of endoscopic surgery has grown popular in recent years but requires higher surgical skills to perform. Those lacking such skills have contributed to cases of fatal malpractice in Japan. Training with cadavers is a good way to improve surgical skills, but only 15 universities have applied for state subsidies to introduce the program, the sources said. Some universities are reluctant to try the program due to the high initial cost of purchasing operating tables and other equipment. Some doctors have traveled overseas on their own to receive such training, professors at medical schools say. According to a group that encourages people to donate their bodies to science, the number of people registering for donation has been rising steadily. It reached 90,000 in 2016. While students have been permitted by law to use bodies donated to medical schools for anatomy practice, their use for training practicing doctors was made possible after the Japan Surgical Society and the Japanese Association of Anatomists released guidelines in 2012.

malpractice
medical schools
japan
cadavers
surgeons


Lawsuit over student's dyed hair confronts outdated thinking in Japan

Abstract: A Japanese public high school has come under fire for its strict policy regarding the color of its students’ hair. An 18-year-old teen filed a lawsuit in late October seeking ¥2.2 million ($19,000) in damages from the Osaka prefectural government, claiming that her school had ordered her to dye her naturally brown hair black if she wished to continue attending classes. The young woman’s mother had informed Kaifukan High School before the teen started attending that her hair was naturally brown, but teachers ordered the student to dye it black, according to documents the plaintiff submitted in court. The student developed a rash and scalp irritation after dyeing her hair repeatedly but her teachers continued telling her that her hair was not black enough, demanding that she comply or leave the school, the petition said. During one conversation with her mother, the school said it would even demand that blond foreign students dye their hair black because that was the rule, the petition said. The school also has a policy that prohibits students from dyeing their hair. The school’s decision sparked criticism online, with supporters of the student’s lawsuit describing their own experiences of being forced to conform to the status quo. Sayaka Akimoto , a former AKB48 member who is Filipino-Japanese and who does not have naturally black hair, admitted in a post on Twitter that she had also dyed her hair black at high school after she was accused of dyeing her hair. Akimoto’s father defended his daughter, telling the school that its policy was ridiculous. “Rules are important,” she wrote, “but there must be many other things that are more important.” 私も高校の時、髪染めてないのに染めてるとひたすら言われて悔しくて、これでもかって位黒くしてやろうと黒染めしたら、父親が「なんだその髪色は！おかしいだろ！」って言って「私の娘はもとから赤毛だ！」って高校に来た事あった。 規則は大事だけど、大事な事もっとあるはず、ってその時思ったな。 — 秋元才加 (@akimotooo726) October 28, 2017 The post has since received more than 21,000 “likes.” Users of social media have argued the issue is important in light of the wider context. With more and more people in high school coming from diverse backgrounds, strict rules regulating the natural appearance of students could be perceived as discrimination. Twitter user @mi_adhd described her own experiences at school in response to Huffington Post Japan’s coverage of the Osaka story. “I was originally a brunette, so my mother submitted an ‘irregular dress code’ form when I entered middle school,” the post read. “The school’s insistence that everyone must be the same was one of the reasons I was bullied for being different. We’re not living in ancient times. Even with all this talk of diversity, if the current state of education is like this, there’s no way it will work.” Twitter user @jaco_hideaki agreed. “I saw this mentioned elsewhere, but if you consider hair color and skin color to be natural physical characteristics, this is a serious human rights violation, ” the post said. “If we’re striving to create a diverse community that accepts all individuals, including people who identify as LGBT, we should acknowledge these aspects as well.” Supporters of the high school argued that media coverage of the school’s policies was biased. One Twitter user claiming to be a graduate of Kaifukan High School started an account specifically to rebuff the allegations , refusing to believe that their alma mater would treat a student in such a manner. A former elementary school teacher posted a similar statement, arguing that the school should be given an opportunity to present its side of the story . The Osaka prefectural government, which runs Kaifukan High School, has asked the court to throw out the lawsuit. Judging by the public’s online reaction, however, the teenager’s recent experience is not an isolated incident and debate over the country’s outdated ideas on conformity look set to continue.

