A day in the life of Kurdish asylum-seekers in Tokyo

Abstract: Tokyo offers an almost limitless variety of awe-inspiring tours but one recent addition guided visitors on a truly unique journey — into the settlements of Kurdish asylum-seekers. Port B, a theater art performance organization, is offering a collaborative refugee tour experience, giving participants firsthand insights into the lifestyle and daily struggle of asylum-seekers and evacuees. The first of three planned tours focused on the Tokyo area’s Kurdish community and ran from July 13 to 15. Rather than simply visiting communities, participants plan their own tour of the city together with refugees — and then visit the asylum-seekers’ resettlement towns, as well as other locations of significance to the refugees or places where they feel a sense of connection. It’s part of an endeavor named the New Tokyo School Excursion Project that comprises the one-off tours with the aim of letting tourists observe the capital from the perspective of refugees and evacuees. Under the theme of “war,” the Kurdish tour started with a visit to the Tokyo Regional Immigration Bureau in Minato Ward, where many of the Kurdish asylum-seekers with expired visas, most of them men, are detained. Both refugees and tour organizers served as guides, and participants listened to their narration through a wireless audio system while walking freely around the locations on the tour. On the second day, around 50 participants strolled through the city of Warabi, Saitama Prefecture, where more than 1,500 Kurds reside, and visited spots where many refugees gather. They made Kurdish dishes together with refugees in a cooking class, held at a community center where Kurdish wedding ceremonies often take place. Hidenobu Matsuzawa, the head of a Kurdish support association who joined the cooking session, said that this kind of event not only enhances mutual understanding between the mostly Japanese participants and asylum-seekers, but also improves relationships between Kurdish children and their parents. “Kurdish parents who speak little Japanese and face difficulties communicating with local citizens often struggle with maintaining their dignity and gaining respect from their children, many of whom grew up in Japan and speak Japanese,” Matsuzawa said. “However, kids start respecting their Kurdish culture and their parents more after they see them interact with Japanese people who praise their cooking skills.” After the cooking session the event’s director and founder Akira Takayama, who attended high school in Warabi, led the participants on another facet of the tour — a trip to the McDonald’s near the local train station where Kurds often gather. “It’s often said that ‘if you want to meet Kurds, come to the McDonald’s in Warabi,’ ” Takayama said over a microphone. Sitting in the shop with participants gathered around, he explained that McDonald’s — typically regarded as symbolic of cheap fast food — often serves as a sanctuary for refugees and homeless people, where they can nurse a ¥100 coffee in relative comfort. The tour also included a trip to the well-trodden Asakusa district, but participants did not enter its famous Sensoji Temple. Instead, they stopped by a construction site near the main avenue that leads to the temple — where Kurdish asylum-seeker Ali Ayyildiz recounted the times he discovered buried debris from World War II while working in the district. “I often find bricks and broken pieces of gravestones when I tear down 50- to 60-year-old houses in Asakusa,” Ayyildiz said. “And an old man who lives near the construction site where I previously worked told me that he had recovered human bones from the ground.” Ayyildiz, who was detained twice by immigration authorities for overstaying his visas and now lives on provisional release status, added that many Kurds face the same situation as him. They are making up for the labor shortage in Japan’s construction industry in the run-up to the 2020 Tokyo Games. Erika Kotabe, a 21-year-old tour participant, said: “I felt different (about Asakusa) when I was listening to Mr. Ali’s story at the construction site. I have been to Sensoji a few times, but the place seemed quite different when I observed it from his point of view.” The tour is not an entirely new concept. Welgee, a nonprofit organization that supports refugees, holds similar tours in which participants cook Kurdish food together with asylum-seekers and listen to their stories. However, rather than seeing it as a tour primarily to create opportunities for Japanese to understand the lives of refugees, the Port B group has developed the excursion as a theater project created around the idea of a “learning play,” a concept originally conceived by German dramatist and poet Bertolt Brecht. In such productions the audience becomes part of the play and actors often learn from the experience as well. Based on that notion, Port B treats the tour as a play and the participants, asylum-seekers and organizers are its ensemble cast. To help participants become fully immersed and allow them to actively engage in the process, three workshops were held before the tour. There, a few participants heard the stories of Kurdish asylum-seekers and discussed potential sightseeing plans. Even members of the media who observed the workshop were asked to participate in the tour’s development. Amy Loo, a 22-year-old Chinese-American who participated in both the workshops and the tour, said that socially-engaged performances are quite rare in Japan, let alone ones featuring asylum-seekers. “Performance-based learning is not something new in the U.S. and I believe it could be an effective way (for Japanese people) to learn history and politics, rather than receiving a one-way flow of information,” she said. “It could become a new style of education.” The project has received funding from the Kawamura Arts and Cultural Foundation, which supports “socially engaged art” activities that aim to drive change among existing rules and systems through proactive participation and communication within society. The group’s other upcoming tours will focus on Rohingya refugees from Myanmar and school children who evacuated from Fukushima Prefecture after the nuclear crisis triggered by the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011.


Kagoshima hospital reveals 15 cases of 'superbug' infections after logging eight deaths since 2016

Abstract: KAGOSHIMA - Multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter and a similar bacteria have been found in 15 patients, eight of whom have died, at a hospital in Kagoshima Prefecture since 2016, the hospital disclosed Friday. Kagoshima University Hospital in the city of Kagoshima denied any link between the infections and four of the deaths, while admitting the infections could have affected the progression of illnesses in the other four. It said the environment of its intensive care unit could have caused the infections, and apologized to the patients’ families. “We will consider inspecting the hospital based on the medical care law,” health minister Katsunobu Kato said. MDR Acinetobacter can cause serious infections, particularly in one’s lungs and blood, and is hard to treat because it is resistant to most existing antimicrobial agents. It may be found on human skin and other places in humid environments. Sanitizing with alcohol is said to be effective against the pathogen. Of the 15 infected patients, MDR Acinetobacter was detected in five who had been hospitalized between April last year and this April. A bacteria with similar traits was found in the remaining 10, who were admitted from September 2016, the hospital said. According to the hospital, it stepped up cleaning around the infected and screened other patients but might have fallen short on its risk evaluation process. In-hospital infections of MDR Acinetobacter have often claimed the lives of those hospitalized for other illnesses. Between February 2009 and October 2010, 60 people at Teikyo University Hospital in Tokyo were infected with MDR Acinetobacter, and 35 of them died. Four people also died at Fukuoka University Hospital between October 2008 and January 2009 after being infected with the bacteria. In 2017, the World Health Organization listed Acinetobacter among the antibiotic-resistant pathogens that pose the “greatest threat to human health.” Placed within the top priority group, the bacteria poses a particular threat in hospitals and nursing homes and can cause severe and often deadly infections, WHO says. The group also says antimicrobial resistance in general spreads through the misuse and overuse of antimicrobials. To address resistance, the organization is calling for better prevention of infections and appropriate use of existing antibiotics in humans and animals. Japan is seeking to reduce its antibacterial use to two-thirds of its 2013 level by 2020. News of the Kagoshima infections comes as the journal Science Translational Medicine reported a study Wednesday on multidrug-resistant “superbugs” that are becoming increasingly resistant to alcohol-based hand sanitizers and disinfectants. In the study into what researchers described as a “new wave of superbugs” that can also cause dangerous infections in hospitals, the team found specific genetic changes over a 20-year period in vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE) — and were able to track and show its growing resistance. Still, Paul Johnson, a professor of infectious diseases at Austin Health hospital in Australia who co-led the study, singled out alcohol-based disinfectants — which are central to hospital infection control — saying the findings should not prompt dramatic changes in their use.


