食品偽装が相次いだ菓子業界で、大手菓子メーカーのうち約3割が品質管理や法令順守体制に問題を抱えていたことが25日、農林水産省の調査でわかった。 期限表示でも日付設定の基準があいまいな企業もあり、同省は「大企業ですら規範のないところが多いことが裏付けられた」としている。
調査は売上高が年間10億円以上の332社を対象に実施。今年8月に石屋製菓（札幌市）の「白い恋人」で賞味期限改ざんが発覚して以降、菓子各社が進めてきた社内点検の状況をとりまとめた。
調査の結果、92社（27.7％）で衛生管理や事故対応に関するマニュアルがなかったり、法令順守の体制が未整備だったりした。専門部署で法令順守体制の整備を進めていた会社は121社（36.4％）にとどまった。(25日 21:01)
関連特集
島岡達三 （しまおかたつぞう） TATSUZO SHIMAOKA.
澳大利亞派艦船追蹤日本捕鯨船隊
日本政府內閣長官表示，日本暫時放棄了它備受爭議的、在南太平洋捕殺座頭鯨的行動。
日本內閣長官町村信孝說，雖然日本捕鯨船隊不准備捕殺座頭鯨，但還將在南太地區捕殺其他種類的鯨魚。
相信日本此舉是因為受到了國際捕鯨委員會的壓力。
本台駐東京的記者霍格說，日本可能在一年的時間裡都無法再追捕座頭鯨。
在1966年國際捕鯨委員會要求保護座頭鯨前，座頭鯨曾幾乎被捕殺殆盡。
澳大利亞施壓
澳大利亞對日本暫停捕殺座頭鯨的決定表示歡迎。
此前，澳大利亞新總理陸克文表示，有可能就日本調查捕鯨一事向國際法庭提起訴訟。
為搜集證據，澳大利亞向南太平洋派遣軍艦，追蹤日本捕鯨船隊並拍攝相關照片。
日本一直宣稱他們的捕鯨行動是出於科學研究的目的。
但環保人士對此予以駁斥，指責日本利用冠冕堂皇的科研理由開展商業捕鯨活動。
今年日本的捕鯨計劃備受爭議，這支捕鯨船隊前往南太平洋地區，計劃捕殺50頭座頭鯨、935頭南極小鬚鯨以及50頭長鬚鯨。
日本內閣長官町村信孝說，國際捕鯨委員會現在的運作"不正常"。
TOKYO (AFP) — Japan said Friday it was dropping plans to start hunting humpback whales for the first time in four decades after protests led by Australia seeking to spare the popular mammals.
It is the first time that Japan has backed down over one of its whaling expeditions, which have been a longstanding strain in its relations with its Western allies.
It also marks a coup for Australia's new left-leaning Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, who has stepped up the pressure on Japan since taking office this month, including ordering a patrol ship and planes to track the whalers.
Japan had planned to harpoon 50 humpback whales starting with its current expedition, the first time since the 1960s that Tokyo would have hunted the species, which are major attractions for Australian whale-watchers.
"Japan will not hunt humpback whales," chief government spokesman Nobutaka Machimura told a news conference.
"It's true that Australia expressed quite a strong opinion to Japan on this," he said. "As a result, I hope that this will lead to better relations with Australia."
But he vowed the fleet en route to the Antarctic Ocean would go ahead with its hunt of nearly 1,000 whales other than humpbacks, saying that Australia and Japan had basic cultural differences on the issue.
"Australians consider whales to be very affectionate, something I can't really relate to. But apparently they give names to every whale and there's quite strong public sentiment," Machimura said.
US ambassador to Japan Thomas Schieffer had earlier said that Japan agreed to stand down during diplomatic negotiations.
Japan carries out the hunt using a loophole in a 1986 global moratorium on commercial whaling that allows "lethal research" on the giant mammals. Only Norway and Iceland defy the moratorium outright.
Environmental movement Greenpeace and the militant splinter group Sea Shepherd have each sent a ship to Antarctic waters to try to disrupt Japan's whaling.
