2008年11月30日 星期日

学生にも「経営戦略がない」と見限られる国内半導体メーカー

連學生都認為“缺乏經營戰略”的日本半導體企業
DATE 2008/12/01 印刷用網頁
  【日經BP社報導】 今年,日本某知名國立大學的電子電路專業學生在畢業求職時將半導體企業從候選單位中排除,而將目標鎖定了外資諮詢公司、證券公司及銀行等。負責就職指導的 教授問學生“為什麼不去半導體企業?”學生的回答令教授啞口無言。學生回答說“在和老師的談話中我了解到,日本半導體廠商沒有經營戰略。我不想去那樣的企 業”。

  從很早開始,出於“薪酬不錯”、“感覺很氣派”、“因為對軟體感興趣,所以希望從事系統開發”等動機,就有相當多的理工科學生到諮詢公司及金 融機構就職。然而,那位教授說“因為電子廠商缺乏經營戰略,所以不願意去就職”的學生還是第一次遇到。這是一位拿出過出色研究成果的優秀學生,正因為如 此,他才更注重企業的經營狀況。

  截至上世紀90年代前期,日本半導體廠商擠進了全球市場銷售額十強行列。然而,眾所週知,日本廠商曾幾何時的發展勢頭如今已不復存在。可以說日本半導體廠商的許多經營方針都以失敗告終。那麼,日本半導體廠商真的是缺乏經營戰略嗎?

  就職于日本半導體廠商及美國半導體製造裝置廠商、並擔任日本大阪大學教授的赤坂洋一指出,“在日本半導體業界,擁有遠景規劃及經營理念的企業不太多。可能是從來沒有想過‘這個公司為什麼必須存在?’,也沒有思考制定遠景規劃及經營理念的原始動機的習慣”。

  如果沒有經營戰略,高層拿不出明確的方針,那麼員工就沒有用武之地。長年從事LSI開發及製造的菊地正典表示,“(日本LSI廠商)製造不出 功能、性能、可靠性及成本等面面俱佳的產品。如果沒有差異化的產品策劃就不可能贏得市場,日本LSI廠商做不到這一點,因此日本半導體廠商從上世紀90年 代開始走向衰退。目前,雖然已出現了擁有明確方針的企業,但拿出的多是沒有具體方向的開發方針。只會命令製作現場的員工‘好好幹’的企業還是難免衰敗”。

  以上是針對半導體製造的前製程為中心的企業而言的,其實後製程也出現了同樣的問題。從事封裝開發及後製程生產線運營的萩本英二這樣表示,“由於 SiP(System In Package)日益受到關注,因此半導體廠商也在不斷改變。不過,體制建設不足的半導體廠商也不是沒有。首先,半導體廠商必須就前製程、中間製程及後製 程需要何種體制描繪出藍圖。必須充分考慮其設想的用戶是誰,以及在大多通過訂製(Tailor Made)方式小批量多品種生產的SiP業務中、要提高利潤應如何生產和銷售”(摘自本站報導“應建立前後製程相結合的SiP開發及量產體制——向日本半導體廠商進言”)。這種藍圖策劃,日本半導體廠商還做得不夠。

  本文所提到的“經營戰略”,絕大多數都是理應做到的。雖然不可能每一條戰略都得到所有人的贊同。但是如果問及半導體廠商是否真正做到了,那麼回答還是 有疑問的。雖然近年來,日本半導體廠商也在改變,但還不能因此就斷言,本文開篇那位年輕人的選擇是錯誤的。(記者:安保 秀雄,編輯委員)

■日文原文
学生にも「経営戦略がない」と見限られる国内半導体メーカー

Silver-Haired Shoplifters On the Rise In Japan

Silver-Haired Shoplifters On the Rise In Japan

Washington Post Foreign Service
Sunday, November 30, 2008; Page A15

SAPPORO, Japan -- Criminology is being stood on its head in fast-graying Japan.

Here on the cold northern island of Hokkaido, history was made in 2006 when total arrests of elderly people exceeded arrests of teenagers. The elderly accounted for 880 arrests, mostly for shoplifting, while teens were nabbed 642 times. Since then, elder crime has surged. For every two teenagers arrested on this island, police collared three people 65 and older.

The trend echoes across Japan, where crimes committed by the elderly are increasing at a far faster pace than the elderly population itself.

While the 65-and-older population has doubled in the past two decades, crime among the elderly has increased fivefold, according to government statistics released this month. Japan's overall crime rate, always low by world standards, has fallen for the past five years.

"We never dreamed we would be focusing on these old people," said Hirokazu Shibata, a Hokkaido police official who leads a crime prevention task force. "Theft used to be a crime of the young, but now it is overwhelmingly a crime of the old."


Around the world, criminologists have found that the propensity to commit crime peaks in the late teens and early 20s, and falls off steadily as people age. But Japan, with the world's oldest population and lowest proportion of children, is headed into uncharted waters for criminal behavior. Experts here predict that the entire country, like Hokkaido, will soon record more arrests of the old than of the young.

The elderly in Japan are committing crimes -- nearly all of them nonviolent offenses, mostly petty theft -- because of loneliness, social isolation and poverty, according to a Justice Ministry white paper released this month.

"When people feel lonely, there is an impulse to commit a crime so they will somehow connect with someone," said Shibata, whose task force has questioned 220 elderly people arrested mostly on charges of theft.

Shibata and other police in Hokkaido have also found what they describe as a consistent pattern of isolation and anxiety among elderly people who commit crimes.

"They are not in touch with their children and have no connection with their brothers and sisters," Shibata said. "These are people who worked so hard for so many years for their companies and for their country. All of a sudden, all their work has come to nothing. They have empty time on their hands."

A desperate desire for human contact or for novelty in their lives leads many elderly people to shoplift, experts say.

"They want somebody to talk to," said Hidehiko Yamamura of National Shoplifting Prevention Organization, a nonprofit group in Tokyo. "If they get caught, they can talk to the police. They are very easy to catch."


Here in Sapporo, police in September arrested a 71-year-old retired man in a grocery store after he tried to steal 14 items, including ice cream, worth $27. He told police that he often shoplifts.

The man receives a social welfare check for about $1,600 a month and lives with his wife, who is ill and unable to do housework. He told police that his wife's illness caused him stress but that when he steals, he feels "refreshed."

At the time of his arrest, he had $7,500 in cash in his pocket. He told police that he preferred not to spend money on groceries.

This country of 127 million has the oldest population on record. Slightly more than 22 percent of residents are 65 and older. (In the United States, about 12 percent of the population is that age.) For the first time in Japan's history, people 75 and older make up more than 10 percent of the population.

The number of children, meanwhile, has declined for 27 consecutive years. Demographers say the elderly -- who tend to live longer in Japan than elsewhere -- will continue to increase until 2040, when they will outnumber the young by nearly 4 to 1.

To slow the growth of elder crime, the Justice Ministry recommends that the government create

programs to stabilize the lives of those older than 65, financially and socially

The government, though, has moved in the opposite direction in recent years. As many as 64 million government pension records have been lost as part of a botched effort by the Ministry of Health and Welfare to computerize the pension system. Despite government reassurances, the loss of the records has frightened the elderly, many of whom are concerned that there will be no pension for them in the future, said Koh Fukui, an official of the shoplifting-prevention group.

"Some elderly people are shoplifting because they feel that with all the problems of the pension system, they should save their money for the future," he said.

A government survey of 137 elderly shoplifters in Tokyo found that a desire to "cut back on spending" was a primary motivation of 59 percent of the women arrested. Two-thirds of men said they stole because of their tough financial situation.

The global financial crisis, which has plunged Japan into what economists predict will be a severe and protracted recession, is likely to limit the government's ability to spend more on programs for the elderly. Spending is also limited by the government's enormous debt burden, the highest among wealthy countries, which amounts to 182 percent of gross domestic product.

Police and nonprofit groups say few organizations in Japan are able to provide counseling for the elderly, either before they are arrested for shoplifting or after they have been taken into custody.

Elderly people accused of petty theft are usually released after a warning if they show remorse, police say. In most cases, prison terms are given only to serious repeat offenders.

When the elderly are released from prison, most return to the same isolated lives that helped push them into petty theft, police say.

In supermarkets and convenience stores across Japan, public-awareness campaigns to prevent theft have been hindered by foot-dragging among store owners, who do not want to offend loyal customers.

"There is resistance to putting up posters saying, 'Shoplifting is a crime,' " said Fukui, of the prevention group. "Merchants don't want their customers to think that they are regarded as potential shoplifters."

Special correspondent Akiko Yamamoto contributed to this report.

2008年11月27日 星期四

Nokia giving up on Japan market

Nokia giving up on Japan market

The world's leading mobile phone maker Nokia says it will stop selling and marketing its mobile devices in Japan because its market share there remains below expectations.

But sales of the Vertu luxury mobile phones, a brand owned by Nokia, will continue in Japan, the Finnish company said. Its global research and development as well as sourcing operations in Japan will also continue.

'In Japan we have had a low market share, below our own targets also. We have been investing in the market for a long time, but we are still in that situation,' said Thomas Joensson, communications executive vice president.

He added that Nokia continued to believe its exclusive Vertu brand would succeed in the Japanese niche market segment despite the global financial turmoil. Vertu makes expensive handsets that are often embellished with titanium, gold, jewels and crystal.

In October Nokia said it estimated its global market share in July-September was 38%. The Finnish firm has done very well in emerging markets such as China and India, but has failed to attract Japanese consumers. Handsets designed by foreign manufacturers have traditionally been unpopular among Japan's notoriously finicky consumers.

Many consumers are accustomed to Japanese-made mobile telephones, which are also widely used as electronic wallets, train tickets, and even to watch television.