Driver's licenses in Japan to start showing expiration date using Western calendar

Abstract: Japan’s driver’s licenses will start to indicate their expiration date using the Western calendar instead of the Japanese calendar, a draft of revised traffic law regulations showed Thursday. The draft, disclosed by the National Police Agency, will also change rules to allow ID photos to show the driver wearing a hijab. The changes reflect the increasing number of foreigners holding Japanese driver’s licenses, according to the agency. Other dates, including the license holder’s birth date, will continue to be shown using the Japanese calendar. The police agency aims to implement the changes next month after hearing public opinions. Licenses using the Western calendar year for expiration are likely to be issued from next March or later. Drivers are required in principle to remove hats when taking ID photos for a license. The planned changes will enable drivers to wear a hat or clothing for medical or religious reasons as long as their faces remain uncovered. The number of foreigners carrying Japanese driver’s licenses increased from 737,000 in 2012 to 868,000 last year, according to the agency.

national police agency
foreigners
drivers ' license


Asphalt melts and dogs don shoes as Europe wilts under heat waves

Abstract: MADRID - Europe sweltered Saturday in intense heat with temperatures due to hit near-record highs of 46 degrees (115 F) in Portugal, while elsewhere high temperatures melted the asphalt or saw police dogs fitted with shoes. Here is a roundup: Portugal: Peak heat The heat wave was expected to reach its peak on Saturday, said Paula Leitao of the Portuguese Institute for Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA), with the city of Setubal not far from Lisbon due to reach highs of 46 during the day. By way of comparison, this is not far off the 48 expected in California’s notoriously parched and scorching Death Valley, one of the hottest places on earth, according to U.S. forecaster AccuWeather. This comes a day after 16 weather stations in the country registered record temperatures including in Alcacer do Sal near Setubal, where the heat climbed to 45.9. Authorities in Lisbon have closed playgrounds and called on people to avoid picnics and outdoor activities. Refuges for homeless people have also opened earlier in the day to allow them to take shelter from the crushing heat. Spain: Three dead In southern Spain, the heat continued to pound down with the touristy city of Cordoba expected to reach 45. The heat has already claimed the lives of three people this week. A middle-aged man in Barcelona, whom media said appeared to be homeless, was found collapsed on a street Friday and taken to hospital where he later died of heatstroke, Catalonia’s civil protection agency said in a statement. Two other men — a road worker in his 40s and a 78-year-old pensioner tending to his vegetable garden — also died from heatstroke this week. Austria: Dogs fitted with shoes In Vienna, police dogs due to patrol a beach volleyball tournament were fitted with special little shoes. Police said that even if temperatures were not excruciatingly hot, reaching just 34 on Saturday, the dogs will have to spend hours walking on surfaces exposed to the sun that could easily go over 50 degrees, hence the shoes. Netherlands: asphalt melting In the Netherlands, authorities had closed certain sections of highways where the heat had melted the asphalt. The central city of Zwolle, meanwhile, had started cutting the branches of some 100 poplar trees. Dutch public television NOS explained that branches could break due to the heat and create danger for drivers or passers-by. France: Reactors close A total of four nuclear reactors in France have been closed due to the heat wave. French power company EDF said the measures were taken to avoid raising too high the temperature of rivers where nuclear plants draw water to cool down reactors and then pour it back in. Saturday was also the summer’s busiest day on the roads, as July holiday-makers returned home and those who vacation in August departed for their month of farniente. By late morning, 670 km (416 miles) of traffic jams had been reported, according to France’s traffic authorities, as the heat pounded down on the asphalt. Italy: Health warnings Italy too faced the summer’s busiest day on the roads for the same reason as France. Holiday-makers were expected to face adverse weather conditions wherever they went. In the north, the scorching heat beat down on cars while violent hailstorms were expected in the afternoon in the south. This week, the Legambiente association for the defense of the environment published a report on the negative effects of heat waves. It revealed that in Lazio, the region where Rome is located, heat waves had caused around 7,700 deaths since 2000. Sweden: Relief Following its hottest July in 250 years, rain showers gave Sweden cooling relief on Saturday across most of the country. The mercury fell to more typical summer temperatures of around 20 to 25 C, the Swedish Metereological and Hydrological Institute said.


South Korean women hold mass protests in battle against spycam porn

Abstract: SEOUL - Even a record heat wave wasn’t going to keep Claire Lee from joining tens of thousands of South Korean women at a mass protest against spycam pornography on Saturday as anger over the issue swells, prompting national soul-searching. Since May, the monthly demonstration in Seoul has shattered records to become the biggest-ever women’s protest in South Korea, where the global #MeToo movement has unleashed an unprecedented wave of female-led activism. The target of their fury: so-called molka (spycam) videos, which largely involve men secretly filming women in schools, offices, trains, toilets and changing rooms. They are so prevalent they make headlines on a daily basis. “Entering a public bathroom is such an unnerving experience these days,” Lee said. She always looks around the walls to see if there are any “suspicious holes.” “You never know if there’s a spycam lens hidden inside . . . filming you while you pee,” the 21-year-old student said. She sometimes stabs the holes with a pen to shatter any secret lenses, or stuffs tissues inside them. The number of spycam crimes reported to police surged from around 1,100 in 2010 to more than 6,500 last year. The offenders have included school teachers, professors, doctors, church pastors, government officials, police officers and even a court judge. In some cases, the victims’ own boyfriends or relatives were responsible for the crimes, in a troubling reflection of South Korea’s deep-rooted patriarchal norms. Fed up with living in fear, women are fighting back. More than 55,000 attended last month’s protest in Seoul, according to its organizers; police put the attendance at around 20,000. “The pent-up anger among women has finally reached a boiling point,” said one of the protest organizers, who only identified herself as Ellin. Asia’s fourth-largest economy takes pride in its tech prowess, from ultra-fast internet to cutting-edge smartphones. But these advances have also given rise to an army of tech-savvy peeping Toms, with videos widely shared in internet chat rooms and on file-sharing sites, or used as ads for websites promoting prostitution. Although all manufacturers of smartphones sold in the South are required to ensure that their devices make a loud shutter noise when taking photos — a move designed to curb covert filming — many offenders use special apps that mute the sound or turn to high-tech spy cameras hidden inside eyeglasses, lighters, watches, car keys and even neckties. A 43-year-old man was arrested last month for secretly filming occupants of Seoul motels for four years, installing ultra-mini lenses inside TV speakers and other equipment after posing as a guest. A police raid uncovered more than 20,000 spycam videos at his home. In June a 34-year-old man was arrested for secretly filming women inside toilets and selling thousands of videos online for up to 100,000 won ($90) apiece. Justice is rarely served, campaigners say. Most offenders are fined or given suspended jail terms — except in the rare cases where the perpetrator is female and the victim male. A woman who secretly filmed a male model posing nude at a Seoul art college was arrested in May, days after she shared the image online. That was the spark for the unprecedented protests this summer. “The police have rarely responded when countless female victims asked for the immediate arrest of the offender,” said Seo Seung-hui, head of the nonprofit Korea Cyber Sexual Violence Response Center. In this case, the suspect was paraded in front of TV cameras while police raided her home to search for evidence. In an uncharacteristically swift response, authorities even launched a probe targeting those who shamed the male model online. “The women saw how quickly . . . the police responded to this rare case in which the victim was a man. . . . Such unfair treatment fueled the recent wave of anger,” Seo said. Campaigners have called for harsher punishments for those who film, distribute and view such images. They have also urged tougher regulations to restrict the sale of high-tech spycam equipment. But in a sign of the ugly fight ahead of them, many of the protesters at a recent rally kept their faces covered and declined to be photographed due to worries over personal safety, with previous participants becoming the targets of relentless online bullying. Despite their fears, they refuse to back down. “Seeing so many women gather together to speak up was a deeply empowering experience,” Ellin said. “We have power. Together, we can make change happen.”

