Editors thrive on controversy — but it can bite back

Abstract: In the early hours of Jan. 17, 1995, the Great Hanshin Earthquake struck southern Hyogo Prefecture and the surrounding areas, causing more than 6,000 deaths and seriously damaging infrastructure. For the next several days, most Japanese stayed glued to their TV sets. Few noticed that a monthly magazine named Marco Polo — which had gone on sale the same morning as the Hanshin disaster — had run a 10-page article titled “There were no Nazi gas chambers.” Written by a Japanese physician, based on secondary sources and with virtually no primary research, the article essentially claimed the Holocaust, which culminated in the genocide of some two-thirds of the Jews in Europe, had not occurred. Particularly grating to Jewish groups around the world was the timing of the article, which appeared just 10 days before the 50th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp. In protesting the article, the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles, a Jewish human rights organization whose membership includes Holocaust survivors, angrily pointed out that an editor’s introduction to the article unequivocally endorsed the writer’s arguments, by proclaiming that a young doctor had uncovered “a new historical truth” about the Holocaust. Marco Polo’s editor, Kazuyoshi Hanada, may merely have sought to stir up controversy with the story. If so, he certainly got more than he bargained for. Germany’s Volkswagen Group and a number of other advertisers reacted by withdrawing their ads from Marco Polo, and to apologize, the magazine’s publisher, Bungeishunju-sha, shut the publication down. It’s ironic that in its penultimate issue, Marco Polo had announced a crusade to expose the vested interests of powerful businesses, government organizations and religious groups. Jews, however, were not mentioned. Earlier this year, an interview with Hanada appeared in the online magazine Tocana. He told TV producer Yoshio Koh that, under his guidance, Marco Polo’s circulation had been boosted five-fold, from 30,000 to 150,000 a month. “It was the first time we had ever received a protest from a foreign organization, and the company panicked,” Hanada related, adding that during an internal meeting the question was raised, “What if Japanese embassies around the world get stoned by angry Jews?” Although Bungeishunju-sha’s then-president Kengo Tanaka resigned to take responsibility, Hanada remained on the company payroll in what is described as kanshoku (a do-nothing job). But 18 months later he moved across town to work for the Asahi Shimbun — famous for its adversarial relationship with Bungeishunju-sha — where he became editor of a woman’s magazine called Uno, which folded after two years. Despite the international outcry over Marco Polo, Hanada retained his reputation for being a charismatic and savvy editor, and gradually made a comeback of sorts. Along with editing second-tier magazines, he has been writing a weekly column in the Yukan Fuji tabloid and makes occasional appearances on TV. For the past decade, Hanada, who is now 74, also edited a monthly magazine named WiLL, which has a heavily conservative slant and is not above delving into historical revisionism. Last spring, citing disagreements over editorial policies, Hanada broke off from WiLL to launch his own nearly identical magazine, named Hanada. It is one thing for a famous editor to be closely associated with a publication, but in a country where modesty is seen as a virtue and self-promotion a vice — and where most weekly magazines don’t even include an editorial masthead — the bestowing of a periodical with the founder-cum-editor’s surname is audacious and unprecedented. Hanada magazine’s Jan. 2017 issue went on sale earlier this month and features several articles about U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, along with coverage of South Korean President Park Geun-hye and Bob Dylan. It also ran an article by Yasuo Kato titled “The Emperor’s Horses,” about the fates of horses used by the Japanese military during the war years. Of greatest interest in the issue, however, was a 14-page interview personally conducted by Hanada with Manabu Shintani, the current editor of Shukan Bunshun. Before he took the reins of the ill-fated Marco Polo, Hanada had edited Shukan Bunshun from 1988 to 1994. Shintani, once Hanada’s understudy at Marco Polo and currently regarded as the enfant terrible of tabloid magazines, has been in the limelight all year. Like Hanada, 51-year-old Shintani had also greatly displeased his employer — in this case by running several pages of sexually explicit ukiyo-e prints — and was punished by being ordered to take a leave of absence in the last three months of 2015. Some media pundits expected he would not return to Shukan Bunshun, but after his reinstatement Shintani came roaring back with a series of scoops that got everyone’s attention. A three-part series in January led to the resignation of economy minister Akira Amari, and during the next several months Bunshun ran a stream of articles embarrassing various entertainers, politicians and sports figures. So consistent and productive was Bunshun’s output in the past year that magazine’s newly acquired nickname, “Bunshun-ho” (the “Bunshun cannon”), was among the nominees for top buzzword of the year. Hanada takes a cordial tone toward Shintani in the interview and one can’t help wondering if he is a bit envious of Shintani’s success. He asked Shintani how he has managed to generate so many timely scoops. “Having the internet has been really convenient for us,” Shintani replies. “When we read news stories now, the internet makes it easier to observe readers’ reactions. By ignoring this, print newspapers risk becoming boring. “The most essential point for a weekly magazine is an ability to read the direction of the winds in society. In my college days I belonged to the yachting club, and when learning techniques for steering the boat we would say, ‘A big gust is coming.’ Reacting to changes in the wind while steering a yacht is a lot like running a weekly magazine. “Likewise in yachting, as in running a magazine, you also have to develop a sense of avoiding overcompensating if there’s a quick change in the wind’s direction,” Shintani added. It will be interesting to see how Shintani, and Hanada, steer their respective magazines in the coming year.


Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida's low-key Pearl Harbor visit in 1951 recounted

Abstract: Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who will visit Pearl Harbor with U.S. President Barack Obama on Tuesday, wasn’t even born when then-Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida went there just six years after Japan’s surrender, by himself and feeling awkward. Yoshida is best remembered for signing the San Francisco peace treaty with the U.S. and others in 1951, allowing Japan back into international society after its wartime defeat. His Pearl Harbor visit, which he made on his way home from San Francisco, was largely eclipsed by the historic treaty. Archival writings and photos unearthed by The Associated Press reconstruct Yoshida’s visit, ranging from his aim to win U.S. trust to how he was put at ease by the U.S. Navy commander’s dog. Yoshida arrived at Pearl Harbor on Sept. 12, 1951, shortly after requesting a courtesy visit to the office of Adm. Arthur Radford, commander of the U.S. Pacific fleet. The office overlooked Pearl Harbor, offering a direct view of the site of the Japanese attack early on Dec. 7, 1941. Radford recalled that he thought Yoshida might feel uncomfortable because of his office’s location. “I could almost see the wreck of Arizona” out of the window, he wrote in his memoir, “From Pearl Harbor to Vietnam,” referring to a battleship that sank in the attack. Yoshida, Westernized and fluent in English, showed up in a white suit, wearing his trademark brimmed hat and carrying a cane, apparently looking a bit stiff. Then Radford’s dog broke the ice. His little Scottish terrier, which was stretched out in front of Radford’s desk, walked slowly to Yoshida to be patted, while sniffing around his shoes and ankles. “That started a dog conversation that took most of the visit,” Radford wrote. Yoshida was a dog fancier, and had bought terrier puppies just before leaving San Francisco, according to his grandson, Taro Aso, currently the finance minister in Abe’s Cabinet. Yoshida named the pair “San” and “Fran” after his successful trip. Years later, Yoshida told Radford’s wife how he was embarrassed when he walked into the office after seeing Pearl Harbor, and how happy he was that the dog was able to settle him down. A navy archival photo obtained by AP shows the two men shaking hands, with a smiling Yoshida looking up at the much taller Radford. Yoshida spent about 20 minutes in the office, according to a story from Sept. 13, 1951. Yoshida’s visit to Pearl Harbor was actually on his second Hawaii stopover; he stopped there on his way to San Francisco as well. But he was more relaxed the second time after completing the important mission in San Francisco, where he also signed the original Japan-U.S. security pact. On his way to California, Yoshida landed in Honolulu on Aug. 31, 1951, when Japan was still technically an enemy. During that visit, he laid flowers for the war dead at Honolulu’s National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, a military cemetery better known as Punchbowl. Three other Japanese prime ministers have since followed suit. A local Hawaii newspaper recently reported that two others also visited Pearl Harbor later in the 1950s. Yoshida’s daughter, Kazuko Aso, who was traveling with him, recalled that security was extremely tight in Hawaii on his first stopover, before the peace treaty was signed, and that Yoshida, who stayed on the top floor of the Royal Hawaiian Hotel, was instructed not to leave the hotel for safety reasons. “But that old man insisted he wanted to go out … to pay tribute to the war dead,” Aso said in an interview published in the monthly Bungei Shunju magazine some weeks after the trip. She said the Japanese delegation unexpectedly received a warm welcome. Photos in the Mainichi Shimbun showed Yoshida’s face nearly buried in Hawaiian floral leis because he had received so many of them at the airport. At the Sept. 12, 1951, reception attended by U.S. military and Hawaiian officials, Yoshida sought further U.S. economic assistance and cooperation to reconstruct his war-devastated country and pledged to never use aggression. Two days later, the Honolulu Star-Bulletin welcomed his speech as “a notably frank admission of Japan’s war guilt and a pledge that Japan will do everything possible to repair the enormous damage done by her armies, navy and air force.”

