So this Japanese businessman is a 70-year-old with a strange interest in water. Masaru Emoto believes that water has strange properties that were previously unknown. Supposedly, water reacts differently to different emotions. He has spent a lot of time examining the ice crystals of water exposed to positive or negative verbal content (i.e. some water might develop more crystals, or be cleaner, if praised daily). Some believe he is a quack and their is a general consensus that he practices a pseudoscience. Don't let that disinterest you, though.
This experiment, the one I want to talk about, is a bit different. Basically, he has three jars full of rice and water. He bad-mouths the one jar, praises the other, and ignores the other. The results are interesting. Whether or not they are reproducible under scientific conditions is beyond my point.
I buy these results, to some extent. I don't however, buy the explanation. Rice is not a temperamental food with human emotions. Please, Mr. Emoto, don't anthropomorphize your rice. It is very possible, though, that talking to rice release germs that help ferment rice (which hardly seems like a positive outcome save for the "sweet" smell). Also, I can imagine that rice that didn't have mouth germs spread in its vicinity might react differently. Finally, it's very possible that using different words, or even more emotion can spread a different amount of germs or even a different kind of germs (tongue germs, throat germs, etc.). What's your take on this guy?
I imagine you're staring at your computer screen thinking nothing more needs to be said about TEPCO (if you are up-to-date on Japanese events). You might want to read this article, though.
In a similar by-line, I never thought I would post more about TEPCO (or want to) given my prior post: The Beast that is TEPCO. However, here I am.
It is true: TEPCO is a corrupt company, and even after a complete firing of their upper management, corruption is still in the Japanese news. And if it's in the Japanese news that means it was likely OK'ed by the government. (Is it safe to say that?)
The article I recently read was a simple one declaring that the recent indictment charges against TEPCO were dropped because TEPCO could not be held legally responsible as they "could not [have] predict[ed] the real dangers of such a massive earthquake and tsunami." The article goes on to say that the company's "failure to carry out countermeasure construction after
it projected in 2008 a scenario of a huge tsunami of more than 15
meters, cannot be considered socially irresponsible behavior."
申し訳ございません. How many times can they apologize? (source)
Yes, the article was simple, but Alas! the implications were great.
The first large implication can be understood through a few analogies. Five earthquakes have occurred equal to or
greater than the Tohoku earthquake in the last century (source). I know the the
US plans watersheds, zoning, and planning based on at least 100 year
flood plains. And that is just for a flood! A nuclear plant, in
earthquake-ridden Japan, on an unprotected coast...wouldn't you think
they would have to prepare for a bit more? In that situation, the plant owners should have been thricely as cautious and prepared. "Preparedness for a large-scale complex disaster was insufficient; and
they were unprepared for the release of a large amount of radioactive
materials into the environment" (source). What are (or were) the current
standards for the protection wall (which was flooded by a long-shot)?
In 1964, Alaskan Good Friday earthquake had a magnitude around 8.4
and spawned a 201-foot (67-meter) tsunami in the Valdez Inlet (source). Of course
this was a rogue wave with the perfect circumstances, but that happened
in the last 50 years. Furthermore, that wasn't the biggest tsunami by a long-shot.
Japan even birthed the word Tsunami! - 津波 (source)
The other great implication is that it is likely TEPCO was
only admitted it's negligence when the government forced them—and sometimes the apologies were decades late. Why would a company apologize out of the blue if they had thought their misbehavior went undetected? That's just it. I'm sure the government knew a lot more about the TEPCO follies (essentially having them by the balls). So, when TEPCO didn't cooperate with the government (maybe even in terms of bribes), the government tells TEPCO to admit to past incidents. (Is it safe to guess that?) Also, there are countless other times that TEPCO has hidden illegal incidents. Look for yourself...I'm not even going to try to cover it here.
So who really is to blame? Sure, TEPCO is a backwards company. Even after the mandated upper-level restructuring (to put it politely) TEPCO continued to be the naughty little boy it always was. Covering radiation-reading equipment with lead? Come on. But there are scumbag companies in every country. America is not one to point fingers. The real question is: Who watches TEPCO? Might I suggest: the Japanese government?
I'm afraid this 1987 epic comic by Alan Moore beat me to the punch.
Yeah, definitely the government. And the Japanese citizens, the 大人しい bunch that they are have mostly rebuilt their homes and lives—most without pointing fingers or theorizing the point of the chain-of-command that may have been a little negligent (to say the least). Besides the few local residents and activists that had filed the criminal complaint against Kan
and his ministers (two years after the events) and a handful of other smaller organizations looking for justice, there isn't much Japanese activity surrounding the event that has had a devastating impact on the domestic agriculture, economy, food-supply, power-supply, and general health as well as global effects (some still unforeseen).
