Which was the best era in Japan? An interview with my grandparents who were born in the early 20th century

(Interviewing them and writing this article in May 2001, adding pictures in 2016)

Introduction

My grandparents on the day of their town's traditional festival

My grandparents will be 90 years old soon, three times my age. I wanted to know how the world they have seen has changed, so I interviewed them. (cooperating in creating questions by a friend of mine Mr.Kinami)

Profile of my grandparents

Grandfather

Born in 1911. He worked for Japanese National Railways, and was in charge of the planning office of the Osaka Administrative Bureau of Railways, etc.
He enjoys playing music. He plays the violin, trombone, and shamisen (Japanese guitar). He also likes collecting coins and stamps, and gardening. He is a heavy smoker, and a coffee-drinker. But amazingly, he is very healthy, he even smokes the strongest nicotine cigarettes.

My grandfather practicing the violin in their junior high school days in the 1920s

Grandmother

Born in 1912. After graduating elementary school, she was put to work. After getting married, she brought up one girl and four boys. She likes reading novels and gardening.

Interview Part 1: About the public at large

Q: In your opinion, which was the best era in Japan? : Before the war*, soon after the war, "high growth of the Japanese economy" era**, "bubble" era***, and the present.

* World War II
** circa 1955-1970
*** circa 1986-1990. Boom economy made stocks and real estimates incredibly high. This unsubstantial prosperity left some huge problems in the Japanese economic market, afterwards.

A: (Grandfather) I like the present days because we have lived without restraint.
(Grandmother) I like the present days because we live in an affluent society.
And I also think "before the war" era was good. People didn’t covet material belongings.

Q: Do you feel that there has been a moral degeneration in Japanese society? They say there is a marked decline in public morality, On the other hand, some other people say that we have embraced the process of reducing discrimination, etc.

A:(Grandfather) I think it is getting better. I feel that we are in the process of reducing some discrimination.
(Grandmother) On a superficial level, I think the present society is the best. There are many problems in society, but I don’t think that juvenile delinquency has increase as they say on the news.

Q: What has changed the most in the world?

A:(Grandfather) Cars have changed the world very much. But I think that motorization is the subject of discussion. First, it isn't effective that people use a car when they don’t really need to. People don’t realize problems (traffic jam, traffic accident, etc.) of using car. People should use public transportation. Second, They have caused a lot of environmental pollution. At least, diesel cars must be banned.
(Grandmother) When water pipes were laid, I felt it was very convenient. And I will never forget the way I felt when we bought a TV set and a washing machine.

Interview Part 2: About the war and Hirohito, the emperor

Q: What did you think when the Pacific War started?

A: (Grandfather) I thought that it was a very serious thing, but I wasn’t surprised, because the Manchuria Incident, etc. had already broken out and had escalated into the Pacific War. Therefore I didn’t feel that the Pacific War broke out suddenly.

Q: How did you feel when the war was over?

A: (Grandfather) I only felt that I had escaped death.
(Grandmother) I gave a sigh of relief.

Q: In your opinion, did you think Japan could win the war?

A: (Grandfather) I thought Japan couldn’t win against the U.S. After many air raids, when I saw Kobe city from the second floor of a building in Osaka* I felt it was the end of the battle.
* It is 30km (20miles) from Osaka to Kobe. Osaka has many tall buildings, so normally you cannot see Kobe even from the tenth floor of a building.

Osaka station after the 1945 air raid (quote from Wikipedia Commons)

(Grandmother) I thought Japan couldn’t win, too. During the war, when I said to a neighbor “Can we trust news releases from the Imperial Headquarters*?" she reproved me for the carelessness in saying so because it was unsafe to criticize the Imperial Headquarters.

*The top of Japanese Army. It released untrue news of Japan’s victories in the war despite their continual defeats during the second half of the war. Even now, Japanese use the word “the Imperial Headquarters’ releases" when companies, or the government releases untrue public announcements.

Q: When people were called into the army, was it really an honor for them?

A: (Both of grandfather and grandmother) In our opinion, nobody was happy to be called up, instead this usually meant their call to death yet it was honorable. However, men who couldn’t pass the standard and were not called up because of their physique were ashamed.
*People in Japan had a wartime custom in which they celebrated the man who was called into the army.

Q: Why did people accept the U.S. Occupation Army without rebelling soon after the war, even though the Japanese government had said, “The U.S. and the U.K. are the evil ogre and the beast" during the war?

A: (Grandfather) My co-workers and I discussed how Japanese National Railways welcomed the Occupation Army at a conference when they landed at the port of Wakayama (next to Southern Osaka). One of the reception members said, “I will attempt to wreck the train the Army members ride!" Of course his proposal was rejected, but he remained a member of the reception. Surprisingly, he later said, “The U.S. Army is great. They are gentlemen." when he was back from the reception.
I hadn’t heard what had happened in detail at the reception, but, in my opinion, the first members of the Occupation Army were picked based on their previous knowledge of Japanese people and culture. I didn’t hear any bad news about them during the occupation era. And I think that it was brilliant that the Army was very plentiful when the Japanese has no material things. It made it easy for the Japanese to open their hearts to the Army.
But, on the other hand, I think that the Japanese people surely feared the Army. When I went to a station to welcome the Army, there were no Japanese people near the station. Maybe they stayed in their homes all day long. However, three days after the arrival of the Army, I saw almost all the GIs accompanied by Japanese women in a train.
(Grandmother) They say, “When the Army comes, women never go out" very often.

Q: Did you think the Showa Emperor (Hirohito) was a God*?

A: (Grandfather and Grandmother) We didn’t think that the emperor was a transcendent human or the descendant of God. But we thought the Showa Emperor was an excellent man, so, we thought most Japanese people respected him at that time. Or else riot would break out.
*The Japanese government stated and educated pupils that the emperor was the descendant of God. But soon after the war (in 1946), the Emperor himself declared that he was a mere human.

Q: After the war, did you think that the Occupation Army would execute the Emperor?

A: (Grandfather and Grandmother) We didn’t think so. We thought the American Government didn’t tend to go to extremes, so they would not be so severe.

Q: Were you shocked by the picture of the small and neatly dressed Emperor posed next to the big and relaxed posture of General MacArthur?

MacArthur and Showa Emperor

A: (Grandfather) I felt that the emperor had no choice but to take the picture posed this way. And I found that the picture showed the Emperor’s determination to save Japan.

Interview Part 3: about life

Q: What is the most important aspect of life?

A: (Grandfather) First, it is health. Next, you must have a good partner. A woman is the power source of a man, I think. A man’s life is based on a woman. And it is key to be loved by people. Friends are very important.
Enjoy your life. I think it is meaningless if you don’t enjoy your own life.
(Grandmother) Health. I always take care of my husband’s health.

Q: What was the happiest event in your life?

A: (Grandfather) It was the time when I passed a promotion exam and became a proper government employee. And, it was when the war ended.
(Grandmother) It was the time when a spinning mill that I worked for gave me “allowance for filial piety" when I was a teenager.
My salary at the mill was one yen per day, so I earned 30yen per month. (I took only one day off per month) But I paid 18yen per month for medicine that my father needed.
One day, an employer called me suddenly and asked me how much I paid for my father’s illness. "I receive enough salary", I said, but he raised my pay to 50yen per month as "allowance for filial piety" starting the next month.

Q: What is the sad or sorry events of your life?

A: (Grandfather) When I was transferred to a rural station because of my boss felt me as insolent at my newcomer age.
(Grandmother) I cannot remember any sad events.

Q: What are events that you were surprised especially?

A: (Grandfather) I had no events that I can remember soon.
(Grandmother) I was anxious about my husband’s surgical operation (It succeeded)

Q: In your opinion, what is the key that you can maintain happy married life?

A: (Grandfather) I think it is love, even it is a conventional comments. I believe that a secret key is generally conventional.
(Grandmother) I think it is thankful mind. And, I thank that parents in law were very kind.

Q: What do you think you should have done?

A: (Grandfather) I am satisfied with my own life. Especially I feel lucky because I spend my business period that was substantial.
(Grandmother) I should have taken practice to write sentences formally.



My grandmother died in Dec 2003, my grandfather died in Dec 2011. Both of them passed away suddenly - without pain.



Osaka station in 2016

Why is the US military in Japan?

Why is the US military in Japan? Some non-Japanese people seem to think it is because the US monitors Japan. However, most Japanese people don't think this.

