Are we moving forward to move backwards?

The election of the “new” Prime Minister in Japan has occurred and we can start to look back on the most recent election on who represents best the interests of the Japanese society in the Japanese Diet.
Based on a recent survey on gender equality by the Cabinet Office (information based on Yomiuri Shimbun) 51.6 percent of respondents supported traditional roles for married couples. Personally I am surprised that this percentage has increased by 10.3 percentage points from the previous survey in 2009. While some are arguing Japanese society has reconsidered the value of a family since the March 11 earthquake and prefer to value family time much higher, I cannot agree with this viewpoint. Common families have to survive on an increasing tighter budget combined with the continued dark economic outlook, I believe most Japanese simply yearn for the good old times: There was a time when one salary could fully support a family and the common choice was the woman could stay at home. I just wonder how many families can actually still afford to have the wife to stay at home. Or there is another option: Japanese men have become more creative on how to survive on a tighter budget. Based on the Japan Times the pocket money of salarymen is at its lowest level since 1982 with ¥39,756 per month.

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Definitely worthwhile to read!

Usually I am not a big fan of Japan Times, because the depth of the topics researched or the professionalism of their journalistic approach seems not sufficient to me, but this time I have to say I am truly impressed about a most recent article: “The eerie silence of Japan’s dying democracy“, which describes very good how over time self-interest rose over the basic aspects of a democracy. What a cosy interconnected world of politics, bureaucracy and the old-established Japanese business?
I guess as long as the pain threshold of the majority of the Japanese society is not reached, only very limited democratic actions will be taken. Consequently without any public outcry everything is fine in Japan, isn’t it? Or maybe I simply misunderstand and dramatize present day Japan…

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My compliment to the Shinagawa ward!

Today I had found out for the first time what actually the height is of the place I am living. Actually I cannot talk much about height or being much above sea level, because we are just 2m above. In the past I had not seen any of this kind of easily understandable signs in the street, like shown in the picture below, but recently the ward I am living in Tokyo Shinagawa had been proactive and signed quite a bit of the Shinagawa area closer to the Ocean. Having all this talks about finding new earthquake faults – especially the one’s connected to Mount Fuji – forces everyone to truly consider the worst case scenario of another bigger earthquake looming in the near future. Instead of panicking, I truly appreciate the Japanese proactive approach of trying to prepare for the unthinkable.

After having moved to Shinagawa almost 3 years ago, I became more aware about the interesting environment I am living in. Few minutes walk away there is the old route to Kyoto: Tokaido (東海道 East Sea Road), which was the major road from old Edo Tokyo to Kyoto. In one of the walks in my neighbourhood I came across the two pictures showing the vast reclaimed land from 1912 as shown in the top small picture and then compared to 1995 below. You can actually see the darker clusters close, but not too to close to the sea, where the Todaido road was heading south towards Kyoto. Contrary nowadays Shinagawa has become a busy place with lots of new land created for offices, homes and some production plants. Just within 80 years it seems to me a completely different world.

Although in the worst case scenario a Tsunami might be reaching the area I am living, still for me it is a truly cosy place to live. Thanks Shinagawa ward to keep us prepared for the non-preparable worst case event!

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A helping hand is badly needed in Japan

Today I stumbled upon some further news that makes me again speechless. Personally I had been impressed about growth of kizuna (絆, Japanese word meaning “bond with others”) after the disaster of last year. So many people were volunteering or just simply trying to make life easier for everyone. Now as time has passed it seems that quite a bit of people are falling through the cracks, even though Japanese society still values and practices kizuna.
According to an article of Mainichi Shimbun in the aftermath of the last year’s disaster a government-subsidized free telephone consultation service was started. In the meantime due to increased social problems the line got so overloaded, that only after 20 attempts on average a person can get to talk to a consultant. About 20,000 calls are received per day, but only about 1,200 of them get connected. Based on the Mainichi Shimbun article this 24h service is called “Yorisoi (staying together) Hotline” and is operated by the Shakaiteki Hosetsu (social inclusion) Support Center. Calls about issues like poverty, unemployment and bullying are supported. In the meantime 38 call centers located throughout Japan were created.
Most shocking for me is that based on the information from Mainichi Shimbun about 70 percent of problems concern basic needs of a human being: Poverty and solitude, with many of the callers in their 30s to 50s. Examples are: “I lost my house after I became unemployed,” “There is no point in living” and “I just wanted to talk with someone.” While there is in the media the bashing of Namapo, reading these cited examples hurts my heart. A man in his 30s had lost his job, applied for welfare, but when calling for help at this hotline, he said: “I have no money and haven’t eaten anything for days.” Due to the worn out voice, the consultant judged right that the man was in a life-threatening condition. Contacts then from a local support center delivered some food to the caller. The man was truly grateful, especially as “no one had helped me before even though I consulted some offices.” The overview below shows the common reasons why someone is calling the support center (graph from Mainichi Shimbun)