It's almost two years now since the Sumo match-fixing scandal went public. Remember that? A winning wrestler would offer another a victory just so to keep his higher title (and higher-bracket paycheck). This was happening often. In fact, according to Levitt from Freakonomics, there was a 75 percent chance a 7-7 (wins/losses) Sumo wrestler would win against an 8-6 wrestler in a tournament. This means that every time the opportunity appeared for a 7-7 wrestler to lose, not advance in the tournament, and lose money, that wrestler won 75 percent of the time. So, that's like a 50 percent chance of cheating, huh?
The word 八百長, or yaochou, is the Japanese word for "match-fixing". The kanji literally translate to "800 leaders". Hmm, I don't get it. But that often happens when you're learning Japanese.
Prior to the big press stink, often a related skirmish would surface concerning some foreign Sumo wrestler. The truth is though, "the Japanese-born seemed to be just as corrupt as the foreigners" according to the statistics (source). I guess when someone got wind of the cheating, everyone tried to use the foreigner as the scapegoat. Oh, Japan.
This isn't just a problem of xenophobia either. The Japanese media is very conservative and likes to protect the country's image. Here's another clip from Freakonomics:
The moral of the story: go watch Freakonomics and check out their blog.
Now you can say all you want about how the Asians have funny English words and phrases on their shirts unbeknownst to them.
But I'm pretty sure this Japanese guy bought this shirt with some knowledge of the words and their meanings. Maybe, the tight pants will get him the women he wants...the women with the right kind of derrière (because he is a rump connoisseur). Or, maybe his tight pants accentuate his own glutes and he's proud of them. Not that there's anything wrong with either.
For some reason, I'm leaning toward the latter explanation.
On April 5, 2012, a study was released assessing Japan's views on Facebook. Nearly 70% of the Japanese surveyed said Facebook gives them at least occasional stress (source). The stats are a result of 500 people ages 15 to 59 surveyed in Japan's two biggest metropolitan areas.
When asked to be more specific about the cause of stress, the most
frequently given answer, with 34.3%, was due to lack of privacy when
engaging in interpersonal relationships in a frank manner. The second
most stressful factor, with 31.1%, was that users felt besieged by
meddlesome solicitations (invitations or pitches). Third, with 27.1%,
was that they felt they were put on the spot by people’s requests to
become “friends” and had difficulty refusing. And fourth, with 26.5%,
was that users found it annoying to receive messages or notifications
from friends of friends, or other parties with whom they had no direct
relationship (source).
Of course, I'm sure Americans are sometimes stressed by Facebook, but there are a lot of cultural differences in Japan that understandably make Facebook a more difficult environment. For a quick reference point: if one of my American friends complained about a friend request and whether or not they should add the person in question I would most certainly transmit the message, "Oh, grow up," in at least my facial expression and/or posture.
While Twitter is still on top, Facebook has a grip on Japanese social structures
In Japan, relationships, community and respect are much more important. Social roles are even more strict for older generations and for certain groups. While teaching an eikaiwa (English conversation class) class in Japan, I remember being irked by the older students asking each other their class years to establish seniority. Seniority in that eikaiwa class effected everything from who got to talk first to who had to do all the grunt work for special events.
If a community English conversation class can be justifiably manipulated by the seniors of the group, you could imagine what kind of social pressures run rampant on the Japanese Facebook platform. Imagine if you felt obligated to accept a friend request from your boss and a few coworkers and now feel pressured to attend a non-mandatory work function posted on Facebook because most of them are and you don't want to seem like the bad egg. And all you wanted to do was see pictures of your friend's kids.
"I'm sorry I missed the enkai last night, but I was nursing my sick cat. Check my status updates."
In contrast, people in the US tend to not shed a tear for those that are hung up on event invitations or friend requests. I may be speaking in generalizations now but it seems the Western Facebook users are bound more by the survival of the fittest rules in which only the weak are bogged down by social stress; anyone smart enough has learned to navigate Facebook stress free.
I'm sure if the same study was done in the US, the researchers would find the following unimpressive data:
Most people are slightly addicted to Facebook.
Half of users have complained about certain users complaining on Facebook.
90% of users are sick of getting Farmville requests.
10% of users are sick that no one will accept their Farmville requests.
45% of people are still upset about not getting a "dislike" button.
A third of all users are upset that you have to be friends with some people to see their photos.
60% of all college users have spent over 10 hours "stalking" other users.
4% are excited about Mark Zuckerberg's wedding photos.
And maybe, one or two more in-tune users might comment on Facebook's ever-shifting privacy policy. If you get my exaggerated point, the US seems to adopt a use-it-or-don't attitude (in part, because we've had it since 2004) whereas Facebook could potentially trap, coerce or exploit Japanese users for only respecting traditional social norms.
