Japan Research

Since I posted more in Facebook than I did here, it is only right that I put what I posted there here. There were also many comments and some good discussions following these initial posts, but I am just saving the initial posts here. In chronological order:

So given the fill-in-the-blank sentence “oooo is in the details” (or ooooが細部に宿る), what word comes quickly to mind to fill in the blank? この「oooo」は何でしょうか。I am wondering if there is a difference depending upon where people grew up.

The reason I asked is that I was reading something that casually mentioned 神が細部に宿る and I thought “Huh?” So I googled it up. Apparently the phrase in English is God is in the details and it is commonly attributed to Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. And then “the devil is in the details” is mentioned as a variant. (Also liked に宿る for “is in,” but that’s another issue.)

Talking with my wife about this, and neither “god is in” nor “the devil is in” came to her mind. Instead, she had vague inklings of a phrase that we had to look up to check: 神は正直の頭（こうべ）に宿る. Which might roughly translate as “god is in the mind of the honest man.” and I have no idea where it comes from.
Then, still later, it occurred to me that the “the devil is in . . .” phrase might be used as a translation for the common 各論反対.
Happy New Year, everyone.
(January 3, 2017)

天下り問題等、騒がれている文科省と道徳教育を声を大にして強調する文科省って、同じ文科省でしょうか。
(January 20, 2017)

I am thinking that if Trump were really all that concerned about restoring U.S. manufacturing and all, it would make great sense to go after Walmart and the like and to get them to simply stop handling imported stuff. If there’s no distribution and no market, the stuff won’t be imported and Americans will either pay more for the local product or go without.
(January 23, 2017)

I do not play contract bridge. But I learned about it many years ago and vaguely remember that if you and your partner have the right cards, you bid “no trump.” Is there a perfect no-trump hand? And who is selling t-shirts with that design unobtrusively on them?

In follow-up, it was suggested the AKQJ, AKQ, AKQ, AKQ hand was probably the most readily, obviously a no-trump hand. This would be very easy with the necessary skills to design, and I note that the idea is open for the taking.
(January 27, 2017)

Anyone able to recommend a good (U.S. recognized) notary public in Tokyo? I need something notarized for U.S. legal purposes and I am not interested in going to the Embassy for it (even if my assumption were not that they only do that for American citizens). Or is this something I can ask any U.S.-licensed lawyer to do? Thanks.
(January 31, 2017)

丸川大臣って、何ですか。ゴルフ場が女性正会員を認めない事が問題になっているなか、「女性が男性と同じ扱いを受けるように」と求めました。同じ扱いではなく、一時的な正会員大愚ではなく、正真正銘の正会員になれるようにしなければおかしいでしょう。
(February 3, 2017)

Very impressive win by the Koike forces in Chiyoda-ku. Also good to see that more than half of the eligible voters voted. What a difference a difference makes.
(February 6, 2017)

In a discussion about Nordstrom and Lady Ivanka, a friend mocked the idea that Trump’s lashing out at Nordstrom was in any way improper. Instead, he called it “defending your daughter.” There is, obviously, a clear difference between defending your daughter and promoting her merchandise. Nobody had attacked her. The store simply said it would not carry the product. But the friend called Trump’s action “defending his daughter.” This is a reasonably bright friend, but I never know if he is being serious or if he’s just acting presidential.
(February 10, 2017)

Very interesting news out of Malaysia, especially in light of long-standing reports that he and his family were under Chinese protection.
(February 15, 2017)

Interesting that a big insert with today’s paper advertising a pachinko place prominently featured a sidebar: “Enjoy in moderation, be careful not to become addicted.” Very similar to the “cautions” the whiskey people put on their advertising. Would be glad to share the actual text if I could figure out how to attach a pdf here.
(February 18, 2017)

I don’t suppose anyone here has an English-language version of the 1871 Sino-Japanese Friendship and Trade Treaty they could lend me. Would love to be proven wrong, but . . .
(February 23, 2017)

It is tax-filing time again, at least in Japan. Which reminds me: what ever happened to Dietwoman Onoda Kimi and her dual nationality. Still doing the dual filing? Or did she manage to extract herself from one of them?
(March 4, 2017)

I notice on Kagoike’s Diet testimony about the million yen that he’s testifying under oath and subject to perjury charges and none of the people disputing his statement (e.g., Abe and his wife, or Abe and her husband, however you want to phrase it) is testifying under oath and subject to perjury charges. Don’t want to jump to conclusions, but thought the disparity was noteworthy.
(March 23, 2017)

One of the things that most bothers me about the current administration is its blithe “we didn’t keep any records so you can’t prove it” attitude. If you will recall, when the Cabinet Legislation Bureau changed its mind to approve the collective-defense war-powers act, people wanted to know what the logic was, who said what, and how the arguments played out. But when they asked, the CLB said, in effect, “we’re not going to tell you.” Since records should be kept of major decisions, and this was clearly a major decision, there was some furor over the lack of records, but the CLB stonewalled.
Later, when the Defense Ministry was asked about the situation in Southern Sudan, they said they did not have any records. Then the records — the reports from the troops on the ground — showed up and it also turned up that, having once said the report was lost, the higher-ups had said to lose the report when it was found. Protecting the organization was more important than obeying the law.
And most recently, when Kogoike’s school got a sweetheart deal on national land and people wanted to know why — what the discussion was that led to this — we were told that no records were kept. It is the old “if we destroy the records, you can’t prove anything.” In ordinary life, this is called tampering with the evidence. For the Abe bureaucracy, it is business as usual.
This is not healthy for Japanese democracy.
(March 28, 2017)

So my lemon tree (grown from seed) is a couple years old, has big leaves and impressive thorns, but how do I get flowers? Or is this one of those things that takes 20 years to get to the flower-and-maybe-bear-fruit stage? (Is in a sunny inside location, so winter cold is not the problem. Unless it needs the stimulus of winter cold.) Any thoughts?
(April 9, 2017)