osaka
kaifukan high school
discrimination
japan pulse


Japanese firm uses VR simulations to offer a glimpse into the world of dementia

Abstract: On a moderately crowded train, I’ve just woken up after dozing off, but I can’t remember where I am or where I’m going. Apart from the noise of the moving train, it’s quiet, and the other passengers are half asleep, fiddling with their phones or spacing out. I realize I was supposed to get off somewhere … but where? At the next station, passengers disembark. We start moving again. As the train picks up speed, I feel increasingly nervous. Should I get off at the next stop? The train comes to a slow halt, and some people rise and head for the doors. I feel compelled to follow. I’m on a station platform, but at which station? Where am I? This is what unfolds in one of the virtual reality dementia simulations created by Silver Wood Corp., which operates apartment complexes for the elderly. I recently wore a VR headset and goggles to watch the video at the Silver Wood head office in Tokyo. Though the clip lasted only about five minutes, it was an amazingly immersive experience. I could feel myself growing tense as the train passed a station and sped up. When I stepped out of the train, my fear and anxiety levels reached a climax, and tears welled up. “People’s expressions are completely different before and after they see the video,” said Tadamichi Shimogawara, president of Silver Wood. The 46-year-old started making VR simulations about dementia last year, feeling they would be an effective tool to change the overwhelmingly negative image of the progressive illness, which is characterized by memory loss and declines in other cognitive functions. According to a 2015 health ministry-commissioned study, 4.62 million people in Japan were estimated to have dementia as of 2012, a number projected to swell to 7 million, or 1 in 5 people over age 65, by 2025. Shimogawara long ran a family business making construction materials; it was only seven or eight years ago that he started building and renting apartments for the elderly in and around Tokyo. As he studied how to best serve the occupants, about 60 percent of whom have dementia, he said he found that conventional housing and care arrangements were robbing them of freedom and independence. In conventional housing for people with dementia, he said, doors are locked to prevent residents from wandering outside and getting involved in an accident. “But if you were someone with dementia, would you want to be stopped from going outside?” he said. Shimogawara said he was also put off by the way many care facilities treat elderly residents as if they were small children, putting up cheesy birthday announcements on the walls, having them sing children’s songs or tossing otedama (bean bags) for recreation. “Why children’s songs? Some people might want to listen to the Beatles instead,” he said. “Many facilities also go overboard with care. They would do everything for the residents, because it’s easier for them that way. I feel such bad practices have ended up worsening the conditions of people with dementia. And by confining people in the facilities, giving them little freedom to interact with society, many of us (people without dementia) only see dementia in a negative light and have only fears about developing it.” At Silver Wood’s 12 complexes for seniors, the doors are always open, with occupants given complete freedom to go outside. “For some people it takes about an hour to get to a nearby convenience store — a distance covered by us in five minutes — as they walk slowly and get lost sometimes,” Shimogawara said. “But that’s OK. We will never put tags or sensors on them either; we will go looking for them only if they don’t return in two or three hours.” All Silver Wood facilities are also equipped with low-priced candy stores, with residents serving as clerks. The premises are always busy with local children stopping by, Shimogawara said. The VR project came out of his belief that, with creative ideas and adequate support, people with dementia can live happily and with dignity. “When we talk about dementia, we often talk from the perspective of how to deal with these people who cause trouble to society,” he said. “But in reality, if we put ourselves in their shoes, it becomes clear that they are not trying to wreak havoc on society; they are just having difficulties (with certain tasks).” The simulations do not intend to present a definitive form of dementia, Shimogawara said, though they were created with ample input from — and interviews with — people with the illness. Rather, they are aimed at helping viewers expand their imagination so they can empathize with sufferers more and start thinking about how to live with dementia instead of how to prevent it. So far, the firm has shown the videos to more than 10,000 people at various viewing events across the country, at the request of municipal governments, medical institutions, nursing care operators and even some corporations. The firm, where all but one of the six VR video production members had no previous background in cinematography, has created eight short simulations so far, including six on dementia. The other two are not related to dementia, or even an illness. One is a video documenting the life of a working mother in Japan, aimed at conveying the challenges of juggling a family and a career. The other is about an elderly person approaching the end of life, who is taken to an emergency room for over-the-top life-saving procedures, like CPR that results in fractured bones. The latter video is intended to help families discuss end-of-life choices, Shimogawara said. He said that in the future he wants to investigate various social issues around the world and create VR videos about what he finds. “I feel VR has a huge potential to change society,” he said.