In Australia, Greenpeace pledged to continue to press Japan, noting that the fleet still planned to kill some 50 fin whales -- the world's second largest animal after blue whales and which environmental groups consider endangered.
"Japan should turn its fleet around immediately, stop the hunt and cancel any plans for the construction of a new factory whaling ship," Greenpeace Australia Pacific chief Steve Shallhorn said.
The tone was different in Japan, where environmentalists have fought a long and lonely battle against the government's whaling programme.
"This proves that international pressure can work," said Junichi Sato, who heads the anti-whaling campaign for Greenpeace Japan.
"The decision also reflects the fact that Japanese people actually don't eat whale meat a lot. Many Japanese wonder why Japan has to go all the way to Antarctic Ocean to hunt whales," Sato told AFP.
Humpback whales, protected under a 1966 worldwide moratorium after years of overhunting, are renowned for their complex songs and acrobatic displays.
The humpbacks' slow progression along Australia's coast to breed has turned into a major tourist attraction bringing 1.5 million whale watchers a year.
Japan's fleet set off last month despite warnings from Western nations. Rudd's Labor party had accused the defeated conservative government of John Howard of being too soft on Japan out of consideration for economic ties.
Machimura denied that Japan was backing down to Australia, saying it made the decision as part of its efforts to "reform" the International Whaling Commission.
"This is a very emotional issue, but Japan insofar as possible would like to conduct its scientific research and have cool-headed discussions," Machimura said.
政府は１７日午前、国民生活の安全・安心を確保するための「生活安心プロジェクト」の関係閣僚会合を首相官邸で開き、緊急対策として６１項目を決定した。
食品偽装事件が相次いでいることから、農林水産省内に「食品表示特別Ｇメン」（２０人規模）を新設するなど、不正表示の監視や取り締まりを強化することなどが柱だ。２００８年度予算案に必要経費を計上する。
生活安心プロジェクトは、福田首相が掲げる「消費者・生活者の視点に立った行政」を具体化するものだ。〈１〉食べる〈２〉働く〈３〉作る〈４〉守 る〈５〉暮らす――の５分野で、関係法令の見直しや行政サービスの改善を進めるため、国民生活担当の岸田沖縄相に、首相が対策のとりまとめを指示した。
このうち、食品Ｇメンは、大規模で悪質な食品偽装事案が発生した際、全国どこにでも機動的に駆けつけ、専門的な検査・調査を行う。
食品表示について調べる「Ｇメン」は、現在も同省や各地の農政局にいるが、各管内での調査や検査に限られる。新設される特別Ｇメンは、大規模な事 案に対応するため、全国各地で活動するという。法令違反があれば、農水省に報告し行政指導を求めるほか、警察庁との情報共有も図る。東京、大阪、福岡の農 政事務所に配置する予定だ。
さらに、国と都道府県が連携する「食品表示監視協議会（仮称）」を新設する。関係省庁の連絡体制も強化し、悪質業者の処分を円滑にできるよう態勢を整える。
また、悪徳商法根絶に向け、課長級による「悪徳商法関係省庁連絡会議」を今年度中に設置し、取り締まりや規制を強化する。子供の安全確保のため、大規模地震で倒壊する危険性が高い公立小中学校約１万棟を対象に、今後５年程度かけ、自治体が実施する耐震化事業を促進する。
◆「生活安心」施策の要旨◆
政府が１７日決定した「生活安心プロジェクト」緊急施策の要旨は次の通り。
【食べる】
▽加工食品に原料供給者の表示を義務づけ▽輸入食品の検査強化のため、食品衛生監視員（現在は３３４人）を増員
【働く】
▽日雇い派遣労働者の雇用安定のため、年内に労働者派遣制度見直しの結論決定▽フリーターの常用雇用化プランの目標を２５万人から３５万人に引きあげ▽契約社員を正社員に登用した事業主への奨励金制度創設
【作る】
▽おもちゃの塗料に使う鉛などの規格基準を厳格化▽国民生活センターに、ひやりとした情報を書き込める「事故情報データバンク（仮称）」構築▽国民生活審議会に有識者の「重大な事故等オンブズマン制度」設置▽「２００年住宅」の関連法整備
【守る】
▽国民生活センターに「裁判外紛争手続き機関（ＡＤＲ）」設置▽医療事故死の原因究明を行う「医療安全調査委員会（仮称）」新設
【暮らす】
▽民生委員らに悪徳商法や製品事故に関する情報をメール配信▽伝統文化などの地域資源を生かした事業への支援
12/17/2007
The older I get, the faster time seems to fly. It is already the last month of this year--called shiwasu, another way of saying December. The traditional chores done in December include sending seibo year-end gifts, writing New Year's greeting cards and giving one's home a thorough cleaning.
