Japan’s free-trade dilemma: Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)

Yes, it should

Japan agonises over joining a possibly radical free-trade area

Oct 29th 2011 | NAGANO | from the print edition

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IT TAKES a minute or two to work out what is refreshingly odd about Hideki Shimazaki’s lettuce farm in Nagano on Japan’s main island. Then it dawns: all the workers are 20- or 30-somethings, with the same lop-sided grins and earthy jokes common to young farmers elsewhere in the world.

In Japan, this is incongruous. Most farmers are over 60, and their task is solitary: growing rice in small paddies, mostly on a part-time basis. In contrast, Mr Shimazaki’s lettuces spread across hillsides, and his business, Top River, could grow far more if only other landowners would let out unproductive land.

On the face of it, Mr Shimazaki should have good reason to support Japan’s involvement in talks to forge the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) that America’s president, Barack Obama, and the leaders of eight other countries are keen to promote at an Asia-Pacific trade bash, APEC, in Honolulu on November 12th-13th. After all, a powerful incentive for Japan to take part is to make its farm sector, which contributes just 1% to GDP, more competitive. A tariff on rice imports of nearly 800% and subsidies underpinning the rice price keep old farmers in the game and hold back on land consolidation.

Yet Mr Shimazaki is hesitant about free trade. His position highlights the delicate task that the new prime minister, Yoshihiko Noda of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), has in convincing the public that Japan should be the tenth country to join the TPP talks. Mr Shimazaki thinks farm liberalisation is inevitable as old farmers retire, but like many is worried about the costs of open borders on other uncompetitive parts of the economy, such as the finance and construction industries.

A farm lobby group said on October 24th that 350 members of the 722-member Diet, or parliament, had signalled to it their opposition to the TPP. Opponents also include doctors worried about private firms muscling into hospital care, and unions who are against labour-market reforms. Mr Noda’s cabinet is divided.

Yet the prime minister, the third in two years of DPJ-led government, has few alternatives other than to put his fragile popularity on the line in support of free trade. The issue has shot up the political agenda thanks to sluggish world commerce, a strong yen and renewed fears of economic slowdown and energy shortages since the March 11th earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster. There is also a sense that Japan would let down its closest ally if it did not endorse Mr Obama’s Honolulu push.

Mr Noda’s supporters believe he has a strong case to make. Vulnerable farmers could be protected by direct income support, as they are in America and Europe, rather than with price supports that punish consumers. Though the TPP plans to scrap tariffs, that would be over ten years. Further, a drop in food prices would immediately benefit households. And if more competitive farming pushed up land prices, it would boost the collateral held by overextended banks.

The pressure on Mr Noda to embrace the TPP has largely come from the big-business lobby, Keidanren, whose members have less to lose than their smaller, less globally competitive counterparts. Their lobbying has been sharpened by America’s looming free-trade agreement with South Korea, recently ratified by Congress and now awaiting approval in the National Assembly in Seoul. Japan’s biggest manufacturers each sell more than Japan’s entire farm sector combined. Yet without free access to American markets, such firms will struggle to remain competitive against South Korean rivals, especially with the yen climbing against the dollar.

Japan’s desire for international heft also has something to do with it. Mr Noda, like many Japanese, worries about his country’s fading relevance in world affairs. This makes it harder for it to influence technology or intellectual-property standards, for instance, in a region increasingly dominated by China.

Participation in the TPP would join the world’s largest economy, America, with the third-largest. That might be the cornerstone for an even bigger free-trade area eventually including China, the world’s second-biggest economy. That is why John Roos, America’s ambassador in Tokyo, says Japan’s involvement would be a “game-changer”. But it would also change Japan, and far beyond its patchwork quilt of paddies—something all prime ministers, let alone one who has been in office for just a few tenuous weeks, have found hard to do.

Fukushima 核電廠30年之後才"再見".....

Fukushima decommissioning will take at least three decades

2011/10/30

A cover over the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant's No. 1 reactor was completed on Oct. 28. (Tokyo Electric Power Co.)

A draft road map outlining the more than 30-year process of decommissioning and dismantling the crippled reactors at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant was published by the Japan Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) on Oct. 28.

The Asahi Shimbun English Web Edition

Morio Kita (北 杜夫)

Writer Morio Kita, who died Oct. 24 at the age of 84, wrote the following haiku as an elementary schoolboy:
"A 'korogi' (cricket) sings/ Koro koro/ An autumn night."

His father Mokichi Saito (1882-1953), a prominent tanka poet, read it out of curiosity but made no comment, Kita once recalled.

Writer Morio Kita, who died Oct. 24 at the age of 84, wrote the following haiku as an elementary schoolboy: “A 'korogi' (cricket) sings/ Koro koro/ An autumn night.” His father Mokichi Saito (1882-1953), a prominent tanka poet, read it out of curiosity but made no comment, Kita once recalled.

Kita’s real name was Sokichi Saito. He started using the pen name Morio Kita because he thought it would be embarrassing for Mokichi’s son to be putting out poorly written novels. He chose the name Kita (north), because he had studied in cold places such as Matsumoto and Sendai. It is well known that his first name, Morio, derives from Tonio, after the novel by Thomas Mann (1875-1955) called “Tonio Kroger” with which he was infatuated.

Even though he was a medical student, Kita aspired to become a writer like his father. But he felt both awe and resentment of his father. He said that as a young man he tried to hide the fact that he was Mokichi’s son and learned to speak of him as a third party.

Once he established himself as a writer, Kita skillfully wrote serious literature that arouses the poetic imagination as well as humorous novels such as the “Dokutoru Manbo” series. His books made the bestseller lists during the period of high economic growth and prior to the popular “Korian” series by Shusaku Endo (1923-1996).

Traditionally, Japanese literature had tended to lack humor. Novels that lacked seriousness and made readers laugh were regarded as inferior. The excellent first book of the Manbo series “Dokutoru Manbo Kokaiki” (Doctor Manbo at Sea) put a crack in that barrier.

Kita once told a magazine that his works did not even come close to a single tanka by his father. When I asked him two years ago if he felt the same way, he nodded.

Kita wrote the following tanka as a young man: “You idiot, a letter from my father reads/ Maybe he is right/ I slip into a futon as usual.” Perhaps he has been reunited with his great father in heaven now.

—The Asahi Shimbun, Oct. 27

---WIKIPEDIA
日本語

Morio Kita (北 杜夫 Kita Morio^?) was the pen name of Sokichi Saitō (斎藤 宗吉 Saitō Sōkichi^?, May 1, 1927 – October 24, 2011), a Japanese novelist, essayist, and psychiatrist.^[1]

A graduate of Tohoku University's School of Medicine, Kita initially worked as a doctor at Keio University Hospital. Motivated by the collections of his father's poems and the books of German author Thomas Mann, he decided to become a novelist. He was the second son of poet Mokichi Saitō. Shigeta Saitō, his older brother, is also a psychiatrist. The essayist Yuka Saitō is his daughter.^{[2][citation needed]}

• 1960: Akutagawa Prize, for the novel, In The Corner Of Night And Fog, which was about Nacht und Nebel, the campaign in Nazi Germany to catch anti-Nazi activists and members of resistance movements)

[edit] Bibliography

Incomplete - to be updated

[edit] Novels

• Ghosts (1954)
• The House of Nire. Translated by Dennis Keene. New York: Kodansha International. 1984. ISBN 0870115928. Briefly noted in The New Yorker 60/48 (January 14, 1985): p. 117

	Novels portal
	Japan portal

[edit] Essays

• Papa wa Tanoshii Sōutubyō (work with Yuka Saitō, Asahi Shimbun Company, ISBN-13: 978-4022504999)

[edit] TV

• Nescafé Gold Blend CM (1974)
• Tetsuko no Heya (1980 and May 12, 2008 with Yuka Saitō)

[edit] References

1. ^ Novelist-essayist "Morio Kita dies at 84"
2. ^ Lecture of Morio Kita and Yuka Saitō in Hokuto, Yamanashi, March 13, 2010 (Japanese)

自民黨與煙價/稅: 政治改革停擺

After the tsunami

Old habits die hard

The new prime minister takes a leaf out of the LDP’s book

Oct 22nd 2011 | TOKYO | from the print edition

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He could have paid for the reconstruction

TO A smoker from Europe or America, Japan is a puffer’s paradise. A pack of cigarettes in Tokyo, despite a hefty tax increase last year, still costs about half what it would in London or New York. Smoke billows out of bars. There is little social stigma. Yoshihiko Noda, the prime minister, is a two-pack-a-day man. The state, despite signing an international anti-smoking convention in 2004, still owns 50% of the world’s third-largest cigarette company, Japan Tobacco.

