Review-------the magazine of the month

7:15
I'm going to summarize the monthly magazine '' sekai ( the world or globe ) next month, which has been published by Iwanami Shyoten since 1945.

http://www.iwanami.co.jp/sekai/

That has been regarded as a standard-bearer in the left-wing press.I used to read it once in a while when I was a student , however I'd been away from it for many years.
When I looked over Contents , a several reports have caught my eyes.

▮AT THE CROSSROAD OF CAMPAIGN AGAINST NUCLEAR POWER STATION IN
GERMANY
▮THE WAY OUT OF SLUMP by Paul Krugman and Robin Wells (Japanese version)
I will ever make out well in my job ?

From the latest news in the world

Heavy snowfall hit Europe this weekend according to the breaking news.
Although Europe is situated in far more northern area than Hokkaido , I wonder why such a little snow could cause a state of cunfusion over there ?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12025538

Medical tourism in Japan !

One of the major obstacles to traveling Japan is its entry visa.That is a sort of non-tariff barriers to trade(NTBs) .
This problem is also being in focued in economic issues. Especially there're both pros and corns in agricultual trade liberalization.

http://blogs.wsj.com/japanrealtime/2010/12/17/visit-japan-stay-for-the-surgery/?mod=rss_WSJBlog&mod=WSJ_Japan_JapanRealTime

Confucius

10:11
巧言令色鮮矣仁
'' People who use compliment and a put-on smile have little virtue. ''

This is a famous phrase from the Analects of Confucius（論語）. And also almost the opposite meaning is as follows.

剛毅木訥近仁
'' a fortitude and unsophisticated person is almost benevolent. ''

That reminds me of what my boss told me once:
people are apt to think sales person have to behave like the former , however a talented sales staff must act like the latter.

Then whtat is a compliment ?
I would like to take a single instance for the different meanig between " the end of the war" and
" the defeat".

Japan has accepted an unconditional surrender on August 15 in 1945. In general, that day was called "the victory over Japan day" instead of " the anniversary of the end of war" in the world.
"the war was over" and "lost the war"
Both representations are likely to express the same historical fact,however, the war is
explained as natural phenomenon in the former case while in the latter social one which human will could control.
Some says the was over just like the winter has gone and the spring comes.
they put it like natural phenomenon because they never want to make the fact clear that it was exactly the human race that began and ended the war.
There is no help for it if they took a severe criticism that they destored the account of the historical crime.
If you observe really carefully ,you would notice Japanese mass media rarely use the expression of " defeat or lost battle" as if they were a banned words.

How can the Japanese denounce China as the lack of the freedom of expression !

Lumbago

I've had a piercing pain in the left lower back for a several days.
What has caused it?
I've made a habit to do some exercise two or three times a week , however , it couldn't have been pushed too far.Then any other reason ?
The skiing season is about to satart , so I have to ge well soon.
I just had my two pair of skies repaired and today I got them at the sports shop nearby.

Preparation fo the coming winter

Since unseasonable heavy snow in October, it's been relatively warm these days.
However the winter is just around the corner, I have to get ready for the severe season.
I've changed tires for snow in the morning and took a morning nap for one hour.
On waking up , I started to practice routine exercise for three hours.
As it was Indian summer out there I could run just in a short -sleeved undershirt.
my routine---5 km jogging , stretching and circuit training .

Death of my skiing master

I've once belonged to an alpine junior racing team when I was twenties.
He was both the founder and coach of the team.
He seeme to love teaching the kids as well as playing.
He started to play ski when he was 35,and then have won many championships.
Especially he has kept championship in Japan Msters ski race for 13 years in a row.
It' s a great record I hope.
Many people attended his wake on Friday's night.

The tone of the day

Reuters

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE69G08A20101017
The Chinese government seems to keep their coolness although some people was said to have turned into a mob.