Just a generalization from the United fiasco: The fact that United could not get all the volunteers it wanted means they were not offering enough. If they said they would give volunteers $1,000, say, they might have gotten more than they wanted. This is a market situation. Which means it goes beyond United stupidity. If you cannot get enough people to do something, you have to sweeten the incentives. If there are not enough nurses or kindergarten teachers, pay them better and/or otherwise sweeten the incentive package. If there are too many politicians or investment bankers, make it less attractive to be a politician or investment banker. (Note: professions mentioned are purely by way of example.) When hotels complain they cannot get housekeeping staff, that probably means they are not compensating people enough for the work involved. Of course, big companies will say they cannot afford to pay people better. This happens in translation too. If you want quality, be prepared to pay quality money for it. Corporate executives understand this when it comes to executive compensation. “We have to stay competitive,” they say as they raise their peers’ salaries. Same thing applies throughout the economy. Improve the incentives (which is not just money, by the way) and you’ll get the volunteers you need.
(April 11, 2017)

Seeing the same product pretty consistently on sale for 30% off suggests 30% off is the real price and immunizes me to buying it for the +30% price any other time/place.
(April 23, 2017)

Starting to read _Turning Points in Japanese History_ (paperback). In the introduction, Edstrom writes, “The problem of pinpointing the timing of turning points . . . can also be illustrated by the question when the Second World War was lost for Japan” and then suggests that this “is linked to the question when the post-war period started.” However, I suspect the war was lost about three years before it was over, which would mean these are two separate turning points: when the war was lost and when the postwar period started. They are linked, but they are definitely not the same.
(May 4, 2017)

Reading along, I am sometimes brought up short by terms that are used in ways that I would not use them, sometimes because I would shy away from what I think of as being too influenced by English. For example, I think of 文脈 as a literary or at least written context. But then I come across この二人（安倍晋三と橋下徹）は、でてきた文脈は違っていますが、今の日本の政治文化の中で果たしている機能は非常によく似ていると思います。So Japanese can also use “context” in non-written contexts. Good to know.

Another one is “character,” but here the usage feels different. The text mentions that polls show people opposed to a lot of Abe policies but this is not reflected in the administration’s nonetheless-high approval rating. 個別の政策は支持しないが、内閣は支持するというのは、この支持者たちが政策ではなくて、安倍晋三というキャラクターに対して「何か」を期待しているということだと思います。Here, I resist the temptation to think of Abe as a Kumamon-like mascot-like “character” or a Doraemon-like cartoon character, but nor do I think this is what I think of as a “character issue” in English (e.g., honest, compassionate, and possessing other good-character traits). Rather, I suspect “character” here is not so much a character issue as it is a persona — the public persona that he projects. But again, it is a case in which I would probably not have thought to use “character” to express that.

I really need to read more widely in my fields.
(May 9, 2017)

I suppose it is nice that one of the Imperials is going to get married, but the official engagement is apparently still some way off, so I’m wondering why the story broke now rather than when the engagement is official. Any thoughts?
(May 18, 2017)

The question of Olympic funding — who is going to pay for what — is back in the news. This is funding for permanent facilities, for temporary facilities, and for services such as security at outside-Tokyo sites. Why is this still an issue? What does the original proposal say? What was the plan when this was being pitched to the International Selection Committee? Surely every other line in the financial plan was not “we’ll think about this later” Or was it? And if the plan was wildly optimistic, who is to blame for the fraudulent sales pitch?
(May 25, 2017)

I see the LDP has decided to not even consider a ban on smoking (an effort to protect people from second-hand smoke) this session of the Diet. Again. But of course, I think. If they outlawed smoke, all they’d have left would be mirrors.
(June 6, 2017)

各社が「所有者不明土地」関連のニュースを報道しているが、わからない。何でそんな事があり得るのか。国交省が所有者を把握していないのは無理もないが、税務署は何をやっているのか。所有者不明土地の固定資産税をただ放棄しているのか。そして「税収不足」を理由にして増税か。冗談がキツすぎる。
(June 26, 2017)

 
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I have a lot of stuff in Dropbox — stuff I am not currently working on but need to access from time to time — and went to Dropbox this morning to get/print one of those pages.
Dropbox has redesigned the way it interfaces. They have created something called paper (which of course is not really paper) and insist on imposing this new system on users. They are making assumptions that are not my assumptions about what I want from Dropbox. As a result, they are very close to losing me with this update.
Dropbox was fine the way it was. It was fine as a place to store stuff. It does not need to be a place to work, much less a place to work cooperatively. And even less does it need to impose this new system on people. Go ahead and say it is there, but give us a “later” option. Or even a “don’t bother me” option. Because people will go away if it is more bother than it is worth, and Dropbox is very, very close to that line with this latest surprise.
(July 6, 2017)

Question on Word alphabetization: I have a long list of authors that I want to alphabetize. The easiest solution is to put them in a table and have the computer then put them in alphabetical order. But it put the names starting with macroned Os at the end. How can I instruct it to ignore the macrons? Or perhaps treat the macroned Os as Oos? Or do whatever should be done? MTIA
(July 11, 2017)

Speaking to a sympathetic group in Yokohama on July 23, PM Abe reportedly said 「憲法審査会では、各党が単に反対するということではなく、案をそれぞれ持ち寄ってほしい」, which translates as “I am hoping the other parties will not just say no but will put forward their own proposals for rewriting the Constitution in the Diet Commissions on the Constitution deliberations.”