If you'd like to read more including some personal accounts, check out the article.
Morimoto, Ruth Chris, Four Seasons, Bellagio, Toscana 52...what do these higher-end restaurants all have in common? They all serve various dishes including Kobe Beef. Furthermore, they all currently serve Kobe Beef that isn't real Kobe Beef.
Dun dun dun. Apparently, since 2010 the USDA has deemed all slaughterhouses in the Kobe and larger Hyogo region to be unfit for US importation. This was also true from 2001 to 2005 when some speculated if Americans even gave a crap (source).
The truth is trademarks like "Kobe Beef" are only a nationwide observance. So, in Japan, no one sell Kobe Beef from cows raised anywhere else than Kobe, Japan. But in the US, we could ground up some hotdogs and Spam and legally slap a Kobe Beef sticker on it. (Of course, that's not where this article is heading...)
What the US is doing is marketing things like wagyu beef and even Kobe-style beef as Kobe Beef. Whereas wagyu beef (literally, Japanese cows) should be from cows at least descendant from anywhere in Japan and Kobe-style beef could be any cows from anywhere with food and preparation that might hint at a Kobe Beef flavor, the real Kobe Beef comes only from Tajima cattle in Kobe.
Real Kobe Beef has a marbling ratio, or BMS, of at least 6
Let me go further to say that while wagyu beef is considered better and even healthier than US prime, the Japanese cattle it comes from have probably been crossbred with Angus to fit the American taste (source). While "domestic alternatives" to Kobe Beef might be just as marbled with fat as their Japanese counterparts, the US stock may be corn-fed (leading to all sorts of undesired health and environmental proponents (source) including but not limited to flatulence) and are definitely not given beer (see video below).
Larry Olmsted from Forbes Magazine breaks it down for us:
Giving everyone involved the benefit of the doubt and assuming they were [sic]
starting with an actual quality Japanese breed, after crossing both
grandparents with American cattle, then doing it again with the parents,
you are talking about selling Wagyu from a cow that is potentially less
than half “Wagyu.” To me, that’s like selling orange juice that is less
than 47% oranges. Except you go to jail for the juice scam (source).
Being someone who has tried Kobe Beef, I must tell you it is rich and delicious. It was so rich and savory that my stomach almost couldn't handle it. In the US, I have only tried a Kobe burger from Toscana 52 in late 2011 (during the current Kobe Beef ban). The burger was very delicious, but not near the grade I had tasted in Kobe. What's funny is that I had written this off to the fact that it was a burger, and of course a burger shouldn't be as rich as a steak. Now I realize that was a gross miscalculation due to the included American condiments, alcohol, dim lighting and generally peculiar atmosphere to which most higher-end restaurants subject us.
Now, I don't plan on explaining to you the massages, and other strange things they do to the cattle in Kobe, Japan, but I will provide a highly entertaining video with all that information.
So apparently there is only "stuff" allowed here, but to confuse people even more, "stuff only" is inside the prohibition sign meaning that furthermore, "only stuff" is not allowed here. So maybe if there is a little bit of stuff and a little bit of something else, it would be OK. Make sure to ask the stuff...staff about this one.
If we peek into the Japanese realm here, it says "koko yori saki wa nyuujou dekimasen" or, "No entry beyond this point." After more consideration, you might have been able to connect this to "Staff Only"...and hence, the answer behind this riddle.
Japan now boasts the second highest building in the world with their Tokyo Sky Tree. The tower was finished after almost four years of work and reached 2,080 ft. in March of this year. The building was just opened to the public days ago on May 22, 2012.
The $806 million structure is a broadcasting, restaurant and observation tower in Sumida, Tokyo. It's design encompasses three main concepts including:
Fusion of futuristic design and traditional beauty of Japan,
Catalyst for revitalization of the city,
Contribution to disaster prevention "Safety and Security" (source).
The design is actually quite crazy. To optimize the plot of land at ground level, the base is triangular, but floor by floor the tower slowly molds into a cylindrical shape reaching a full circle at 1,050 ft. Also, with earthquakes a major factor in building such a tall tower, the structural design mixes the best of ancient and modern architecture. Mimicking ancient Japanese pagodas, there is a thick center shaft that runs up through the whole structure. Apparently, none of Japan's pagodas have ever been toppled by the centuries of earthquakes (source).
The modern spin-off is that this center shaft is relatively unconnected to the outside steel frame of the building reducing swaying high up. Also, the foundation of the tower, rather than straight poles, is more like roots that dig deep and fan out. Simulation tests suggest that the Sky Tree would suffer almost no damage even in the event of a major 7.9 magnitude quake (source).
