Paul McCartney in Japan, 2013

Preparation

Paul McCartney's concerts were a rare opportunity for Japanese fans. Paul has only held his or his band's concert in Japan 5 times in the 51years since The Beatles debut to this year, 2013. Therefore, I prepared something special for his concerts in November, 2013.

First, I did my best to take time off in order to attend all six concerts in Japan. The first and second concerts were held in Osaka Dome, which is located near my office. However, the other venues are a long way from my office. Fukuoka Dome is 500km West of my office, and Tokyo Dome is 500km East of my work place. It is almost the same distance as from London to Edinburgh, or New York to Niagra Falls. Therefore, I had to take days off. It isn't easy to take days off during the working week for Japanese businessmen. Fortunately, I could take enough day off to see Paul's concerts with my co-workers and clients understanding and smiling.

Then, 38 fanatical friends of mine and I, made red T-shirts which you can see below. They express our delight at Paul's first visit to Japan in 11 years.





The "McCartney weeks", as I like to call them, from the first concert on 11/11/2013 to the last one on 21/11/2013, have come and gone. I have written down my personal impression and experiences from these weeks.




General Impressions

Paul is so young and energetic. He sung his songs, in the same key as he did 50-years ago, with no water and very little rest. He depends not only on his talent, but also his good health. I recognize that good health is an important base for good work.

If his condition was not so great, his concerts would still be fantastic, because the songs he composed were fantastic.

He has a tremendous numbers of fans. Some of them are very good friends of mine. His concerts were a rare and precious opportunity to see them. My group of friends included people who hadn't seen each other since Paul's last concert in Japan, in 2002. What's more, Paul gave me a new opportunity to meet new friends at these concerts. Paul's music makes me happy, not only by how good it sounds but also because I can socialise with many amazing people. I think this is great.

I really appreciate Paul's consideration. He made many speeches in Japanese. One of his first speeches in Japanese was, "I will manage to speak in Japanese on this stage, but actually I'm good at English". In addition to this, he spoke in different Japanese dialects according to the area where the venue was located. Sometimes he spoke English, but at that time, Japanese subtitles appeared on big screens on stage. I have never known any other foreign musician to make such an effort. We enjoyed his showmanship and appreciated his consideration, along with his music. I think that he is taken for granted and should be more popular worldwide.




Special Memories

November 12th: 2nd concert in Osaka

I went to this concert with my six-year-old son. He lives with me, and since I frequently play Paul's CDs and DVDs, he has become a fan of Paul. When I asked him, "Do you wanna go to Paul's concert?", he quickly replied, "Yes! Yes!". Therefore, I got two tickets for that night. However, I had thought that the concert would be too long for him. After all, it wasn't for children. I had thought my son would get tired or bored and say, "I wanna go home."

However, my son enjoyed Paul's songs from the first to the last (so he could get a good nights sleep for going school the following day, I had to go with him before the encore). He jumped up when Paul began to sing his brand new single, "NEW". He also enjoyed, "All Together Now", because of his memories of when he first saw the animated movie, "Yellow Submarine". My son was astonished at the flames and fireworks on stage for the 007 theme song, "Live and Let Die". On his way home, he said, "I enjoyed the concert! I love Paul!!", repeatedly. Because of his comments and smile, I was on cloud nine.








November 15th: 3rd concert in Fukuoka

I got a close to look at the Tour Trucks.



Shaking hands with Paul's bronze hand made my day on my first visit to Fukuoka in 1993.



Paul shouted, "saiko!", again and again on stage that day. 'Saiko', does not mean 'psycho'. It has similar pronunciation, but means, terrific/fantastic.




November 18th: 4th concert in Tokyo

Tokyo is located closer to Fukushima than the other concert venues. Even now, 140,000 people who once lived in Fukushima had to evacuate and cannot go back to their homes after the big earthquake and nuclear plant accident in 2011. Paul gave a message to people from Fukushima and sung, "Yesterday".



Subtutile: "I dedicate the next song to Fukushima people…"

A friend of mine who lived close to Fukushima (the roof of his house was broken by the earthquake) said he was moved by Paul's message.