At work, other tasks have to be completed before the year-end, and there are bonenkai year-end parties to attend. Many people also visit their valued clients to thank them for their patronage during the year.
There is no moment to spare during shiwasu. But in 1872, the month had only two days in Japan. That was the year Japan switched from the old lunar calendar to the modern solar calendar, and Dec. 3 became Jan. 1, 1873.
The government announced the switch only 20 days before it took effect. The whole nation was thrown into confusion. The reason for the abrupt transition was almost like a joke befitting a rakugo comic tale.
According to the lunar calendar, 1873 was to have a "leap month," which meant that the year would have 13 months and the government would have to pay civil servants' salaries over 13 months, rather than 12.
This was quite a dilemma for high-ranked bureaucrats because the government was heavily in debt at the time.
But someone apparently came up with the ingenious idea of switching to the solar calendar to get rid of that extra month.
And by hacking the month of December down to only two days, the government got away without paying anything for the month, thereby effectively saving two months' worth of salary payments.
Whoever thought this up must have been the original wily bureaucrat who knew how to serve the government and confound the public.
Japan has stuck with the solar calendar system ever since. New calendars for 2008 now line shelves at bookstores and stationery shops. While nobody can see time with their own eyes, these calendars enable us to envision the "amount" of time the coming year will entail.
However, they do not let us visualize the quality of time. If we aren't careful, we can easily waste our time the same way that we sometimes let money fly out of our wallets. Shiwasu is also a good month to plan the flow of our time next year.
--The Asahi Shimbun, Dec. 2(IHT/Asahi: December 17,2007)
 台灣民進黨總統參選人謝長廷主張加強台日關系 |
台灣民進黨總統參選人謝長廷周日（16日）受邀到日本京都大學母校演講，強調強化台日關係。
據台灣中央社報道，謝長廷以"日台關係強化之道"為題，向僑界、留學生做為時一個小時的演說。
謝長廷從留學日本談到台日關係，他盼台灣與日本之間能有類似美國的"台灣關係法"，針對台灣的定位等問題做規定與保障。
謝長廷是在當地時間下午6點抵達京都大學芝蘭會館，他全程用日文演說，聆聽演講的國內政治人物還有高雄市長陳菊、立委蕭美琴、林國慶、唐碧娥，嘉義縣長陳明文、高雄縣長楊秋興等人。
謝長廷指出，台灣人對中國不斷用導彈對準台灣，越來越反感﹔尤其中國不斷對台灣實施法律戰、心理戰，並在國際孤立台灣，剝奪台灣加入國際社會的權利，包括阻撓攸關台灣人民健康的加入WHO及聯合國等。
中央社報道引述謝長廷的話說，台灣願意和中國對話，也承諾在當選總統之後，在中國正視台灣主體的前提下就是兩岸對話的契機。
台日要如何強化彼此的關係？謝長廷從政治面、非政府組織及經濟信息方面做剖析。
他說，台灣和日本之間沒有類似美國的"台灣關係法"，針對一些台灣的定位等問題做規定保障，使得台日高層往來常遭到中國抗議，讓台日關係無法有突破性的發展，他盼日方能克服這種障礙，進一步發展台日關係。
謝長廷強調和解共生是他的理念，也是他對台灣人民的承諾，他說有信心當選總統後，兩岸一定會有一個和平尊嚴的對話空間，以"和平化兩岸"，用最進步年輕力量的連結來強化台日關係。