Generally, Japanese people think as follows:

Reason 1: The constitution of Japan states that Japan can't have an army. Therefore, Japan needs the US army for its defense. When thinking about if Japan needs the US for it's defense, it is important to look at, "The Constitution of Japan"

The Constitution of Japan, Article 9
Aspiring sincerely to an international peace based on justice and order, the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes.
In order to accomplish the aim of the preceding paragraph, land, sea, and air forces, as well as other war potential, will never be maintained. The right of belligerency of the state will not be recognized.


According to Article 9, Japan is supposed to have renounced it's right to war. However, as stated by "Global Firepower*", Japan has the Self Defense Forces whose military power ranks 10th in the world, surpassing Israel's.

*Global Firepower (GFP) provides a unique analytical display of data concerning today's world military powers. Over 100 world military powers are considered in the ranking which allows for a broad spectrum of comparisons to be achieved concerning relative military strengths.


Global Firepower -2014 World Military Strength Rankings (nuclear capability is not taken into account)
The GFP Top 10: 1. United States 2. Russia 3. China 4. India 5. UK 6. France 7. Germany 8. Turkey 9. South Korea 10. Japan 11. Israel 12. Italy 13. Egypt

Therefore, Japan does not actually need the US for its defense.

FYI: Why is the Japanese government able to state the Self Defense Force as non-military despite its strong military power?

Ministry of defense: The Government's View on Article 9 of the Constitution
(Extract) The self-defense capability to be possessed and maintained by Japan under the Constitution is limited to the minimum necessary for self-defense.

The specific limit has a relative aspect of varying with the international situation, the level of military technology and various other conditions. It is defined in the Diet, the representatives of the people through deliberations about each fiscal year budget etc. However, whether or not the said armed strength corresponds to "war potential" prohibited under paragraph 2 of Article 9 of the Constitution is an issue regarding the total strength that Japan possesses and maintains. Accordingly, whether or not the SDF are allowed to possess some specific armaments is decided by whether the total strength will or will not exceed the constitutional limit by possessing such armaments.

But in any case in Japan, it is unconstitutional to possess what is referred to as offensive weapons that, from their performance, are to be used exclusively for total destruction of other countries, since it immediately exceeds the minimum level necessary for self-defense. For instance, the SDF is not allowed to possess ICBMs, long-range strategic bombers or offensive aircraft carriers.

Reason 2: The location of Japanese islands was, and still is important for the balance of power in Asia. Therefore America, the world's police, needs to have many military bases in Japan.

In the era of the Cold War, it was a probable theory that America needed Japan to police Asia. South Korea and Japan bordered the Soviet Union, China and North Korea, which were communist powerhouses at the time. Japan could therefore have been an important frontline country for the West.

Many Japanese people believed this theory, my father being one of them. I remember a conversation with my father in the early 80s. I was junior high school student. I told him that the US should set up more military bases in Hokkaido, the northern large island in Japan. I knew it was not far from Hokkaido to the nearest island of Soviet Union (only 42km or 26miles). My father said, "Boy, do you know the reason the US never set up a base in Hokkaido? If it does so, the Soviet Union will think it is not a deterrence but take it as a war declaration. Very sensitive topic." To me, this experience represents the fact that Japanese people were aware of the tensions between the West and the East in the Cold War era, and Japan's important role in this conflict.

At that time, many Japanese people believed the US bases were necessary on islands in Japan. Now however, many people think that the current situation with China is the same as Japan's relationship with Russia during the Cold War. Therefore, they think that Okinawa is key for Japan's defense and the balance of power in Asia. The area size of the US bases in Okinawa accounts for 73.9% of all the US bases in Japan*. The large concentration of American power in one area (Okinawa) could be seen by some as America using Japan as a barrier against Asian countries such as China.
*http://www.pref.okinawa.jp/site/chijiko/kichitai/documents/kadai.pdf (in Japanese)

My opinion differs from this viewpoint. I agree that the US bases in Japan are located in Okinawa because of the Cold War, China and North Korea. However, the Cold War is now over and the likelihood of attack from China or North Korea is much lower than during the Cold War era. I therefore do not think that American still needs US bases in Japan to keep the balance of power in Asia.

My main opinion about the reason of the existence of the US bases in Japan is different from the above reason.

My opinion

The USA does not need Japan to keep the balance of power in Asia. The biggest reason for America's presence in Japan is that it costs less to locate US bases in Japan rather than in other countries. As can be seen in the graph below, Japan contributes more money to US bases and soldier salaries than any other country.

Allied Contributions to the Common Defense (United States Department of Defense 2004)

It can then be seen that Japan contributes more to US bases and soldier salaries than any other country.

Why Japan does this can be explained through events surrounding the establishment of Article 9?

The US wrote the first draft of The Constitution of Japan, including Article 9, in February 1946. At that time, the Cold War hadn't started yet. However, one month later, the Prime Minister of the UK, Churchill, first spoke of "The Iron Curtain", which is famous for signaling the beginning of the Cold War. In June 1950, the Korean War broke out. One month later, the US made Japan establish the National Police Reserve, which would later become the Self Defense Force. In short, I believe the US may have been anxious about Japan's remilitarization at first, but then used Japan as a wall against communist countries. After the Cold War ended, the US continued to take advantage of Japan simply to maintain the US bases at a low cost.

Conclusion: One more question

I believe America's military presence in Japan is not needed for Japan's defense to maintain the balance of power in Asia. It is simply because Japan provides a large amount of money for the US bases and soldier salaries. I must ask, why does Japan continue to support the US bases and provide them with a lot of money? Such policies are decided by the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan. They are conservative and many members have a nationalistic mindset, however they choose to be dependent on the US. I can't understand why. I understand only that Japan has virtually been subordinate to the US from the end of World War II.

Why is Japan's unemployment rate so low?

Japan's unemployment rate and the recession

Japan's unemployment rate is lower than other developed countries.

United States Department of Labor "International Unemployment Rates and Employment Indexes, Seasonally Adjusted, 2009-2013"

People say that Japan has been experiencing a long recession, called "the lost twenty years", since 1992. If in a recession, then why is Japan's unemployment rate so low?

Japanese workers may be employed under harsher circumstances than unemployed people in the other developed countries

The reason why, has a strong relationship to the following chart.

International Labour Organization (International Institute for Labour Studies) 2009
The Financial and economic crisis: a Decent Work Response P.16

In 2009, to receive unemployment benefits, you would have had to have worked for over one year, have paid for employment insurance, be willing to work as soon as a company offers you employment and now be seeking a job. The amount of benefits received is about half of the amount of the applicant's former salary.
The period of receiving benefits is as follows: for applicants who quit his/her job, they can receive a max of 150 days pay. For applicants who were fired by a company, they can receive a max of 330 days pay. Disabled applicants can only receive a max of 360 days pay.
Labor Department of Japan, Osaka To persons intending to receive unemployment benefits of employment insurance system

Considering the bad conditions for those seeking unemployment benefits in Japan, many job seekers have no choice but to apply for a company which has bad (sometimes illegal) work conditions.

My opinion: The Reasons why Japanese society doesn't like to help unemployed people

Many young people, who feel the harsh reality of employment, never participate in elections. In the election for the lower diet of Japan in 2012, the ratio of people voting in their twenties was 37.89%. For voters in their seventies, the ratio was 74.93%.

Japanese people in older generations – in my opinion, over about 60 years old －　have tendencies to think "If a young person is in good health and yet unemployment, he or she is idle. Why do we have to pay our tax for such lazy people?" They spent their youth in the 60s to 80s. At that time, Japanese society kept the unemployment rate at 2%, while in European countries the unemplyment rate was 10%. That generation of Japanese citizens could get jobs easily. I got my job in 1993 (the first year of Japan's "lost twenty years"), after 6 job interviews for the same company. Three people, including me, got a job in my company out of 300 applicants from my university. After starting my job, an older co-worker in my office said; "I can't understand why my company is now "the narrow gate". He said he found it easy to get his job, "I only found a recruitment ad in a newspaper, applied, got this job. Maybe almost all of the applicants at that time could get jobs."

However, people from older generation have experienced other harsh realities. In their youth, Saturday wasn't a holiday. The words and concepts, "abuse of power" and "sexual harassment", didn't exist. More than in modern Japan, older people had absolute power – if a boss said something irrational, young people couldn't object, and had to simply obey him. Now such harsh realities have gone and people work under more favorable conditions. Therefore, people from older generations often think, "modern young people work in such favorable conditions, but they can't get jobs. They must be lazy."



My opinion about Japan's low unemployment rate can be explained through the following example. Miki Watanabe is the founder of a big pub-chain company. The company is notorious for its bad labor conditions. For example, their corporate identity is: "Work 24hours a day, 365days a year, till you die." A worker of this company committed suicide. Her work condition were: 140 hours overwork per month. On her designated "holidays", the company forced her to receive training from 7am, do "volunteer activities" and write a report about the "volunteer activities".