Wall Street economists at odds with traders, share Yellen's 'guess' of inflation comeback

Abstract: OTTAWA/NEW YORK - Wall Street economists are clashing with Wall Street traders over whether inflation is poised to awaken around the world after a long slumber. From Morgan Stanley to Bank of America Corp. there’s a growing chorus of economists siding with Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen’s “best guess” that price pressures will soon gain momentum, paving the way for the Fed and other key central banks to continue unwinding ultra-loose monetary policy in a gradual fashion. The message is still to fully get through to financial markets. The U.S. Treasury bond yield curve has flattened and German bond yields fell even after the European Central Bank announced plans to slow stimulus. JPMorgan Chase & Co. economists say markets assume inflation-adjusted interest rates in developed economies will stay below zero until 2019. Which side is right will prove a tone-setter for markets in 2018 after a decade in which the financial crisis and subsequent global recession neutered inflation and prompted speculation it would never ignite despite the best efforts of central bankers. “There is this narrative that has developed in the market that inflation is going to stay low forever,” said Arend Kapteyn, investment bank chief economist at UBS Group AG in London. “The point we’re starting to make is first of all you have to be very careful with that.” Kapteyn is not alone. Ethan Harris of Bank of America Corp. calls rebounding U.S. inflation “the call” of 2018, while Morgan Stanley’s Andrew Sheets tells clients that the “Fed will hike more than the market expects” next year. “At some point, the market will begin to price in something like what the Fed has advertised,” said Michael Spencer, global head of economics at Deutsche Bank AG in Hong Kong. “There is a risk in that adjustment process that bond yields do suddenly spike up.” Traders anticipate a Fed rate increase in December and only see rates about one quarter-point notch higher next year, according to pricing in interest rate futures, while Fed projections signal three 2018 hikes following a move next month. Global consumer prices will rise at a 3 percent annualized pace this quarter, roughly twice its average pace in the first half of the year, JPMorgan Chase analysts wrote in a Nov. 10 note. It’s already hit 3 percent in the U.K. UBS estimates that inflation outside of food and energy prices accelerated in almost three-quarters of the industrial economies it monitors, the most since 2011, and warns the markets’ view of Japan is the most mispriced. Investors have been unmoved, perhaps because inflation in recent months has been softer than expected, particularly in the U.S., though data released Wednesday by the Labor Department showed core U.S. consumer prices rose 1.8 percent in the 12 months through October, compared to a forecast gain of 1.7 percent. The spread between yields on nominal and inflation linked Treasury debt, known as the break-even inflation rate and viewed as investors’ outlook for price pressures, predicts U.S. consumer prices will average only about 1.94 percent over the next 30 years. And a bond market inflation gauge the Fed uses to help guide monetary policy is at 1.77 percent, down from 2.07 percent in January. In another signal bond investors aren’t very worried by the risk inflation will erode their fixed-income payments, the yield curve continues to flatten. The spread between five — and 30-year yields fell on Tuesday to 76 basis points, marking its flattest since November 2007. The flatter yield curve suggests “the market is saying maybe the Fed is about to make a policy mistake and hike rates too much in a world where there is no inflation.” said Jim Leaviss, head of retail fixed interest at Prudential PLC’s M&G Investments. At the heart of the debate is whether economies work as they have traditionally done and that inflation materializes when demand heats up. Central bankers reckon it is business as usual. “Fundamentally, we know how inflation works,” Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz said on Nov. 7. “The laws of supply and demand have not been repealed.” Yet there have been false dawns before with inflation repeatedly undershooting central bank targets despite rock-bottom rates and unprecedented bond buying. The Fed, for example, has been beneath its 2 percent goal for most of the last five years. Multiple reasons are given for the miss including fallout from the crisis, globalization, technological advances, a breakdown in the link between employment and wages, weak commodity prices and the rise of online shopping. The turn seen by economists now is mainly rooted in the fact that demand is picking up. Three-quarters of the world economy is expanding, in turn forcing down unemployment across developed markets to 5.5 percent in September by JPMorgan Chase’s reckoning. That’s close to the lowest in 37 years and should eventually translate into companies raising wages and in turn prices. Other inflation forces are building. West Texas crude oil has climbed more than 30 percent from its June low to a level unseen in more than two years. China, the exporter to the world, is witnessing the strongest core inflation in six years, reflecting pent up price pressures. Capacity constraints are the concern of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. economist Sven Jari Stehn, who reckons the long-term trend growth rate at which inflation picks up has fallen to 1.25 percent across major economies from 2.5 percent in the late 1990s. As a result, the U.S., U.K., Canada, Sweden and New Zealand will all “hike interest rates over the next year to avoid overshooting their goals,” Stehn said in a report this month. To be sure, few are predicting an inflationary surge, as many countries still have plenty of slack to absorb. “We project a gradual climb in inflation from a low level that gives central banks the latitude to normalize slowly,” Bruce Kasman, chief economist at JPMorgan Chase, wrote in a Nov. 3 report. Still, if demand remains strong and unemployment keeps falling, “central banks will need to intervene sooner than markets currently anticipate,” he said.

wall street
economists
inflation
global economy