日本企業經營夾縫求生

夾縫求生 日本企業經營秘訣 2009-01-01中國時報【黃菁菁／東京十二月卅一日電】


　受全球不景氣的影響，許多產業都在急遽衰退中，儘管不少業者敗退，但卻有長勝企業仍屹立不搖。日本《AERA》雜誌特地專訪這些成功領導人，討教其經營之道。 　以電器零售為主的「山田電機」在同業虧損連連時，今年四到九月的營業額卻比去年同期增加一一％。該公司董事長山田昇表示，他的經營哲學是，要經常留意未來三年的市場動向，零售市場變化快，商品急速汰舊換新，事先洞悉未來的市場前景並集中投資，是在業界勝出存活的秘訣。 　山田指出，因預期今年來客數將減少，為提高顧客上門的頻率，每周改裝五家店並開始銷售雜貨。專為買電器用品上門的顧客，一個月可能只來一次，若連帶賣生活雜貨則可能每周上門。此外，用買電器集點換日用品的促銷方法，也提高了消費者的購物意願。山田還預測，未來三年隨著高齡人口的增加，郊外店將有新的發展空間。 　經營連鎖超市的「伊藤榮堂」社長龜井淳則指出，過去連鎖超市的概念已經行不通，跟不上消費者的需求。今後應視開店地區的消費者需求來設計店面，從全國一致的連鎖店概念轉變成有特色的個體超市。 　龜井表示，伊藤榮堂今後不一定要以過去的綜合超市型態開店，可能將新開發的折扣超市與餐廳結合，發展近鄰型購物中心的新概念超市。 　此外，過去超市的客層目標是針對廣大的地區，以後將與地方緊密結合，發展涵蓋小商圈的小型購物中心。 　連鎖餐廳「加州風洋食館」（SKYLARK）前社長橫川竟則指出，外食產業在泡沫經濟瓦解，從追求享樂的路線改走向追求低價路線，但日本近來因一味追求低價位而輕視食品安全，使顧客對外食產業的安全起了疑慮。 　餐飲業要贏得顧客的信賴才能創造利潤，今後餐廳應從原料生產、物流、加工、烹調、送餐等一貫化作業，從末端的供應業者轉型為製造零售業才行。 　日本社會今後隨著勞動人口的減少，雙薪家庭的增加，對外食產業而言可說是一大助力，雖然現在處於困境，但是若能改變觀念，擺脫價格競爭的惡性循環，應可開創出新局面。

Tokyo Tower

Beacon of Japan’s Future, Sparkling With Nostalgia

By MARTIN FACKLER

Published: December 29, 2008

TOKYO — It was erected in a city still scarred by war, on the grounds of an ancient Buddhist temple, using steel from scrapped American battle tanks. But when finished in 1958, Tokyo Tower gripped Japan’s imagination by pointing the way to a brighter future.

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Ko Sasaki for The New York Times

The 1,093-foot Tokyo Tower.

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Ko Sasaki for The New York Times

Visitors pressed into packed elevators to see the view from an observation deck this month.

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Ko Sasaki for The New York Times

The view from an observation deck this month.

The 1,093-foot structure, which resembles the Eiffel Tower but with orange and white stripes, was the world’s tallest self-supported steel structure, a title it still holds. That, and the fact it was used to broadcast color television, then in its infancy, made the tower an instant symbol of the nation’s peacetime ambitions to excel in technology.

While it never gained the global recognition of its Parisian twin or the Statue of Liberty, the tower remains a landmark in this now affluent, sprawling city. But after a half century, the aging spire is no longer as prominent, or inspiring, as it once was.

Tokyo Tower turned 50 last week amid a wave of nostalgic national media coverage. Television news showed grainy black-and-white film of the tower, describing it as part of a bygone era of heady achievements that also included Japan’s bullet train and the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

Indeed, the tower seems to have won a new place in the national imagination, this time as a monument to a sepia-toned past. The change comes at a time when Japan as a whole seems to have lost confidence in its future, or has even resigned itself to slow decline.

The change also underscores a broader point: how the passage of time can shift the meaning of national symbols — even ones as large as Tokyo Tower.

“Tokyo Tower stood for a dream of the future, but that dream is gone,” said Masanori Nakamura, a professor emeritus of history at Tokyo’s Hitotsubashi University. “Tokyo Tower offers no more dreams, just as Japan has no more dreams.”

In recent years, Tokyo Tower has become harder to spot among the city’s growing number of ever more boldly designed glass skyscrapers. In 2011, it will lose its long-held distinction as the city’s tallest structure to a new television tower, the awkwardly named Tokyo Sky Tree, which will be 2,003 feet, nearly twice as high as Tokyo Tower.

Still, the tower, which has drawn some 157 million tourists since it opened, maintains a grip on the city’s imagination. Last Tuesday, some 20,000 visitors turned up for the 50th birthday, lining up for hours to take elevators to one of the tower’s two observation decks. Its owner, Nippon Television City, gave Tokyo Tower a $6.5 million makeover for the occasion with a new nighttime illumination scheme, the Diamond Veil, featuring 276 lights in seven colors.

Visitors to the tower and nearby residents explained its appeal in affectionate terms, describing it as an old friend who had stood with them through decades of breathtaking social and economic transformation.

“For my father’s generation, Tokyo Tower was the symbol of the new Tokyo that they wanted to build,” said Midori Tajima, 60, who owns a camera shop near the tower. “But for my generation, it has watched over us during 50 years when everything else seemed to be changing.”

Ms. Tajima, who as a fourth grader watched the tower being built, celebrated the anniversary by displaying old photographs in her shop, including one from 1958 that showed the structure rising over a jumble of wooden homes and now-vanished cable cars.

When completed, the tower stood almost 900 feet above the Japanese capital’s next highest structure at the time, the Parliament building. As it was being erected, rumors abounded that Hawaii would be visible from the top, older residents say.

Before his death in 1986, the tower’s creator, Hisakichi Maeda, a former owner of the right-leaning newspaper Sankei Shimbun, called the soaring structure “a triumph of Japanese technology.” The tower cost $8.4 million at the time and used scrapped Korean War tanks, one of the few sources of quality steel at the time.

The recent nostalgia boom has led to a revival in the tower’s popularity. After more than a decade of slowly dwindling visitors, the number has risen by roughly 50 percent in the past three years to some 3.2 million last year, Nippon City said.

This nostalgia boom has partly been fueled by a flurry of recent novels and movies that featured the tower. (One of its first cinematic appearances was in “Mothra,” a 1961 black-and-white monster film in which the tower was toppled by a giant caterpillar.)

In the recent books and films, the tower often appears as a metaphor for what this graying nation feels it has lost in recent decades: the shared sense of purpose and youthful optimism that drove its economic miracle, or even the simpler lifestyles before Japan became an economic superpower.

So keen is interest in the tower’s history that the owner has begun asking the workers who built it to come out of retirement and talk to schools, tour groups and the press. One is Goro Kiryu, 76, who says tightening bolts on the tower’s steel girders felt like just another job at the time, though one that involved unusual heights and fearful winds.

“At the time, everyone was just working hard to improve our lives,” Mr. Kiryu said. “Now I realize that Tokyo Tower was my life’s main work.”

The company is hoping the nostalgia boom will also help keep the tower profitable, after television networks started announcing that they would switch their broadcasting to the Sky Tree. Fearful of also losing tourists to the taller new rival, Nippon City says it will renovate the tower’s outdated attractions to play up the history angle.

“Tokyo Tower is a part of Tokyo’s history,” said Tatsuo Matsuzawa, a managing director. “We want it to survive another 50 years.”

徒然草

つれづれぐさ 【徒然草】

随筆。二巻。吉田兼好著。1330～31年頃成立（異説あり）。随想・見聞などを、著者の感興のおもむくままに記したもの。無常観に基づく、著者の人生観・美意識などがうかがえ、「枕草子」と並ぶ随筆文学の傑作とされる。

Celebrating Christmas

Spreading warmth in a cheerless fiscal season

2008/12/26

Here is a verse from the poem "Kurisumasu o Iwau" (Celebrating Christmas) by a Christian poet: "Let us warm each other/ Let us make each other happy/ No matter how hard life is/ For once on this day/ We think of nothing else."

At this time of year, people reflect on the past while making merry, mixing cheerful and solemn moods. Without one or the other, the New Year holiday season wouldn't feel right.

Such thoughts bring to mind the winter of 1988-1989, when the Showa Era made way for the Heisei Era. The atmosphere that spread across the archipelago from the capital where Emperor Hirohito (posthumously known as Emperor Showa) lay on his deathbed was a heavy one. The streets were strangely quiet, as people refrained from celebrating the New Year with dance and music.

This year, unlike 20 years ago, not only Japan but also many other nations are sunk in lethargy. Yet, on the Emperor's Birthday holiday of Dec. 23, Tokyo was blessed with fine weather, seemingly to combat the stagnant atmosphere.

Emperor Akihito, who just turned 75, concluded his official statement issued in place of his usual news conference with these words: "I sincerely hope that everyone will work together to overcome these latest difficulties by cherishing mutual ties and helping each other."

On the same day, Tokyo Tower also celebrated its 50th anniversary. The official commemorative promotional song goes: "(Tokyo Tower) always stands there/ Watching thousands of stories unfold/ And continues to shed light." Today, this symbol of Japan's rapid postwar economic growth must be viewing thousands of scenes of poverty and financial difficulty.