Watanabe, despite being such a notorious executive, was surprisingly elected for the upper diet in Japan. Among people in my generation (under 40 years of age), it was unbelievable. Many people from older generations feel the same way. However, some people from older generations wanted Watanabe to be in power. They thought modern Japanese society needed a severe leader, who says, "Work hard, don't be a spoiled child". In the end, 1 million voters voted for Watanabe, showing support of this work ethic. Clearly, older generations who supported Watanabe participated in the election, however younger people who were against Watanabe did not.

Japan's low unemployment rate compared to other developed countries', never means Japan's economy is in good condition. It means there is a big generation gap in understanding the real possibility of getting jobs in modern Japan and about their voting rates.

I don't agree with the article "Why have young people in Japan stopped having sex?"

Why have young people in Japan stopped having sex? - Guardian

I sometimes see such articles about Japan from only one viewpoint. The contents of this article may be true, however, only about a few young Japanese people, not all of them. I'm disappointed that such an article appeared in a respected newspaper.

Whenever I see such articles and opinions, I recall the book;
Edward W. Saïd "Orientalism" (Wikipedia)　(Amazon)


I understand that it is easy to read and trust information from trusted news sources such as the Guardian. I also wonder, if I myself, have some prejudice towards people from foreign cultures and wish to be aware of this. I think it's important to do thorough research before forming opinions about a culture and hope people who read about Japan will do the same.


FYI: I think that the following links are proper comments for the Guardian's articles.
The Guardian's (Mis)guide To Japanese Sex Trends - Global Voices
Sex myths without substance: Mislabelling Japan - The Independent

Why some people say that Japanese and German people are similar in character, and not Spanish people?

Introduction

Some people say that Japanese and German people are similar in character. For instance they are both punctual, diligent, and having had totalism government during the WWII, became mass producers of products after the war. I only partially agree with this view, however it raised an important question. I wondered why Japanese and German people are similar, and not Spanish people.



I have found the answer to this question through Emmanuel Todd in the book "Sekaizou Kakumei" which roughly translated means, "A revolutionary way to understand how the world works" This is a book designed for Japanese readers. It contains Emanuel Todd's basic theory and Japanese social scientists commentary on his theories about social structures. This book asks questions such as why communism is more widely accepted by Russia and China and not by Western European countries and the Far East. It also resolved my question, family structures affect the ideological tendencies of countries and thus explains why certain countries are similar to each other ideologically. In order for you to understand this theory, I will describe four family structures, how their structure affects them ideologically, and state in what parts of the world you can see these structures.


Emmanuel Todd (from Wikimedia Commons)



1. Authoritarian Families

-Parents have the authorities in the household. Their sons and daughters are unequal status.
Ex- The chosen successor will stay in their parent's home while the other sibling must leave the home.
Ideology tendencies: authoritarianism to their own citizens
Area: Japan, the Korean Peninsula, German language areas, Sweden, Norway, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, the east coast of England, Rwanda and Jewish communities.


2. Community based Families

Parents have the authorities in the household. Their sons and daughters have equal status. All sons and daughters stay in their parent's home even after marriage. Therefore, family structures that are community based are usually large. Heritage is divided between all sons and daughters equally.
Ideology tendencies: Communism
Area: Russia, China, Vietnam, Northern India, Finland, Tuscany (Italy), Bulgaria, ex-Yugoslavia
*Arabic households are structured similarly to community based families. However, in Arabic families, marrying cousins is popular.


3. Egalitarian Nuclear Families

Parents don't have strong authorities over their children. Sons and daughters are equal.
Ex- When sons and daughters come of age, they will leave the household and having their own families. Heritage is divided between all sons and daughters equally.
Ideology tendencies: Egalitarian individualism
Area: Northern France including Paris, most of the Iberian Peninsula, Northwest Italy, Poland, Romania, Greece, and Latin America


4. Absolute Nuclear Families

Parents don't have strong authority in their homes. Their sons and daughters are unequal in status.
Ex- When sons and daughters come of age, they will leave the household and have their own families. The sons and daughters heritage will be decided based on their parent's will.
Ideology tendencies: Liberal individualism
Area: Large parts of England, the Netherlands and Denmark. This structure can also be seen in Bretagne, the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa


This theory convinced me, in particular, about Community based families. It's structure is similar to the structure of communism. However, I have a question. Tuscany has Community based families and yet Italy is capitalist. It seems a contradiction. Actually, until recent years, the strongest communist party in the western world was in Italy. In 2006, a member of this party was elected as the President of Italy. Also the strongest supporters for the Italian Communist Party were in Tuscany. Todd's theory can once again be applied in this case.



The history of the family structures

What is the history of the family structures? Unexpectedly, I found out that Community based families are the newest because they are located in the center of the continent Eurasia and Nuclear families are on the edge of the continent. Todd says that family structures are born in the center of the world and spread to the edge. The locations of the family structures show us their history. He also said that Community based family structures are suitable to construct strong armies therefore this family structure can easily overcome other family structures.

I don't agree with the former idea presented here, that the newest family structures spread from the center of the world. However, I agree with the later. However, nowadays, the countries which have the Absolute Nuclear families seem to be the strongest in the world. The later theory of community based families being the strongest in the world is suitable when applied to the past. In the modern world, one of the most important things to survive is quick adaptation to new situations, not strong power. Absolute Nuclear families are hence, the bases for the world's modern strongest countries, while in the past, the world's strongest family structure, was the Community based families.



People's senses of values still remain

Will Absolute Nuclear families conquer the other family structures? Will all people's senses of values become the same? Todd says this will never happen. He emphasizes that people's senses of values will remain the same.

For instance, this can be seen in 1990 through the marriage of natives and immigrants.
French (Egalitarian Nuclear families) and Algerian: 25%
German (Authoritarian families) and Turk: 2%
England (Absolute Nuclear families) and Pakistanis: unmeasurable little

In France, it is more popular to marry immigrants than in German and England. The author may want to say that French people think that equality is more important than their uniqueness, or that people from Germany and England are not interested in foreign people.

I think that the French way of thinking results from their style of colonization. France controls through "direct ruling" or "assimilation" - the French government gives the same rights to its mainland citizens as to people from its colonies (however, people from the colonies rights are usually imperfect). On the other hand, England's control of its colonies is through "indirect rule" - England controls its colonies through administrators, not through controlling the people directly. This style means that English people are not interested in people living in their colonies and don't thrust their culture on people in those colonies.



The last and biggest question

Through reading this book, I have come to have one last and very important question: Why did family structures occur in the first place? For example, why did people from Tuscany construct Community based families, unlike any other Italian states? There is no answer to my question in this book which was released in 2002. Has Todd found the answer already? I will seek out his new book which has the answer.

Why is the suicide rate so high in Japan?

Look at the list of countries according to their suicide rate. You can see that many high-suicide-rate countries are former communist countries except aome asian countries including Japan. Why is Japan's suicide rate is so exceptional?

Suicides per 100,000 people per year

rank	country	male	female	average	year
1	Lithuania	54.6	11.6	31.6	2011
2	South Korea	41.4	21.0	31.2	2010
3	Guyana	39.0	13.4	26.4	2006
4	Kazakhstan	43.0	9.4	25.6	2008
5	Belarus			25.3	2010
6	Hungary	37.4	8.5	21.7	2009
7	Japan	33.5	14.6	23.8	2011
8	Latvia	33.8	4.0	17.5	2009
9	China			22.23	2011
10	Sri Lanka			21.6	1996
11	Russia			21.4	2011
12	Ukraine	37.8	7.0	21.2	2009
13	Serbia and Montenegro	28.4	11.1	19.5	2006
14	Estonia	20.6	7.3	18.1	2008
15	Croatia	30.2	10.0	19.7	2002

Ref. "Suicide rates per 100,000 by country, year and sex". World Health Organization. 2011. Retrieved 2012-01-26.

Special tendency

Looking for the differences between Japan and other countries, I found a tendency in Japan's suicide data. It is related to age. According to WHO 2008 report, the highest suicide rate age-group is over 75 years old in most countries, however, the highest suicide rate age-group in Lithuania, Iceland and Japan is people in their 50s. In addition, other statistics show that the top reason of committing suicide among Japanese men in their 50s is economic problems.

A statistic of National Police Agency supports these facts. From 2009 to 2010, Japanese suicide rate decreased from 32,845 to 31,690 (-3.5%).
The biggest decreasing age-group was men in their 50s, from 6,491 to 5,969 (-8.2%)
The biggest motive for this was economic problems. All age groups, it decreased from 8,377 to 7,438 (-11.2%)
Ref. Japan National Police Agency report in 2010 (in Japanese)

What happened in Japan in 2009? I believe in a change in the law is the answer.