What is more, in Japan’s parliament smokers, and the elderly tobacco farmers who support their vices, are treated with the care and respect normally reserved for royalty. Why? Because on October 20th parliament opened for a special 51-day session in which Mr Noda will attempt to achieve the main priority of his seven-week-old administration: ratification of a 12 trillion yen ($156 billion) supplementary budget, mostly to pay for reconstruction of the Tohoku region shattered in March by the tsunami. In order to achieve that, Mr Noda, whose party has a majority in the lower house but not in the upper one, must – in his words—“listen humbly” to the opposition parties, especially the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which lost power after half a century in 2009. That, in turn, may mean surrendering to the special interests that support the LDP, such as 10,800 tobacco farmers—even though one in five of them is over 70 years old, and 4,100 of them say this may be their final year in the tobacco business.

As a result of all this, the rest of society will probably have to pay more income tax. Mr Noda’s ruling Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) had recently proposed slapping another two yen tax on cigarettes and selling down the government’s stake in Japan Tobacco, which many people saw as a sensible way for a debt-strapped government to help pay the huge costs of post-tsunami reconstruction. But the plan is in danger of being thwarted by the LDP and its puffing pals.

Mr Noda is also mending fences with the LDP’s old mates in the big-business lobby, Keidanren, and the bureaucracy. Since the DPJ came to power promising to dismantle the “iron triangle” of government, business and bureaucrats that helped keep the LDP in power for so long, businessmen and bureaucrats have behaved with increasingly shrill vexation at the way they have been treated, and at threats to decrease their influence.

Now, sensing a new dawn, Keidanren is clearly relieved, and attempting to shepherd Mr Noda’s government toward talks about joining the pro-American free-trade Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) by the time of the APEC summit in Honolulu on November 12th-13th.

As for the bureaucrats, Mr Noda has gladdened hearts within the finance ministry by pushing for higher taxes, overriding objections within his own party. Meanwhile, in the ministry of economy and trade, there is palpable relief that Mr Noda appears to have softened his predecessor’s hostile stance toward the nuclear industry after the Fukushima disaster that followed the tsunami in March.

All of which suggests that Mr Noda is slipping back into some of the old ways of the party he opposes, the LDP. As one political scientist laments: “When Mr Noda came to power, the significance of the change of government in 2009 came to an end.”

It’s not all Mr Noda’s fault though. At the root of many of Japan’s difficulties lies a convoluted political system. The country has what is known as a “twisted diet”, where no party has full control of either house of parliament, and opposition parties in the upper chamber can easily produce gridlock. The voting system for both houses gives disproportionate weight to rural interests, which further entrenches the status quo.

To assure the passage of laws, even self-evidently vital ones such as the reconstruction budget, Mr Noda has little choice but to seek support from the opposition, rather than confronting it, even if the LDP continues to move the goalposts. And so, even if bills are eventually passed, the “iron triangle” is reinforced, and any attempts to reform the system become harder. Or go up in smoke.

邪馬台国/ 宮﨑 康平夫婦

2007:NHK 「歷史的選擇～邪馬台國在何處？」 @ kksp的碎碎念:: 痞客邦 ...




2011/10/26
邪馬台国（やまたいこく）は、3世紀に日本列島に存在したとされる国（くに）のひとつである。ちなみに、ここで使われている国（くに）とは、この時代の中国漢文でいう国（こく）＝塀、柵、堀などで囲われた砦の町のことである。 中国の史書では、邪馬台国は卑弥呼が治める女王国であり、倭国連合の都があったとされている。邪馬台国の所在地が九州か近畿か、21世紀に入っても日本の歴史学者の説が分かれている。

http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%82%AA%E9%A6%AC%E5%8F%B0%E5%9B%BD

---假說之一

宮﨑 康平（みやざき こうへい、1917年5月7日 - 1980年3月16日）は、長崎県島原市生まれの古代史研究家、作家、元会社役員。『まぼろしの邪馬台国』によって日本中に邪馬台国論争を巻き起こした。正確な表記は「宮﨑」（「崎」の字は山偏に竒）であるが「宮﨑」と表記出来ない環境が一部存在するので「宮崎」で通すことが多い。以下本項でも「崎」の字を用いる。......

1960年には島原鉄道常務取締役を辞任、九州全域から朝鮮半島にまでいたる調査を経て、1965年から文学雑誌・九州文学へ調査結果を連載し始める。これをまとめ、一冊の本としたのが講談社から1967年に発売された『まぼろしの邪馬台国』である。この書籍はベストセラーとなり学者のレヴェルにとどまっていた邪馬台国論争を一般にまで広めたとされる。この功績により、同年創設された第1回吉川英治文化賞^[2]を受賞した。なおこの書籍が妻・和子の口述筆記によるものであったことから同賞は夫妻に対して贈られている。

1980年には『まぼろしの邪馬台国』の改訂版『新版 まぼろしの邪馬台国』を著し、併せて今後の邪馬台国研究の予定を公にするものの急逝。62歳没。

茶ぶ台Chabudai/ 日招待萬人免費遊

拚觀光 日招待萬人免費遊東瀛

〔駐日特派員張茂森／東京二十五日報導〕為喚回因日本大地震流失的外國觀光客，決定免費 招待一萬名外國光客的計畫，日本觀光廳二十五日宣布三項主要條件，包括提出日本旅行計畫書、在自己的ＳＮＳ（網路社交平台）或部落格發表感想，以及回答有 關日本印象的問卷調查。觀光廳也將架設專屬網頁公布詳細辦法，並在網頁上接受報名，目前網頁尚未架設完成。

日本「朝日新聞」二十五日報導，日本觀光廳當局將依申請人所提出的資料，以宣傳力的高低加以判斷，然後贈送免費機票，觀光廳長官溝火田宏表示，觀光廳希望被招待訪日的外國觀光客，能透過ＳＮＳ或部落格傳達日本旅遊的安全性。

這項一萬人免費機票贈送案的概算要求中，機票與事務費大約十一億日圓，每人平均七至八萬圓，沒有上限，但在日食宿費必須自付，觀光廳認定一萬人到日本觀光的經濟效果約為十三億日圓，可以產生約為三十一億日圓的經濟效益。

日媒指出，今年九月訪日的外國觀光客比去年同期減少二十四．九％，雖比東北大震候的四月大減六十二．五％的數據增加很多，但增長速度仍然遲緩。日本政府期待外國觀光客訪日的目標，是希望能達到二○一○年的三．五倍，人數三千萬人。

***

林家三平と国分佐智子夫妻、そして三平の母・海老名香葉子の3人による"大家族下町バラエティ"『海老名さん家の茶ぶ台』が10月26日（水）よる７時からTBSでスタートする。 番組スタートにあたり林家三平は「普段からお客様が多く誰が来るのかわからない。 ...