AFP

http://www.afp.com/afpcom/en/taglibrary/thematic/actuality

It is reported that Germany is leaning to the right politically because employment oppotunities have been taken by the immigrants such as Muslims.

Ntional Post (Canada)

http://news.nationalpost.com/2010/10/16/goodspeed-analysis-chinas-great-divide/

An analytical comment on Current China appeals to me. Democratization and economic prosperity; I wonder how they could deal with both competing concepts for China ?

Chinese Money attack Japan ?

I read some feature articles for the paper recentry.

Chinese funds begin to buy and buy real estates in many areas in Hokkaido,they said.
According to some reprot, Chinese investment to
Australia has increased drastically these days.
The chart shows Chinese foreign investment to the main regions for the past 5 years (from 2005 to 2010).
Regret to say , there's no date on Japan,
however, we might say China begins to pay attention to Japan though a little too late.



http://www.lowyinterpreter.org/post/2010/07/19/FDI-China-hearts-Australia.aspx
© 2010 The Lowy Institute for International Policy.

The Nobel Peace Prize winner

According to custom , this year's Nobel prize winners have been announced.
Good news for Japan and bad news for China .
Swedish online paper English Engelska has reported as belows ;

http://sverigesradio.se/rs/english/

Meanwhile , Asia Times , one of Asia's most popular sites for news has covered the story.

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/LJ06Ad02.html

As there is no doubt that China is the world-second economic power, they just cannot become ignored.
Communiast autocracy and freedom of fundamental human rights.
Can Economic prosperity cover up violation of human rights and disparity in wealth ?
Who knows? Only God does. Or, I'll bet history would tell us the truth.

What do you think of it ?

How to associate with China

Since Japan-China dispute about Senkaku Isrand , the press in the Western nations begin to pay political attention to China because of anxiety about its expansionism .
Can this remind us China had been one of the greatest powers through the history of man ?
Without any doubt , it 's true and it would be ture from now on .
When we stop to think about it , Chinese civilization has influenced us in many fields;


Not only Kanji (Chinese character), which is one of the fundamental elements in one's culture , but also religion , political structure and technology has permiated through the society of Japan .

It was not until the Sino-Japanese war ,that Japan could manage to achieve equality with China .

Japan had been no more than one of the countries which were dependent on China for more than 2000 years . Japan is said to be the second largest economic giant , however , it all just happened in a flash from a historical point of view .

When we think of diplomatic relation with China in future , it's of vital importance that we give careful consideration to our historical background .

What do you think of China' s hard line ?

'' China demands Japan apology as boat captain returns ''
This is the headline of BBC News 25 September .
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-11410568

They just told the fact calmly . However most Japanese people can never give way to their anger toward China's brassy manner .That's just the way politics goes !

I think it's time to act more composedly and soundly .

Troubled Neighborhood

Sino-Japan problems again!

The Wall Sreet Journal reported 10 pictures on Sino-Japan history since 1931 ,when the Japan's invasion of China started .(September 23 )

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703860104575507240752361582.html?mod=WSJASIA_hpp_LEFTTopStories

One of the comments contribute to The Australian (Septembe 23 ) has caught my eyes .

Giving a typical case of '' Australian Rio Tinto executive '' who was sentenced to 10 years in
prison for accepting bribes this spring , he alleged because of '' the lack of legal transparency '' in China , they have no right to insit on release of the captain .

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/china-threatens-action-on-japan/comments-e6frg6so-1225928043682

Senkaku (Diaoyu) Islands

The incident has occurred in the early this month. After several diplomatic excahnge , strong counter-measures were taken by the Chinese government.

How does the media report the news in the globe ?

■■The Straits Times , Singapore Sep 20 '' China halts high-level talks ''

China's decision to cut high-level contacts appears to reflect a worry about losing face in front of the Chinese public, which might trigger a nationalistic backlash against the government if it appears weak or unable to protect the country's sovereignty.

The historical national sentiment might lie behind the government decission.