謝長廷發表演說的演講廳擠滿聽眾，入場票價是5000日元。| 関東の人々に「築地本願寺さん」と親しまれているこのお寺は、正式には「浄土真宗本願寺派本願寺築地別院」と言います。その発祥は、元和三（一六一七）年、西本願寺の ... www.tsukijihongwanji.jp/ - 17k |
Tsukiji-honganJi, officially called “Jodo Shinshu Hongwanji-ha Honganji Tsukiji Betsu In” is a temple located in Chuo district, Tokyo. ...Japanese Monks Stage Fashion ShowBy MARI YAMAGUCHI –
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The fashion show opened with a Buddhist prayer set to a hip-hop beat at the centuries-old Tsukiji Honganji temple, where nearly 40 monks and nuns from eight major Buddhist sects showed off elaborate robes in an effort to win back believers. Five monks from each school walked on the runway, then chanted prayers and wrapped up in a grand finale with confetti resembling lotus petals. Confetti Bursts Recalledconfetti n. (名詞 noun)
Buddhist monks traditionally wear simple black robes. But to appeal to more fashion-conscious youth, the monks wore green and yellow clothes, some with gold embroidery. Others wore elaborate, multilayered robes."Their robes were gorgeous," said Sayaka Anma, one of the audience in her 20s, after the monks' show. "I was a bit surprised in the beginning, but it was very moving."More than 1,200 years after it first arrived from mainland Asia, Buddhism in Japan is in crisis, priests say. Almost three-quarters of Japan's population of 120 million are registered as Buddhist, but for many, the only time they enter a temple is to attend a funeral. That has sent many of the country's 75,000 temples into financial trouble.Japan's aging population has meant more funerals, but the declining population and birth rate means fewer young people to share the bill to keep temples afloat. "We wanted to show the young people that Buddhism is cool, and temples are not a place just for funerals," said Koji Matsubara, a chief monk at Tsukiji.The Tsukiji Honganji offers theological seminars in English for foreign visitors, and has fitted its main hall with a pipe organ for Western-style weddings to attract young couples. Some other temples have also introduced cafes, art galleries and other innovations to reach out to young people who are interested in a different lifestyle." Many of us priests share the sense of crisis, and a need to do something to reach out to people," said priest Kosuke Kikkawa, 37, one of the organizers of Saturday's event. "We won't change Buddha's teachings, but perhaps we need a different presentation that can touch the feelings of the people today." | ||||||||||||
研究日本将近半个世纪，日本文化在你身上留下什么印记？