In June, 2010, the Money Lending Control Act came into effect. This law for money lenders of unsecured loan established lower interest than ever before. For example, it prohibited a harsh attitude to people who had not yet paid back their loans. This is one of the reasons of Japan's high suicide rate is people couldn't pay back their loans.

Is there a law or a system to rescue such people in Japan? Yes, there is. However, some people still decided to kill themselves. I will now talk about another reason why suicide continues today.

José M. Bertolote, from the Department of Mental Health, in WHO, gives a sharp analysis on Japan's suicide tendency: "In Japan, suicide is likely to be part of culture. The immediate cause is due to overwork, joblessness, and bullies, and so forth. Suicide, however, is regarded there as an ethical standard to preserve one's honor and to take responsibility by suicide."
Ref. Kanae Kawamoto "Buddhism and Suicide: Right Attitude towards Death"


One of Japan's famous "suicide sites" Tojimbo Ooike in Fukui Prefecture, Japan (from Wikipwdia Commons, photo by っ)

My experiences

My life experience in Japan supports my findings.

Fifteen years ago, I had to move out of my parents' house and rent a flat near my office because my work was hard, I had to be in work from 9am to 11pm everyday during the week. I visited some real estate agents, and I found two good candidates. An agent said to me, "If you take this flat right now, I'll give you a secondhand laundry machine which was my other guest tennants, he doesn't need it now." I thought it was good deal, so I signed the contract to rent the flat.

After that, I began my new life in the flat. It was certainly a good flat. It was relatively new, not noisy, was in a good neighborhood, and most importantly, it was near my office. However, the agent didn't give me the laundry machine he promised even after one month. I called his office, but he was always out.

On a rainy day one week after I stopped callings agent's office, somebody knocked the door of my flat. I peeked through the peephole, the agent was standing there. He was soaked from the rain and made a polite bow from the waist. I understood why he bowed. It meant, "Sorry, I lied to you. I have been punished with the rain. Please forgive me." His action bore no fruit for me however, he was suffering, but I could only say, "I understand, but please leave." If I had made a contract with the agent concerning the laundry machine giving or I had recorded his promise, I would have pursued him. However I had not, only accepted his inadequate apology.


After 10 years, I experienced a similar episode, except I was the one apologizing. At that time, I was a manager at my company's call center. One day, a telephone operator made a call to a customer who had claimed to have been called from the call center. The operator made a mistake. Many people may think the mistake was not severe, but the customer was angry and requested that the operator bring her manager to the customer's home and apologize. I called the customer, apologized and explained it would not happen again. He accepted my plan, but requested that I go to his house.

I talked with my boss about this issue, my boss decided to accept the customers' request. My boss and I went to the customer's home by train. It took 2 hours.

Ringing a doorbell of his house, he appeared with a smile. He said, "I appreciate your actions and your company." He guided us to a café near his home. We talked about this issue there. Again, I apologized and promised the same mistake would not happen again. Our conversation had the same content as when we talked on the telephone. However, he appreciated our actions. "The company took the trouble to visit him and he appreciated this.

My opinion

You can find such absurd stories in Japan, where people take great pains to resolve problems. In B2C (business activities between company and consumers) you can often see this, some people taking great pains to apologize and value their relationships with consumers. In B2B (business activities between companies), business people work hard to resolve problems. This story is an example of how Japanese people go to extremes to apologize, and is reflected in Japan's high suicide rate.

What do Japanese people think of Korea and China? And unlike Korean and Chinese people, Taiwanese people tend to be fond of Japan,Why?

What do Japanese people think of Korea and China? What do you think of these countries? It is FAQ for me. I want to make the answer delicately, so I write it down before I talk about it.

# This article was written before the Takeshima / Dokdo island and Senkaku / Diaoyu islands dispute which occurred in summer, 2012. After this incident, feelings among Japanese, Korean and Chinese people become worse again.

Japanese perspective of Korea

Japanese people who say or write negative comments about Korea and Korean people are easy to find. When I was a child, I heard some adults swear about Korean people. Nowadays, I see many negative words about Korea and China on many electronic bulletin boards (except the North Korean government – I have never seen positive words about the country. About Korea and China, I also see many neutral words.) However, the contents of these negative messages are different between those days and these days.

From the beginning of the Japanese modernization (circa 1870) to the 1980s, many Japanese people looked down on Korea as a country behind. Japan ruled Korea as a colony from 1910 to 1945. In order to justify the occupation, the Japanese government made propaganda that said "Korea is behind, so Japan has to control her." Actually, Korea was behind Japan in modernization, so many Japanese people recognized the propaganda as truth.

In addition, many Korean people who lived in Japan (not only coming to Japan voluntarily but also perhaps being brought forcibly for hard mining labor) lived in poverty under discriminations. After the end of the rule by Japan, some Koreans in Japan ran non-conventional business, for example gambling, so many Japanese people thought of Koreans as dirty people.

However, from the 1990s, the situation had changed. In 1987, the Korean government became democratic. The former government was a military administration which had been controlled by the US to guard and bring up Japan as an Asian base of anti-communism. So the Korean military government oppressed their citizens who spoke out against the Japanese occupation. Japan paid compensation to Korea but the Korean government used it for the social infrastructure, not citizens. After their democratization, Korean people began to publicly criticize Japan's ruling. They developed their economy.

Meanwhile, from the 1990s, Japan was and still stuck in a bad economic situation. Some Japanese patriots lost their pride for the nation which used to have a strong economy. The Korean economy was developing more, requested more compensation (informally), and set policemen on Takeshima / Dokdo, which is the territorial disputed island of Japan and Korea. Some of the Japanese people began to think that Koreans are greedy. Japanese nationalists began to recognize Korean people in Japan not as poor dirty people, but as people with special privileges (they began to think that Koreans in Japan have many more privileged rights than other foreigners in Japan) and started to criticize them. The name of their group is "Citizens against Special Privilege of Zainichi (Koreans in Japan)"

In 2004, other big change had occurred. A Korean TV drama suddenly became a big hit in Japan. Before that, Korean culture in Japan was only for a few admirers. After that, Korean drama and pop music became popular genres in Japan. This tide is not temporary. The number of Korean language learners and visitors to Korea is increasing. NHK (Japan's public broadcasting station) published Korean language class textbooks, the number in 2001 was 80,000, while in 2005 it was 320,000. I don't know the reason why, but some people said Korean drama lovers in Japan found a conservative and tidy atmosphere (rather than an extraordinary story and direction) in the dramas.

As above, now in Japan, there are both people who hate Korea (I think it is absurd notion) and people who love Korean culture.

# This article was written before the Takeshima / Dokdo island dispute which occurred in August, 2012. The president of Korea first visited Takeshima / Dokdo. In addition, he said, if the emperor of Japan would like to visit Korea, he has to apologize for the people who fought for the independence of Korea and were killed under Japanese oppression of Korea. After this incident, feelings between Japanese people and Korean people become worse again.


Takeshima / Dokdo from Wikipedia Commons (Rachouette, teacher in Seoul, SOUTH KOREA)

From the perspective of Korean people to Japan

Korean people seem to hold onto their anger against Japan. The reasons why are the oppression by the old Japanese government and no-reflection on Japan's past.

During the Japanese occupation era, the Japanese government forced the Korean people to admire the Emperor of Japan and to learn the Japanese language. The government also forced the people of Korea to change their names to Japanese. These things were a big humiliation for them because they had their own customs of worshipping their ancestors. Some or (many) Japanese people seemed to use violence against Korean people. This story of oppression was passed down from generation to generation of Koreans. (On the other hand, some Japanese people insist that the Japanese rule developed the Korean infrastructure and hygiene improved.).

*Why did the old Japanese government force the worship of the Emperor and the adoption of the Japanese language? One Japanese historian said that the reason why is that only those two things were originally from Japan and not from western society. The logic of the government to rule Korea was that Japan had developed more than Korea. However, this "development" also meant westernization. So if Japan didn't have its original power, it could not have ruled Korea reasonably. There was the contradiction of Japan potentially ruling Korea in a western style as opposed to a traditional Japanese style. These two things – the Emperor and the language were the key supporting reasons for Japan's rule. I agree with this explanation.