women
privacy
protests
south korea
sex crimes
pornography
discrimination


There's no easy way to escape from your smartphone

Abstract: Two decades ago, it was still common to see articles in the media disparaging the lack of manners and self-absorbed behavior of mobile phone users. By around 2003, however, the phones had become so ubiquitous that the erstwhile complainers had most likely become phone addicts themselves. In a rare exception, the conservative Sankei Shimbun raised the topic of “enslavement to cellphones” in January 2007 as a serious social problem that had begun to disrupt proceedings in the Diet. Parliamentarians, it reported, could frequently be seen tweaking their phones. “From the speaker’s seat, you can see it going on. It’s shameful,” Kozo Watanabe, a senior DPJ legislator, was quoted as saying. “It seems we no longer have the sense of pride and responsibility that would serve as a good example to the people.” That was 11 years ago. How about now? Well, a headline in Shukan Post (Aug. 10) suggests that growing numbers of Diet members may be suffering from sumaho netchū-shō . Normally netchū-shō means heatstroke, but when preceded by “smartphone” it becomes a play on words, nuanced to mean “the disease of overenthusiasm for smartphones.” It seems that on the evening of July 5, while large areas of western Japan were being inundated with catastrophic rain, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and a dozen or so members of his ruling party — a group named Akasaka Jimin-tei — gathered to attend a cozy drinking affair. We know this because Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasutoshi Nishimura tweeted a photo of the prime minister and fellow LDP legislators, glasses raised in a hearty toast. (The photo was subsequently removed.) Foreign Minister Taro Kono and Minister of State for Economic and Fiscal Policy Nobuteru Ishihara also came under fire for allegedly frivolous social network posts during a national emergency. “Previously, social networking sites (SNS) were regarded as effective tools through which politicians could reach out to voters in real time,” Shukan Post said. “But it’s come to the point where they just amble around, smartphones in hand, while fishing for favorable responses. … There may be no stopping the spreading of netchū-shō.” Spa! (July 31), meanwhile, ran a six-page article titled “The actual conditions of ‘smartphone slaves.'” Its in-house survey of 300 male and female salaried workers aged between 30 and 49 years found that 61 percent spend three hours or more per day using their mobile devices, with 7 percent spending more than seven hours and 8 percent from five to seven hours. In extreme cases, accrued smartphone use reached 1,800 hours per year, which means that the equivalent of one-fifth of their waking time was spent with eyes glued to the small screen. As for their greatest complaints, survey subjects said they felt fatigued because work-related calls continued to arrive at night (152 responses); that they were requested to provide data no matter where they were or what they were doing (122); that they had to check on their work on days off (110); that they had to keep recharging their devices to prevent the battery from running down (98); and that they were invariably grabbing their smartphone to check on work-related issues from the moment they opened their eyes in the morning (77 responses). A 40-year-old “slave” named Seiji Maeda (a pseudonym) employed by an advertising agency gave the following breakdown of a typical day with his smartphone: 50 emails (from Gmail); 100 messages (via Line); 30 messages (via WeChat); and 20 messages (via Facebook). Attempting to categorize the types of slavery, Spa! came up with six varieties. First there’s “SNS monitoring addiction,” in which the users constantly crave “likes” and thumbs-up to their posts from friends and colleagues. Next is “customize addiction,” in which a user downloads all kinds of applications and devotes inordinate time to mastering them. “Matching addiction” refers to spending long hours in search of a dream partner of the opposite sex. “Social gamers” are so hooked they are known to lock themselves in a toilet stall at work so they can play “Monster Strike” and other popular games. And so on. Now consider this: When you find yourself with a moment to spare, do you use the time to pull out your smartphone? Do you sometimes imagine you’re receiving a call when that is not the case? Do you have difficulty recalling the names of friends or co-workers? Have you forgotten how to write kanji characters? Do you get disoriented on familiar streets? Is insomnia an increasing problem? Do you feel a general malaise, with headaches, vertigo and stiff shoulders and neck? Have you lost interest in things you used to enjoy? These are among 20 questions compiled by physician Ayumu Okumura, who heads the Okumura Memory Clinic in Gifu Prefecture. If you reply “yes” to many questions on this self-administered test, you may be suffering from “smartphone dementia.” The subheadline in Asahi Geino (Aug. 9) explains it as “Rubbish builds up in your brain.” It’s easy to understand why Asahi Geino likes Dr. Okumura: He recommends patients stop seeking thrills from smartphones and return to perusing tabloid weekly magazines — which, of course, not only offer titillating text but regularly run glossy color photos of partially or completely unclad young females — over the “virtual reality” that smartphones provide. Why? For one reason, the good doctor says, “the texture of paper and smell of ink are extremely important for human beings. That’s why people should buy Asahi Geino.” Now that is quite an endorsement! This newly enlightened writer certainly appreciates the therapeutic benefits he’s been accorded all these years by the weekly tabloids he reads.