■■BBC Sep 19 '' China halts top-level Japan ties ''

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-11363024

■■CNN USA Sep 20 '' China ups rhetoric in row with Japan ''

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/09/19/japan.china.fishing.captain/index.html?hpt=T2

The both are likely to cover the fact in an impartial tone and reserve any comment on this matter.

■■The Australian Sep 20 '' China cuts Japan ties in sea row ''

"We're aware of the rising tensions, but we believe these issues can be resolved diplomatically." He said the case was an issue between the two countries, and that the U.S. hadn't gotten involved.
The dispute is being closely watched by many other Asian countries—including India, Vietnam and the Philippines—which have territorial disputes with China, and which have concerns about China's expanding naval power.

The article refers to the viewpoint from many '' other Asian countries '' . China's diplomatic attitude toward Japan could be a test of that to them.

■■The Wall Street Journal Sep 20 '' China Suspends Talks With Japan ''

The afffair hit the front page of the paper .They have long enough comment on it .


http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703556604575501483896375018.html?mod=WSJASIA_hpp_MIDDLETopStories

Huang Dahui, a Japan expert at Renmin University in Beijing, said China understood that Japan's government needed to take a stand because of a leadership vote in its ruling party last week, but Chinese leaders would lose face if Tokyo doesn't soon show a willingness to compromise.

The remark shows how the Chinese govornment have to pay attetion to their nationalist .

As for nationalsit , on the other hand , they seem to be more realistic than we expect.

An editorial last week in China's Global Times newspaper—the most nationalist official mouthpiece—urged the Chinese government to specify what countermeasures it would take if Japan refused to release the captain.
Unusually, though, it too appealed for restraint, saying: "Grass-roots protests should go ahead in an orderly fashion in China, without attacking Japanese citizens or damaging their property."
It continued: "During this emotional time, the Chinese public must stay calm, because any violence will give Japan an edge in this diplomatic tug-of-war."

KAATSU Training

Kaatsu training is a method of blood flow restricted exercise which was being advocated by Yoshiaki Satoh.
According to his website , he got a hnit of the idea from his ordinary experience that his legs have gone to sleep after sitting upright for a while more than 40 years ago.
After many twists and turns , Japan Kaatsu training Society was established in 2004 and
an endowed Course was found at Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, Tokyo University in 2006 .
They have cooperated with the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) , the biggest academic society in the globe in 2008 .
http://kaatsu.umin.jp/index.html
For more details please refer to http://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/ijktr/1/1/1_1/_article.

Wine and Air fare

Affordable imported wine!

Here in Hokkaido , Seicomart , one of the major convenience stores , has already launched a new line of the collections of imported wine. They can offer a variety of bottles produced in varous countries in the world. And also they can do it at low prices such as one coin 750 ml. bottles of table wine due to their direct deals with wineries abroad.

http://www.seicomart.co.jp/english/wines.html

According to Japan Winery Association , although the amount of imports has passed its peak by 22.4 thousand KL in 1998 and dropped to a low 15.5 thousand KL in 2006,it has improved up to 16.3 thousand KL in 2008.
Meanwhile , the consumption of liquor in the household has decreased from 3,660 yen per month in 2006 to 3,250 yen in 2009 . (Ministry of Internal Affares and Communications)

This shows imported wine has greatly expanded in its market share in spite of diminished alchoholic beverages consumption.

Speaking of wine wheather home or imported , it has been a synonym for a high-quality goods ,
however , it seems to have completely usurped the position of an egg , an honor student in prices .

Then what about air fare ?
Though it is rare for me to watch TV , when I happened to switch it on the program entitled '' the first year of LCC in Japan '' has caught my eyes .

As you know , LCC is an abbreviation for Low Cost Carrier .
They have grown rapidly in Asia as well as in the US and Europe for the last decade ,while quite a few traditional air lines have faced financial difficulties .