OK. Able to withstand a 7.9 on the Richter scale. But wait, 15 of those can happen a year anyway. Let's rewind a year to the 2011 Tohoku earthquake. That was a 9.0. On average, an earthquake equal to or greater than 9.0 happens ever year in the world (source). And lets remember that the Richter scale isn't linear. It's exponential. That means this tower is built to withstand 10 to 15 megatons of seismic energy, but may encounter 480 megatons of energy. I guess the March 2011 earthquake changed a lot of perspectives (and plans). Add this "earthquake safe" monstrosity to the list.
The tower is so high up that from the top observation tower you can see not only the entire Tokyo region, but also the curvature of the earth (source).
Apparently, the admission to reach the observation towers are just as sky-high as the structure itself. Also, merchandise and food at the observatories will be equally as expensive. Prices are not stopping the lines of eager tourists, though; tickets are sold out through mid-July, leaving visitors keen
to ride up the capital's newest landmark in a very long queue (source).
As the second highest structure in the world, the Tokyo Sky Tree is outdone only by the height of Burj Khalifa in Dubai at a whopping 2,723 ft. which was opened in January 2010.
Burj Khalifa - figures that the tallest building in the world is in an oil-rich country
Apparently, they offer the total package. Anyone else make reservations?
The problem with the mistake on this shop window is that this shop may never know it—unless of course some amused ex-pat or tourist informs them.
What image was this shop really looking for? If you look up "horny" in in English you find that it also means "strong" or "callous" similar to "rough hands". If you look up "horny" in Japanese you probably find that it has a relation to "keratinized skin" in that it needs to be exfoliated.
Masayoshi Son, richest man in Japan, with the striped tie. Make money, make money.
Softbank, a telecom and internet corporation, is teaming up with PayPal on the joint venture "PayPal Japan". The companies will each invest $12.5 million to "revolutionize digital payments in Japan" (source).
It's no surprise Hiroaki Kitano from the Softbank side will serve as the CEO of the business agreement; while revenue for PayPal is in the early billions, Softbank revenue reaches into the early trillions. Kitano is a senior vice president and director of Softbank Mobile Corp, with relevant experience from his time with Yahoo Shopping (source).
The joint venture will also push the Paypal Here credit card reader that plugs into the audio jack of a smartphone. The card reader add-on will retail for 1200 yen, or about $15. (When the card reader is released in the US, it will be free.)
After viewing the demo via the PayPal introductory page, I've become very skeptical of the whole process. I can't imagine a NYC pretzel vendor or cabbie handing the customer his smartphone to type in a tip and sign the transaction. What's stopping the $2.50 pretzel consumer from running away with a $200-$400 smartphone plus a pretzel? In Japan, I don't see this as being such a problem with such low crime rates as a result of their general family-like moral system.
Also, unless I had a special stylus signing pen, I'm pretty sure my signature on a smartphone would look like a few pixelated circles and lines. How's that going to sit with my bank that is tirelessly scanning for fraudulent charges?
Currently, Japan is a very cash-based society. I'm wondering the
speed as to which something like card reader might catch on. It's strange that
Japan is one of the most technologically advanced countries but still
largely operates outside the lines of credit.
Softbank Chairman and CEO Masayoshi Son hopes that in five or ten years from now, Japanese consumers won't need to carry wallets (source). As for me, I find any statement from this guy (the richest man in Japan) laughable.
The irony here is Masayoshi Son supposedly directs some of the Softbank commercials which include what are thought to be hidden messages that dishonor Japan. (Son is Korean but later naturalized as a Japanese citizen.) In a line of popular commercials, a black man has a dog for a father (which doesn't sound so crazy for a commercial plot). The black man, then, is inu no ko, which in Korea is one of the worst curse words. Given that there exists a stereotype that Koreans don't like Japanese or blacks, you may see some of the disputed evidence.
Here another example, for obvious reasons:
When a bunch of Japanese celebrities march out of a dog's anus, it really makes you start to think...
In wake of all the post-Fukushima energy reduction under their Cool Biz campaign, Japanese underwear firm Triumph Japan has unveiled their iced bras. Given showing this amount of skin is very rare in Japan, the unveiling has been deemed a publicity stunt (source).
The Super Cool Bra, as it has been titled, also happens to be a pun that most Japanese will miss. This "cool" as a Japanese loan word is not connected with the meaning "hip" as it is in most English speaking countries.
The company, which has a long tradition of novelty launches that are
never made available for public sale, said it conceived of the bra in
response to a need to save energy during the hot summer (source).
The Cool Biz campaign is known by over 96 percent of the Japanese public, 33 percent of which work for companies that actively engage in turning up thermostats on their air conditioners to reduce consumption of electricity.