傅高义想了想说，“我想，大概是日本人的做事风格吧。日文里有个词，叫NIMAWASHI。大概就是中文里‘根’的意思。日本人如果要搬移大树，他一定会事先把坑一个个都挖好，一切准备定当，才开始做。日本人在做事之前，想得很细密，会与当事人一个个商量，寻求共识。这不仅仅是面子问题，而是了解对方，也让对方理解为何这样做。这样的话，要办一件事情，就会容易些。
2007.12.05
直言中日：汉语学习在日本为何不人气？
(BBC) 日本外相周日（9日）指中國擅自修改了中日高層經濟對話的聯合新聞公報內容，稱中方刪減了有關日本期待中國調升人民幣匯率的部分，並要求中方作出更正。
日本共同社說，日方發表的共同文件中包括"日方期待中國為允許人民幣更快升值作出努力"的文字，顯示出了日方對人民幣升值的期待，但是中方公布的共同文件中文版卻將這一部分完全刪除。
日本外相高村正彥在東京對記者說，"我想可能出了差錯導致疏漏。目前正在向中方確認共同文件應該是這樣的。"
據報道，中國公布的《首次中日經濟高層對話新聞公報》只有一處談到匯率問題，即第六條的第二部分，其中提出，"中方認為，日本走出流動性過剩問題引發的泡沫經濟的經驗教訓值得借鑒。日方對中方增強人民幣匯率彈性的方針表示歡迎。"
日本《朝日新聞》稱，這種擅自改變新聞公報的作法極不尋常，引起了日本的不滿，經由外交渠道進行抗議並要求中方予以更正。
報道指出，中日雙方經由負責官員同意下完成新聞公報的內容，日本於1日晚在北京發表日本版的全文，中國則於3日經由新華社報道中文版，次日刊登在《人民日報》等網站。
日本媒體說，日方發現中國公布的新聞公報刪除了"日本表明期待中國努力調升人民幣匯率"和"日本指出中國參加能源憲章條約所具有的意義"的部分。
中日首次高層經濟對話是12月1日在北京結束的。日本方面有六名官員出席，中國則由副總理和七名官員出席，就經濟問題廣泛交換意見。
2007年12月09日14時33分
北京で１日に開かれた日中ハイレベル経済対話でまとめられたプレスコミュニケ（報道文書）を中国側が一方的に書き換えて公表し、これに日本側が外交ルー トを通じて抗議、訂正を求めていることがわかった。中国側が公表した文面からは、人民元の為替レート上昇に日本が期待を表明した部分などが削除されてい る。日本側は独自の中国語版の作成と公表を検討するなど異例の展開を見せ、福田首相の訪中を控える中で、中国側の対応次第では日中間の新たな火種にもなり そうだ。
いったん合意したプレスコミュニケの文面を一方的に変えて発表するのは極めて異例のことだ。
同経済対話は北京の人民大会堂に日本の閣僚６人、中国の副首相と７閣僚が集まり、経済問題を包括的に議論。翌２日には日本の５閣僚が中国 の温家宝（ウェン・チアパオ）首相と会見し、「非常に成功した」と対話の成果を評価した温首相に、高村外相は「共同文書の発表ができて成功だった」と応じ た。
複数の日中関係筋によると、コミュニケは対話と並行して双方の実務者が検討し、各分野の表現を担当閣僚が了承、完成した。日本側は１日夜、北京で記者団に日本語版の全文を発表した。
中国側は新華社通信が３日、中国語版を伝え、翌日付の人民日報や商務省のウェブサイトに掲載された。ところが、日中双方の閣僚らが１日の 対話で合意した当初の文面から、中国側が人民元の為替レートの上昇に向けて努力することに日本側が期待を表明した部分と、エネルギー憲章条約への中国の参 加の意義を日本側が指摘した部分が削除されている。
人民元の為替レートは、中国人民銀行（中央銀行）の市場介入で低く抑えられているとして、巨額の対中貿易赤字を抱える米国や欧州から批 判が根強い。また、エネルギーに関する貿易の自由化や投資の保護について定めた国際ルールであるエネルギー憲章条約については、中国は署名せず、オブザー バー国にとどまっている。
中国側が削除した部分は、いずれも日本が中国に努力を促すくだり。日本政府当局者は「中国側はコミュニケの作成自体に消極的だった。文 書化したうえ、言われたくないことを明記することへの抵抗感が強かったのだろう」と見る。日本側からは「副首相はじめ担当閣僚が合意しておきなら、無断で 変更を加える行為は両国の信頼関係を傷つける」「外交上やってはいけない暴挙」などの声が上がっている。
日中関係者は「中国共産党指導部が注文をつけたとしか考えられない」と指摘するが、中国側が文面に変更を加えた意図や背景は不明だ。中国外務省報道局は８日夜の段階で、朝日新聞の問い合わせに答えていない。
In regions like Akita, downtowns have emptied, factories have closed, and an exodus to Tokyo of youths seeking jobs has left behind towns that are predominantly for the elderly.
NOSHIRO, Japan — The only outward sign of conflict here is the red flags of protest, but this small logging city on Japan’s remote northern coast is seething.
A proliferation of national chain stores outside town has already forced the closing of about half of the city’s once teeming central shopping district. Now, many in this normally restrained rural community see the megamall being built nearby, by a company based near Tokyo, as the final nail in the coffin of their economy.
