2011年11月30日 星期三

時代周刊的日本災區照片/Japan Nuclear Accident Plans Still ‘Inadequate,’

Sendai, Japan, Nov. 18, 2011Tsunami damage is seen on the outline of an aircraft next to Sendai airport, in Sendai, northeast Japan, Friday, Nov. 18, 2011.

Aerial Scenes from the Aftermath of Japan's Earthquake and TsunamiTAKE A LOOK »








Japan Nuclear Accident Plans Still ‘Inadequate,’ Greenpeace Says

November 30, 2011, 5:01 AM EST

By Stuart Biggs and Chisaki Watanabe

Nov. 30 (Bloomberg) -- Japan’s plans for containing nuclear accidents are “completely inadequate” and haven’t been updated nearly nine months after the disaster at Fukushima, Greenpeace International said.

Government maps simulating a reactor meltdown project a release of low-level radiation only as far as 10 kilometers (6.2 miles), the environmental group said in a statement yesterday. The bulk of radioactive contamination extends as far as 30 kilometers from the leaking Fukushima plant, according to Japan’s science ministry. Some areas may be uninhabitable for decades, government officials have said.

Japan should keep nuclear plants offline until adequate plans are in place, Greenpeace said. More than 80 percent of the country’s reactors are either damaged or idled for repairs and safety checks after the March tsunami and earthquake caused meltdowns of three reactors at Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s Fukushima Dai-Ichi station. Atomic power provided about 30 percent of Japan’s energy before the catastrophe.

The government’s maps are based on “a radiation release in the order of 10,000 times less severe than what could happen during a major incident,” Jan Vande Putte, a nuclear campaigner with a degree in radiation protection from the University of Utrecht, said in the statement. “Hoping for the best is absolutely the wrong way to devise an emergency response plan.”

Greenpeace cited documents obtained in a freedom of information request to the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.

Mapping Radiation

Japan’s system for projecting the spread of radiation, called SPEEDI, is limited to low-level releases and needs upgrading to cover areas beyond 10 kilometers, Greenpeace said, citing interviews with government officials it didn’t identify.

Yu Sumikawa, an official in charge of disaster management for the science ministry agreed the government’s projections on how far radiation would spread from Fukushima were inadequate.

“SPEEDI can’t be 100 percent accurate, but we need to improve its accuracy,” he said. The science ministry is requesting funds to expand the scope of SPEEDI.

“The Fukushima Daiichi emergency response effort was slow, chaotic and insufficient, and it appears the government has learned nothing from it,” Junichi Sato, Greenpeace Japan Executive Director, said in the statement. “There is a strong risk of reactor restarts being pushed through without a proper, science-based assessment on the real risks being conducted.”

--Editors: Aaron Sheldrick, Peter Langan

To contact the reporters on this story: Stuart Biggs in Tokyo at sbiggs3@bloomberg.net; Chisaki Watanabe in Tokyo at cwatanabe5@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Peter Langan at plangan@bloomberg.net


2011年11月29日 星期二

【驚奇景點】為何東京不淹水

謝謝Justing 送的此資訊

Date: Mon, 28 Nov 2011 10:02:41 +0800
Subject: 為何東京不淹水 「地下神殿」大揭密
To:

【驚奇景點】為何東京不淹水 「地下神殿」大揭密

( 2011/10/20 Yahoo!奇摩旅遊 /Natasha L /首都外郭放水路官方網站 )
【驚奇景點特搜】每到颱風來襲,人們總是擔心著會不會淹水?淹水之後停水停電怎麼辦……所有的問題都圍繞著「淹水」打轉。鄰近台灣的日本也同樣處於颱風襲擊的範圍內,為什麼就不見日本人擔心東京淹大水呢?原來是有一座超大的「地下神殿」在保護日本首都圈不受水災之苦。
五十九根混凝土立柱整齊地排列,使「神殿」氣息更加濃厚。

日本的首都圈包括東京都、神奈川縣、埼玉縣及千葉縣,舊稱江戶的東京面臨東京灣,也是母河江戶川、利根川、荒川…等大河流經之地,可說是依水而生。這樣靠近大河的地區每遇到颱風便會引發洪水氾濫,造成無數傷亡及損失。但人類是無法離開水源的,世界上所有的古文明及大城市都是存在於離水相近的地方,東京也不例外,儘管不斷地更新排水系統,遷移進首都圈的人口還是不斷增加至三千萬人,一般的排水系統根本無法滿足如此高密度人口的需求。
你能夠想像,在如此靜謐的田野底下,竟有著不可思議巨大神殿!
看起來熟悉嗎?不少特攝片、電影、廣告皆有在地下神殿取景喔!

1992年日本決心建造一個龐大的地下排水系統以徹底解決水患,大文豪雨果曾在《悲慘世界》中寫道:下水道是「城市的良心」。下水道若不堪使用,輕則導致街道積水,重則導致淹水,甚至引發像是霍亂的可怕城市流行病。日本選在首都圈內的埼玉縣春日部市、地下五十公尺的地方興建這個「首都圈外圍排水系統(首都外郭放水路)」。在當年被說是天方夜譚、異想天開的瘋狂工程,總長6.3公里、連接五個高達八層樓的巨大蓄水井,並有調壓水槽調節排水。
這便是處理首都圈內雨水及家庭排放水的儲水槽。
乍看之下真的很難想像颱風來襲時這個儲水槽的模樣。