Chabudai

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A chabudai in a traditional setting

A chabudai (卓袱台^?) is a short-legged table used in traditional Japanese homes. People seated at a chabudai may sit on zabuton and/or tatami rather than on chairs. The four legs of a chabudai are generally collapsible so that the table may be moved and stored easily.

Chabudai are used for various purposes, such as a study table for children, a work bench for needlework, and most importantly, a dinner table for the entire family (shokutaku (食卓、しょくたく^?)). In the winter, the chabudai is often replaced by a kotatsu, another type of short-legged table equipped with a removable top and a heater underneath.

[edit] Chabudai gaeshi

Chabudai gaeshi is a Japanese phrase meaning to flip [the] chabudai. Literally, it describes the act of violently upending a chabudai as an expression of anger, frustration, and disapproval. Video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto characterized chabudai gaeshi as an "action of old-fashioned Japanese fathers" which "would destroy the family" if attempted literally in modern Japanese society.^[1] Chabudai gaeshi may also figuratively describe an analogous outburst and upheaval.

茶ぶ台

卓袱台

卓袱台（ちゃぶだい）は、日本で用いられる四本脚の食事用座卓。一般的に方形あるいは円形をしており、折畳みができるものが多い。上座、下座という上下の関係があまり感じられず、昭和初期の家族の団欒を象徴するシンボルとして取り上げられる^[1]。1887年（明治20年）ごろより使用されるようになり、1920年代後半に全国的な普及を見た^[2]。しかし1960年（昭和35年）ごろより椅子式のダイニングテーブルが普及し始め、利用家庭は減少していった^[2]。

如廁電玩Exhibition questions otaku response to March 11

　經營餐飲業的日本養老乃瀧將從2011年10月19日起，陸續在旗下約40家日式小酒館先行設置可邊如廁邊玩游戲的世嘉電子游戲裝置“ToyLets”……

Exhibition questions otaku response to March 11

BY SOPHIE KNIGHT STAFF WRITER

2011/10/23

Yohei Kurose in front of one of the Chaos Lounge installations now running as part of Festival/Tokyo. (Sophie Knight)Arakawa Tomonori Exhibition presented by Chaos Lounge at Tokyo Wonder Site Shibuya in Tokyo, 2010 (Provided by Chaos Lounge)Destruction Lounge*Renewal Lounge exhibition by Chaos Lounge at Nanzuka Underground gallery in Tokyo, 2010 (Provided by Chaos Lounge)

The Great East Japan Earthquake seemed to shake up the whole of Japanese society, prompting mass soul-searching--except, according to artist and critic Yohei Kurose--in one group.

Japan’s Standardized Baseballs Are Popular With Pitchers

Mizuno

The new ball used for all top-league games in Japan, made by Mizuno, has features that make it popular among pitchers.

By BRAD LEFTON

Published: October 22, 2011

TOKYO — Unlike Major League Baseball, for whom Rawlings has been the official supplier of baseballs since 1977, Japan’s top league has long used multiple manufacturers.

Related

• The Fierce Imagination of Haruki Murakami (October 23, 2011)

This season, however, for the first time in the 75-year history of Nippon Professional Baseball, every team is using the same supplier.

In any given season, as many as nine manufacturers had supplied baseballs to Japan’s 12 teams. Many clubs, in fact, contracted with multiple suppliers and freely switched the balls they used in their home games depending on the series, the month or some other variable that had to be revealed in advance to the commissioner’s office.

Citing rising costs and declining domestic production, Commissioner Ryozo Kato began the tedious and touchy process of unifying Japan’s ball last year. Mizuno emerged as the lone supplier.

But old customs are hard to break, and in tradition-bound Japan, the move to a unified ball comes with a twist: it is required only for official games played between major league teams. Individual clubs can continue choosing their own baseballs for minor league games, spring training games and practices. According to the commissioner’s office, at least two teams that contracted with multiple baseball makers last year, the Hanshin Tigers and the Yakult Swallows, continue to use those balls in unsanctioned events.

In Japanese baseball, power has traditionally rested with the teams. Franchises have operated independently on a variety of issues, including deciding which ball manufacturers to contract with, much as players in the United States and Japan decide which manufacturers’ bats, gloves and spikes they use.

In Japan, a culture evolved in which sporting goods makers, especially smaller regional ones, became dependent on their relationships with local clubs to supply thousands of balls each year.

“In order to build relationships that stand the test of time, you have to be willing to endure lots of hardships on your customers’ behalf,” Katsuhisa Matsuzaki, a spokesman for N.P.B, said in Japanese, describing the traditional arrangement. “For a team to then turn around and say to a supplier that persevered, ‘Sorry, we don’t you need anymore,’ is not the Japanese way.”

So instead of trying to undo longstanding relationships, Japan’s commissioner’s office established standards over the years to attain a degree of uniformity among the game balls being produced by multiple manufacturers.

That began as far back as 1950, when the Central and Pacific Leagues came under one governing umbrella. Over the years, standards pertaining to the balls were gradually tightened. This happened, for example, in 1981, after a game was delayed by 20 minutes as one team accused another of using a suspicious ball with extra zip. But until this year, teams could use any ball that adhered to the standards.

The new Mizuno ball for this season has been called the noncarrying ball, a reference to the effect of the lower-elasticity rubber that encases the cork center. Not surprisingly, pitchers like the new ball for that and other subtle changes they can use to their advantage.

“It breaks better, moves more advantageously for the pitcher,” Hisashi Iwakuma of the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles, speaking in Japanese, said of the new ball. “Whether you throw a fork or a curve or a slider, the break is bigger. Even your fastball doesn’t have to be perfectly straight; you can make it miss the sweet spot of the bat.”

Iwakuma said pitchers could manipulate the slightly lower height of the red stitches and their slightly wider spread.

Japan’s regular season was extended until this week because of the devastating earthquake and tsunami in March and unusually heavy rain. But the ball is believed to be responsible for an abundance of curiosities.

Through Friday’s games, seven pitchers among the 12 clubs had earned run averages below 2.00 while throwing more than 170 innings. By comparison, despite his dominant performance of 24 wins in 29 decisions, Detroit’s Justin Verlander, the major league leader in E.R.A. among starters at 2.40, would not crack Japan’s top 10.

Among those Japanese pitchers is Yu Darvish, 25, who many believe will be made available to American teams this winter by the Nippon Ham Fighters. But Darvish’s 1.44 E.R.A. was only second best in the Pacific League. As a testament to his acumen, though, he had a 1.78 E.R.A. last season.

In another oddity, Darvish’s team tied a Japanese record with five consecutive shutout victories during a stretch in May. That was part of nine shutouts in 11 games by the Fighters’ staff, three of them complete-game shutouts by Darvish.

Robust pitching has turned the batting races into rather pedestrian competitions. Worry abounds that the race in at least one league could produce the lowest average for a batting champion in Japanese history. The Hiroshima Carp’s Katsuya Morinaga holds that distinction, capturing the Central League’s 1962 title with a .307 average. This season’s race has come down to the Yomiuri Giants’ Hisayoshi Chono (.315) and Hanshin’s Matt Murton (.312), with three others teetering around .300. Last year, 14 players in the league hit .300 or better, with .358 taking the title. In the Pacific League, five players were hitting over .300, with the leader at .339.

Most noticeable of all, home runs were down. With three players totaling 40 or more homers last year, the overall title was claimed with 49. This season, only the Seibu Lions’ Takeya Nakamura and the Yakult Swallows’ Wladimir Balentien will finish with more than 30.