Kobe Wall

SHIRO NISHIHATA

THE ASAHI SHIMBUN

2008/11/27


photoA faultless move for the ‘Kobe Wall'(SHIRO NISHIHATA/ THE ASAHI SHIMBUN)

A crane suspends a concrete slab that had been part of a protective firewall, as it is relocated to Hokudan Earthquake Memorial Park in Awaji, Hyogo Prefecture, on Tuesday. The so-called "Kobe Wall," measuring 7 meters high and 14 meters wide, was initially built 80 years ago at a public market in Nagata Ward in Kobe, and endured the Great Hanshin Earthquake in 1995. It was then taken to an Awaji municipal hall in Awaji city. The park, with a geological fault line that surfaced in the temblor, sees 300,000 visitors a year.(IHT/Asahi: November 27,2008)

2008年11月26日 星期三

Japan zoo finds polar bears fail to mate; Gender mix-up

Gender mix-up bear in demand

THE ASAHI SHIMBUN

2008/12/1


PhotoPolar bear Gota, a male, plays at Oga Aquarium.(THE ASAHI SHIMBUN)

OGA, Akita Prefecture--An aquarium here is seeking the services of an enigmatic polar bear at a zoo in Hokkaido, after it was revealed recently that "he," in fact, was a she.

Oga Aquarium, run by the Akita prefectural government, asked Hokkaido's Kushiro Zoo if it could introduce the female bear, Tsuyoshi, to its own male polar bear, Gota.

"She is an ideal partner (for Gota) as both of them were born in the same year," Yukio Hori, director of the aquarium, said.

Gota was brought to the aquarium from Russia in 2005.

On Wednesday, he celebrated his fifth birthday without a mating partner, although he is old enough to start breeding.

The same night, there were reports that four-year-old Tsuyoshi, who had been sent to Kushiro Zoo for its breeding program, was found to be female.

Hori called Kushiro Zoo the next morning, requesting Tsuyoshi's services. Hori went to the zoo on Sunday to negotiate a deal.

In January 2005, Maruyama Zoo in Sapporo offered Tsuyoshi to Kushiro Zoo as a mating partner for its female polar bear Kurumi, now 11 years old.

The bears moved in together in June this year, but it was clear to zookeepers at Kushiro that they were just good friends, and romance was not in the cards.

While examining Tsuyoshi to find out why sparks had failed to fly, zoo officials found that he was actually a she.

It's not the only such gender confusion to hit Hokkaido's polar bear community.

Maruyama Zoo officials also offered polar bear Pirika, now 2 years old, to Obihiro Zoo, believing her to be male, only to discover, yet again, that they were mistaken.

Maruyama Zoo said it had checked the sex of both Tsuyoshi and Pirika when they were three months old and found them to be male.

"From now on, we will implement DNA checks to confirm the sex of polar bears," a Maruyama Zoo official said.(IHT/Asahi: December 1,2008)


Japan zoo finds polar bears fail to mate as both are female

TOKYO (AFP) — A Japanese zoo puzzled by its lack of success in getting two polar bears to mate has discovered the reason -- both are female.

The zoo in the northern city of Kushiro swapped an orangutan for a polar bear cub in January 2005, hoping it would eventually produce offspring with a female bear called Kurumi.

The cub, named Tsuyoshi after the popular baseball slugger Tsuyoshi Shinjo, reached the reproductive age of four last December.

"Even though the rutting season came in spring this year, Tsuyoshi didn't show mating behaviour such as chasing after a female bear," said zookeeper Hiroyuki Kubono. "We thought it might be because Tsuyoshi was still too young."

But suspicions deepened when Tsuyoshi was seen urinating just like Kurumi.

"We realised it's really odd," the zookeeper said.

The zoo sent some of Tsuyoshi's hair for a DNA test, the results of which suggested "he" was really a she.

Just to make sure, earlier this month the zoo anesthetised the bear and directly checked its body, said Kubono, adding: "It was female."

The zoo wants a male for mating and is considering swapping Tsuyoshi, but Kubono said she is hugely popular with visitors.

"Tsuyoshi came here when she was a cub and people just love her," he said

It is not an isolated case: Tsuyoshi's "brother," who was adopted by another zoo and turns three this year, has also turned out to be female.


''''''


2008年11月24日 星期一

Home of the faithful長崎舉行宣福禮


梵蒂岡羅馬天主教廷的代表周一(24日)在日本長崎舉行宣福禮,授予188名在17世紀因基督教信仰而被殺的日本人真福品。 這是羅馬教廷首次在日本舉行宣福禮。真福品是對模範教徒的表彰,規格僅次於聖人品。 獲宣真福的有天正遣歐少年使節中浦朱利安、首位訪問耶路撒冷的日本人彼得岐部等188名江戶時代初期(公元1603~1639年)的殉教者。 紅衣主教約瑟﹒馬爾廷斯代表教宗實施了宣福禮。 除九州地區外,被宣福者還包括在山形、京都、大阪、廣島和山口等地被處刑的人。 1981年前羅馬教宗約翰保羅二世訪日時,曾對當時的長崎大主教稱"日本是殉教者的國度,應該表彰他們"。 這件事最終促成了本次長崎宣福禮的實施。日本天主教會進行了籌備,現任教宗本篤十六世於去年6月決定宣福。 此前,日本天主教徒中共有42位聖人和205位真福,均由梵蒂岡主導選出,由日本教會主導的宣福活動尚屬首次。 基督教最早是在1549年被傳到日本的,但被當時日本各地的藩主禁止。 據信,至少有五千五百人因信仰基督教被殺,其中有不少被燒死或被斬首。 今天,日本人口中有不到百分之一的人證實自己信奉基督教,其他大都信仰佛教或神道教。



Home of the faithful


With about 130 churches and home to about 15 percent of Christians in the country, Nagasaki長崎 Prefecture is viewed by many as the center of Catholicism in Japan.

The churches are a combination of Western architectural styles introduced by foreign priests and traditional Japanese techniques developed by such skilled carpenters as Yosuke Tetsukawa (鉄川与助 1879-1976). The materials used to construct the churches include timber, brick, stone and reinforced concrete, and there are a wide range of designs.

Churches are an important part of the daily lives of Christians living on the Goto Islands, a chain of about 140 islands located about 100 kilometers west of Nagasaki city, but still part of the prefecture.

"If the churches become World Heritage sites, I wouldn't want them to become tourist attractions," said Yoshiaki Yamamoto, a photographer living in Nagasaki who has visited many churches in Japan and other countries. "I hope tourists visiting them will be respectful because these churches are for the local people."

Not only are the churches places where the faithful can worship, but also places where people can meet and children can play. The churches I visited were clean and comfortable, although they had a somewhat formal air.

Most of the churches in Japan built before World War II are located in Nagasaki Prefecture, and serve as a reminder of the history of Christianity in this country. This history began with the arrival of Christianity in the 16th century, followed by periods of persecution, and finally a revival of the faith.

St. Francis Xavier, cofounder of the Society of Jesus, landed in Kagoshima in 1549. At that time, Nagasaki was open for trade between Japan and Portugal and it eventually became an important base for spreading Christianity to the rest of Japan. The Society of Jesus establishing a headquarters in the city.

Xaverian Brothers:聖方濟.薩威會:乃1839年創立於比利時的傳教修會,原名 The Congregation of the Brothers of St.Francis Xavier。拉丁文稱作 Societas Xaveriana,簡稱 S.X.。

Society of Jesus:耶穌會:由聖納爵.羅耀拉 St. Ignatius de Loyola 於1540年所創立,從事教育文化、外方傳教、大眾傳播、社會…等工作。俗稱 Jesuits。


In 1587, however, Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1536-1598), the warlord who was in the process of unifying Japan, issued a decree banning Christianity. Ten years later, Hideyoshi ordered the deaths of 26 Catholics in Nagasaki in what became known as the Martyrdom of the 26 Saints.

The oppression grew worse in the Edo period (1603-1867) under the Tokugawa shogunate, with believers forced to renounce their faith, sent into exile or killed. Eventually, it was believed Christianity, a religion that claimed 750,000 followers in the early Edo period, had been eradicated in Japan.

However, one of the most significant episodes in this country's religious history occurred in Nagasaki in 1865, when several Japanese visited the Oura Cathedral, built the year before for foreign residents, and revealed that they were Christians. The episode is known as the revelation of believers, and served to prove that despite the persecutions Christianity had not died out in Japan.

(This is the last installment of the Embracing World Heritage series)

Japanese Christian, finding of the:尋獲日本教友:聖方濟.薩威於1549年登陸日本傳佈福音,不多幾年,教友直線上升到廿萬人。可惜好景不常,隨即遭受教難,多人殉道,教友成了無 牧之羊。其後兩個半世紀,外人不得進入。直到1855年門戶始有限度開放,巴黎外方傳教會的柏若望神父(P. Petitjean)登陸長崎傳教;1865年3月17日,一群來自浦上的日本人參觀他新建的聖堂,見到聖母抱耶穌像喜極而泣,並問神父是否獨身?經證實 與祖先所傳下來的信仰相符後,赫然發現了六千多位失散達兩百多年、仍有活潑信仰的教友!兩年後,長崎市長奇蹟式地容許當地教友自由活動。在日本每年的3月 17日訂為尋獲教友節。

Japanese Martyrs:日本殉教者;日本致命者:日籍耶穌會會士三木保祿與其他廿五名日本教友(其中包括一名十三歲華僑名叫鄭安道)共廿六人,於1597年在長崎集體殉教;後於1862年經教會列入聖品,紀念日在二月六日。


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2008年11月23日 星期日

Takeshi Koizumi,


Police arrest man in knife attacks

THE ASAHI SHIMBUN

2008/11/24

photoTakeshi Koizumi is transported to the Metropolitan Police Department early Sunday.(TERUO KASHIYAMA/ THE ASAHI SHIMBUN)

Police are questioning a 46-year-old unemployed man in connection with knife attacks at the homes of two former vice welfare ministers that left two dead, after he turned himself in Saturday night.

Takeshi Koizumi, from Saitama's Kita Ward, admitted his involvement in the stabbing deaths of former vice welfare minister Takehiko Yamaguchi, 66, and his wife Michiko, 61, in Saitama's Minami Ward, police said.

He also indicated that he stabbed Yasuko Yoshihara, 72, the wife of another former vice welfare minister, Kenji Yoshihara, 76, in Tokyo's Nakano Ward, police said.

Koizumi told police that he was angry because his pet dog had been put to death at a public health center.

