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(Gender-free society)
"The latest white paper on the developing gender-free society in Japan
has been just issued," says a senior member, "and it reports that
women are still not treated properly in the job market." It is only
3 percent of working women who earn an annual income more than 7 million
yen, while 25 percent of male employees earn such an income. 90 percent
of male employees are full-fledged while more than 50 percent of female
workers are temping. If we look at those members in local assemblies, over
50 percent of the nation's 3,300 local councils do not have any female representative
elected by the local resident.. "Working for a public school,"
says one lady, "I don't feel any inequality in entreatment between
men and women." Gender Equality is most advanced in the educational
circle. We see many woman schoolmasters these days in primary and middle
schools. "I think it's very much different in the private sector,"
says another lady, "in our company, women are not often given training
programs and challenges for new activities." She says the society and
general public are very slow in accepting a gender-free culture. "Women
are getting tougher," says an aged participant, "these days, there's
an increasing number of divorces that are initiated by the wife's side."
The divorce rate will increase significantly in the society where male-chauvinism
shrinks . Last year, some 260 thousand divorces took place while 790 thousand
couples started a married life in Japan. "There is an interesting record,"
says a senior member, "during the period from Edo to early Meiji, the
divorce rate was much much higher." It was more than 40 percent in
those days. And most divorces were initiated by the request of the wife.
The number, however, dropped dramatically around 1880 when the census registration
law was revised to give power of decision to the household head. Even though
women wanted to divorce their husbands, they became unable to get an easy
agreement. Then, there came such a stereotype that divorce is immoral. Divorced
women were stigmatized by relatives and neighborhood and had to live on
quietly in the community. "Now, we are coming back," says the
member, "divorces are getting no more stigma to the eye of the general
public today." So, gender-free society advances much more quickly in
marriage than in the job market.
(ESD Takatsuki)
(Telecommuting becomes fashionable?)
"Nearly half of Europe's employers use information technology to work
at a distance," says a senior member, "and E-work is most extensive
in Finland, above 70 per cent of employers, but low for France, 30 per cent."
Finland owns the world biggest cellphone company, Nokia Mobile Phones. Home-based
teleworking is still rare, provided by a small number of employers. With
time, however,, many employers will use modern technology to allow employees
to work at home. Today, employees do not have to flock together at worksites.
Jobs are becoming rather individual than a teamwork. They can be easily
done at home. "Telecommuting will save our precious time to commute
everyday," says a middle-aged participant, "but for some, it will
be tough to work alone without being timely given proper work instructions
from their supervisors." Particularly, working alone at home needs
to sharpen concentration. "You must be as much productive as being
in the office," says one lady, "you need to provide a suitable
working environment at home." A large number of people have now signed
up for jobs to be offered by manpower supply companies. Some jobs offered
there can be done at home on the personal computer hooked up on the intranet
or Internet. "In future, businesses will use more subcontractors for
the piecemeal deskwork," says a participant, "those skilled workers
registered in the manpower supply system will cover outsourcing by businesses."
There will be no more a geographical handicap. "Even in the educational
area, you may become able to study in classes at Tokyo University on the
Internet," says one lady, "and you will be exactly qualified as
one of those graduates from the elite university." People do not have
any longer to work in group. "But they are still in groups of competing
colleagues," says a senior member, "among those registered in
the manpower, only 50 percent could get a job regularly these days."
People cannot stand individually. Jobs they do benefit wealth for their
family members, for local communities, for the country and for the world.
Telecommuting should not contribute to further penetration of individualism
in the public. It should play only a role to promote the overall productivity
in the society.
(ESD Takatsuki)
(Capital punishment, not vengeance?)
"Tomorrow, in the United States, the first federal execution since
1963 will be held," says a senior participant, "Timothy McVeigh,
33-year-old Gulf War veteran, is going to be executed for the April 19,
1995, attack in Oklahoma City that killed 168 people." More than half
the world's nations have abolished capital punishment in law or in practice.
Still, 1,500 people were executed last year by 29 different governments.
Nearly 90 percent of those executed was put to death in China, Saudi Arabia,
Iran and the United States. "Among the industrialized countries, only
the United States and Japan still keep the death penalty," says the
participant, "the trend is clear." For some inmates who committed
hideous crimes, the death penalty must be relief from the hardship of life
imprisonment. "The scene of execution is no more cruel," says
another member, "the death penalty is given by lethal injection, neither
by hanging nor by the electric chair." The process is calm and peaceful.
It is a state-assisted suicide, or a doctor-assisted suicide. "It won't
effect anymore a sense of vengeance in mind for the victim's family,"
says one lady, "because the killed victim couldn't take such a peaceful
death." The victim's family naturally wishes to see the killer be killed
exactly as in the way the offender attacked the victim. "I feel compassion
for the family having lost children in the knife massacre at an elementary
school in Ikeda," says one lady who is a school teacher, "parents
and teachers must be consuming themselves with hatred." Last Friday,
a 37-year-old knifeman who is said to have been mentally disturbed killed
eight pupils in a rampage at their school. "The culprit will be put
to the death penalty," says a senior member, "if he is certified
to have been able to take criminal responsibility." There are many
cases in which mentally troubled people, even after being arrested, return
to society and cause another shocking incident. We must admit there is a
defect in the country's legal system. "Back to the subject of execution,"
says one middle-aged participant, "it's carried out in Japan always
behind the curtain while, in the United States, the related information
is more disclosed to the public, and in China, the execution is even conducted
in public." Capital punishment is therefore not designed in Japan to
serve as a lesson. "These days, there is an increasing number of the
case that the offender's family faces a damage suit at the civil trial,"
a senior member says, "and the blood money is very expensive."
Some have to pay it by writing a sensational biography about the killer.
(ESD Takatsuki)
(People like to live alone)
"The trend in 1990s is for more people to live alone," says a
senior member, "according to census data 2000 in the United States."
The number of Americans living alone surpassed finally that of married couples
with children. Among 105 million households for the total head-count population,
272 million, 25 percent is filled only with one resident living in isolation.
Divorces and unmarried births increase the number of households for single
mothers and single fathers. The central place of marriage in our family
is no more valuable. Straight live-in couples, couples living with partners
and couples without children are increasing. "We drive the same direction
in Japan," says one lady, "people living alone look affluent."
There are businesses and infrastructures supporting people living in isolation.
"Convenience shops help them a lot with frosted foods and boxed meals,"
says a middle-aged participant, "and the Internet will also assist
them very much down the road in banking and other public procedures."
They don't see value any longer in living mixed with family members. "My
daughter, however, always says she wouldn't marry but stay with her parents,"
a lady says, "she likes to enjoy being a parasite." Her daughter
feels very comfortable at home. Her mother does the cooking and cleaning.
Her father is always willing to drive for her homecoming. "My husband
is happy and responsible whenever he receives a phone call from our daughter
at the nearby station," she continues, "he never hesitates to
pull his car out of the garage and drive downward." While social isolation
is concerned with the growing number of one-person households on one hand,
people living together with family members are not concerned about family
ties at home on the other hand. "They stay at home in isolation,"
says one gentleman, "they don't enjoy communication with each other."