這個斥資千億日幣打造、堪稱世界上最先進的地下排水系統使用五十九根混凝土列柱支撐著五個巨大蓄水井,看起來就像是古希臘的神殿,因此日本人便稱它為「地下神殿」。地下神殿造好後也屢次發揮功效,成功地拯救整個首都圈免於洪水的侵襲。例如在1994年時颱風在東京造成三千戶住宅淹水;2005年重創南台灣的海棠颱風在日本卻只造成七戶住宅淹水,這都是多虧有了地下神殿的保護。
卡車跟起吊機在這座地下神殿內也變得渺小,像玩具一樣。
在中控室的玻璃窗旁,擺著一排鹹蛋超人,似乎暗著這些工程人員彷彿超人一般。圖片來源:osio

現在,地下神殿在不妨礙運作的情況下可開放民眾預約前往參觀,並有專人解說整個排水系統的構造,只是由於神殿位於地下,欲前往參觀的人要能自行行走100階以上的階梯,有健康的身體才行。總統馬英九先生也曾於2005台北市市長任內前往參觀過這有如電影場景般的巨大神殿。
神殿的巨大,很難想像這浩瀚的工程是如何完成的。圖片來源:Mayuki
地下神殿開放特定時間參觀,但參觀者得要上下100多層以上的階梯,需評估自己的腳力才行。圖片來源:Mayuki

【關於首都圈外圍排水系統】◎國家:日本
◎城市:埼玉縣
◎時差:比台灣快一小時
◎語言:日文
◎交通方式:東武野田線南櫻井站步行約40分鐘
◎景點官方網站:http://www.ktr.mlit.go.jp/edogawa/project/gaikaku/frame_index.html
◎景點地址:埼玉春日部市上金崎720
◎通訊電話:048-746-0748
◎開放參觀時間:每週二至周五,每日固定三場,採25人團體報名制,須在參觀日前一個月至一周間報名