wwii
u.s. military
shigeru yoshida
pearl harbor
arthur radford


Abdication panel leans toward one-off deal after Emperor Akihito's rare video

Abstract: A government panel appears ready to propose that a special temporary law be enacted to allow Emperor Akihito, 83, to abdicate, given his advanced age. But the Emperor reportedly believes a permanent reform law, not a temporary one just for himself, should be enacted so future monarchs can abdicate if they so chose. Why is the panel set to propose something that would go against the Emperor’s wishes? What is the logic behind its thinking? Here are some questions and answers on the long-running debate over the abdication issue: Why did Emperor Akihito suggest the Imperial system be reformed to allow an emperor to abdicate? On Aug. 8, in an unprecedented video message televised nationwide, the Emperor, then 82, expressed concern that he may some day become unable to fully perform his public duties due to his age. Citing two surgeries, the Emperor said his physical strength had weakened recently. The video was widely interpreted as indicating his desire to abdicate within a few years and to see reforms to the Imperial system made so an emperor can step down before death. In response, the government set up a six-member panel headed by Takashi Imai, former head of Japan Business Federation (Keidanren), that is expected to present its reform proposals early next year. What is the panel’s consensus to date? On Dec. 14, Takashi Mikuriya, the panel’s deputy chairman, told reporters all six members were of the opinion that it is technically difficult to clarify in legal terms the conditions under which an elderly emperor should be allowed to abdicate. Mikuriya also said public opinion regarding the conditions and age for abdication can change over time and depend on the prevailing social situation. For example, the retirement age at most Japanese companies was once 50 but is now 60, in light of the growth in average longevity in Japan. Another thorny issue, government officials say, is how select the person who will judge whether the mental and physical condition of an emperor meets the conditions for abdication. A senior official, speaking on condition of anonymity, vaguely warned that “various problems” could arise if an emperor is allowed to abdicate based on his own desire. Many right-leaning, conservative intellectuals and politicians argue that an emperor should not be allowed to abdicate on his own because it could destabilize the Imperial succession system. For example, an emperor might use age or health problems as an excuse to quit for different reasons, including political ones related to his views or those of enemies or political forces arrayed against him, conservative critics say. “If an emperor is allowed to abdicate on his own, it would allow a subsequent emperor to refuse to assume the throne or to abdicate after a short term,” Hidetsugu Yagi, a professor at Reitaku University, wrote in an opinion paper presented to the panel in November. “It would greatly shake the stability of the Imperial Throne,” Yagi wrote, arguing that a regent should be installed in the event an emperor becomes unable to fulfill his public duties due to age. How does Emperor Akihito feel about these issues? The Emperor has not said in public whether he wants a temporary or permanent route to abdication. But Mototsugu Akashi, 82, a longtime friend, quoted the Emperor as saying in private that he wants reform for “which abdication is possible not only for myself, but (for future emperors).” The Emperor also reportedly said he doesn’t think installing a regent is a good idea. When his father, Emperor Hirohito (posthumously known as Emperor Showa), served as regent when Emperor Taisho’s health began failing, the public was split by the issue. “I think a regent is not a good idea,” the Emperor was quoted as telling Akashi. If that account is true, why won’t the panel support the Emperor? It won’t because the Constitution bans emperors from engaging in political activity, and altering the Imperial system is considered the task of the politicians, who are supposed to represent the people. According to the Constitution, the emperor is “the symbol of the State and of the unity of the People,” and “shall not have powers related to government.” Thus if the emperor were to play a significant role in reforming the Imperial system, it would be considered a violation of the Constitution, scholars and civil servants say. Government officials have repeatedly emphasized they will draw up an Imperial reform bill on their own, regardless of the “private” views of Emperor Akihito, and are expected to submit one, based on the panel’s recommendations, to the Diet in the first half of next year. How does the public stand on the matter? According to a opinion poll conducted from Dec. 9 to Dec. 12 by Jiji Press, 61 percent of the public backs a permanent law that would allow Emperor Akihito and all future emperors to abdicate, and 21.6 percent support the idea of a special law that would be apply only to him. The poll covered 2,000 voters across the country and drew valid responses from 62.3 percent of those interviewed.

emperor akihito
imperial family
abdication


Russia long represented in Tokyo by cathedral, eateries

Abstract: With Russian President Vladimir Putin set to visit Japan next week, expectations are growing as to whether progress will be made on a territorial row that has been a thorn in bilateral ties. But strolling through the streets of Tokyo, a few Russia-linked buildings and restaurants, both old and new, suggest there is history between the two countries that goes beyond the disputed islands off Hokkaido. One is a Byzantine-style Orthodox cathedral founded in 1891 by Russian priest Nicholas Kasatkin — an eye-catching structure that sits among modern Tokyo buildings. The Holy Resurrection Cathedral in Tokyo, in the capital’s Chiyoda Ward, boasts Byzantine-style decor. | YOSHIAKI MIURA Visitors walk through the Holy Resurrection Cathedral in Tokyo on Nov. 6. | YOSHIAKI MIURA A wall painting at the Holy Resurrection Cathedral in Tokyo, commonly known as Nicolai-do, features Jesus Christ holding a book in Japanese. | YOSHIAKI MIURA The Byzantine-style Holy Resurrection Cathedral in Tokyo is seen on Nov. 6. | YOSHIAKI MIURA The Holy Resurrection Cathedral in Tokyo, commonly known as Nicolai-do, however, was burned down during the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake. It was restored in 1929 thanks to donations, and subsequently designated one of Japan’s important cultural properties in 1962. A train ride away in Shinjuku Ward is the Russian restaurant Chaika, or seagull, which opened in the Cold War era of 1972. Matryoshka dolls dot the windowsill at Chaika, a Russian restaurant in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward on Nov. 23. | YOSHIAKI MIURA Chicken pot pie with white sauce is one of the menu items at Chaika, a Russian restaurant in the Takadanobaba district in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward. | YOSHIAKI MIURA Russian tea is served at Chaika, a Russian restaurant in Shinjuku Ward, on Nov. 23. | YOSHIAKI MIURA And for those who like to follow the latest trends, ItaCafe, a newly opened cafe in the Waseda district, bills itself as the first Russian maid cafe in Tokyo. Waitresses dressed as Russian maids serve food at ItaCafe in Tokyo’s Waseda district on Nov. 23. | YOSHIAKI MIURA But perhaps the most interesting of all is Russia Tea in Taito Ward, a small shop that offers more than 1,000 Russian products, ranging from matryoshk a dolls featuring past Russian leaders, to cigarettes, military uniforms and night-vision devices. Kazuharu Iwahashi, owner of the Russian Tea specialty shop in Taito Ward, Tokyo, holds matryoshka dolls featuring past Russian leaders on Nov. 23. | YOSHIAKI MIURA

vladimir putin
russia
tokyo holy resurrection cathedral
itacafe


Japan Times 1992: 'George Bush collapses during official dinner'

Abstract: 100 YEARS AGO SATURDAY, JAN. 6 1917 Aborigines of north are now dying out An account of the customs and manners of the Ainos, the aborigines of the Hokkaido may be of interest to the reader who is still not familiar with them. The number of the Ainos scattered over Hokkaido has remarkably decreased and is less than 20,000. They live in groups of 20 to 40 houses in scattered districts on the island. In spite of ceaseless efforts on the part of colonial government and each prefectural government on their behalf, they nevertheless show no sign of benefiting from the care taken of them. They are an indolent, improvident race. Both men and women are addicted to drinking and appear to regard anything done for their benefit as a nuisance. The male Ainos drone away their time and do nothing at most but hunting and fishing. The women are more inclined to labor and industry and curiously enough the female birthrate gets the better of that of males. Bear hunting best characterizes their courage, but the present scarcity of bears on the island barely rewards their efforts to catch enough to meet their drinking expenses. Ainos keep themselves very dirty and never care to utilize the bath accommodations furnished by the colonial authorities. The hair is held sacred by them and they naturally are not willing to part with it. Most of the Ainos tattoo the parts of their faces above and below their mouths, at ages ranging from 12 to 20, by their own hands. And it is interesting to note that some women are clever in the art of singing “Naniwabushi,” a type of historical and romantic song popular among Japanese. Dr. M. Gordon Munroja later discredited some of the details mentioned in this report. 75 YEARS AGO Sunday, Jan. 2, 1942 Japanese forces enter Philippines capital The United States War Department has admitted the fall of Manila in a war communique, adding, however, that resistance of U.S. forces in the Philippines has not been hampered in the least. U.S. and Philippines forces have formed strong defenses to the north of Manila and are guarding the fortifications in Manila Bay to prevent their falling into Japanese hands, the communique stated. With the occupation of this city by Japanese forces, all Japanese residents — about 15,00 persons — were reported safe today. The Army Department of the Imperial Headquarters at 9 a.m. on Wednesday announced that Imperial Japanese Army units have been entering the city of Manila, capital of the Phillipines, in rapid succession since yesterday afternoon. “Imperial Army units have been entering the city of Manila one after another since the afternoon of Jan. 2.” Manila was the site of arguably the bloodiest battle in the Pacific theater of World War II, with Japanese troops massacring an estimated 100,000 civilians. 50 YEARS AGO Thursday, Jan. 5, 1967 Tokyo aims to give each resident one bedroom One bedroom for one person is possible in Tokyo by 1985, the Metropolitan Government said Wednesday. In a survey titled “Tokyo in 1985” that was released Wednesday, the Metropolitan Government said such a housing dream for Tokyoites can come true under a vigorous program backed by heavy capital outlays of the central government. The new image of Tokyo, drawn by the Metropolitan Government’s Planning and Adjustment Bureau, also said the city population would grow to 13 million by 1985. But, it added, Tokyo by then will have no problems such as a rush-hour jam for commuters, water shortages, street traffic congestion and smog, let alone tight housing space. To realize this dream, the city said it would need ¥23 million from the state Treasury, cooperation of outlying prefectures, vigourous planning and severe legislative measures. It envisioned that, by 1985, annual income of Tokyoites will swell to ¥1,140,000 per person with one out of each three persons driving an automobile. By 1985, it said, Tokyo’s population will consist of 4.3 million families comprised of three persons each, with the city becoming the center of industries requiring high-flung technology such as printing, publication and electronics. Tokyo workers will retire at the age of 60, with his working hours trimmed to 40 hours or five days a week and his income averaging ¥1,140,000 a year, a figure which is three times that of 1964. In spite of all these promised benefits of a modern city life, however, jet noise, fire and traffic accidents are expected to increase, it said. 25 YEARS AGO Thursday, Jan. 9, 1992 George Bush collapses during official dinner U.S. President George Bush collapsed in the middle of an official banquet Wednesday night and returned early to the Government Guesthouse in Tokyo’s Akasaka district. A spokesman later said Bush was suffering from gastric fluid and was “feeling fine.” While the dinner was proceeding, Bush slumped in his chair and was asked by Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa how he was feeling, according to reports. NHK showed pictures of Bush then appearing to fall sideways from his chair. Bush regularly jogs and plays tennis and golf. He is on the final leg of a 12-day trade mission that took him earlier to Australia, Singapore and South Korea. Chief Cabinet Secretary Koichi Kato said that Bush fell ill about 40 minutes after the start of the banquet and vomited a little. Bush was helped to his feet after lying on the floor for several minutes. He smiled and appeared pale as he waved to other guests before leaving the banquet hall. Bush earlier had complained to the doctor of feeling ill but said he wanted to go on with the dinner, White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater said. “I wanted to get a little attention,” Bush reportedly joked after rising from the floor.