All of which reminds me, for some reason, of the poor girl who keeps saying “no” and Abe is whining “You don’t want to do it on the living room rug. You don’t want to do it on the pool table. Don’t just say ‘no.’ Tell me where you do want to do it.” Sorry, Abe, the answer is still no.
(July 24, 2017)

There are a number of shopping sites I check from time to time, among them one that offers stuff at close to the prices the people who work at the companies that make it can buy it for — i.e., at steep discounts. But even though they offer a lot of very attractive merchandise, I wish there were an “I wish you had this for sale” feedback space. Because without that, I can’t get them to offer other stuff I want. Without that, they only have data on what people buy from among the things they already offer, and they have no idea what people would buy if they offered it. And even if they cannot offer something I want them to add, they could at least write back saying the people who make it will not make it available at sharp-discount prices, which would then strengthen the seller-customer bond. And I am sure (1) I’m not the only one who would suggest I’d-buy-this-if-you-had-it stuff and (2) they’re not the only sales site or even the only kind of sales site that would benefit from having such a feedback box.
(July 31, 2017)

Am thinking the actual adoption of self-driving cars will free up a lot of land for parks, gardens, or whatever. After all, if the car can drive itself and is just a phone call away, why would you need a place to park it or even need to own it? The company that operates them can have a few multi-story parking garages here and there, and that should be enough. Not only will this free parking space along streets, parking lots, and residences, it will also make it possible to do away with the requirement that new buildings provide parking for X number of vehicles. Looking forward to it.
(August 4, 2017)

A question for people who do international relations: The news has reported that the Australian navy found the US Osprey that crashed and sunk off Australia recently. Not that the US found it but that Australia found it. But when a US military craft crashes in Japan, whether it is off the coast of Okinawa or on a university campus, we are told that Japan has to stay out and has no legal grounds for investigating what happened, where parts are, or anything else — that US military is US military and Japan is barred from the scene. Why the difference? Is this in the Status of Forces Agreements? Or is it an operational custom that has just sprung up out of deference? What justification is there for this apparent difference?
(August 9, 2017)

That photo of the Nevada student that went viral? A stark reminder of the importance of actually being the kind of person you want to be known/remembered as.
(August 14, 2017)

Two different explanations for Japan’s current peace and prosperity:
From PM Abe:
私たちが享受している平和と繁栄は、かけがえのない命を捧げられた皆様の尊い犠牲の上に築かれたものであります。私たちは、そのことを、ひとときも忘れることはありません。改めて、衷心より、敬意と感謝の念を捧げます。
From the Emperor:
終戦以来、すでに７２年、国民のたゆみない努力により、今日のわが国の平和と繁栄が築き上げられましたが、苦難に満ちた往時をしのぶ時、感慨は今なお尽きることがありません。
Both today at the mid-day ceremony commemorating the end of the war.
(August 15, 2017)

Looking at the North Korean situation, I have been wondering how it can be de-escalated. NK seems to want direct talks (possibly implying equal standing?) with the US, but both sides have set pre-conditions for such talks. And even if they are able to drop their pre-conditions (e.g., talk while NK continues developing its military capability), what could come out of the talks, given that neither side has any reason at all to trust the other? What shape would an agreement take and how would that agreement be verifiable?
(August 30, 2017)

I am surprised the term “ABCD line” has not showed up in all of the commentary I have seen about tightening sanctions to get North Korea to change its behavior.
(September 4, 2017)

Note to Facebook: I am not really interested in who is now friends with whom, how long they have been FB friends, or even what page they recently “liked.” If they think it’s important for me to know, they can say so, but Facebook should not be posting such announcements. (Hint: knowing you do this is a definite disincentive for me to like a page or friend a person. It’s what people in the industry call “counter-productive.”)
(September 8, 2017)

So even the American UN resolution on sanctions against North Korea was Made in China?
(September 13, 2017)

I see the pension people have screwed up again, this time not bothering to pay people. But that’s par for the pension people. Carelessly create a problem and then get paid overtime to fix it (or at least talk about how you’re going to fix it so people will look away). But that’s not my complaint today.

Today is this issue of land that nobody knows who owns it. The govt is saying the problem arises because people who buy or inherit property do not bother to change the title registration, which means the registration is still unchanged from 50 years ago and it’s impossible to locate the actual owners. But that assumes the title registration is the only hint they have. Which is nonsense.

Every year, the tax office sends out property tax bills to the owners of record as of January 1. If anyone is paying attention, it should be possible to tell if the bill has been paid or not. And if it has not, to track down who should have paid it and what the glitch was. The previous owner died? Not a problem. Who inherited it? (if the person waived the inheritance, that should also be a matter of family-court record. It’s no secret if the government wants to find out.) So every year, the tax office is given the opportunity to track down the actual owner and then know where to send the next year’s bill. It should not take 50 years to figure out that the title registration is out of date.

But perhaps the tax office doesn’t give a damn. Their job is to send out the bills. Not their problem whether people actually pay their taxes or not. Really? Sounds pretty irresponsible. Or perhaps the tax office just did not notice. Which sounds pretty incompetent. But it’s so much easier to raise a tax rate here and a tax rate there than to track people down and do all those other messy things that would mean getting out of the office and actually dealing with real people.

Or perhaps the different parts of the government do not talk with each other — the famous silo problem that has been pointed out over and over and that the bureaucracy has promised over and over to fix, “promised” being the operative word here. Some people are far too comfortable in their jobs and need a shake-up or shake-out. Ditto for the people who are supposed to be overseeing (not overlooking) this whole mess.
(September 13, 2017)

For friends who might not otherwise see it: “This year’s version of the World Nuclear Industry Status Report (WNISR) is out, and its message is not a happy one for nuclear power proponents. As former Tennessee Valley Authority chairman S. David Freeman notes in a foreword, “The report makes clear, in telling detail, that the debate is over. Nuclear power has been eclipsed by the sun and the wind. These renewable, free-fuel sources are no longer a dream or a projection—they are a reality [and] are replacing nuclear as the preferred choice for new power plants worldwide.” This from the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. <http://thebulletin.org/status-report-troubled-nuclear-indus…>
(September 22, 2017)

Nothing has fallen off an NK rocket, but the J-alert alarms have been out in full force warning of the danger. Earlier today, a 4kg metal panel fell off a KLM plane over Osaka. No J-alert, though.
(September 24, 2017)