November 19th: 5th concert in Tokyo

I purchased a Sound Check ticket for this day. I was able to see Paul's rehearsal and was guaranteed front rows seats in the same venue as the main concert. The price was 80,000yen (800 dollars / 480 pounds / 560 euro). It was expensive for me, but I think it was worth the price.

The rehearsal was the same quality as the main concert. Paul and his band played some different songs to the main concert. The set list of the rehearsal changed every day, and many songs played on that day were old rock n' roll and blues songs. He seemed to be relaxed while singing and playing songs that he had listened to in his teenage years.

On this day, he was late for the Sound Check because of heavy traffic. He said, "Sorry, it's Kennedy traffic". His way from the hotel to the venue was affected by cars being controlled because of the new-appointed U.S. ambassador of Japan, Caroline Kennedy, the daughter of the slain president. He gave all of us guitar picks as a token of apology. It was a special token given only on this day, a small one, but nonetheless a big souvenir for me and other fans.








My seat was in the midst of the 55,000 seats of the gigantic Tokyo dome! I was in the 4th row!




I had a great experience and cannot explain it in words.

I saw a halolike light when Paul was alone on stage and sung "Blackbird", which was explained by Paul as a song of support for the civil-rights movement for black Americans in the 60s.






November 21th: the last concert in Tokyo

In the morning, my wife made these sandwiches even though she isn't Paul's biggest fan. Her lovely idea and concern made me even happier.



(below is Paul's brand new album , "NEW".)

The promotion company for this concert gave red bar-shaped lights to all 55,000 audience members. This present included a piece of paper that said: "This is a surprise present for Paul. When he begins to sing "Yesterday", pick it up and wave it. Never use it before this. Thank you for co-operating."



Paul was obviously surprised at this scene.

The last song "The End", made me sad and moved me. I decided to stamp the scene forever in my mind. When he stop playing the guitar,his guitar was pulled to his body. It was the last of his playing. When he went downstairs off to the side of the stage, his hands were raised up to his breast. I wish it was not the last scene of Paul for me.



I drunk with many fanatical friends after every concert. In particular, the last one was the most impressive event. I saw close friends, friends I hadn't seen in a long time, and foreign fans. When a Korean fan and I talked together we both said, "Between the Korean government and the Japanese one, the relationship isn't good these days. However, we can both enjoy talking about the same musician peacefully". I felt the great power of his music!








I'm grateful to Paul, the members of the band, the stage crew, promoters, my co-workers and clients. In particular, all my fanatical friends, fans who I met for the first time, and my family. These "McCartney weeks" were a special memory in my life.

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.

My second trip to Fukushima

-above: 6th of November,2011 (See my entry "A Day in Fukushima")
-below: 2nd of June, 2013

A Public Interview with Haruki Murakami in Kyoto

I saw Haruki Murakami in one of his rare public appearances in Kyoto, Japan. I was fortunate enough to get one of five hundred tickets.








My impression of Murakami

The audience could see his carefree smile every minute. Murakami told many jokes and made us laugh constantly. On the other hand, he also looked sharp. He is famous for his diligently exercising every afternoon after spending the morning writing. I got the impression that it was not only his training, but his many severe critics that made him sharp.



His comments on why he doesn't appear in public

At first, he said, "Hello, I am Murakami. This may be the first meeting between almost all of you and me, so let me tell you the reason why I'm not in the public eye. This is because I lead an ordinary life. I enjoy hunting for books and vinyls in secondhand stores. If someone asks me, "Are you Murakami?", it makes me embarrassed. I would appreciate if you would treat me like an endangered animal. Be careful, if you approach me or say something to me, I might bite you."

This first speech changed the atmosphere of the room. At first, people expressed a nervous like reverence for one of the world's most famous novelists. After this speech however, people became more relaxed and we could simply sit and listen to this funny guy talk.