“We don’t want to fight, but we are desperate,” said Seiji Yanagihara, an official with the Noshiro Chamber of Commerce, which opposes the mall. “Tokyo is eating all the goodies, and not even leaving us with scraps from the table.”
Japan’s $4.7 trillion economy has expanded for the last five and a half years. Urban centers like Tokyo and Nagoya, the seat of the Japanese car industry, are thriving, as seen in the building boom decorating Tokyo’s skyline with glittering new high-rises.
But in regions like Akita, the mountainous northern prefecture that is home to Noshiro, downtowns have emptied and factories have closed, and an exodus to Tokyo of youths seeking jobs has left behind towns that are predominantly for the elderly.
There is widespread concern here that these changes are turning Japan into a nation divided into winners and losers, split geographically between prosperous cities and the depressed rural areas. Many here attribute this growing disparity to Japan’s embrace of American-style economic liberalization, begun in the 1990s to end the nation’s decade of stagnation.
The measures to open up markets helped revive cities like Tokyo and lowered prices for Japan’s long-suffering urban middle class. But elsewhere in Japan, they are seen as bringing unwelcome and wrenching change.
And now, with recent signs of a coming economic slowdown in Japan, divisions could deepen. On Monday, Japan’s top central banker, Toshihiko Fukui, warned of ripples from the housing downturn in the United States, one of Japan’s largest overseas markets. He said he was particularly concerned about the impact on Japan’s small and midsize companies, many of which are in rural areas.
The new economic policies are blamed for undoing one of Japan’s proudest achievements after World War II, the creation of an egalitarian society that was almost uniformly middle class. They have also eroded one of the pillars of Japan’s postwar political stability, rural voters’ stalwart support for the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.
The changes began during Japan’s doldrums, when the government tried to revive growth by slowly but steadily deregulating entire swaths of the economy, like banking, insurance and groceries. As seen in Noshiro, some of the biggest upheavals followed the lifting of restrictions on large stores, a step originally urged by Washington to admit American retailers.
As in the United States, this has filled the countryside with large shopping malls and strips of chain stores, some American but most domestic, at the expense of town centers.
Rural areas also lost out in the 1990s because of the gradual dismantling of government-sanctioned price cartels, which had guaranteed jobs by protecting industries from “excessive competition.” As Japan’s markets opened, a flood of cheaper industrial and textile products from China and other Asian countries gutted local economies, which still depend heavily on manufacturing.
Rural areas were hit hard again in the early 2000s, when Junichiro Koizumi, then prime minister, tried to unshackle the private sector by shrinking the government. Akita lost thousands of construction jobs as Mr. Koizumi made deep cuts in public works projects, which had been a way to redistribute Tokyo’s tax revenue to the countryside.
The economic hardships have led to a growing sense of resentment that began to spill into national politics in July.
Angry rural voters handed the Liberal Democrats a crushing defeat in elections for the upper house of Parliament. This rural discontent has helped the opposition Democratic Party of Japan, which made closing Japan’s regional economic gaps the central plank of its campaign.
Many opposition politicians now talk about halting or rolling back American-style liberalization to protect traditional ways of life. Many blame Washington for having pushed Japan into opening markets. Stung by defeat, the chastened Liberal Democrats and their new leader, Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, have backed away from their support of economic liberalization and have begun emphasizing steps to fix regional disparities.
“The elections were the first scream of distress by Japan’s regions,” said Daigo Matsuura, an opposition Democratic Party member from Akita who defeated the ruling party incumbent in July for a seat in the upper house. “America pressured Japan into making these changes. The result was the birth of regional economic gaps.”
Whatever the cause, the widening of these gaps is apparent in government statistics. Over the last decade, Tokyo’s economy has grown 6.9 percent. Land prices in the capital are rising so fast that there is talk of a property bubble, and the city’s population has grown by 900,000, to 12.7 million residents, at a time when Japan’s overall population growth has flattened.
By contrast, Akita’s economy and population have both shrunk by about 7 percent in the last decade, and land prices have been dropping for 15 years. Akita’s average annual income has fallen to 2.3 million yen, or about $20,000, exactly half Tokyo’s average.