前原氏が何の為に民進党の代表になりましたか。党を小池氏に委ねる為ですか。それとも自身が希望の党公認になる為ですか。
まぁ、結果が判り易い１・２・３の選挙になりました。
第一自民党
第二自民党
共産党
(September 28, 2017)

Thought I heard Abe boasting about how GDP has grown on his watch — and saying that it had slumped when the DPJ was in power — and not mentioning Fukushima, which was in large part an LDP policy responsibility. But no, must have misheard.
(October 11, 2017)

Watching the news this evening, I am wondering about the timing of the US-SK joint military exercises. Are these to get more big-threat news time in support of Abe’s election campaign, to provoke NK into doing something that will make life harder for the Chinese congress, or what? (Multiple answers allowed.) Also wonder about the US Sec of State’s comment that their diplomatic efforts will continue until the first bomb falls, which sounds very much like saying there will be no declaration of war (or notification that the ceasefire is off) if it happens.
(October 16, 2017)

Taking a page from the Trump playbook, Abe and his LDP are proposing some really stupid policies to distract attention from the even stupider things they want to do.
(November 17, 2017)

国有地売却の手続きを見直すというが手続きの見直しは必要ない。必要なのは手続きの遵守だ。法治国家らしく。
(November 28, 2017)

Looking at all the high-positioned people being accused of sexual harassment, I first thought it was, as one miscreant has said, that the high position was conducive to such behavior. (You can do anything if you’re famous.) You have the power, so you use it to exploit/degrade others.

But actually, that is probably backwards. It is more likely that that is the personality type that rises (claws its way) to the top in competitive industries. Even starting out, it is the aggressive me-me-me alpha dog that moves into a leadership position. Society is set up to reward such people with money and other accolades. Nice guys finish last has long been the motto. So why should it surprise us that the people finishing first are not nice guys?

The problem goes far deeper than “just” sexual harassment.
(November 30, 2017)

Would like every business story (for example, the story about possible price-fixing in connection with the construction of maglev train facilities) to be accompanied by a little table showing how much each of the companies mentioned (and their executive leadership) has contributed to what politicians and political parties/groups over the last decade or so.
(December 18, 2017)

Because I frequently put things on Facebook and do not get around to putting them here for the record, here are the serious comments I made there in 2015.

January 23
I suppose you have to be old to remember this, but as I watch the news about Abe instructing the Cabinet to make every effort to free the two hostages, I am remembering Yamamoto Shinjiro and his role in the 1970 Yodo highjacking.

February 1
When I terminated my Linkedin account, they warned me that I would disappear from the known universe. So how come they can still find me to send these “want to connect” thingies?

February 5
A general question: In commentary about hate speech (the ignorant rantings of Japanese who think Koreans, for example, have no business being in Japan), this is sometimes referred to as 人種差別 or racial discrimination. I understand the purpose, since this is an established term and all, but how can you/we say that when the lout and the target are the same race? Or is it generally accepted that typical Japanese and typical Koreans are separate races?

February 8
And now, for the many people who said blood type is not — no way — a personality indicator, we have a study in Scientific American saying
“People with O blood type may be more likely to have depression and intense anxiety; children may be at a greater risk of attention-deficit disorder.
“People with A blood type may be more prone to obsessive-compulsive disorder; children may be at a greater risk of attention-deficit disorder.
“Children with B blood type may have a lower risk of attention-deficit disorder.”
Details at <http://www.scientificamerican.com/…/blood-type-matters-for…/>

February 9
Very troubled by the govt’s confiscating this guy’s passport just because he wants to go to Syria. Get him to sign a waiver if you want to, but he’s a news photographer who wants to go to where there’s news. And they apparently said they would arrest him if he did not turn in his passport — because there is some clause in the passport law that says the govt can take your passport away”for your own good” — your own good as defined by the govt as meaning “we don’t want to get involved in another hostage situation.” Maybe he should have said he wanted to go to Paris? Maybe we should now assume the govt is responsible for every Japanese who dies overseas — because the govt did not warn them and did not take their passports away. You want to go surfing off Australia? Can’t go. Too dangerous. Is the govt’s responsibility? Is this what the govt wants?

February 13
If Abe is going to call for the most radical reforms (biggest upheaval?) since the postwar period, it would be a good idea to remember why those postwar reforms were enacted. There are things that need to be reformed, but there is no need to repeat previous mistakes.

February 23
Watching the news of the latest leak at Fukushima, I wondered why the only information seems to come from Tepco. METI and the Environmental Ministry don’t have anyone there? They trust Tepco to know what is going on and to report it accurately?

February 25
Watching the news about Nishikawa and all of the protests that the case is not closed just because he resigned, I am reminded: What ever happened on the Obuchi case? Another “she resigned, so it’s over”?

February 27
Since the law says companies getting tax moneys should not contribute to politicians, the politicians are saying they did not know the companies were on the no-go list. And this is their get-out-of-jail-free card. So why not assume the companies know and change the law to say that any company that does this will not get any tax moneys for the next ten years or so?
If not that, or even if that, what (other) changes would you suggest to the way politicians finance their lifestyles?

February 27
Bad day for the news. First the Abe administration proposed a law enabling the SDF to go into another country to rescue Japanese in trouble — an astonishingly immature idea. Then the ante was upped when the Abe administration said it should be able to do this even without the approval of the other country’s government — in other words, send the SDF in to conduct a military operation in another country without that country’s prior approval — which could easily be one definition of aggression.

March 4
渋谷1000のプログラムを聞きに行き、発言者の意見に賛同した。というより、発言者が私が思ったり言ったりしていることと同じことを違う言葉で仰った。 つまり、渋谷が高層ビルに汚染され他の街と同じになれば、ひとがわざわざ渋谷に行く必要がなくなり、渋谷が死ぬ。街はビルだけで出来るものではない。街は 人だ。個人店がなくなっているのは残念だ。等の発言だった。
私の事務所のある宮益坂ビルは築60年以上で、時々「悪いが雑居ビルになっている」と言われる。でも考えてみれば、それが魅力でもある。行けば面白いも のに出会う。想定外の遭遇で視野が広がる。大資本が建てる金太郎飴的なビルではなく、雑居ビルを増やすべきだ。いや、渋谷の未来を豊かにするには「雑居 街」にすべきだと思う。雑草のように勝手に発展するのは強い街である。その勢いを止めれば、折角の投資が無駄になる。大資本や事業者に分かるかが大変気に なる。

March 14
Reading the news, I suspect Abe’s famous “three arrows” were misnamed. They’re actually the three shafts.