Although Japan’s new ball is not meant to replicate the American major league ball, a conscious effort was made to make it much more similar than before. That is a crucial point in Japan, where performance in international competitions like the quadrennial World Baseball Classic, which uses the American ball, weighs on the national conscience. Kato, the commissioner, said as much at a news conference when he unveiled the new ball before the season.

“Certainly, an impetus for the uniform ball was seeing with my own eyes the difficulties Japanese pitchers had with the different ball at the W.B.C.,” he said of the 2009 tournament, which Japan won. “By unifying our approach to the domestic game, we can lessen such discomforts that arise for our players on the international stage.”

That could pave the way for Mizuno to bid on the contract to supply the American major leagues. The leagues’ contract with Rawlings, which replaced Spalding after a century as the sole ball supplier, expires in 2013.

At the preseason news conference, Kato was seemingly focused on something larger than his own league when he proclaimed Japan’s new ball to be “of a higher quality than the one used in the American major leagues.”

the Land of the Rising Sun

And while "Japanese chocolate" may still strike some as incongruous, cocoa is definitely the rising star in the Land of the Rising Sun, said Susumu.

rísing sún[rísing sún]

((the 〜))朝日；((the R- S-))旭日旗

the Land of the Rising Sun
日出ずる国, 日の本.

Chocolate becoming Japan's favourite flavour

Chocolate becoming Japan's favourite flavour

By Sandra Lacut (AFP) – 5 hours ago

PARIS — Move over azuki and sweet sticky rice. While Japanese pastry chefs may have started using cocoa a few centuries after the West, this once foreign flavour has captivated Japan's confectionery world.

Japanese chocolate makers and pastry chefs were the star guests at the 17th Salon du Chocolat held in Paris this week. One of them, Susumu Koyama, 47, was even named "Best Foreign Chocolatier" -- winning out over top masters from celebrated chocolate-making nations like Belgium and Switzerland.

And while "Japanese chocolate" may still strike some as incongruous, cocoa is definitely the rising star in the Land of the Rising Sun, said Susumu.

Fermented tofu with chocolate cream filling was among the creations displayed at the 2011 Salon by Susumu, who was born into a family of Kyoto pastry chefs and said he relies on "instinct" and "nature" to ply his trade.

By the 17th century, chocolate made from the cocoa bean native to South America was a fashionable drink in many parts of Europe but only reached Japan "around 250 years" after it hit the West, Susumu said.

As a result, most of Japan's best-known pastries are largely chocolate free. But Susumu said Japanese chocolate makers are now "more and more numerous" and he's doing his part to boost the trend. The chocolatier -- who produces solely in Japan at his 200-employee factory, also his store, called "esKoyama" in Sanda, a countryside town between Kobe and Osaka -- set up a school in 2004 to turn out a new generation "trained in Japan" but, like himself, mindful of the French tradition.

He readily admits that childhood flavours infuse his concoctions, which he collectively calls "DNA Kyoto". One of his most acclaimed pieces, named Yanbai, is a bittersweet mix of dark chocolate, honey and a popular seven-spice powder called kuro-shichimi, a condiment often used by his mother.

Sadaharu Aoki, another pioneering Japanese chocolatier returning to the Salon this year, owns boutiques in Taiwan and Tokyo as well as four in Paris, where he offers a daring twist on the classic French pastry, l'Opera, a type of layered cake with chocolate and cream filling. Sadaharu flavours his with green tea and calls it "Bamboo".

On display at the Paris show was his latest invention: a chocolate macaroon set in a green tea waffle flavoured with black sesame, a seed sometimes used to season broiled eel, and a Japanese pepper spice called sanshou.

Even Japan's historic confectionery house Toraya, one of the oldest makers of traditional Japanese sweets that has supplied confectionery to the Imperial Royal family since the 16th century, has embraced the trend.

The company, which started selling its pastries in Paris 31 years ago, now offers the classic yokan, a thick jellied dessert using the native azuki, or red beans, with sweetened cocoa.

"The essence of creation is knowing how to combine new flavours," a Toraya official said.

A Japanese chef prepares a display at the Paris "Salon du Chocolat" (chocolate fair) this week (AFP, Francois Guillot)

Map

このプレビューのサイズ: 800 × 600 pixels
高解像度での画像‎ (2,592 × 1,944 ピクセル, ファイルサイズ: 925 キロバイト, MIMEタイプ: image/jpeg)

Chindonya (Japanese:チンドン屋), in old times also called tozaiya (Japanese: 東西屋) or hiromeya (Japanese: 広目屋 or 披露目) are elaborately costumed Japanese street musicians that advertise for shops and other establishments. The performers in were used to advertise the opening of new stores and other venues, or to promote special events as for example sales. Nowadays only a few groups are left in Japan. In English they are also sometimes called Japanese marching band or sandwich man band, as one of the performers may be sandwiched between to portable bilboards. The word Chindon stands for the chin and don sound of the instruments.

'Chindonya girls' liven city streets

BY HIROKI ITO STAFF WRITER

2011/10/22

Members of We Love Chindon perform at the Lunar Park amusement park in Maebashi on Oct. 16. (Hiroki Ito)Members of We Love Chindon perform while riding on an attraction with children at the Lunar Park amusement park in Maebashi on Oct. 16. (Hiroki Ito)

TATEBAYASHI, Gunma Prefecture -- Although many girls her age have taken their guitars, drums and musical talent to the streets or near train stations in the hope of becoming rock stars, Ayumi Kawashima has taken up a more traditional form of street performance.

Japan's Uniqlo Eyes Manhattan, And More

by Ashley Milne-Tyte

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Mark Lennihan/AP

The mannequins are fashionably dressed at Uniqlo's new Fifth Avenue flagship store in New York. Uniqlo's U.S. chief says he would eventually like to have 1,600 stores in the country, almost twice the number in Japan.

text size A A A

October 21, 2011

At the same time that Gap is closing 20 percent of its stores, a big Japanese clothing retailer called Uniqlo plans to open hundreds of shops in the U.S. Uniqlo is sort of like the Gap of Japan: The low-priced casual clothing retailer has been around since the 1980s, but sales are flattening out in its home market so the company is looking overseas for growth.

The U.S. is at the heart of its strategy, according to the head of Uniqlo's U.S. operation, Shin Odake.

"If you are to be recognized as [a] global brand we need to have a huge store in [the] center of New York City," Odake says.

Enlarge Mark Lennihan/AP

Uniqlo opened a new flagship location on Fifth Avenue last week and will open a 34th Street location Friday. The company has also had a SoHo store since 2006.

The chief executive officer of Uniqlo's parent company Fast Retailing, Tadashi Yana, was in New York last week to cut the ribbon at a cavernous new flagship store on glitzy Fifth Avenue. Mayor Michael Bloomberg was also on hand for the opening of the 89,000-square-foot store, which is rumored to have one of the priciest leases in the city.

Uniqlo has had a store in downtown Manhattan for several years; it's been a hit with shoppers, and the company wanted to build on its success. In addition to the Fifth Avenue store, Uniqlo is opening another on Friday on 34th Street, just down the block from Macy's.

Both stores are three stories high and piled floor to ceiling with cashmere sweaters in every imaginable color: three shades of green, and blues from navy to periwinkle. They're on sale for $50 and $60. Fashion consultant Roseanne Morrison with the Doneger Group says that range of colors lures consumers into buying more than one item.

"Especially when the value is good, they think, 'OK, I'll buy two for me, but you know I think I'd like to get this new color for my husband.' And that's really the secret," Morrison says.

Just before opening day at the 34th Street store, hundreds of employees scurry about unpacking jeans on sale for $9.90 a pair. They set up displays while checkout staff are lined up behind their cash registers practicing their friendliness and timeliness, and they race each other to fold the clothes perfectly and quickly.