Police investigators searched his apartment in Saitama on Sunday.

Koizumi drove a car to the Metropolitan Police Department headquarters in Tokyo's Kasumigaseki district at 9:20 p.m. Saturday and told a guard he had killed the former vice welfare minister.

Several knives, including a blood-stained survival knife with a 20-centimeter blade, were found inside the rental car, which was carrying a number plate from Kawagoe, Saitama Prefecture.

He was arrested for alleged violation of the swords and firearms control law at 2:45 a.m. Sunday.

Also found inside the car were cardboard boxes, with a destination address attached, pairs of sneakers and a rucksack.

Yasuko Yoshihara told police that she was attacked around 6:30 p.m. Tuesday by a man disguised as a home-delivery person and carrying what appeared to be a parcel.

In the Saitama attack, Yamaguchi's family seal was found at the entrance of the couple's home, suggesting that the assailant may have also posed as a home-delivery person.

Police believe that the Yamaguchis were attacked late Monday afternoon.

Bloody footprints were left around both attack sites, with what appeared to be prints from a pair of sneakers found near Yamaguchi's home.

A message apparently written by Koizumi was posted on the website of Tokyo Broadcasting System Inc. around 7 p.m. Saturday.

Titled "Attacks on homes of former vice welfare ministers," the message said the attacks were in revenge for a "family member" killed by a public health center 34 years ago.

Koizumi's father, 77, said the family adopted a stray dog when Koizumi was in elementary school, but had it put to death because the dog barked at neighbors and customers at the family's candy store.

"My son probably told us not to take the dog to the health center," he said. "He might have borne grudges to this day."

The Internet message, meanwhile, denied the link to the pension issue, which was suspected because Yoshihara and Yamaguchi both spent much of their careers working on the pension system at the former Health and Welfare Ministry.

Koizumi's father, who lives in Yanai, Yamaguchi Prefecture, apologized for his son's alleged actions, adding that he believed Koizumi should atone for the killings by taking his own life.

He had not heard from Koizumi for about 10 years until he received a call before 5 p.m. Saturday. Koizumi asked his father to read a letter he had sent that day.

A 20-year-old man who lives in an apartment building next to Koizumi's said Koizumi gave the impression of being rude and violent.

The man said he had seen Koizumi angrily yelling at postal delivery persons on five or six occasions.

A homemaker who lives nearby also said Koizumi looked like a yakuza gangster and many local residents were afraid of him.

Prime Minister Taro Aso, who had been briefed about Koizumi, told reporters in Lima that he had instructed law enforcement authorities to conduct thorough investigations about Koizumi's alleged involvement.(IHT/Asahi: November 24,2008)




Brutal crimes dash hopes of winter warmth

As northern parts of the nation are dusted with snow, even warmer regions are starting to feel the chill. In the cold air blowing from the Asian continent, we can hear the approaching footsteps of Old Man Winter. I am reminded of the following haiku by the poet Takahama Kyoshi (1874-1959): "I only hope for the country to be peaceful and the winter to be warm." Rather than wishing for a literally warm winter, I think the poet meant "warmth" in the sense of freedom from hunger or insecurity.

What about this winter? Dark clouds of recession are hanging over the Japanese archipelago. Consumption is shrinking, employment is unstable and small and mid-sized businesses are strapped for cash. Meanwhile, the political scene remains uncertain. Amid such circumstances, ominous black clouds have emerged; stabbing incidents apparently targeted at two retired vice welfare ministers that left two people dead and one seriously wounded.

Both former top bureaucrats devoted much of their careers to pension policies and, as high-ranking officials, they helped create the framework of the current pension systems. Apparently, the attacker stabbed the victims at the entrance of their homes without giving them a chance to escape. The scenes of the crimes in Tokyo and Saitama Prefecture are only 10 kilometers apart. The common factors suggest the "successive" incidents were not random.

But that's all we know now. Were they acts of terrorism over the pension debacle or did the attacker(s) have a different purpose? Were they carried out by the same person or different ones? With so many unanswered questions, the crux of the incidents remains unclear. But no matter what reason, they are brutal acts that cannot be tolerated under any circumstances.

I hear that the winds of recession sweeping across the nation have something in common with those in 1929, the year the Great Depression started. It was the year that "Kanikosen" (The Factory Ship) by Takiji Kobayashi (1903-1933) was published. The title of a movie, "Daigaku wa Deta-keredo" (Although I graduated from university), which depicted a man having difficulty in finding a job after graduating from university, became a buzz phrase. The book that depicted the hardships of the crew of a crab-canning ship struggling under capitalist exploitation is attracting renewed interest these days. As the sense of stagnation overshadowed the country, terrorism began to spread.

Kyoshi composed the abovementioned haiku before World War II. Even though times are bleak, in any time, it is the people's right to seek happiness and hope for a warm winter. I strongly condemn the antisocial nature of the crime that denied people this right.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Nov. 20(IHT/Asahi: November 21,2008)

2008年11月20日 星期四

吸毒

Pot-smoking students are on the road to ruin

2008/11/20

這"吸"多少反映出日本的一面相

Writer Sakunosuke Oda (1913-1947), the author of the novel "Meoto Zenzai," is said to have been good at administering methamphetamine shots. Soon after World War II, he was often seen tucking up his sleeve with a deliberate air to give himself a shot while drinking with others.

Referring to this act, Ango Sakaguichi (1906-1955), a fellow writer of the Buraiha (decadent school), made the following comment in an essay: "Since it was the latest fad at the time, he apparently wanted to show off."

Whether in an attempt to appear decadent or just because they think it's cool, a number of university students suspected of possessing, selling, buying or growing marijuana have been arrested recently. The pollution is believed to be widespread. University officials are on edge, worrying whether their students are clean.

I saw footage of a student being nabbed on television. The student repeatedly asked an investigator searching his apartment "Are you serious?"

The student appeared defeated upon hearing the answer, "This is for real." Perhaps the student was growing marijuana with little sense of guilt, but the price he has to pay is high.

What is serious is the fact that nearly 70 percent of being caught for drug violations involve people in their teens or 20s. While it is true that curiosity is an important attribute of youth, using drugs out of curiosity must be condemned.

Marijuana could serve as a pathway to harder drugs. If people give in to temptation and cross the threshold, a straight road to destruction awaits them.

"Ones who start a fashion are heroes, those who refuse to follow it to the end are daring and all those in between are fools." Playwright Masakazu Yamazaki quoted the line he once wrote for an old drama in a monthly magazine.

If marijuana is a fashion for some young people, all those who fall for it would be fools, if we are to follow Yamazaki's logic.

Although I don't think the people who started it are heroes, I urge others not to follow their lead and remain "daring." It would be too wasteful for young people to smoke pot just to see what they have accumulated go up in smoke.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Nov. 19(IHT/Asahi: November 20,2008)

2008年11月19日 星期三

浪速書林

梶原 正弘さん(かじはら・まさひろ=浪速書林店主)11日、肺気腫で死去、75歳。 通夜は12日午後7時、葬儀は13日正午から大阪府池田市新町1の16の弘誓寺(ぐぜ いじ)会館で。

天地玄妙無盡藏星辰引渡一點光- 何謂浪速

所以出現了一些地名、例如難波(容易發難的波浪)、浪速(波浪很快速) 而這些名稱就一直延用至今 在日本只要是說なにわ(浪速、難波的日本發音)、就是指大阪 ...

2008年11月18日 星期二

Japanese Stores Take Convenience To a New Level

Japanese Stores Take Convenience To a New Level

Washington Post Foreign Service
Saturday, November 8, 2008; Page A01

YOKOHAMA, Japan, Nov. 7 -- Sony sinks, Toyota tumbles, and the Nikkei stock index plunges to lows not seen for more than a quarter of a century. But the global financial storm can't rattle Japan's convenience stores, where sales are up smartly.

These hardy and still-multiplying spawn of 7-Eleven now number about 41,700, and they are arguably the most convenient convenience stores on Earth.

At Happy Lawson, a kid-friendly store that overlooks Yokohama Harbor, you can buy fresh sushi and carbon offsets, pay income tax and change diapers, book airplane tickets and sip vodka coolers. There's hot soup, cold beer, fresh bread, clean toilets, french fries, earwax remover, spotless floors, and a broadband-empowered machine that will order home appliances, book concert tickets and sign you up for driver's ed.

No Big Gulp, no Slurpee, no mini-pizzas sweating grease under a hot light, but you can drop off luggage for the bullet train and park a stroller beside the bar that abuts the toddler play area. "For mothers to maybe have a sip of alcohol while children play is, I think, welcome," said Kazuo Kimera, a spokesman for Lawson Inc., which has about 8,600 convenience stores across Japan.

Americans invented the chain convenience store in Dallas in 1927, and it is still going strong. There are 146,294 of them in 50 states with annual sales of $577 billion, or about 4 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product, according to the Association for Convenience and Petroleum Retailing.


Japan got into the game in 1974, when the first 7-Eleven opened. Since then, though, Japan has tirelessly improved on the original, doing to convenience stores what it has done to automobiles. Luckily for the American competition, Japanese convenience stores are not an export item.

"We have standardized the size of the store to 100 square meters and 2,500 products," said Tetsu Kaieda, managing director of the Japan Franchise Association. "We don't need anything more or anything less to sell convenience."

Inside these tight quarters, stores pack a galaxy of carefully calibrated services.

At FamilyMart, customers can make appointments for someone to vacuum their home. At 7-Eleven (now run by a Japanese-owned company), there's a drop-off laundry service. To cater to Japan's oldest-in-the-world population, the Lawson chain has invented "Lawson Plus" stores, which carry false-teeth cleanser, hair dye and bouquets suitable for graves. Aisles are wider, signs have larger print, and there are massage chairs with blood-pressure machines nearby.

Nearly any bill in Japan -- utility, phone, cable or tax -- can be paid at a convenience store. About $80 billion worth were paid that way last year.

Japan is one of the world's most earthquake-prone countries, and convenience stores here are trying to corner the market on worst-case scenarios. When Big Ones hit, they let government agencies take advantage of their ubiquity for the delivery of emergency water and other supplies.