Household members are all in their private room and do something for their
own." But we do not have to be pessimistic. The trend changes sometimes.
For example, the divorce rate and unmarried births are leveling off in the
United States. Sooner or later, people may revalue the traditional lifestyle,
marriage and family ties.
(ESD Takatsuki)
(Controversial book on Emperor Showa)
After introducing the book "Hirohit and the Making of Modern Japan"
written by Herbert P. Bix, American historian, Pulitzer Prize winner, a
middle-aged participant briefs his argument, "The message given in
the book depends very much on the author's interpretation of the available
memoranda left by those people having surrounded Emperor Showa that tell
how Hirohito was involved in World War II." Though, in Japan, Hirohito
is remembered as a helpless figurehead to the general public, Bix suggests
Japanese to face the subject once again and look how he performed actually
during those wars with China and the United States. "I still believe
he was a pacifist," says a senior member, "and he made his efforts
to avoid wars." He says the Imperial Constitution was not written to
allow Emperor Showa to execute the veto over proposals made by the belligerent
cabinet. "But he could end the war based on his own decision,"
another participant says, "under the same constitution." It looks
there were still many cabinet members who insisted to continue fighting
America and never to accept Potsdam Declaration. "However Hirohito
is characterized," says an aged participant, "it's undeniable
that he was the head of the state." Some people think he should have
taken his personal responsibility. "In a sense," one lady says,
"it was Douglas MacArthur who made this ambiguous solution since he
needed Hirohito for managing the Japanese public without any potential problems."
Today, Emperor is the symbol of the unity of the people in Japan. He is
now really a helpless figurehead and, even if he is personally a strong
pacifist, he has no power to prevent the nation from making another reckless
drive.
(Still acquisitive at age 89))
"Why does he need money at age 89?" a senior participant briefs
his argument over the case of Hiroo Mizushima, the former chairman of bankrupt
department store operator Sogo Co. Police arrested Mizushima on suspicion
he hid assets from creditors. The amount he tried to hide in personal assets
after Sogo's bankruptcy in July is 156 million yen. "As senior person,
I can't understand his idea," says the gentleman, "that amount
is hardly spent in the rest of his life." "For example,"
he continues, "I have no intention to leave my personal assets to children."
He says he would spend all what he has saved and what he still receives
today. Therefore, he says, with age, we need money less and less. "Mizushima
is a poor guy," says one lady, "he helped Sogo for its business
loans on his personal guarantee." This is not always done by other
corporate executives even though their operations face difficulty. In such
big companies, they do not normally borrow company's operational funds from
banks against their personal assets. "Having said so, however,"
says a middle-aged participant, "Sogo bankruptcy is Mizushima's fault."
Mizushima expanded his operation too much. Even in post-bubble years, Sogo
continued opening its new stores nationwide and in overseas without any
clear-cut business plans. Banks finally hesitated to give loans for Sogo's
limitless development. Therefore, Mizushima had to offer his personal guarantee
for additional loans. "It's pity Mizushima couldn't spend peaceful
days any longer," says the senior member, "while not so many years
are left for him." Mizushima could have stayed away from such an effort
to hide his distrained assets. For the elderly, money should make way for
something more valuable.
(Leprosy ruling faces no further appeal)
"Two weeks ago, I joined a petition campaign recommended by one of
my friends," says one young lady, "and I sent the e-mail to Prime
Minister Junichiro Koizumi asking not to appeal the case to a higher court."
"Then, I heard the news with emotion," she briefs her compathy
over the bold decision made by Koizumi. "The story is terrible,"
she says, "I wonder why nobody could save these patients earlier."
Government officials and legislatures accused in the ruling had not taken
any action until five years ago to scrap the outdated Leprosy Prevention
Law. "Something wrong took place some 35 years ago," says a senior
participant, "when an official in the Health Ministry tried to initiate
nullification of the law based on the WHO recommendation." Patient
associations were looking forward to it. Some politicians supported it.
"But there was a big power, Dr. Mitsuda, who was tyrannizing authoritatively
the leprology circle in those days," says the senior member, "and
he disagreed strongly to the proposal." On the contrary, the doctor
even suggested the government to further tighten the segregation law. "You
see, we have an exactly similar case today," says the member, "on
the issue of HIV-poisoned blood products, Prof. Abe of Teikyo University
played his role to produce many AEDS patients because Abe opposed immediate
introduction of heated blood drugs about 15 years ago and even threatened
his colleagues who were positive on the idea." So-called center of
competence does not work positively in these cases. "And the media
is helpless either," says another member, "they never reported
those campaigns held by leprosy patients in those days." The media
caters to the public and do not report what people would not like to learn.
"So, in the end, we are guilty ourselves," says a middle-aged
participant, "neither politicians nor legislatures."
(IF Osaka)
(Nicknaming effects harmony)
"Most great apes such as gorillas, chimpanzees, bonobos and orang-utans
could be extinct in five years' time," says an aged participant, "and
the United Nations Environment Programme just launched a programme to save
them." The main threats to their survival include war, the bushmeat
trade, loss of habitat, and poaching for trophies and souvenirs. Along with
elephants, the great apes are the gardeners of the African and South East
Asian forests. The UN Ape Alliance says that, during this year, thousands
more orang-utans have been killed or driven from their forests by illegal
loggers. and thousands more gorillas, chimpanzees and bonobos have been
also killed for bushmeat. "By the way," says the participant,
"among those naturalists in study of the ape, Japanese scientists seem
to have talents for identifying individuals in the ape group under observation."
This is not an easy task for zoologists from other countries as monkeys
look all the same in the group. Japanese do not only see the face form and
physicality, but combine them with the specific mannerism of the individual
in its daily activity. "First job Japanese do in observing an ape group
is to nickname each individual," says the aged member, "and such
names always imply some linkage with peculiarity that each individual demonstrates."
Nicknaming must have an effect to warm up the relation between apes and
observers. "In our daily life, we do the same," says one lady,
"and, by doing so, we can have a friendly atmosphere in the group and
society." For example, the current Koizumi cabinet draws the highest
public support ever. And some cabinet members got the nickname. Then, names
are not such a sarcastic one that is usually given to a politician, but
rather a cozy nickname. This means people like to keep Koizumi in his original
motivation towards the political and economical crusade.
(ESD Takatsuki)
(Darkness makes immune systems work)
"A recent TV program says darkness is essential in human life,"
says an aged participant, "the immune systems of animals grow weak
if there's artificial light at night." Scientists just discovered that,
only when it's really dark, our body could produce the hormone called melatonin.
Melatonin fights diseases, such as breast and prostate cancer. Melatonin
turns off the cancer cells from growing. But if there's even a little light
around our bed at night, our melatonin production switches off. "These
days, many people sleep at night in a room where they keep their TV turned
on, or at least a small light through the night," says a middle-aged
member, "many people seem to be nyctophobia or nectiphobia, and they
couldn't stay in a dark and noiseless room." In general, we must feel
a certain sense of security in the darkness of night. It must be a natural
physiological reaction for all God's creatures. "When my son's wife
gave birth to her first baby," says another member, "she did it
underwater, and she remembers she felt very much relaxed at that time because
the delivery room was rather dark and her labor was not spotlighted."