tokyo
wwii
manila
housing
ainu
george bush


Space oddity as Dr. David Bowie treats 'starman' Buzz Aldrin in New Zealand hospital

Abstract: WELLINGTON - In what can only be described as a space oddity, former astronaut Buzz Aldrin is being cared for in a New Zealand hospital by Dr. David Bowie after being evacuated from the South Pole. In a truly remarkable coincidence, Aldrin’s doctor shares the name of the late British singer whose greatest hits included songs such as “Starman” and others about space travel that could easily have been penned for the great American astronaut. The coincidence certainly tickled Aldrin’s manager, Christina Korp, who posted a photo on Twitter of Aldrin and Bowie together in a Christchurch hospital. “Thank heaven @TheRealBuzz’s doctor is David Bowie,” Korp said on Twitter. “You can’t make this stuff up.” Bowie, the singer and actor, released his smash hit “Space Oddity” about a fictional astronaut who loses communication with ground control in 1969, just days before Neil Armstrong and Aldrin became the first humans to set foot on the moon. Their moonwalk, part of the Apollo 11 lunar landing, was watched by a then-record television audience of 600 million people worldwide. Bowie, who also adopted the alter ego of Ziggy Stardust, followed the success of “Space Oddity” with the release of “Starman” in 1972. Aldrin, 86, was evacuated from the South Pole at the weekend after falling ill and was flown to Christchurch on New Zealand’s South Island, where he remains in quarantine. He has been advised by doctors to remain until fluid in his lungs clears. Bowie, the singer and actor who won the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006, died earlier this year.


Industry divided on government's casino gamble

Abstract: In its zeal to ramrod some bills into law before the New Years holiday, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party finally legalized casino gambling, a matter that has been in legislative limbo for a number of years. However, the problems that always prevented the bills from advancing in the past have not gone away, the biggest one being Japan’s perceived penchant for gambling addiction. Even the government’s own health ministry reports that more than 5.36 million Japanese suffer from some sort of gambling addiction, and while groups like Gamblers Anonymous say that passage of the casino bill will provide the government with an incentive to tackle the problem, in order to do so the LDP would first need to acknowledge its source. According to the magazine Big Issue, 93 percent of Japanese men who say they gamble cite pachinko as their main form of betting recreation. The problem is, pachinko is not legally recognized as a form of gambling. Strictly speaking, pachinko, a mechanized game based on a crude, vertical species of pinball, is characterized as “entertainment” ( yugi ) in the eyes of the law. As long as winning at some game is not directly compensated with cash, it doesn’t qualify as gambling, or tobaku , which is controlled under the Criminal Code. In theory, pachinko falls into the category of popular amusements commonly found at the kind of neighborhood festivals that popped up in the years after World War II, where participants could win canned goods or chocolate bars by playing lightly competitive games. Eventually, enterprising spirits recognized the loophole in the law that allowed for these games and exploited it by establishing pachinko parlors as havens of recreation. Pachinko “winners” are compensated with prizes such as ballpoint pens that are then sold off-site at special nonrelated “stores” for cash. And because these off-site stores are bureaucratically overseen by the police, the government has a stake in them. This relationship is an open secret unacknowledged by the LDP in its drive to legalize casino gambling, and so the question is: Once casinos are up and running as magnets for so-called Integrated Resorts, will pachinko be allowed to emerge from the shadows? The Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported in 2011 that all gambling revenues in Japan amounted to ¥24 trillion, only ¥5.16 trillion of which was amassed through “public” gambling endeavors such as lotteries and various forms of racing. The rest was pachinko. In fact, over the previous 20 years, according to Nikkei, Japanese people spent ¥540 trillion on pachinko. In a year, pachinko brings in more than twice as much money as do all gambling endeavors in the United States. In 2013, the Australian Game Machine Association found that there were 7.67 million “gambling-related” machines in the world, and that 4.59 million, or 60 percent, were located in Japan. In second place was the U.S., with only 889,000. Gambling-related machines were defined as mechanical or electronic vending games that offered a potential return, and included slot machines, video lottery terminals and pachinko. The Caribbean island of Saint Martin had the most machines per capita, one for every 12 inhabitants. Monaco was second, and Japan third, with one for every 28 people. The fact that pachinko remains a business outlier despite its huge earnings is epitomized by the absence of any pachinko-related company on any of Japan’s stock exchanges. It was big news when the pachinko parlor operator Dynam Japan Holdings was listed on the Hong Kong exchange in August 2012 after a Japanese lawyer for the company submitted a 20-page brief to the exchange explaining how pachinko is “not illegal” in Japan because of the three-store system wherein winners at the parlor exchange their metal ball winnings for premiums at a different location and then exchange those premiums for cash at a third location. It was perhaps the only instance in the annals of pachinko where a clear legal explanation of the loophole was given in an above-board manner. In Hong Kong, there was nothing wrong with describing pachinko as a form of gambling. It just can’t be done in Japan. The industry is split about the advent of casinos in Japan. Some operators see it as unwanted competition, while others want to take advantage, thinking wider legal acceptance of gambling will provide them with investment opportunities. With the aging population, pachinko as a pastime is shrinking, and casinos are, by definition, 24-hour operations. Open-ended gaming is integral to the profit motive of gambling. If the gambler is cognizant of a temporal limit to his or her activities, much of the incentive for betting is gone. It’s in the house’s interest to allow the gambler to play as long as possible so as to continue accumulating winnings or recoup losses, whichever the case may be. According to the Public Morals Law, however, which regulates pachinko, parlors must close by 1 a.m. (An exception is Mie Prefecture, where they are allowed to be open all day, but only on New Year’s Eve.) So if casinos are allowed to operate 24 hours a day, pachinko parlor operators may demand they be allowed to operate 24 hours a day as well. When casinos are finally regulated, there will need to be public debate about pachinko parlors’ de facto status as gambling havens, but in any case, it’s not as if gambling is being suddenly thrust upon an innocent citizenry. In 2010, Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto tried to make the case for bringing casinos to his city by saying that revenue from local taxes on gambling could be used to fund education, welfare benefits and health care. However, his civic rationale was odd. He said Japanese society was naive about gambling because the authorities prevented them from playing, and that by legalizing casinos the public would become more savvy and, presumably, cosmopolitan. Hashimoto obviously has a romantic image of gamblers, but in any case, he was wrong. Japanese already know a lot about gambling, which may be why they don’t like the new bill.