Japan's rigid koseki system keeps it all in the family

Abstract: Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker Mio Sugita is being criticized for comments she made about how LGBT individuals should not receive government “support” because, biologically speaking, they can’t have children and are thus “unproductive” as members of society. Although the media have covered her remarks and the backlash, they’ve avoided the elephant in the room — the fact that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Sugita’s mentor, has no offspring himself. It’s nobody’s business why Abe and his wife are childless but, as political science professor Jiro Yamaguchi asked in a July 29 Tokyo Shimbun column , can Sugita say to Abe’s face that his administration should withhold support for childless citizens? Sugita’s LGBT stance is one component of her defense of the so-called traditional Japanese family, her main agenda as a public figure. In this capacity, her wildest assertion, made in a July 4, 2016, Sankei Shimbun column title “ Mio Sugita’s Nadeshiko Report ,” is that the Japanese day care system is part of a scheme by the Communist International to “brainwash” children and “destroy the Japanese family” by popularizing separate names for married couples and support for gender-free issues. The Communist International was a global movement to spread communism, and it officially ended under orders from Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin in 1943, but certain people feel it’s still active as a kind of lingering, insidious cabal. The Japanese family is codified in the family register (koseki), which effectively makes separate names illegal and identifies interrelational traits, such as legitimacy and succession, for all to see and for the rest of the individual’s life. In effect, it is really the koseki that brainwashes by establishing in Japanese people’s minds a rigid family structure . Some have tried to get around this system, but it has been conceived in such a way as to be inviolable. Documentary filmmaker Kazuhiro Soda, who is based in New York, is currently suing the Japanese government for not allowing him and his Japanese wife to have separate names on their koseki . The couple were married in the U.S. some 20 years ago and kept their respective birth names. However, when they tried to register their marriage in Japan the relevant local government office refused to acknowledge the union because only one family name is allowed on a koseki document. An argument Soda could use is that foreign people who marry Japanese nationals can be incorporated into their Japanese partners’ koseki without either spouse having to change their name, so why can’t he and his wife do the same thing? The upshot is that if they had children, those children would be deemed illegitimate in Japan, even though they are legally married overseas. What people such as Sugita fail to recognize is that the koseki system exacerbates Japan’s current demographic crisis. It may not have as huge as an effect as economic insecurity does, but if people aren’t going to marry in Japan for whatever reason, they aren’t going to have children, because the stigma attached to illegitimacy is built into the koseki. The koseki’s most powerful effect is that it makes people believe that family is only defined by blood, which is why child adoption is so rare in Japan. In fact, the word “adoption” by itself describes bringing people into one’s koseki for the purpose of inheritance, so the vast majority of adoptees are adults. If you adopt a child, it’s called a “special adoption,” and the Justice Ministry is now reviewing the special adoption system to make it easier for couples to adopt older children . As it stands, only children up to the age of 6 can qualify for special adoptions. The legal advantage of special adoptions is that the child can be entered into the adoptive parents’ koseki as their own blood relation, rather than as an “adopted child,” which is how they are designated under normal adoptions. It’s bureaucratic sleight-of-hand. Only an expert can tell by looking at the koseki that the “specially adopted” child is not the parents’ biological issue. For that reason, couples who specially adopt a child overwhelmingly prefer infants so that the children themselves grow up thinking that their guardians are their biological parents, even though child welfare professionals insist they be told of their provenance. This system results in only about 500 special adoptions a year . The difficulties cut both ways. In a June 13 article, the Asahi Shimbun profiled a 22-year-old Kyushu woman who was taken in by a foster family at age 7 . Although she loved the couple, that love was attenuated by the knowledge that they weren’t her real parents, and she hid that fact from everyone. She understood the couple was receiving money to raise her, but, as she told the Asahi, she was “desperate” to be in their koseki. When her biological mother, who had refused to relinquish custody despite saying she was unable to raise her daughter, died when the girl was 14, she was free to be adopted. After turning 18, she told her foster parents, who were no longer legally responsible for her, that she would forego school and work full-time to pay them if only they’d put her in their koseki. She was too old to be a special adoptee, but she’d be in somebody’s family register — she wanted at least that much legitimacy, which is the whole point of the system. This mindset is at play in the local backlash to Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Cannes Palme d’Or-winning film, “Shoplifters,” which has been derided by some Japanese who say the director accepted state funds to glorify a group of criminals. But a fundamental element of their objection to the movie is that the members of the family depicted are not connected by marriage or blood. To someone like Sugita, conveying to the world that this is a “Japanese family” amounts to blasphemy.


There's nothing new about Japan's online backlash against tourists

Abstract: The internet loves a clapback, so when writer Melissa Martin shared a few snappy responses from a monk named Daniel Kimura to less-than-positive reviews of a temple doubling as lodging on Mount Koya, Twitter embraced it. The tweet garnered more than 17,000 retweets and 38,000 likes, with many digitally swooning over the religious devotee’s comebacks at tourists complaining about impersonal staff and bland food (“yeah, it’s Japanese monastic cuisine, you uneducated f—”). It wasn’t just journalists and rapper Talib Kweli applauding the monk. Plenty of foreign residents in Japan also shared it . Anecdotally, nearly a dozen Tokyo-based people I follow retweeted it the morning it emerged. I imagine far more did, too, mostly because few topics excite this demographic more than complaining about tourists. This year has been a big one for “tourism pollution” in Japan as the number of folks coming to the nation keeps rising . Mount Koya’s influx of foreign visitors already had monks salty before one took to Booking.com. Tourists have vandalized bamboo in Kyoto and taken pictures of people without their consent . The start of 2018 saw a double whammy of perceived bad behavior, first with Logan Paul’s YouTube misadventures (he still hasn’t quite learned from them ) and that was followed by a fuss over a GoPro that was placed on a sushi conveyor belt . The way Japanese netizens and online publications approach the tourist boom, however, looks different than how Japan’s foreign residents and English-language media presents it. The discussion is more nuanced, with complaints balanced by concerns about how the country can better accommodate. This isn’t to say negativity is left out of the picture, it just gets doled out differently. Take the monk story. Despite going viral abroad, it drew scant attention among Japanese users online. Newsweek Japan wrote about it and several places aggregated the story (and at least one TV channel covered it ), but it didn’t go that far, with most prominent online outlets ignoring it. Even commentary on social media seemed slight, with those weighing in arguing that even if he had a point, the monk probably approached it the wrong way . Another monk noted he doesn’t represent the whole mountain (while still respecting his opinion). Foreign residents of Japan originally hailing from Western countries tend to view tourists in an especially negative light, with only weeaboos serving as a larger target for unified disdain (when the monk’s identity and the fact he grew up in the United States became clear, the story felt much more familiar). Japanese netizens have reacted negatively to stories that irk their non-Japanese counterparts — the Kyoto vandalism story earlier this year got plenty talking — but their relationship to inbound visitors is more complicated. Tourism, after all, is booming and bringing in money … and it doesn’t look like it will be stopping anytime soon. A lot of daily discussion online focuses on how to improve the Japan experience for tourists. A takoyaki (octopus dumpling) stand in Osaka Park has attracted huge sales because of foreign visitors, but after it was found out they evaded paying taxes , some online said that charging ¥600 for eight balls was a rip-off aimed at tourists . Another recent Newsweek piece focused on declining satisfaction with the country. The Olympics rest heavy on many netizens’ minds, with some wondering what happens when a country averse to tattoos sees many sporting them come in. Others simply celebrate translation services , or just wonder why certain spaces such as Oasis 21 in Nagoya attract so many overseas visitors . When those online do complain, it comes in subtler ways. When the China-based idol group SNH48 (not affiliated with AKB48 — long story ) put up ads in Akihabara, one Twitter user quipped “I thought this was already a city of foreigners?” Others complain about how the emphasis on “inbound” tourism ignores domestic travelers. Some of the criticism also takes a look at the bigger picture. Kankō kōgai (“tourism pollution”) has appeared a lot online this year, mostly in reference to Kyoto . A larger story that attracted attention came in spring, when Gendai published a piece about the city of Niseko turning into a place that didn’t resemble Japan. Still, when netizens talk — and moan — about tourism, they are still mostly talking about Chinese visitors to the country (which soon tips over into right-wing online spaces). However, this in and of itself isn’t new, nor is it limited to Japan — it’s just the perceived image of a tourist here. Take a viral clip of several non-Japanese dancing on a train , for example. Tourism isn’t really part of the discussion here. Instead, social media users are just questioning why people who don’t appear to be from around here are acting in a way they aren’t familiar with — something that has been happening for much longer than monks snapping back at backpackers.