March 17
Toyo Tire has a tremor-absorption product for use in earthquake-prone areas. But now, after it has been widely used, we hear that it does not meet the stated specifications. And people are talking about doing tests to see if that is a problem or not. But, my question, if below-spec product is not a problem, what is the point of the specs? Yes, I know specs often include leeway, but there is a reason for that. And if it is an excessive leeway, the specs need to be changed. I do not understand how we can say “the specs are required to ensure safety, but they don’t really matter.”

March 22
Speaking at the Defense Academy commencement ceremony today (March 22) PM Abe said, in part, 「戦後、わが国は、ひたすらに平和国家としての道を歩んできた。しかし、それは平和国家ということばを唱えるだけで実現したものではない。日米安全保障条 約の改定、国連ＰＫＯへの参加など、果敢に行動してきた先人たちの努力のたまものだ」Japan has been a nation of peace ever since the end of the war. But this was not done by just talking about peace. It owes much to the decisive efforts of earlier generations, such as revising the security treaty and taking part in UN PKO operations.
Interesting that he skips over Yoshida but takes the opportunity to put in a plug for gramps.

April 17
Some people look at the push to change the rules so the SDF can do almost anything almost anywhere and say, “it’s not full-out militarization. It’s just mission creep.” Others look at it and say, “It’s Abe. Of course it’s creepy.”

April 20
Am appalled at all of these uncontested elections — people getting elected by default because there are not enough candidate running to make it an election. Combine that with the low voter turn-out even when there is an election and you wonder: Rubber-stamp democracy?

April 21
Abe has said he generally endorses the gist of past apologies, so there is no need to include any of that language in the statement he plans to issue later this year. Asked if his leaving such wording out of the statement will not open the way to suspicions that he does not endorse them and might even be rejecting them, government spokesman Suga said that that is impossible. Having said it is impossible, this paves the way for the Abe government to feign surprise and shock when people voice such suspicions in the wake of his get-over-it statement later this year.

April 23
Some of the candidates for local offices are saying that voters should vote for them because they are LDP-sponsored and have a direct line to the top — which includes getting more money for their districts. Voters should remember, however, that this direct line to the top makes it virtually impossible for the local politicians to defy the top. Some voices may trickle up, but the authority and orders trickle down. If you doubt this, just look at Okinawa, where a handful of LDP people won election on promises to oppose the construction of the Henoko base and then, after the election, were ordered by Abe and friends to reverse their position (and did). “Tight with the top” may be a nice slogan, but be careful what you wish for.

April 28
So Japanese relief people are finally in Nepal. Better late than never, I suppose, but it would be smart if all Japanese embassies and other diplomatic missions would set aside a smallish room (I am assuming such things exist at embassies and the like) and stock it with tents, blankets, water purification tablets, and some other basic supplies that are not very perishable and would be needed in case of a natural disaster such as an earthquake, typhoon, or whatever. Then these could be distributed very quickly — when they are most needed and before the other rescue/relief teams arrive.
I assume “Japan” would be woven into the fabric design in diverse languages, but that is not a bad thing. It that’s what it takes to get the govt to do it, the advertising is fine. But it would be nice to be doing something good proactively.

May 3
Reading around, I came across a mention that Govt X owns YY% of Company Z. So does that make it a state-owned (or govt-owned) enterprise? What percentage state ownership does it take to make a company a state/govt-owned enterprise (which I assume is 国営企業) as the term is commonly used in trade treaties and other discourse? What if multiple states share ownership? Curious.

May 6
Was formatting some material in double columns (Japanese and English side by side) for easy comparison and thought to include PM Abe’s October 2014 address to the International Bar Association. Which meant reading it.
Two interesting points:
First, he seems to say that the rule of law is expressed in Asia as the mandate of heaven and then invokes the people who overthrew the Tokugawa Shogunate (the established govt at the time) as an example of the rule of law in action in Japan.
Second, in saying that war and colonialism were generally accepted well into the 20th century and it was only in mid-century that war came to be condemned, he seems to be rejecting the Tokyo Tribunal. After all, if war and colonialism were okay at the time, what Japan did was in line with generally accepted norms and it was only later that the rules were changed and retroactively applied.
This man is seriously delusional.

May 12
We keep hearing that there are a lot of vacant houses and that this is a problem. Nobody wants to live in them. So it would be reasonable for the owners to tear them down and sell the land. But it costs money to tear a house down and the empty lot then incurs a higher tax bill than the empty house and lot did. So the house stays standing. Even though nobody lives there. And sometimes the owners (e.g., the people who inherited it) disappear rather than pay the property taxes.
Of course, one answer would be to sell the property. But nobody wants to buy it at what the owner wants to charge for it. This is true especially outside the big cities, where populations are declining and there is less demand for housing. So it stays there, running up tax bills. And the tax bills are assessed based upon some hypothetical value that we are told is less than some hypothetical market price. But what is the market price of a house nobody wants?
When the housing bubble imploded, we had stories of people inheriting property and discovering that the tax incurred as a result of inheriting it was more than they could sell it for. Which absurdity was waved away with the explanation that property assessments are only revised once every three years. But that does not really explain it.
Instead, I suspect the problem is that we have property-tax assessments based upon what the assessors think the property should be worth. Not what it is really worth but what they think it should be worth. So let me propose a change: Have all property tax assessments be actual statements of what the tax-collecting government is willing to buy the property for. If it is a vacant house in a ghost town, what is it worth? What will the government pay for it? Make that the assessed value for tax purposes. Governments can sustain tax revenues by changing the tax rate on the assessed value, but let’s at least ensure the assessed values are honest.