All physical beings give birth in a dark place. They select instinctively
their safest delivery spot. For them, the bright spot forces them to keep
a sharp watch on their enemies. "I usually keep the small light on
while I sleep in my room," says a middle-aged participant, "but
my family members don't like it and always turn the light off whenever they
come across it." He says his family members are not cautious about
the potential diseases of their head of household, but they are simply the
cheapskate. They think they can save some electricity by doing so. "Anyway,
darkness at night, without any artificial light, will provide people with
a healthy life," says an aged member, "with the lifestyle of energy
conservation and with the beauty of stars in the sky."
(ESD Takatsuki)
(Child-rearing extends life expectancy)
"The average life expectancy is longer for women than for men,"
says an aged participant, "and this looks same for most ape species."
There must be some biological reasons for this sexual difference. Also men
generally take a higher risk in life than women. Men have to protect and
support family members at their peril. "Amongst the ape, however,"
says the participant, "some monkey species including a kind of gibbons
present a longer life expectancy for males." Zoologists have found
that in the world of such monkeys, males are looking after the child-rearing
while, in other groups, females do this job. "Today, neuroscientists
are concluding that women have much more developed right-brain than men
have," says another member, "and both sexes have an equally developed
left-brain." This means those provided with a developed right-brain
is much more capable of having a big hand in child-rearing. "I understand
such a theory," says one lady. "Child raising is not a logical
performance, but we need to be emotional and instinctive." In today's
society, however, ever-increasing number of women are joining businesses,
politics and other activity areas that have been almost dominated by men.
"And there are ever-increasing number of men who share child-care and
housework at home," says another participant, "I think men will
eventually have also a developed right-brain and thus a longer life expectancy
than those women who are freed from household routines." "With
regard to the country-specific life expectancy," says an aged member,
"India is unique with a longer life for men." In the country,
traditional male-chauvinism coupled with poverty causes a shorter life expectancy
for women. Among the poor, when parents have their kids becoming ill, only
boys are taken to a doctor. Therefore, the child mortality rate is higher
for girls. Boys are regarded as important workforces for the family. "India
will change rapidly and join other countries," says one gentleman,
"but nobody knows how mankind develops and evolves biologically with
centuries."
(Second-hand goods on sale)
"Last weekend, Takatsuki City held one of its annual events, Jazz Street
2001," says one lady, "I and my husband enjoyed a program at the
Jonan Park Saturday evening." For the jazz festival, many musicians
including Toshiko Akiyoshi, pianist, came to Takatsuki and gave a performance
at various concert spots. Residents in Takatsuki and many visitors from
other places enjoyed the festival. "My daughter together with her friends
joined a flea market organized just besides the jazz performance at the
park," says the lady, "they sold second-hand articles there.,
clothes, foot gears and sundries, and could book 30,000-yen sales."
Recycled articles are drawing public attention these days. "People
don't care them brand new or second-hand," says one gentleman, "and
people positively take them as long as prices are reasonable and their quality
is acceptable." Businesses dealing with old clothes are increasing.
"We see many rag shops today in town," an aged member says, "those
40-year-old scenes where people used to buy secondhand clothes at such shops
are coming back." Clothes and other sundries are also made in Asian
countries these days and sold cheaply to Japanese consumers. And quality
of such imported products are fully accepted here. "Even the Japanese
ethnic costume, kimono, is now made in China," says a participant,
"it will be no more an expensive article for women." Most newly
marrying women are given several kimonos by their parents for use in some
ritual occasions in the new family. "These kimonos are little used,"
says one lady, "for example, I have three mourning kimonos for three
seasons, but I've never used the summer wear and the others are used only
once or twice in a year." She says however each set of kimono costs
nearly one million yen. Today, there are increasing number of women who
wear no more Japanese kimonos at such ritual occasions. Lack of demand for
kimonos is damaging the local kimono industry. Some old kimonos are revived
as modern mockers depicting their original designs. So, the second-hand
campaign is also rampant here.
(ESD Takatsuki)
(Japanese players in MLB)
"Some years ago, we talked about the brain drain from Japan's academic
community," says an aged member, "and now, it seems such an outflow
is taking place among the Japanese baseball icons." And those joined
the U.S. MLB (Major League Baseball) are doing a good job. Kazuhiro Sasaki
with his record 13 saves in a month and Ichiro Suzuki with his batting average
345 largely contributed to the Seattle Mariners winning their ninth straight
and setting a major league mark with 20 April victories. Also recently,
Hideo Nomo of the Boston Red Socks accomplished his second no-hitter in
the MLB. "Those MLB games involving Japanese players are telecast in
Japan," a middle-aged participant says, "these days, I'm interested
in watching more such games than the local professional games." It
looks a sharp decline in attendance is taking place at ballparks here. The
audience rate is dropping on TV. The management team of the local professional
baseball fears that their games are getting no more a spectator sport. "You
see, the big stage is always in the United States," says a participant,
"America takes all the first-class away from the world." "And
we are losing the second and third either," the participant continues,
"businesses are moving their production operations offshore, to Asian
countries for example." We would become totally hollow. We are scrapping
all local resources ranging from food articles to entertainment programs.
Could we, however, keep buying them?
(ESD Takatsuki)
(Journey into space by American millionaire)
"Last week, I made a two-day bus tour to Okuhodaka hot spring,"
says a gentleman, "the tour program was wonderful and costed me only
11,000 yen." His 500-km round trip included a cherry-blossom viewing,
an enjoyable stay at a hillside hot-spring hotel and the fantastic view
of Alps from the top of Mt. Okuhodaka. "You made such a horizontal
trip for 11,000 yen," an aged member says, "but there's a guy
in the world who's going to make a 350-km vertical trip for 2.4 billion
yen." The Russian space agency will send a paying tourist, California
millionaire Dennis Tito, 60, to the international space station from the
launch site at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at the end of the month.
The flight team includes two professional cosmonauts and Tito who paid up
to $20 million to the cash-strapped Russian space agency for the 10-day
round trip excursion into orbit. "Many years ago, there was a popular
film depicting a science fiction about the interplanetary travel in 2001,"
says one member, "though we are already in 2001, we seem to be very
much behind the realm of the movie's science fiction." The little step
by the American millionaire is timely reminding us of the old movie although
his attempt could little catch up with those scenes we enjoyed in our younger
days. "There are many millionaires not only in the United States but
also in Japan," says one member, "but it's sure that there will
be no Japanese billionaire who attempts to cost himself a fortune to go
off on such adventures." Anyway, for most people, it must be more therapeutic
to make an 11,000-yen round trip to a hot-spring spot than to be boosted
to a dry space station 350km from the ground.
(ESD Takatsuki)
(Price competition in fast food service)
"The quality was normal," says one participant who tried recently
Yoshinoya's 250-yen gyudon, a beef bowl, "I think the present price
competition in the food service industry is a welcome trend for consumers."