The ice pack bra also come with a sprig of mint and a Japanese wind chime, maybe seemingly just to make the wearer feel refreshed. The Japanese wind chime, or furin, is usually hung from the eaves of a house. The music produced by the chime is said to have a psychological cooling effect. The chime is moved by a long card called tanzaku on which is usually written a traditional poem.
It is currently unknown, though, how wind will sound the chime unless women are walking around with only their bras on. This, of course, would never happen given Japan's general fear of the sun due to the generally pale Japanese skin. In fact, this is more often the case:
Japanese sun protection - visor and sleeves (photo)
Having taught English in Japan in the Jet Program for 2 years, I have seen my fair share of "Engrish" shirts. The same way that some otaku in the US wear shirts with Japanese kanji (which probably translates to gibberish or is printed backwards), the Japanese have English shirts. The only difference is, of course, that for the most part Japan loves American culture, fashion, and they even think our English words look cool on their shirts...regardless of what it says.
In honor of the prevalence of this hilarious cultural burp, I present to you the first of my new weekly set "Japlish Friday". If you didn't already guess, Japlish is a mixture of Japanese and English. Kinda like "Spanglish". I know it's kind of a stretch here. Deal with it. Enjoy
So, over a year gone now and Japan is still deep in the mess left from the March 11 earthquake / tsunami / radioactive meltdown. I'm sure most of you have seen the crazy before and after pictures of the progress as the Japanese have ganbare'ed to their limits. Also, citizen pressure has led to the deactivation of all but two nuclear power facilities which will in fact be shutdown this whole month (source).
And, although shareholders plan to sue TEPCO (Tokyo Electric Power Company, who is at fault for the meltdown) for some 67 billion dollars, I still find myself wondering why TEPCO isn't shelling out money to the government and the nation. Why isn't TEPCO bankrupt right now? Why hasn't some other group stepped up to show that nuclear power can and does work in the right hands?
All that aside, sit back and laugh at these completely unscientific yet very agreeable perspectives on Japan's contamination. Thanks to Testosterone Pit who says these have been circulating the Japanese interwebs for a few months now.
Japanese tourists in Australia, misled by their GPS device. Fairfax Media/Getty Images
Japanese students in Tokyo were led astray by the GPS while vacationing in Australia (source). Trekking from the mainland to North Stradbroke Island with its popular Point Lookout (a major tourist destination during holidays) the three Japanese travelers drove down a gravel path which quickly turned to mud.
The tourists' GPS led them from Oyster Point through the thick mud saying it would guide them to another road. After getting about 50 yards out, their Hyundai Getz became stuck in the Moreton Bay mud. The passengers fled as the tide came up and waterlogged their rental car. Passengers on passing ferries watched in amazement (source).
The Japanese tourists had the car towed in to the mainland and will have to pay the 1500 dollars not covered by their insurance. Even though it had rained six of the seven days on their vacation, the three plan on returning to Australia in the future. They commented that they were just glad that no one got hurt.
What Dan Thinks: Now, if these tourists were American, I'm sure there would be a lawsuit underway. Being Japanese, they politely walked away from an embarrassing incident feeling lucky to have avoided injury. Also, they plan on returning. How genki!
What confused me about this is why they had continued driving when the already-suspicious gravel road turned to mud. I'm wondering if they thought all the rain had caused the mud. But even so, why had they dared to brave the thick mud in a cheap Hyundai intended for nothing more than city streets. And with the locals being so "kind" why had they not searched out some help?
Naked Man Festival : Japanese runners representing the feeling you will get reading this article
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The Japanese have such a multifaceted society. They are at once global and parochial, fraternal and isolating, uber-modern yet archaic. All of these features manifest in positive ways; the modernity of Japan can be summarized in their ground-breaking technologies while the archaic side reflects the wealth of their heritage accessible to many. In a large contrast, some of these facets have negative sides (cue dramatic, bleak music that plays to the end of this article).
In fact, Japan's booming technology makes a joke of their archaic heating systems. Back in Japan, I wrote a blog on Catching One's Death from the winter cold. In America, the truth is that those who don't have central heating are poor. In Japan, those with central heating are probably rich. But central heating isn't generally a coveted item for the Japanese (as for the ex-pats, it is). In fact, although many Japanese will complain about how samui (cold) it is, they are very accustomed to their thin walls, high electric bills, and walking around their house generally a little bit cold.
Also, there's the kotatsu idea. It's a table with a heater underneath and over it is draped a blanket--so you imagine sleeping under it would be a good idea. It looks so cozy! Then you wake up as if from a drug binge with a soar throat and body aches. The table is designed so that you can heat your legs the entire time you sit under it. The problem is, sitting under the table is the only time you have heat, unless you are pumping kerosene into other heaters strategically placed in your house (also requiring electricity).