May 16
No idea what the outcome of tomorrow’s May 17 referendum in Osaka will be. Do not understand the details of the question, even. But I am against it — not because of details I do not understand but because it is not requiring at least 50% voter turn-out to be recognized. When ordinary citizens want to have a referendum, the authorities — if they let it go forward at all — require at least 50% voter turn-out for the vote to count. But now we have Osaka not putting up the same hurdle for itself. When the unwashed masses want to do something, make it difficult. When We want to do something, make it easy. With that their mindset, I am against whatever they are for.

May 20
The news is reporting that the 伊方原子力発電所 is 事実上合格. So what’s the difference between 合格 and 事実上合格?
Is this perhaps similar to the difference between 違憲 and 違憲状態? In that, the addition of 状態 apparently means “but not like we’re going to do anything about it.” So in the Ikata case, does the 事実上 mean “not really, because there are still problems, but we’ve decided to ignore the problems and certify it anyway”?

June 3
The more I hear about this “my number” system — assigning every person a single number and then having all medical, financial, and other information accessible through that one number — the more I wonder why we don’t just do away with embedding the chip in a plastic card and go straight to embedding the chip in the person’s shoulder or someplace. When you do something that changes the data, go down to city hall and have them update the chip. Data still going to be hacked, but at least you won’t have to remember where you left the stupid card.

June 4
Watching the news on the visit by the Philippine President and remembering that the Philippines also suffered grievously at Japanese hands during the war, I wonder at the differences in how different societies have or have not come to terms with their histories.

June 5
The media are reporting that the 日本創成会議 (which oddly has Japan Policy Council as its English-language name) is suggesting old people get out of the city and move to the boonies. This group is described as a 民間研究機関 (private-sector think tank), but I have not been able to find out where it is headquartered or where its money comes from. Anybody know either or both? Out of curiosity. (Yes, I have major objections to the recommendation, but that’s an issue for somebody else to raise.)

June 9
The govt is saying a single kakaricho (group leader?) was aware of the massive pension data leakage but did not talk to anybody about it for days and days and days, and that’s why the response and all were so little and so late. Asked if this person really did not talk to anyone at all about this in his crowded office, the govt doubled down and said “no.”
I am hoping NOT to read about this guy’s suicide.

June 9
Went to an excellent presentation by a company that collects and analyzes the data from a widely used point card — you know, the card that you give them at the store when you buy stuff and they give you points that you’ll probably never use. Anyway, because you use the card, they know who you are and what you bought. So they can develop profiles. And since the card is not just for food stores, the profiles are more than just what you eat. Which lets them find, for example, that people who eat this brand of ice cream tend to prefer this kind of music. And more, much more.
But they would be able to do even more if they had more data. Like from me. I have the card. It is one of maybe a dozen I have. And because I have a dozen, they are all at home when I impluse-shop. (I am not going to carry a deck of cards around all day every day.)
So it would make sense for all of these card issuers to consolidate and make it just one card. “But we would lose our advantage,” they cry. No you wouldn’t. In the first place, if I don’t carry your card around, you don’t have an advantage. And in the second place, it should be possible to have a single card but have the data sent to different companies depending upon where you use it — the same way the transit card keeps track of where you used it and sends money to the different rail companies accordingly. Should not be a difficult thing to do, if they wanted to. So why don’t they want to? Just insecurity? Egos? Too much money involved in issuing them? (If the last, this could be done by a company they all jointly own.) Or it just never occurred to them to give a little to get a lot more? They’re trapped in their boxes?

June 11
新国立競技場等、オリンピック開催関連の問題が多く、開催権をIOCに返却し東京五輪を終わらせてご臨終に出来ないでしょうか。

June 18
It is all very well and fine to lower the voting age to 18, but it is even more important to make sure all votes are equal — to correct the weighting to make sure all members of each house of the Diet represent roughly the same number of voters.

June 19
The South Carolina shootings are linked in many observers’ minds to the refusal of some people to accept the fact that the Confederacy lost the Civil War — to the effort by some to pretend the Confederacy’s symbols and ideology have residual traces of respectability. I am wondering if Abe would also see things this way — if Abe would recommend “you lost. you’ve been refuted. get over it.” maturation. Or if he would be sympathetic, given his own efforts to resurrect a discredited past.

June 30
Some of the people responsible for coming up with the money to pay for the olympic stadium budget overrun have apparently suggested auctioning off “naming rights.” I assume there would be some restrictions in addition to money, but I wonder what they might be. For example, if Coca-Cola is an official olympic sponsor, would it be okay for events to be held at the Pepsi National Stadium? Or for political reasons, I doubt the Juche National Stadium would be acceptable. My personal preference, if this is to be done, would be for one of the companies that makes bicycler helmets to get the nod, since it would be such an obvious match, but what do you think? Ideas for restrictions? Does it have to be a media company that starts with Y? Any thoughts on what the rules might be?

July 6
In the light of the self-immolation suicide, the JR people who run the shinkansen said they will install more surveillance cameras. As though having it televised would have stopped the suicide. But hey, it’s a chance to put in more cameras. Wonder if they will also have microphones built in.

July 10
News is talking about Toshiba and saying Toshiba will probably have to do something about those higher-ups who told underlings to cook the books — as though this is purely an internal Toshiba problem and not a violation of the securities regulations or something.

July 20
Tried to find somebody else’s thread that I could hijack, but finally gave up and will post this new.

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* I am being optimistic and assuming that there was a budget requirement in the competition regulations.

July 16
In all of the furor, kudos to NHK for covering yesterday’s committee meeting to the end — for not cutting away for the news but recognizing that this IS the news and broadcasting it live for all to see. 立派だった。

July 20
Am only a few pages into Hashimoto’s *The Long Defeat. Cultural Trauma, Memory, and Identity in Japan*, and already hoping a companion volume has been or will be written about/for Korea.