Many businesspeople must be in shock to hear that even Toyota Motor Corp. is in the red.

Yet, politicians and the government bureaucracy are slow to act even as companies formulate plans to ax jobs.

Despite the hard rain pouring down, the government's leaky job security roof over our heads seems to do little to keep workers dry. Until the government takes action, we will all need to warmly share our umbrellas with others who are soaked in the downpour.

A seasonal haiku goes: "Jingle bells/ The music plays for rich and poor alike." Seasons pass equally for everyone, but sometimes they are incredibly cruel.

People having no one to turn to, fears of isolation and despair about tomorrow have begun to spread. Society's tolerance of such anxieties is about to be tested.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Dec. 24(IHT/Asahi: December 26,2008)

Winter's first snow dusts Golden Pavilion

ERINA ITO, THE ASAHI SHIMBUN

2008/12/27

Winter's first snow dusts Golden Pavilion (ERINA ITO/ THE ASAHI SHIMBUN)

Kyoto's famed Kinkakuji temple looks resplendent Friday after the season's first dusting of snow. Snowflakes fell across wide areas, especially along the Sea of Japan and in mountainous areas. The day brought unstable atmospheric conditions as a cold air mass invaded the archipelago from the north, bringing first snowfalls to Kyoto, Osaka, Kobe and many other cities. In Kyoto, where snow began falling before dawn, the arrival was 12 days later than usual. Meanwhile, temperatures dipped lower than usual in many locales early Friday: Kyoto registered a low of 0.8 degree, Osaka had 3.4 degrees and Kobe 2.3 degrees. From Saturday, however, temperatures are expected to return to normal in the Kansai region as the winter-like atmospheric pressure eases off, according to the Osaka District Meteorological Observatory.(IHT/Asahi: December 27,2008)

陰翳禮讚

いんうつ ₀ 【陰^▼鬱】

（形動）[文]ナリ
(1)陰気でうっとうしいさま。
「梅雨にはいり―な日が続く」
(2)心の晴れ晴れしないさま。
「―な思い」
［派生］ ――さ(名)



此書翻譯版本數種

陰翳禮讚

• 作者：谷崎潤一郎
• 譯者：李尚霖
• 出版社：臉譜
• 出版日期：2007年07月06日
• 語言：繁體中文

「銀座百点」が認めた銀座の達人 たち（須藤靖貴）

銀座專業職人 世界第一

• 作者
• 譯者：山田淑敏
• 出版社：天下雜誌
• 出版日期：2008年

銀座的價值在經典，唯有經典，才能成就非凡
　　專業技術的背後，原是對於美好生活想像的投入

　　「第一次被銀座的風格深深吸引，千疋屋中那些精挑細選過的水果，彷彿一顆顆精雕細琢的寶石；吃過文明堂的年輪蛋糕、煉瓦亭的炸豬排，才有種在飲食殿堂朝聖過的滿足感……」——南村落總監 韓良露小姐

　 　本書將「銀座百點」（專門介紹東京銀座老店的月刊雜誌）?的「追求專業極限」專欄（2003年一月 ~ 2005年十二月）整理成一冊出版。「追求專業極限」專欄以連載的方式，系列採訪銀座各行各業的背後功臣，將老師傅們熟練的技術和偉大的創意介紹給讀者。 專欄一開始立刻受到讀者們的好評與支持，連續三年一共訪問了三十多位專業老師傅。本書把三年來的原稿進一步分類成「食」、「飲」、「美」、「匠」、 「裝」、「趣」等六個章節。每一篇採訪對象的老師傅都是專業界的名人，每一篇文章的字?行間無不洋溢著他們優秀超群的技術，深藏在表面下的涵義，以及他們 從學徒到名師含辛如苦的過程，更有他們充滿智慧的言語。

書籍重點

　　作者訪問了三十多位專業老師傅，並把本書三年來的採訪原稿進一步分類成「食」、「飲」、「美」、「匠」、「裝」、「趣 」等六個章節。內容訴說了每位師傅的背景故事，及成功方法，同時內容也附註了這些銀座的專業師傅的店家資訊內容，讓想去體驗的讀者們更加的方便。

銀座的價值在經典，唯有經典，才能成就非凡
專業技術的背後，原是對於美好生活想像的投入

「第一次被銀座的風格深深吸引，千疋屋中那些精挑細選過的水果，彷彿一顆顆精雕細琢的寶石；吃過文明堂的年輪蛋糕、煉瓦亭的炸豬排，才有種在飲食殿堂朝聖過的滿足感……」
——南村落總監 韓良露小姐

本 書將「銀座百點」（專門介紹東京銀座老店的月刊雜誌）裏的「追求專業極限」專欄（2003年一月～2005年十二月）整理成一冊出版。「追求專業極限」專 欄以連載的方式，系列採訪銀座各行各業的背後功臣，將老師傅們熟練的技術和偉大的創意介紹給讀者。專欄一開始立刻受到讀者們的好評與支持，連續三年一共訪 問了三十多位專業老師傅。本書把三年來的原稿進一步分類成「食」、「飲」、「美」、「匠」、「裝」、「趣」等六個章節。每一篇採訪對象的老師傅都是專業界 的名人，每一篇文章的字裏行間無不洋溢著他們優秀超群的技術，深藏在表面下的涵義，以及他們從學徒到名師含辛如苦的過程，更有他們充滿智慧的言語。

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序
目錄
推薦序
前言

食
讓只點一杯咖啡的客人也能盡興而歸——百拉的活字典　菊川武幸（資生堂百拉Parlour西餐廳）
至高手藝 刻畫年輪——西點師傅　?本照靖（文明堂）
精心過濾的結晶“鮮麗燉肉醬”——餐廳主廚　萩本光男（銀圓亭）
凝聚創意 料理大革命——韓國料理家　張貞子（清香園總店）
餘韻裊裊的炸油香——西餐廳主廚　荒井重忠（煉瓦亭）
細心栽培 耐心等待 收穫大又甜——農業家　中 健二
鑑定 篩選 水果透視眼——水果識別家　小宮謙治（銀座千疋屋）

飲
高腳杯裏躍動的氣泡——香檳酒吧店主　大井克仁（香檳酒吧）
成功靠百分之八十的準備——斟酒名人　海老原清（札幌啤酒屋七丁目分店）
信賴聚合人氣——品酒專家　君?哲至
款待之心 調酒之情——吧台調酒師　永島明（南蠻1934）

美
鋒利剃刀為美麗造勢——剃臉師傅　曾根川貢甫（曾根川美容室）
雙腳的戲劇性變化——足部保養專家　山本秀樹
最了解新娘心情的人——穿和服技術師　奈良晴美（遠籐波津子美容室）
頭頂爽快 心情舒暢——理容師　大?昭格（米倉理容院）

匠
鍛金塑銀 自在如意——傳統工藝師　石黑光南
讓人生好夥伴永遠同行——鐘錶修理技師　唐牛茂（天賞堂）
又輕又巧 絕妙平衡感——眼鏡框師傅　宮?宏
直徑零點一公分——江戶筷子製作師　安達麻子（銀座夏野）
刀光靜述心語——刀劍古董商　柴田光男（銀座刀劍柴田）

裝
一針一線 愛惜之心——服飾製版師　局 育子（弘二KOZI服飾藝術坊）
地球為你送來的禮物——珠寶設計師　?堀幸夫
至高燦爛的光芒勝過任和語言——寶石鑑定師　君島勝（審美堂）
看準皮革的個性——手工皮革師傅　野本裕司（銀座谷澤TANIZAWA）
為自己定做一件合身的襯衫——訂做襯衫師傅　山本?吉（銀座中屋NAGAYA）
男人瀟灑的本質——紳士西服店主　高橋純（高橋洋服店）

趣
散?中也能調合香味配方——調香師　加藤武美
線條強烈 栩栩如生——浮世繪摺刷師　渡?英次（渡邊木版畫店）
異想天開的商品開發——業務行銷員　長谷川龍治（山野樂器）
決定勝負的第三位天才——棋盤師　鬼頭淳夫（丸八棋盤店）
魅力十足的和式釣竿——和式釣竿企劃製作　松本和彥（銀座東作）

後序
本書登場的名店

作者簡介

須藤靖貴（Sudo Yasutaka）

　　一九六四年出生於東京，駒澤大學文學系畢業。曾任製藥公司業務員、運動雜誌記者。就任運動雜誌和健康雜誌的編輯之後，二○○五年發表《我濕透了》，獲第五次新潮文學長篇新人獎。著有《全力強打》、《動力青春》等以運動選手為主題的小說。

作家。1964年東京生、駒澤大学文学部卒。製薬会社営業マン、スポーツ誌編集記者を経て、現在は健康雑誌「だいじょうぶ」編集部勤務。

「俺はどしゃぶり」で第5回小説新潮長篇新人賞受賞。

譯者簡介

山田淑敏

　　出生於台北，關西大學商學系畢業，現任大阪府攝津市國際交流協會中文講師、攝津市教育局外國人學生課業指導老師。著有《日本人學中文系列教材》，譯有《謝長廷的生命美學日文版》（合譯）、《你看！優秀的人這樣想》。

OilyBoy

Fashion Guidance for Aging Japanese Lads

Slick Magazine Entices Young-at-Heart 'Elder Boys' to Trade a Little Cash for a Lot of Cool

By Blaine Harden

Washington Post Foreign Service
Wednesday, December 17, 2008; Page A11

TOKYO, Dec, 16 For 12 straight years, sales have fallen in Japanese department stores, with clothing sales -- t he most important category for revenue and profits -- driving the slide.