Last year, after the restrictions on building large stores were lifted, Aeon, one of Japan’s largest retail companies, proposed a 378,000-square-foot shopping center near Noshiro that would be the largest in northern Akita. The mayor and consumer groups in this city of 60,000 have supported the plan, saying it would bring more jobs and cheaper prices. But they face bitter opposition from the local business establishment, particularly merchants.
Residents say it is the first time they have seen the community so divided.
Opponents have erected red flags saying “Oppose Aeon!” and are seeking a referendum on whether to allow the mall. The notion that a company, and particularly one from near Tokyo, can come in and compete with their businesses runs against the grain in rural communities like this one, where a tradition of harmonious coexistence has made the creation of economic winners and losers abhorrent.
“This is the first time that I’ve seen people here so up in arms,” said Munenori Kitagawa, 64, owner of a women’s clothing store he inherited from his father.
Mr. Kitagawa opposes the mall. “We are fighting for our survival,” he said.
For all of Japan, the question now is whether this sort of reaction will be strong enough to stop or reverse economic liberalization. The central government has already begun to tighten restrictions on large stores, and many in rural areas are calling for more public works.
But many in Tokyo and regions like Akita say Japan’s soaring fiscal deficits make it impossible to return fully to the old ways, and many advocate opening markets further.
Some analysts and politicians fear that Japan is entering a period of political stalemate, with the government taking no significant steps in either direction.
“There is no more consensus on economic policy,” said Heizo Takenaka, a former economic policy minister who earlier this decade was an architect of many of the changes.
So far, regions like Akita have not adapted on their own to the changing economic environment. In interviews, local business leaders bemoaned their declining fortunes, but also quickly dismissed suggestions that they seek new opportunities in nearby emerging markets like China or Russia, which sits just across the narrow Sea of Japan from Akita.
Indeed, local leaders who have tried to make changes complain of running into a thicket of local interest groups and powerful bureaucrats in Tokyo — both forces against altering the status quo. Norihisa Satake, the mayor of Akita city, the prefecture’s capital, says he has hit such obstacles as he has tried to promote revitalization plans like expanding his city’s port for large Russian ships, luring tourists from Tokyo or even holding a one-day jazz festival.
“It’s hard to convince people that they need to adapt to economic changes,” Mr. Satake said. “It’s as if they still want to use horse-drawn carts to compete in the age of the auto.”
But in small ways, some in Akita are learning to adapt.
Arata Chinda, whose used-book store in Noshiro is one of only 10 shops left on a downtown commercial street filled with either shuttered storefronts or vacant lots, said sales at his store had fallen 90 percent in the last decade. But instead of giving up, he has found an alternative marketplace online.
Mr. Chinda, 60, says he now supplements his income by selling used fantasy card games, which were popular in Akita, to collectors elsewhere in Japan. But he said he is the exception.
“It will take 10 or 20 years for this city to think of new ideas,” he said. “By that time, the downtown will be nothing but a ghost town.”
品管界一些老兵每個社會都有類似問題劉先生提”QC旨在追求真 ROOT CAUSES …..而真象會死人的……”
我說了MOMENT OF TRUTH 其實是海明威翻譯西班牙鬥牛的”決戰之剎那間”…..
又 今天讀發現真實的失落 ■文、題字／漢寶德
12/01/2007
The weak, wintry sunlight makes me more conscious of the darkness and shadows that seem to define aspects of life. My selection of November quotes concern truths that remain unknown.
Senba Kitcho, which operates a chain of high-class Japanese restaurants, was caught falsifying expiration dates on food labels.
A Senba Kitcho director, Shoji Yuki, blamed part-time workers for "acting on their own," but a woman worker disputed that charge.
Insisting that it was Shoji Yuki who ordered the staff to falsify the labels, she stated, "He yelled at us: 'These things last. Just extend the consume-by date by a month or so.'"
A poultry supplier that the president of Senba Kitcho, Masanori Yuki, accused of betraying his trust by passing broilers off as jidori free-range local chicken, shot back: "The company never ordered any jidori meat from us."