The kotatsu seems like a great idea, until you want to get up. (photo)
In Japan Times, in his hilarious article entitled "A Winter's Tale: cold homes, poor lives in wealthy Japan" Gianni Simone gives an interesting anecdote about those that live in the colder northern Japanese areas like Hokkaido. He says:
According to architectural adviser Keiji Ashizawa, [...] "Only in Hokkaido is there such a thing as the Law on
Cold Residences, and the Government Housing Loan Corp. gives financial
assistance to homes protected against the cold. They say that people
from Hokkaido catch colds when they come to [southern places like] Tokyo, because they
traditionally live in houses insulated and warmed through central
heating."
Now, I generally am a complainer but the ubiquitous Japanese cold really takes the cake for aggravations. I love winter, and even play sports in the cold, but sitting still in a barely-heated room is like torture. Interestingly enough, most Japanese students endure this torture every winter. I remember my feet being so cold for so long in schools that some of my toes wouldn't contract right. If that doesn't sound impressive for heating mishaps, try walking without three of your toes.
Japonica rice, the stuff on the left in large amounts is linked to diabetes
A review of previous studies confirmed that high consumption levels of white rice is likely to increase the risk of Type 2 diabetes. This news is especially troublesome for Asians, who tend to have a much higher white rice intake.
The review was done by experts at Harvard Medical and Harvard School of Public Health looking at Chinese and Japanese (as representatives of Asia) and Americans and Australians (as representative of Western society) (source).
The studies followed 350,000 people over time from 4 to 22 years. In these cases, over 13,000 people developed Type 2 diabetes. There was a 12 percent difference between the Asian and Western groups with Asians 55 percent likelier
It also should be noted (or be pretty clear) that:
Diet is only one factor in Type 2 diabetes, a complex disease that involves high levels of blood sugar that cannot be processed by the hormone insulin. Obesity and lack of exercise are also cited as culprits (source).
What Dan Thinks:
What I find surprising is that this is news to anyone. It is not a secret that rice has a high glycemic index and contains little nutritional value. I remember reading somewhere that we always want to avoid spikes in sugar levels and that such an avoidance will let us live longer (pending other diseases or freak occurrences).
Starches (or, carbohydrates), just like candy or soft drinks, are basically sugar. The only difference is that starches are complex carbohydrates which means they need to be broken down to get at the sugar. But when a person overloads on carbs (no matter what it is) the sugar is released right into the bloodstream causing one of these nasty "spikes".
This was always something I considered in Japan when students were encouraged to go back for seconds and sometimes thirds on the white rice. I'm guessing most of them thought it was healthy, a sign of genki-ness and made for a strong child. The same went for seconds of white bread which everyone thought was a healthy alternative to rice every once in a while. Sometimes we would have yakisoba (noodles), bread, butter and honey, and then a milk--all of which pretty much amount to sugar. And students' consumption was only checked by the amount of food that was left to eat. It really blew my mind.
Fukushima University researchers have designed radiation-measuring collars to fit on some of the wild monkey population in the surrounding wooded areas. This, of course, is to analyze the higher radiation levels still present since the March 11, 2011 earthquake, tsunami and subsequent meltdown of reactors at the Fukushima power plant.
Since the monkeys spend most of their time in trees while occasionally dipping to the forest floor, the gps-equipped collars will be able to measure ground and air radiation levels. Supposedly, the monkeys are key in this new project because their area is well known and will help track wildlife exposure to radiation. Also, the monkey collars are supposed to be more reliable than the current readings from helicopter.
These cute little guys even bathe in hot springs.
Now, I understand that the collars can be released even by a remote, and that, well, the monkeys will be living in the radiated areas anyway... but doesn't it sound a bit like exploitation? These little guys are smart enough to bathe in hot springs. They're like little people (that may occasionally throw poop in a fit of anger).
It just seems a bit backwards to employ an itchy and invasive collar on monkeys to study the degree of "not well" a human accident still is. Why not just attach a few "collars" to trees in different areas at varying heights?
Why not just send a few current TEPCO heads out into the forest with dosimeters (hazmat suits optional)? Ah, they're getting sued by their shareholders for sheer incompetence anyway.
So, rounding up two years teaching English here on an island in Hiroshima, Japan I have a few things I like to say about the failing English system in Japan. As a JET some think I will swoop in to a town and everyone will speak English fluently. Others look at the track record of English programs and how little has improved and are already guessing the fateful outcome. The problem is that there isn’t such a definitive correlation between native English teachers in Japan and “successful” students. (The quotes are there to question what success means in Japan which is based on the short-term goal of written tests scores—you can already see how the road to success has become rather complicated).