Japan Times 1943: Respect for parents plays vital role in Japanese life

Abstract: 100 YEARS AGO Tuesday, Aug. 13 1918 Hunger riots becoming grave national matter The food riots that began more than a week ago when 200 women of Mizubashi, a fishing village in Toyama Prefecture, met on the seashore to discuss their greivances, have assumed alarming proportions and events such as never occurred in the history of this country are reported from all the great cities of the south and west. In every case, the disturbances have taken the form of raids on the stores of rice dealers, in nearly all of which women have taken part. Great mass meetings of the people, such as Japan has never seen before, have taken place in Nagoya and Osaka. The whole amazing movement has spread like wildfire and the authorities are dumbfounded. From all that can be gathered, it seems that the leaders in the disturbances are factory hands, a class unknown in Japan until recent years. In Kyoto, the rioting was so violent that the police were forced to obtain assistance from the military. In Osaka, the troops are also holding themselves to readiness. 75 YEARS AGO Tuesday, Aug. 10, 1943 Respect for parents plays vital role in life THE JAPAN TIMES “Japanese are great respecters for their parents for ‘kōdō’ or the way of filial piety which is one of their basic national traits occupying a place only second in importance to the spirit of absolute patriotism,” declares Takeo Akiyama in describing the high esteem paid to mothers by the men of the Imperial armed services. “How highly this trait is regarded among the people can be seen from the fact that a separate section is devoted to it in the Senjinkun, that noble code of behavior of the Japanese Fighting Forces. Among the various stern instructions on actual combat in the Senjinkun is to be found the following dictum: “The oneness of patriotism on the one hand and respect for parents on the other constitutes the spiritual core of our country, and a patriotic subject is always a sincere and dutiful respecter of his parents. Far away at the battlefronts, one should always remember the instructions of one’s parents and, constantly patrioitc to the Imperial throne, should exert his utmost to manifest the noblest traditions of his forefathers. “There can be no injustice or anything malicious among men who fight with the thoughts of their mothers and fathers constantly in their minds. “The mothers, and parents, at home too are not shirking their share, you may be sure, as they instruct their beloved sons about to leave for the front. “Among the belongings of a youthful Japanese airman who committed ‘jibaku’ or self-blasted together with his plane into an enemy warship recently to sink the sink by force of the ensuing explosion was found a letter from his mother instructing him to never to write home again until he was sure he had become a worthy warrior of Japan. “Fanaticism? There may be some who will call it fanaticism when a mother volunteers to offer her finger-joint to her sole son so that the latter may be operated on to remedy a dwarfed finger that was hindering him from qualifying for the air force. But let us not lose our sense of evaluation of what is good and noble in mankind even in the midst of warfare, for it is only by the preservation of this sense that mankind has progressed and will progress in the future.” 50 YEARS AGO Tuesday, Aug. 13, 1968 ‘Authentic’ Japanese foods proving popular American gourmands, once content with such delicacies and compliments as mandarin oranges and soy sauces, are developing a taste for a wider range of “authentic” Nipponese foods, a Japanese food industry representative says. And, to keep their palates happy, said the official, Tohru Morikawa, Japan has increased her exports of specialty foods to the U.S. by about 53 percent in the last five years, from $17,800,000 worth in 1963 to about $27,300,000 in 1967. In all, Morikawa said, the U.S. imports about $100 million worth of Japanese food each year, mostly staples, such as tuna, swordfish, and crabmeat. But things are changing, he says. “A number of years ago, when Japanese foods first found popularity in the United States, Americans used them mostly to liven up American dishes. So our soy sauces, mandarin oranges, and flavor intensifiers were most in demand,” the agonomist said. 25 YEARS AGO Friday, Aug. 6, 1993 Japanese-style baby food to go on sale Pigeon Corp., a major child care goods maker headquartered in Tokyo, will enter the baby food marker in September for the first time, the company has announced. While the other companies’ baby foods are usually made of Western-style cuisine, Pigeon will feature traditional Japanese fare, a spokesman said. The product line will be the first of its kind, the company claimed. The new products are all made of natural foods such as fish and vegetables completely free from chemicals and additives, it added. With the catchphrase, “Japanese food for babies,” the company will market 15 items — three kinds of rice, five types of entrees, six varieties of side dishes and one soup. All the products are divided into three groups on the basis of “terms” for breastfeeding: First, the early stage, starting at about the fifth month after birth; then the middle stage, beginning at around the seventh; and the final stage from the ninth month. Although in recent years the number of newborn babies in Japan has declined, the scale of the baby food market is expanding because more mothers are working today and demand more convenience to cope with their tight schedules, the company said.

japanese food
rice
riots
parents
baby food


Using their noodles: Fukui school's soba club hopes to roll to national title

Abstract: Noodle club members from a high school in the city of Fukui are hurriedly honing their soba-making skills to prepare themselves for the national high school championship in Tokyo later this month. The noodle club, a rarity even in noodle-crazed Japan, was launched two years ago at Keishin High School and won third prize in individual competitions at last year’s championship. It’s aiming even higher this year, as it looks to land first place in both individual and team competitions. “Do you think this soba looks great or delicious? You won’t get a high score if you can’t make your soba look tasty,” says Eiichi Hoyama, 62, a soba master who supervises the club. Fukui Prefecture is known for Echizen oroshi, a style in which the buckwheat noodles are served cold with grated radish. Hoyama, who runs a nearby soba shop, has been promoting locally produced noodles using indigenous buckwheat varieties. Four years ago, he asked if he could give lessons at the high school’s culinary department. In fall 2014, students who attended Hoyama’s lessons created a soba group as part of the school’s cooking club and began a variety of activities, including soba-making shows at local events. The section was upgraded to an independent club in April 2016 and has 16 members. Akane Fujita, a 17-year-old third-year student who heads the club, said she joined shortly after it was officially launched, after being impressed by a noodle-making performance. When she first started, her noodles would break into short pieces when boiled because she couldn’t figure out the right water-to-flour ratio. The amount of water required to make good noodles changes daily as it depends on the temperature and humidity in the room. Experienced cooks can figure out the proper amount by how the noodles feel in their hands. “It is important to practice many times. Every time we make soba, we set different goals, focusing on different points,” Fujita said. The students can only practice two days per week because of budgetary reasons but recently received permission to make two batches each time instead of one. Keishin’s students have been vying for the national championship since 2015. The competition is organized by a noodle industry federation and sees teams from some 30 high schools across Japan take part. The highly ranked schools come mostly from major soba-producing regions, such as Hokkaido or northern Kanto. When Keishin took third in an individual competition last year, it was the first time a student from the Chubu region had done so. In team competitions, where the four members rotate in four-minute shifts to knead, cut and complete a batch of soba within 40 minutes, Keishin has never made it onto the podium. The noodles are judged by professional soba masters based on criteria including appearance and thinness. Close cooperation is important to create the perfect noodles. With two weeks to go until this year’s championship on Aug. 20, Keishin’s soba club is working to make the most of their practice sessions in their quest for noodle perfection.