2011年11月24日 星期四

Analysis: Stark choices face Japan Inc, sick man of Asia

曾幾何時 日本工商業問題多 變成亞洲病夫



Analysis: Stark choices face Japan Inc, sick man of Asia



By Tim Kelly
TOKYO Tue Nov 22, 2011 11:20pm EST
TOKYO (Reuters) - A sign hanging opposite Tadashi Yanai's spacious 31st floor Tokyo office reads: 'Change or die'. The head of Japan's leading apparel chain, Fast Retailing (9983.T), believes it's a message corporate Japan must heed.
As Japan's lost decade stretches into a lost generation, the nation and its corporations face ever starker choices as grinding competition in foreign markets, fading opportunities at home, and a soaring yen expose the failings of slow moving management and a hesitancy to engage with the rest of the world.
Toyota Motor (7203.T) remains the world's biggest automaker by value, but has seen market share slip to General Motors (GM.N) and Volkswagen AG (VOWG_p.DE) and has South Korea's Hyundai (005380.KS) in its rear-view mirror.
Sony (6758.T), a benchmark of consumer electronic cool in the 1980s, is on track for a fourth straight annual loss as it struggles against Apple Inc (AAPL.O) and another South Korean champion, Samsung Electronics 005930.K, while gamers' long-time darling Nintendo, heading for a first annual loss, has investors fretting it's standing still as smartphones bleed it of customers.
A deepening accounting scandal at camera and medical device maker Olympus Corp (7733.T) is not helping the mood at Japan Inc.
"There is no choice but to change. Those that don't will fail," says Yanai, a rare example of entrepreneurial success that made him Japan's richest man last year and in 2009.
The postwar generation of business leader that helped lift Japan from the rubble of defeat is gone, says Yanai, replaced by 'salarymen'. "In their world, stability is the norm. You need managers instead that are going to seek out change," he says.
The conservative steadfastness of much of corporate Japan means minimal churn in business rankings and offers little sustenance to new ventures cowering beneath a canopy of creaking conglomerates.
Typically, fewer than 5 percent of Japan's companies are newly registered, compared with nearer one in 7 in Britain, Germany and the United States, noted the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan, citing a World Bank study.
Japan needs to "aggressively" support venture firms, says Satoshi Amagai, a former Sony executive who managed the consumer electronics maker's Aibo robot dog business.
Amagai made his own radical change last year. After 31 years, he quit, saying Sony was more in the grip of accountants than innovators. He set up a venture selling vein recognition technology developed by Sony as an alternative to fingerprint scans.
During Japan's corporate heyday, Sony and other corporations had all the ingredients for success: a low yen, low labor costs and a competitive edge in analog technologies, Amagai said.
For Yanai, transformation means turning his retail business, and its flagship Uniqlo brand, into the world's biggest clothes retailer -- putting it on every major shopping street in the world over the next 10 years.
That would unplug its fortunes from a stagnant home market.
FROM HELP TO HINDRANCE
That domestic market of 127 million people was once corporate Japan's biggest asset, a springboard that launched the likes of Toyota and Sony to global dominance, says Hitoshi Mizorogi, CEO and chairman of leading semiconductor slicing machinery maker Disco Corp (6146.T).
Now, he adds, it's a snag that leaves Japan Inc. trailing foreign rivals.
"South Korea has a small population and is a small market and that meant the Koreans had to go overseas," says Mizorogi, speaking above the bustle at the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
Some of that bourse babble was about the latest dent to the battered image of Japanese companies after Olympus admitted to hiding losses it began accumulating in the wake of Japan's asset bubble collapse two decades earlier.
"Japan provided a sense of security. I think that's the difference," Mizorogi says. It allowed corporations to sprawl into unwieldy conglomerates making everything from beard trimmers to nuclear reactors.
Within three decades, government statisticians project a population decline of 20 million people -- unless the Japanese start having more babies. That unprecedented decline is like losing a city the size of Boston every year.
The consumers who are left will be forking out more tax to pay for higher welfare spending and to service national debt already exceeding $10 trillion.
"The impact of this on Japan is going to be absolutely huge," says Alex Kerr, who in 2002 published "Dogs and Demons: Tales from the Dark Side of Japan," criticising the collusion between business, bureaucrats and politicians that unleashed a tsunami of pork barrel construction, cementing over rivers and building roads to nowhere -- adding to a bloated national debt.
And there are precious few foreign workers to take up the slack. In 2008, according to the OECD, non-Japanese accounted for just 0.3 percent of the workforce, behind South Korea with 2.2 percent and Germany where one in 10 workers is an immigrant.
That structural handicap has been looming for years, but until the Lehman shock pushed the global economy into a downturn -- making the yen a sanctuary for investors and a burden for exporters -- burgeoning markets overseas provided profits that put off any day of reckoning.
Exports account for around only a tenth of Japan's economy, significantly less than before the recession.
Earlier this month, Economy Minister Motohisa Furukawa was grim, describing the outlook for Japan's economy as "increasingly severe," as the euro zone debt crisis added to uncertainty and the yen's strength defied intervention.
Disco, which makes two thirds of its revenue overseas, but builds most of its slicers and grinders in Japan, can hang on for now, but if the yen gets stronger, it may have to decouple much of that production from Japan, Mizorogi reveals.
JAPANESE AREN'T REVOLTING
Beyond the swing of forex rates and the fortunes of foreign markets, Mizorogi points to a more intractable malaise that handicaps all of Japan -- political apathy and a lack of government policy initiatives.
"I think there's a big political problem here," he says, noting the high taxes companies pay and the inability of the ruling class to win trade concessions with the rest of the world.
He's not alone.
"The Number One problem as I saw it, and still see it today, is the absence of a center of political accountability, the absence of a political steering wheel," said Karl van Wolferen, who, in 1989, at the pinnacle of Japan's economic miracle, published "The Enigma of Japanese Power," a landmark book that exposed fault lines in the country's power structure that have bedeviled it since.
Japan's fleeting moment of political transformation came in 2009 when the Democratic Party ended half a century of almost unbroken rule by the Liberal Democratic Party. A year later, the shake-up had juddered to a halt amid squabbling and policy back pedaling that, among other things, has hampered efforts to rebuild after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.
"There were a lot of hopes after the tsunami and Fukushima nuclear catastrophe, and there were many articles written about how finally Japan was going to wake up and change. But these events seem instead to have spurred a flight back to the old order," says Kerr.
The change Japan craves in its executive suites needs to begin on the streets, says Nicholas Benes, head of the Board Director Training Institute of Japan.
"If people got a little angrier, if it just popped a bit, it could easily be a turning point, and when it trips it tends to trip significantly," he explains.
But so far, there's been little sign of outrage from Japanese bemoaning their lot in a harsher global economy.
While ripples of protest spread throughout the rest of the industrialized world, with 'occupy' camps springing up in parks and squares of U.S. and European cities, the Japanese are quiet.
A protest called to occupy Tokyo's Roppongi district -- a favoured hang-out of the city's well-to-do, including foreign bankers, and the location of Yanai's office -- attracted just 80 people, according to local press reports.
Beyond some anti-nuclear demonstrations, the only group getting out the placards are farmers, and they just want the status quo, fearful the government will commit to joining the Trans Pacific Pact free trade zone of nations.
Sitting at the meeting table in his office, Yanai dismisses those who oppose a more open Japan, easier for companies to get in and out, as "idiots."
"We have to convince the world there won't be any more inward looking policies," says the apparel tycoon.
"If we don't, there is no future."
(Reporting by Tim Kelly, Editing by Ian Geoghegan)
Related Quotes and News
Company
Price
Related News
Fast Retailing Co Ltd9983.T
¥12,090
-100.00-0.82%
Analysis

2011年11月22日 星期二

Japan approves $157 billion budget for quake rebuilding

TOKYO | Sun Nov 20, 2011 11:42pm EST

(Reuters) - Japan's parliament passed a $157 billion extra budget on Monday including the issuance of new bonds to pay for the bulk of rebuilding from the March earthquake.

Policymakers hope the spending will also help sustain the economy's recovery as the yen's rise, a global slowdown and contagion from the euro zone debt crisis cloud the outlook.

The 12.1 trillion yen ($157 billion) budget earmarks 9.2 trillion yen for reconstruction spending, including 500 billion yen for subsidies to encourage firms hit by the yen's strength not to move factories and jobs outside Japan

With public debt twice the size of Japan's $5 trillion economy, the government faces a balancing act to pay for the nation's biggest reconstruction effort since the years following World War Two without choking a fragile economic recovery.

Total spending of 19 trillion yen is planned over the next five years to rebuild northeast coastal areas devastated by the March 11 disaster, including 6 trillion yen already approved by parliament in two earlier extra budgets for the year to March.

From the third extra budget approved on Monday, the government plans to spend 245 billion yen on removing and disposing of soil contaminated by radiation leaks from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, whose reactors went into meltdown after the magnitude 9.0 quake and subsequent tsunami wrecked their cooling systems.

The extra budget will also enable the government to give a 15 trillion yen boost to its war chest for market intervention to curb the yen, with the borrowing limit to finance such intervention raised by changes in regulations on the state budget.

The bulk of the third extra budget will be funded by reconstruction bonds worth 11.55 trillion yen, to be repaid over 25 years through tax hikes.

