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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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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So what is an average Japanese junior high school girl like?

My policy is that from time to time I check out a topic or an area of Japan that I am not exposed to in my daily life. This approach has for me the advantages that I am forced to keep an open mind, become familiar with a topic I have had possibly no interest at all, plus learn more what is going on with the Japanese economy, society or learn potentially about a new trend.
A popular magazine for Junior high school girls was my focus this time. A recent issue of Pichilemon magazine (ピチレモン) showed the results of the response of 1000 junior high school girls being questioned about their daily habits. The results of this poll was then considered to represent the average female Japanese student: 155cm in height with 44.4 kg weight and having medium long hair.
To make the picture perfect with the school uniform – definitely a part of Japan, plus furthermore a crucial part of confidence of a high school student – let me announce the average the skirt ends 7.5 cm above the knee.
A junior high school girl gets up typical at 6:40, after having slept for an average of 7.2 hours. Apart from the time spent at school, 69 minutes are used for homework, 147 minutes spent watching TV, plus an additional 93 minutes are allocated for online activities. Although it might be surprising how little time is spent for homework, I have to say I did not expect that more time is spent for TV than the Internet. Then finally after a long day at 23:20 the average junior high school girl goes to bed.
For sure I had the wrong image, because a high number of 99% of junior high school girls enjoy going to school. Roughly it takes about 17 minutes for these girls to go to school.
Junior high school girls have an average of 4.4 close friends. As it should be expected nowadays, 80% of the students seem to have a boyfriend. For 89% of the girls their boyfriend has roughly the same age, when 10% have an older partner. Plus guess what, 80% have already kissed a guy. Looking out into the future, these junior high school girls expect to get married at 24.8 years old, which reflects an age just out of university with potentially some basic job exposure.
Apart from these social aspects, the most exciting food is bread/patisserie, curry rice or then sweets.
How were your teen years? In my case I had no school uniform, at least double the time spent on homework, little TV and no Internet. Most of the free time was used up chatting with other girls, drawing and reading. I had not been “lucky” enough to have a boyfriend with 15, so the kissing part came later too. To be honest, I had no idea about the age I might get married. It was somewhen in the future, but no clear image about it. At that time it was more important for me to make sure that I am ready and notice if the fairy tale price passes by…

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40 years later, a reason to celebrate?!?

Last Saturday I was lucky to combine several wishes together: Explore more of the lesser known areas in Kanto, experience and respect Japanese history, while listen to good music. In advance of the event of today, when people in Okinawa are “celebrating” the transfer from US rule to Japan rule, I went to a lesser known area of Tsurumi, which has close ties to Okinawa.
The history of Okinawa – a previous kingdom with very long independent history and culture – is truly complex, furthermore still today 2 economies push the locals into a difficult role. The US bases in Okinawa are a challenge, plus in the words of Moritake Tomikawa (former president of Okinawa International University, quote from Japan Times): “Okinawa’s return to Japanese rule was supposed to unite it with the rest of the country, but in reality Okinawa’s economy was taken over by businesses from mainland Japan.”
Due to many reasons before or after the war a lot of Okinawans come to Tsurumi to work at the many factories. The above picture shows the area just outside Anzen Station. This station named after Zenjiro Yasuda (the station takes ‘zen’ from the first kanji in ‘Zenjiro’ and ‘an’ from an alternate reading of the kanji for ‘yasu’). Yasuda was an entrepreneur who supported the Tsurumi Rinko Railway and founded the financial conglomerate in the area: Yasuda Zaibatsu.
The integration for the immigrants from Okinawa had not been easy based on an old article of the Japan Times. After Okinawan had arrived in Tsurumi many mainlanders regarded their new neighbors as bumpkins, at best; at worst, an inferior race. Factory owners fired workers, who spoke in island languages and landlords turned away Okinawan tenants. The flood-prone area south of the Tsurumi river was one of the few places that Okinawans could rent accommodation so they settled here en masse and began to build a community.

Due to the historical event the “Okinawa Town” in Tsurumi had some special event. I had heard that my favorite Sanshin/traditional Okinawa folk singer was giving a live concert, so I had no choice but to go. Although Tadokoro Yoshiyuki (田所ヨシユキ, http://u-nosuke.com/profile.php ) is not born in Okinawa, he has strong passion for traditional music from Okinawa. Further not only music is his passion, but he loves as well food from Okinawa. He has written a special song about his favorite speciality, which you can see on Youtube on the link below.

足テビチの女 (pig legged woman)

Let me add an interesting fact about a very old musical instrument: Sanshin (三線), it is a three strings musical instrument, which is the precursor of the Japanese shamisen.