Wait, native English teachers don’t really affect the English system in Japan? Well, I’ve tried my best (and did a damn-good job) getting students enthused about English learning while pushing students to understand the absurdity of those of their classmates that are unmotivated to learn or even try in class. Also, for students that are truly motivated, I give them special attention in and out of class to reinforce their English and praise their success. Furthermore, I’ve paid special attention to phonics and native English patterns to teach such points that normally go under the radar of traditional education. But my method only goes so far in terms of molding perfect English speakers.
Seriously though, all interests should be encouraged.
In fact, when I leave the class and when the student goes home that day and for the whole week (or two) I don’t see that student he is flooded with the Japanese language and usually only English that has undergone the 5 vowel-sound transformation of Japanese. So when I teach “How is the weather today?” the students are learning by environmental reinforcement to change it to “Hau isu za weza- tude-?” One teacher can only influence so much. Imagine if outside of Japanese class, students had no one from which to learn or hear native Japanese. Then everyone would realize how little class actually does to reinforce the subject. How much trigonometry or chemistry do you actually remember? Not much if you’re not currently in a field related to one of those subjects.
Wait, there are plenty of opportunities to learn English outside of the classroom:
In my opinion Japanese is taught rather poorly in Japan. Sure, it’s enough. And sure, there are Japanese intellects birthed from this system that excel in grammar, seem to know every kanji and are specializing in archaic Japanese. These students are exceptions which occur with no help from said educational system. Well then, why can everybody speak Japanese in Japan? It’s pretty obvious that considering a student’s family and community already speak fluent Japanese that each student has constant reinforcement of a subject that is under-taught and overestimated. Again, it’s enough, and even not-so-bright students pop out of the system with fair language skills. Evidence of this is in dialects like Hiroshima-ben which aren’t exactly cool dialects (considering old people love using it) but some people can’t stop using a dialect which their community and family has taught them.
The other reason a native English teacher in Japan has no weight in the educational system of Japan is that a lot of times their suggestions (and gripes) go unheard. Case in point: I talk with my team-teaching teacher about next year’s text book. I suggest choice E even though it is a little challenging because A and B (the normal choices teach in a way I think would confuse the students, while choice C is way too difficult, and D has grammatical errors (come on, you can’t start a sentence with “and”…and you’re teaching this to 7th graders?). So even though I have influence my team-teaching teacher, and her in-depth report makes it to the principal, there seems to be an interruption before the recommendation hits the Board of Education (which further elucidated the excess of Japanese paperwork that gets stamped and goes overlooked).
Good luck to all you new JETs!
What happened to my good intentions? I spent nearly a full day reading through textbooks A to E and made intellectual recommendations based on my two years working in Japan. Maybe the B textbook company has given the BOE a can’t-be-beaten offer for their 2011-2012 set (which hasn’t changed much since the previous year). Or maybe they just stuffed some money in their pockets. The truth is the BOE has little connection to actual schools even though they make all the final decisions concerning education. So, even though there are continual gripes about education such as the lack of focus on English speech, the focus remains on writing and nothing can be changed. (Our students need good test scores, you know.) When I push a little I am met with such responses as, "The problem is that English is just really difficult." What they have neglected to say is, "English is a language just like Japanese. So it's reasonable that we teach them in the same rote methods." Yappari.
TEPCO, or Tokyo Electric Power Company, is the fourth largest power company in the world. It is the largest supplier in Japan servicing approximately one-third of the nation. While thermal energy (oil, coal, LNG, and geothermal) is more than half of their output, they have been forging their way into greener pastures (reduced carbon emissions) by way of nuclear energy.
With a quick pop over to our friend Wikipedia, we are allowed a glimpse of their backwards ethics. On August 29, 2002, the government cried out that TEPCO was falsifying radiation output records, government inspections, and hiding incident reports. The next day, two chairman and two advisers stepped down. The subsequent suspension of power generation was lifted by the end of 2005. In 2007, the company announced another bundle of unreported incidents and a unit criticality in 1978. The company made no attempt to identify those at fault.
Nighttime light usage before and after the quake
Fast forward to the ongoing nuclear scare at Fukushima. There was the March 11th huge earthquake, the huge tsunami, the flooded generators, the American media scare, and the baby nuclear reactors farting out some radioactive material. On March 15, TEPCO announces a fire at the number four reactor broke out at around 9am. The International Atomic Energy Agency reports the fire broke out the night before, just before midnight. A 9-hour-late report…maybe TEPCO thought they could extinguish the fire before reporting how extreme the situation was.