Behind the sagging rag trade is demography. Young spenders are increasingly rare. And there are swelling herds of older savers.

Enter OilyBoy -- a slick new magazine designed to excite consumption among "elder boys."

Weathered, wrinkled and bald though they may be, the aging Japanese lads who read OilyBoy are still out on the town, drinking. Or up in the mountains, backpacking. Or down at the beach, surfing.

And -- advertisers hope -- they can still be tempted to buy clothes, shoes, watches and accessories.

"We don't think we have become elderly people," said Masami Kanno, 52, editor of OilyBoy, which appeared on newsstands this fall and is selling briskly. "We think we are players, even if we are 50 or 60 or 70."

OilyBoy is a title that requires some explanation. To non-cognoscenti, it might evoke images of kinky behavior. But that is certainly not what the editors had in mind when they created the magazine.

"Oily Boy" is the actual nickname of the late Jiro Shirasu, once the coolest guy in Japan.

Tall, rich and movie-star handsome, Shirasu was educated at Cambridge University, where he drove a Bentley. After Japan's defeat in World War II, his excellent English and smooth demeanor helped when he was called on to negotiate the terms of the U.S. occupation with Gen. Douglas MacArthur.

Shirasu was one of the first Japanese men of substance to allow himself to be photographed while hanging out in jeans. He owned and often tinkered with fine automobiles. On social occasions, his pants and shirts were sometimes stained with oil.

"That kind of man never forgets the 'boy' in him," says the OilyBoy Declaration, which can be found in the magazine's first edition. "The boys became not adults, but 'elder boys.' And that is why we cry out loud: We are Oily Boys."

Kanno concedes that OilyBoy is not a perfect name for a fashion magazine aimed at 50-plus men. Not everyone of that vintage remembers Shirasu or his nickname or his cool. In fact, Kanno's first choice as a name for the magazine was "Old Boy," but a trademark dispute nixed that.

Masami Kanno is the editor of OilyBoy, a slick new Japanese magazine designed to induce elder players to save less and spend more, especially on clothing. (By Blaine Harden -- The Washington Post)

Japanese group asks Google to stop map service

Reuters
Friday, December 19, 2008; 12:47 PM

TOKYO (Reuters) - A group of Japanese lawyers and professors asked on Friday that Google Inc stop providing detailed street-level images of Japanese cities on the Internet, saying they violated privacy rights.

Google's Street View offers ground-level, 360-degree views of streets in 12 Japanese cities and is also offered for some 50 cities in the United States and certain areas in Europe.

The service allows Web users to drive down a street, in a virtual sense, using their mouse to adjust views of roadside scenery.

"We strongly suspect that what Google has been doing deeply violates a basic right that humans have," Yasuhiko Tajima, a professor of constitutional law at Sophia University in Tokyo, told Reuters by telephone.

'It is necessary to warn society that an IT giant is openly violating privacy rights, which are important rights that the citizens have, through this service."

The Campaign Against Surveillance Society, a Japanese civilian group that Tajima heads, wants Google to stop providing its Street View service of Japanese cities and delete all saved images.

Google's office in Tokyo was unable to comment immediately.

Privacy concerns about Google's service have grown in Japanese media, especially after some people discovered their images on Street View.

Similar concerns have been raised in other parts of the world, including the United States and Europe.

In one case, a woman was shown sunbathing and in another a man was pictured exiting a strip club in San Francisco.

In March, Google said it would comply with a Pentagon request to remove some online images from Street View over fears they posed a security threat to U.S. military bases.

Web-based Google Maps and a related computer-based service called Google Earth have drawn criticism from a variety of countries for providing images of sensitive locations, such as military bases or potential targets of terror attacks.

(Reporting by Yoko Kubota; Editing by Sugita Katyal)

Yosano Says Japan Needs to Double Sales Tax to 10% by 2015

Yosano Says Japan Needs to Double Sales Tax to 10% by 2015

By Mayumi Otsuma

Dec. 21 (Bloomberg) -- Japan needs to double its sale tax to 10 percent by 2015 to pay for pension and welfare needs, Economic and Fiscal Policy Minister Kaoru Yosano said.

The government should begin increasing the tax in 2011 and raise it to 10 percent in increments to avoid damaging economic growth, said Yosano, who has warned against the country’s swelling budget deficit and called for higher sales taxes.

“If the sales tax is raised by 5 percentage points all at once in 2011, it would be too great a shock to economic growth,” Yosano said on TV Asahi today. “It’s obvious Japan won’t be able to sustain pension, medical and nursing care programs without lifting the tax to that level.”

Prime Minister Taro Aso, facing a plunge in approval ratings, has unveiled a series of economic stimulus plans since October to prop up a moribund economy. The government yesterday released a budget proposal that will increase spending next year to a record 88.5 trillion yen ($991 billion) and expand the industrialized world’s largest deficit.

Aso’s approval rating fell to 16.7 percent from 38.8 percent last month, Jiji Press reported last week.

Japan’s budget deficit will widen to the most in four years. The so-called primary deficit, spending in excess of revenue excluding bond sales and interest payments, will balloon to 13.1 trillion yen from this year’s 5.2 trillion yen, according to the Finance Ministry’s estimate.

The government tries to pay for stimulus programs “by borrowing from wherever possible,” Yosano said, adding that this “passes the fiscal burden to future generations.” Revenue from a sales tax increase should go only to finance pension and social welfare spending, he said.

Timing Increase

Yosano said the sales tax should be raised when the economy returns to an expansionary path, although not waiting until the growth pace peaks.

Yosano welcomed the Bank of Japan’s interest rate cut and its plans to start buying commercial paper and more bonds from lenders, decided on Dec. 19.

“The Bank of Japan has begun acting like a warrior instead of part of the nobility,” Yosano said. “It’s exhausting every possible measure to counter the economic and financial crises, to the extent that it may dare to go beyond its mandate as a central bank.”

The central bank cut its benchmark overnight lending rate to 0.1 percent from 0.3 percent. The bank also said it will buy commercial paper, or short-term corporate securities, from lenders outright. Governor Masaaki Shirakawa said the plan is an “exceptional step” because the bank will take on each company’s credit risk.

To contact the reporter on this story: Mayumi Otsuma in Tokyo at motsuma@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: December 21, 2008 00:32 EST

Shuichi Kato

Kato leaves a legacy of wisdom

2008/12/16

Shuichi Kato, a social critic who died on Dec. 5 at age 89, was a medical student at the University of Tokyo when Japan declared war on the United States 67 years ago. Recalling that day, Dec. 8, 1941, in "Hitsuji no Uta" (A Sheep's Song), his autobiography from Iwanami Shoten Publishers, Kato said, "I felt that the world around me had suddenly taken on a landscape I had never seen before."

It was as if the line that anchored him to his familiar world had suddenly snapped, he wrote. The nation exalted over Japan's successful attack on Pearl Harbor, but not Kato. He could already foresee the doom that lay ahead. When he came home from university, his mother asked him how he thought the war would go. He exclaimed, "There's no way we can win."

On the day of Japan's Aug. 15, 1945, defeat, Kato thought: "If there is such a thing as the joy of living, I should begin to know it from now." He had witnessed, with the eyes of a medical doctor, the carnage and human misery brought on by the large-scale firebombing of Tokyo in March of that year.

The experience would make him question the absurdity of war for the rest of his life, stoking a sense of deep outrage that came to define his brand of liberalism.

From that root of anger eventually blossomed a flower that was the 9-jo no Kai (Article 9 Association), a group Kato co-founded in 2004 with novelist Kenzaburo Oe and others. The flower scattered its seeds around the nation, giving rise to a grass-roots peace movement to protect war-renouncing Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution.

Kato had a long-running column in the vernacular Asahi Shimbun under the somewhat self-deprecating title of "Sekiyo Mogo" (Absurd mumbling of the setting sun). In the last installment printed in July, he introduced an old man nicknamed sakasa jisan (Upside-down grandpa). The chatty neighbor has the habit of seeing everything upside-down--obviously Kato's alter ego.

The elderly man argues that Japan, where we the people are made to defer to self-important bureaucrats and politicians who are actually in our employ, is an upside-down democracy that needs to be put right-side-up again.