July 26
Watching the news, I hear that Abe’s decision to start over on the Olympic stadium selection was an 英断 (heroic decision). Of course, I only hear this from the LDP and its Komei lackeys. Everyone else is rolling their eyes and trying to keep from laughing.
And I also hear that the LDP will set up a panel within the party to determine who, if anyone, is responsible for this mess. What? Within the party? Not in the Diet? The Olympics are an LDP project and not a national project? Good to know when it comes time to pay for the excesses. It’s an LDP thing. Let the LDP pay for it.

July 28
Still trying to sort out PM Abe’s 一国のみで自国を守れない。On the surface, it seems to be saying that Japan alone cannot defend Japan. But that’s ostensibly why we have the J-US Security Treaty. So this is not an argument for sending troops to the Middle East or wherever. Which suggests this is not what Abe’s speechwriters meant.
Rather, it seems to be intended to mean that defending Japan alone is not enough to defend Japan. Evoking the famed 一国平和主義 to negate it, he seems to be wanting to say Japan has to become a global deputy sheriff or our neighbors will try to burn down our house.
But if that’s what he wants to mean, surely there is someone among his advisers who can think of a better way to articulate it. Or perhaps it is phrased this way so people will get worn out on the rhetoric and not have the energy to look at the actual Japan-as-Tonto policies being proposed.

August 1
At the TPP press conference in Hawaii, the chairman said most of the issues have been resolved and there are only a “limited number of remaining issues.” To alleviate suspicions that this is a totally rotten deal, it would be very good if the TPP negotiators would release the texts of the agreements that have been reached. Not asking for texts on the “limited number” of things still in negotiation — since they are still in negotiation — but if there are parts that have been decided, what are they? How have they been decided? Show us the texts.

August 4
Don’t know whether to believe him or not, especially since Abe says it would be deplorable for the U.S. to spy on an ally (and by implication asks who would ever believe the U.S. would do such a thing) but we’re looking into it; but it is interesting that TPP lead negotiator Amari was asked about this and said Japan has been operating on the assumption the U.S. is listening in.

August 9
The LDP’s Komura has apparently criticized the DPJ for even asking whether or not the SDF could transport nuclear weapons for the U.S. under the new legislation. Since Japan has the three non-nuclear principles — principles that he did not mention the LDP has fought tooth and nail to NOT enact as laws — the accepted wisdom is that Japan will have nothing to do with nuclear weapons and the question does not even arise, he says. But it did, and the best way to put it to rest would be to put something in the legislation codifying the three non-nuclear principles and stating that Japan will never even transport nuclear weapons or nuclear weapon parts between two third-country locations. But this the LDP refuses to do.
It used to be that the idea of “collective self-defense” did not even arise because everyone agreed that it was out of bounds. Yet Abe has suddenly put this in play, and who knows what other “common sense” restraints he will seek to overturn. If you compile a record of rejecting the accepted wisdom, you can hardly blame the opposition for asking if you plan to reject another part of the accepted wisdom.

August 15
I am really glad I do/did not have to translate this passage from the Prime Minister’s remarks at today’s ceremony commemorating Japan’s war dead.
皆様の子、孫たちは、皆様の祖国を、自由で民主的な国に造り上げ、平和と繁栄を享受しています。それは、皆様の尊い犠牲の上に、その上にのみ、あり得たものだということを、わたくしたちは、片時も忘れません。
For what it is worth, the PM’s Office provisionally translated it as “To your souls I say, your children and your grandchildren built up your homeland into a free and democratic country and now enjoy peace and prosperity. We will not forget even for a moment that this was made possible by building upon, and only upon, your precious sacrifices.”
Is he really saying that the Meiji, Taisho, and early Showa people would not have been able to create a free and democratic Japan on their own? If so, to what does he attribute this inability? The Meiji Constitution? Some innate character defect? I hope someone will press him for an elaboration. Or explain what I have misunderstood.

August 25
The media poll public opinion with great regularity — and consistency. There is even consistency in the format. Do you support the current administration or not? Why? Why not? What do you think of this policy? That policy?
And almost just as consistently, the approval numbers are better for the administration as a whole than for any of the policies.
It would really be interesting if they could reverse the order. Ask about the policies first, and then, in wrap-up format, ask about the administration overall. Do not know if this would change any numbers, but would really like to see.

August 31
If the government actually thought the concentration of people, money, and everything else in the Tokyo area is a bad idea, the government would quit granting exemptions to the nominal zoning regulations — would quit approving those high-rise office buildings and apartment houses.

September 1
So why not use the logo from the 1964 Tokyo Olympics and just change the date?

September 16
A lot of “contact us” forms have a required line for your email address. Does this mean they cannot otherwise tell what address it was sent from? Or is this their way of getting “permission” to mail you stuff?
In other words, is there any reason to put your real address in there if you don’t want to hear back from them?

September 18
Memo to the police: If someone comes in and says s/he wants to go back to Peru, Nigeria, Thailand, the U.S., or wherever, give him/her food and a place to sleep for the night while you contact social services, the appropriate embassy, the justice ministry, and other people to see what can be done to help the person and to see if there are other (e.g., human trafficking) issues that need to be followed up on. It’s okay to do a little work even if it doesn’t result in an arrest or a fine.

September 18
On the news last night, I heard a very quick report that HoC committee chair Kounoike remarked afterward that, to paraphrase, “Yes, it is a very flawed law, but now that it is passed we can go back and fix it.” However, I cannot find it in print this morning and do not want to bash him on the basis of something I might have misheard. Does anyone have the quote (or what he really said after he left the committee room)? MTIA

September 19
Surprised at how easy the census form was to fill out — and how little was asked.