Its emergence has changed our ordinary life dramatically ; we can take a plane to anywhere at the same fare as bus if we want . The more network they expand ,the smaller the world will become .

However , in Japan , because of protective policy in the airline industry by the government ,
Japanese consumer hasn't yet recieved the benefit of the international deregulation movement .

Take an entrance exam. for graduate school

It' rainy in the morning. Upon waking up ,I went for a morning jog as usual for 15 minutes in a changable shower.
Today I' m going to take an oral exam. at Hokkaido Unniversity.
I've already sent an aplication for admission and had its ticket at hand.
I've had half an hour interview with three interviewers.

'' Why did you decide to take an exam.?''
'' Your company will support you since we only have the daytime courses ? ''
'' What are you going to do after graduate ?''
'' What are you reading now ?''
'' Have you already got well ?''
'' What do think of studying with your juniors here ? ''

I guess I could answer those questions without difficulty.
What impression did they have for me ?
The result will be published next Friday.
I'm going to have a gloomy week since then.
Wish me luck everyone !

''A history of Japanese literature ''by Katoh'

I attended a course of lecture on '' a history of Japanese literature'' by Prof. Youichi Komori at Tokyo University.
It was a fresh summery morining. Most of the audience was the aged ,more than sixties.
When Prof.Komori has entered the class ,an emcee has introduced him to us ,then he started speaking.
It was in my high school days when I encountered his essay ''A warp of the roof in the wooden buildings in China ''.

Laptop Broken !

10 days ago out of the blue my PC has become out of order.As usual switched on then the screen brightened. However it would'nt go onto the next step, jsut travel from flash to dark.
After several exchanges of message with support ,they provided me with free repair.
Yesterday my laptop came home.According to the report , they exchanged both HD and keybord for the old ones!
WTF ! All of my date has been deleted. I should have had them backed up!
I have missed the boat. No way . I have to try it from the beginning.

Change of Regime in Japan

Japanse prime minister Hatoyama has resigned since he had no way out;Everyone is likely to think Okinawa row has become fatal to him in the end despite of an effort to keep his promise.
I wonder why the head of Japan has been changed so often. We have had 28 prime ministers　for those 65 years although they had 12 in the U.S.
The average period of their regime is just about only 2 years and it is a bottleneck of Japan's politics.
An unstable govornment could never do a good job.
It's certain that democracy is an everlasting truth ,however it's aloso true that each country has its own style.

Japanese debts

According to The Washington post,Greek's financial crisis seemed to spread across Europe.

The figure left shows public debt ratio to GDP.
The country in the news is third from the bottom while Japan is the last on the list.
Then why would'nt riot break out in Japan?

source：Work and Wealth For All
The problem will be solved when you watch the next chart. (billion US$)

The graph above indicates Japan is the worst debtor nation in the world,however,when you turn your eyes to the next figure you'll find it's the other way round. There are hidden assets and liabilities behind
public ones.Especially,indivisual assets are more than twice as much as public ones.
Some says that's because Japan have once had higher rates of savings than any other countries.Yet,according to the recent statistics,they tend to fall gradually.
The Japanese are apt to place too much emphasis on cash of all sorts of property that is called '' tansuchyokin''(deposit passbook).
I think although this could be interpreted in many ways ,in a sense they may not believe in the government at all.
For democracy it's very important for us to build up a relationship of a mutual trust between the people and the Govornment of the day.

Book Review '' Free '' C・Anderson

Chris Anderson is famous for his best seller , '' The Long Tail (2006) '' , however, he has published an experimental work '' Free (2009)''. Its originatity lies in a sales poliocy .He proved that his theory was right by practicing it.Amazingly,his book was open to the public free on the Website with a time limit before the relase.

The result was better than he had expected.His hardback became an instant best seller although anybody could read it on line for free .He could create something(money) out of nothing(free).

Shyuichi Katoh

Monsieur Katoh communique avec les esprit.

This is the subtitle of his documentary film that is currently showing.