'Similar To A Car Manufacturer'

Attention to detail is one of the things the company hopes will differentiate Uniqlo from its rivals, like H&M and Gap. Another is innovation, Odake says. He says the company studies its clothing with the eyes of an engineer.

We approach [a] basic product and then we try to improve it every year ... which is quite different from, I think, the other brands.

- Shin Odake, Uniqlo's U.S. CEO

"We approach [a] basic product and then we try to improve it every year, similar to the car manufacturer trying to improve the make of the car," he says. "That's the approach that we have, which is quite different from, I think, the other brands."

That Japanese engineering is what brought shopper Irme Chan, who's visiting from Toronto, to Uniqlo's Fifth Avenue store. She's loaded up on an innovative thermal underwear called Heattech, one of the company's signature products.

"[I've] owned it for years. I have to keep buying it because my sister or my family will steal it," she says.

Chan says she likes the quality and value here compared with similar stores. Retail consultant Patricia Pao says that combination could give Uniqlo an edge in a lousy economy.

"Fundamentally, we are a nation that is born to shop. You can only restrain yourself for so long," Pao says. "People are going to buy things that are of good value. They're not going to buy things just because they're cheap."

Odake says he eventually wants to have 1,600 stores in this country, almost twice the number of Uniqlo outlets in Japan.

Assorted sashimi

JAPANESE HOME COOKING: Assorted sashimi

2011/10/19

Assorted sashimi (Photo by Katsumi Oyama)

Presentation is a key component in the art of Japanese cuisine. Let's try putting together a simple sashimi plate.

"It works with blocks of fish and a kitchen knife," says Japanese cooking expert Tatsuo Saito.

Sashimi tastes best freshly cut. Make sure your knife is sharp. Each ingredient is cut to suit its texture. The soft, "chutoro," medium fatty tuna, is sliced straight, while the firmer sea bream is sliced at an angle to cut the fiber. Octopus slices have a wavy pattern that holds the soy sauce well. Garnish serves to refresh the taste palate.

INGREDIENTS

60 grams "chutoro" tuna

60 grams sea bream ("tai")

60 grams octopus

Garnish (Any of salad onion, cucumber, carrot, nagaimo yam, daikon radish, shiso leaves and others)

Wasabi, ginger

Soy sauce, ponzu citrus sauce

METHOD

Thinly slice the onion lengthwise, immerse in water and then squeeze out the water. Cut nagaimo into sticks. When using cucumbers and carrots, cut into strips. Daikon should be cut radially, then into small pieces.

Tuna is sliced straight, from the right side of block. Using the weight of the kitchen knife, slice using the root to the tip of the blade. Pull the knife toward you after each cut and push slice to the right.

Place the sea brim block with the thick side away from you. Starting from the left, place the knife at an angle and pull it toward you. Straighten the blade and cut into slices. Fold each slice in half.

Slice the octopus at an angle in jagged movements to create a wavy pattern. Make a few incisions for easy chewing.

Grate the wasabi and ginger. Pour ponzu for octopus and soy sauce separately in small plates. To prepare a dish for one person, place a clump of onion toward the back of small bowl, place a shiso leaf on the front, arrange three slices of tuna, slightly downward-sloping toward the right. Set up two sea bream on the left front, place the octopus toward the right. Place nagaimo and wasabi in front. The dish should give tight 3-D impression. When serving on a flat dish, place the ingredients in a triangular shape. Place garnish in between.

* * *

From the vernacular Asahi Shimbun's Okazu Renshucho column

Olympus 公司解雇老外總經理--他向英國調查機關說該公司的併購案有弊案 所以日本人炒他魷魚....

Olympus fiasco strengthens the case for Japan reform

By Wayne Arnold

Mon Oct 17, 2011 6:01pm EDT

By Wayne Arnold The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.

Olympus’ embarrassing decision to dump its foreign chief executive two weeks after naming him to the job shows that reform is a slow and fitful process. Michael Woodford was brought in to carry out a house-cleaning at the Japanese camera maker, and became one of the country’s handful of non-Japanese corporate bosses. That the board decided to fire him so soon shows the medicine was distasteful. It also strengthens the case for a bigger dose.

Unlike foreign bosses who came from outside, like Nissan’s Carlos Ghosn and Sony’s Howard Stringer, Woodford spent 30 years working his way up through the ranks. Worryingly, he has alleged in the Wall Street Journal that his dismissal came in response to questions about governance problems raised by a local magazine. One issue seems to be high prices paid for overseas takeover targets. That wouldn’t be unusual: big-name Japanese firms all too often splash out for bolt-ons abroad to raise revenue without having to undertake more painful restructuring at home.

Olympus needs restructuring in spades. It has a roughly 75 percent market share in endoscopes, where operating profit margins are as high as 30 percent, by Goldman Sachs estimates. Yet it has clung to a loss-making business of selling digital cameras, competing with the likes of Nikon and Samsung. Group revenue increased by 80 percent between 2001 and 2008, but earnings fell 37 percent, while net debt to equity increased sharply.

Woodford clearly rubbed someone up the wrong way. But getting rid of him isn’t likely to remove the pressure on Olympus for reform, and may make calls for change even louder. In its most recent annual report, the company promised “drastic structural reforms”. Fear they may not happen could explain why the company’s shares plunged 38 percent in the two days following the chief executive’s ouster.

But it’s too late for Japan Inc to curtail the reformist experiment. Foreigners now hold a fifth of listed Japanese companies. And pension funds, facing growing payouts from Japan’s aging population, are starting to reject low dividend proposals and poorly performing directors. Woodford is gone, but shareholders will invariably demand that others take his place.

West Japan challenges Tokyo's tasty Michelin crown

Related News

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Analysis & Opinion

• Olympus fiasco strengthens the case for Japan reform
• Restaurant histograms of the day

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• Lifestyle »
• Japan »

By Elaine Lies

TOKYO | Tue Oct 18, 2011 2:48am EDT

(Reuters) - Western Japan challenged Tokyo on Tuesday for its status as the global center of gourmet dining, with the Michelin guide awarding area restaurants more of the coveted three-star ratings than those given to establishments in the capital.

A total of 15 restaurants in the Kansai area, which centers on Japan's second-largest city of Osaka and the ancient capital of Kyoto, were awarded top three-star ratings, three more than last year and one more than Tokyo was given.

Tokyo last year received more Michelin stars than any other city in the world for the fourth year in a row.

Of the restaurants named in the newest edition of the guide to the Kansai region, a popular tourist area known as the heartland of Japanese traditional culture, 12 serve Japanese cuisine and two fusion. The last serves "contemporary French."

New to the guidebook this year were the cities of Kobe and Nara, accounting for three of the three-star establishments. Michelin defines three-star ratings as "exceptional cuisine, worth a journey."

Wa Yamamura, a Japanese restaurant in Nara, leapt to the top of the awards in its first listing.

The restaurants Fujiya 1935 and Koryu in Osaka, whose inhabitants have long been jokingly known in food-obsessed Japan as "those who court financial ruin by extravagance in food," were promoted to three stars from two.

Among the 300 establishments given stars, 61 -- including two traditional inns -- received two stars, while 224 got one.

"Japan is truly a unique country, where many cities have cuisine of a very high quality," said Bernard Delmas, president of Nihon Michelin Tire, in a statement.

"That is why, even in the fifth year of the arrival of our Michelin guide in Japan, we continue to discover new stars to introduce to our readers," he said.

The award is especially respected in Japan, where diners are willing to wait in long lines and pay high prices at noted establishments.

Included in this year's guide for the first time were Korean restaurants.