Postpartum support for mothers in Japan defies government efforts to promote it

Abstract: Postpartum support for mothers to cope with depression and other mental health maladies is still hard to come by despite government efforts in recent years to promote it, a survey shows. Funding and staff shortages are the major obstacles to making such support more widely available, the nationwide survey showed Saturday. It was conducted in January and February by the Mizuho Information & Research Institute for the health ministry. Only 26.2 percent of the 1,384 municipalities that responded offer postpartum support services, even though the central government has been offering subsidies since fiscal 2015 to finance half of the running cost, the survey showed. Among municipalities without such services, those planning to start them in the future were also low at 34.4 percent, with 28.6 percent saying they have no plans to introduce them due largely to funding and staff shortages. In postpartum support, midwives, nurses and other experts offer advice and help ease mothers’ anxieties by listening to their problems at homes, hospitals or other facilities. Postpartum depression is often associated with loneliness caused by having no one around to talk with about their mothers’ feelings and problems. It could develop into more serious health problems or cause parents to harm their child or themselves. The government compiled a guideline in 2017 outlining postpartum service methods and key issues to consider, but the municipalities polled said they wanted more financial and other support from the state. Some municipalities said such services are not fully known by people raising children. “There are municipalities which are reluctant to set up a budget (for postpartum support) due to uncertainties about cost effectiveness, but enhancing the child-rearing environment is helpful in addressing the issue of declining population. A long-term perspective is needed,” said Naomi Shiki, chief consultant at the Mizuho Information & Research Institute. Ways to tackle child abuse have been attracting attention since the shocking death of a 5-year-old girl in March who had begged her parents to stop mistreating her.

mothers
depression
parenthood
naomi shiki


Iran seen readying major exercise around vital Strait of Hormuz as tensions with U.S. simmer

Abstract: WASHINGTON - The United States believes Iran is preparing to carry out a major exercise in the Gulf in the coming days, apparently moving up the timing of annual drills amid heightened tensions with Washington, U.S. officials told Reuters on Wednesday. Iran has been furious over U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to pull out of an international nuclear deal and reimpose sanctions on Tehran. Senior Iranian officials have warned the country would not easily yield to a renewed U.S. campaign to strangle Iran’s vital oil exports. The U.S. military’s Central Command confirmed that it has seen an increase in Iranian activity, including in the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway for oil shipments that Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have threatened to block. “We are aware of the increase in Iranian naval operations within the Arabian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz and Gulf of Oman,” said Navy Capt. Bill Urban, the chief spokesman at Central Command, which oversees U.S. forces in the Middle East. “We are monitoring it closely, and will continue to work with our partners to ensure freedom of navigation and free flow of commerce in international waterways,” Urban added. Urban did not provide further information or comment on questions about the expected Iranian drills. But U.S. officials, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said Iran’s Revolutionary Guards appeared to prepare more than 100 vessels for exercises. Hundreds of ground forces could also be involved. They said the drills could begin within the next 48 hours, although the precise timing was unclear. Details of the Iranian preparations were first reported by CNN. U.S. officials said the timing of the drills appeared designed to send a message to Washington, which is intensifying its economic and diplomatic pressure on Tehran but so far stopping short of using the U.S. military to more aggressively counter Iran and its proxies. Trump’s policies are already putting significant pressure on the Iranian economy, although U.S. intelligence suggests they may ultimately rally Iranians against the United States and strengthen Iran’s hard-line rulers, officials say. Iran’s currency plumbed new depths this week as Iranians brace for Aug. 7 when Washington is due to reimpose a first lot of economic sanctions following Trump’s withdrawal from the nuclear deal. A number of protests have broken out in Iran since the beginning of the year over high prices, water shortage, power cuts and alleged corruption. On Tuesday, hundreds of people rallied in cities including Isfahan, Karaj, Shiraz and Ahvaz in protest against high inflation caused in part by the weak rial.

u.s .
iran
iran nuclear deal
naval drills
strait of hormuz
donald trump
arabian guld


Deadly heat waves to threaten China's northern breadbasket due to climate change

Abstract: PARIS - The North China Plain, home to nearly 400 million people, could become a life-threatening inferno during future heat waves if climate change continues apace, researchers have warned. Soaring temperatures combined with high humidity — made worse by the region’s dense irrigation network — means China’s breadbasket faces “the greatest risk to human life from rising temperatures of any location on Earth,” they said in a statement. Mega-cities Beijing and Tianjin both fall within the densely populated plain, along with other major urban areas. But it is tens of millions of farmers working outside that will be most at risk. Even if humanity manages to slow the pace of global warming, hot spells across the region could, by century’s end, exceed the human body’s ability to cope, the scientists reported this week in the journal Nature Communications. “This spot is going to be the hottest spot for deadly heat waves in the future, especially under climate change,” said lead author MIT professor Elfatih Eltahir, who has published similar assessments of the Persian Gulf region and South Asia. In China, heat waves have become both more intense and more frequent since 1970, especially in the last 15 years. Average temperatures have gone up 1.35 degrees Celsius (2.4 degrees Fahrenheit) since 1950, nearly double the average global increase. But the human body’s capacity to withstand extended bouts of heat also depends on how much moisture is in the air. Wet-bulb temperatures take humidity into account, providing a better measure of potential health impacts. For perspiration to occur, air at the skin surface must be moister than the ambient air. The larger the difference, the more quickly the body can cool. “But if the wet bulb temperature exceeds the human body’s skin temperature of 35 C, perspiration no longer works as a cooling mechanism,” explained Jeremy Pal, a professor at Seaver College of Science and Engineering in Los Angeles who has collaborated with Eltahir in the past but did not take part in the new study. “The body will quickly overheat, resulting in death.” Experts estimate that a healthy adult may not survive outdoors at wet-bulb 35 C for more than six hours. At 55 percent relative humidity, for example, it would take a searing air temperature of 44.4 C (112 F) to reach the 35 C wet bulb threshold. But at 85 percent humidity, an outdoor temperature of 37.8 C (100 F) is sufficient to surpass the limit of human tolerance. “When it is both very hot and humid outside, heat in the body cannot be expelled,” noted Camilo Mora, a professor at the University of Hawaii who developed a model last year to calculate deadly heat days under different climate change scenarios. “This creates a condition called ‘heat citotoxicity’ that is damaging to many organs. It’s like a sunburn, but inside the body.” Eltahir and Suchul Kang, a researcher at the Center for Environmental Sensing and Modeling in Singapore, used climate models that best matched temperature records over the last three decades to forecast heat waves. They looked at two possible futures. One — often called the “business-as-usual” scenario — assumes that climate change will continue unabated, while the other allows that humanity can bend down the curve of greenhouse gas emissions enough to cap warming at about 3 C, compared to levels in the mid-19th century. Surprisingly, they found that the North China Plain’s irrigation system adds about half a degree Celsius to future warming, under either scenario. “Irrigation exacerbates the impact of climate change,” Eltahir said. Unless drastic measures are taken to limit the greenhouse gas emissions warming the globe, “the North China Plain is likely to experience deadly heat waves with wet bulb temperatures exceeding the threshold defining what Chinese farmers may tolerate,” he added. The 196-nation Paris Agreement calls for capping the rise in temperature at 2 C, and 1.5 C if possible.