A realistic view of Japan's island dispute

Abstract: In the past month, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has snuggled up to two of the world’s most distrusted national leaders in an attempt to prove his diplomatic mettle and boost support rates ahead of a rumored snap election next year. Abe was the first country head to gain an audience with President-elect Donald Trump in a meeting whose kitschy setting, prematurity and air of pointlessness highlighted Abe’s desperation. Then, last week, he welcomed Russian President Vladimir Putin to a hot-spring resort in his home constituency of Yamaguchi Prefecture, thus raising eyebrows in various foreign capitals. Last summer, when Abe hosted the annual summit of leaders of the industrialized world, it was with the G-7, not G-8, because the others had decided to uninvite Putin due to his actions in Ukraine and Syria. Abe is not being a maverick. There were specific national interests tied to these meetings. The confab with Putin was presented as a concerted attempt to get the four islands the Soviets seized at the end of World War II — the so-called Northern Territories — returned to Japan. It didn’t work out that way at all. In fact, it was never going to work out that way, and anyone with any knowledge of the issue knew that, but the Japanese media persuaded the public that there was some possibility Putin could be bent toward Japan’s will, even if that only meant the return of two islands. This concession also wasn’t going to happen. The summit has been called a bust , but the fact that it effectively destroyed the government-sanctioned verities related to the Northern Territories counts as the only progress the matter has seen in 70 years. It’s not apparent if the public picked up on this paradox. According to an Asahi Shimbun survey , 45 percent of respondents thought the summit went well, while 41 percent said it didn’t. Meanwhile, 70 percent thought the meeting produced “nothing or not much,” while 27 percent felt the opposite. People are split as to whether the summit in and of itself was worthwhile, even if the majority thought little was accomplished. These conflicting responses only make sense if you consider the media’s own conflicted approach. Because the official government line is that Russia must acknowledge Japanese sovereignty before a peace treaty can be negotiated, the press has a hard time conveying the truth of the matter, which is that more than 7,000 Russians live on the islands and don’t plan to ever leave. Japanese media relate this reality indistinctly, showing the inhabitants and even interviewing them, but never interpolating such reports into a coherent analysis of government policy, which has always been ahistorical and implausible. If any media outlet indicated the truth — that the sovereignty issue is a nonstarter — right-wingers would immediately arrive in front of their editorial offices and start screaming in protest. But it was a conservative pundit, military affairs writer Sucho Montani, on the website Japan In-Depth , who provided the most lucid explanation of why Japan will never get those islands back. Beyond the presence of Russian nationals, he writes, the Russian military sees the territories as vital to its security. They’ve already set up missiles on two of them, a fact even NHK has acknowledged , though without elaboration. Russia’s English-language site, Sputnik International , describes it plainly: If Russia returned these islands it would “seriously damage (its) global image” and provide a “little tactical victory” for the U.S., which the Japanese Foreign Ministry has admitted would likely commandeer the prodigal territories for its military installations. The difficulty for Abe was to get past these inconvenient truths and arrive at something workable, namely a cooperative development proposal that gives Japan an ongoing stake in the territories. Before he could do that he had to address the claims of hundreds of Japanese who call the islands home. Russia does not deny it ejected them by force, but insists the islands belonged to Imperial Russia before Japan took them over following its victory in the Japan-Russia War. Japan says its people inhabited those islands before the war without mentioning that the inhabitants were indigenous Ainu eventually displaced by the government. As pointed out in a Dec. 18 Asahi Shimbun editorial , Ainu activists have always resented Japanese “negotiations” for the Northern Territories because their claims are ignored. Even under Russia, the names of all four islands — Etorofu, Kunashiri, Shikotan and Habomai — are from the Ainu language. The provisional solution is to allow those former residents, whose average age is more than 80, to return to their old homes to visit, a solution that requires not only simplified visa procedures but an acknowledgment that Russia is in charge, and it’s Abe’s task to break the news gently to the Japanese people. During a heated discussion on the web news service DemocraTV , former Lower House lawmaker Hiroshi Kawauchi stated that the government “has never had a solution” to the Northern Territories problem, and that the sovereignty policy was based on a lie. The 1956 agreement between Japan and Russia regarding future status of the territories says nothing about Japanese sovereignty, only the “possibility” that two islands might be returned “after” a formal peace treaty is signed. Japan gave up sovereignty in the San Francisco Treaty of 1951. The independent journalists in the studio couldn’t hide their awe of Putin. One called him a “master salesman” who “intimidated and impressed” Abe. Like the prime minister, Japan’s mass media only seemed interested in “the show.” The press were obsessed with a 95-minute “secret” meeting between the leaders, whose outcome was already clear, and a communal bath that never took place because Putin wasn’t interested in scrubbing his counterpart’s back. “It was like Japan’s national soccer team,” commented moderator Tsuyoshi Takase. “The media inflames the public’s hopes about their prospects, but in the end they’re always disappointed.”

shinzo abe
vladimir putin
northern territories


Japan reconsiders and reinterprets the Pearl Harbor attack

Abstract: In May, U.S. President Barack Obama became the first sitting U.S. president to make a historic visit to Hiroshima, the city that became the birthplace of the age of nuclear warfare. It should come as no surprise that Japan’s prime minister, Shinzo Abe, is scheduled to make a reciprocal gesture of reconciliation this week, possibly making him the first sitting Japanese prime minister to visit the USS Arizona Memorial. So far, however, news coverage in Japan has been disappointingly spotty, partly because the story has been eclipsed by the usual year-end roundups, interspersed with breaking news stories: the Osprey crash in Okinawa and resulting blowback; the terrorist incident in Berlin; heavy pollution in Beijing; and President-elect Donald Trump’s latest tweet. In December, the January 2017 issue of prestigious monthly magazine Bungei Shunju was released with a 13-page essay by history critic Masayasu Hosaka titled “Pearl Harbor: The true nature of the blunder.” Though written long before the announcement of Abe’s upcoming visit, it nonetheless provides some scholarly insights into how Japanese reacted to news of the attack 75 years ago. At 7 a.m., on Monday, Dec. 8, 1941, a young NHK announcer named Morio Tateno told radio listeners, “The Naval department of Imperial headquarters announced that at 6 a.m. today the Imperial Navy, during predawn hours, initiated hostilities with the British and American navies in the Western Pacific.” On the night of Dec. 8, Prime Minister Hideki Tojo invited the heads of the army and navy to celebrate with a Chinese-style repast at the prime minister’s residence, during which he effused over the “better than anticipated results” of the attack and expressed anticipation of President Franklin Roosevelt’s imminent downfall. Extra editions of newspapers were passed out to pedestrians on the streets and stirring martial tunes such as “Warship March” emanated from loudspeakers. Company workers at their morning assemblies were exhorted to exclaim “ banzai” cheers. Stock prices on the Tokyo exchange shot up by 10 percent. As Hosaka observes in Bungei Shunju, “The exhilaration over the successful attack on Pearl Harbor was the beginning of what was to become a stream of glorified lies on the progression of the war.” But, unlike Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini, who went to war with the specific goal of recovering their former empires’ lost territories, Japan had no clearly defined purpose for initiating hostilities. “Having gone to war with vague goals,” he wrote, “Japan had no means of determining how to bring the war to an end. Even after Tojo’s Cabinet fell, it could not speedily halt the war.” This year, several magazines chose to run articles about Pearl Harbor with strongly revisionist slants. The January issue of conservative monthly Rekishi-tu featured two, one that accused the wily President Roosevelt of “maneuvering” Japan into attacking the U.S., and another maintaining U.S. intelligence had broken the Japanese naval code before Pearl Harbor and, therefore, had advance knowledge of the attack. The January issue of Shincho 45 magazine ran an article that claimed British leader Winston Churchill knew of the Japanese plans but chose not to inform the Americans. Move on folks, nothing new here. In a live telephone interview on New York’s WABC Radio, Tokyo-based American entertainer Dave Spector remarked, “In America, it’s ‘Remember Pearl Harbor.’ In Japan it’s more like ‘Forget Pearl Harbor.’ “ Nonetheless, in a poll of 959 people conducted earlier this month by NHK, 34 percent of respondents said they “strongly approve” of Abe’s visit, with another 48 percent giving their qualified approval. Only 3 percent voiced completely negative opinions. On the other hand, Sunday Mainichi (Dec. 25) opined, perhaps Abe’s not the right person to go there. After all, over the past several years it has been the Emperor and Empress who traveled to Saipan, Palau and the Philippines to console the war dead. A visitor from the Imperial Family would carry more weight than a prime minister and, Abe’s good intentions notwithstanding, it’s unlikely his visit will erase the lingering U.S. sentiment that the attack on Pearl Harbor was a “cowardly act.” Contradicting most news reports, meanwhile, it appears that Abe might not necessarily be the first sitting Japanese prime minister to visit the USS Arizona Memorial after all. Shukan Post (Jan. 1-6) claims the former Prime Minister Noboru Takeshita also went there in June 1988, during his tenure as Japan’s leader. Takeshita, while traveling aboard a government-chartered Japan Airlines DC-10, stopped in Hawaii on the return leg of a summit meeting in Toronto. The magazine’s check of airport flight records notes that Takeshita’s aircraft first flew from Toronto via Chicago to the island of Maui on June 24, for a two-night stay. At 8 a.m. on June 26, he flew to Oahu, and returned to Tokyo’s Haneda at 6:23 p.m. Allowing for a flight of 30 minutes from Maui to Oahu, and the seven to eight hours flying time between Honolulu and Haneda, Takeshita would have had a stopover of from one to two hours in Oahu. No records exist, however, of his having gone to Pearl Harbor. “While no record of such a visit exists, there have been cases where visitors do not go through military channels,” Daniel Martinez, chief historian at the USS Arizona Memorial, explained to Shukan Post. A member of Takeshita’s entourage says that the prime minister slipped away to Pearl Harbor while the others in his entourage went golfing, so only a few Diet members could have accompanied him. Efforts to identify other eyewitnesses were inconclusive, but the story’s source emphasized, “I’ve only been to the Arizona memorial once, so my recollection couldn’t possibly be wrong.” The Dec. 24 Tokyo Shimbun can claim bragging rights for nick-of-time historical research. It has discovered that two other prime ministers, Ichiro Hatoyama and Nobusuke Kishi, also visited Pearl Harbor during their tenures, in 1956 and 1957 respectively. The Hawaii Hochi newspaper covered the events.