After WWII, an explaination of the Japanese occupation of Korea was written in Japanese government approved history textbooks, in a few lines. Koreans got angry about them, so the Independent Hall in South Korea in 1987 was established by Korean citizens' donations. It features Korean history, in particular, during the Japanese occupation. I visited it in 1994. The exhibition includes life-size mannequins depicting, for example the torture of a bloody half-naked Korean lady by Japanese policeman. An Jung-geun, who assassinated Hirofumi Ito, the first prime minister of Japan and the governor-general of Korea, was considered a citizen's hero. A picture book for kids admired An as a respected man. This hall is a popular place of Korean elementary school excursions.

Koreans' anger hasn't calmed down even now. In the past the Korean law prohibited the sale, performance, and broadcasting of Japanese pop culture (songs, movies, manga and so on) – while bootleg copies of these things seem popular in Korea. The law was abolished in 1998 in several stages, but Even in 2012 Japanese TV dramas are still banned on non-satellite Korean TV stations.

My opinion

I think of the country of Korea and the Korean people as follows:

Ancient Korea strongly influenced Japan. Many parts of Japanese culture, including script, religious beliefs and many traditional industrial techniques are based on Chinese ways via Korea. I think of many aspects of Korean culture, such as their writing system, Korean movies, and foods as great. In addition, Japanese politicians and business people can learn a lot from modern Korean politics to strategically prioritize policies regarding intellectual properties and internationalization of business. Therefore, there are some things I respect about Korea and the Korean people.

As for the way Japan ruled Korea, I think that most of it was not done in a proper way, because it lacked concern for the culture and people of Korea. On the other hand, I don't think that the Japanese occupation was completely a mistake. In those days, Japan expanded its own colonialism in order to survive among dominant western powers. I think that we cannot properly argue about the rights and wrongs of colonialism in the past from the perspective of today's values (but we can and have to learn a lot from it.)

I understand that Korean people feel angry about the Japanese occupation. However, perpetuating hate and anger at a neighboring country doesn't have any value. The era of development based on such policy has passed, and now co-operation is more important.

From the perspective of China people to Japan

The feeling between Japan and China has been changing. When I was a young teenager, in the 70s and the 80s, I heard several times, adults around me say "Korean people have severe feelings for us, but Chinese people do not. Even though both countries were under the control of Japan, Koreans are still in anger, Chinese are not. Chinese are more tolerant."

One of the reasons why they said so was "proper name problem" happened. The problem is: English speakers pronounce "paris" for the city Paris, even though French speakers pronounce it "Pari". English speakers pronounce "bock" for the German composer Bach, even though German speakers pronounce it "ba-h". In the same way, Japanese speakers pronounce foreign place names and person's names in Japanese pronunciation.

In the 80s, a Korean Japanese criticized it and requested Japanese mass-media to pronounce Korean place and person names in Korean way. He insisted that pronouncing Korean names in a Japanese way was against Korean human right, so NHK must provide monetary compensation. In 1988, the Japanese Supreme Court rejected his argument but admitted to abusing his human rights. After that, NHK and other mass-media changed to pronounce Korean names properly.

Meanwhile, Chinese Japanese didn't insist on such an issue. The Chinese government also didn't speak out about the Japanese occupation responsibility till the 80s. However, after the 90s, the condition changed. The Chinese leader, Jiang Zemin(1989-2002), established his policy to promote anti-Japan education and propaganda. It was one of the ways to strengthen the orthodoxy of their rule after the Tiananmen Square incident. In my opinion, nowadays the feeling between Japanese people and Chinese people is worse than the one between Japanese and Korean people. The relationship between Japan and China depends not only on the Chinese policies mentioned above but also on Chinese economic growth and Japanese economic decline.

# Again: This article was written before the Takeshima / Dokdo island dispute which occurred in August, 2012. After this incident, feelings between Japanese people and Korean people become worse again.

The strange tendency of Taiwan

All of my friends who have been to Taiwan have said, "Taiwanese people are kind to Japanese people." Their favor towards Japan is well known among Japanese people. As for objective data, here is the statistics of the amount of donations for given the east Japan big earthquake in 2011 from the Red Cross all over the world (the name of country, amount, and population)
Korea, $30m, 49m people
Taiwan, $25m, 23m people
FYI: China, $9m, 1.3b people (As you know, this country's economic base isn't suitable to compare with the other two countries)

#I don't like to compare the amount of donations because all the donations are symbols of people's kindness. The aim of the above list is to merely show you the reality of Taiwanese favor in comparison to Japan's objectivity.

Most Taiwanese are from the Chinese mainland. Both folks of majority are the same. As with Korea and China, Taiwan was under the control of the Japanese government and also experienced same oppression. For instance, at the beginning of the occupation, the Japanese Government executed 50,000 Taiwanese people after the occupation battles.

However, unlike Chinese and Koreans, the Taiwanese tend to be fond of Japan. Why?
I think that it in order to understand this strange tendency, it is important to know Okinawan history.

The history of Okinawa

The Okinawa islands weren't a part of Japan untill 1879. After that, some Okinawan people struggled to adapt to Japanese society and customs, other Okinawan people wanted to be independent from Japanese rule.

Since the end of the Pacific war, the US military began to control Okinawa. The government limited Okinawan people human rights. It was lower priority than the policy of the US military government. The government claimed a lot of land in Okinawa only providing small compensation.

Therefore, Okinawan people made a move to rejoin Japan even though they had a history of struggling under the rule of Japan. For example, in the 60s, Okinawan elementary school pupils to wave a Japanese flag in their schools. Finally, in 1972, the US gave away Okinawa to Japan.

After rejoining, the mind set of Okinawan people had changed. In my opinion, Okinawa is the most anti–central government area in Japan. They recall and experience the unfair treatment by the Japanese government. People don't change, but the situation have changed.

My opinion

We can learn from the history of Okinawa. People's feelings between countries depend not on their national character and their history but on the situation of their countries. Therefore, I think that it is nonsense to appreciate or deny a country depending on the countries citizens'feelings about my country.

Related posts

-How do Japanese think about the Pacific War?
-How do Japanese think about the Pearl Harbor attack?
-Why did Japan attack Pearl Harbor?
-The Great Tokyo Air Raid - More Victims than the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb
-Which was the best era in Japan? An interview with my grandparents who were born in the early 20th century

Househusband experience

I took three-weeks childcare leave to support my wife. She gave birth to a baby boy, our second son on 12th of May, 2011.

My days off had been already declared to my boss and he had approved it in March. So my work was so busy in April to manage my duties and for my co-workers to take over my routines. Anyway, I was able to experience househusband work. It was cooking meals for wife and our first child who is four years old, laundry doing, cleaning, shopping, playing with him and taking him to and from his kindergarten, all house duties except caring for our second child. The purpose of my days off was to help my wife concentrate on caring for the second child.

During the first week, it was quite harder than I had expected. There was no time for myself. I didn't get used to all of the work, in particular, cooking. I am a novice cooker - sometimes I forgot to put oil in the saucepan to fry something - so it took much time to cook everything. What's more, our first son and I had to go to the maternity hospital everyday. I felt pain on the bottom of my feet because I stood up much more than my office work.

After the second week and when my wife and our second child come home, my work was getting easier and easier. Thanks to my wife, who could watch our first child, it became easier to go shopping. I don't have to leave home with our older child. It made my everyday schedule flexible. I realized some basic ways to do housework effectively. My feet also got used to my housework, so I began feeling no pain. I could even enjoy my work.


I learned many lessons from my experience. At first, I realized that housework is physically hard. I imagined how hard it would be, but the reality of it is harder than I had thought.

Second, housework brings me delight directly. My office work is to negotiate my clients, to manage twelve call centers and to maintain clients' satisfaction and company profits. Such work brings me abstract delight - it shows on a PC display only. On the contrary, housework bears clear fruits - tasty foods, clean rooms and the smiles of family members.

Third, housework is easier than my office work on the mental side. I had no stress on my mind throughout my time off.

Fourth, our everyday life is supported by my earnings. I couldn't imagine such a simple thing, but I realized it because of my shopping for many things every day I was home.

My experience made me understand that both my office work and housework are important and fundamental to our families' life. Of course I already knew that but I learn it deeply through this precious opportunity.

Foreigners' Questions about Japan (3) Why is working long hours, with little vacation time, so important in Japan?

At first, I want to tell you that Japanese hate to work long hours. We like holidays and envy long vacations among many European workers.

However, Japanese workers can take only 5.1 days on average for summer holidays including Saturday and Sunday. Companies give 18 holidays per year but workers take only 8.5 days on average. Why do we work long hours and take short holidays?