In cases of spouse abuse or any kind of crime, victims are welcomed at convenience stores, where a clerk will look after them under scalding fluorescent light until police arrive. Last year, 39,000 people fled to convenience stores for personal safety.


Food, too, is intensively managed and several cuts above the quality generally found in U.S. convenience stores. The typical Japanese store is visited 10 times a day by delivery trucks, most of them bringing in fresh lunchboxes, pastries, desserts and vegetables -- and hauling away perishable food that has failed to sell in the past few hours.

Then there are cigarettes. They have been very, very good for convenience stores, especially this year.

About 40 percent of Japanese men smoke, one of the highest rates in the developed world and nearly double the rate for men in the United States. Struggling to bring the smoking rate down, Japan this summer introduced "smart cards," which can be obtained only by adults and which are necessary to buy cigarettes at vending machines. The cards, though, have proved unpopular with smokers, who come instead to convenience stores to buy cigarettes from a human being.

Since the law went into effect in July, convenience stores' sales have increased sharply. But sales were growing this spring anyway, before the new law, as the Japanese economy began to slide into recession and sales at supermarkets and department stores floundered.

"We are always very strong during bad times," said Kaieda, from the convenience store association, noting that convenience stores grew vigorously during Japan's "lost decade" of recession in the 1990s. "Our share of the markets goes up because other sales go down. We are not doing bad at all."

Here in Yokohama, Happy Lawson seems to have figured out the needs of a broad spectrum of customers. The place is packed at midday with moms, children, businessmen, students and retirees.

"It is handy to come here to buy diapers, pay bills and make bookings for trips," said Mazuna Okata, 35, who sat with her daughter Ayuma, 2, at a table in Happy Lawson's play area. "Here it is welcome to have kids screaming."

Special correspondent Akiko Yamamoto contributed to this report.

日本兩名前厚生省高官住宅遇襲

日本兩名前厚生省高官住宅遇襲
警察在攻擊現場調查
警方懷疑兩起案件是針對前厚生省官員的恐怖襲擊

據日本媒體報道,兩名前厚生省高級官員的住宅在同一天相繼遇襲。警方懷疑是恐怖攻擊。

日本共同社報道,日本當地時間周二(18日)傍晚6點半左右,家住東京都中野區的前厚生事務次官吉原健二的妻子靖子在自家門口被偽裝成宅急便送貨員的男性刺擊胸部受重傷。

吉原健二在1988年至1990年期間曾擔任厚生事務次官。

當天在課玉市還發生了前厚生事務次官山口剛彥夫婦兩人被刺殺的案件。日本警方正在調查兩起案件之間的聯繫。

報道說,警察廳認為兩起案件可能是針對前厚生省官員的恐怖襲擊,要求全國警察加強對相關人員的警衛工作。

據報,這兩名前厚生省官員都因捲入導致數百萬養老金記錄丟失的醜聞而辭職。

那一事件曾在日本引起巨大公憤。

2008年11月17日 星期一

Chiune Sugihara, Yukiko

A couple's courage in the face of terrible evil

2008/11/17

The Golden Triangle is an opium-producing region on the Indochinese Peninsula. As this case suggests, something that is known by a beautiful name is not necessarily beautiful in itself. In fact, the beautiful words can sometimes magnify the ugliness of the reality.

A case in point is Kristallnacht, or literally "crystal night." Also known in history as the Night of Broken Glass for the glittering fragments of shattered windows heaped on the streets, it was a nationwide pogrom that took place in Nazi Germany in 1938. Many Jews were killed, injured or hauled away on late Nov. 9 and early Nov. 10 exactly 70 years ago.

The Nazi persecution of Jews escalated from that point to sending them by trainloads to death camps. After the German invasion of Poland in September 1939, some of Poland's 3.5 million Jews fled north and reached Lithuania the following summer. It is well known that Chiune Sugihara, a Japanese diplomat stationed in Lithuania, saved 6,000 Jews by issuing Japan-transit visas to them.

His wife, Yukiko, recalled that time in her autobiography. The couple's eldest son, wide-eyed at the hordes of refugees arriving at the Japanese Consulate, asked his mother, "What are they doing here?" Yukiko replied, "They came to ask for help because they don't want to be caught and killed by bad people." "Is dad going to help them?" the boy asked. After a moment's hesitation, Yukiko answered firmly, "Yes."

Lithuania had already been annexed by the Soviet Union, and the Japanese Consulate was being forced to close. In his final month before departure, Sugihara kept issuing hand-written visas in defiance of Tokyo's orders. According to Yukiko, his arm cramped, and while she massaged it to ease the pain, he would fall asleep from utter exhaustion.

Sugihara died in 1986. A devoted husband, he must have missed Yukiko terribly in heaven. But they were finally reunited when Yukiko joined him on Oct. 8. She was 94.

A memorial ceremony for Yukiko was held on Nov. 9 at Tokyo's Aoyama Sougisho funeral hall. It was the perfect date for remembering the courage of the Sugiharas and the unspeakable evil perpetrated by Nazi Germany.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Nov. 9(IHT/Asahi: November 17,2008)

Scrutinizing government is the media's job

Scrutinizing government is the media's job

2008/11/15


Freedom of speech was not an alien concept to Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States and principal author of the Declaration of Independence. Members of the Fourth Estate today are often happy to bring up this famous Jefferson quote: "Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter."

But Jefferson apparently became resentful of the press in later years, as this less-known but mordant observation suggests: "The man who reads nothing at all is better educated than the man who reads nothing but newspapers." Perhaps he was royally ticked off by some of the things the papers said of his presidency.

Hiroshi Okuda, a senior adviser to Toyota Motor Corp., is reportedly just as irked with the press. In his case, however, his displeasure is not over the way he has been treated by the media.

Okuda was quoted as saying during a panel meeting to discuss the nation's health, labor and welfare administration, "The media's bashing of the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare has crossed the line ... I feel like retaliating (against the media)." By retaliation, he apparently meant pulling advertisements and TV commercials.

The nation is in good health if the government is subjected to critical scrutiny for how it exercises its popularly vested power. This is the job of the media, and surely Okuda must know that. What got into him?

The former chairman of Nippon Keidanren (Japan Business Federation) was particularly displeased with television. It is not his style to mince words, but I think he did go a bit over the top for remarking, "Two or three miserable individuals appear on television every day to rant and rave."

Okuda chairs the panel in question, which was created in response to the pension mess. It is not appropriate for someone like Okuda, who has tremendous influence on Japanese business and political circles, to suggest muzzling free criticism.

Perhaps Jefferson's animosity toward the press was proof that the latter was doing its job. But I must hasten to add that the media must always report only the truth. Criticism and responsibility must go together.

The press is sometimes wrong, and this should be humbly acknowledged. Still, free speech is indispensable to any healthy society.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Nov. 14(IHT/Asahi: November 15,2008)

Any likelihood of reform is receding fast

Venom-spewing U.S. pollutes pond for all fish

2008/11/18

The final years of the Edo Period (1603-1867) were turbulent times. Foreign vessels kept showing up uninvited in Japanese waters, while a spate of devastating earthquakes and fires wrought havoc on the old Japanese capital of Edo (present-day Tokyo). Popular unease found frequent expression in namazu-e catfish pictures, a genre of ukiyo-e images dealing with mass culture.

In traditional Japanese folklore, catfish were underground dwellers that caused earthquakes. Typical namazu-e of the era depicted monster catfish punished by people for causing quakes, but there were also those in which the namazu, contrite for the destruction they had caused, are shown aiding citizens in their post-quake reconstruction efforts.

In my mind's eye, I picture the United States today as a supersized namazu, weakened but still spewing venom after having acted out with shameless abandon for years. Smaller fish inhabiting the same pond, stuck with the woeful consequences that have befallen them collectively, gathered together over the weekend to discuss what to do. That, to me, sums up the Group of 20 financial summit in Washington.

The G-20 declaration admitted that "some advanced countries" had erred in addressing the risks building up in the financial markets, and that they would henceforth strengthen their cooperation to deal with the crisis. A translation into "namazu-speak" would go something like, "If we have to keep living in the same pond, we can't turn our backs on the problems of others. Small fry or a bit bigger, each of us needs to do what we can."

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, among other things, have depleted America's coffers. This means the country is dependent on foreign funding, and to make sure it keeps flowing in, the United States has to stick to its laissez-faire market policy and protect the dollar's prestige. That such U.S. interests have to trump the collective interests of the "pond" is indicative of what ails this big namazu.

And I have to wonder what good the G-20 declaration will do, given that it was issued by the outgoing president of the very country that is the epicenter of the current global economic upheaval.

In his book "Nazotoki Hiroshige 'Edo Hyaku'" (Explaining the riddles of Hiroshige's 100 works depicting Edo) from Shueisha Inc., Minoru Harashida (1947-2007) notes that the public's hope for social change in the wake of cataclysmic natural disasters led to the eventual transformation of the namazu's identity into that of a "god of social reform."

Like a big namazu, the United States is sometimes incorrigible. But when it does change, the change is swift and decisive. Remember, the next president who will assume office in January fired up the nation with his campaign message of change and the rousing, inspirational slogan of "Yes, we can."

In contrast, our political leaders couldn't be more anemic. The prime minister is trying to lure voters with fixed-sum cash handouts--worth about two days' part-time work per person--but is obviously scared of calling an election now. Any likelihood of reform is receding fast.

For our prime minister to follow the "leader of the pond," he needs to be even quicker and more resourceful. But sadly, he now has the gravitas of pond algae.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Nov. 17(IHT/Asahi: November 18,2008)

2008年11月16日 星期日

Neighborhood in Japan Files Lawsuit in Bid to Oust Mafia

Neighborhood in Japan Files Lawsuit in Bid to Oust Mafia

Ko Sasaki for The New York Times

Akemi Shigematsu, a residential association leader in Kurume, Japan, made the Dojinkai, a crime syndicate, sign a letter of understanding.


Published: November 15, 2008

KURUME, Japan — Just like any other business, the Dojinkai was always attentive to the needs of the residents surrounding its headquarters here. Its members adhered to the sacred rules of living in a Japanese neighborhood by handing out small moving-in gifts, exchanging greetings with the neighbors and, needless to say, properly sorting out their trash.