The Depth of his Works

Murakami: A man is like a two-story house. The first floor is equipped with an entrance and a living room. On the second floor is every family member's room. They enjoy listening to music and reading books. On the first underground floor is the ruin of people's memories. The room filled with darkness is the second underground floor. How deep is it? Nobody knows. Going down to the first underground floor, people can write novels and music. However, I believe that such works cannot move people's hearts. F. Scott Fitzgerald said; "If you want to tell a story which is different from others, use words that are different from others." Thelonious Monk's music is so unique that we cannot believe he played his music with popular instrument such as the piano. The depth of this kind of art can move people's heart. These artists found a way to go down to the deep underground floor. First underground floor novels are easy to be criticized, because they are easy to understand. Second underground floor novels, however, can touch hearts. The difference between the two is like the difference between a spa and a house bath, or Mozart and Salieri. I would like to go down to the deep underground floor without going mad.

Me: When he told us this, I recalled the episode, "Going down a well", in "Twisted Bird Chronicle"




The transition of his way of writing

Murakami: I wrote my first two long novels and an anthology of short narratives, "Slow Boat to China", when I was a manager of my own jazz bar. There was not enough time to write and I didn't know how to write novels. Therefore, I made written collages of aphorisms and rags. Then, I read Ryu Murakami*'s "Coin Locker Babies", and wanted to write novels like that. I closed my own jazz bar so I could be a man who can write novels as I like. I was pleased about that. This pleasure was connected to the pleasure of writing. After making "collages of aphorisms", I would take up "storytelling" as a way of writing.

*Japanese popular novelist who is of a similar age to Haruki Murakami and is his friend.

Murakami: My first novel on storytelling was "Wild Sheep Chase". The next work "The World's End and the Hardboiled Wonderland", was a mid-long novel, first published in a novel magazine. It didn't have a power to catch readers' hearts, so I connected it with other narratives and rewrote it. It was a way of, "dividing myself". I never made any plan before writing, however I succeeded. I enjoyed writing these two novels with excitement ,"what happen on the next page?

Until that, I was on my second step "OK, so if narratives are narratives, no need for additional values". My third step began from, "Twisted Bird Chronicle". "The World's End", consists of two narratives. On the third step, I wanted to divide narratives into more than two parts. However, I wrote, "Twisted Bird Chronicle" in the first person. It was difficult to write a divided story in the first person. Therefore, many factors were in the novel: memories, letters and dairy entries. They constructed a multi-layered world."

I suppose that I could write my novels as I had wanted to write then from about 2000, with "Kafka on the Shore". Until that, I had many things that I couldn't write, even though I had wanted to write then. Therefore, after 2000, I could then write about the things I wanted to write about.

Me: I convinced with his saying. His works is evolving gradually. Before and after this interview, I think that "The World's End and the Hardboiled Wonderland" and "Twisted Bird Chronicle" is the most important milestone of him because the depth of these two novels was obviously deeper and newer than the former novels.




Network of peoples' souls

Murakami: Some people asked me why I transited my novels from detachment to commitment when I wrote "Twisted Bird Chronicle". The answer is, "I wanted to construct networks of peoples' souls". People can hardly maintain themselves without narratives. Children also need narratives. If you tell a narrative to them, they imitate these narratives. This is how they intake narratives. However, it may be a very simple narrative. Adults need more complex narratives. They have their own narratives. The main characters are themselves. Anyway, do these narratives have depth? If you want them to, you have to make the narratives relative. It is however, difficult to make your narratives relative by yourself. A novelists' work is to provide models to make your narratives relative. If you read my novels then you may feel, "I have the same experience as this narrative", or "I have the same idea as this novel". It means that your narrative and mine sympathize, concord and resonate together. Such happenings produce networks of peoples' souls and make narratives deeper, more relative. I think that it is the same with music, don't you? Excellent music moves our heart. Narratives have the same power, I think. Some readers of my novels ask me, "Why do you understand me?". That's a huge pleasure of mine because it means that readers and I can make our narratives relative.

Me: I was surprised while reading an interview with Oliver Sacks*. He said, "Narratives are critical to human identifying" He is a well-known professor of neurology and psychiatry, therefore he analyzed the importance of narratives scientifically. This approach is different from Murakami's, however the conclusion is the same. It is intriguing.