Trump pick Carl Icahn denies conflict of interest, says EPA, bank regulations hurting U.S. economy

Abstract: WASHINGTON - Billionaire investor Carl Icahn targeted environmental and banking regulations on Thursday as big drags on U.S. corporate investment and said revamping them would be a priority in his role as adviser to President-elect Donald Trump. Icahn, tapped by Trump on Wednesday as a special adviser for regulatory reform, also said in an interview on CNBC that he was surprised at criticism that his vast business dealings would pose conflicts of interest with his advisory role. “I honestly am sort of surprised that so much is being made of my being named to that,” Icahn said in the wide-ranging interview, in which he also voiced concern about U.S. stock market levels. He said he owns companies in every sector and has no specific duties outlined in his role for Trump. “What I’m going to be doing is basically talk to Donald as I’ve talked before,” said Icahn, an early supporter of Trump’s presidential bid. Saying his business acumen qualified him for such a role in the new administration, Icahn rejected concern that his investments could pose conflicts of interest as “almost a crazy issue.” Icahn refused to speculate on candidates he would recommend to lead the U.S. Securities and Exchanges Commission, but said the SEC chair should be able to hold U.S. corporate executives and their boards of directors accountable. He said overregulation has strangled corporate investment in the United States and that corporations perceive themselves to be “at war” with the federal government. “I do think it’s extremely important for this country that this absurd regulatory environment is toned down somewhat,” he told CNBC. “I’m not against regulations at all. In fact I sort of believe that you need a rule of law. But it’s become literally absurd in many areas.” Immediate areas he would advise Trump to target would be banking regulations and Environmental Protection Agency regulations, specifically those on what he called “obligated refineries.” So-called obligated parties are refiners without operations dedicated to selling blended fuels to consumers. These “merchant refiners” are required to blend biofuels like ethanol with gasoline or other petroleum products, or else meet those obligations by purchasing paper “credits” called Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs) in an opaque market. Icahn owns a major stake in one such refiner, CVR Energy Inc., and its stock surged more than 12 percent on Thursday after Icahn’s appointment as a Trump adviser. Icahn in August called on the EPA to change the market for renewable fuel credits to favor smaller refiners like CVR, a position the Trump campaign later endorsed. The New York investor also said he was surprised by how the stock market has run ahead so fast since Trump’s Nov. 8 election victory and was “very wary” because of uncertainties. The benchmark S&P 500 has rallied more than 5 percent since the election, while some key sectors have surged far more. Bank stocks and small cap shares, for instance, are up 25 percent and 14 percent, respectively, in that period. Icahn said he was now more hedged against a stock market pull back than he was just a couple of weeks ago.


After passing written exam, health check, Santa gets pilot's license renewed in the nick of time

Abstract: OTTAWA - Santa Claus has successfully renewed his commercial pilot’s license, passing a written exam as well as a health check — despite high sugar levels — and is good to fly for Christmas, Canada’s transportation department said Thursday. Santa was given his pilot’s license renewal by Transport Minister Marc Garneau, a former astronaut, according to a video released on Twitter by Transport Canada. “Santa, I’ve got good news for you, once again you’ve aced your pilot’s exam so here is your certificate,” Garneau tells the man, dressed in a fur-trimmed red suit and hat and wearing black gloves. The video shows the elderly gift-giver completing a vision screening test composed entirely of the letters H and O, and handing over a urine sample. “Your health is good. Your sugar levels are a little bit high, but you are cleared to go, so that’s the good news,” Garneau told Santa, who responded with laughter. Garneau also warned Santa against distracted driving: “Just a reminder, don’t use your cellphone, and don’t do any texting while you’re driving your sleigh through the skies.”

christmas holidays canada festivals tradition


Ad giant Dentsu declared Most Evil Corporation of the Year

Abstract: It’s another prize . . . but maybe not one that the management at Dentsu Inc. will be proud of. The major ad agency has been awarded this year’s Most Evil Corporation of the Year Award, also known as the Black Company Award, a corporate raspberry prize given to companies with a culture of overwork, discrimination and harassment, a group of journalists and rights activists announced Friday. The suicide of one of its workers, Matsuri Takahashi, 24, was recognized as work-related in October. After pushing more than 100 hours of overtime per month, she committed suicide in her company dorm on Christmas Day last year. “Dear Dentsu Inc., your 24-year-old new employee, Matsuri Takahashi, committed suicide on Dec. 25, 2015. She worked 105 hours of overtime, which is extremely long. In addition, she was suffering from power harassment from her bosses, and was mentally pressured,” said Tokachi Tsuchiya, a film director who is a member of the selection committee. “On Twitter, she wrote, ‘I don’t want to work,’ and ‘two hours of sleep everyday is extreme.’ Several days before her death, she retweeted a post about the 2015 Black Company Award. She retweeted about this moment right now. It’s regrettable,” he said. Before her death, Takahashi sent a message to her mother saying: “Goodbye, my lovely mother.” Takahashi’s case was the second confirmed work-related suicide of a Dentsu employee. Another worker, Ichiro Oshima, who was also 24, died in 1991. In addition, earlier this year, the 2013 death of a 30-year-old male Dentsu employee from illness was ruled as induced by overwork. Since 1951, the company’s employees were urged to follow “Dentsu’s 10 Principles,” which included such items as “Never give up on your task. Treat it as if it was your own life with utmost determination and responsibility,” according to an English version of the list. But a direct translation of the Japanese edition can be read as: “Never give up on your task, not even if you die, until you accomplish it.” Following requests from her family and lawyer Hiroshi Kawahito to remove all references to the principles from the handbooks it distributes to all employees, Dentsu announced earlier this month that they will be deleted from April next year. Winners in other categories of the award include Japan Post Co., which won both the web vote award and a special award for garnering the highest number of votes online, and DWE Japan, operator of the Shabu Shabu Onyasai chain of izakaya (pubs), for its exploitative work practices for part-timers. The award, which this year marked its fifth anniversary, examines overtime, sexual and power harassment, bullying, low salary, discrimination against temporary workers, and other abuses at dodgy companies. “The purpose of the award is not to simply name names, but to raise awareness that these corporations should not exist in our society,” said lawyer Ryo Sakaki, who was also a member of the selection committee. “The news reports about such companies will be forgotten as time passes. But we’d like everyone to remember once again that these abusive companies do exist by presenting the Most Evil Corporation of the Year Award,” he said.

labor
discrimination
japan post
black companies
overwork
dentsu
karoshi


Overwork deaths put spotlight on Japan's 'black companies'

Abstract: The Japanese have no clear term to describe the concept of work-life balance, but they do have one to describe the notion of dying for your company: karoshi . Karoshi made headlines around the world this year after the suicide of a Dentsu Inc. employee was recognized in October as related to her excessive working hours at the powerful ad agency. Matsuri Takahashi, 24, jumped from a company dormitory on Christmas Day in 2015 after logging more than 100 hours of overtime the previous month. The term, often used to describe the Japanese corporate culture of glorifying those who make the ultimate sacrifice for their company, was added to the Oxford English Dictionary in 2002. With the 2016 Black Company Award bestowed on Dentsu Inc. on Friday to recognize its exploitative and illicit work practices, here is some background on karoshi. What are the causes of karoshi? Karoshi is defined as death resulting from work-related stress or fatigue. It can be roughly separated into two types — suicide from mental illness and death from heart or vascular disease. According to a white paper on karoshi published by the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry in October, there were 96 cases of death from mental illness and 93 cases of work-related suicide in 2015 that were deemed eligible for worker’s compensation. The paper said 23 percent of all of the companies surveyed said they have employees log at least 80 hours of overtime a month. Many of the deaths, largely attributed to stroke or heart disease, involved people who worked 80 or more hours of overtime per month. Among the suicides were 26 cases linked to “changes in job description or quantity,” 17 “special cases” that led to extreme mental stress, and eight cases caused by “extreme harassment, bullying and assault.” And more than half logged over 100 hours per month, including 18 who surpassed 160 hours. How much overtime would likely cause karoshi? The labor ministry sets the threshold at 80 hours and considers employee deaths to be “strongly related” to work if that kind of overtime continues for two to six months or exceeds 100 hours in a single month. According to research published in 2008 by Kenji Iwasaki of the National Institute of Occupational Health and Safety, doing 60 to 80 hours of overtime per month doubles or even triples the risk of triggering brain- and heart-related diseases. The study also said that working over 80 hours of overtime accompanied by five or less hours of sleep per day will create an extremely high risk of karoshi. For a case to be formally recognized as karoshi, and for workers’ compensation to be awarded, labor offices must confirm whether the deceased employee worked over 100 hours of overtime a month or exceeded an average of 80 hours of overtime in the past six months, according to a blog post by lawyer Ryo Sasaki of Junpo Law Office. Sasaki also wrote that the deceased employee’s working environment and mental condition must be investigated. Isn’t there a law that caps working hours? The Labor Standards Law states that employees must work no more than eight hours a day and that violators face up to ¥300,000 in fines or up to six months in prison. However, employees can work overtime if their company and its labor unions, or representatives of more than half of its employees, sign an agreement based on Article 36 of the law, which permits overtime within the limits set by the labor ministry, generally 45 hours a month or 360 hours a year. But despite the cap, a special provision allows companies to go even further. According to the labor ministry, nearly 60 percent of large firms had set up Article 36 agreements with special provisions in 2013, with 14.6 percent having an overtime cap above 80 hours. Following Takahashi’s death, Dentsu promised to set a cap of 65 hours, and Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike announced in September plans to have officials of the metropolitan government leave work no later than 8 p.m. The central government, however, is still in the process of revising the law to institute a definite overtime cap.