Ko Sasaki for The New York Times

More than 600 residents recently went to court to oust the Dojinkai from its six-story headquarters in a prominent commercial area.

Never mind that the Dojinkai has long been one of Japan’s top organized crime syndicates, or yakuza, brethren of the American mafia. When it came to the all-important social rules governing Japanese neighborhoods, the Dojinkai was neighborly enough that a young hairstylist did not hesitate to open a fashionable salon, complete with music by Enya, a stone’s throw away from the headquarters.

But residents began worrying two years ago after factional fighting spilled out onto the streets, one time with machine-gun fire and explosions.

More than 600 residents recently went to court to oust the Dojinkai from its six-story headquarters, located in a prominent commercial area near the main train station in this medium-sized city in western Japan.

The lawsuit was the first of its kind in Japan, where the yakuza’s offices tend to be out in the open. It shined a spotlight on how the yakuza — long considered a necessary evil, tolerated by, and sometimes politically allied with, the authorities — occupy a place much closer to society’s mainstream than its American counterparts do. But it has also challenged that seemingly secure position.

“Our headquarters is our castle,” said Nobuyuki Shinozuka, 54, the Dojinkai’s acting chairman. “It’s the one thing that we find most precious, that we’re most concerned about.”

So much so that Mr. Shinozuka and the other two leaders of the Dojinkai, 1,000 members strong, sat down the other day for a rare, 90-minute interview.

They said they had lived peacefully with their neighbors since moving to their current location in 1986. They believed that outsiders were exploiting their running factional conflict — which has led to seven killings in the past two years — to try to expel them.

The Dojinkai is one of the country’s 22 crime syndicates, employing some 85,000 members and recognized by the government.

Traditionally, the yakuza have run protection rackets, as well as gambling, sex and other businesses that the authorities believed were a necessary part of any society. By letting the yakuza operate relatively freely, the authorities were able to keep an extremely close watch on them.

As the syndicates have moved into drug trafficking and other more serious activities in recent years, however, laws against organized crime have gotten tougher.

But they are nowhere near as sweeping as America’s 1970 Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO, which the government has used to take down the mafia.

With their current chairman in prison, the three Dojinkai leaders spoke inside their lawyer’s office in the nearby city of Kumamoto. Asked about their business activities, they demurred.

But the three men — Mr. Shinozuka, whose neatly trimmed beard and mustache emphasized his movie star looks; Hideki Fukui, 59, an avuncular type who was a fan of the “Godfather” movies; and Shuhei Tsutsumi, 54, an intense-looking man who rarely spoke — insisted they never broke neighborhood rules.

“Not once have we had any trouble with any of our neighbors,” Mr. Fukui said. “That’s because our second chairman was very strict in that respect.”

So as not to inconvenience their neighbors, the Dojinkai eschewed the telltale flashier trappings of their counterparts in bigger cities.

They were forbidden to wear double-breasted suits. They were told to be circumspect while getting in and out of their cars by not lingering outside, and not to park their cars ostentatiously on the streets.

“We’ve seen how the yakuza in Osaka or Tokyo occupy the streets with their cars, but we were explicitly taught not to do that,” Mr. Fukui said, adding that Dojinkai members are also taught to exchange greetings with the neighbors. “We are stricter on this point than most ordinary companies.”

Here in Kurume, people on the blocks surrounding the Dojinkai’s headquarters said they had had few complaints until two years ago. Schoolchildren used to walk past the headquarters without fear, they said. Dojinkai members used up all the street parking during their monthly syndicate-wide meeting, but that was about it.

But two years ago, a fight over succession led one faction to break off and form its own syndicate, called the Seidokai.

The ensuing and continuing war led to the killings of members on both sides, as well as the murder inside a hospital of a man mistaken for a rival by a Dojinkai member. (The Dojinkai leaders visited the victim’s widow, burned incense at the family’s home and later gave financial compensation.)

Many residents now say they fear getting caught in the cross-fire.

According to city hall, 603 plaintiffs living or working within 547 yards of the headquarters joined the lawsuit against the Dojinkai. Some 5,508 people signed a petition endorsing the lawsuit. Private donations to assist the suit totaled $90,000, on top of a $300,000 contribution from the city.

“Before there was never any problem, but one night around 11 p.m. I heard machine-gun fire, and I thought that’s strange, I don’t remember any construction going on,” said Kimiyo Morita, 62, who lives several blocks away from the headquarters. “We can’t live in peace.”

But opinion was split among those living closest to the Dojinkai, including an older couple whose house had a view of the headquarters. The husband favored evicting the Dojinkai, but his wife did not.

“They have to earn a living, too, so it’s not good to keep pushing them, ‘get out, get out,’ ” said the wife, who, like other residents in area, did not want to be identified for fear of drawing the Dojinkai’s attention. “As long as they don’t hurt ordinary citizens, it’s O.K. They may come on strong when they are together, but individually they are no problem. They always greet you, ‘Hello!’ ”

At the Enya-playing salon, the owner said he moved here four years ago, not overly concerned about the yakuza nearby.

Like many Japanese, he believed the yakuza had the authorities’ tacit approval to operate, so making them move carried little meaning.

“They’ll just move somewhere else,” he said.

Indeed, girding for battle in court, Dojinkai members have left their headquarters and moved into a separate building they own next door. A sign on the building claims, however, that the group has relocated its headquarters to a branch office it owns about two miles away.

At that branch office, the Dojinkai’s next-door neighbor was an equally fearsome fixture of neighborhood life in Japan: the residential association leader who knows everybody’s business and makes sure that all residents abide by Japan’s byzantine garbage disposal and sorting rules. The association leader, Akemi Shigematsu, 66, requested that the Dojinkai sign a memorandum of understanding when it opened the branch office 11 years ago.

The Dojinkai’s chairman at the time, Yoshihisa Matsuo, quickly complied, promising in the memorandum that members would not threaten passers-by, park illegally, mill around, throw away cigarette butts, litter or be a bad influence on schoolchildren.

In the beginning, there were problems, which Ms. Shigematsu jotted down in a notepad she has kept to this day. Entries for Oct. 10, 1998, included: (1) “no greeting”; (2) “speaking loudly on the phone on the street late a night;” (9) “messy disposal of garbage.”

Not surprisingly, Ms. Shigematsu said the yakuza now respected the neighborhood’s rules.

“They don’t bother the neighborhood,” she said, adding: “If I go speak to them about something — for example, about throwing away the trash — they’ll say, ‘Sorry!’ ”

Mrs. Shigematsu, however, still checked the contents of the Dojinkai’s garbage bins just to make sure.

The Dojinkai leaders said they and their subordinates, almost all locals, were also members of the community and simply followed neighborhood rules. They said they wanted to coexist with their neighbors, though they acknowledged that their activities sometimes “disturbed” society.

“If a friend is killed, an ordinary person will become emotional and probably dream of revenge,” Mr. Shinozuka said.

“But we go through with it,” he added. “That’s how we’ve been taught. And because of that difference, we disturb society.”

Partly as atonement, the Dojinkai leaders said they gave large gifts to earthquake-relief efforts, as well as to local senior homes and orphanages, from which they have recruited some of its members.

For them, the lawsuit’s outcome may decide not only the future of the headquarters, but also influence the yakuza’s place in Japan.

“It’s up to the state,” Mr. Shinozuka said. “If the state feels it no longer needs us, it can pass a law banning the yakuza. But if it feels even a little bit that it still needs us, then we’ll find some way to survive.”

2008年11月14日 星期五

People crave genuine security, not handouts

People crave genuine security, not handouts

2008/11/14

Since time immemorial, it has been said that the image of humans envisioned through the political sphere is rather ugly. I heard that is why modern political science is generally based on the view that humans are inherently evil.

For example, the Italian political philosopher Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527) made the pungent observation that when people are offered benefits they are all for it, but once they are expected to make a sacrifice, they adopt a defiant attitude and flee. I remember reading about his views many years ago in a book by political scientist Masao Maruyama (1914-1996).

However, the results of an Asahi Shimbun public opinion poll point to a somewhat different take on Machiavelli's view of human nature. As many as 63 percent of the respondents to the survey said the government's plan to hand out fixed-sum cash benefits to all households is an "unnecessary policy." At the same time, the ratio of people who supported the prime minister's proposal to raise the consumption tax rate was slightly higher than those who opposed it.

It would certainly be nice to receive some cash from the government but what the people really want more than immediate handouts is security in the true sense of the word. Am I too hasty to draw such a conclusion from the survey results? It is obvious that the policy is also aimed at winning public favor before an election. "If handouts are given to everyone/ It would not be vote-buying" is a satirical 17-syllable poem that appeared on the vernacular Asahi Shimbun's senryu column. I think it is so apt that it deserves a prize.

However, the wishy-washy way the government has been dealing with the program is deplorable. Unable to decide whether to set an income cap on recipients of the handouts, in the end, it left the decision to municipal governments that would be distributing them. The attitude is tantamount to saying, "We are paying the money so do what you like with it." The way it passed the buck illustrates the impoverished state of Japanese politics.

To explain the crux of government, British philosopher and politician Francis Bacon (1561-1626) likened money to manure and said it is only useful when it is spread widely. But this time, what crop will grow after manuring? The amount is a staggering 2 trillion yen. If the policy proves barren, the government would be unable to look Bacon in the eye.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Nov. 13(IHT/Asahi: November 14,2008)

plan for straight flight paths

Transport ministry moves ahead plan for straight flight paths

THE ASAHI SHIMBUN

2008/11/14

The government will accelerate its plan to use global positioning and other high-tech systems for all major domestic air routes to shorten flight times, reduce fuel consumption and enhance air safety.

The target for full implementation of area navigation (RNAV) flight methods on the 75 main domestic routes is the end of March 2012, one year earlier than initially planned.

RNAV involves the use of satellites and other technology to guide aircraft. Current flight-positioning methods rely on ground-based radio navigation stations, forcing aircraft to travel in a zigzag manner to fly near or above those facilities.