To make the day even more perfect experience, close-by there are several restaurants serving my favorite Okinawa food: Okinawa soba (沖縄そば or ソーキそば). Honestly I am not a big fan of soba, but the secret is that this kind of Okinawa soba have different roots. The noodles are not made from buckwheat noodles as in the rest of Japan, but made from flower. The thick wheat noodles resemble udon, while the soup is more similar to that of ramen. Personally soki-soba is an example of a perfect dish: colorful and full of healthy ingredients. Yes, you are allowed to get hungry by the picture below. Mmmmh!

Okinawa is for me a place that has endured and is still enduring so much, but all the people I have met in regard to Okinawa were always smiling, very friendly and had only kind words to me. For sure I respect what many Okinawans have gone though in Tsurumi, while the events are still ongoing in Okinawa…

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Japanese government is changing!

I wish I had heard about the book “Beating Japan” from Francis McInerney and Sean White earlier, because it shows where the origins are, that lead Japanese business to apply the wrong strategy for international business. We see the results of the in the book discussed looming danger now at most major Japanese companies. Although the book was published in 1993, most of the observations about the larger Japanese companies is still true.
A recent article from the Asahi Shimbun shows that the local governments have started to take some actions against larger companies, who were expected to create a longterm local relationship, especially after the government was giving out rather nice subsidies. Less than a decade after receiving a combined 20 billion JPY in local government subsidies, 21 companies shut down or scaled back their local projects. Some of the companies say they were forced to pull out of Japan due to the yen’s appreciation and competition with Asian rivals, but I see the problem much deeper. Having now more background info from the book “Beating Japan”, I understand that many of these companies had been out of touch with their customers outside of Japan. Future global end-user demands were seen in high numbers, but the necessary constant reality check was missing. While Japanese companies tend to have a very close relationship with their customers in Japan, most companies selling or expected to sell in the future abroad have focused on distributor sales channels. With distributor sales it can be very challenging to get a sense of the end-user needs. Even worse, if sales occurred directly abroad, still in every case the decision power stayed in Japan. (I don’t know of any exception, but if you know, let me know!). There is no way to be globally competitive with such an approach.
Overall the 21 companies, mainly manufacturers, each received 100 million JPY or more in subsidies for 23 projects since fiscal 2002 according to Asahi Shimbun. The largest sector was TV-related businesses, which accounted for 10 projects. For example Panasonic Corp. announced in October last year that it will suspend operations at two of its three plasma TV plants in Amagasaki (Hyogo Prefecture) by the end of March 2012. Previously the Hyogo prefectural government had provided 14.5 billion yen in subsidies to the three plants. I am really impressed about the local government, because they have asked Panasonic Corp. to return 1.26 billion yen of the 3.84 billion JPY in subsidies already paid out.
In some cases the local governments have gone even to court to get some of their money back! Based on the info from Asahi Shimbun in April 2011, the city of Ina (Nagano Prefecture) sought mediation from the local court after NEC Lighting Ltd. (manufacturing lamps for LCD TVs) closed a plant after a little more than five years. When the plant opened in 2005, the prefectural and municipal governments decided to provide 300 million yen and 159 million yen in subsidies respectively. Due to poor sales NEC Lighting had to close the plant in November 2010 and concentrate production at their factory in Shanghai. Ina city demanded NEC Lighting to pay back all subsidies, but the company refused, saying there were no provisions in a city ordinance specifying a minimum period of plant operations. At the end the result was that the local government agreed to the court’s mediation proposal that the company pay 10 million yen. What an amazing waste of tax money, which will be expanded now even further with all the people, who have been laid off as a consequence of the plant closure and most likely cannot find quickly a new job.
I really wish large Japanese companies learn from their mistakes quickly and either focus solely on the local market, where they do best, or when going abroad to invest the same focus on customer satisfaction as done locally. As long as local governments are changing, so I expect the same for larger Japanese companies. “The days have ended when local governments try to attract factories, which carry the risk of moving out,” said Muneaki Koide, a former banker who heads a municipal industry support center in Fuji, Shizuoka Prefecture. “We have to support small businesses with deep roots in the region.” The rather static government is changing, so should larger Japanese companies.

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Tokyo in Timelapse: wonderful video

Although in general I do not intend to fill up this blog with video examples, but from time to time I have to make exemptions. Through Twitter I was introduced to the video with the link below. Holger Mette has created this wonderful timelapse video of Tokyo and Yokohama. Not only the pictures, the movement of the scenes, but as well the connection with the music let me repeat it over and over again. I hope you enjoy this video as much as I do.

Holger Metter (his website): A man with a great eye for the essence of Tokyo.

Wonderful video showing the part of Tokyo I fell in love with: Tokyo in Timelapse

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