In order to beef up their sales, fast-food chains have reduced drastically
prices of their gyudon dishes. "I also attempted to have one in Ginza
the other day," says another member, "but I gave it up because
I had to stand in long line for a while." After the price cuts, such
fast-food companies are having a higher number of customers and their sales
are climbing more than 10 percent. "For us women, Yoshinoya is not
a friendly spot," says one lady, "it's always full with men all
around snatching a gyudon quietly and dismally." For women and schoolgirls,
McDonalds started earlier a special weekday pricing, about 50 percent price
cut. "I think the nationwide food demand must be unchanged," an
aged participant says, "so, such general price cuts mean that the total
cost of meals by Japanese people is dropping. Isn't this deflation?"
There are still rooms for productivity improvement by fast-food companies
and they are now making efforts to streamline their operations. However,
everybody cannot win the game on the limited size of pie. "Winners
are all right," says a middle-aged member, "but there will be
many losers and unemployed people who must often work as part-timers for
a small hourly rate." It seems the hourly rate paid to part-timers
who are the dominant employees in fast-food outlets is getting lower than
that was five years ago. But it is still the most expensive in the world.
"It's nearly a deflationary spiral," says an aged member, "consumers
will have less incomes, then far less spending and companies achieve less
sales, a vicious circle." The government therefore concluded last week
an emergency economic plan that would attempt to solve the bad-loan mess
at banks and boost the stock market in Japan. "Since so-called one-coin
husbands, being given only a 500-yen coin for daily expenses by their wives,
are prevalent today,," says one lady, "250-yen gyudon dishes will
help them a lot." Most participants do not believe that these fast-food
chains could keep their price cut campaign forever.
(High tech closet recommends what to wear)
The newly developed Web-linked wardrobe, Internet-commloset, may help you
in solving your routine problems every morning what to wear. "This
will perhaps save my precious time every morning," says one lady, "but
at the same time, it's pity if my own decision is no more needed."
The high tech closet suggests you the most appropriate outfit for the day
based on information about your day's activities and weather forecast as
well as your individuality. "Perhaps, I'll have a quarrel with the
wardrobe every morning," says a young lady, "and it would be fun
for me trying to be vicious." In five years, technology will lead us
to the lifestyle where all everyday objects around us have both intelligence
and the ability to communicate by the marriage of the Web and the further
advanced smart sensors. "One day, even a carrot in your refrigerator
will voice its message," says an aged member, "please use me now,
I'm going off!" Some participants say this is no more the utopia for
human beings if they are all directed what to do next by the computer. Aren't
we all slaves of modern technology?
(Holding wedding ceremonies abroad)
A recent survey reported that about 20 percent of newly marrying couples
chose to hold their wedding ceremonies in foreign countries. And this is
on the rise. "One of my friends also held her wedding in Guam sometime
ago," says one lady, "although I couldn't join the wedding, some
invitees told me they'd enjoyed it and the associated overseas trip."
The survey says the average number of people who attending such a wedding
ceremony abroad is six. "The bridal industry is looking at this trend,"
says a middle-aged member, "the proceeding is all organized perfectly
for the couple and its accompanying crew." Having a wedding ceremony
in foreign countries means the bride and groom do not have to invite their
company bosses. It is certainly less expensive than having a formal wedding
at a first-class hotel inviting many relatives, company colleagues and friends.
"A no-frills' wedding is almost accepted these days in the society,"
says an aged member, "partly because of the current economic environment
and diffusion of individualism." "In days of old, we made it for
our community and relatives," says another aged participant, "and
those spots where we honeymooned were Atami, Shirahama and Arima, all the
suburban hot spring." Every participant laughs.
(Domoto wins Chiba governorship)
Akiko Domoto, 68, a former House of Councilors member, on March 25 won the
Chiba gubernatorial election without the support of any political party.
She joins the governors of Osaka and Kumamoto as the nation's third female
governor. "The election followed the resignation of former Governor
Takeshi Numata having served for 20 years," says one gentleman who
lived in the prefecture until recently, "Numata did a good job there,
such as Narita Airport, Disneyland and the road along the bay." Chiba
residents, which is often described as an "LDP kingdom," chose
Domoto, an independent candidate, as did residents of Nagano and Tochigi
prefectures in earlier elections. "Over time, the mix of Chiba's constituency
shifted very much," says the gentleman, "those lately joined residents
in large cities such as Chiba, Urayasu and Matsudo are no more conservative."
Such people hate pork barrel politics run by the dominant ruling party,
LDP. Now the LDP's April 24 presidential election, which will virtually
decide the next prime minister, is nearing. In their election campaign,
former health minister Junichiro Koizumi, 59, with his radical plan to crusade
his party and the country, is contrasting sharply with three other candidates,
former construction minister Shizuka Kamei, 64, former Prime Minister Ryutaro
Hashimoto, 63, and Economic Minister Taro Aso, 60. The front-runner Hashimoto
seems to be losing support among the party members due to his unsavory image.
Here at our Round Table, Koizumi wins popularity, but not overwhelmingly.
(IF Osaka)
(Expectant mothers look for maternity homes)
"Today, for giving a birth, young expectant mothers are eager to find
out a maternity home," says one lady who trains students becoming a
midwife, "there are ever-decreasing number of maternity homes in our
society. We have only two in this big city, Takatsuki." Young women
prefer maternity homes to big hospitals because the childbirth assisted
by an experienced midwife seems to be more relaxing. They hate highly modernized
hospitals where they should be connected with various sophisticated medical
gadgets during the delivery. And doctors often easily decide a Caesarean
birth. Young expectant mothers are looking for a maternity home on the Internet.
"People are swinging back," says a middle-aged participant, "the
natural childbirth is ideal for every expectant mother." If there is
such a growing demand in public, maternity homes will come back soon. "My
granddaughter was born in a water bath by the underwater delivery,"
says another member, "it looked fitting for both the mother and child."
People sometimes praise and believe the latest technology, but often, they
stop and rethink of it, and come back to a traditional manner.
(ESD Takatsuki)
(Excitement after survival game)
"When I was an inpatient in a six-bed all-male room," says an
aged participant, "one day, we had a lady visitor from the room next
door that was for six female inpatients." People enjoyed chatting for
a while. They talked about their diseases and medical treatments. The lady
told guys how her own surgical operation, mastectomy, had been done. "Then,
to my surprise, she suddenly lifted her underwear and showed boys her breast,"
the participant continues, "I hated to see it, but I quickly confirmed
she'd lost her brace and bit on one side." It was no more a tit show.
The lady looked old enough, above 60 years old. "People must feel a
certain sense of relief after successful surgical operations," says
another participant, "and they become talking more about their own
diseases and show proudly the evidence how bitter the challenge was."
"That's correct, maybe," says one member, "one of my friends
also showed me his seam of wound that had been made by a surgical operation
to have his stomach cancer taken away." Usually, any third party would
not feel like seeing the trace of such horrible surgical operations although
the survivor is very positive to demonstrate it.