Kyoto's three-star restaurants, all Japanese, are Chihana, Hyo-tei, Kikunoi Honten, Kitcho Arashiyama Honten, Mizai, Nakamura and Tsuruya. Osaka's three-star Japanese restaurants are Kashiwaya, Koryu and Taian, while Kobe's Japanese winner is Komago.

The fusion restaurants are Ca Sento in Kobe and Fujiya 1935 in Osaka, while the French restaurant is Hajime in Osaka.

The first Michelin restaurant guide, aimed at chauffeurs in the early days of motoring, was published by the tire company in 1900, with the star rating system introduced in the 1920s.

The company only ventured out of Europe for the first time in 2005, with its guide to New York. Its Tokyo guide, launched in late 2007, was its first in Asia, although it has since added Hong Kong and Macau.

(Editing by Paul Tait)

Japan cities face growing radioactive ash, troubles ahead

By Kiyoshi Takenaka

TOKYO | Mon Oct 17, 2011 12:25am EDT

(Reuters) - In the Japanese city of Ohtawara, more than 100 km (62 miles) southwest of the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, 400 tones of radioactive ash have piled up at a garbage incineration plant, which will run out of protected storage space in two weeks.

Further south, the city of Kashiwa has been forced to temporarily shut a high-tech incinerator because its advanced technology that minimizes the amount of ash produced has the side-effect of boosting the concentration of radiation.

Ohtawara and Kashiwa are just two of a growing number of municipalities across northern Japan that face similar problems after the Fukushima Daiichi atomic power plant, devastated by a huge March quake and tsunami, began spewing radiation into the atmosphere in the world's worst nuclear accident in 25 years.

Although the government aims to bring the Fukushima crisis under control by December, researchers say that problems arising from the radiation, scattered over mountains, rivers and residential areas, are set to persist for years.

"Residents say they are worried about their children's health and grandchildren's health. Faced with such pleas, we just cannot make a move," an Ohtawara city official said, explaining why the ash has not be taken to a nearby city dump.

Ohtawara has already cut the frequency of garbage collection by half to hold down the generation of radioactive ash, by-product of burning contaminated leaves and branches.

Nonetheless, fresh bags of radioactive ash will have to be left in empty outdoor space at the incineration facility with no proper shelter around them, the official said.

NATURAL FEELINGS

Radiation levels of most of the ash in question are below 8,000 becquerels per kilogram, low enough to be buried in dumping grounds, according to government guidelines.

But people living nearby remain worried.

"If you think about residents' feelings, it is quite natural. Some people just don't want to have it near them no matter how low radiation levels are," said Baku Nishio, co-director of Citizens' Nuclear Information Center, an anti-nuclear civic group.

"It is up to the government to set up storage facilities, but naturally, finding the place can be a real challenge."

A draft plan by the Environment Ministry calls for the government to take responsibility for disposing of ash and sludge with radiation levels above 8,000 becquerels/kg, but a ministry official said nothing concrete has been decided.

Following hydrogen explosions at the Fukushima plant in March, rainfall has brought radiation down to the earth's surface.

Part of the radioactive caesium, which can cause internal radiation exposure for an extended period, found its way into sewage systems and, through the purification process, was concentrated in sludge as well as the ash that is produced by burning sludge.

In northern Japan, stored-up radioactive ash and dehydrated sludge from the sewage treatment process alone totaled 52,000 tones in mid-September, up 63 percent from levels at the end of July, data from the Transport Ministry showed.

The volume is still growing by about 360 tones a day.

The growing piles of radioactive ash are also causing financial headaches for local governments.

Nagareyama city, next to Kashiwa, has set aside about 250 million yen ($3.2 million) in three of its four extra budgets so far this year for temporary storage and related projects.

Researchers say the problem is here to stay, although the government aims to declare a big step forward in dealing with the nuclear disaster by bringing the Fukushima plant to "cold shutdown" by year-end, a month ahead of the original schedule.

A "cold shutdown" is the term used to describe the reactor condition where water used to cool fuel rods remains below 100 degrees Celsius and radiation leakage is under control.

"I doubt the problem will go away in a year or two. It takes 30 years for caesium 137 to decay by half. Each time it rains, caesium deposited in mountains will be washed down to where people live," Kobe University professor Tomoya Yamauchi said.

($1 = 77.365 Japanese Yen)

菩薩が極楽へご案内　京都で二十五菩薩お練り供養

【動画】菩薩さまずらり　二十五菩薩お練り供養

極楽浄土と現世を渡す橋の上を二十五菩薩（ぼさつ）が練り歩いた＝１６日午後、京都市東山区泉涌寺即成院、伊藤恵里奈撮影

　現世に現れた菩薩（ぼさつ）が人々を極楽浄土へ導く様子を表す「二十五菩薩お練り供養」が１６日、京都市東山区の泉涌寺（せんにゅうじ）の塔頭（たっ ちゅう）・即成院（そくじょういん）であった。金色の面をかぶった菩薩役の子どもたち２５人が、「極楽」に見立てた本堂から現れ、境内の橋を一列に歩い た。「現世」になぞらえた地蔵堂へ着いた後、極楽に導くため本堂へ戻り、２人の菩薩役が「極楽浄土の舞」を披露した。（岡田匠）

"Highlighting JAPAN"--日本的官方電子雜誌

E-mail Newsletter "Highlighting JAPAN"
http://www.gov-online.go.jp/eng/publicity/book/hlj/index.html
------------------------------

---------------------------------
No. 45 (October 14, 2011)
***************************************************************


[Contents of Highlighting JAPAN October 2011]

<< COVER STORY >>

[Japan's Women on Top of the World]

- Nakanishi Runs and Jumps into Record Books

- The Mother Theresa of Haiti

- Building the Foundations of the World's Newest Country

- Open Architecture for All

- Women in Charge

[International Year of Forests]

- A Week on Yakushima

- H2O Studies 101

- Preserving and Utilizing the Bounties of Forests

----------------------------------------------------------

<< PRIME MINISTER'S DIARY >>

- Addresses at UN Headquarters

<< TOPICS >>

- Yokohama Triennale 2011

<< SCIENCE >>

- New Diagnostic Method for Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease

<< JAPAN BRAND >>

- The Farsighted Vision of Masunaga Optical

<< THE NATION'S MUSEUMS >>

- Itchiku Kubota Art Museum




* Please click below to open the online magazine

http://www.gov-online.go.jp/eng/publicity/book/hlj/index.html

京和橫濱發現高濃度放射性物質/Radiation on Tokyo sidewalk exceeds parts of no-entry zone

日本研究人員在東京和橫濱兩地的人口密集區發現高濃度放射性物質﹐官方稱上述發現並不意味著日本大城市的居民面臨著急迫的危險。

Radiation on Tokyo sidewalk exceeds parts of no-entry zone

2011/10/14

Workers commissioned by Setagaya Ward in Tokyo survey a neighborhood where high levels of radiation were confirmed. (Yusaku Kanagawa)Parents accompany their children to school in Setagaya Ward on Oct. 13 after high levels of radiation were confirmed in one neighborhood. (Yusaku Kanagawa)

Radiation exceeding levels in the no-entry zone around the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant has been found on a sidewalk in Tokyo.

According to an Oct. 12 announcement by Setagaya Ward Mayor Nobuto Hosaka, the spot in the 5-chome neighborhood of the ward's Tsurumaki district had radiation levels of 2.707 microsieverts per hour, higher than the 2.115 microsieverts measured at a monitoring post on Oct. 12 in Iitate, Fukushima Prefecture, which is within the 20-km exclusion zone around the Fukushima plant.

An individual exposed to such radiation levels for eight hours a day and living in a wooden house could be exposed to about 14.2 millisieverts over the course of a year, below the 20-millisievert standard set by the central government for evacuation.