Other support function are:
- 20% of consultations are about suicide (link to previous article on this blog)
- 6% of consultations are about violence against women and sexual issues.

It hurts me that the Japanese society, who is known globally for friendliness has ended up at a stage where so many people are starving, lonely, unheard… simply left on their own. I am left wondering how many people are falling through the cracks and no one in their environment might even know.

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What a bleak outlook from Japan inside out!

Last weeks had been rather discouraging for me, because it seemed to me that in general news have become so bleak in Japan. Instead of what could be done, from my perspective the common mood is how bad the situation in regard to Japan got and that it might get worse. Where did the optimism or hope go? So far I had assumed that I must be wrong, but I stumbled today upon a recent poll done by the Pew Center’s annual Global Attitude Project (700 telephone interviews between March 20 and April 12). According to the Asahi Shimbun the poll showed widespread pessimism: Some 78 percent of the people are unhappy with the direction of the country, and 93 percent perceive the economy to be in a bad state. This figures are shocking for me and I am at loss with words.
Last year after the disaster Japan was more optimistic. Most people hoped this awful tragedy could be turned into something positive: 59 percent believed the disasters would make Japan stronger. Now a year later only 39 percent still hold that view and almost half of the population 47 percent believe the disaster has made the country weaker.
Furthermore the general public has a very low opinion of the government and the media. Only 12 percent see the central Japanese government as having a positive influence on the country, while present Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda is viewed positively by only 30 percent. As for the media, only 34 percent see a positive impact, while the majority with 63 percent have a dark outlook. For me interesting is that instead of seeing increased grassroot activities, the general public is expecting others to take the way. Based on the comment of Asahi Shimbun:

“In the wake of the disaster, distrust of the government and mainstream media has grown amid the perception that authorities were not being forthright with the public – and that the media outlets weren’t doing enough to investigate or hold authorities accountable.”

Interestingly I have heard this viewpoint quite often this year in discussion with Japanese. I find a lot of people yearning for change, but when I ask directly about what they have done on a personal level I get a confused look back. It seems commonly understood that it is better to wait for a “leader”, who will tell what is best to be done next. Starting on a personal level seems out of question.
I hope a taxi driver was recently joking when he asked me to lead Japan to change. I strongly believe if Japanese society wants lasting change it has to come from within and not from an “outsider”. Time has moved on and a Black Ship will not make any changes these days.

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Looking at Japan from a different angle

Usually I do not make any recommendation on books in regard to Japan, but it is time to make an exception. What impressed me most about both books I am going to recommend is that they have been written quite a while ago, but are still so true in 2012. Although I hear daily in the media about Japanese society changing, becoming more transparent and open, Japanese companies embracing global business styles…at the end I wonder how much has really changed. Based on my personal experience for more than 10 years living and working here, apart from the March 11 event with the Fukushima disaster, it is difficult to see noteworthy changes, which is good from my perspective. Otherwise if Japan had become globalized and easily understood from the outside, there would be no reason for me to continue this blog Japan is still a mystery for a big part of the world.
The first book I would like to focus on is “Freakonomics”, which was first published in the U.S. in 2005 and based on the Freakonomics website went on to sell more than 4 million copies around the world, in 35 languages. The authors Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner bring interesting moral and economic issues to the light. Most likely it will redefine the way you view the modern world, or at least it did for me. One of the covered topics is in regard to sumo wrestlers and yaocho (yaocho is the Japanese word for match-fixing). For those who have not read the book or not seen the movie, have a look at this link:

The Numbers in Sumo Cheating: Freakonomics Movie

The second book worth reading is “Beating Japan” from Francis McInerney, Sean White. The book was written 1993 during the time when the US feared that Japan might take over a big part of the global business. The essence of the book is that the world has not to be so worried, unless Japan starts to radically change and overcome some economic limitations. Quote from the book:

“The Japanese are in a tough spot: they need the loyalty of foreign customers, but have firm hold on them. To get closer to their customer, they must overcome significant cultural differences. At the same time, the Japanese economic engine is running out of steam: the industries that powered its postwar recovery are mature or in decline. New competition is emerging elsewhere in Asia eager to imitate the Japanese and gobble up the markets they fought so hard to win. A breakthrough source of export energy is needed to keep the engine in high gear. Japan has not found that source.”

In my daily life I come across many Japanese, who yearn for change, but at the same time are looking for someone who can create a path for them and guide them. Only in very few cases I have come across people here, who bravely dash forward into the unknown. I guess the fear of the unknown is still much higher than the pain of the present. Personally I see this behavior as positive, because for me the mystery of Japan is still ongoing. Maybe one day I understand Japan a bit better

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What is your viewpoint about ナマポ (Namapo)?

To be honest I am getting tired of seeing the bowing and apologizing Junichi Komoto in a lot of local news media (popular Japanese comedian, info in Japanese on wikipedia). It seems to me since last week the story gets so much attention, because a good scape goat was found: Junichi Komoto let his mother continue to receive welfare benefits after his career as a comedian took off. Since the government is struggling to make ends meet, examples of potential misused money gets recently a lot of attention.
According to Japan Times the number of welfare recipients in Japan is increasing steadily – by about 5499 people per month – having now reached 2,097,401 people. The story with Komoto started a few weeks back. Because the main Japanese media tends to stays away from potentially critical topics, the weekly gossip magazine Josei Seven covered the story: “A popular comedian with an estimated ¥50 million annual income did not provide enough financial support for his mother”. Of course this became a hot topic and juicy details were shown. Komoto’s mother began receiving welfare benefits about 15 years ago, when she quit her job due to ill-health. Back then according to Komoto, his annual income was less than JPY 1 million and he was not able to give any financial support to his mother. Although Komoto started to send money to his mother about five years ago, his mother did not quit receiving welfare until last April. Actually her benefits were reduced by the same amount Komoto provided, all decided together with the local welfare office. Komoto concern for privacy: “I didn’t want anyone to know that my mother received welfare benefits. I was ashamed of that. I was doing my job thinking I need to help her get out (of the welfare benefit program) as soon as possible.”
Under the Japanese Civil Law, direct relatives such as parents, children, brothers and sisters have a duty to support their family members. Local welfare offices are required to follow-up with the evalutaion of the annual income of the applicant’s family, so that can be decided whether they can provide financial support. It seems to be in the case of Komoto all those steps were done in collaboration with the local office. On the other hand, interestingly the questionnaire is nonbinding and municipalities have no way of determining if the answers are accurate.
Personally I don’t think the attention should go so much to Komoto (I am no fan of him), but much more the spotlight should be on the increasing number of welfare recipients, who are alcoholic and at the same time spend their money on Pachinko (Japanese version of gambling). Just stroll around in some areas in Osaka, or just check the lines at the local Pachinko after the welfare payday. I don’t think pointing the blame to Komoto as a scape goat will bring any changes in the way welfare receivers are supported.
To make matters even more interesting, recently there had been some online information on how to become a Namapo (welfare recipient). Personally I have not seen the actual documents or DVD’s with the explanations on how to apply for welfare easily. Because several sources state the availability, I assume these guides had been used. Chances are welfare benefits are higher than the salary for contract workers, so it is not surprising to me that some perceive a life as a Namapo more attractive.
Just for your info, the name Namapo was created from welfare in Japanese「生活保護」and just taking out two characters from the whole word:「生」and「保」, which is then read as Namapo.

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P.S. From March 30th an update on the topic above: The Japanese media is targeting another comedian, who had been questioned about his mother receiving welfare support. From the comedian group King Kong, Yuta Kajiwara (梶原雄太) seems to be the next scapegoat. The good news: I start to assume that all behind this comedian/namapo trashing is the goal to increase the number of welfare workers in Japan, so that applications can be checked more thoroughly. Let’s see how the story develops.

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