I think the reason why is depending on two points as follows:

(1)Companies and workers fear losing jobs
If your client asks your company, "Can you finish this 48-hour job within these two days?", what does your company reply? Maybe all foreign companies don't accept this offer because it is impossible. But some Japanese companies will accept it. For them, it isn't an impossible order – if workers don't take a rest throughout the 48 hours. Such Japanese companies and workers think such work is convinient to their clients, and they try to avoid losing this precious work. If they refuse it, the work will be simply brought to another company which can accept it. And such companies are not rare in Japan.

(2)Mature people should bear hard situations and never complain about them.
If your daughter or son in kindergarten screams "I wanna eat something!" on a train, you say to her or him, "Hold on". Self-control is an expectation for mature people.
Japanese tend to adapt this expectation to the workplace. Refraining from taking holidays and to leaving your office on time are required for you as a mature people. They think that a person who says "I wanna take long holidays" is a child.

Of course, many Japanese workers think that this is an absurd notion. But unfortunately, most people are afraid of their co-workers or bosses thinking they are like children. Conformity is an essential element of our community. So people have a tendency not to take long holidays.

Other reasons: see my past entry "Why do Japanese businesspeople work till late?"

Foreigners' Questions about Japan (2) What is your favorite thing about Japan/Japanese culture?

I don't hesitate to admire social safety in Japan. According to OECD Factbook, Japan's victimization rates (Percentage, one year prevalence victimization except murder rates among the entire population) is the second lowest in all OECD countries. Rates in 2005: Spain 9.1, Japan 9.9, France 12, OECD average 14.5, US 17.5, and UK 21.
http://puck.sourceoecd.org/vl=19842971/cl=16/nw=1/rpsv/factbook2009/11/04/01/index.htm
As for murder rate among 150 WHO member countries, Japan is the second lowest.
Last year, I dropped my wallet which contains $700 / 530Euro / 475pounds at Tokyo. Three days later, my wallet was sent to my home in the same condition as when I dropped them. It was lucky case, but not rare in Japan.

Cleanliness and hygiene mind and punctual customer services (for instance, railways) in Japan make me feel comfortable.

I like some modern culture of Japan, but most of them are affected by western culture. But graphic novel, a.k.a manga is one of Japan-established culture which may be easy to be understood by worldwide people. I also like Japanese traditional culture – cooking, arts and architectures (for example, Buddha statues and temples) – but I think that some of them aren't easy to be understood for some westerners except as for orientarism-understanding.

Japanese people are tolerant for religions. The same person is celebrated by Shinto way, which is Japanese original religion, when after one month later he / she was born, He / she marries in Christian style – even though they never read the holy bible, and his / her funeral is conducted according to Buddhism rites. Many foreign people, in particular monotheism believers, may feel it ridiculous. But I think it was a good side of Japanese culture. Many Japanese seem to think that religious intolerance is an origin of serious conflicts, and I also agree with it.

For reference: newspaper findings
What characteristic of Japan do Japanese like best?
Safety, beautiful four seasons, diligence, delicious foods, glorious nature, moralistic mind, heritage, peace-oriented mind, non-class-based society, comfortable climate, cooperativeness

What characteristic of Japan don't Japanese like?
Closed-society, group mentality, intolerance, political system, opportunism, lack of creativity, irresponsiblility, indifference for others, homogeneous society, history during era of imperialism.

Foreigners' Questions about Japan (1) What do you think is the most misunderstood aspect of modern Japan?

Male chauvinism. When I told westerners that my wife was housewife, some of them thought that I forced my wife to quit her work. It wasn't true, quitting her job depended on her own will and a condition (our new house was far from her office.) I admit that male chauvinism still remain in Japan, in particular many elderly people and some younger people. But times are changing. Japan is behind western people about gender equality, however, it's getting to improve.

Honesty is such a lonely word, but...

With my wife, son and friends, I enjoyed Tokyo Disney Resort. It was a wonderful holiday, but it isn't the main topic of this entry. An accident happened when we got on the Shinkansen (superexpress) from Tokyo station and took a trip for three hours to my home. A few minutes before the Shinkansen was due to leave, I bought lunch boxes. As soon as I got them, I put my wallet and pass holder into my jacket's pocket and ran up the escalator to platform 21. I could ride in the reserved Shinkansen. When I was about to breathe a sigh of relief, I found that I had dropped my wallet and pass holder.

I thought I was stupid because not only were there many important things (ex. My ID card) in them but also was much money. I was the organizer for this Tokyo Disney Resort trip among my friends, so I had received much money entrance passes and friend's dinner fee, because I paid it for everything on my credit card. My wallet had 70,000yen ($700 / 530Euro / 475pounds) in it.

I rang the lost property section of Tokyo station again and again, but I heard only the busy tone. So I explained my situation to an express conductor and asked him to call Tokyo station. Several minutes later, he came back and said, "Set your heart at ease, your property was found in the same condition as when you dropped them."

Three days later, my wallet and pass holder was sent to my home in the same condition as when I dropped them. Not only money of 70,000yen but also my ID card, credit cards, and so on. Billy Joel sings "Honesty is such a lonely word." However it surely existed at the platform 21, of Tokyo station on 17:50 5th April in 2009.

The Rules of Acquirement of Japanese Nationality

Why do Japanese businesspeople work till late?

A bureaucrat's comment
About this question, a Japanese bureaucrat made a comment on his blog. He had experience working with EU bureaucrats in Belgium so he compared Japanese and European work style. It indicates the vast gap between the two. Japanese bureaucrats work till midnight every night, but EU employees work till 6pm with a 2hour lunch and a higher salary than Japanese.

He was interested in this gap, so he asked EU people about the difference. He learned four reasons.


Reason 1: Europeans are tolerant of others and themselves but Japanese aren't
An EU legislation was due to reconsider until a certain date, but a European bureaucrat in charge did nothing after the date. The EU committee explained to the parliament "The person in charge was busy on his long holiday." The parliament replied, "I see. No problem." If this case occurred in Japan, the person in charge's boss would get fired, the parliament would go mad and mass media would buzz.


Reason 2: Europeans do the same work for a long time, but Japanese do one type of job for a few years*
European people are easy to look at the overview of their work. Japanese people, however, have to catch up with them because of their little experience and knowledge.
*Why do the Japanese government and many companies transfer their members to other departments every few years? I have no idea, but some people said it is concerned with the Japanese career-long employment: If a person work the same company, he / she has to have experienced many groups to manage a department.


Reason3: European groups have severe delegation of authority, but Japanese don't
European people don't explain all about their work to their bosses. It seems to take them a shorter time to explain something to their boss than Japanese do.

He thinks there is the same root between Reason 3 and 1. Most Japanese businesspeople know how difficult it is to say "I have no idea." Their bosses take it for granted that their subordinates know all. It leads to on increase in explanations. For intolerance for themselves, the bosses want to know all. For intolerance for others, they never forgive people who say "I have no idea."


Reason 4: European customers are tolerant, but Japanese customers are not
European register clerks are eager to chat with co-workers, in spite of making long cues. There are 30 minutes- long line in front of registers at McDonald's. European customers don't complain and wait.
In Japan, some people think "Customers are Gods." This bureaucrat was more politely welcomed when he bought a rice ball (1.2$) in Japan than when he bought a car in Belgium. He thinks that Japanese business services try to listen to and remedy all customers' complaints, so it makes some business people's physical and mental health seriously suffer.


My opinion
I think this bureaucrat's comments are proper because I experienced a similar situation to the above comments in Japan. (I have no experience to work with foreigners.) In particular, Reason 3 is familiar to me. In my company, sometimes the time to make documents for the bosses may be more than the time to make documents for my clients because of little delegation of power in my company. It's non-sense, I think. I have some favorite points and some disappointing points of my company, this is the most disappointing, I think. I would like to be severe at my work but tolerant for other people.

The Constitution of Japan and the Self-Defense Forces

The Constitution of Japan, the 9th Article:
1) Aspiring sincerely to an international peace based on justice and order, the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes.
2) In order to accomplish the aim of the preceding paragraph, land, sea, and air forces, as well as other war potential, will never be maintained. The right of belligerency of the state will not be recognized.

Japan Self-Defense Forces
Japan has the Self-Defense Forces. It consists of 240,000 soldiers.

Ground forces of other nations:
No.1 China 2.2million
No.2 North Korea 1.15million
No.3 India 1,1million,
No.7 the US 495,000
No.24 Japan 153,000

As for appropriation for defense:
No.1 US $262billion
No.2 Japan $43billion
No.3 France $37billion

From the year the Forces were established until 2001, Japanese government would always announced that the Forces have not been against the 9th article of the Constitution because it maintained exclusively defense-oriented policy: the Force can't attack enemies unless they attack Japan. In fact, the Force has never attacked enemies (but done warning shots), their main acts except defense and patrol are disaster relief and applying to Peace Keeping Operations, (PKO), etc.