The tax plan is stipulated by funding bills that are expected to be passed by parliament early next month. The government aims to raise 10.5 trillion yen mainly by generating 7.5 trillion yen over 25 years from income tax and 2.4 trillion yen over three years from corporate tax.

Analysts expect the spending to push up economic growth by around 1 percent in the fiscal year from next April, and the government estimates it will boost GDP by around 1.7 percent with much of the effects trickling down through public spending.

(Reporting by Tetsushi Kajimoto; Editing by Michael Watson)

Buffett 訪日本工廠

Euro zone not working, words alone won't fix it: Buffett



IWAKI, Japan | Mon Nov 21, 2011 7:55am EST

(Reuters) - Billionaire investor Warren Buffett said Europe's debt crisis had shown up a "major flaw" in the 17-member euro zone system and it would take more than words to fix it.

"There is a major flaw in the euro system ... I do know the system as presently designed has a major flaw and that flaw won't be corrected just by words," he told CNBC during his first trip to Japan on Monday.

Buffett, dubbed the 'Oracle of Omaha' for his long track record as a value investor, said he had no idea how Europe's sovereign debt crisis, which started in Greece two years ago and rages on, would end, though he noted there were good valuations among companies in Europe.

"Not in the debt space, but in the equity space there are opportunities. I can think of a dozen euro stocks that are attractive ... there are stocks I like and wonderful businesses.

"We bought Tesco (TSCO.L) earlier. I could buy more if the price came down," said the 81-year-old chief of Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRKa.N), referring to the British retailer.

Buffett earlier told reporters in Iwaki City in northeast Japan that he also sees opportunities to invest in the country and was not deterred by either the March earthquake or a scandal engulfing camera and medical device maker Olympus (7733.T).

Making a trip that he had canceled in March due to the earthquake and tsunami, Buffett told reporters: "My view on Japanese people and Japanese industries is unchanged. We just had a demonstration over months that the tsunami did not stop Japanese business and the people."

"Olympus doesn't change my view at all on Japanese investments," Buffett said, referring to a widening accounting scandal at the company, which has admitted hiding losses for decades through improper accounting, raising questions about Japanese corporate governance standards.

Buffett earlier opened a new plant at cutting tool maker Tungaloy Corp, a unit of an Israeli firm in which Berkshire Hathaway holds an 80 percent stake. The factory is just 40 km from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant that was crippled by the disaster in March.

Posing for photographs outside the new factory with staff, holding a sign saying, "Never give up, Fukushima," Buffett said he felt "very welcomed."

Tungaloy, once part of conglomerate Toshiba Corp (6502.T), supplies automakers with superhard tools used to cut, groove and turn engine parts.

JAPAN STRUGGLES

A swift recovery in Japanese manufacturers' supply chains and output helped the world's No. 3 economy rebound from a post-quake recession and grow by 1.5 percent in the third quarter.

But a strong yen, cooling demand in key export markets and disruptions from widespread flooding in Thailand -- a major production base for Japanese firms -- have clouded the outlook, and Japanese stocks are down about 18 percent this year -- their worst performance since 2008.

Japan's exports fell 3.7 percent in the year to October, the fastest pace in five months, signaling more weakness ahead as the strong yen and sputtering global growth drag on the recuperating economy.

IBM STAKE

Known for avoiding companies he does not understand -- including those in the technology sector -- Buffett surprised markets this month when he revealed Berkshire spent nearly $11 billion to build up a 5.5 percent stake in IBM (IBM.N).

Buffett has said he was convinced by IBM's long-term road map and by its entrenched position with major businesses -- part of the durable competitive advantage he looks for when investing.

Early this month, Berkshire Hathaway reported a smaller third-quarter profit after losing more than $2 billion on derivatives related to stock market performance.

During the quarter, Berkshire funded the purchase of chemical maker Lubrizol and a $5 billion investment in Bank of America Corp (BAC.N).

(Writing by Tomasz Janowski, Editing by Ian Geoghegan)

2011年11月19日 星期六

Japan’s Capsule Hotels Go High Tech and High Style

Japan’s Capsule Hotels Go High Tech and High Style


EVENING was falling in the old Japanese capital of Kyoto, and I was tucking myself into a container slightly larger than a refrigerator. I pulled down the shade and, after a bit of contorting, lay down, the wall a few inches from my feet. It was a dainty little space, about 3 ¼ feet wide and 6 ½ feet long, charmingly traditional with rice-paper latticework and two woven-reed mats. I felt like an origami crane as I folded my 6-foot-2-inch frame into this “tatami capsule.”

Timothy Hornyak

A unit at the Capsule Ryokan in Kyoto, which has added the amenities of a traditional inn to the original capsule concept.

Related

The eight units at Capsule Ryokan (204 Tsuchihashicho, Shimogyo-ku; capsule-ryokan-kyoto.com) go for 3,500 yen a night, about $46 at 76 yen to the dollar. You don’t get a lot of real estate for your yen, though the box had plenty of modern conveniences: a small LCD TV, high-speed Wi-Fi, dimmable lighting and a wall-mounted alarm clock. The capsules are stacked in pairs, with chrome ladders at their entrances. Upstairs, the 32 en-suite rooms offer more space for sleeping — about three tatami mats’ worth — and the luxury of a compact rain shower.

Later, Keiji Shimizu, the owner, proudly showed me around his spotless inn, which opened last year a few blocks from Kyoto Station. “I wanted to bring some traditional style to budget accommodation,” he said, “so I combined the ryokan inn concept with the capsule hotel.”