(New time table for Hankyu Line)
"Yesterday, the Hankyu Kyoto Line shifted to a new time table,"
says a participant, "then, my nearby station gets a deteriorated service,
only 6 stopping trains an hour, two trains fewer than before." Suffering
from an ever-decreasing number of passengers, Hankyu must now offer a better
service than the competing JR does. But such improved services are majorly
given to those passengers at Hankyu's important stations where they can
choose one out of the two competing railways. During the past years, railway
companies could not raise the fare because general consumer prices were
stagnant. To improve the business bottom line, they had to make efforts
to increase the number of passengers and streamline their own organizational
operations. "The JR turned out user-friendly after it was privatized
some 15 year ago," another member says, "particularly, between
Kyoto and Kobe, they improved drastically both the fare and riding comfort."
The ticket in the area was always cheaper by competing private railways
up to about 5 years ago. Today, they almost offer an equal fare. And the
JR is always faster getting to the destination. "So, the JR takes passengers
remarkably from the private railway," says an aged member, "during
the past 5 years, Hankyu is said to have lost 15 percent of its passengers."
"It's nice railway companies compete with each other," says another
participant, "but it's not always good for some people using local
stations where they get services poorer and poorer." Free market economy
is fated to create this gap between the mainline spot and the local ghost
station. Publicness of railways will be ignored more and more by today's
capitalist society.
(ESD Takatsuki)
(Criminal liability of corporate leaders)
"The former management team of Snow Brand Milk has just been indicted
for causing a widespread food poisoning with its products last year,"
says an aged participant, "This is the first case the top management
is charged with a criminal liability." In the past, only those employees
who made the blunder directly were accused by police. "The former president
of Snow Brand is said to have been not properly informed by his subordinates
about the developing case," one lady says, "I rather feel sympathy
for his responsibility." The team of Snow Brand management was meeting
at a bar in Sapporo when they first heard the case developing serious. Yet,
it looks they stayed there and did not take an immediate company-wide action.
"I think the president has a comprehensive responsibility for the company's
activities," says a middle-aged member, "if he insists he was
not informed, it's his own fault that such poor communication prevailed
in his organization." Stockholders' derivative actions will become
rampant in Japan as companies must work on global standards in terms of
the shareholder's interest. "Company president is no more an honorary
post," says another member, "the title used for the post, CEO,
implies he has full powers how to operate his company, and therefore, he
is responsible for all the results." "In Japan, corporate management
is not paid well enough for such tough responsibilities," says a lady,
"they shouldn't be treated so cruelly." "Yes, they should
be remunerated properly," says a middle-aged member, "there's
a trend in the United States that they are receiving the ever-increasing
average annual salary." So a modern company is run by a large number
of cheaply paid rank-and-file employees and a very small number of highly
paid leaders who take risks of incarceration. "Today, however, we see
many Snow Brand products in shops and supermarkets," says an aged participant,
"it seems people are no more punishing the company." Some say
Snow Brand is offering a higher margin to those shops handling its products.
It looks the mass population is forgetful and forbearing. "Well, this
food poisoning case is not as serious as the arsen-milk case committed by
Morinaga many years ago," says one lady, "the victims of the arsenic
poisoning are still suffering today from the after effect." Anyway,
Snow Brand is making efforts to regain its name and traditional share in
the market, and they do this because they need to please their shareholders
by achieving a much better bottom line in the next business term.
(ESD Takatsuki)
(Nobody pays risk money)
"I've lost about 20 percent value in my stock portfolio," says
an aged participant, "particularly the NTT shares could never make
me glad." "But, you do still better," says another aged man,
"my stocks being for many years in salt have lost two-third of the
average purchase value." Stock markets are getting gloomy everywhere.
"In NASDAQ, the dot-com frenzy is over," says a member, "those
spotlighted high-tech chips today turned out 'dot-gone" shares, they
are no more 'dot-come' as they were one year ago." The NASDAQ plunge
will certainly effect a spillover on the mainline blue-chip market. However,
it is believed that American households would not pull out from the stock
market. They would rather average down their cost of investments on this
occasion and therefore don't take energy out of the market. The Japanese
government has just confirmed that the country now suffers deflation. "Consumers
feel happy about lowering retail prices," says a middle-aged member,
"we don't know whether we really face a deflationary spiral."
About 70 years ago, Japan, like many other industrialized countries in those
days, experienced the great depression where a heavy deflationary spiral
had taken place causing the rapid shrinkage of the nation's economic activity.
"Can we imagine," the participant says, "that our nominal
incomes shrink every year by 5-10 percent?" This will hit most debtors
across the face as the relative value of their debts grows. "There
will be bankruptcies and then many more jobless people," says a lady,
"we will get caught in a vicious circle." The government is therefore
trying to encourage people to invest their money in the stock market. Most
of their money, estimated at 1,400 trillion yen, is now immobile at the
savings account of banks and post offices. "Capitalism doesn't work
unless gambling parlors make a good trade," an aged member says, "we
need gamblers definitely to boost the country's economy." People's
memories of those post-bubble troubles are still fresh. They say they have
no risk money. And the local gaming room has not shown winners these few
years. But in order to get rid of the vicious circle, we must be wise enough
in taking individual risks at the parlor. We are on the boat of capitalism,
and we like it.
(Developer's agony in Guam)
"I've been just transferred back from Guam," says a middle-aged
participant who works for a bank, "during my two-year stay in Guam,
I streamlined our business operations of the local hotel and golf links.
His company developed a resort complex in Guam some ten years ago among
other property developers who were in a race for having a similar activity.
"Yet, we are not optimistic about our business in Guam," he further
says, "today, price erosion takes place everywhere." Hotels and
recreational facilities here are in competition with those in other tourist
spots for Japanese. "90 percent of those visitors to the island are
Japanese," he continues, "Guam receives one million Japanese visitors
every year, being one of the five most popular destinations for Japanese."
Guam can be reached by a three-hour flight and has little time difference
from Japan. "Here and there, not only locally in Japan, you have such
non-performing loans," says an aged participant, "it is hardly
imaginable that each and every investment makes profit down the road."
The government is now inclined to suggest banks to write off all such non-performing
loans in this fiscal year. And if they need help in doing so, another infusion
of taxpayers' money will be organized.
(ESD Takatsuki)
(Prepaid contracts for ceremonial occasions)
"I don't know it still prevails in Japan for people to make a prepaid
contracts for potential family events," says an aged participant, "in
the United States, there are numerous consumer complaints about prepaid
funeral contracts." Recent ABC program reported there were complaints
about fraud, abuse and high-pressure sales tactics aimed at the elderly.
Salespeople often fail to tell their elderly customers the contracts - which
supposedly cover every detail - often don't cover flowers, burial costs,
vaults and police escorts. The American TV program says finally to the elderly
if you really want to plan ahead for your funeral, just open a savings account.
"My mother had membership of one of such mutual help systems, Gojokai,
as she had paid 60-time 2,000 yen for five years," says the above participant,
"then she died. But we didn't use that membership simply because we
had forgotten all about it." And he says, even if his family used the
funds, they would have paid the funeral home much money in addition since
the benefit from the system could not manage a decent ceremony alone. "Yes,
such membership is losing its value," says a middle-aged member, "recently,
on planning a wedding, my relative's family decided to take the reasonable
program offered by a downtown hotel rather than benefiting from its membership
in a mutual help system." "Price slashing is taking place everywhere,"
says one lady, "all traditional ways of doing business are dropping
out today." "On top of that," she continues, "the style
of holding such a ritual ceremony as wedding or funeral has become diversified."