Pilots using RNAV can assess their bearings without ground support and follow a near-straight path to their destinations.

Officials of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism say RNAV will enable domestic carriers to cut fuel use by about 63 million liters a year, amounting to savings of about 5.4 billion yen ($55.6 million).

Flight distances can be cut by an average of about 2 percent, or a reduction of around two minutes for a two-hour flight, the officials said.

However, it has yet to be seen how the new system will affect air fares, they said.

There are other enormous benefits to using RNAV, according to the ministry.

The shorter flights will enable airlines to cut carbon dioxide emissions by about 155,000 tons a year, equivalent to the emissions from about 29,000 households.

And switching to RNAV from the 98 ground navigation aid stations currently in use will reduce air traffic congestion along busy routes.

For example, under normal weather conditions, a flight from Haneda Airport in Tokyo to Kushiro Airport in Hokkaido must fly over ground facilities in Sendai and Miyako, Iwate Prefecture, and then veer eastward near a facility off the Sanriku coast of northern Honshu before returning to a northwest course for Kushiro.

Other aircraft must also fly over these facilities, leading to air-traffic congestion.

RNAV is already partially in use around eight airports, including Haneda Airport, Osaka Airport and Fukuoka Airport.(IHT/Asahi: November 14,2008)

2008年11月12日 星期三

Japan sacks general over WWII stance 空幕長更迭military supremacy

Essay row shows risks of military supremacy

2008/11/13

Looking back to the time Gen. Douglas MacArthur (1880-1964) was dismissed by U.S. President Harry Truman (1884-1972), former Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa, who died last year, said he felt as though he had been struck by lightning.

MacArthur had reigned like a king as supreme commander of the Allied powers during the post-World War II occupation of Japan.

He was removed due to actions and statements that disregarded U.S. government policy on the Korean War. Japan was surprised there existed someone with greater powers than the supreme commander. The dismissal may have opened young Miyazawa's eyes to the concept of civilian control.

Placing the military under the command of a civilian government is considered a basic principle of democracy. But it seems there is an impudent movement within the Self-Defense Forces (SDF) to slight that principle.

Quite a few people must have sensed a "prewar mind-set," supposedly suppressed in post-war Japan, in the controversial essay by Toshio Tamogami, the Air SDF chief of staff who was ousted for his treatise.

Tamogami appeared as an unsworn witness before the Diet on Tuesday. During his testimony, he did not reflect on his essay, in which he opposed the official government position on World War II.

In answer to the question, "Do you think in your heart that the SDF should be allowed to openly use weapons?" Tamogami replied: "I believe so." After listening to his testimony on several matters, I have no choice but to say he is unfit to lead a team of 50,000 troops.

The Imperial Rescript to Soldiers and Sailors issued by Emperor Meiji (1852-1912) banned military personnel from becoming involved in politics. But the former Imperial Japanese Army of the Showa Era (1926-1989) defied the order and eventually led Japan to war.

Although I do not think we are returning to prewar times, if the people sense an ominous political overtone in an armed group, it could cause public anxiety.

Incidentally, Wednesday marked the 60th anniversary of the pronouncement of sentences by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East, which tried war crimes committed during World War II.

Former Prime Minister Koki Hirota (1878-1948) was the only civilian to be executed following the trials.

The tragic fate of a prime minister who failed to keep military power in check reminds us of a dark age when civilian control was ineffective.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Nov. 12(IHT/Asahi: November 13,2008)


Sacked air force chief likens Japan to NKorea

TOKYO (AFP) — Japan's sacked air force chief likened his country's level of democracy to communist North Korea as the government Tuesday tried to calm a furore over his assertion Japan was not the wartime aggressor.

"If you are not allowed to say even a word that counters the government's statements, you cannot possibly call the country democratic," former general Toshio Tamogami told a press conference late Monday.

"It's just like North Korea," he said.

Tamogami was fired for writing in an essay that Japan was falsely accused of being the aggressor and calling for the nation to shed elements of its post-World War II pacifism.

He retired on Monday two years early rather than serve in a lesser position.

Tamogami said many Asian nations "take a positive view" of Japan's past military actions, seeing Tokyo as a bulwark against Western imperialism.

The scandal came at a bad time for Prime Minister Taro Aso, who criticised Tamogami's remarks but has raised controversy himself in the past for defending parts of Japanese colonialism.

The Yomiuri Shimbun daily Tuesday released a poll showing that more people disapproved of the Aso government's performance than approved of it for the first time since he took over in September. Approval stood at 40.5 percent.

Aso on Tuesday ordered Defence Minister Yasukazu Hamada to scrutinise the case of Tamogami, especially the responsibility of his supervisors.

Hamada admitted he was in the dark about the essay until it was published.

Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone also told reporters that he has assured China and South Korea about Japan's position on the war.

Tamogami's thesis contradicted a 1995 statement issued by then prime minister Tomiichi Murayama and endorsed by his successors which apologised for Japan's past aggression and colonial rule in Asia.

China, the two Koreas and other Asian nations, which still have painful memories of Japan's aggression, strongly denounced Tamogami's remarks.

Refusing to let the scandal pass, Japan's opposition, which controls one house of parliament and is ahead in some polls, has decided to summon Tamogami to a parliamentary hearing, Jiji Press said.

The hearing is expected to prolong deliberations on extending a controversial naval mission supporting US-led forces in Afghanistan -- a top priority for Aso.

In his essay, Tamogami also said US president Franklin Roosevelt set up "a trap" that forced Japan to attack Pearl Harbor, but that the United States later tried to pin all war responsibility on Japan.

"I don't believe I am wrong," Tamogami told reporters, refusing to back down. "I didn't expect (the essay) would result in such a big thing."

"I had thought it's about time for Japan to accept" such views, he said. "But I might have judged wrong."

The commander of the US forces in Japan told a news conference the case would not affect the two countries' alliance. The United States stations more than 40,000 troops in Japan under a post-war treaty.

"The government of Japan was very quick to underscore that these were not the official views of the government of Japan or the Self-Defence Forces," Lieutenant General Edward Rice said, referring to pacifist Japan's military.

"So as we look to the future, I certainly as the commander of the US forces in Japan intend to continue to work very closely with the Self-Defence Forces," he said.

空幕長更迭―ぞっとする自衛官の暴走

 こんなゆがんだ考えの持ち主が、こともあろうに自衛隊組織のトップにいたとは。驚き、あきれ、そして心胆が寒くなるような事件である。

 田母神(たもがみ)俊雄・航空幕僚長が日本の植民地支配や侵略行為を正当化し、旧軍を美化する趣旨の論文を書き、民間企業の懸賞に応募していた。

 論文はこんな内容だ。

 「我が国は蒋介石により日中戦争に引きずり込まれた被害者」「我が国は極めて穏当な植民地統治をした」「日本はルーズベルト(米大統領)の仕掛けた罠(わな)にはまり、真珠湾攻撃を決行した」「我が国が侵略国家だったというのはまさに濡(ぬ)れ衣(ぎぬ)である」――。

 一部の右派言論人らが好んで使う、実証的データの乏しい歴史解釈や身勝手な主張がこれでもかと並ぶ。

 空幕長は5万人の航空自衛隊のトップである。陸上、海上の幕僚長とともに制服の自衛官を統括し、防衛相を補佐する。軍事専門家としての能力はむろんのこと、高い人格や識見、バランスのとれた判断力が求められる。

 その立場で懸賞論文に応募すること自体、職務に対する自覚の欠如を物語っているが、田母神氏の奇矯な言動は今回に限ったことではない。

 4月には航空自衛隊のイラクでの輸送活動を違憲だとした名古屋高裁の判決について「そんなの関係ねえ」と記者会見でちゃかして問題になった。自衛隊の部隊や教育組織での発言で、田母神氏の歴史認識などが偏っていることは以前から知られていた。

 防衛省内では要注意人物だと広く認識されていたのだ。なのに歴代の防衛首脳は田母神氏の言動を放置し、トップにまで上り詰めさせた。その人物が政府の基本方針を堂々と無視して振る舞い、それをだれも止められない。

 これはもう「文民統制」の危機というべきだ。浜田防衛相は田母神氏を更迭したが、この過ちの重大さはそれですまされるものではない。

 制服組の人事については、政治家や内局の背広組幹部も関与しないのが慣習だった。この仕組みを抜本的に改めない限り、組織の健全さは保てないことを、今回の事件ははっきり示している。防衛大学校での教育や幹部養成課程なども見直す必要がある。

 国際関係への影響も深刻だ。自衛隊には、中国や韓国など近隣国が神経をとがらせてきた。長年の努力で少しずつ信頼を積み重ねてきたのに、その成果が大きく損なわれかねない。米国も開いた口がふさがるまい。

 多くの自衛官もとんだ迷惑だろう。日本の国益は深く傷ついた。

 麻生首相は今回の論文を「不適切」と語ったが、そんな認識ではまったく不十分だ。まず、この事態を生んだ組織や制度の欠陥を徹底的に調べ、その結果と改善策を国会に報告すべきだ。





Japan Fires General Who Said a US ‘Trap’ Led to the Pearl Harbor ...
New York Times - United States
By NORIMITSU ONISHI TOKYO — A high-ranking Japanese military official was dismissed Friday for writing an essay stating that the United States had ensnared ...
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Straits Times


Japan sacks general over WWII stance
Straits Times - Singapore
TOKYO: Japan's air force chief was sacked yesterday for writing an essay in which he denied the country was an aggressor in World War II, a stance likely to ...
See all stories on this topic

青信号「←・↑・→」、交通量で調節

青信号「←・↑・→」、交通量で調節 全国初の4方向

2008年11月12日12時58分


 車の通行量に応じて青信号を柔軟に割り振り、渋滞を緩和する。そんな機能を備えた新型信号機が17日、愛知県田原市内の十字路に登場する。東西南北の4 方向ともに同じ機能が付いた信号機が設置されるのは全国で初めて。県警は効果を確かめながら、ほかの地域への拡大を検討していく。