The controversial topic
This relationship - the Constitution and the Forces is one of the most controversial political topics in Japan. Many people have their own opinions. In 2001, the Prime Minister Koizumi vowed that the Forces are forces therefore the Constitution must be revised for fitting reality. Some people say that the Forces are needed, but the 9th article of the Constitution is solemn and very important, so the Japanese government has to keep it. Other people argue that the Forces are obviously against the Constitution, therefore the Forces have to change themselves into troops for the UN.
I would like to refrain from making comments on this topic now. Instead, I will explain why on earth the Forces were set up and grown up even though the Constitution says "war potential will never be maintained." Because, in my opinion, this fact may be the basis and the hint for thinking on the topic of the Constitution and the Forces.

The birth and growth of Japan Self-Defense Forces under the US control
On Aug. 15 1945, Japan surrendered herself to the Allies. After that, the US occupied and controlled Japan. Due to the US's apprehensiveness for the Japanese Army, the US virtually made the draft of the Japanese Constitution which has the articles of renunciation of war. It was February of 1946. The next month of that, Churchill gave the address about "the iron curtain" It was the beginning of the cold war era. Since that time, the US changed her political lines to rule Japan and other lost nations under her control. If the draft of the Constitution was written after that time, the US may have not admit such a democratic one. In that regard, the article of renunciation of war was a production dependant on good timing.

As the cold war era proceeded, the US clarified the policy for Japan from "disarmament" to "raising to be an alliance partner of anti-communism". The Japanese government accepted (virtually, having no choice) the policy. In 1947, the Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs made a document wishing that the US army stay in Japan. In June of 1950, the Korean War, which meant an intensity in the cold war, broke out. As early as the next month, The National Police Reserve was established in Japan. The reserve was on a paper the group of "police", but it even had tanks. It became the Defense Agency, which was the controller of the Self Defense Force. In short, both the Constitution which has the articles of renunciation of war and the Forces were fruits of international policy of the US.

Points of controversy
As I mentioned above, the points of controversy about the relationship between the Constitution and the Forces are as follows: Japan has stronger military capability than many other nations, yet on the other hand, the Constitution has the articles about war renunciation. Both the Constitution and the Forces were established by the US.

My opinion
Then, should we Japanese revise the Constitution for fitting reality - turning the Self-Defense Forces into actual forces? In my opinion, this revision has a big demerit, therefore, we had better not change the articles of war renunciation. The demerit I think: If the Constitution admits the Self-Defense Forces as forces, the US will ask the Forces to cooperate with wars of the US, and the Japanese economic burden will increase. In 1952, the Japanese government made a secret promise that the Forces of Japan is controlled under the US military in case of emergency. Now the Constitution works as a certain brake against the US's military request.

Some people say that the articles of war renunciation should be revised because it doesn't fit the reality (Japan has strong military power). I think many other articles don't fit the reality. For example: the 15th Article All public officials are servants of the whole community and not of any group thereof. Fundamentally, the Constitution, laws and so on, should not be revised for fitting the reality.

Then, should the Self-Defense forces be maintained? I think they should be reduced. This is the reason why: After the end of the cold war, many other countries reduced their forces, however the Self-Defense Forces only reduced slightly. As most members in the Forces wanted to continue living off the Forces salary, they didn't quit as other official servants did. Of course, even though after the cold war, there is an imaginary enemy near Japan (North Korea). She has only old weapons, so a military expert said that the Self-Defense Forces could guard Japan from North Korea by 1/10 of the Forces power.

The birth, growth and relationship between the Constitution of Japan and the Self-Defense Forces isn't normal, however I think the articles of war renunciation shouldn't be revised. It should maintain its position as a brake for the US.

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Women's rights in Japan

Many westerners seem to think that women in Japan are discriminated against. When my wife and I went on a trip to Ireland for our honeymoon, my wife had just quit her work. Some Irish people heard that and thought my wife had been forced to quit her job by her company as sexual discrimination although my wife had quit her job on her own will. Some other westerners point out the labor force participation rate (labor force population / population over fifteen years old) of Japanese women is low; Japan: 48.2%, the USA: 60.2% and Sweden: 75.5%. They say Japanese women are forced to be housewives against their will.

Certainly, you can sometimes see examples that women are located in status lower than men in Japan. For instance, in a train, a couple is standing, and there is only one empty seat. If a couple is over seventy years old, a wife gives the seat to her husband and he sits down there taking it for granted. In January 2007, Japanese Minister for Work and Pension said, "Women are machines to produce children." and he seems to not be obliged to resign from the Cabinet even for his stupid words. A few years ago, the Tokyo governor said, "It's both wasteful and sinful for women to live beyond menopause... such useless human beings are extremely harmful to the whole planet" He was sued for these words, but still works as the governor.

However, the Japanese man's school of thought regarding women rights depends on their generation. All the shamed people described above are over seventy years old. In my opinion, some of them still look down on women (Of course, many men over seventy have a proper mind of equality regarding human rights, but unfortunately, some men don't.)

How about younger generations? I have talked with some families who lived at the same company dormitory house my wife and I lived at 6 years ago. There were two couples who were nearly 50 years old at the time, a couple and my wife and I were 28 and 30 years old. We talked about taking garbage out in the morning. Couples of 30 years old think that it is a work for men or women, both are OK. If a husband goes out of the house first, he should take garbage out. If a wife goes out first, she should take. I take it for granted. But wives in their 50s didn't think so. They said, "If our husbands take the garbage out, we are considered bad wives, because such chores belonged to housewives. So we should take the garbage out in spite of husbands going out of the houses first." We, couples in their 30s, were astonished to hear that. We just don't have such a thought.

Like this, there is a big generation gap in thinking about women's rights, but it is getting better, I think. In my childhood, I have heard many words of disdain for women from people of my parents generation. I never have heard such words from my friends of the same generation. We are in the last generation that high school curriculums are different between girls and boys (Girls had to complete domestic science, but boys didn't have to.). Since 1994, boys also have to complete domestic science. Many people are disagreeably surprised at and angrily at ashamed politicians who say words against women's rights now.

As above, in my opinion, Japanese people's school of thought regarding sexual equality is getting better, although behind western countries. The question then is why do Japanese women tend to be housewives and not like their western counterparts?

I asked a friend of mine who is a housewife whether she and her housewife friends (about 10 ladies) wanted to be housewives or were forced to be. Her answer was all of them wanted to be housewives.

Her reasoning for this was as follows: 1. Their husbands can earn enough money to survive without partners' earnings. 2. The works they did was simple - not challenging, so they couldn't find a proper reason to continue with their works. 3. They feel the time they spend with their children is precious.

Do Japanese companies really give challenging work to women employees? In my opinion, some companies do so, but nowadays, most companies make some layers of employee's responsibility depending on their status, not on gender. Proper employees are in charge of works of heavy responsibility and decision making, temporary employees are given not so challenging work. This system has become popular in the middle of 90s in Japan. (Before that, many companies in Japan set employee's responsibility depending on their gender.)

However, even in the environment that companies give challenging work to women employees, we can still see many examples of women employees quitting their jobs when they get married. For instance, the company I work for used to be a government corporation (means there are little gender discriminations since the era of older Japanese companies), there are many administrative women. Thus, it seems that the company has a better working system for women, but in reality, many women employees quit the company when they get married. Women employees who started a job at the same time and same area of me were ten, all of them got married, and only three ladies still work for the company, maybe seven of them are housewives.

Why do many women employees quit their jobs when they get married? Maybe the first reason is their working time and men's ability to do the housework and cooking. Japanese company employees tend to work overtime (For example, I take 200 to 300 overtime hours in a year, but it is not so much among my friends who work for other companies). In addition to this, many Japanese men cannot cook well. So women in Japan who are married and work bear a heavy burden. If she and her husband have a small child or children without help from their parents, that burden becomes heavier. Of course, in Japan, there are many child-care centers but not enough and some parents think that they should take care of small children by themselves or by help from their parents for good growth of their children. (Maybe for that, the babysitter system is very rare in Japan. At least, all my family, friends and co-workers never used that system.)

How about the companies' side? Do they appreciate women's abilities appropriately? An article about that appeared in April 1st 2007 issue of The Nikkei (Japanese newspaper). It said that big companies are preparing a system to hire and keep excellent women employees. For example, Nissan plans to raise the proportion of women administrators from 3% of all administrators to 5% by 2008. Toshiba is preparing a system that women who retired from raising children can be rehabilitated. These systems might be behind western countries, but I appreciate these trials of Japanese companies.