Participants agree that stereotypes on such ceremonies are disappearing.
Nobody gets pressure or peer pressure on its family programs these days
either from among relatives or neighborhood. "Many young couples have
a no-frills' wedding today," says a member, "I must plan a very
simple funeral for myself." Participants recommend him to leave a clear-cut
note behind so that his family could not try any other option. "In
fact, I'm planning to write a will," says a middle-aged member, "that
tells my family how the funeral must be held and how my small property must
be shared by the members." "You do it already with your age,"
says an aged member, "I wouldn't think of my funeral ahead." He
says he knows it comes. But at the moment, he will enjoy his affluent lifestyle.
(ESD Takatsuki)
(HIV-positive blood donations increase)
The ratio of HIV-positive donors has been increasing and is now more than
three times higher than 10 years ago. "Sixty-seven out of some 6 million
people who donated blood in 2000 were HIV positive," says an aged participant,
"and several hundred people have been infected with HIV last year."
A surveillance report says, in November and December, 39 people were newly
reported to have developed AIDS and five people died from AIDS in the same
period, raising the cumulative total of deaths from AIDS to 1,205 in Japan.
"People have many more opportunities to visit those countries where
AIDS is widespread," says a middle-aged member, "and we have many
more visitors from such countries." "We should keep telling people
AIDS is still around us," one lady says, "and they need to defend
themselves properly against sexually transmitted diseases." "Today,
those HIV-positive people could survive a longer life thanks to some effective
medicines," says an aged member, "and the medicare system works
for HIV-positive patients in most developed nations." About 70 percent
of the world's AIDS sufferers, or 25.3 million people, are in Africa. Yet
they receive only one percent of AIDS treatment drugs sold on the world
market. "Many African countries spend only $10 per year on health care
for each citizen," says a member from a pharmaceutical company, "they
are unable to purchase drugs at any prices." Nevertheless, major drug
companies did, under public pressure, recently promise to drop their prices
in poor countries from $10,000 to about $1,000. "These companies alone
should not be accused," a middle-aged participant says, they are always
pressed by shareholders to maximize their business bottom lines and such
high drug prices include the R&D investment for the future." Everybody
agrees the broadening gap between rich and poor countries could not be bridged
by activities of private companies. The international community must solve
such a basic problem and improve the situation.
(Murder of British woman, Lucie Blackman)
"Some still believe Japan as one of the world's safest," one lady
says, "but such stereotypes must be corrected now by foreign visitors."
The dismembered body of missing British woman Lucie Blackman was discovered
by police near a cave in Miura. "In Japan, there are also maniacs like
Joji Obara," she says, "Lucie should have been cautious about
Obara's invitation." Wealthy property developer Joji Obara, 48, is
still denying involvement in the murder case. "I think Japanese police
did a good job," says a middle-aged member, "and the British media
had pushed for an extensive campaign searching for the missing woman."
British Prime Minister Tony Blair even told his concern about the case during
his talks with Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori at the Okinawa Summit last summer.
"Did the Japanese media and government make a similar effort when a
Japanese girl was murdered in Britain some years ago?" the member questions,
"or could the Japanese media sustain with the local criticism against
the U.S. submarine hitting and sinking the Ehime Maru on its rapid ascend
a few weeks ago?" There are many foreign bar hostesses working in the
country's hot spots. Most of them including Lucie Blackman are said to be
illegal aliens who work on a tourist visa, or on an expired visa. One lady
participant asks, "What could be the search campaign, if the victim
was not British but Filipino?" There must be many foreigners in illegal
residence who are among the missing, or staying incommunicado. They will
go in the drain unless somebody, either their home government or the local
media, initiates a search campaign.
(Recession-mongering)
"I smiled when I read the expression - ecstatic frenzy of recession-mongering
- in the recent Washington Post," says an aged participant, "it
sarcastically insists the media is responsible for pulling the consumer
confidence down." A nationwide concern about the economic slowdown
has prevailed since last autumn in the United States. And this made other
countries worry because they thought they could not stand without support
of prosperous America. "I think, besides the media reports, you like
by nature hearing the bad news that affects primarily other people than
yourself," says one lady, "thus, the tabloid show on TV wouldn't
sell if it treats only good news." "But I doubt people are influenced
really by such negative reports by the media," a middle-aged member
says, "in fact, most consumers have had things enough." People
could take a pause in spending their money. Particularly in the United States,
people have been spending money during the past 9 years but have not meantime
built up their savings at all. By contrast, during the same period, the
private cash saving of Japanese people has snowballed to 1.4 quadrillion
yen, most of which is frozen at banks and post offices. "If a portion
of such money is put into the stock market," says an aged member, "the
Japanese economy will show a different scene." He says America has
taken always a right economic policy and they will certainly achieve so-called
soft landing and a sustainable development down the road. Another member
asks, "Why do we need to develop endlessly with our economy?"
This question should be seriously taken up by the media now.
(Human genome uncovered)
"It's interesting human beings are genetically 99.8 percent identical
regardless of race or looks," says a middle-aged member, "and
with regard to the number of genes, they are only twice as more sophisticated
as a fruit fly is." Just recently, researchers for the Human Genome
Project have identified and placed in order the 3.1 billion-unit long sequence
that makes up the human DNA. "About 30,000 genes were found to be significant
for characterizing human beings," says a participant who is Doctor
of Pharmacy, "but there are many others in the human DNA that have
been not yet known about their significance of existence." In the future,
people will have access to a medicine based on their own, individual gene.
"Tailor-made medicines will certainly benefit the sick in future,"
another member says, "but the individual gene profile could be abused
by businesses, for example, on employing the person, or on selling life
insurance policies." Invasion-of-privacy on the medical heritage must
be legally prevented. "Although some say human beings are genetically
identical," says one lady, "the 0.2 percent variation is still
very diverse." Such a small difference is indeed driving people to
discriminate against socially. The rich will benefit from this technology,"
a middle-aged member says, "they would even clone a baby in future
if they think themselves a super human." There are some scientists
who support the cloning technology. Such advocates attempt to give children
to those married couples who are diagnosed as being infertile. But ...
(Privacy protection by novelists)
The semiautobiographical novel "Ishi ni Oyogu" written by Yu Miri
was just accused by the Tokyo High Court for its inappropriate depiction
about the used model as its fictional character. "This is an everlasting
subject for novelists," says one lady, "historic novelists, such
as Dazai Osamu, Shimazaki Toson and Shiga Naoya, all suffered such criticism."
It is however understandable that the woman model who was suffering from
a malady on her face felt her privacy having been invaded. "It's difficult
to make both ends meet, freedom of expression and privacy protection,"
says an aged participant, "but what happens, if this was published
in English outside Japan?" And if the same novel is published 50 years
later, there will be no one in life who claims its privacy damage. "These
days, political correctness is also binding novelists' freedom of expression,"
says another member, "even some historic novels could not be read in
public because they contain some discriminatory expressions." Over
time, this will change to the taste of the contemporary human.