The setting sun denotes old age. But in exiting this world, what this intellectual giant left behind was anything but empty remarks of a doddering old man, but loads of "homework" for our country to wise up with.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Dec. 7(IHT/Asahi: December 16,2008)

「変」「2008年の漢字」

「変という漢字」 　今年の世相を表す漢字に「変」が選ばれたというが、世相を表す字が「変」とは、たしかに変な漢字（感じ）だ。

　▼日本漢字能力検定協会が「今年の漢字」を公募したら11万票余りの応募があった。その中で「変」が一番多かったそうだ。

　▼本当に今年はいろいろと「変」な出来事が多かった。政治では、ころころと変わる首相の発言。政府と与党の思惑のずれ。犯罪では、自分のむしゃくしゃ気分を、他人に八つ当たりして殺傷した通り魔事件など。

　▼変の上に「大」がつくと、「大変」という熟語になるが、こうなると「変」どころではなくなる。ソニーが海外を含めて１万６０００人以上の人員削減を打ち出しているし、電機業界、自動車業界、軒並み人減らしのニュースばかり。

　▼地元の田辺、西牟婁の事業所や商店も年末のやりくりに大変だという。ボーナスが出ないところも多いらしいといううわさも耳に入ってくる。「大変」な時代になってきているのを実感するこのごろである。

　 ▼「変」という字のつく熟語には、良い意味を表わす言葉が少ない。新潮日本語漢字辞典の「変」の項目をちょっと見ても「変異＝変動すること。異常な出来 事、現象」。「変事＝普通でない出来事」などとあり、良い意味のものでは「変革＝物事を新しく変えて改めること」というのがある。こういう言葉に出合うと ほっとする。今の日本もどうやら「変革」の時期にきているようだ。　（香）

Public looking for a sign of change

JUN UEDA, THE ASAHI SHIMBUN

2008/12/13

Public looking for a sign of change (JUN UEDA/ THE ASAHI SHIMBUN)

Chief priest Seihan Mori at Kyoto's Kiyomizudera temple on Friday writes the kanji "hen" (change), selected by the public as the one that best describes 2008. The character signifies, among other changes, the election of Barack Obama as the next U.S. president, the formation of Prime Minister Taro Aso's Cabinet and the upheaval in global stock and currency markets, according to the Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation, which solicited votes. It also represents accelerating global warming, a shift in public awareness of food safety, as well as a reversal of fortunes with improved Japanese performances in sports and science.(IHT/Asahi: December 13,2008)

ソニーの現場力に関する「不思議」

新力製造現場的實力

DATE	2008/12/11

　　【日經BP社報導】 “我曾建議盛田，讓新力停止生產，專門從事商品策劃及開發”。正當筆者吃驚不已的時候，對方道出了原委。

　　“當初推出‘Walkman’的時候，應其要求，三洋電機某工廠人員參觀了新力的Walkman生產線。看過生產線後他說，‘請考慮交給我們製造。因為我們能夠以更低的成本製造出來’”。

　　這位原經營高層就以此為例，向新力的創始人之一的盛田昭夫董事長（時任）建議：新力不如集中力量從事比其他公司更擅長的產品策劃及開發，而將生產委託給更擅長製造的公司。

　　做記者這一行的，有時會遇到公眾形象與實際情況相去甚遠的事情。例如，新力的公眾形象中包括這樣一點：“擅長獨創性的商品製造，製造則不如其他公司 ”。對新力有這種印象的人看到此，也許會心裏想“怎麼樣，果不出所料吧？”。然而，實際上筆者通過採訪得到的印像是，“新力工廠的製造能力很強。至少與其 他大型廠商相比，沒有發現遜色之處”。

　　筆者的上述發現，是源於執筆《日經製造》2005年3月號的特別報導“新力業績低迷的理由以及製造能力的考證”時的採訪。在新力業績出現下滑 的那段時間，筆者就新力的製造能力是否真的下降進行了調查。當時，新力高層受到經濟雜誌及分析家等對其經營策略的嚴厲批評。這些經濟雜誌根據當時新力的業 績指出其經營決策方面的失誤，同時，還屢次作出“（新力的）製造能力下降”的評論。其中更有甚者將新力與保持著良好業績的佳能進行對比，並根據當時佳能全 面推進的單元生產方式，表示“佳能的單元生產方式非常了不起，新力則相形見絀”。

　　然而，伴隨著採訪的深入，並未發現新力的單元生產方式比不上佳能的事實。例如，表示節省人力效果的“活動人數”、以及表示節省空間效果的“活 動空間”等數字，兩家公司幾乎一樣，而廢棄的輸送帶總長度方面，反倒是新力更佔上風。的確，佳能用比新力更短的時間達到了這一水準，但在累計方面新力並不 遜色。更何況，筆者不認為僅憑單元生產方式的浸透程度就能比較製造能力。

　　筆者認為，這種“誤解”是看到業績低迷，就與“工廠的製造能力肯定下降”這種想像硬性掛鉤的結果。不過，連新力前任經營高層都有人說出本文開頭那番話，因此在某種意義上，就算是誤解也無可厚非。

　　正如新力社長兼電子業務部門CEO中缽良治經常說的那樣，製造能力可大體分為兩方面。即產品策劃之類的“表像競爭力”、以及以生產面為中心的 “內在競爭力”。那位新力前任經營高層希望公司專門致力於表像競爭力。而新力實際上是靠表像競爭力和內在競爭力兩手抓而發展壯大起來的。正因為這樣，新力 才既能製造出全新的產品，又能使產品實現“全球最小最輕化”等。如果內在競爭力弱，這些都不可能做到。

　　內在競爭力方面也存在著許多需要挑戰“新穎度”的領域。沒有證據能夠證明，在常人看不到的地方就沒有挑戰新事物的餘地。相反，筆者在新力的工廠聽到的是“我們希望通過製造其他公司不能製造的東西來提高附加值”（新力EMES幸田TEC）。

　　新力2007年度的業績取得了超過“承諾”的成果。筆者認為，這主要是因為內在競爭力的支撐。另外，要想度過目前的經濟衰退，進一步磨練內在競爭力至關重要。新力在這方面採取的具體而且先進的措施，見2008年12月號特集“挑戰逆境，新力的製造現場實力”。

　　目前新力面臨的難題還不如說是如何“滿足在公眾心目中的形象”。如今，仍有很多人期待新力生產出“新市場開拓型商品”。也就是繼支撐目前該公 司業績的數位攝影機、數位相機以及液晶電視機等之後的下一代新產品。這些產品應該是“生活必需品”、即便在經濟不景氣時仍有許多人想掏錢購買的新型產品。 同時如果還是不受價格下降影響的產品的話，那就更無可挑剔了。

　　只有製造出這種新產品，並且使之走上發展正軌的時候，消費者才會滿意新力。這才是新力前所未有的難題。不過，根據2008年12月9日新力發佈的投資計劃調整及裁員計劃來看，這也許是無法迴避的課題（參閱本站報導）。而且，這樣的事情不僅是新力，也是許多日本企業面臨的事實。（記者：近岡 裕）

■日文原文
ソニーの現場力に関する「不思議」

Jane's story --Crime without punishment in Japan

Asia.view

Jane's story

Dec 10th 2008
From Economist.com

Crime without punishment in Japan

THIS story is of no material importance to Japan. It is the story of Jane. And it is a story of a very small, dark sliver of 20th century geopolitics that festers still.

Jane is an attractive, blonde 40-something Australian, resident for many years in Japan and a mother of three boys. She is also the victim of a rape. Jane is not her real name.

She is actually the victim of two violations. The physical one was committed on April 6th 2002 near the American naval base at Yokosuka by Bloke T. Deans, an American serviceman. He violently raped her in her car.

What Jane refers to as her “second rape” happened afterwards, when she reported the crime to the Kanagawa prefectural police. There, she alleges that she was interrogated for hours by six policemen, who mocked her. At a later meeting, they laughed and made crude sexual comments. She was initially denied medical treatment, water and food. Jane was denied a receptacle to keep a urine sample—key forensic evidence in a rape. After four hours, all she could do was relieve herself on a cold police toilet and cry. The police made no attempt to preserve sperm or DNA on her body.

Her torment at the hands of the police so amplified the trauma of the evening that she actually tried to dial emergency services to report that she was being held against her will at the station, but an officer ripped the phone from her hand. Ultimately she was kept in custody for some 12 hours following the crime, before having to drive herself home.

The police located the assailant, Mr Deans, of the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk, but for reasons that remained unclear, no charges were filed against him.

Jane, however, filed and won a civil case against him: a Tokyo court ordered him to pay ¥3m (around $30,000) in November 2004. But unbeknownst to Jane or the court, soon after the suit was filed, the American navy had quietly discharged Mr Deans, who returned to America and disappeared. Later, she received compensation from Japan’s Ministry of Defence, out of a discreet fund for civilian victims of crimes by American military personnel.

In Jane’s view, the first rape went unpunished: Mr Deans remains at large. So she turned her attention to the “second rape”. She sued the Kanagawa police for a bungled investigation that denied her proper justice. In December 2007 the court ruled against her, stating that the police had fulfilled their responsibilities. She appealed the decision.

Jane’s ordeal underscores the clumsiness of Japan’s police force. In several recent high-profile cases, the police have coerced confessions from suspects. It also highlights the lack of a tradition of individual rights in the country, and the often thinly reasoned rulings of Japanese courts. And it fits the pattern that in many crimes by American servicemen, the Japanese authorities fail to press charges.

But the reason why cases like Jane’s are not prosecuted may have less to do with incompetent police and more because of a secret agreement between America and Japan in 1953 that has recently come to light.

In September 2008, Shoji Niihara, a researcher on Japanese-American relations, uncovered previously classified documents in the U.S. National Archives. They show that in 1953, soon after Dwight Eisenhower assumed the presidency, John Foster Dulles, his secretary of state, embarked on a massive programme to get countries to waive their jurisdiction in cases of crimes by American servicemen.

On October 28th 1953, a Japanese official, Minoru Tsuda, made a formal declaration to the United States (not intended for public disclosure), stating, “The Japanese authorities do not normally intend to exercise the primary right of jurisdiction over members of the United States Armed Forces, the civilian component, or their dependents subject to the military law of the United States, other than in cases considered to be of material importance to Japan.”

In other words, Japan agreed to ignore almost all crimes by American servicemen, under the hope that the military itself would prosecute such offences—but with no means of redress if it did not.