 新しい信号機は、青信号が直進・右折・左折の三つの緑色の矢印が表示される形式。それぞれの道路で、信号の約200~300メートル手前と直前の 計2カ所にセンサーを設ける。道路の交通量に応じて青信号が点灯する時間を自動的に調節する。横断する歩行者がいない場合は、歩行者用信号を赤のままに し、車を優先的に流す仕組みになっている。

 設置場所はトヨタ自動車田原工場などに近い県道交差点。通勤の車やトラックなどが行き交い、特に朝夕の渋滞は慢性的になっている。時間帯や曜日による交通量の変動が激しいため、新型信号が適していると判断された。

 開発したのは社団法人新交通管理システム協会(UTMS協会)。この機能がついた信号機を三重県四日市市に設置して昨年5月から全国初の実験を進めてきたが、東西の2方向だけ。

 今回、新型信号機の設置現場を管轄する田原署は「渋滞の解消や事故防止につながるのではないか」と期待する。

2008年11月11日 星期二

日本人への臓器移植仲介で利益

中国で臓器仲介し利益、事情聴取へ 移植法違反の疑い

2008年11月12日15時0分


 中国・瀋陽市に本部を置く団体が日本人への臓器移植仲介で利益を得ていた疑いが強まったとして、警察当局は、団体の長瀬博之代表(52)に週内にも臓器 移植法違反容疑で任意の事情聴取をする方針を固めた。中国やフィリピンなど国外での臓器売買が問題になっていることから、臓器ビジネスの実態解明を目指 す。臓器のあっせんが立件されれば初めて。

 臓器移植法は、臓器の提供やあっせんの対価として、利益を受けたり与えたりすることを禁じている。違反すれば、5年以下の懲役か500万円以下の罰金が科せられる。

 警察当局によると、団体は「中国国際臓器移植支援センター」。日本国民が国外で罪を犯した場合の国外犯規定の適用を視野に入れる。

 同センターは04年ごろから、インターネットのホームページ(HP)で腎臓や肝臓の移植希望者を募っていた。通訳や付き添いをする日中両国のスタッフを抱え、申し込んだ日本人に、中国人の臓器提供者や、上海や瀋陽の病院を紹介していたとされる。

 長瀬代表は中国の瀋陽市公安局に07年9月、中国で臓器移植に不法にかかわっていたとして逮捕された。HPに「中国で唯一許可を受けた腎臓移植の 紹介機関」と虚偽の記載をしたり、腎臓移植件数を偽ったりしたとして虚偽広告罪で起訴された。今年10月末、瀋陽市中級人民法院から懲役1年2カ月、罰金 10万元、国外追放の判決を言い渡され、刑期が今月10日に満了したため帰国したという。

 警察当局は、中国で仲介行為が審理されていないことから、同じ罪を2度裁くことを禁じた「一事不再理」にはあたらないと判断した。

 事情聴取は、長瀬代表が以前、神奈川県に住んでいたため、同県警が実施する予定。警察庁は、国際刑事警察機構(ICPO)を通じ中国側に捜査結果を照会している。今後、長瀬代表の仲介で移植手術を受けた日本人と中国人臓器提供者の特定を進める。

12th-century Shinto deities found

12th-century Shinto deities found in ditch at shrine site

BY MITSUO UENO, THE ASAHI SHIMBUN

2008/11/12


photoFive wooden deity figurines excavated in Shiga Prefecture. The two at top left and bottom left are believed to be male gods. The others are thought to be goddesses. (PHOTOS BY TADAHIKO ARAMOTO/ THE ASAHI SHIMBUN)

NISHI-AZAI, Shiga Prefecture--Five palm-sized wooden Shinto deity figures believed to date back to the late 12th century have been excavated from the ruins of a shrine here, the prefectural board of education said Monday.

It is the first time more than one such statue has been unearthed in the same dig, officials said.

The figures, 10 to 15 centimeters high, were found in a ditch by researchers from the Shiga Prefecture Cultural Properties Protection Association as part of an excavation carried out along with river upgrade work.

Their forms suggest two are male gods, and the others goddesses.

Roof tiles, cypress bark and other building materials also were found, officials said, adding the statues were likely buried when a shrine hall crumbled during a natural disaster such as an earthquake.

The shrine site is a key part of the Shiotsu port ruins at the northern tip of Lake Biwako, a major hub for water transport in the past.

The figures are damaged after remaining buried for centuries, but the male figures appear to be clad in formal court noble attire with kanmuri headgear, while the females are dressed like court ladies with long hair.

Ancient Shinto followers did not traditionally worship icons, but divine figures in human form--priests, nobles, warriors or children--were created from the late eighth century under the influence of Buddhism, the officials said.(IHT/Asahi: November 12,2008)

Cell phone shopping in Japan

Cell phone shopping makes wallets redundant in Japan
By Sachi Izumi
Reuters
Monday, November 10, 2008; 10:40 PM

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese office worker Satoshi Tada pays for shopping, wins free food and gets store discounts all by waving his cell phone.

"I use it pretty much every day," the 25-year-old said. "You can charge money on it right there if needed, and you don't have to run around trying to find an ATM. You can even get points because it's linked to credit cards."

The world's top firms such as Visa Inc and Nokia are still mostly testing phone use for payments, but in Japan, more than 50 million, or about half of all cell phone users, already carry phones capable of serving as wallets.

Japan has pioneered not just the technology but also the business models that will pave the way for wallet phones to become a standard payment method in the future. Some 700 million people worldwide are expected to own such phones by 2013.


"You can't deny that having such applications on a phone is convenient, and that will likely be the way that mobile phones are going worldwide," said JPMorgan Securities analyst Hironobu Sawake in Tokyo.

"People always carry cell phones on them, and they would find it useful to have a financial function there."

Success in Japan and in trials abroad have shown that the technology is ready for cell phones to replace credit cards, cash as well as serve as transportation and movie tickets and electronic keys for homes and offices.

But there are other hurdles; from breaking the psychological barrier for consumers skeptical about using phones as credit cards, to working out new business models as the lines blur between banks, financial institutions and cell phone companies.

Japan is leading the way in this regard.

KDDI, for example, is a Japanese telecom operator that has recently set up a bank along with Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group. NTT DoCoMo, Japan's biggest wireless carrier, offers credit cards and lending services as part of a tie up with Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Japan's third-largest bank.

Outside Japan, telecom industry and financial players are still in the midst of working out how the wallet phone payment business would operate, who would get a cut and when.

"Traditional financial industry met telcos by going mobile. Now telecom operators want to play a part in that chain. These talks are well under way," said Gerhard Romen, Director for Strategic Alliances & Partnering at Nokia.

The world's biggest payment card company, Mastercard, said last month it was in talks over commercial launches of phone wallets with several banks, and during the next two years it expects to see substantial activity from retail-focused banks.

"Now banks say: I have no doubt in the technology. We need to solve the business model between mobile and payments industries. It's not a trivial task," said James Anderson, a Vice President at Mastercard's mobile business.

"There is a very strong consumer pull for this service," Anderson added.

COUPONS

Tada, the Tokyo office worker, rarely pulls out his leather wallet these days as his cell phone does the job instead.

"For shopping, I use it everywhere I can ... and I also use coupons such as Gourmet Navigator Touch wherever possible," Tada said, citing services at some restaurants that offer coupons and free gifts when customers wave their phones at reader terminals.

NTT DoCoMo began the so-called "wallet phone" service in 2004 and rivals KDDI Corp and Softbank Corp have followed suit. Overseas, Nokia also has such phones on the market.

Nevertheless, despite Japan's relative success with payment phones, still only one-third of wallet phone holders use their cells for purchases.

Consumers in their 20s and 30s are the main users of wallet phone services. Research shows that once they start using, they tend to use frequently and repeatedly, making it a useful tool for companies to track their customers and shopping habits.

"For young people the phone is more important than the card when they leave home," said Nokia's Romen.

McDonald's Japan and 7-Eleven convenience stores have been testing mobile discount coupons, and FeliCa Networks, a joint venture of Sony and DoCoMo, have launched a mobile platform for retailers to offer such services.

"With many cell phones around and most of them being wallet phones, we cannot ignore them as marketing tools," McDonald's Japan spokesman Kazuyuki Hagiwara said. McDonald's plans to widen its mobile discount coupon offering nationwide next year.

The world's top cell phone maker Nokia has started selling wallet phones, though growth is hampered by costs stemming from an extra chip needed in phones for data security. As a result, Nokia's near field communications (NFC) version of devices costs far more than regular phones.

Near field communications (NFC) enables contactless data transmission at high speed and enables many functions at once such as various electronic money services, keys and coupons.

In contrast to Nokia, Japanese makers install Sony Corp's FeliCa chips in new mobile phones by default, and prices are competitive with other cell phones.

Globally, research firm Juniper Research says there will be 700 million NFC-capable phones by 2013, from some 50 million in Japan now, offering major growth for the phone payment industry and the companies that provide the hardware and software.

Credit card network Visa is developing an application to allow in-store contactless payments by cell phone for Google Inc's Android operating system, and UK mobile operator O2 is also testing wallet phones.

Security concerns are high among potential users but DoCoMo says a remote-lock system will protect it from being used by other people in case of emergencies.

One of the remaining hurdles to attract more wallet phone users is to expand the system network.

"It would be so useful if we can use it everywhere. For now we don't know where we can use it and we have to carry both a phone and a wallet," UBS Securities analyst Makio Inui said. "If we can spend a day with just with a phone, that would be big."

(Additional reporting by Tarmo Virki in Helsinki; Editing by Megan Goldin)

http://www.haramuseum.or.jp/generalTop.html
www.haramuseum.or.jp

Art may be great, but ya gotta eat, too

BY YORIKO KAWAMURA, CHIHIRO OKA AND LOUIS TEMPLADO

STAFF WRITERS

2008/10/31


PhotoThe high-tech Lotteria by the Miraikan (LOUIS TEMPLADO)

There's more to enjoy in most museums than the artwork on display. For some, chatting with a companion about the masterpieces they've just seen, or quietly leafing through a newly bought catalog over a cup of coffee can be an aesthetic experience in itself.

Tokyo has its fair share of museums, and in many there's a place set aside exactly for such pleasures: the museum cafe.