(IF Osaka)
(Hitachi downsizes back-offices)
"Hitachi intends to drastically reduce its stuff members in the general
affairs and personnel administrations," says a middle-aged member,
"the company is going to introduce a new computer system which enables
its 60,000 employees at all workplaces to settle their personal documents
such as status-change reports and expense accounts by interacting with PCs
at work or at home." The company will invest about 10 billion yen on
the new computer system, but they think it pays as they can save substantial
manpower in the back-office. For example, the company will stop handing
each employee his or her monthly wage slip. Employees must read their monthly
pay statement on individual PC screens. "So-called paperless management
will be achieved here," says an aged participant, "but I doubt
whether all employees could follow the system, some may always need office
girls to help them fiddling with the keyboard or the mouse." He quotes
the satirical poem written by a salaryman, "LAN runs, my fuse box runs
off, and my mind runs away." The LAN (local area network) prevails
in most businesses these days. But there are still many workers who have
been left out in the cold from the ever-developing interactive tool, mainly
due to their own digital illiteracy. "In 5-10 years, such people, mostly
aged or middle-aged, will also have to fiddle with some digital gadgets
in their lives even outside their workplaces," says another member,
"the declaration of tax returns, resident register, banking and shopping
will be made on the Internet much easily and at low cost." Those left
out can still live on their own traditional ways in the modern society,
but they must pay an additional bill for that. They must pay a higher charge
for the same service. "By the way, where are they going, those dumped
by the company's restructuring?" a middle-aged participant questions,
"Are there enough jobs developing in the labor market for these people?"
"They will have jobs anyway," says another member, "but they
will have to do with a reduced hourly rate." A certain work-sharing
system works here in the cheap labor market for most of those kicked out
of the final game, namely, trying to get a job even for a lower hourly rate.
The above aged guy quotes another satirical poem, "My annual income,
just a three-day portion, that of Ichiro, the baseball star." There
will be a heavy polarization in this capitalism society. There will be a
handful of billionaires and a bunch of middle-class people who don't realize
that they themselves are in fact the poorest in the society.
(ESD Takatsuki)
(Confucian ethic revives in China)
"It's interesting," says an aged participant, "political
leaders in China, once the fanatic believer of Marxism and then of Little
Red Book, are beginning to revalue Analects of Confucius." In the past,
Chinese communists believed that the Confucian ethic could only work to
benefit the capitalist's interest. They had long been denouncing all religious
activities including Confucianism. "How does this change come?",
he further says, "Perhaps, Chinese people begin to feel they need a
certain moral education to run healthily their society." Chinese government
is now clamping down on the activity of Falun Gong. However, on the other
hand, the government might have learned why such a semireligious organization
should have developed. It looks Chinese people are in need of another philosophical
backbone, after Marxism or Little Red Book. "So reintroduction of Confucianism
by the country's leaders is understandable," another member says, "but
it's interesting to see how China is changing." In Japan, Prime Minister
Yoshiro Mori seems still to believe that the content of Imperial Rescript
on Education, established more than 100 years ago and nullified after World
War II, is not bad and even applicable to a certain extent to the drafting
of new fundamental law of education. "I hate such an idea," says
another aged member, "he doesn't have to particularly quote the old
rescript that has a strong tie with Japanese militarism." And some
parts of the content touching moral education such as filial piety, brotherhood
and neighborly love are of course meaningful, but such points are nothing
special for the Imperial Rescript but just common sense. "Anyway, it's
interesting to know," says a middle-aged participant, "that in
China, a 2,600-year-old philosophy comes back and, in Japan, an 100-year-old
moral rescript is spotlighted." It looks a materialistic society cannot
live on its own.
(ESD Takatsuki)
(Children flare, teachers apologize easily)
"The other day, a public school teacher tried to explain to his class
what a sword is," says a middle-aged member, "for the explanation,
he had brought a real Japanese sword into the class." The story was
then picked up by parents and the media. Although it was soon found that
the sword was not a real one and the teacher was just trying to teach Japanese
chivalry in his class, the schoolmaster immediately apologized in public
saying the teacher had been incautious. "I doubt why such adults as
teachers, corporate executives and politicians apologize so easily these
days," the member says, "while children often feel a sense of
rage, lose self-control and then never show remorse." We must scrutinize
our attitude being too flexible and not demanding. "Culture of apology
is no more typical only for Japanese," an aged participant says, "in
the United States, such a first-to-apologize strategy is now considered
effective by businesses to avoid troublesome litigation arguments down the
road with consumers." In the past, western people would rarely admit
they had been wrong and always tried to defend their positions looking for
any excuse to justify their behavior. In Japan, those who try to excuse
what they have done are regarded effeminate. "Is it what the teacher
tried to teach in class?" another member says, "First-to-apologize
must not be a part of 'bushido' Japanese chivalry." Bushido rather
ask people to act with confidence and not to put up with any injustice.
(ESD Takatsuki)
(Retail prices are falling)
"Last week, the government announced the declining consumer price index,"
says an aged member, "it says consumer prices fell by 0.4% last year
compared to the previous year." It is not bad for consumers to see
falling retail prices. "But, of course, your monthly income will also
meantime decline accordingly," he continues, "the pension benefit,
for example, is yearly adjusted by law according to the CPI development."
The government is now worried about deflationary spiral taking place further
in Japan. "If it's deflation due to the country's long-lasting ailing
economy," says another participant, "Japan will quickly lose its
economic power in the world." Today, China, for instance, records its
GDP already one-third of Japan's. And it is growing at 8-10% a year. China
will catch up with Japan in economic power within 7 years if Japan's nominal
GDP grows, or even falls, in the present manner. "Perhaps, we are enjoying
the last comfortable moment for consumers," another aged member says,
"because it's clear that Japan must head sooner or later for days of
violent inflation." So called bond dystopia will eventually hit the
country with its heavy debt, 666 trillion yen or 1.3 times its GDP at the
end of the fiscal 2000. "Still, I think it's good," says a middle-aged
member, "the 12-year-old gift coupon just found in my desk drawer has
now far stronger buying power at the store than it had in those days."
During the past five years, a very low interest rate has been prevailing
on household savings at financial institutions. But such money has also
increased its buying strength. You can buy with such unproductive money
at banks more home appliances, more clothing items, much broader land and
much bigger houses than you could ten years ago.
(ESD Takatsuki)
(Blackouts in California)
"Deregulation doesn't always benefit consumers, you see," says
an aged participant who worked many years for an electricity company, "we
should avoid having the similar case in Japan." Last week, California
suffered rotating blackouts as utility companies could not purchase enough
electricity from the whole sale supplier who had worried about the financial
position of such companies. "Utility deregulation is still an important
issue for Japanese," says another aged member, "utility prices
are very expensive here, 2-3 times of those in the United States or Canada."