This helps explain the perplexing, toothless approach of the Japanese police and prosecutors even today in cases of crimes by American military personnel. When Mr Niihara first made the documents public in October, a senior Japanese official denied any such agreement, but in words so mealy-mouthed that it raised suspicion.

Japan’s landmark accord with the United States over troops stationed in the country, called the Status of Forces Agreement, was signed in 1960. Article XVII.1b states: “The authorities of Japan shall have jurisdiction over the members of the United States armed forces, the civilian component, and their dependents with respect to offences committed within the territory of Japan and punishable by the law of Japan.”

But in practice the Japanese do not exercise their authority. Jane’s case was just one of many in which the Japanese authorities opted to look the other way. This has nothing to do with the specifics of her case; it stems from an intergovernmental security protocol negotiated a half-century earlier.

Why did America fight so hard in 1953 to maintain control of criminal cases involving its boys? The documents do not say, but provide a clue: in numerous settings, American officials express unease that American servicemen commit roughly 30 serious crimes each month. Having 350 soldiers sent to Japanese jails each year would have been bad for America’s image. According to a separate document, America struck similar, secret agreements with the governments of Canada, Italy, Ireland and Denmark.

When Jane talks to reporters, she wears stylish, bug-eyed, mirrored sunglasses that seem more shields than fashion statement. It is futile protection—a tangible symbol of her quest for anonymity, akin to her pseudonymity.

On December 10th 2008, the Tokyo High Court ruled on Jane’s appeal in the suit against the Kanagawa police. Judge Toshifumi Minami entered the court, told her “You lost. And the financial burden of the case lies with you,” and then left. A 20-page ruling, considered short, sheds little insight into how the court reached its decision. Jane plans to appeal to the Supreme Court. “I lost—but they lost too,” she said.

Jane will always bear indelible, invisible scars. But this is of no material importance to Japan. Or America.

UK JAPAN CAR

日本汽車設計在全球保持領先地位，正在倫敦科學博物館展出的「日本車展」，由日本七大車廠提供代表作，呈現東瀛獨特的汽車文化，讓英國民眾大開眼界。

特展策展人納鴻（Andrew Nahum）指出，這次日本車展由日本知名設計大師原研哉（Kenya Hara）及建築師阪茂（Shigeru Ban）共同參與策劃，使特展更凸顯「真實的日本精神」，原研哉挑選的參展車型，彰顯二次大戰後日本的汽車設計能力已超越西方國家。

納鴻告訴記者，參展的12輛日本車中，除了有經典的量產車，也有因應人口稠密挑戰，及節能減碳世界趨勢的概念車，對於英國極具參考價值。

現場極受矚目的是豐田（Toyota）汽車設計的i-Real，外型看來像高科技輪椅的個人行動載具概念車，採取前面兩輪，後面一輪的設計，重量達140公斤，主要靠電力推進，在車道上可將車身放低，軸距拉長，以低重心的方式行駛。

另一款強調環保功能的是本田（Honda）汽車設計的氫燃料電池車（FCX Clarity），造型新穎流線，這款新車每小時時速可達180公里，氫燃料不僅環保，且效能佳，也受到愛車民眾的喜愛。

展場還有全球銷路長紅的馬自達（Mazda）汽車生產的雙人跑車MX-5、號稱全球最小的四人座車（豐田汽車生產的iQ）、鈴木（Suzuki）汽車生產具優越性能的休閒車Jimny等。

這項特展將於明年4月19日結束。

Japanese Cars: Designs for a Crowded Globe

An exhibition in London shows innovative car design experiments by seven Japanese auto manufacturers

By Eric Gallina

Akira Yamaguchi's specially commissioned 'Oyamazaki Transportation' Eric Gallina and Michael Barrett

The Science Museum in London, UK is hosting the Japan Car: Designs for the Crowed Globe exhibition, sponsored by seven Japanese automobile manufacturers. An exploration of the car as a 'mobile cell', the exhibition has been conceived by graphic designer Kenya Hara and architect Shigeru Ban to show how Japanese design reflects the 'soil and spirit' of Japan, depicted by concept cars and models specific to the Japanese market.

Speaking to Car Design News, Shigeru Ban explained how the automobile was chosen as the central element to the exhibition because it is a reflection of Japanese culture and tradition. "We used it as an object to explain the meaning behind it, instead of just showing it," he said. "In Europe, cars are used as A-to-B transport devices, but in Japan they are an extension of a living room as personal space."

Japan Car explores three themes—size, environment and moving urban cells—while examining the future of mobility in cities. Both highly innovative and densely populated, Japan can be seen as the driving force behind transport solutions in urban areas. Since the advent of the Kei car and alternatively fueled automobiles, Japanese manufacturers have developed small yet sophisticated vehicles which are both compact and technically advanced. These cars are on display alongside bonsai trees and specially commissioned artwork by Akira Yamaguchi.

Upon entering the exhibition, visitors are greeted by bonsai trees, raised and manicured by Bonsai Master Seiji Morimae—an 18th-generation descendent of a horticulturist and bonsai nursing family with a lineage of 500 years—set alongside models of cars deformed to look like 'suiseki', natural stones that frequently accompany a bonsai display. This display emphasizes the fact that the cars in the exhibition are highly condensed, and represents the aesthetics and culture from which these innovative vehicles were born.

The exhibition hall then continues through to a room with two contemporary benches that appear to have been made to resemble a fallen tree and look over a giant screen showing a film created by WOW video designers called 'The View from There'. The film pushes the limits of technology and imagination, setting the stage for the next section of the show.

In the main hall are the vehicles, all painted white and shown in an environment that has come to define the minimalistic approach of Shigeru Ban's work. His signature cardboard and paper columns provide the frame for innovative vehicles like the Nissan Cube, Toyota iQ, the Daihatsu Tanto and Hijet compact truck, as well as the Toyota i-Real 'mobile cell'—though the latter is a black example.

Each individual car underscores the approach of creating spacious interiors combined with a highly compact footprint—a main ambition and characteristic of Japanese-market automobile design. During our interview, Ban walked over to the Daihatsu Tanto and explained how the absence of a B-pillar enabled the car to more easily blend indoor and outdoor spaces for users to enjoy. "It's about maximizing space rather than a car with high speed," he said.

Throughout the concourse are exhibits by Hitachi, showing cars transforming into moving urban cells, a presentation on instrumentation prototypes by Denso and an instrument binnacle display by Honda that spans the history of its interface design—an exhibit previously seen in Tokyo.

Climate-conscious hybrids in the form of the first-generation Insight and hydrogen-powered Honda FCX Clarity are joined by Toyota's plug-in Prius and Mitsubishi's i-MiEV to showcase the environmental and sustainability aspect of the exhibit, which ultimately concludes with Yamaguchi's 'Oyamazaki Transportation' piece, created using traditional Japanese painting techniques to illustrate the artist's vision for the future of mobility.

The Japan Car exhibit is not only a lesson in Japanese design, but also provides an insight into the culture and tradition of the country, enabling visitors to understand the needs and wants of the Japanese market. And as Japan also has an entire generation which has developed a disassociation with the vehicle as we know it, the exhibit also underlines the need to create vehicles that will mobilize citizens globally in the coming centuries. Japan Car is open until April 19, 2009.

Provided by Car Design News—The leading online resource for automotive design

UK JAPAN CAR


SOURCE: AP TELEVISION


RESTRICTIONS: HORIZONS CLIENTS ONLY


LENGTH: 4.50


SHOTLIST


London - November 27, 2008

1. Mid sign reading Japan Car - Designs For The Crowded Globe

2. Wide sign reading Japan Car - Designs For The Crowded Globe and people walking in front

3. Wide Nissan Pivo 2 revolving

4. Mid Nissan Pivo 2 revolving

5. SOUNDBITE (English) Eva Ng Kon Tia, Communications Associate, Nissan:

"Pivo2 is a concept car and it has been developed by Nissan based on market research that showed a lot of people have experienced difficulty with parallel parking, parking in general. So this car is revolutionary because the cabin rotates 360 degrees, so it allows you just to rotate the cabin, the wheels rotate as well and you just go straight through the parking. It's also an electric vehicle, so Pivo2 has been developed to have independence of 120 kilometres, so you can be health conscious and you know, saving the environment conscious."


6. Close Nissan Pivo 2 revolving

7. Pull out Nissan Pivo 2 revolving

8. Close Nissan Pivo 2 revolving

9. Wide Honda Insight

10. Set up shot Shigeru Ban, Architect

11. SOUNDBITE (English) Shigeru Ban, Architect:

"In Europe especially the car is a purely transportation means to go from one place to one place as quickly as possible. But the Japanese design is not simply the transportation means but also that it is the extension of your house or your room because our living space is a lot smaller so young people try to escape from parents so they use the car as an extension of your house or room. So that is also very different and also some of the cars that you see here it's like a Japanese traditional house. If you open up all the sliding doors you connect the inside and outside. Very flexible - that is a very particular design of the Japanese car."


12. Wide Toyota Plug in HV (Hybrid Vehicle)

13. Various plug in to recharge car battery

14. SOUNDBITE (English) Andrew Nahum, Principle Curator of Technology and Engineering, Science Museum:

"This is the Honda Insight, one of the environmentally responsive cars in the exhibition. Like the Toyota Prius, that everyone has heard of, it uses a petrol engine to or gasoline engine to drive a dynamo, and also charge a battery. And the car can switch intelligently from running on battery power or on petrol engine power if you like, depending on circumstance. The great advantage of the system is it mean that the engine is running at peak efficiency all the time whenever it's on."