china
agriculture
weather
climate change
drought
environment
heat waves


In-person and online bullying led to 2016 suicide of 13-year-old Aomori girl: report

Abstract: AOMORI - The 2016 suicide of a 13-year-old girl in the city of Aomori was caused by bullying carried out in person and online, a panel looking into her death reported to the local government Thursday. The final report on Rima Kasai’s suicide was compiled by a new third-party panel, set up in December 2017 by the local board of education, after the original group ended its term without completing its work due to opposition from the bereaved family. Kasai’s family thought the draft report failed to address bullying and led them to question the panel’s independence from the school. Kasai, a student at city-run Namioka junior high school, killed herself by jumping in front of a train at a station in Aomori Prefecture on Aug. 25, 2016, leaving a note on her smartphone saying she “cannot stand being bullied.” The latest report said Kasai “became a target of bullying not just in person but also on social networking sites,” and she “came to believe she couldn’t escape.” Her schoolmates abused her with remarks such as “you are disgusting” and “why don’t you die,” from around June 2015, while spreading false rumors about her on the Line messaging app, the report said. It also said her school “did not take organized and specific measures” against the bullying. “We apologize for failing to protect (her) precious life,” Hifumi Narita, chairman of the local board of education said while handing the final report to the student’s family. The girl’s father, Go Kasai, 40, praised the latest report, saying he could “feel my daughter’s wish to eradicate bullying” in the document, which includes preventive measures. He also said the investigation had been conducted in an appropriate manner. The original panel said in its draft report that bullying could not be determined as the direct cause of her death and mentioned she suffered from juvenile depression, a finding that infuriated the girl’s family. The new panel’s report states Kasai fell into a state of depression due to bullying, dropping the reference to juvenile depression. It also describes some 20 cases of attacks against her, including abusive language online, and how her psychological suffering accumulated in the lead up to her death. Police made a rare intervention in such a case and referred several children involved in the bullying to a child counseling and consultation center in December last year. The case attracted additional public attention in October 2016 after the city canceled a local photography award for the winner’s artwork after finding out the subject was Kasai, who died 10 days after the photo was taken.

suicide bullying schools aomori students


LDP lawmaker Tom Tanigawa under fire for saying LGBT relationships are ‘like a hobby’

Abstract: OSAKA - A junior Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker is under fire for suggesting that same-sex relations are a kind of “hobby” and that legal measures to allow same-sex marriage are unnecessary. “It’s not that I don’t approve of diversity and it’s fine if women like women and men like men. But it’s not necessary to legalize same-sex marriage. It’s like a hobby,” LDP Lower House member Tom Tanigawa, 42, said on an internet television program on July 29. Tanigawa, a two-term member based in Osaka Prefecture, could not be reached for comment Thursday by The Japan Times. The Asahi Shimbun reported Wednesday evening that, in a written reply to the paper earlier that day, Tanigawa said he did not intend to discriminate against the LGBT community, and that recognizing same-sex marriages under Article 24 of the Constitution was difficult. Article 24 says: “Marriage shall be based only on the mutual consent of both sexes and it shall be maintained through mutual cooperation with the equal rights of husband and wife as a basis.” Tanigawa’s remarks come just before a two-day meeting in Osaka, beginning Friday, of representatives from a nationwide group of over 200 local LGBT lawmakers that was formed last year. Taiga Ishikawa, a municipal assembly member from Tokyo’s Toshima Ward and a spokesman for the group, said Tanigawa’s comments invited misunderstanding and prejudice against the LGBT community and ran counter to the LDP’s own policy. “Tanigawa’s comments are not something we can tolerate, as this kind of prejudice will spread, making things worse. Despite the fact the LDP has a leaflet that says there are people who mistakenly call LGBT lifestyle a ‘hobby’, we have comments like Tanigawa’s,” Ishikawa said. The comments were made just days after fellow junior LDP lawmaker Mio Sugita was heavily criticized for calling Japan’s LGBT community “unproductive” in terms of childbirth and writing in the latest issue of the Shincho 45 magazine that tax money should not be used to support LGBT couples for this reason. Her comments immediately drew criticism from senior LDP officials, including former secretary-general Shigeru Ishiba, who is challenging Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for the party leadership. Thousands of people gathered outside LDP headquarters in Tokyo to protest Sugita’s remarks on July 27. On Wednesday, the party released a formal statement, saying that she was expressing her individual opinion but had been instructed to be careful. “It’s a fact her remarks showed a lack of understanding of the problem and failed to take into consideration the involved parties,” the LDP said on its website. Like Sugita, Tanigawa is part of a younger generation of politicians with conservative views. He has suggested that “traditional” families are marriages between men and women that produce children, thus preventing Japan from going to ruin. Tanigawa, a former actor whose real name is Tomohide, opposes Japan having a female emperor. He has also suggested that the Constitution be revised and indicated he is in favor of discussions about the possibility of the country arming itself with nuclear weapons.

ldp
lgbt
discrimination
conservatism
tomu tanigawa


Catholics 'sickened' by Pennsylvania sex abuse report and church's coverup but stand by their faith