On the 1996 legislation, California implemented a jug-handled deregulation,
namely, it deregulated the whole sale electricity market but kept freezing
rate hikes for consumers. In those days, everybody thought a competitive
situation induced by deregulation would bring the power price downward,
never upward. The area had a very hot summer last year and is now with a
very cold winter. Local utility companies have not meantime invested on
new power generation plants but kept buying electricity from the whole sale
market because this could only contribute to their bottom lines. As energy
prices went up last few months and the whole sale market became speculative,
the supply price of electricity skyrocketed. "It's a bad idea to involve
public lifelines in free market economy," says the electric retiree,
"Japanese power companies are supplying consumers with the world best
power quality, which needs some costs of maintenance." He says Japan
should keep its high quality standard in the nationwide power supply. An
easy deregulation will jeopardize the country's industrial system. "But
still our electricity bill is incomparable among other countries,"
says a middle-aged member, "we should make up a reasonable deregulation
system." He says Japanese power companies are still enjoying their
monopoly business and are too conservative in streamlining their operations.
Telecommunications are now thrown into a somewhat competitive battlefield.
And this is gradually benefiting Japanese consumers.
(ESD Takatsuki)
(Young people are never on their best behavior)
In recent years, unruly behavior by young people has marred city-run Coming-of-Age
Day ceremonies. Particularly this year, public opinions are very tough to
those ceremonies held in Kagawa, Kochi, Saitama and Okinawa where several
young boys behaved badly and destroyed the proceeding. "Young people
joining the ceremony just came for a reunion party," says one young
lady who attended one just two years ago, "they were eager to have
a talk with their old local friends." Most of young people got separated
some years ago, after graduation of the local middle school and high school,
and then took their individual courses. "We were not interested in
speeches of those guests of honor at the ceremony," she says, "almost
nobody was paying attention to the speaker, but they were busy in talking
loudly with friends, or over the telephone." Some local governments
are almost deciding to suspend holding such a ceremony for the new adult.
But the kimono industry is of course worried about losing its opportunity
to sell kimonos to families of the new adult. "I had no intention to
wear kimono for the ceremony," says another young lady, "but my
parents had bought one for me, and my grandparents were looking very much
forward to seeing me dressed up." Her grandparents even took proudly
their granddaughter dressed in kimono to the neighborhood from door to door.
"Most young girls think it a precious opportunity in life to wear kimono,"
other ladies say, "and they need such an event for them to show up
among friends and family members." An aged participant questions, "So
girls need such an event, but is it also epoch-making for boys?" He
says, in the old society, community people celebrated new adults and admitted
them into the community's youth organization as manpower for local activities.
"I lived in Kishiwada up to some years ago," says a young member,
"there, new adults were automatically included in the block's club
to look after its own parade float, the famous Danjiri." People should
not simply accuse youngsters of bad manners. The local community should
play an important role in knocking children into shape and accepting them
as full-fledged members for the community on Coming-of-Age Day.
(Competitive society being accepted)
A recent survey shows more Japanese people are inclined to accept the competitive
society that has been demonstrated well in the United States. For example,
the merit system, under which a worker's salary is decided based on his
or her capability, has been introduced in most companies and is now accepted
by most workers. "The individual performance appraisal is still ambiguous,"
says a middle-aged member, "and it's still subjective." He says
his last bonus payment was not justifiable while his performance record
showed a high score. "Transparency of the remuneration system is not
yet satisfactorily brought into Japanese industries," another member
says, "in foreign-affiliated organizations, personal rating is much
carefully and rationally conducted." "A competitive society places
a dynamo in people's mind," says an aged participant, "but competition
must be fairly made." Once the winner, as the result of competition,
gets a far stronger position in society than the loser, they will never
fail again in races forthcoming. "It's clear a competitive society
broadens the rich-poor gap," another member says, "but we are
now mired in the trap." In the end, the government must look after
the loser in its social security system. "In the past, in a sense,
Japanese industries played a role to keep the country's safety net,"
says a member, "employees were used to sharing a burden and joy equally
with each other." "It's nice people are valued up to their ability,"
says one lady, "however, as long as I know, bosses don't always see
their subordinates correctly." She says, between two competing staff
members, the boss often chooses one for the next promotion who is generally
observed inferior to the other in terms of job capability. "Nobody
knows what's the real power in life," an aged member says, "a
genius is not always the golden boy in business." This means winners
should not be automatically labeled a high-grade personality, or a highly
capable human, because of their successes.
(Homeless people put into temporary shelters)
The Osaka city office just started tearing down tents of homeless people
camping out in Nagai Park. Such people are being taken into the newly built
temporary shelter in the park. Some participants ask, "Why does Osaka
have unproportionally high number of homeless people?" Osaka estimates
about 10,000 homeless camping in its territory while Tokyo is said to have
about 8,000. "Well, the Osaka district suffers a far higher unemployment
rate than Tokyo," says an aged member, "and the general public
here may be not so much alienating to these people as in Tokyo." There
are groups of volunteers that extend support to homeless people. And the
catering industry in town constantly disposes of its kitchen waste enough
to feed homeless people. Of course, some articles picked up from the household
garbage such as home appliances and furniture even offer them a comfortable
atmosphere in camping. The Osaka government is eager to clean up the area
as it will shortly have the study mission delegated by the IOC which will
inspect Osaka's facilities planned to be used for the 2008 Olympics. "City
officials take the occasion very important," a middle-aged member says,
"because Osaka must win four other candidate cities in hosting the
2008 Olympics." Anyway, homeless people need jobs. It is not totally
bad idea to host the next Olympics here, if the project could create number
of jobs and opportunities for such people to get rid of the miserable situation.
"Modern society, free market economy, will produce homeless endlessly,"
says an aged member, "we can't avoid facing the dropout in the society."
These people have reason to live homeless, some hiding away from home and
family members and some others even enjoying such lifestyles. If we push
the competitive society on one hand, we will have to trail the shadow on
the other hand.
(IF Osaka)
(In 2006, baby boomers start to retire)
"I was born in 1946," says a participant, "it's the first
baby-boomer year." He says, every year after 2006, a big crowd will
join the group of people enjoying an affluent retirement in the society.
"Most of such retirees own substantial savings," he continues,
"but they will find out no proper ways to spend them." In fact,
70% of the nation's individual assets, now being estimated at 1.4 quadrillion
yen, are said to be owned by those people aged above 50. The center of gravity
of the nation's wealth is rapidly shifting to the aged group. "Most
of the baby-boomer generation can't speak English," the participant
says, "so, they are unable to enjoy traveling overseas or settling
in some comfortable countries for the rest of their lives." "Malaysia,
for example, offers an affluent lifestyle to Japanese wealthy retirees,"
an aged member says, "if you have a 4.5 million yen saving at one of
the country's banks, you can stay there for all your life." Their monthly
pension benefits from the Japanese government enable them to enjoy a good
living in Malaysia. "But you must speak English at least," the
aged man says. "Today, business people are taking the elderly an important
target," another member says, "and baby boomer who have been always
regarded as the nation's buying power join the group of retirees."
The luxury cruise and gorgeous round trips being increasingly organized
by some travel agents are attracting real crowds. All such plans are immediately
sold out. "It looks mentality of the elderly is also shifting,"
says an aged man, "the newly joined elderly is no more stingy, no more
with the attitude to save each and every penny for its children and no more
with fear that its family members may face problems of household economy
in future." The baby-boomer will look for more seriously for some meaningful
ways to consume its huge savings.
(ESD Takatsuki)