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.

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.