15. Pan Honda Insight

16. Pull focus Honda Insight light

17. SOUNDBITE (English) Andrew Nahum, Principle Curator of Technology and Engineering:

"The cars in the exhibition are pointing to a future where the overt styling cues that suggest power, speed and in a way it can be seen as an incitement to aggression disappear in favour of more cubic cars where - if you like - are designed from the inside out. What's important in those cars is that the living space that you inhabit not, if you like, the impression it gives to the neighbours. So they are looking to a future which is much more collaborative, more gentle and where cars have to co-operate more in order for you to get around and get your journey done on time."


18. Pan Daihatsu Tanto to Toyota IQ

19. Wide Toyota bB

20. Tilt up Toyota bB

21. Pan Toyota bB rear light

22. Wide Toyota i-REAL

23. Mid Toyota i-REAL

24. Tilt up Toyota i-REAL

25. Tilt down interior entrance area Science Museum

26. Wide exterior Science Museum



LEAD IN:


It's a question that many economists and designers are asking themselves at the moment: "what will the future of the car industry look like?".


And for some at London's Science Museum the answer could lie in Japan.


STORYLINE:


Is this the vision of the future?


Nissan think so. This environmentally friendly electric car embodies - they say - cutting edge technologies and user-friendly innovations to create an unique car-driver relationship.


The centre piece of Pivo 2's design is its revolving three-person cabin which rotates 360 degrees.


It also also has unique facial and voice-recognition software in the form of a small robot that detects the mood of the driver which could have an impact on driver behaviour like road rage and sleepiness.


Eva Ng Kon Tia is a representative from Nissan.


She says that the Pivo 2 was designed based on market research which revealed that many people have trouble parallel parking.


In addition, she adds that being an electric car it is environmentally friendly.


The Japan Car exhibition also focuses on compact and environmentally friendly cars, showing how Japanese car design reflects the spirit of Japanese culture.


Shigeru Ban is a Japanese architect and one of the organisers of the exhibition.


He says that Japanese car design is more than just about transportation.


He explains that the car is seen as another form of living space because Japan is so crowded.


Environmental concerns are high on the list of Japanese car design.


Climate conscious hybrids are part of the exhibition and have been designed to reduce carbon and other emissions.


Andrew Nahum is Principle Curator of Technology and Engineering at the Science Museum.


He explains that the Honda Insight uses a petrol engine and is also able to charge a battery without affecting efficiency.


Nahum goes on to explain that that the cars in the exhibition reveal a possible future where cars are designed from the inside out.


He says that the emphasis is on the space inside the car acting as a living area rather than as a means to impress others.


Other vehicles featured in the exhibition include the Daihatsu Tanto which maximises inside space, the Toyota IQ which combines compactness and style, the Toyota bB and the futuristic Toyota i-REAL - a personal mobility vehicle.


Japan Car - Designs for the Crowded Globe runs at the Science Museum in London from 29th November 2008 until 19th April 2009. Tickets are ?8 (US $12.40).





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APTN

Minoru Endo

Minoru Endo (遠藤実・えんどうみのる）

遠藤実

出典: フリー百科事典『ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』

遠藤 実（えんどう みのる、1932年7月6日 - 2008年12月6日）は戦後歌謡界を代表する日本の作曲家である。

代表曲に『北国の春』（唄：千昌夫）がある。

目次 [非表示] 1 人物 2 略歴 3 主な作品 4 門下生 5 著書 6 外部リンク

 人物

東京府東京市向島区（現在の東京都墨田区向島）に生まれ、第二次世界大戦時に新潟県西蒲原郡内野町（現在の新潟市西区内野）にて疎開生活を送っていた。
1949年、17歳の時上京。ギターを携えて流しの演歌師になる。
1956年、日本マーキュリーレコードより、『お月さん今晩わ』にて作曲家としてデビュー。それ以後、現在に至るまで世に送り出した楽曲は5000曲以上（その大部分は演歌）と言われ舟木一夫、千昌夫、森昌子など多くの歌手を育てた。

また自らの名をつけたレコード会社・ミノルフォン（現：徳間ジャパンコミュニケーションズ）を創業し、1960年には専務、1968年には同社社長になる。
1988年、ハワイで心臓のバイパス手術を受ける。
2003年、歌謡界から初めて文化功労者に選出された。
2008年12月6日10時54分、急性心筋梗塞のため東京都内の病院で逝去。76歳没。

[編集] 略歴

• 1932年、東京・向島に生まれる。
• 1979年、日本演歌大賞を受賞。
• 1990年、紫綬褒章を受章。
• 1994年、日本大衆音楽文化協会会長に就任。
• 1995年、日本音楽著作権協会会長に就任。
• 2002年、勲三等旭日中緩章を受章。
• 2003年、文化功労者として顕彰される。
• 2005年、日本作曲家協会会長に就任。
• 2008年、逝去。

[編集] 主な作品

• お月さん今晩わ（藤島桓夫、1957年4月）
• からたち日記（島倉千代子、1958年11月）
• 浅草姉妹（こまどり姉妹、1959年11月）
• アキラのズンドコ節（小林旭、1960年）
• ソーラン渡り鳥（こまどり姉妹、1961年5月）
• おひまなら来てね（五月みどり、1961年5月）
• 襟裳岬（島倉千代子、1961年6月）
• 若いふたり（北原謙二、1962年8月）
• 高校三年生（舟木一夫、1963年7月）
• ギター仁義（北島三郎、1963年8月）
• 修学旅行（舟木一夫、1963年9月）
• 哀愁出船（美空ひばり、1963年）
• 仲間たち（舟木一夫、1963年12月）
• 君たちがいて僕がいた（舟木一夫、1964年5月）
• 青春の城下町（梶光夫、1964年）
• 星影のワルツ（千昌夫、1966年3月）
• こまっちゃうナ（山本リンダ、1966年11月）
• 新宿そだち（大木英夫・津山洋子、1967年10月）
• ついてくるかい（小林旭、1971年4月）
• 純子（小林旭、1971年10月）
• せんせい（森昌子、1972年7月）
• 中学三年生（森昌子、1973年2月）
• くちなしの花（渡哲也、1973年8月）
• 白樺日記（森昌子、1973年8月）
• おかあさん（森昌子、1974年8月）
• すきま風（杉良太郎、1976年10月）
• 北国の春（千昌夫、1977年4月）
• ひとり（渡哲也、1977年4月）
• 江戸の黒豹（『新五捕物帳』主題歌、1977年）
• 夢追い酒（渥美二郎、1978年） 1979年の年間第1位
• みちづれ（牧村三枝子、1978年10月）
• 大東京音頭（三波春夫/三橋美智也・藤野とし恵 ほかによる競作、1979年）
• 君は人のために死ねるか（『大捜査線』主題歌 1980年）
• 南風（小柳ルミ子、1981年）
• 冬支度（牧村三枝子、1984年）
• 雪椿（小林幸子、1987年6月）

[編集] 門下生

• 橋幸夫（当初は実の門下生で、実の推薦で吉田正の下へ移った）
• 舟木一夫
• 千昌夫
• 小林旭
• 森昌子
• 島倉千代子
• 山本リンダ
• 渡哲也
• 五月みどり
• 杉良太郎
• いではく
• 一節太郎

著書

• しあわせの「源流」（1997年11月、講談社） ISBN 4062089823
• 『私の履歴書』（日本経済新聞、2006年6月連載）

外部リンク

• 財団法人 遠藤実歌謡音楽振興財団

Showa Era recedes with death of songwriter

2008/12/9
When I visited the Kunlun mountains in western China about 20 years ago, I sought a night's lodging in a military barracks in a remote area. As I gazed at the desolate expanse in the gathering dusk, I heard someone playing the flute. Straining my ears to make out the melody, I soon realized it was "Kitaguni no Haru" (Spring in the northern country), a Japanese pop number composed by Minoru Endo. I was inadvertently gripped with nostalgia. Endo died on Dec. 6 at the age of 76.

The haunting melody, popularized throughout Asia, plucks at one's heartstrings like many of Endo's creations.
It is as if melancholy has given way to light-heartedness, but the melancholy lurks in that light-heartedness. The bitter-sweet tune has always made me think of the sort of life Endo lived.
Born poor, Endo started working as an apprentice factory hand as soon as he finished primary school. According to "Namida no Kawa o Wataru-toki" (Crossing the river of tears), his autobiography, Endo bought junior high correspondence course textbooks that came with a badge resembling a school pin. He wore the pin on his cap to console himself over the fact he was unable to attend school.
Later in life, his "'Koko Sannen-sei" (Third-year high school students) became a huge hit, although he had never experienced high school life. Endo described the song as a "paean to his own lost youth." This probably explains why I always sensed a faint note of melancholy in the cheery tune.
Endo's other hits included "Karatachi Nikki" (Trifoliate orange blossom diary), "Sensei" (Teacher) and "Kuchinashi no Hana" (Gardenia blossoms). All these works were representative of the Showa Era (1926-1989), and Endo's passing last week pushed that era further back into history.
It was 19 years after the end of the Meiji Era (1868-1912) that poet Nakamura Kusatao (1901-1983) penned this famous haiku: "The falling snow/ Meiji has receded/ Far into the past.
We are now in the 20th year of the Heisei Era, and my sense that the Showa Era has indeed receded into the past is more acute than ever.
Endo's wife, Setsuko, who shared all his joys and sorrows, died 15 years ago. The grief-stricken Endo said at the time, "I wanted the skies to open, the snow to fall, and heaven itself to weep."
I should like to believe that the couple are now reunited in heaven, and fondly reminiscing those Showa years they had raced through together.
--The Asahi Shimbun, Dec. 8(IHT/Asahi: December 9,2008)

Thin veneer conceals ugly truth of politics

2008/12/8

Plating, or mekki in Japanese, is the word used to describe the method of depositing a thin layer of precious metal on the surface of an object made of base metal. It is a time-honored technique used to coat with gold the large statue of Buddha at Todaiji temple in Nara that was completed in 752.