Capsule hotels originally made their debut 30 years ago in Osaka and quickly caught on; today, there are about 300 in Japan. They cater to salarymen who miss the last train home, as well as the jobless, who rent by the month. Spartan and institutional, capsule hotels attract relatively few foreign travelers.

Mr. Shimizu, though, has incorporated into his capsule hotel features of the ryokan, the traditional Japanese inn: futons, tatami mats and a solicitous, kimono-clad staff. Demand, he said, has been brisk, though it is down about 30 percent from a year ago because of the effects of the Fukushima nuclear crisis that followed the tsunami in March.

Mr. Shimizu is not the only one to reimagine the capsule concept. Across town in the Teramachi district, Nine Hours (588 Teianmaeno-cho, Shijyo; 9hours.jp) is an inn, opened in 2009, that gives the capsule concept a sci-fi spin.

Nine Hours is housed in a slim, anonymous building; inside, sleek, contemporary design reigns. In the stark lobby, I was given a numbered key to a clothes locker upstairs. The clerk said little. Pictograms of male and female figures on the floor and elevators pointed the way to shower rooms. It was all very slick and simple. (A 12-hour stay is 4,900 yen, or $64.)

My locker held a bottle of water, black polyester sleepwear and slippers, all emblazoned with a small “9h” logo. After changing into the uniform, I headed into the dim sleep chamber; everything was a minimalist Muji-meets-“2001: A Space Odyssey” white. The fiberglass capsules themselves are rounded, and stacked vertically, but slightly offset to give the illusion of more space. I clambered into my numbered sleep pod and noticed there was no TV, only a few buttons that activate a gradual alarm-clock light — the “Sleep Ambient Control System,” which is meant to mimic the dawn, and work with my biorhythms.

I had nothing to read and therefore nothing to do in my cocoon but sleep. I tossed and turned. In the morning, I was happy to leave my white cell and feast my eyes on the old wooden temples and inns of the nearby Gion geisha district. After that sleep pod, the three-mat rooms of the Capsule Ryokan seemed like a resort suite.

2011年11月18日 星期五

日本高齡者的經濟體好端端的

Japan’s economy

Whose lost decade?

Japan’s economy works better than pessimists think—at least for the elderly

The doctor says my structural pessimism is getting better

THE Japanese say they suffer from an economic disease called “structural pessimism”. Overseas too, there is a tendency to see Japan as a harbinger of all that is doomed in the economies of the euro zone and America—even though figures released on November 14th show its economy grew by an annualised 6% in the third quarter, rebounding quickly from the March tsunami and nuclear disaster.

Look dispassionately at Japan’s economic performance over the past ten years, though, and “the second lost decade”, if not the first, is a misnomer. Much of what tarnishes Japan’s image is the result of demography—more than half its population is over 45—as well as its poor policy in dealing with it. Even so, most Japanese have grown richer over the decade.

In aggregate, Japan’s economy grew at half the pace of America’s between 2001 and 2010. Yet if judged by growth in GDP per person over the same period, then Japan has outperformed America and the euro zone (see chart 1). In part this is because its population has shrunk whereas America’s population has increased.

Though growth in labour productivity fell slightly short of America’s from 2000 to 2008, total factor productivity, a measure of how a country uses capital and labour, grew faster, according to the Tokyo-based Asian Productivity Organisation. Japan’s unemployment rate is higher than in 2000, yet it remains about half the level of America and Europe (see chart 2).

Besides supposed stagnation, the two other curses of the Japanese economy are debt and deflation. Yet these also partly reflect demography and can be overstated. People often think of Japan as an indebted country. In fact, it is the world’s biggest creditor nation, boasting ¥253 trillion ($3.3 trillion) in net foreign assets.

To be sure, its government is a large debtor; its net debt as a share of GDP is one of the highest in the OECD. However, the public debt has been accrued not primarily through wasteful spending or “bridges to nowhere”, but because of ageing, says the IMF. Social-security expenditure doubled as a share of GDP between 1990 and 2010 to pay rising pensions and health-care costs. Over the same period tax revenues have shrunk.

Falling tax revenues are a problem. The flip side, though, is that Japan has the lowest tax take of any country in the OECD, at just 17% of GDP. That gives it plenty of room to manoeuvre. Takatoshi Ito, an economist at the University of Tokyo, says increasing the consumption tax by 20 percentage points from its current 5%—putting it at the level of a high-tax European country—would raise ¥50 trillion and immediately wipe out Japan’s fiscal deficit.

That sounds draconian. But here again, demography plays a role. Officials say the elderly resist higher taxes or benefit cuts, and the young, who are in a minority, do not have the political power to push for what is in their long-term interest. David Weinstein, professor of Japanese economy at Columbia University in New York, says the elderly would rather give money to their children than pay it in taxes. Ultimately that may mean that benefits may shrink in the future. “If you want benefits to grow in line with income, as they are now, you need a massive increase in taxes of about 10% of GDP,” he says.

Demography helps explain Japan’s stubborn deflation, too, he says. After all, falling prices give savers—most of whom are elderly—positive real yields even when nominal interest rates are close to zero. Up until now, holding government bonds has been a good bet. Domestic savers remain willing to roll them over, which enables the government to fund its deficits. Yet this comes at a cost to the rest of the economy.

In short, Japan’s economy works better for those middle-aged and older than it does for the young. But it is not yet in crisis, and economists say there is plenty it could do to raise its potential growth rate, as well as to lower its debt burden.

Last weekend Yoshihiko Noda, the prime minister, took a brave shot at promoting reform when he said Japan planned to start consultations towards joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership. This is an American-backed free-trade zone that could lead to a lowering of tariffs on a huge swath of goods and services. Predictably it is elderly farmers, doctors and small businessmen who are most against it.