Monday, April 4th, TEPCO began dumping tons of radiated water (100 times the legal limit) into the ocean. TEPCO insures this is “no major health risk” as they have set up an underwater silt fence for this “inevitable” dumping as well as the known yet undiscovered leak in the same area. The silt fence “can contain a large portion” of the dumped radioactive water.
Uhh, fill 'er up!
On Tuesday, April 5th, TEPCO admitted that iodine-131 was found at levels 7.5 million times the safe level in seawater near the plant. Also, the amount of cesium-134 was 2 million times the maximum amount permitted and cesium-137 was 1.3 million times the amount allowable. Cesium-137 has a half-life of around 30 years. This was information recorded on Saturday, April 2nd, before the TEPCO began releasing radioactive water. Despite protests from the South Korean government, Russian scientists, and Japanese fishermen, Japan authorized the release of the 12,700 tons of less radioactive water into the ocean to make room to store more highly contaminated water in the storage areas. TEPCO took the first steps to repair a leak on April 6th(a leak that was evident on April 2nd).
I understand that TEPCO has some serious priorities. Apparently, letting the world know about radiated water leaking into the ocean was not one of them. This situation is especially detrimental to Japan, a culture based around fishing, marine life, and the health of said ecosystem. The Cesium-137 will especially become concentrated in the upper food chain of the sea. Masayoshi Yamamoto, a professor of radiology at Kanazawa University, said such radioactive materials are likely to be detected in fish and other marine products in Japan and other nations in the short and long run, posing a serious threat to the seafood industry in other nations as well. All of Japan's sea products will probably be labeled unsafe and other nations will blame Japan if radiation is detected in their marine products," Yamamoto said. Although many fishing boats are out of commission due to the tsunami, much of the remaining fishing may be coming to a halt due to the radiation.
Now, if you’ve been paying careful attention to the news you may have noticed a media lag between what Japan knows about the situation and what foreign countries know. I’m not talking about Fox News folly or the “LEAVE JAPAN NOW” headlines. By this, I mean the Japanese are being somewhat left in the dark as to the important and sometimes shocking findings. This is due to government intervention, Japanese politics, and a Japanese national sense of “what is right for the country is right for you…keep working”.
All cross-cultural joking aside, there is an evident information lag between what TEPCO knows and what they tell (any) media source. The government seems to be in on it, considering their constant withholding of radiation levels (while foreign countries are forced to take their own readings). Also, there is obvious media corruption (Shingetsu).
TEPCO is a major source of advertising revenue for all the major dailies and none of the big media organizations want to deny themselves a share of the spoils…TEPCO is thought to spend about US$120 million annually for advertisements on Japanese television, radio, and major newspapers. Even the public “apology” being offered by the company is bringing more cash into media coffers, according to reports from freelance journalists.”
It seems they feeding information to the Japanese public on a need-to-know basis…and, well, maybe Japan isn’t even getting all they need to know. They have an untrustworthy track record to say the least. Maybe, あやしい (suspicious) explains it. Considering the Nuclear Alert has recently been raised to 7 (on a scale of 1-7) it might be pertinent to adopt an honest policy. It's funny that in a few days the alert was raised from 4 to 5, then 5 to 7. The problem has been slowly getting worse...why the sudden jump in disaster rating? Maybe public pressure (domestic and foreign) has forced the company to admit the severity.
(At a level 7 alert, the Fukushima incident is now tied with the Chernobyl incident--the difference being Fukushima has experienced a release of radioactive material one-tenth that of Chernobyl. It might be also pertinent to mention that some towns on the north border of the evacuation radius have received 14 times the yearly allowance of radiation in about half a month. Shouldn't the evacuation radius be expanded?)
Now, regardless of the fact that the company president had last month visited evacuation shelters to apologize for positive media exposure to the evacuees, the company now has gone as far as to hide their empty employee housing with duct taping over one of the signs. It’s empty anyway; can’t you fit some evacuees in there? Evacuation centers are overcrowded and in short supply.
There are rumors the company is forcing families to stay quiet about their health and work conditions inside the plant. TEPCO reports 40,000 daily complaints coming into their office. I wonder why. As a result, the company has placed guards at the perimeter of their headquarters.
In slightly better news, Tokyo Electric Power Company plans to pay 20 million dollars in partial provisional compensation to residents and farmers living around the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant. The 20 million offered to larger towns will pay for living costs, losses and medical bills. This sum equates to around two thousand dollars per household. This and promises of future reparations seem promising, but I would guess the company is begrudgingly shelling out its money that is has clawed and scraped so hard to get.
Hmm, what about the severe economic impact? The marine life impact? The impact on neighboring countries? It seems they would have to throw in the white towel of bankruptcy if all amends were actually made.