suicide
labor laws
black companies
karoshi


Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim loses final appeal against sodomy conviction

Abstract: KUALA LUMPUR - Jailed Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim lost his final bid for freedom on Wednesday when the federal court rejected his appeal to set aside his sodomy conviction and five-year prison term. A five-member panel of judges ruled unanimously that there was no merit in Anwar’s application for a review of his 2014 conviction, his final legal option for an acquittal. He will now have to serve out the remaining 16 months of his prison term. “This is not a fit or proper case for this court to exercise its inherent jurisdiction to initiate a review,” Zulkefli Ahmad Makinudin, the chief judge of Malaya, said as he read excerpts from a 60-page ruling. Anwar, once a rising star in the ruling party, is the greatest threat to Prime Minister Najib Razak and his coalition after leading a three-party opposition alliance to stunning electoral gains in 2013. He was convicted and jailed for sodomizing a former aide, a charge that Anwar and his supporters say was a politically motivated attempt to end his career. “This is not the end of the road. … I have pleaded and reiterated my innocence, but the judiciary has ignored my pleas,” Anwar told reporters in the court after the verdict. “This is a long walk to freedom.” His wife, children and grandchildren were in court. Crowds of supporters gathered outside in a show of support for their 69-year-old leader. A former ruling party deputy prime minister, Anwar’s legal troubles began soon after he fell out with then Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad in the late 1990s and was sacked. He then campaigned against corruption and nepotism and led a nationwide reform movement. He was later jailed for the first time on charges of sodomy and graft.

anwar ibrahim
malaysia
courts
rights
prison
elections


Major Japanese firms' winter bonuses up for fourth straight year

Abstract: Winter bonuses at Japanese companies employing more than 500 people averaged ¥880,736 ($7,500), up 0.02 percent from the previous year and rising for the fourth straight year, the country’s major business lobby said Wednesday. Winter bonuses at Japanese manufacturers averaged ¥900,490, up 0.47 percent and topping the ¥900,000 line for the first time since the survey started in 1997, according to a tally of Keidanren. A Keidanren official mainly attributed the rise to an increase in the revenue of manufacturers. Winter bonuses at major companies have recovered to the levels before the global financial crisis in 2008, the official added. The average winter bonuses at nonmanufacturers, however, fell 0.69 percent from a year before to ¥822,518 for the first decrease in three years. Out of 20 industries, 13 including the fiber, automobile and food sectors, showed improvement in winter bonuses, while the remaining seven, such as steel and shipbuilding, declined, compared with a year earlier. Keidanren conducted the survey on 251 companies whose stocks are listed on the Tokyo stock market’s main division. The data are based on conclusion from 145 companies where employers and labor unions reached agreements on winter bonus payments.

employment
bonus
japanese companies
workforce


Route pick just tip of the iceberg for Hokuriku bullet train project

Abstract: KYOTO - The decision by the ruling parties to support a Hokuriku Shinkansen Line route from Tsuruga, Fukui Prefecture, to Kyoto via the town of Obama has sparked relief, hope and disappointment in the Kansai region and western Japan. While supporters of the so-called Obama route hailed the decision, opponents were obviously let down, saying it would bypass a major Kyoto city and likely mean no link with a separate shinkansen route planned for the Chugoku region. A host of issues need resolving before the route opens, starting with how to secure stable funding for the project. In addition, the question of how passengers arriving in Kyoto on the Hokuriku shinkansen would continue on to Osaka is still under discussion. The final route for the Hokuriku Shinkansen Line had long been one of the Kansai region’s most important political battles, with national and local politicians from Kyoto, Shiga, and Fukui prefectures all pushing separate routes that would most benefit their constituencies. Exactly where in Fukui the final route might pass through had been the subject of particularly intense discussion. The Obama-Kyoto route, which actually runs from the city of Tsuruga to Kyoto via Obama, means that northeastern Fukui — including the district of Defense Minister Tomomi Inada, a favorite of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe — will get Hokuriku bullet train service. The southwestern part — where 11 aging nuclear power plants sit — will not. After reaching Obama from Tsuruga, the bullet train will turn south and head through Kyoto Prefecture. Where it might stop has yet to be decided, but the transport ministry estimates the construction costs at just over ¥2 trillion. Another option — the Obama-Maizuru route — would have taken the Hokuriku bullet train farther west, past the nuclear power plant towns of Oi, Mihama and Takahama and right across the Fukui border to Maizuru in Kyoto. It would then have turned southeast toward Kyoto. Heavy lobbying for this route had been done by Kyoto Prefecture and Diet members from the Chugoku region who are pushing a separate shin-kansen project along the coast of the Sea of Japan. They envisioned Hokuriku Shinkansen Line passengers pulling into Maizuru, then possibly changing platforms to board the Sanin Shinkansen Line for Tottori, Shimane and Yamaguchi prefectures. However, the huge amounts of money and time such a project demands, plus JR West’s strong support for the Obama-Kyoto route, led to the judgment that the Maizuru route was not the most appropriate. The current plan is to complete the Obama-Kyoto route by around mid-century. That assumes funding can be secured and construction can proceed smoothly. Because much of the route would require tunneling through the mountains and hills of northern Kyoto and Fukui prefectures, there are also concerns, especially in the Kansai business community, about whether the schedule can be met. It seems that while the basic route to Kyoto may have been decided, the political, financial and technical challenges of the train keep chugging along.


Light Pillars, a Million-Mirror Optical Illusion on Winter Nights

Abstract: Don’t worry. It’s totally natural. There’s no mother ship hovering above the earth, waiting to carry you away, and no demon shooting light from beneath, signaling to pull you below. It’s a light pillar — or a few of them — a colorful column of sparkling light that appears to beam up toward the sky. It’s all just an icy illusion. And now, during winter, when nights are long and cold, you have a good chance to spot one as long as conditions are right. If you’re lucky enough to spot a light pillar , what you’re seeing is actually artificial light from a ground source reflecting off millions of floating ice crystals. “It’s not an upward beam of light,” said Les Cowley, a physicist who runs a website on atmospheric optics, or the way light travels through the atmosphere. “Although they look pretty, they’re also a sign that someone, somewhere could do better with their lighting. You might call them light pollution pillars if you wanted to be environmental about it.” Light pillars occur when ice-containing clouds — normally miles high in the atmosphere — cling closer to the Earth’s surface, just a hundred or a few thousand feet above it. These thin clouds contain millions of flat, hexagonal crystals of ice that float horizontally in the air Each ice crystal acts like a mirror pointed downward, reflecting the artificial light back to your eyes — as long as the cloud is about halfway between you and the light source. Together, the crystals form a cluster of mirrors floating at different heights, which allows you to see the light as a column; if they all were at the same level, you’d see only a spot of light. The pillars can be quite colorful at times because each reflected beam is the same color as its source. Image A light source, left, reflects off ice crystals in low clouds, creating the appearance of columns of light rising toward the sky. Credit Les Cowley To find a good source — one bright, close to the ground, and just far enough away — your best bet is to travel a few miles outside your city or town on a dark night. The weather doesn’t have to be frigid, but it helps. Light pillars are frequently spotted in Scandinavia, upstate New York, Canada and other cold spots in the winter. But Dr. Cowley said that this week he received a photo of light pillars from about 30 miles outside of a town in Iran — perhaps because the desert can get cold at night. If leaving the city is not an option, look up at streetlights on a freezing cold night. You may spot the sparkly, ghostly blur of diamond dust . This illusion is created by the same flat ice crystals that produce light pillars, but this time, they’re so low to the ground you can feel them prickling your skin. “When that happens, you see other nearby halos, and it’s quite a spectacular sight,” Dr. Cowley said.