Over time, however, the word came to be associated with shoddiness. It is used today, for instance, to denote a veneer of respectability or pleasantness that hides something that is actually not desirable at all.

Prime Minister Taro Aso was reportedly admonished by some members of his Liberal Democratic Party. He was told: "Silence is golden. Don't let (your) gold plating come off." This is hardly a nice thing to say to the prime minister who has been struggling with the running of his administration. But Aso is definitely not someone from whom one can expect wise utterances as a matter of routine. On the contrary, given his already impressive track record of verbal slips, I cannot blame his minders for praying he will keep his mouth shut.

The economy is in crisis, but Aso will not present his second supplementary budget plan until next year. He has no intention of dissolving the Lower House and calling a snap election anytime soon. The impression I get is that the government and the ruling coalition have holed themselves up in their "administration castle," while the opposition Minshuto (Democratic Party of Japan) is laying siege, in a manner of speaking, by filling the castle moats and trying to batter down the gates.

Aso and Minshuto leader Ichiro Ozawa had their first one-on-one Diet debate on Nov. 28. Prior to the debate, they had snubbed each other.

"It is too dangerous to believe what this person says," Aso sneered, and Ozawa shot back, "(What Aso said was) like a false accusation by one of those street punks out there."

I had hoped to see a serious duel, but it turned out to be more like a practice session at a dojo training hall. The combatants merely danced around each other amid constant, noisy heckling from both sides of the aisle.

Mitsuru Uchida (1930-2007) noted in his book "Seiji no Hin-i" (Political dignity) that Clement Attlee (1883-1967), who was prime minister of Britain from 1945 to 1951, held that the basis of democracy rested in one's ability to recognize that someone else might be wiser than oneself.

This means that politicians must be capable of heeding and appreciating the words of others, instead of always trying to argue down opponents.

The spontaneous and rowdy heckling I heard during the Aso-Ozawa debate made me worry about Japanese politics. Has "turning a deaf ear" become routine, even in our supposedly democratic parliament? If our political world is now mekki-plated, that is far more serious and troubling than the prime minister's slips of the tongue.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Nov. 29(IHT/Asahi: December 8,2008)

Driving the Cadillac dream through to the end

Wikipedia article "Sugoroku".

Driving the Cadillac dream through to the end

2008/12/6

In the old days, American teenagers learned to drive in their fathers' cars, which they then borrowed to go on dates. Next, they would buy an old clunker, learn to repair it and replace it with a better car, according to Fukashi Setoyama's book "Raimugi-batake no Kyaderakku" (Cadillac in the rye field), published by Shogakukan Inc. Likening life to sugoroku, a Japanese board game, Setoyama writes that owning a "Cadillac was none other than the final shining star at the pinnacle" of the goal.

On the vast North American continent, the automobile underwent a unique evolution. In the late 1950s, huge-bodied cars with giant vertical tail fins were all the rage. In Japanese, the term ame-sha (American cars) evokes two different feelings--disdain for unsophisticated gas-guzzlers and a yearning for roomy, glamorous roadhogs.

Cars reflect the American lifestyle.

General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC, the Big Three automobile makers that have guided the U.S. automobile culture, are facing an unprecedented crisis. These symbols of a robust American economy and free-market competition are now begging the U.S. taxpayer to shell out the equivalent of more than 3 trillion yen to bail them out.

The financial reconstruction plans for the three automakers include pledges by the top CEOs, who have been earning millions of dollars, to sell off their private jets and cut their annual salaries to $1. At a public hearing that started Thursday, the leaders said their companies are hard-pressed for enough cash to tide them over the year-end. Yet, apparently, the American public is unsympathetic.

During World War II, in addition to military vehicles, the U.S. auto industry manufactured large quantities of bombs and engines for fighter planes. Automobiles are not just a driving force in the U.S. economy--they have represented the United States during war and peacetime alike. Millions of Americans work for carmakers and related industries.

The Big Three are too big to be allowed to go under. It would be sad to see them collapse. Still, their predicament overlaps with their inability to produce vehicles that meet the twin challenges of saving energy and conserving the environment.

As far as industries are concerned, in the game of sugoroku, the auto industry will find it difficult to survive after reaching that "final star."

--The Asahi Shimbun, Dec. 5(IHT/Asahi: December 6,2008)

Gaffes Put Aso Under Fire

Page last updated at 01:04 GMT, Tuesday, 9 December 2008

Gaffes put Japan's Aso under fire

By Philippa Fogarty BBC News Taro Aso's sharp tongue is causing him considerable trouble Less than three months after taking office, Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso is watching his poll numbers plummet. The latest figures, from four separate polls, put his approval rating between 21 and 25.5%, down at least 15 points from November. This is definitely not what the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) had in mind when they chose him to replace Yasuo Fukuda in September. The charismatic Mr Aso - Japan's fourth prime minister in three years - was meant to give the party enough of a bounce to call and win an election. Instead public confidence in him is in freefall. His popularity is lower than that of both Mr Fukuda and his predecessor, Shinzo Abe, when they stepped down. There are several reasons for this. Taro Aso took on the party leadership when the LDP was already haemorrhaging support. The economy is in recession and he has dithered over the introduction of a stimulus package. To make matters worse, opposition control of the upper house has caused parliamentary deadlock. But part of the problem is the man himself, or rather, his mouth. A stream of gaffes has led many to reconsider his suitability to lead the nation. He's got a flippancy that's quite amusing for some Dr Sarah Hyde He had, wrote one journalist in the Asahi newspaper, "made so many verbal slips that we need a list to keep track". In recent months, Mr Aso has accused doctors of lacking common sense, criticised parents and made contradictory policy statements. His most recent target was the "feeble" elderly - a group whose support is vital to the ailing LDP. Why, Mr Aso asked, should he have to pay taxes for those who "just eat and drink and make no effort". Public anger forced top government spokesman Takeo Kawamura into a clarification. The prime minister had wanted to stress that pensioners should take an active role in maintaining their health, he said. "It would be better if I did not have to explain [the comments]," he added. "But it's part of his character and there may be various comments from now on, and it's my job to make efforts to let everyone understand his real intention." 'Flippancy' Taro Aso is not alone; there is an established tradition of gaffes from Japan's leading lawmakers. Almost as soon as Mr Aso took office, his tourism minister, Nariaki Nakayama, had to resign after calling Japan an "ethnically homogenous" country that did not like foreigners. Shinzo Abe's cabinet was plagued by ill-judged comments. One of the most high-profile was when his health minister called women "birth-giving machines" and appeared to blame them for the low birth rate. By far the most notorious plain-speaker, however, was Yoshiro Mori, prime minister briefly between 2000 and 2001. He joked about Aids, said the US was full of "gangsters" and offended the entire city of Osaka by calling it a "spittoon". After a few months in office, bureaucrats reportedly made him speak only from cue cards. Some of these controversial remarks do resonate with voters, according to Dr Sarah Hyde, an expert in Japanese politics from the University of Kent. When they are directed towards outsiders, such as foreigners, they cause few problems, she says. And Taro Aso's outspokenness has served him well in the past, helping him appeal to the younger generation. "He's got a flippancy that's quite amusing for some," said Dr Hyde. "Some of his comments have gone down quite well." Key voters But now he is the prime minister, quick quips that offend key parts of his electorate are no joke. "Everybody's experienced making a slip of the tongue and later regretting it," the Mainichi newspaper said in a recent editorial. "However, it becomes a grave problem if those who hold public office make inappropriate statements in their official capacities. If public servants make remarks that hurt others, it raises the question of whether they are qualified to serve in their posts." Voters now prefer Mr Ozawa to Mr Aso, recent polls show Insulting pensioners - who make up a fifth of the population - is particularly unfortunate. They are already angry with the government over the loss of millions of pension records and the introduction of a new compulsory health insurance scheme. "Elderly people are the ones that turn out and vote for the LDP," says Dr Hyde. "If Aso is upsetting them, that's problematic for the party. Comments like this could push them further away." Mr Aso cannot afford to alienate anyone at the moment. He must call a general election by September 2009, but most expect one much sooner. The LDP - which, apart from a short spell in the mid-1990s, has governed Japan for more than five decades - looks to be facing a tremendous fight. Recent opinion polls show opposition leader Ichiro Ozawa - who has struggled to connect with voters in the past - moving ahead of Mr Aso in the ratings for the first time. His Democratic Party of Japan has a clear lead over the LDP. There are warnings from within the LDP of possible defections, and a number of Mr Aso's colleagues have openly criticised him in recent days. Mr Aso will have to battle hard to convince both his party and his electorate that he is the right man to lead the country in the weeks and months ahead.