Reforms to other areas, such as the tax and benefit system, might be easier if the government could tell the Japanese a different story: not that their economy is mired in stagnation, but that its performance reflects the ups and downs of an ageing society, and that the old as well as the young need to make sacrifices.

The trouble is that the downbeat narrative is deeply ingrained. The current crop of leading Japanese politicians, bureaucrats and businessmen are themselves well past middle age. Many think they have sacrificed enough since the glory days of the 1980s, when Japan’s economy seemed unstoppable. Mr Weinstein says they suffer from “diminished-giant syndrome”, nervously watching the economic rise of China. If they compared themselves instead with America and Europe, they might feel heartened enough to make some of the tough choices needed.

2011年11月17日 星期四

"茶道"

最近中國出版不少關於茶和茶器等的書
讓我思考各國對"系統"的不同看法
中國的茶多形而下 而且範圍狹小
日本的茶道
他們一開始就將茶室環境納入"茶道"
更不用說 wabe/sabe 等日本文化哲學 (周前 某先生問一位去過日本搞台獨演講的朋友 這些關鍵字 他一臉茫然)

法然と親鸞展/NHK 每年都有佛寺巡迴禮拜的節目

NHK 每年都有佛寺巡迴禮拜的節目 (有TEXT)

法然と親鸞展 入場10万人突破 会期は12月4日まで

写真:10万人目となったレベッカ・ザネッティさん(左)。銭谷真美館長から記念品が贈られた=17日午後4時32分、東京・上野の東京国立博物館平成館拡大10万人目となったレベッカ・ザネッティさん(左)。銭谷真美館長から記念品が贈られた=17日午後4時32分、東京・上野の東京国立博物館平成館


 東京・上野の東京国立博物館平成館で開催中の特別展「法然(ほうねん)と親鸞(しんらん) ゆかりの名宝」(朝日新聞社など主催)の入場者数が17日、開幕から21日目で10万人を超えた。

 10万人目となったのは、オーストラリアから日本に旅行中のレベッカ・ザネッティさん(21)。記念品として本展オリジナルデザインのクマのフィギュア「ベアブリック」と図録が贈られると、ほかの来場者から歓声と拍手が上がった。

 大学を卒業したばかりのザネッティさんは、2週間の日本滞在中、多くの美術館や博物館を巡ったという。「仏教について知ることができそうだと思って来た。いい記念になりました」と話した。

2011年11月15日 星期二

Japan farm radioactive levels probed

Japan farm radioactive levels probed

Map

Related Stories

New research has found that radioactive material in parts of north-eastern Japan exceeds levels considered safe for farming.

The findings provide the first comprehensive estimates of contamination across Japan following the nuclear accident in 2011.

Food production is likely to be affected, the researchers suggest.

The results are reported in the Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) journal.

In the wake of the accident at Japan's Fukushima nuclear power plant, radioactive isotopes were blown over Japan and its coastal waters.

Fears that agricultural land would be contaminated prompted research into whether Japanese vegetables and meat were safe to eat.

An early study suggested that harvests contained levels of radiation well under the safety limit for human consumption.

Contaminated crops

Now, an international team of researchers suggests this result deserves a second look.

To estimate contamination levels, Teppei Yasunari, from the Universities Space Research Association in the US state of Maryland, and his colleagues, took measurements of the radioactive element caesium-137 in soil and grass from all but one of Japan's 47 regions and combined these results with simulations based on weather patterns following the meltdown.

Caesium-137 lingers in the environment for decades, and so is more of a concern than other radioactive elements released in the cloud of steam when the reactors' cooling systems failed, leading to explosions.

The team found that the area of eastern Fukushima had levels of the radioactive element that exceeded official government limits for arable land.

Becquerels and Sieverts

  • A becquerel (Bq), named after French physicist Henri Becquerel, is a measure of radioactivity
  • A quantity of radioactive material has an activity of 1Bq if one nucleus decays per second - and 1kBq if 1,000 nuclei decay per second
  • A sievert (Sv) is a measure of radiation absorbed by a person, named after Swedish medical physicist Rolf Sievert
  • A milli-sievert (mSv) is 1,000th of a Sievert

Under Japanese Food Sanitation Law, 5,000 becquerel per kg (Bq/kg) of caesium is considered the safe limit in soil (caesium-137 makes up about half of total radioactive caesium, and therefore its safe limit is 2,500 Bq/kg).

The researchers estimate that caesium-137 levels close to the nuclear plant were eight times the safety limit, while neighbouring regions were just under this limit.

The study showed that most of Japan was well below (average about 25 Bq/kg) the safety limit. Relatively low contamination levels in western Japan could be explained by mountain ranges sheltering those regions from the dispersal of radioactive material, the authors said.

Food production in the most contaminated regions, the researchers write, is likely to be "severely impaired", and that Fukishima's neighbouring regions, such as, Iwate, Miyagi, Yamagata, Niigata, Tochigi, Ibaraki, and Chiba are likely to also be affected.

"Some neighbouring prefectures... are partially close to the limit under our upper bound estimate and, therefore, local-scale exceedance is likely given the strong spatial variability of [caesium-137] deposition," the researchers explained in PNAS.

They urge the Japanese government to carry out a more thorough assessment of radioactive contamination across Japan before considering future decontamination plans.

A second study, published in the same edition of PNAS, collected over a hundred soil samples from within 70km of the Fukishima plant, and found similarly high caesium-137 levels across the Fukishima prefecture, and its neighbouring regions.