Looking for some tranquility? Then head over to the Hara Museum of Contemporary Art, located in an upscale residential neighborhood in Shinagawa Ward.

Currently the museum is showing "Tomoko Yoneda: An End Is a Beginning," a photo exhibition which runs through Nov. 30. It's impressive, but so is the museum itself.

A rare example of Modernist architecture from the 1930s, the Hara museum is endowed with an inviting private garden that might make it hard to concentrate on the art.

Newly added folding glass doors lead to an open terrace facing the garden, where the museum's cozy Cafe d'Art awaits customers who want to relax after or in the middle of the art tour.

The highlight on the menu is the "Image Cake" (735 yen), a confection inspired by the art or the artist on exhibit (with approval, of course) that the museum prepares for every show.

Yoneda's photographs show eyeglasses and other artifacts once owned by noted 20-century intellectuals such as Sigmund Freud and Bertolt Brecht. Thus the Image Cake this time is a black sesame mousse with almond jelly. It is topped with a black circle drawn in sesame cream and shaped like half a pair of glasses. If you go with a date make sure to order two so you get the full spectacle.

* * *

Hara Museum of Contemporary Art is a 15-minute walk from JR Shinagawa Station.

Cafe d'Art is open 11 a.m.-5 p.m. (until 8 p.m. Wednesdays except national holidays) when the museum is open. The museum cafe and shop are limited to those who come to see the exhibition. Call 03-5423-1609.

Four places to chow down

If you want to be spoiled for choice, cafe-wise, then head to the National Art Center, Tokyo in the Roppongi area. Japan's largest and newest art palace, this design by the late Kisho Kurokawa is an immense cocoon or hive of glass and in it are no less than four eateries.

Together they form a mirror of the post-Bubble social landscape: For the chattering masses on the ground floor of the huge atrium there's the counter-service Cafe Coquille; On a circular dais above that is mid-range Salon de The Rond; and high above them both is the posh Brasserie Paul Bocuse Le Musee. Below decks, somewhere near the boiler room, one imagines, is Cafeteria Carre. This being Japan, they're all actually run by the same firm, so you pays your money and makes your choice. A cake and waiter service for under 1,000 yen make Rond a good compromise.

Here, too, you could easily forget you've come for the art. Spending the better part of an afternoon watching the goings-on in this hive, while the autumn sun slants in, is an essential Tokyo experience.

* * *

National Art Center, Tokyo is located near Nogizaka subway station.

Brasserie Paul Bocuse Le Musee (03-5770-8161) is open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. (until 10 p.m. Fridays). Salon de The Rond (03-5770-8162), Cafe Coquille (03-5770-8164) and Cafeteria Carre (03-5770-8163) are open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

(until 8 p.m. Fridays). Eateries are closed Tuesdays.

Museum of the future

Not quite interested in art? Then why not visit a science museum instead? Located in the Odaiba district, a large artificial island in Tokyo Bay, the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation (otherwise known as the Miraikan, "Future Museum"), introduces cutting-edge science and technology from Japan's space development to the microscopic secrets of life.

Next to the museum building is an eatery befitting the futuristic theme. Don't be deceived by the trendy, bright orange seating just beyond the museum's sliding glass doors: It's really one of Lotteria's 600 fast-food outlets in Japan.

The look is a brainchild of designer Lee Myeong Hee, who defines this particular fast-food joint as an "entranceway to a science communication space." The total design was supervised by Takashi Ikegami, a noted complex systems researcher at the University of Tokyo.

The eatery is filled with surprises. The grid patterns on the tables, for example, depict cellular automata in Conway's Game of Life, while the dim lights on the wall represent the synchronized flashing of fireflies--a natural phenomenon.

Never mind if you have no idea what a complex system or cellular automata are. The shop is interesting and enjoyable in its own right. And if you want to know a bit more about what you are seeing, there are books on shelves hollowed out in the wall.

Oops. About the menu. One of the shop's recommendations is the "Zeppin (exquisite) Cheese Burger" (360 yen). For an afternoon snack, try the new chocolate, banana or green tea muffins.

* * *

National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation (Miraikan) is near Telecom Center Station on the Yurikamome Line.

Lotteria is open 9 a.m.-7 p.m. Closed Tuesdays. Call 03-3599-2131.(IHT/Asahi: October 31,2008)

2008年11月8日 星期六

Panasonic to acquire Sanyo Electric

200055日是個充滿佳音的日子。

本網站是寶藏 ,你可從中搜尋出「柑園國中」與「松下領導書評」。

立報作了「戴明經驗在柑園國中」的專輯, 有關柑園國中師生了不起的「社區總體營造」,本網站已有林秀雲校長的簡介,並請參考『1998天下雜誌教育專刊』的報導。

我在英國發表的『松下領導書評、 感言』,備受喜愛, 法國戴明協會會長Jean-Marie,馬上來信恭喜。

Dear Hanching,

I read your comments about Mr Matsushida in the UK Deming Newsletter No5. I like them very much. I always appreciate your large culture and your great wisdom.

『松下領導書評(Some notes on Matsushita Leadership: Lessons from the Twentieth Century's Most Remarkable Entrepreneur)』中, 可再補充說明

三洋電機公司(Sanyo)創始人後藤清一 (Toshio Iue, brother-in-law of Panasonic founder Matsushita) 的著作中, 屢屢報導(His old-time style of 'leading by scolding' to his close relatives is very difficult for people with different culture background to understand.

參考《卓越的領導與管理》鍾漢清編譯,台北:清華管理科學圖書中心,1985


Panasonic and Sanyo Aim to Merge by End of Year

Tomohiro Ohsumi/Bloomberg News

A Tokyo electronics store displays Panasonic televisions. The company covets Sanyo’s market lead in rechargeable batteries.

By BETTINA WASSENER


Published: November 7, 2008

Two Japanese consumer electronics companies, Panasonic and Sanyo, said Friday that they were pursuing a merger, a deal that would bring together two well-known brands with combined annual sales of more than 11 trillion yen, or $111.5 billion.

In an announcement that had been widely expected, Panasonic and Sanyo said they would discuss making the much-smaller Sanyo, which has been struggling for years, a subsidiary of Panasonic. The companies hoped to complete a deal by the end of the year.

“We aim to share both companies’ management know-how and business resources while collaborating with each other, thereby creating a global competitive foundation which will maximize corporate values of both Panasonic and Sanyo,” the companies, which are based in Osaka, said in a joint statement Friday.

Panasonic did not say how much it planned to offer for each Sanyo share. Koya Tabata, an analyst at Credit Suisse, estimated earlier this week that Panasonic could offer as much as 140 yen, or $1.43, for each Sanyo share, according to Reuters. That would value a deal for the whole of Sanyo at as much as 862 billion yen, or roughly $8.8 billion.

The consumer electronics industry is reeling from a sharp drop-off in sales, as shoppers worried about global recession and shaken by the turmoil in the stock markets keep their wallets shut.

While the problem has affected companies around the world, Japanese exporters must also deal with a strong yen, which makes their goods more expensive. Rising competition from rivals in South Korea and China has also increased the pressure on Japanese manufacturers to consider mergers.

Panasonic, the leading maker of plasma televisions, is particularly interested in acquiring Sanyo because of its leading position in rechargeable batteries, which are widely used in cellphones and laptop computers.

The deal would also allow Panasonic to enter the solar market. Sanyo is a leading maker of solar cells, behind rivals like Q-Cells of Germany and Suntech Power Holdings of China

FACTBOX: Japan's Panasonic to acquire Sanyo Electric

Fri Nov 7, 2008

:

TOKYO (Reuters) - Panasonic Corp said it aims to make Sanyo Electric Co Ltd its subsidiary, creating Japan's largest electronics maker.

Following are some key facts about the two companies:

* PANASONIC CORP:

Panasonic is one of the largest electronics manufacturers in the world and comprises over 556 companies. It makes and markets over 15,000 products under the Panasonic brand.

KEY FIGURES (12 months to March 31, 2008):

Sales - 9.07 trillion yen ($92.82 billion)

Pre-tax Profit - 435 billion yen

Total Assets - 7.44 trillion yen

Cash & Equivalents - 1.21 trillion yen

Employees - 305,828

HISTORY

- Founded as Matsushita Electric Devices Manufacturing Co by Konosuke Matsushita in 1918. Incorporated in 1935.

- Starting out with two new products -- an attachment plug and a two-way socket -- the company soon became famous for new products such as a bullet-shaped bicycle lamp. Matsushita, who had great enthusiasm for developing new products, kept a pencil and paper at his bedside to write down ideas that came to him while asleep. - During World War Two Panasonic lost 32 factory and office facilities in Japan, and its overseas factories and sales outlets were confiscated. - In April 1965, Panasonic became Japan's first major manufacturer to introduce a five-day work week.

* SANYO ELECTRIC:

Sanyo Electric suffered three years of losses up until March 2007 from price wars and an earthquake that damaged a microchip plant, and has been restructuring with the help of shareholder Goldman Sachs. Hit by a lackluster performance by its consumer electronics operation, Sanyo has bet its future on rechargeable batteries and solar cells, and has been intensifying investment in these businesses.

Net sales - 2.02 trillion yen

Pre-tax Profit - 57.2 billion yen

Total Assets - 1.68 trillion yen

Cash & Equivalents - 280.7 billion yen

Employees - 99,875

HISTORY

- Toshio Iue, brother-in-law of Panasonic founder Matsushita, established Sanyo Electric in 1947, starting off with a plan to produce dynamo-powered bicycle lamps.

- The company was incorporated in 1950.

- It began exports in 1949, supplying 5,000 bicycle generator lamps ordered by the General Headquarters of the Allied Forces.

- Sanyo launched Japan's first pulsator-type washing machine in 1953, helping trigger the country's consumer electronics boom.

- Sanyo developed the world's first lithium batteries in 1975. Now it has the biggest global share of lithium-ion batteries used in personal computers and mobile phones.

- It has 245 subsidiaries and affiliates worldwide.

Sources: Reuters; panasonic.net; www.sanyo.com

($1=97.71 Yen)

(Writing by Jijo Jacob; Editing by Michael Watson)