Japanese killifish swim in a rooftop pond in Tokyo's Roppongi Hills

Killifish 鱂魚

• 日本語
  

Killifish survive swimmingly on rooftop

BY TORU IGARASHI, THE ASAHI SHIMBUN2008/12/10

Japanese killifish swim in a rooftop pond in Tokyo's Roppongi Hills. (THE ASAHI SHIMBUN)The Keyakizaka Complex roof garden is surrounded by Roppongi Hills high-rises.(TERUO KASHIYAMA/ THE ASAHI SHIMBUN)

On a rooftop 45 meters above ground, amid posh Roppongi Hills high-rises in central Tokyo, schools of killifish leisurely swim in a pond surrounded by trees and rice paddies.

Nine medaka, or Japanese killifish designated by the government as a threatened species, were released there five years ago.

Thanks to an absence of natural enemies, they have multiplied to several hundred.

The fish make their home on the roof of the Keyakizaka Complex, a seven-story building housing a cinema complex and shopping malls.

The roof garden is designed as a recreation of an old farming area. The 40-square-meter pond is 20 centimeters deep and filled with unheated, mechanically circulated rain water.

In the summer of 2003, two months after the Roppongi Hills complex opened, the Hills operator released seven grayish kuro-medaka and two whitish shiro-medaka in the pond. Sixteen Tokyo daruma pond frogs along with 44 loaches and others completed the aquatic family.

They have all increased in number.

Shuji Tachikawa, a former associate professor of insect ecology at the Tokyo University of Agriculture, studied how the creatures were getting along soon after their release.

"The killifish have propagated probably because there are no predators such as egrets and herons," said Tachikawa, 67, an official of the nonprofit Association for Nature Restoration and Conservation, Japan.

"The water is clean and its temperature has been kept at appropriate levels, so the environment was just good for killifish," he said.

With the soil and water weighing 3,650 tons, the roof garden is, in fact, designed to serve as part of an earthquake shock-suppression system.

The garden is open for events and student school trips by reservation only.

Kuro-medaka killifish varieties used to be seen almost everywhere water was found--in rice paddies, streams and ponds.

Their numbers nose-dived as rice fields disappeared and irrigation canals were covered over with concrete. The fish were designated as vulnerable in the then Environment Agency's red list in 1999.

Killifish kept as pets these days are often the reddish hi-medaka variety.

A sixth-grader from Shizuoka Prefecture, who visited Roppongi Hills on a school trip, was surprised to see killifish for the first time at "a place like this" in the metropolis.

Tamotsu Hara, 78, head of the Hills community association, used to run a goldfish shop in the area and kept killifish as well.

"I feel nostalgic," Hara said. "They bring back memories of those good old days I have forgotten."(IHT/Asahi: December 10,2008)

Japanese killifish swim in a rooftop pond in Tokyo's Roppongi Hills. (THE ASAHI SHIMBUN)

不況と5万円ノート‧パソコン

經濟衰退與5萬日元筆記型電腦

DATE	2008/12/05

　　【日經BP社報導】 “NetBook”、“迷你筆記型電腦”、“5萬日元筆記型電腦”。儘管名稱各不相同，5萬日元左右的小型筆記型電腦在日本賣得很火爆。有調查結果顯示，在銷售量方面，這種小型電腦已佔到筆記型電腦整體的1/4（參閱本站報導）。日本市場首批上市的此類產品，為2008年1月底台灣華碩電腦在日本推出的的“Eee PC 4G-X”，上市還不到1年時間。從中可以看出其增長有多麼迅速。

　　今年冬季迷你筆記型電腦主流產品的配置方面，CPU為美國英特爾的Atom N270（工作頻率為1.6GHz），主存容量為1GB，液晶面板為8.9吋（或者10.2吋），重量在1kg左右，作業系統為Windows XP Home Edition，各款產品的配置如出一轍。區別只在於機箱設計（包括鍵盤的大小）、儲存器容量及電池驅動時間。這種配置的價格大體為近5萬日元到近5萬 5000日元。“為何能以如此低的價格推出？”，目前筆者正在進行採訪。

　　迷你筆記型電腦市場在日本的格局是，華碩及台灣宏碁（Acer）名列前茅，美國戴爾及美國惠普（Hewlett-Packard）緊隨其後。日本大型 廠商方面，東芝及NEC均生產此類產品。筆者遍訪廠商時，各廠商都表示“希望在報導時強調這是與普通筆記型電腦完全不同的產品”。也就是說迷你筆記型電腦 是專用於Web網站瀏覽及收發郵件的產品，不是面對其他用途的。

　　的確，迷你筆記型電腦的畫面較小。解像度一般為1024×600畫素。表計算軟體的操作等很難在迷你筆記型電腦上進行。但是，筆者不太同意廠 商關於“迷你筆記型電腦的CPU性能不足”的說法。Atom N270的性能與相同工作頻率的Pentium M大體一樣。以1.6GHz頻率工作的Pentium M的性能，其實並不太低。因為不久前，還有很多人使用比這種配備性能更低C工作。也有人認為，“迷你筆記型電腦沒有光碟機是（與普通筆記型電腦）最大的區 別”。不過，筆者對此仍不敢茍同。目前，USB介面的週邊DVD燒錄機只賣8000日元左右。如果說這是決定性差別，有點底氣不足。

　　說到底，廠商是擔心低價格的迷你筆記型電腦蠶食已有產品的市場。然而，某分析師表示，“已有的PC產品不可能不受到影響。（將迷你筆記型電腦 定位於全新的產品）不過是廠商一廂情願”。雖然迷你筆記型電腦不能滿足所有用戶的需求，但卻非常適合“只用PC瀏覽網頁及收發郵件的人”“偏愛盡量便宜的 PC的人”“希望以低價購買較小PC的人”之類的消費群體。這一消費群是那些此前“不得不購買高價PC”的人。相當數量的用戶流向迷你筆記型電腦是不可阻 擋的。

　　出現這一現象的另一個原因是，廠商將5萬日元的迷你筆記型電腦當成了吸引顧客的“招牌”。例如，華碩于2008年11月22日以近7萬日元的 較高價格，推出了外觀時尚的迷你筆記型電腦“Eee PC S101”。意圖是逐步引導追求商品增值服務的用戶接受較高的價位。不過，以筆者的一己之見，看不出S101在店面受到多大關注。以只接受“5萬日元”價 位的眼光來看，“7萬日元”的價格顯然很高。筆者認為，置身於看不到前景的經濟衰退中的用戶，已無力為配置差異不大的產品支付過多的錢。

　　受迷你筆記型電腦價格的影響，原有類型的筆記型電腦也開始零零星星出現5萬多日元的產品。日本戴爾、愛普生直銷以及 MouseComputer等廠商，均推出了備有配備15.4吋液晶顯示器的5萬多日元的筆記型電腦。不過，過分的降低成本也會造成品質下降。尤其是筆記 型電腦，其內部具有充電電池之類可能著火的“危險部件”。站在消費者的立場上當然會是“產品越便宜越好”，但消費者不應忘記，過分的要求也有可能會引火燒 身。（記者：大森 敏行）

■日文原文
不況と5万円ノート‧パソコン

winter one-pot meals

Whetting desires for winter one-pot meals

2008/12/2

On my recent business trip to Fukuoka, the lady manager of a local restaurant told me, "When you prepare hakusai napa cabbage for nabe stew, you should cut the leaves lengthwise." Indeed, if the leaves are cut vertically into long strips, the white fleshy part remains crisp and flavorful. I readily agreed this was the way to savor this vegetable at its seasonal best.

At home, I am feared by my family as the bossy nabe chef. But to confess, I never knew I was chopping the cabbage the wrong way--that is, horizontally. In my own defense, however, it's not such a terrible thing to let the cabbage cook through and flavor the broth, which will be used to make zosui (rice porridge) at the end of the meal. Actually, some people prefer their cabbage thoroughly cooked and soggy, while others are horrified by the very thought. To each his own, and ultimately it's the chef's call.

Around this season, the morning frost adds sweetness to napa cabbages. The other day, I visited Yachiyo, Ibaraki Prefecture, one of the foremost hakusai farming regions in the country. Trainee farmers from China, the home of this leafy delicacy, were busy harvesting the vegetable. Wielding special blades, they sheared the heads off, each big enough to be an armful, and lined them up in two layers.

After the outer leaves are peeled off, the snowy white heads were exposed, looking like they had just been washed clean. Maybe it was their pure whiteness or perhaps their "buxom" roundness, that made me think they looked almost erotic. Though these were being boxed in the fields, I recalled a haiku by Kenkichi Kusumoto: "Washed clean/ The hakusai bask in the sun/ Like a row of white buttocks."

A nabe dinner, consisting of common ingredients and stewed on a portable tabletop stove, is just right for these economically lean times.

According to Dentsu Communication Institute, which published a list of popular consumer items last week, uchi-gomori (staying at home) is the buzzword that defines people's interest in saving money and enjoying quality time at home.

It's already December. In this day and age, the future is uncertain, no matter how you look at it. Perhaps this is the time to focus on today and enjoy it to the max. And I always welcome a nabe dinner at home, with its delicious aromas of seafood, vegetables and other items tickling the nose, and everyone smiling happily as steam rises from bubbling broth.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Dec. 1(IHT/Asahi: December 2,2008)