Radioecologist Nick Beresford from Centre of Ecology and Hydrology in Lancaster explained that once in soil, caesium will become bound to mineral components, which limits its uptake into plants.

However, this process depends on the soil type. "Caesium stays mobile for longer in organic soils, hence why England and Wales still have some post-Chernobyl restrictions in upland areas," he told BBC News.

Ploughing, and some fertilisers can help farmers reduce plants' uptake of the dangerous elements, and binding agents can be added to animal feed to reduce their uptake from the gut, he added.

Local recordings

New figures on background radiation levels recorded 60km northwest of the Daiichi power plant have also been released this week by Japanese physicist Tsuneo Konayashi from Fukushima Medical University.

Dr Konayashi saw an initial spike reaching over nine times the usual levels hours after the explosions at the plant; five months later levels have dropped to one and a half times those expected.

He continues to monitor radiation levels and distribute his data around campus.

2011年11月14日 星期一

日本民俗文化誌--古層とその周辺を探る 国分直一

《日本民俗文化誌──文化基層與周邊之探索》Kokubu Naoichi · 國分直一

第一篇 作為終點站的列島
第一章 東亞的終點站  探索我國列島文化的基層
序章
一、更新世的日本列島
二、繩文人的祖先集團登場
三、繩文草創期陶器最早出現的地區和情形
四、繩文早期以後的九州  鹿兒島縣上野臺地遺址的特別巡禮
五、東日本繩文社會的確立與發展  關於東北的狀況
六、列島的北邊和南海島嶼地方

第二章 日本文化的形成  雙重構造的形成與發展
序章
一、基層集團的形成  繩文人的祖先出現
二、日本人與文化底層構造的形成
三、國家的形成與地區的抵抗
四、民俗文化上國家層次的與地區、村落層次的傳統

第三章 『魏志』倭人傳的倭地與倭人觀
一、倭地的方位觀
二、東海地區倭的世界

第四章 古代的船與造船技術
一、探索半構造船的出現
二、關於造船技術  獨木船到構造船  徐瀛洲的發現
三、彌生時代的渡洋船

第五章 海上之道與神功傳說

第六章 日本民族和其週邊  和金關丈夫、村山七郎兩位教授對談
一、地名的問題
二、適用語言年代學
三、和南島語的對比
四、之前都為人所忽略的問題
五、語言中所見臺灣與琉球的關係
六、原始的薯類栽培和神話
七、臺灣的高砂族語言
八、琉球諸島周邊更新世人
九、南島史前時代研究的進展
十、朝鮮語和南島語的關係
十二、朝鮮半島南島語的阿爾泰化
十三、委=倭的相關問題
十四、日本語的阿爾泰化
十五、透過南島語成立的比較語言學
十六、琉球語當中發現的通古斯系要素

第二篇 栽培、社會、思想
第一章 史前古代的栽培
一、關於史前古代的栽培
二、日本的稻作原鄉

第二章 史前古代社會
一、社會的特徵  關於雙分組織
二、原山支石墓的意義
三、律令政治與雜穀社會
四、古代日向  畿內系政治事例與土著社會

第三章 古代的西國與東國
一、豐國和常陸國  風土記中的西國與東國
二、古代的東國  和西方的差異以及關聯

第四章 東北的海與河,以及愛奴語族  遙遠的足跡
一、東北的海、人和動物
二、愛奴語族的活動痕跡和大陸系種族的出現
三、壓制蝦夷的北征和山夷的形成
四、東北與九州  再看社會組織
五、中世的蝦夷
六、團獵和鮭、鱒的漁獵

第五章 繩文人的思想和語言  再考
一、空白與空間的不安
二、推測的繩文人語言

第六章 史前古代社會中的時間

第七章 先史古代人的夢

第八章 從人類學的立場看  家族相關的問題
一、序言  問題的設定
二、家族與社會
三、結語─戰後日本社會的結構變化與家族

第三篇 探索民俗
第一章 民俗學與考古學

第二章 巫術及其功能
前言
一、維納斯的出現
二、薩滿與巫術
三、習俗的規範
四、二重的性
五、死後的世界

第三章 身體裝飾與民俗
一、關於裝飾品
二、面具、裝扮和身體變相
三、化妝和假髮

第四章 倭人的風俗

第五章 習俗所見支那海各地區間的關係

第六章 雙性的神人  男人=女人  以南西諸島為例

第七章 都市和鄉村的民俗
前言
一、都市和鄉村
二、都市和鄉村的儀式祭典

第八章 近世知識分子的地方風俗發現之旅
代序
一、學者對民俗的關心
二、本草家所見的地方文化
三、名越左源太和奄美大島

第四篇 附篇
第一章 王健群的『好太王碑研究』

第二章 柳田國男與「海上之道」

第三章 えとのす   Ethnos in Asia   運動始末記
一、長年來的構想
二、不被看好
三、關於 W. Eberhard 教授
四、關於編輯與企劃
五、拜訪愛奴的村落
六、充滿起伏的韓國之旅
七、沒有為民族學點燈
八、再度探討的東北民俗

後記

日本核災的空中量測 Radioactive cesium spread as far as Gunma-Nagano border

日本核災的空中量測 Radioactive cesium spread as far as Gunma-Nagano border

(c) The Asahi Shimbun

(c) The Asahi Shimbun


Radioactive cesium spread as far as Gunma-Nagano border


November 12, 2011

The science ministry released maps on Nov. 11 showing aerially measured accumulations of radioactive cesium from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant in 18 prefectures.