Toshiya Kadowaki, owner of the Japanese restaurant Azabu Kadowaki in Tokyo, refused to be rated by the new Michelin Guide.
"Some patrons bring guests to a restaurant to entertain," said Kadowaki. "Or a gentleman may want to bring his lady friend for a romantic dinner. Dishes that are meant for all occasions couldn't be interesting."
Michelin's inspectors check restaurants anonymously. The guide awarded its top three-star rating to eight Tokyo restaurants.
One is Hamadaya in Tokyo's Nihonbashi-Ningyocho district. Finance Minister Fukushiro Nukaga was there a year ago, according to disgraced former Vice Defense Minister Takemasa Moriya.
"I am deeply upset to have to face interrogations based on (Moriya's) flimsy claim," Nukaga complained.
To establish his alibi, Nukaga has produced a photograph that places him at a different location on the night in question. Kenji Yamaoka, chairman of the Diet Affairs Committee of opposition Minshuto (Democratic Party of Japan), sniffed: "Anyone can doctor the date and time on a picture taken by a digital camera."
Foreign nationals are now required to submit to fingerprinting and having a photo taken of their faces upon entry to Japan. Justice Minister Kunio Hatoyama, who blurted out that his "friend's friend" happened to be an al-Qaida member, said: "Scary terrorists are roaming Japan freely."
But Hatoyama may be more interested in cracking down on illegal immigrants than terrorists.
The Hiroshima District Court has acquitted a man charged with murdering his mother and two daughters in a life insurance fraud. The prosecution had demanded the death penalty.
Presiding Judge Keisuke Hosoda explained his verdict: "In many ways, his innocence is highly questionable, which puts him in the gray zone. But I could not pronounce him guilty."
--The Asahi Shimbun, Nov. 30(IHT/Asahi: December 1,2007)
11/30/2007
Golf is a sport that respects Mother Nature. According to the Japan Golf Association, a ball that falls into a mole's or rabbit's hole can be pulled out and then dropped near the hole with no penalty. But it is against the rules to do so if the ball is in a hole dug by a dog, an animal that burrows only for pleasure.
Apparently, humans who have fallen into a deep pit of greed are beyond redemption by any rules.
Former Vice Defense Minister Takemasa Moriya and his wife, Sachiko, were arrested Wednesday on suspicion of receiving bribes in the form of golfing trips arranged and paid for by a former senior executive and other personnel of a defense contractor.
But the golf-crazy former bureaucrat and his spouse could not be the only players in this scandal. This time, I want prosecutors to make sure they expose to taxpayers the dark shadows in which lawmakers affiliated with the defense industry have been scurrying around. The money spent on entertaining the Moriyas must have been peanuts compared with the vast sums of taxpayers' money misappropriated or abused.
From small arms to fighter planes, the prices of equipment bought by the Self-Defense Forces are said to be higher than those of American or European armed forces. Laymen have no way of judging the market value and performance of this state-of-the-art equipment. And since it is being purchased with taxpayers' money, the buyers feel no need to haggle, which enables the sellers to quote whatever price they want, making huge profits.
During the 1979 probe into the so-called Douglas-Grumman payoff scandal, Shigeki Ito (1925-1988), who would serve as public prosecutor general from 1985 to 1988, hinted at a development in the investigation targeting leading politicians when he told the Diet: "The important thing in any criminal investigation is to expose a great evil, not just dig up minor evil."
Unfortunately, the investigators stopped short of going the distance, and left intact the structure of vested interests that might be described figuratively as mole tunnels that are infested in the woods of defense spending.
Moles are voracious animals that devour earthworms, insects and any other small creatures that wander into their tunnels. Mole tunnels may be thought of as giant traps in themselves. Tunnels featuring "good living conditions" are inherited from one generation to the next.
The prosecutors must exterminate the great evil and the labyrinthine underground tunnel that leads to the national coffers.
--The Asahi Shimbun, Nov. 29(IHT/Asahi: November 30,2007)
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