Lighting
Ice
Winter
Electric power
Weather


More Connecticut Schools Fall Short of ‘No Child Left Behind’ Standards

Abstract: SINCE 2001, when President Bush signed the federal No Child Left Behind law, schools in Connecticut have scrambled to revamp curriculums, step up professional development for teachers and continually assess students’ test scores to comply with the law’s requirements. It is an effort that has dominated the agendas of school officials not just in Connecticut, but all over the nation, and not everyone is happy that test results have become such a focus. When results of the latest test scores were announced a few weeks ago, about 40 percent, or 408, of the public schools in Connecticut did not make the grade under the federal law, state officials said. The state added 100 schools to its list of schools that failed to meet the federal benchmarks. Mark K. McQuillan, commissioner of education for Connecticut, said he does not believe the federal goals are attainable for Connecticut schools. “I think they’re just unrealistic,” he said in an interview last week. “And the evidence shows that’s true everywhere in the country. “It’s too much to expect of the country to do that kind of fundamental changing in the time frame and with the dollars they’ve provided,” he said, referring to the federal government. The law calls for all students in the United States, including English language learners and students with special needs, to perform at grade level by 2014. Some officials complain that because the standards are raised every two years, more and more schools are failing to fulfill the law’s requirements. But that does not mean the state will not keep working hard to meet the goals, Mr. McQuillan said. The State Department of Education has introduced a new accountability system that assigns teams and support personnel to struggling districts, and helps districts put improvement plans into action, state officials said. And the strategy is working in some districts. Two elementary schools in Norwalk found out that they had finally come off the list of schools “in need of improvement.” Brookside Elementary and Kendall Elementary schools were in a group of only five elementary schools statewide that improved enough to meet this year’s standards. Salvatore J. Corda, superintendent of Norwalk Public Schools, said the improvements came after systemic shifts in teaching and methodology that the district had been working on for a couple of years. “When you try to move an entire system, it takes a while for things to take hold,” he said. When Tony Ditrio took over as principal of Kendall Elementary School 10 years ago, his first piece of business was getting order in the building. “There wasn’t any,” he said. “That took a few years. Once we had a safe, orderly environment, we started to tackle the curriculum.” All of the most recent data is based on scores from testing of 230,000 third through eighth graders and 50,000 tenth graders last spring. The latest results show that keeping children reading at grade level is “a real and growing challenge,” Mr. McQuillan said. At the high school level, he said, “mathematics is the greater issue.” This year, for the first time, the Greenwich school district as a whole did not make adequate yearly progress. The district is one of 44 of the state’s 171 districts that did not meet this year’s standards. Districts are considered not making adequate progress when certain student groups fail to meet benchmarks in the same category on both the elementary and high school tests. Students with disabilities and economically disadvantaged students in Greenwich did not score at grade level in both reading and math. “Does this mean we have a bad school system?” said Betty J. Sternberg, superintendent of Greenwich Public Schools. “The strength of a school system does lie in meeting the needs of each child, no matter what their background is. So to that extent if I’m a parent of a child in a subgroup that hasn’t met it,” she said, referring to the standards, “I would be concerned.” Special education students should not be expected to perform at grade level, Dr. Sternberg said. “We’ve had reports of special ed students sitting in front of tests and they’re crying. They can’t possibly do it,” she said. Additionally, testing students every year between third and eighth grade leaves schools inundated with data that needs to be analyzed and reported, said Dr. Sternberg, who served as Connecticut’s commissioner for education from 2003 to 2006. While some teachers and school administrators complain about the tests, others say the law has forced them to take action. “No Child Left Behind has been a really good kick in the pants for us,” said Joshua P. Starr, superintendent of schools in Stamford. “It was too easy to sweep some kids under the rug. We’re not allowed to do that anymore, and that’s a good thing.” Connecticut’s attorney general, Richard Blumenthal, sued the Bush administration in 2005, charging that No Child Left Behind illegally requires states to spend their own money to meet the law’s standards. A federal judge threw out the case last April, and Mr. Blumenthal is appealing that decision. The state’s appeal is likely to be argued next spring, according to Mr. Blumenthal’s staff.

Education and Schools
No Child Left Behind Act
Connecticut


Mayor’s Report Shows New York by the Numbers

Abstract: There were more condoms handed out (39,070,000), more complaints about rats, roaches and other critters (23,000) and more potholes repaired (210,032). There were fewer homicides (516), fewer cars stolen (12,723) and fewer adults smoking (16.9 percent of the population). The numbers — from the serious to the quirky and the surprising — were among the more than 1,219 performance indicators included on Wednesday in the Mayor’s Management Report , which assesses how city government responded in all areas during the past fiscal year compared with the previous year. It is an annual glimpse into what is and what is not working in this city of 8.2 million people and a sprawling bureaucracy of 300,000 public employees. In a statement, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said that the report increased “the transparency of city government,” which he described as “a critical part of our belief in accountability to the public.” It has been released every year since 1977, as required by the City Charter, but the mayor, who has an obsession of sorts with data and accountability, has compressed it significantly, turning an otherwise unwieldy document (it used to be as thick as an encyclopedia) into a manageable one (this year’s has 220 pages). It offers an uneven mix of good and bad news, with more good than bad. In the realm of public health, for example, there were 3,305 new AIDS cases diagnosed among adults in the 2008 fiscal year, which ended on June 30. That is 410 fewer than in the previous fiscal year and 2,020 fewer than in the 2004 fiscal year. But new syphilis cases increased by 20 percent, which the report attributes largely to risky sexual behavior among men. This happened even though the city more than doubled the number of condoms it distributed during the same period. The Buildings Department, which experienced a rash of fatal construction accidents in the past year that heightened concerns about the public’s safety and the quality of its inspectors, registered 25 fatalities in the 2008 fiscal year and 167 injuries, which is more than it had in either the 2006 or 2007 fiscal years, the only other years for which statistics were available. While there were about as many building inspections as there were in 2007, productivity fell to an average of 9.9 inspections per inspector per day, from 11.1 in 2007. That was because inspection requirements became more stringent and newly hired inspectors needed extra time to do the job, as the report indicates. New Yorkers used more water in the 2008 fiscal year (about 139 gallons on average per person, per day) and called the city’s 311 information system more than in any other fiscal year since 2004 (15 million times). Children and adults visited public libraries more, and more of them joined recreation centers, largely because the city opened two new ones, on Staten Island and in Queens. On the crime front, the news from the Police Department was generally favorable. Last year, it registered fewer homicide reports, 516, or 41 fewer than in the previous fiscal year, as well as a decline in the reports of every other major felony crime, like rape, robbery and car thefts. At the same time, though, New York police officers were the subjects of 7,488 misconduct complaints — 2 percent fewer than in the previous year, but the second-highest number of complaints since 2004. The verdict on city streets was also mixed. For the fourth year in a row, the annual rating of acceptable street cleanliness surpassed the 90 percent mark, traffic signals were fixed 70 percent faster than in the 2007 fiscal year and the city’s network of bicycle lanes expanded by 70.6 miles. The quality of street pavement declined, though, and there were more potholes to be repaired. (A mayoral spokesman said that the increase could be attributed in part to a program that sends inspectors to find defects on the streets and report them to the city for repairs.) And it took the Transportation Department a bit longer, on average, to fix each pothole (2.7 days, as opposed to 2.1 days the previous year). In the midst of it all, what might be Mr. Bloomberg’s proudest accomplishment was the decline in the number of smokers since he signed a bill raising cigarette taxes by $1.50 in 2002 and, a year later, banned smoking in the workplace, including restaurants and bars. In the 2007 calendar year, 16.9 percent of the city’s adult population smoked, down from 21.5 percent in 2002. (Smoking, unlike most of the measures tracked in the report, is tracked by calendar year rather than fiscal year.) The sharpest reduction happened on Staten Island, where the mayor was heckled once during a parade after the price of a pack of cigarettes reached the $7 mark. There, smokers made up 20.4 percent of the adult population in 2007, down from 27.2 percent in 2006.

Bloomberg Michael R
New York City
Mayor’s Management Report


Senators Fret Over Postal Service’s Finances

Abstract: WASHINGTON — Senators expressed mounting concern Thursday about the worsening finances of the United States Postal Service, but fretted over proposals to save money by cutting service. The Postal Service lost $2.4 billion in the latest fiscal quarter, in addition to $2.3 billion in the first half of the fiscal year that began Oct. 1. Despite billions in cost reductions, the Postal Service projects a $7 billion loss for the year. The service has said that it will not be able to make legally required contributions to finance future retiree health benefits. The prepayments are a major drain on cash flow. The Senate Homeland Security Committee approved a bill by a vote of 11-1 last week that would give the Postal Service temporary relief from making full payments to the benefits fund. The legislation would also increase the Postal Service’s authority to borrow. A bill altering how the Postal Service finances health benefits was approved by a House committee last month. “Unless we apply some tough medicine here and we do it working together, this dizzying downward spiral for the U.S. Postal Service could become a death spiral,” said Senator Joseph I. Lieberman, independent of Connecticut, at a hearing of a Homeland Security subcommittee Thursday. Postmaster General John E. Potter is recommending the closure of some postal facilities, as well as ending Saturday deliveries. Going to a five-day week would save more than $3 billion, according to Mr. Potter . The Postal Service expects to handle at least 27 billion fewer pieces of mail in 2009, on top of a drop of 9 billion last year, when it lost $2.8 billion. “I think that we’ve reached a breaking point with the recession and that’s why we’re seeking to go from six- to five-day delivery,” Mr. Potter said. Senator Thomas R. Carper, Democrat of Delaware and chairman of the subcommittee, said that the health benefits bill was “not a silver bullet.” Several senators said that eliminating a day of delivery was not off the table, but did not offer concrete proposals on how to make that change. “Often Congress puts up roadblocks whenever the Postal Service mentions that it might be time to close or consolidate some facilities,” Mr. Carper said. “We just can’t afford to do that anymore.” Mr. Lieberman said that members of Congress were opposed to closing postal facilities and eliminating a day of delivery but said, “I fear that we’ll probably have to do both of those.” Several members, however, have noted their constituents’ opposition to the closure of postal units in their districts. Currently, the post office is considering almost 700 postal stations and branches for consolidation or closure, though not all of them will close. “The Postal Service cannot expect to gain more business, which it desperately needs, if it is reducing service,” said Susan M. Collins, Republican of Maine. In an interview after the hearing, Mr. Potter said the Postal Service was working on a proposal to be filed with the Postal Regulatory Commission this year that would outline five-day delivery. He said he also planned to seek permission from Congress to pursue other lines of revenue generation besides mail.