On the other hand, Japanese housewives can receive their pension even though they don't pay a pension fee. They can say that Japanese housewives are accorded precedence for economical respect.

I think these are the main reasons that women employees tend to quit their jobs when they get married.

To conclude, Japanese women were discriminated against, but now it is getting better (depending on the generation). Meanwhile, for the economical respect, work problem, and child care system, many women selected to be housewives.

I enjoy the fact that women and men can select their own lives without fool discriminations, conventions and social problem. Therefore, my first thing to do... seems to learn how to cook.


P.S. My feeling about gender discrimination is one in an urban area. In Japanese rural areas, there may still remain discriminations, unfortunately.

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Japanese feelings about their Emperor

A friend of mine who is French gave me a celebration message for the arrival of Japanese Imperial family's son. I was happy he is interested in the big news of my country. I also felt moderate pleasure of this news. I think there is magic in a new life.

However, Japanese people have different feelings for the Imperial family. Generally, it depends on generation and age. It seems that people over seventy years old respect the Imperial family. If you are under sixty year old, some people love the family, some people don't respect that much. Under forty years old, people don't have a strong interest for them.

Even though, all of my co-workers talked about this in the morning and lunchtime of the news-release day. In addition, all over Japan and all generations, some people have a strong opinion that the Imperial family is noble, precious and proud of Japan. Therefore, all the mass-media in Japan never criticize the Imperial family like my country is under a gag rule. If a famous man criticizes the family in the press, the Imperial family-fans bash the man strongly and without mercy, sometimes by violent methods.

On the other hand, the family is the subject of some people's criticism. There are two points to this issue. One is that the Imperial family system is against the human-equality principle. The other (more controversial than the former) is about the former Emperor (Hirohito - Showa Emperor)'s responsibility of the Pacific War (World War II). Before WWII, the Emperor is also the top of military hierarchy. In reality, military generals controlled Japanese Army. But the Emperor could make a final decision. Most Japanese people think that Showa Emperor's "Holy decision to stop the war" made the end of the War. On the other hand, it is also the fact that the delay of his decision made many victims, for example, atomic bombs tragedies. In the war, over two million Japanese and millions of foreigners were killed. Nevertheless the Showa Emperor wasn't executed or imprisoned. He lived his life as the Emperor after the war till he died in 1989. Some people blame the Showa emperor for his improper action, such as responsibility, for the War.

My opinion about the two points above is as follows:
I think that it cannot be compatible between the Imperial system and the principle of human equality. The victims are not ordinary citizens but the Imperial family itself because they don't have the basic human rights – the right to vote and to choose their occupations. At these points, their freedom is limited. Therefore, I think that the Japanese Imperial system may be abolished.

I also think the Showa Emperor had the war responsibility. They say the Showa Emperor was a modest gentleman, loved peace and hated wars. I agree their opinion partly. However, in my opinion, the supreme commander should have taken his responsibility for the tragic result of the Pacific War. It is his work and duty.

Though I said above, I personally feel that (according to the mass media) all of the Imperial family members are very modest, graceful and decent people. Above all, the beginning of a new life is delightful case for me and many people, no matter that their background is controversial.

Xmas in Japan

Also in Japan, Christmas is a special day. People buy and give presents, have Christmas cakes. There are many decorated Christmas trees everywhere.

But, it is only a celebration, without Christianity. All Japanese know that Dec. 24th is Christmas Eve, but most Japanese haven't read the Holy Bible at all. Few people go to mass on Christmas day.

Some Japanese (in particular, younger people) don't know that Christmas is the birthday of Jesus Christ. Because most Japanese are Buddhists or believers in Shinto (Japanese original religion). Yes, in Japan, non-Christian people celebrate Christmas.

Of course, we Japanese respect Jesus Christ and Christian religion. Merely, Japanese are very tolerant of religion. The most popular Japanese celebration style are as follows: new baby celebration in Shinto style, wedding ceremony in Christian style, funeral ceremony in Buddhist style. People say "Merry Christmas!" on December 25th and pray to Japanese God on new year's day.

Maybe it is not the way religion is viewed worldwide, but this is our unique religious practice. It is not a recent trend, it is a trend from A.D. 538 - the year Buddhism came to Japan. Since that year, Japanese accept two or more religions equally (For example, Buddhism and Shinto).


We enjoy our New Year's celebration very much. In Japan, Christmas day isn't a holiday for all companies and schools, but from December 28th to January 3rd, most companies and all schools are closed.

We send many new year's cards (I have written 170 cards for the coming new year, for friends, relatives and co-workers.), and we have a special classical meal in our houses. Relatives gather to the oldest relative's house and say "A Happy new Year!" together. I'm anticipating the days - winter holidays and new year's day.

Best Wishes for a Happy New Year!

A report about Amazon.co.jp

Amazon.co.jp is one of the most popular net-stores in Japan, but it is infamous for their secretive management. They don't accept most interviews, and don't reveal their management data, even the net sales. A documentary writer was frustrated with this situation, so he quit his job as the chief editor of a logistics magazine and got a part-time job for a logistics center of Amazon.co.jp, of course keeping his real purpose for this job a secret from Amazon.

His job is to pick books from many huge shelves and carry them to a packing counter. Amazon promotes rationalization and efficiency in a positive manner, but it is impossible to mechanize this picking process, because all books have their own size. For this purpose, Amazon employs 400 part-time-jobbers at a 900yen(7.5US$,6euro)-an-hour salary. It is the job the reporter had.

Amazon controls the workers with a time tracking machine. The machine tells Amazon and the workers how many books they are picking in a minute. Amazon sets a target as 3 books / min. Because of its difficulty, workers can't be lazy. This simple job goes on every single day. The finishing time of this job changes every day, and depends on the number of orders from customers. Sometimes the staff tells workers to work overtime untill 8 pm at the start, and sometimes he tells them to stop working at 3 pm. 9 / 10 workers quit this job in one year. Workers have no loyalty to Amazon.

The reporter gathered information about Amazon from workers in the center, and interviewed a retired chief executive of the logistics company and rival company of Amazon. He estimates that the last sales amount of Amazon was far and away ahead of rival companies (more than ten folds of rivals), a 70% amount of the biggest bookstore chain in Japan, Kinokuniya. In his opinion, Amazon's strength is based on their corrective logistics demand forecast, and thoroughly "customer-first" thinking (for example, customers can returned books they bought from Amazon any time within 30 days.).

He finds a future society in Amazon's model. It is a workplace that consists of "thinking workers who make manuals and earn a high salary, and non-thinking workers who are controlled by the manual and earn a low salary." His feeling about Amazon is "As a customer, I want to buy again. As a worker, never again."

Videogames in the 80s

On the first day of this Golden week holiday, I tidied my room all day long. When I unpacked my cardboard boxes that I had packed for moving, I found some towels. A parade of many videogame characters are printed on the towels. These things made me very nostalgic.

When I was an elementary school pupil, some classmates were enthusiastic about playing videogames in an arcade. But our parents and teachers prohibited us from going to arcades and playing games at them. There are some reasons for their prohibition. Some pupils stole their parents money for playing. Bad boys often made threats pupils at arcades. Adults didn't know what videogame were. They thought of them as an underground indulgence and didn't have sympathy for them. At the time, NES hadn't been released yet.

But my parents gave me money for playing some games, and never banned me from going to arcades. So I went to some arcades that were located in a department store that bad boys never gathered at, and fervently concentrated on each game I played by using the small sum from my parents. So I started to understand some games in detail, and so, I wrote a guidebook of a game and sold some copies of it to classmates (This was my first experience making money). In those days, guidebooks of videogames had not yet been released publicly. (Actually, a student satarted a game circle in Tokyo and wrote a guidebook in his private time at same time. After that, he made a company and created the original Pokemon.)

As stated above, some videogames caught my fancy very much. Those games had one point in common. It was the maker, NAMCO. It was still a small company in early 80s, and unknown among ordinary people but was becoming famous among videogame maniacs for being the originator of Pac-Man and other innovative games. Every game had new ideas, a beautiful pop design, and good music. More than anything else, all the games were great fun. I was heavily into their games, so I wrote a long letter to tell the NAMCO staff how I love their work.

After a month, a big parcel was sent to me. It was from NAMCO. I was very surprised and opened it quickly. There were some towels and a letter in it. The towels had a parade of many videogame characters for the 30th Anniversary of the founding of NAMCO. Perhaps these were for their corporate customers. The letter stated their thanks. I was deeply impressed for their consideration, and treated it as my treasure.

NAMCO has developed very much, and was listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange after 7 years, and now is one of leading companies of videogames in the world. Based on my memories in the early 80s, I think this was a natural result.