About his other novels

Murakami: "Moving through a wall" in "Twisted Bird Chronicle" isn't a metaphor. I experienced this. All things in my novels are real for me. Some western critics said that Garcia Marquez's novels are magic realism. However, I believe that Marquez must have experienced everything in his novels.

Murakami: "1Q84" is my first novel written in third person, therefore I could construct many "micro cosmos" in the novel. This is a format of "general novels", I think. When it comes to "general novels", I think of Dostoyevsky's "Demons". You read the beginning part of the novel, but you cannot understand who the main character is.



The interviewer: Do you think that in the 20th century narratives' power wasn't appreciated by novelists and critics in the 19th century?

Murakami: Yes, I think so. I have read "The Brothers Karamazov" four times and "War and Peace" three times. These experiences mean that I was soaked in 19th century narratives. However, in the 20th century, especially from the 1950s to 1970s, narrative literatures were discriminated against.

The interviewer: In those days, people appreciated novels like "What is a human being?" (wry grin)
Murakami: (wry grin) In the 1980s, in narrative literature, John Irving's "The World According to Garp", suddenly appeared. The novel was unique in those days. I (as a narrative story writer) was also criticized frequently in the same age, however I could stand it thanks to my readers.

Me: Actually, the top novels on my want-to-read-novel list are Marquez's "One Hundred Years of Solitude" and Dostoyevsky's "Demons". I was surprised and now want to read these novels even more.




About the other novels

Murakami: I'm glad to hear that you can't stop laughing after you read my novels and I'm even more happy to hear that you can't stop crying. Crying is personal. On the other hand, laughing is more general . Laughing makes our hearts wider. The best point of my novels, I think, is their humor. I want to keep many my works humorous.

Murakami: I never cry after reading my books. An exception however, was "Underground". I had an interview with a twenty-something year old wife of a victim of the Tokyo Subway Sarin incident*. During the interview, the atmosphere seemed bright for these three hours, I didn't feel dark. Then, in the train on my way home, I couldn't stop crying for an hour. This feeling sometimes emerges while I write my novels.
*In 1995, a cult group released poisoned gas in Tokyo's underground and 13 people died, while 6,300 people were damaged.

Murakami: I always write my novels with music (I don't listened to the music seriously.) Music seems to encourage me. While working, I play only LPs not CDs, because of LPs are hi-fi.



From the 1,500 questions that the organizer of this interview gathered from people before this interview via the internet

Q: What beer do you think the best?

Murakami: Of course it is the beer you drink when you are dying of thirst! Anyway, lately, my favorite is, lately, Maui Brewing of Hawaii's Big Swell. I favor bottled beer over canned beer, but this beer is never served in a bottle. On these beer cans, maker prints a detailed explanation for this policy: Canned beer is better than bottled beer. This beer is very good.



Murakami: I have read all my novels that were translated into English. Reading my novels is enjoyable because I forget almost all the content in them.

What kind of novel can be translated easily? They are novels that have strong power in their narratives and make readers' mind progress further and further. On the other hand, I feel its difficult to translate novels that have are delicately described. For instance, The Great Gatsby.



Murakami: It is my huge pleasure that my novels are translated into languages that are read among small numbers of people. For example, Finland and Iceland have small populations. What's more, young people usually understand the English language well in these countries. In spite of this, my novels were translated into these countries' mother tongues.

I don't meet people spontaneously, but my novel's translators are an exception. I do meet them spontaneously. When I translate foreign novels, I ask about them their works in relation to the original authors. Generally, they answer my questions kindly. I appreciate their kind attitudes, so I do as the same for the translators of my novels.



Murakami: As for playing music, I would practice the piano when I was a little boy. Today, I like to seek the proper chords in the piano for the music I listen to. It is my pleasure to find the proper chords.