You know , it is more than one year since he has passed away.

As he has expressed his view of life in his writing,he has been sort of relativist for a long time , however, one day he was transformed into a man of action and established '' Article 9 Association ''

It's a complete mystery to me why he changed his tune unexpectedly.

Yesterday,I attended a small talk that was give by Proffessor

Komori---he is also a chairman of the society.

According to his speech , the key to my question is to watching his movie. They will put it on the screen next Sunday,so I'm looking forward to it.

2-day ,1 night tour to Noboribetsu spa

I went on a short trip to famous hot-spring resort , Noboribetsu spa .
Although the Golden Week has just only started , there were a lot of people there.
Pictures above are Jigokudani ( Hell Valley) which was a volcano mouth made about 10,000 yeas ago.The hot water produced at JIGOKUDANI sent to Japanese inns (or Ryokan) and hotels. (from Noboribetsu Tourism Association Website)


Hot water came from the surface and every place was filled with smell of sulfer.(left)
Kumamanju(a bun with a bean-jam filling) is one of special suvenirs.(right)

We can enjyoy many kinds of spa scince Noboribetsu hot spring is notwothy for its variety of kind of water and abundant supply.

bullletin board that shows sorts of spring (the upper left) outdoor hot spring (the lower)

thermal geyser at Sengen Park:

Along with a loud booming sound , this geyser spouts water into the air every tree hours.

The blow lasts about 50 minutes ,and reaches a height of 8 meteres , the temperature of hotspring is approximately 80 degrees・・・・

We were lucky enough to see the precise scene.

FEEDJIT

Do you know FEEDJIT? This is a real time provider that let you know who's visiting to your site and where they're coming from. Once you creat your own blog you're apt to want to know how many people visited your place. FEEDJIT evoled its function into a real time one.
For example,please click here and you'll see what it is like.

http://feedjit.com/pro/feedjitpub
However ,unfortunately we can't sign up for them because they're limiting new applications.
When can I register at all?

The first Ainu associate professor in Hokkaido Univ.

According to the Hokkaido Shinbun Press Jirota Kitahara , working as a curator in Ainu museum in Shiraoi now , is expected to stand on the platform at Hokkaido University Center for Ainu & Indigenous Studies this spring.
He was born in Tokyo and bred in Saitama. He began to be interested in Ainu culture because his maternal grandmother was Sakhalin Ainu,then he has studied at Hokkai-Gakuen University in Sapporo. He got his doctorate from Chiba University.
Kitahara said '' The museum could present our culture to wide range of generations,however,it is transitory .I wish I could train as many experts as possible on Ainu culture through a course of lectures.''
Tsunemoto,Director of the said Center ,expressed his expectations as follows;''It must be the great significance to make a study of their own culture by themselves. The lecture by Ainu should give a valuable opotunity to the students.''

My alpine ski season was over

Today I entered my last alpine ski competition . Regret to say , my right ski boot was off its ski in my first trial, so Icould'nt finish the race.Damn it ! I've challenged it four times, but No race to complete ! No woder evrything went wrong. BecauseI've returned to the race for the first time in 20 years. When I checked out my old record,I was more than 3 seconds faster back then!
Next year I have to try agin even harder.Don't miss it!

Aniversary of my uncle and aunt' s death

My wife and I took part in a memorial service on the anniversary of my uncle and aunt's death in the downtown hotel today . Nearly 30 relatives by blood and marriage have gathered together and sat down in front of the alter in Buddhism .
A bonze has come into the room , and stepped forward until he reached the head of the attendance . He looked around and made a deep bow , then started reciting a sutra .
Half an hour later he delivered a brief lecture after finishing his work .
After he walked out of the place , we took a memorial meeting photograph .
Finally , we had lunch together and enjoyed chattering .

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★
We Japanese perform religious services for the departed souls of our ancestors like that .
This is not only for the dead but also for us who are flesh and blood .
Since more and more people are losig their religious feelings in the modern society , it is a precious oppotunity for relatives to gather round .