Postal Service (US)
United States Politics and Government
Postal Service
Post Offices and Equipment


Texas Clinics Stop Abortions After Court Ruling

Abstract: McALLEN, Tex. — The day after a federal appeals court cleared the way for Texas’ restrictive abortion law to take effect while it faces legal challenge, many clinics across the state said they had stopped providing abortions and were preparing to shut down, leaving women seeking their services distraught. “Patients are walking through the door, they are crying — they are freaking out,” said Amy Hagstrom Miller, chief executive of Whole Woman’s Health , which operates six abortion facilities in Texas and, she said, expects to close locations in Fort Worth, McAllen and San Antonio. “We can’t stay open without any sources of income.” The Texas law, passed by the Legislature in July, requires doctors who provide abortions to have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles of the facility where the procedure is performed, among other new rules. In September, a coalition of abortion rights groups, including Planned Parenthood, the American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Reproductive Rights as well as clinics and doctors sued to stop the law. On Monday, Judge Lee Yeakel of United States District Court in Austin blocked enforcement of the law’s requirement of physician-admitting privileges, saying it is “without a rational basis and places a substantial obstacle in the path of a woman seeking an abortion.” On Thursday, three judges on the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, in New Orleans — Priscilla R. Owen, Jennifer Walker Elrod and Catharina Haynes — allowed enforcement to begin . A 20-page opinion stated there was “a substantial likelihood that the state will prevail,” and that Planned Parenthood and the other plaintiffs had not proved that the restrictions would place an “undue burden” on women seeking abortions. All three appeals court judges were appointed by President George W. Bush, as was Judge Yeakel. Gov. Rick Perry of Texas praised the ruling, saying that it “affirms our right to protect both the unborn and the health of the women of Texas.” Ms. Hagstrom Miller said she and her staff were planning to help patients get transportation or provide gas cards so they could get to clinics that still provide abortions. She has been trying to get doctors accredited by hospitals, but said that the process is slow. Some 30 miles away in Harlingen, Dr. Lester Minto, the physician and owner of Reproductive Services, said that in three decades of providing abortions he has stood up to protesters, at times numbering in the hundreds, who have picketed the clinic and frightened his patients. The new law, however, is a bigger obstacle. He said he has not been able to get admitting privileges from nearby hospitals. “You can’t fight Austin,” Dr. Minto said. On Friday, patients came into the clinic for counseling and sonograms. “They were all quite desperate and scared,” he said. Some told him they would travel to Houston, more than 300 miles away; others told him they would go to Mexico, where abortion-inducing drugs are widely available at pharmacies. At Planned Parenthood, a spokesman, Eric Ferrero, said that four of the organization’s health centers — in Austin, Fort Worth, Lubbock and Waco — would not be able to provide abortions under the new rules, but that those clinics will keep their doors open to provide other health services. The groups said they would continue to fight the Texas law. “This is far from over,” Mr. Ferrero said. Those opposing the law could petition the Fifth Circuit to ask that all of its judges reconsider the decision in a process known as en banc, or they might take the case directly to the Supreme Court. Elizabeth Graham, the director of Texas Right to Life, said in a statement applauding the Fifth Circuit decision, “Our attorney general and his team have done a masterful job in defending House Bill 2 and pursuing the law taking effect immediately.” Marni J. Evans, a consultant on green building in Austin, said she was scheduled to get an abortion on Friday morning, but got a call from Planned Parenthood canceling her appointment. Ms. Evans said that she would fly to Washington State, where she will stay with friends and get the procedure done. “If I’m going to go through this process, which is pretty emotionally challenging, I’m going to go through it with the best possible care and the most supportive environment,” she said. Until the case works its way through the courts, much is uncertain, Ms. Hagstrom Miller said. “I’m not going to put a ‘for sale’ sign up on my building when I still have a patient in my parking lot — but there will be a ‘for sale’ sign going up in McAllen very soon.”

Texas
Abortion
Legislation
Judiciary
Birth control
Hospital


Uncertain Times Ahead for UConn

Abstract: Connecticut has become the most fascinating team in college basketball in March. No program flashes its range of extremes, from winning the N.C.A.A. tournament last season to a program that may be spiraling toward oblivion this year. With UConn led by the dazzling talents of the silky Jeremy Lamb and the boundless potential of the big man Andre Drummond, it is just as easy to see the Huskies cutting down the nets again in April as it is to see a chain reaction of events that could include an N.C.A.A. tournament flop, an exodus of star players and the program’s entering a cocoon of mediocrity because of its N.C.A.A. tournament ban in 2013 for poor academic performance. And there is the issue of the Huskies’ ailing coach, Jim Calhoun , who returned last week after back surgery and will turn 70 in May. Will he decide to coach next season or will he be moved aside by university administrators? “I’ll start thinking about that once that final buzzer goes off in our last game,” the freshman guard Ryan Boatright said, referring to possible changes next year. “A lot can happen. You really can’t focus on that right now. You have too much at stake and a great team.” The Huskies (20-13) fell to Syracuse (31-1) in the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament on Thursday, squandering an 8-point second-half lead and succumbing to the deeper Orange team, 58-55. UConn’s two wins this week at Madison Square Garden seemingly salvaged this bizarre season, in which Connecticut went from a national title favorite to the country’s biggest underachiever to a team just good enough to stumble into the N.C.A.A. tournament after losing 9 of 12 games over one stretch. But pity the No. 1 seed that sees UConn across from it in the second round of the tournament, as the Huskies could be projected to be a No. 8 or a No. 9 seed. The only other teams with more than one projected N.B.A. lottery pick are North Carolina and Kentucky. The Huskies certainly have their believers beyond N.B.A. general managers who are salivating over Lamb and Drummond. “I think Connecticut is a really good team; I would be shocked if they don’t win two games in the N.C.A.A. tournament at the minimum,” Syracuse Coach Jim Boeheim said. Whenever and wherever the final buzzer sounds — be it next week in the first round or at the Final Four in New Orleans — that is when the Huskies will turn into college basketball’s most watched drama. Drummond, a 6-foot-10 freshman center, and Lamb, a 6-5 sophomore shooting wing, are expected to enter the N.B.A. draft . And those expectations came long before the Huskies were banned from the 2013 N.C.A.A. tournament. There is a chance that the junior big man Alex Oriakhi, who was UConn’s best player in the national title game win over Butler last season, could transfer for his final year. Oriakhi could transfer without penalty because of the postseason ban, although he said he was not planning on it. Drummond said, “I’m not going to look into what happens in the future of the N.B.A. or anything right now.” Calhoun has told the Connecticut news media that “this is my team” and indicated that he had no immediate plans to leave. “I haven’t made any plans to do anything else, except my back and a few other things have got in the way,” Calhoun said. Since UConn won the national title while on probation last year, it has bumbled through an embarrassing time. Soon after the new university president, Susan Herbst, arrived, she aligned herself with Calhoun and ran off Athletic Director Jeff Hathaway. While Hathaway had his flaws, the move was widely perceived as Herbst’s succumbing to Calhoun’s wishes. UConn then mocked the N.C.A.A. by recruiting Drummond late in the summer despite having no scholarships left. (Drummond is reportedly paying his own way this year.) The decision to accept Drummond danced all over the spirit of the N.C.A.A.’s probation and scholarship restrictions, yet no one at UConn dared suggest Calhoun do anything different. From there, Herbst and UConn desperately pleaded for a spot in the Atlantic Coast Conference, or any other league, once the madness of realignment hit in September. Their pleas fell on deaf ears, a cold reality check to their open-market value. Then the N.C.A.A. ruling came down (the university is appealing), Calhoun’s back ailment sidelined him and UConn looked so bad on the court that ESPN announcers openly mocked the team’s lack of effort in a blowout loss at Louisville. Calhoun returned, but his career mortality seems more evident. This is the third season that he has missed games with a health problem. The sun is clearly setting on Calhoun’s career, and the question is whether the university will nudge him out or work with him to devise an exit plan before the lost season of 2012-13 looms. The new athletic director, Warde Manuel, who will start March 19, pointed out that he played for the Michigan football coach Bo Schembechler, who had two heart attacks. “There’s no nudging,” Manuel said of Calhoun. “That’s not where we are. I don’t walk in there with that mind-set of nudging on making any decisions about his future.” Calhoun was typical blustery Calhoun this week, a fireball of sarcasm, defiance and run-on-sentences. He did everything from tweaking Iona Coach Tim Cluess for daring to question the Big East’s superiority to sniping at UConn beat writers for daring to mention the team’s losing streaks. That’s all Calhoun has known for 26 years. And when the final buzzer sounds on this most combustible of UConn teams, everything or nothing could change.

Basketball (College)
University of Connecticut
Calhoun Jim
Manuel Warde J
Herbst Susan
Lamb Jeremy
NCAA Basketball Championships (Men)
College Athletics
Basketball
Drummond Andre (1993- )


Pennsylvania: Postmaster Charged With Threatening Workers

Abstract: Pittsburgh’s postmaster has been charged with threatening to retaliate against employees if they reported seeing him opening parcels and removing the illegal drugs inside. District Attorney Stephen Zappala Jr. of Allegheny County announced the charges Tuesday against Daniel Davis, 50, who transferred to Pittsburgh from Toledo, Ohio, last year. Mr. Davis is charged with intimidating witnesses and official oppression. A spokesman said that any drug charges related to the case would fall under federal jurisdiction. State prosecutors say the drugs included cocaine and heroin. Employees told a customer service manager that Mr. Davis was opening packages, taking out drugs and resealing the packages, according to five criminal complaints. Mr. Davis told workers to be on the lookout for parcels from Arizona, California, Colorado, New Jersey, New York, Texas and Washington State, the complaints said. As postmaster, he supervised more than 40 Pittsburgh-area post offices and had run-ins with staff members at various locations. One worker told investigators that Mr. Davis “made it seem like what he was doing was the right thing by getting drugs off the street,” the complaints said.

Daniel P Davis
Postal Service
Drug Abuse
Pittsburgh