At the last moment of this public interview, He said:

Murakami: My last message is… I am really glad for the people who wait and purchase my new book. The value of them is greater than any critic and any number of sales of my books. Sometimes, some readers say, "Your new book is terribly dull, I'm disappointed with it, but I will buy your next one." I love these people. I never want you to love all my books. I don't mind that you dislike my books.

I write my novels personally, desperately and non-negligently. When I write my novels, I think about my novels only, and never do other works. If you appreciate that Murakami does his work enthusiastically, I'm thankful to you. I have little confidence, but I'm serious about my work.


Me: I think that this message shows his gratitude to his readers and gives encouraging words for all serious workers. Throughout this interview, I realized that Murakami is a serious professional through his serious and enthusiastic lecture.

When I left the auditorium of Kyoto University, the place where his interview was held, I saw a beautiful twilight sky. At the beginning of this interview, Murakami said, "I hope you will relax and enjoy this spring afternoon in Kyoto." I remembered this phrase, and then realized that the best spring afternoon in Kyoto of my life, was over right now.

Ringo Starr and His All Starr Band at Osaka, Japan

It was an amazing show. Ringo played many genres along with various great musicians - Steve Lukather (Toto), Gregg Rolie (Santana and Journey), Todd Rundgren, Richard Page (Mr. Mister), Mark Rivera (Billy Joel's band) and Gregg Bissonette(David Lee Roth's band).

I was impressed not only the Beatles' songs sung by Ringo, but also played by the 1980s classics - Toto and Mr. Mister. When I was a teenager in the 80s, The Beatles were already legends. Toto and Mr. Mister released brand-new songs also. I feel there was a big difference between these two bands and the Beatles. However, in this concert, all these bands played great music.

Ringo and other members seemed relaxed and cheerful through the night. It made me happy.

After the concert, I enjoyed talking about my experience and the music played with my friends, who are also fellow music fanatics from far cities over 500km (310miles) from Osaka. It was an unforgettable night for me.

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.

Some places in Kyoto Paul McCartney visited

With two friends of mine, who are big fans of Paul McCartney, I visited Kyoto which was the capital of Japan from 794 to 1867. It is one of the most popular sightseeing places for both Japanese people and foreigners.

The first place we visited was Kinkakuji Temple, established in the 14th century. It burned down in 1950 and was reconstructed. Paul visited this temple in November 2002. The master priest admitted that Paul, his wife and his band members to the temple after it had closed time. The temple rules dictated that only state guests (King, Queen, President, Prime Minister etc.) were to be treated like that, but Paul was an exception to the rule.

We had Japanese tea and sweets which were made with pure gold like Kinkakuji.

The second place we visited was the Old Imperial Palace. It is a big park - all the buildings are closed. Why did Paul visit such a place? Maybe it is a good place for strolling.

The third place we saw on our tour was an old Japanese style inn Yoshikawa. It is where
Paul stayed. However, we didn't stay there because the rate is expensive, instead we had the cheapest tempra dinner set(100 dollars). It was the best tempra I have ever had.

After dinner, I asked the serving lady "We are big fans of Paul McCartney, so could you show us the room Paul stayed in?" She said, "Of course, come this way" and smiled gently.

This was his room! We saw it from ouyside the inn. The serving lady said, "If nobody was staying in this room, you could see inside, but unfortunately a guest is staying there now."

The inn had a beautiful garden. The book "Each One Believing" about Paul's 2002 tour contained a picture of Paul relaxing  in this garden.

After we took many pictures,  the serving lady showed us the photo book of the celebrity guests who were celebrities, Leonard DiCaprio,Cameron Diaz, Daniel Radcliff etc. We focused on the first page and the second page. A picture of Paul was on the first page. On the second page was Olivia Harrison, George Harrison's wife! The serving lady said, "Paul-san recommended this inn to her." We were surprised and glad that there is a good relationship between Paul and Olivia. (If you are a beatlemania, you may know the complex relationship between Paul and George.)