The sidewalk is used by students attending Matsugaoka Elementary School and school officials were guiding pupils away from the hot spot on Oct. 13.

A 34-year-old mother taking her third-grade son to school said: "My child used this sidewalk for the past six months. I am worried about whether there really was no effect on his health."

A 48-year-old mother said: "I want the ward to check the routes to school as well as parks."

Ward officials maintain that just walking through the hot spot will not seriously affect human health, but they have given instructions to limit access. They will start emergency measurements of radiation levels at 258 parks in the ward that have sandboxes.

The ward learned of the problem earlier this month from a resident who had made private measurements and found abnormally high radiation levels. Officials then conducted their own survey along a sidewalk by the fence of the home where the radiation was initially detected.

Measurements were taken at nine spots, each about 2.5 meters apart. At each spot, measurements were taken at three heights above ground: 1 meter, 50 centimeters and 5 cm. Five readings were made at the three heights at each location. An average measurement was calculated for each height at the nine locations.

The 2.707-microsievert average reading was found at one spot where the measurement was made at a height of 1 meter. Radiation levels were lower closer to the ground at the same location. At another location, the measurement at the lowest height found radiation levels of only 0.088 microsievert.

A company specializing in radiation measurements was commissioned to recheck the levels near the sidewalk and that firm also found radiation exceeding 2.7 microsieverts in one location.

The sidewalk where the high radiation level was detected is about 20 to 30 cm below the road.

One ward official said: "We believe the radiation level became high as a result of the accumulation of rain water."

However, officials admit they cannot explain some aspects of the case, including the fact that the highest radiation levels were found at the highest height measured and that much lower levels were measured in locations nearby. Radiation levels are normally highest the closer to the ground a measurement is taken.

Ward officials will look into the possibility of radiation coming from a source other than the Fukushima accident and work out ways of decontaminating the area.

Kunikazu Noguchi, an expert on radiation protection at Nihon University, said: "There was probably a condensation of the radiation through an accumulation of rain water. There may be other locations where there are limited areas of high radiation. The local government should be responsible in studying the matter and eliminating the concerns felt by residents."

The mounting human costs of Japan’s nuclear disaster 日本核災大損失超大...

Radiation in Japan

Hot spots and blind spots

The mounting human costs of Japan’s nuclear disaster

Oct 8th 2011 | IITATE | from the print edition

• 
  
• 
  

CREST the hill into the village of Iitate, and the reading on a radiation dosimeter surges eightfold—even with the car windows shut. “Don’t worry, I’ve been coming here for months and I’m still alive,” chuckles Chohei Sato, chief of the village council, as he rolls down the window and inhales cheerfully. He pulls off the road, gets out of the car and buries the dosimeter in the grass. The reading doubles again.

Iitate is located 45km (28 miles) from the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant hit by a tsunami on March 11th this year. In the mountains above the town, the forests are turning the colour of autumn. But their beauty is deceptive. Every time a gust of wind blows, Mr Sato says it shakes invisible particles of radioactive caesium off the trees and showers them over the village. Radiation levels in the hills are so high that villagers dare not go near them. Mr Sato cannot bury his father’s bones, which he keeps in an urn in his abandoned farmhouse, because of the dangers of going up the hill to the graveyard.

Iitate had the misfortune to be caught by a wind that carried radioactive particles (including plutonium) much farther than anybody initially expected after the nuclear disaster. Almost all the 6,000 residents have been evacuated, albeit belatedly, because it took the government months to decide that some villages outside a 30km radius of the plant warranted special attention. Now it offers an extreme example of how difficult it will be to recover from the disaster.

That is mainly because of the enormous spread of radiation. Recently the government said it needed to clear about 2,419 square kilometres of contaminated soil—an area larger than greater Tokyo—that received an annual radiation dose of at least five millisieverts, or over 0.5 microsieverts an hour. That covered an area far beyond the official 30km restriction zone (see map). Besides pressure- hosing urban areas, this would involve removing about 5cm of topsoil from local farms as well as all the dead leaves in caesium-laden forests.

However, Iitate’s experience suggests the government may be underestimating the task. Villagers have removed 5cm of topsoil from one patch of land, but because radioactive particles continue to blow from the surrounding trees, the level of radiation remains high—about one microsievert an hour—even if lower than in nearby areas. Without cutting down the forests, Mr Sato reckons there will be a permanent risk of contamination. So far, nobody has any idea where any contaminated soil will be dumped.

The second problem is children’s health. On September 30th the government lifted an evacuation advisory warning to communities within a 20-30km radius of the plant. The aim was partly to show that the authorities were steadily bringing the crippled reactors under control.

But these areas are still riddled with radiation hot spots, including schools and public parks, which will need to be cleaned before public confidence is restored. Parents say they are particularly concerned about bringing their children back because the health effects of radiation on the young are so unclear. What is more, caesium particles tend to lurk in the grass, which means radiation is more of a risk at toddler height than for adults. In Iitate, Mihori Takahashi, a mother of two, “believes only half of what the doctors say” and says she never wants to bring her children back. That, in itself, may be a curse. “The revival of this town depends on the children returning,” says Mr Sato.

And even if people return, Mr Sato worries how they will make a living. These are farming villages, but it will take years to remove the stigma attached to food grown in Fukushima, he reckons. He is furious with Tokyo Electric Power, operator of the plant, for failing to acknowledge the long-term impacts of the disaster. He says it is a way of scrimping on compensation payouts.

One way to help overcome these problems would be to persuade people to accept relaxed safety standards. A government panel is due to propose lifting the advisory dose limit above one millisievert per year. This week in Tokyo, Wade Allison, a physics professor at Oxford University, argued that Japan’s dose limit could safely be raised to 100 millisieverts, based on current health statistics. Outside Mr Sato’s house, however, a reading of the equivalent of 150 millisieverts a year left your correspondent strangely reluctant to inhale.

Young sisters show fresh poetic sensitivity

VOX POPULI: Young sisters show fresh poetic sensitivity

Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a daily column that runs on Page 1 of the vernacular Asahi Shimbun.

2011/10/11

I look forward eagerly to reading tanka poems by two young sisters whose works appear frequently in the Asahi Kadan poetry section of the vernacular Asahi Shimbun. That feeling is apparently shared by the section's panel of judges.

"My little sister wants to become an adult right now/ I want to remain a pupa," wrote Riko Matsuda, 13. Her younger sister, Wako, 10, wrote: "I'm a slow runner. I want to chat with a fish that is poor at swimming." pupa, imago

The Matsuda sisters, who live in the city of Toyama, are young stars of the Asahi poetry section. Since debuting in spring last year, they have each had 30-plus poems published in the paper. They have become regulars.

The girls often write about each other. A poem by Riko goes: "My little sister's smiling, sleeping face was so sweet/ I had to make Dad, who was in the middle of brushing his teeth, see it." And here's one by Wako about her big sister: "Big Sister twirls at the front door in her skirt/ She's going out." Another piece by Riko: "My little sister wants a new pair of boots/ She's studying hard and helping Mum around the house." And one by Wako: "Wore my new boots to a concert/ Sat through like a lady with my feet together."

The poems are like records of the sisters' growth. The older girl is maturing. "The mirror in the fitting room/ Shows an older me in a new school uniform." The younger girl is still a happy-go-lucky kid with a mind of her own. "The green tea ice cream parfait I ordered/ Was just like what I'd seen in a Kyoto guidebook/ I ate all the things shown in the guidebook, one by one."

Instead of using their fingers to count the syllables in their tanka verse, they acquired the 5-7-5-7-7 rhythm by saying the words aloud and counting their steps while taking walks with their mother, Yukiko, 41. The poetic inspiration they got from the walks can be felt in "Tanka de Sanpo" (Taking walks with tanka poetry), a collection of verse they co-published with their parents.