NHK Licence Fee

In Japan every householder who owes TV reciever has to pay for NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation ) licence fee due to Japan Broadcast act . Strictly speaking , we're under obligation to contract ourselves to NHK .
However , there're several crucial problems about this system .
(1) No one can make sure that they have TV set in their home
with visiting from door to door .
(2) No one could be punished for refusing to make an
arrangement .
(3) Since NHK has caused quite a few scandalous affairs recently , people can't trust
them .
As a result , more and more people have started rejecting a NHK ' s offer .
Today I recieved a visit from a bill collector and he said I had to make a contract with
you because you had not done yet . After I spoke a few words with him over the intercom , I hung up on him . After a while he has vanished .
Then I decided to post up such a seal like that on the wall at the entrance to take self-defesive measures . I wonder it'll do me good ?

Graduate student from Cameroon

The other day we held a meeting with five foreigners living in Hokkaido.Sali Atanga is one of our guest speakers ,who is at final year of Doctorate degree in Agriculture in Hokkaido University.
He came from Cameroon with his wife Stella and
is living in Sapporo.He is 35 years old and an Agricultural Reserch Scientist working for the Cameroon Government.
The driving force behind their motive for visiting Japan is to understand why Japan is committed to produce durable goods.They finally found out

the answer.That is Japanese desire to do everythig to the best of their ability in order to satisfy the end-user.
There are two critical reasons why they decided to come to Japan.
First, the health care service is reasonable and satisfactory as compared with most developed countries.
Secondly,they have a low degree of crime rate,especially haterelated crimes are relatively low.
He is critical of the mass media because they look at only negative side of things.His experience in Israel comfirmed his idea.For example,most Camerooians believe that earthquakes occur on a daily basis in Japan since they rely solenly on the media. It is also the same in Japan.The media lured Japanese to believe that Africa is poverty ,desease and wars or that Israel is only about wars. The both are not true as they are all isolated cases and you should'nt judge the entirety.
What he admires about Japanese culture are the act of taking-off one's shoes before entering a house and ''the first come first serve'' phenomenon.

Winter Rafting

'' Winter Rafting '' , going down a wintry mountain stream on a rubber boat , achieves popularity among foreign tourists in the River Shiribetsu .

Unlike in spring and summer, it is the real pleasure to enjoy the wintry scenery behind Mt. Yotei in the gently flowing river .

According to NOASC , that plans the tour , alomost all the participants is Japanese in summer , however , foreign travelers amount to nearly eighty percent of all in winter instead .

Winny Won , comming from Hong Kong , said '' I'm deeply impressed as we have no snow

over there . I'd like to try it again ! ''

They plan to provide it by the end of March or so .

For further details pleasse click here .

http://www.noasc.com/en/activities/winter-activities/winter-rafting.html?Itemid=52

source : The Hokkaido Shinbun , Feb 21 , 2010

A Lecture Meeting

The number of foreigners living in Hokkaido has been increasing for the last decade and is now aleady over 20 thousand . On the other hand , the word '' multiculturism''

has often caught our eyes lately. However , most people living in Hokkaido has little oppotunity to interact with foreign residents . So we've decided to invite several guests from different countries and host a lecture meeting . Please join our meeting , you are always welcome .

Clearing snow away

This winter it looks like we have less snow than usual , I guess .
However , there was a certain amount of snowfall since last afternoon .
Every time I clear snow away , I can't help wondering if there is any
effective way to remove it . How do they deal with this matter in foreigh countries ?
Let's check it out on the website !

These are advertising signs of snow-removing agency in USA .
A signboard in the Mt Ralston Subdivision that is located near Twin Bridges, CA. USA

source : Mt Ralston Properties Association


A firm that is engaged in clearing snow away in Duluth, Minnesota, USA .

http://www.snowduluth.com/contact.html