As I wrote above, this inn Yoshikawa provides high-level hospitality and is a high-class hotel. In addition, this inn has another value - staff are not exclusive but open-minded. All Japanese people know some high-class Japanese inns are exclusive. For example, no first-time guest are admitted (you need to be introduced by a regular), and they look  down on average people. However, Yoshikawa's staff treated us the same as other upper class guests. We were impressed by their services and thought that such an attitude attracted Paul and had him introduce this inn to other celebrities.

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

The Beatles+Circle De Soleil "LOVE"

I went to Las Vegas with my beatlemaniac friend only to see the show "LOVE". It is Circle de Soleil's show featuring the Beatles music. I didn't like the CD of "LOVE", but all my beatlemanic friends who had seen the show praised it very much, so I decided to take a trip to see the show including an over 12-hour flight.


Before the Show

The Mirage, the hotel which held the theater that showed "LOVE"

Many signboards throughout the casinos.

The ticket office

The entrance featured the image of 60s

The symbols of Circle de Soleil and Apple Corps.

Near the ticket office, there is the bar "Revolution", which features many Beatles designs (but no Beatles cocktails)

The wall of "Revolution". Beatles songs.

The song names are seethrough, so we could see past the wall to see the next wall with more Beatles song titles including some rare songs – which they played before their record debut or wrote for other musicians.

The Souvenir shop.

A Real Hofner bass with all Four autographs.

The Concessions in the theater serves cocktails featuring the names of Beatles songs.


Before the show, I went to seat No.O7 in section 208, and sat in that seat even though it wasn't my seat. It was the seat in which Paul McCartney sat at the premiere of the show. Of course, after one-minute of sitting, I went back to my seat.
* you cannot move throughout each section in the theater. So if you want to sit in Paul or other member's seat, you have to purchase a ticket in section 107 to 208. See seat map (PDF).



The show had begun.

Having expected a quality show, nevertheless it exceeded my expectations.

Circle de Soleil performance was really great but the Beatles' was even better. The main character of the show, in fact, is the Beatles, not the Circus. This was the Beatles' show. It was totally contrary to my expectations. I had thought it would be the Circus's show featuring the Beatles' music.

How did I feel about the music? I hadn't like the"LOVE"CD because it was a mash-up of previous tunes like a result of children playing with Beatles music. If I had accepted it as an ordinary mash-up of any other artist's music, it would be OK for me. I could accept it as Giles Martin the producer, but not as the Beatles' music.

However, when I listened to the music at the show, I was impressed by it as if the fabulous four were there, performing their music with playful smiles, as Beatles' music. It was dramatically changed from what I considered "not-like music" to "a real Beatles' performance". I was deeply convinced that the reason why Paul and Ringo had permitted the show. I now think the "LOVE"CD must be released only for the audience of the show.

In addition, the sound quality was so high, like a real live performance. In particular, Ringo's drumming sound was most vivid. The special sound system of the theater, in which many speakers are equipped within each seat, each with their own tuning, worked so effectively.

Circle de Soleil's work was also excellent. I understood that they studied the Beatles in depth. Their performance featured proper understanding and interpretation of the lyrics of the Beatles songs. Of course, the music was played with their famous acrobatic (sometimes calmly and simply) juggling acts. I was surprised by the acts, especially "Walrus", "Lucy", "Help!", "Mr.Kite" and "Revolution".

I realized the reason why the DVD of this show will never be released. Any packaged media can't bring the reality of the show to a TV screen. The various spectacles and performances occurring simultaneously anywhere in my eyesight cannot be packaged into any disc. Even for the simple and calm stage performances, their subtlety cannot be packaged.

It was my first experience to shed tears at a live performance. I am rarely in tears in any situation, including movies and dramas, but the show got to me at the scene of "Get Back". I was really able to feel that the Beatles had come back from their last "rooftop" performance in London 1969 to Las Vegas in the 21st century, the middle of the show. I was thankful for "how lucky we are to experience these great performances and music together at one time" and for "The existence of the Beatles, who could perform even better than the great Circle de Soleil performance".

I was pleased with my choice to travel abroad from Japan to Las Vegas only for the show "LOVE". I am thankful for friends of mine who told me the show was great, for the co-operation of my family and co-workers, and for my friend who traveled there with me.