Measurements were taken for the first time in six prefectures--Iwate, Toyama, Yamanashi, Nagano, Gifu and Shizuoka--in addition to the previously available contamination maps of 12 prefectures, providing an almost complete picture of eastern Japan.

Radioactive cesium has contaminated areas as far west as the border between Gunma and Nagano prefectures, and as far north as the southern part of Iwate Prefecture, according to officials.

The combined concentration of cesium-134 and cesium-137 exceeded 30,000 becquerels per square meter in certain areas of four municipalities in southern Iwate Prefecture--Oshu, Hiraizumi, Ichinoseki and Fujisawa--and parts of four municipalities in eastern Nagano Prefecture--Karuizawa, Miyota, Saku and Sakuho.

A concentration exceeding 60,000 becquerels per square meter was found near the border of Oshu and Ichinoseki cities and near the border of Saku city and Sakuho town.

The high cesium concentration levels in southern Iwate Prefecture and northern Miyagi Prefecture are said to have formed due to rainfall after a radioactive plume spread from the plant following the nuclear accident. Eastern areas of Nagano Prefecture may have been contaminated by a plume that moved southward from Gunma Prefecture.

In the latest round of measurements, the science ministry fine-tuned its methods by subtracting levels of naturally existing background radiation. The adjustments have led to considerably reduced areas in Niigata Prefecture, where the concentrations exceeded 10,000 becquerels per square meter, but high concentrations were still found in parts of Uonoma city and neighboring areas close to the border with Fukushima Prefecture.

The science ministry defines places with a concentration of more than 10,000 becquerels per square meter as "areas affected by the nuclear accident." No contamination was detected to the west of areas near the Gunma-Nagano border.

"It is possible the plume did not reach the other side of the mountains," a ministry official said.

明菴 栄西

栄西
永治元年4月20日 - 建保3年7月5日[1]
1141年5月27日 - 1215年8月1日
Eisai.jpg
(道号)明庵
(房号)葉上房
諡号 千光国師
尊称 栄西禅師
生地 岡山
没地 鎌倉?・京都?
寺院 聖福寺建仁寺
虚庵懐敞
著作 誓願寺盂蘭盆縁起』・『喫茶養生記』・『興禅護国論』・『一代経論釈







栄西(えいさい、ようさい)は、平安時代末期から鎌倉時代初期のである。明菴 栄西(みんなん えいさい、みんなん ようさい)とも呼ばれる。臨済宗の開祖、建仁寺の開山。天台密教葉上流の流祖。また、喫茶習慣を日本に伝えたことでも知られる。

生年には異説がある。生地は備中国賀陽郡宮内(現在の岡山県岡山市北区吉備津南部)。

目次

[編集] 経歴

茶碑、建仁寺、京都市東山区
  • 建永元年(1206年) 重源の後を受けて東大寺勧進職に就任。
  • 建暦2年(1212年法印に叙任。
  • 建保元年(1213年権僧正に栄進。
    • 政治権力にひたすら追従する栄西には当時から多くの批判があった。特に栄西が幕府を動かし、大師号猟号運動を行ったことは大きな非難を浴びた。栄西の策動は生前授号の前例が無いことを理由に退けられるが、天台座主慈円は『愚管抄』で栄西を「増上慢の権化」と罵っている。
  • 建保3年(1215年享年75(満74歳没)で病没。終焉の地はの2説がある。

[編集] 他者からの栄西観

  • 日本曹洞宗の開祖である道元は、入宋前に建仁寺で修行しており、師の明全を通じて栄西とは孫弟子の関係になるが、栄西を非常に尊敬し、夜の説法を集めた『正法眼蔵随聞記』では、「なくなられた僧正様は…」と、彼に関するエピソードを数回も披露している。なお、栄西と道元は直接会っていたかという問題は、最近の研究では会っていないとされる。

[編集] 主な著作

  • 誓願寺盂蘭盆縁起』 - 栄西唯一の肉筆文書で国宝。福岡市西区の誓願寺に滞在した折、書いたと見られる。
  • 『喫茶養生記』 - 『喫茶養生記』は上下2巻からなり、上巻では茶の種類や抹茶の製法、身体を壮健にする喫茶の効用が説かれ、下巻では飲水(現在の糖尿病)、中風、不食、瘡、脚気の五病に対するの効用と用法が説かれている。このことから、茶桑経(ちゃそうきょう)という別称もある。書かれた年代ははっきりせず、一般には建保2年(1214年)に源実朝に献上したという「茶徳を誉むる所の書」を完本の成立とするが、定説はない。
  • 『栄西-興禅護国論・喫茶養生記-』

[編集] 関連項目

[編集] 脚注

[ヘルプ]
  1. ^ 開山栄西禅師”. 建仁寺. 2010年7月8日閲覧。

[編集] 参考文献

[編集] 著作文献

  • 『栄西 興禅護国論・喫茶養生記』 古田紹欽訳・著、講談社〈禅入門1〉、1994年
    上記の元版、初版は『栄西 「日本の禅語録. 第1巻」』、1977年
  • 『明菴栄西 興禅護国論 原典日本仏教の思想.10』 柳田聖山校注、岩波書店、1991年
     他に一休宗純抜隊得勝ほかの校注、元版は『日本思想大系16 中世禅家の思想』
  • 『栄西 金剛頂宗菩提心論口決・出家大綱』 中尾良信訳
     他に明恵の訳注、中央公論社「大乗仏典 中国・日本篇.第20巻」、1988年
  • 『栄西 興禅護国論 傍訳』 西村惠信監修:安永祖堂編著、四季社、2002年

[編集] 外部リンク