Some parents may want their daughters to be like members of the Nadeshiko Japanese women's soccer team, but there are many ways of using one's legs other than kicking a soccer ball. When fresh sensitivity and passion for poetry go into the creation of 31-character poems, inexperience in life and limited vocabulary are not handicaps.

I am in awe of the sparks of creativity displayed by children. The Matsuda sisters are now at the height of the sort of poetic genius no adult can emulate. I will watch their development closely.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Oct. 9

日本的政商何能怪體: 己所不欲

紐約時報

己所不欲

Japan Courts the Money in Reactors

By HIROKO TABUCHI

Japanese industrial conglomerates, with the cooperation of the government in Tokyo, are renewing their pursuit of multibillion-dollar nuclear projects, particularly in smaller countries.

天平仏の傑作、一堂に 東大寺ミュージアムお披露目

東大寺の至宝を一挙公開　「ミュージアム」１０日から

東大寺ミュージアム開館式では、不空羂索観音（右端）の前で開眼の法要が行われた＝９日午後、奈良市の東大寺、飯塚晋一撮影

　奈良・東大寺の至宝をおさめた「東大寺ミュージアム」が１０日、奈良市水門町の同寺境内に開館する。９日は開館法要や内覧会があり、文化財関係者らが記念特別展「奈良時代の東大寺」（朝日新聞社など後援）の会場を見て回った。

　国宝１２件、重要文化財２４件を含む計６０件を展示。メーンは法華堂の本尊、不空羂索観音（ふくうけんさくかんのん）立像（国宝、高さ３．６２メート ル）と、日光・月光両菩薩（ぼさつ）立像（同、高さ２．０６メートル）。絶対秘仏とされている二月堂の本尊、十一面観音立像の光背（重文）や、音声菩薩の レリーフをあしらい大仏殿前の八角灯籠（とうろう）にはめられていた羽目板（国宝）などもある。原則無休。

　ミュージアムは約６００平方メートルの免震展示室などを備え、主要展示ケースには低反射ガラスを使うなどして観賞環境も整えた。

　１０日正午ごろからは、オープンを記念する朝日新聞の号外「出前朝日」が、ミュージアム前と近鉄奈良駅前で無料配布される。限定５００部。

天平仏の傑作、一堂に　東大寺ミュージアムお披露目

報道陣に公開された東大寺ミュージアム＝３日午後、奈良市、小玉重隆撮影

　奈良市の東大寺境内に１０日オープンする「東大寺ミュージアム」の展示室が３日、報道陣に公開された。開館記念特別展「奈良時代の東大寺」（朝日新聞社など後援）の核となる天平仏の傑作が一堂に会し、免震構造の室内で輝きを放った。

　展示品は国宝１２件と重要文化財２４件を含む計６０件。寺内最古の建物、法華堂の内部を模した中央展示室には、不空羂索観音（ふくうけんさくかんのん） 立像（国宝、高さ３．６２メートル）と、その両脇に日光・月光両菩薩（ぼさつ）立像（同、高さ２．０６メートル）が立つ。寺を創建した聖武（しょうむ）天 皇の念持仏とされる菩薩半跏（はんか）像（重要文化財、高さ３２．８センチ）や、誕生釈迦（しゃか）仏（国宝、高さ４７．５センチ）など、穏やかな表情の 仏像群も勢ぞろいした。

　ミュージアムは既存の仏堂では公開しきれない文化財を収容するため、約６００平方メートルの免震展示室などを備えた。特別展は２０１３年１月１４日まで（原則無休、途中で展示品の入れ替えあり）。

無断転載・複製を禁じます。

報道陣に公開された東大寺ミュージアム＝３日午後、奈良市、小玉重隆撮影
記事「天平仏の傑作、一堂に　東大寺ミュージアムお披露目」よりこのウインドウを閉じる

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Men's street fashion in Tokyo is shifting to right-sized!

fun! fun! fashion!: "Men's street fashion in Tokyo is shifting to right-sized!"

BY REI SHITO CONTRIBUTING WRITER FOR ASAHI.COM

2011/10/07

The keyword for men's street fashion in Tokyo is the "feel for size." The trend is swinging back to the right-sized. (Photo by Rei Shito)More and more boys are particular about size. Could the platform-shoe boom be partly behind this!? (Photo by Rei Shito)Again this year, the standard Trad style neatly focuses on the right-sized. (Photo by Rei Shito)Again this year, the standard Trad style neatly focuses on the right-sized. (Photo by Rei Shito)This is another loose-fitting style from last year. (Photo by Rei Shito)The right-sized look is standard for the "mode" look. (Photo by Rei Shito)The "mode" style is back, as is apparent from this all-black outfit. (Photo by Rei Shito)

Editor's note: This is the eighth in an occasional column "fun! fun! fashion!" by Rei Shito, a Tokyo street fashion photographer. The original column in Japanese can be read at (http://www.asahi.com/fashion/column/fun/).

Shito's bilingual website, "Style from Tokyo," is at (http://stylefromtokyo.blogspot.com).

Hi! This is Rei Shito. Fall has arrived, and the heat is finally letting up. I'm counting down the days to the best season for street snapshots.

Today we focus on men's street fashions in Tokyo. Though new moves in the men's fashion scene are less conspicuous than those in the women's, there are signs of change now.

A keyword is "feel for size"--be they wide and loose, right-sized, or tight and slim. For a couple of seasons, we've seen somewhat loose-fitting styles for men. But this summer, things seemed to be shifting toward right-sized styles.

Compared to photos from last year, there certainly is a slight shift toward "just the right size." Let alone the neat "Trad" style, there is a swing back to this feel for size even in street fashions where loose has prevailed.

Before, T-shirts and pants were oversized to give a loose-fitting, or negatively speaking, dowdy feel. Now, if the T-shirt is baggy, the pants are slim or short. Or the top and bottom could be both the right size to be worn neatly. More people now seem to be focusing on size. I think the platform-shoe boom I mentioned last month is partly responsible for this change.

A close look at the undercurrent of this trend that is motivating people goes like this: (1) Enjoy the long-leg effect created by the platform shoes (Yeah!), then (2) The overall style becomes well-balanced (Wow!). Then people start looking for something that will highlight the nice balance in physique they acquired in (2). And so it's (3) A break with loose style!

Another trend is the "return to mode." Mode style in black from top to toe is slightly increasing from last year. Since the all-black style is the eternal standard in fashion, it exists all through the ages.

But its approval rating goes up and down just like the stock prices on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. At one point people may feel, "We've seen enough of it. Everybody is wearing it. I'm full!" But at other times they may worry that the style is going extinct, thinking, "We haven't seen the black style lately ..." Black mode is destined to go through this up-and-down cycle.

Now there are signs of a black-mode revival. For some reason, it is on the rise, sitting back and enjoying its expansion. Likened to stock prices, now is the best time to buy; if you are climbing Mt. Fuji you've reached the seventh station. Likened to romance, it's like being in a stage of agony and elation, when the countdown to the declaration of love has begun.

I think this trend has something to do with the shift from loose-fitting to the right-sized. If people's preference is shifting this way, it is only natural for them to focus on the black-mode style, whose specialty is right- or tight-sized.

Be it fashion, feelings or one's environment around this season, to "change" means diving into something you don't know about, accepting something new and at the same time, saying goodbye to the baggage you had been piling up. By doing so, your potential will grow further and further. Enjoy and accept it when your pulse races from anxiety or you are filled with joyful expectations.

September is the season of change. When you shrink a little from change, you may feel differently if you change a fashion item to something new. You might be able to see the changes in a positive light.

Now that's it for today. This was Rei Shito. Ciao!