September 21
The Asahi ran the results of its latest opinion poll today (20150921). A few of the questions and answers:
➢ Do you support the Abe cabinet?
Yes 35% No 45%
➢ The security bills were rammed through the HoC committee
and then passed by the full House. What do you think of this
procedurally?
Well done 16% Bad procedure 67%
➢ What do you think of the opposition parties and what they
did to block the bills?
Thumbs up 34% Thumbs down 49%
➢ Do you think the bills were fully deliberated in the Diet?
Yes 12% No 75%
➢ Do you think the govt did enough to gain popular
understanding/acceptance for these bills?
Yes 16% No 74%
➢ Do you think the security laws are constitutional?
Yes 22% No 51%

While there is a lot there, I am particularly interested in the one about what people think about what the opposition parties did or did not do. Nearly half of the respondents are dissatisfied with them. It would have been good to ask what respondents thought the opposition should or should not have done. For example, “should not have opposed the bills” could be one cause of dissatisfaction. For example, should have spent more time explaining the bills’ problematical provisions could be another. What would that 49% liked to have seen the opposition parties do? I hope/trust the opposition parties are asking this, because this is a crucial question in preparation for the next election and beyond.

September 23
So now that they’re both in the U.S., when/where are Xi and the Pope going to meet? Would seem a shame to not take advantage of the opportunity.

September 24
Huh?? Was my reaction upon hearing Abe say he will continue to make the economy his highest priority. 今後共。引き続き。As though the economy has been his highest priority over the last year or so. I understand the desire to shift the discussion to the economy, but a modicum of honesty would not be entirely out of order (even if it would be out of character).

September 30
PM Abe has said Japan has to get serious about empowering women. So what does he think of amending the Imperial Household Law (皇室典範 Kōshitsu Tenpan) to allow female succession to the throne?

October 2
So he lost the Osaka referendum, vowed he would quit politics (not right away, but when his term expires in December), and now he is back saying he wants to start a new political party and push for holding the referendum again. Really do not understand Hashimoto. Well, I think I do. But I’d likely get sued if I explained it here.

October 6
Now that the TPP 12 have reached agreement in principle (in Japanese: 大筋合意), it is time to release the agreement for scrutiny. Or, having trumpeted this historic agreement, are the govts concerned going to argue that it does not mean anything, and should not be released, until all of the minor details have been agreed upon? Because to argue that would be to say that having achieved this agreement in principle (大筋合意) does not mean anything.
(Note: Some time later, much of the text was released.)

October 20
This might just be a Tokyo-area thing, but I notice that night-time electricity rates are lower than daytime electricity rates. Does that mean the night-uses are getting a discount? If so, why? Or does it mean the day-users are paying a surcharge? If so, why? (Yes, I recognize that both could be true if the “real” rate is somewhere in between. But why the disparity?)

October 28
The tax office is sending out houjin bangou (法人番号), which I assume are the corporate equivalent of the マイナンバー for individuals. Of course, companies already have taxpayer numbers, so this looks like bit of a make-work project. But that too, has its equivalence on the individual side, since individuals all have or can have juumin kihon daichou (住民基本台帳) cards. And the other equivalence is that the corporate numbers are being just as badly mishandled. Why else, for example, would I get one addressed to a company I shut down nearly a decade ago? Not let lapse, but actually went through all the legalities to shut it down properly.
Called the number on the envelope to ask and was told they are working from data supplied by the Ministry of Justice (法務省). So if you also get one in error, why waste time and money calling the call center. Call Justice direct.
(Note: It turns out that a company can be closed out for tax purposes but the registration is still alive until you drive a silver stake through it or something. Hence the number.)

November 11
I don’t understand the attraction of the TPP when it might result in lower food prices a decade and a half from now but will definitely result in higher taxes much sooner than that (or a greater government deficit, which is just deferred taxes) to compensate the agricultural sector for the losses they might suffer if we have lower food prices.

November 17
What do you call two successive quarters of negative growth? Abenomics. Are there any of these arrows that are not broken?

November 22
I keep hearing that XX% of the Daesh fighters are foreigners. But if Daesh has no country, where are the non-foreigners from?
ダーイシュの戦闘員の⚪⚪％が外国人というならば、その他の「内国人」の「国」はどこでしょうか。イスラム国という国がありますか。

November 25
Warning: Japan content
I just noticed the news saying that the supreme court has ruled that the disparity in voter representation (how many votes it takes to get elected in district A vs how many it takes in district B) was unconstitutional but the election itself was valid and will be allowed to stand — presumably because it is too much bother to obey the constitution. Nor is this the first time the verdict has followed that pattern. “Law and order” minus the law part. Wouldn’t want to inconvenience anyone by actually enforcing the law.

December 2
If beef is such a major contributor to global warming, how come the same people who just got done negotiating a trade pact that they say will reduce beef prices and increase beef consumption are at COP21 promising to fight global warming?

December 5
I am mildly surprised at how quickly the Kaketsuken story dropped off the news. It would seem to be somewhat important — surely more important than asking Abe if he plans to hold a HoR election to coincide with next summer’s HoC election (especially since that one of the things that everyone agrees it is okay for the PM to lie about) — but it was a very short-lived story. News just said this has been going on for 40 years and there has been a concerted company-wide effort to cover it up. Have not even seen any reports on how many former bureaucrats they have/had on the payroll.

December 12
I see friends suggesting everyone simply ignore Trump and hope he goes away. I suspect the technical name for that strategy is mokusatsu (黙殺).

December 17
A question related to the recent Supreme Court decision that husband and wife must have the same surname: What is the situation when one of the two is not Japanese? For example, when I was not Japanese, my wife retained her maiden name on legal things (e.g, passport and bank accounts) but used either her maiden name or my surname informally depending upon which was more convenient. Now that I am Japanese, we have the same surname (but there are still people who think of her by and use her maiden name). Yet I notice a lot of non-Japanese women married to Japanese men who use their husbands’ surnames as though they were their legal surnames? Does just getting married change their legal surnames? Even if they have not gone to court and legally changed their surnames? Is the situation different for (a) a Japanese woman married to a non-Japanese man and (b) a non-Japanese woman married to a Japanese man?