Abstract: YORK, PENNSYLVANIA - Many churchgoers said they were sickened and saddened by a grand jury report detailing widespread sexual abuse by hundreds of priests in Pennsylvania but they would not let the Roman Catholic Church’s coverup dissuade them from their faith. Nearly 200 parishioners filled almost all the pews for Saturday’s Mass at St. Patrick’s Church in York, Pennsylvania, where six priests who at one time worked in that parish are accused in the report bit.ly/2vTa9oY of sexually abusing children. “I can’t talk about it without crying,” said Kathy Morris, a retired steelworker and a member of St. Patrick’s for over 15 years. “I’m going to Mass to try to find some peace.” “I’m disappointed that it happened but as far as the faith goes, I’ll never give my faith up,” said Anthony Giuffrida, 66, an usher and lifelong member at St. Patrick’s. “I was raised Roman Catholic and that’s what I’ll be till the day I die.” Few people attended the 9 a.m. service at St. Margaret Mary in Harrisburg where the report accuses the Rev. Richard Barry of abusing boys in the 1980s. The parking lot was nearly empty, and a busload of seniors from a retirement community were among the few who entered the church. Most attending the Mass declined comment or made brief statements without giving their names. “Our faith goes on,” one woman said. The grand jury report was the most comprehensive report on clergy abuse in American history, accusing hundreds of priests in six of Pennsylvania’s eight dioceses of assaulting children for decades while the diocese covered it up, often sending priests to treatment centers and reassigning them to different parishes. The results of the grand jury’s two-year investigation were the latest revelation in a scandal that has shaken the Catholic Church since the Boston Globe in 2002 reported on decades of clergy abuse and the attempt by the diocese to cover it up. Allegations of clergy abuse in Europe, Australia and Chile have also emerged and prompted the resignation of several leaders within the Church, which has about 1.2 billion members worldwide. The Rev. Keith Carroll of St. Patrick’s Church said in his sermon Saturday that “What is contained in that report is sickening and saddening.” He said he was “struggling personally” with “anger, utter embarrassment and sadness.” Carroll implored his parish to not spurn the church because of the grand jury’s findings: “Only God himself can bring us out of this darkness.” Many churchgoers echoed Carroll’s hope that Catholics would not abandon their faith out of disgust with the church leadership’s past behavior. Over 3 million people, about a quarter of Pennsylvania’s population, are Catholic according to the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference. Over 100 people attended Sunday Mass at St. Columba Church in Bloomsburg, formerly the parish of the Rev. James Beeman whom the report accused of raping a 7-year-old girl while she was in the hospital. “I’m praying for our church community to hold onto our faith because that’s still the best thing we have,” said parishioner Mary Howe, 63, who has been a member at St. Columba since 1956. Victims and their advocates said they were grateful that the report outed so many abusive priests. The report cited 301 priests, some of whom have died. Only two of the priests are still subject to prosecution. “This is only the tip,” said Mary McHale, 46, who testified before the grand jury and said she was abused by the Rev. James Gaffney at her Catholic high school in Reading. “It just multiplied inside me over the years. The shame and the guilt and the low self-esteem, that never leaves you.” McHale supports her former classmate and state Rep. Mark Rozzi, who said he was raped by his parish priest and is pushing to change a law to give victims of child sex abuse more time to file claims against their abusers. State legislators expect to take up the bill in September, said Steve Miskin, a spokesman for House Majority Leader Rep. Dave Reed.

u.s .
catholic church
sex abuse
pennsylvania
priests


Beijing basks in bluest skies in a decade as campaign against smog pays off

Abstract: BEIJING/SINGAPORE - Beijing residents have been breathing some of the cleanest air in a decade as they begin to reap the benefits of China’s anti-smog push. Of the seven lowest monthly pollution readings in the capital city since 2008, five have been recorded since the beginning of last summer, according to data gathered by the U.S. Embassy in Beijing. That’s when Chinese officials ramped up enforcement of policies restricting coal burning in Beijing and surrounding areas. July pollution levels averaged 44 micrograms of airborne particles per cubic meter — the seventh lowest since recordings began in 2008. The improved air quality underscores how rapidly China is attacking the smog problem that in 2013 created Beijing’s “airpocalypse,” when the tiny particles peaked at 35 times the World Health Organization’s recommended limit. Since President Xi Jinping made fighting air pollution one of the country’s main priorities, millions of northern businesses and families were forced to switch from coal to cleaner-burning natural gas for industrial power and home heating. “China has made a very clear pledge to ‘bring back the blue skies,’ ” said Sydney-based Tim Buckley, director of energy finance studies at the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis. “Hardly a week goes by when China doesn’t bring in a new regulation or policy to further this commitment.” The rest of the world is paying for Beijing’s cleaner air. China’s skyrocketing gas use has made it the world’s top importer of the fuel, and helped raise global liquefied natural gas prices last winter to the highest since 2014. Production cuts and capacity curbs to reduce pollution from steel mills have helped rebar futures rebound to the highest price since 2013. But there’s still a long way to go, and the cost to shift the country’s energy mix to cleaner fuels is rising. China is seeking to lower the amount of energy it gets from coal to 58 percent by 2020 from about 60 percent now, through substituting natural gas for home heating and industrial boilers and nuclear reactors for coal power plants, Jefferies Group LLC analyst Laban Yu said in a research note last month. Retaliatory tariffs prompted by U.S. President Donald Trump may also raise energy import costs. Chinese policymakers have now taken aim at U.S. LNG imports, including them on a list of goods that could be hit with a 25 percent duty, signaling Xi may be willing to suffer some pain to avoid backing down from Trump’s escalating trade dispute. China’s rapid industrialization and subsequent environmental degradation follows a path forged by western countries — Charles Dickens described the “smoke lowering down from chimney-pots, making a soft black drizzle” in 19th century London. But its rapid cleanup could outpace previous efforts, according to Jiang Kejun, a researcher at the Energy Research Institute under China’s National Development & Reform Commission. “Our technology is better than that in old smoggy London, so it’s likely that China may go faster in curbing air pollution,” Jiang said.

beijing
smog
coal
natural gas
tariffs
donald trump
trade war


South Koreans enter North to reunite with kin split by war

Abstract: SEOUL - Dozens of elderly South Koreans crossed the heavily fortified border into North Korea on Monday for heart-wrenching meetings with relatives most haven’t seen since they were separated by the turmoil of the Korean War. The weeklong event at North Korea’s Diamond Mountain resort comes as the rival Koreas boost reconciliation efforts amid a diplomatic push to resolve a standoff over North Korea’s drive for a nuclear weapons program that can reliably target the continental United States. The temporary reunions are highly emotional because most participants are elderly people eager to see their loved ones once more before they die. Most of their families were driven apart during the 1950-53 Korean War, which ended in a cease-fire, not a peace treaty, leaving the Korean Peninsula still in a technical state of war. Buses carrying about 90 elderly South Koreans and their family members were moving into the Diamond Mountain resort after crossing into North Korea. Earlier in the morning, the South Koreans, some in wheelchairs and aided by Red Cross workers, had left the buses briefly to enter the South Korean immigration office in the eastern border town of Goseong. They were to reunite with their long-lost North Korean relatives on Monday afternoon at the start of a three-day reunion. A separate round of reunions from Friday to Sunday will involve more than 300 other South Koreans, according to Seoul’s Unification Ministry. Past reunions have produced powerful images of elderly Koreans crying, embracing and caressing each other. Nearly 20,000 people have participated in 20 rounds of face-to-face reunions since 2000. Another 3,700 exchanged video messages with their North Korean relatives under a short-lived communication program from 2005 to 2007. No one has had a second chance to see their relatives. Many of the South Korean participants are war refugees born in North Korea who will be meeting their siblings or the infant children they left behind, many of them now into their 70s. Park Hong-seo, an 88-year-old Korean War veteran from the southern city of Daegu, said he always wondered whether he’d faced his older brother in battle. After graduating from a Seoul university, Park’s brother settled in the North Korean coastal town of Wonsan as a dentist in 1946. After the war broke out, Park was told by a co-worker that his brother refused to flee to the South because he had a family in the North and was a surgeon in the North Korean army. Park fought for the South as a student soldier and was among the allied troops who took over Wonsan in October 1950. The U.S.-led forces advanced farther north in the following weeks before being driven back by a mass of Chinese forces after Beijing intervened in the conflict. Park learned that his brother died in 1984. At Diamond Mountain, he will meet his North Korean nephew and niece, who are 74 and 69, respectively. “I want to ask them what his dying wish was and what he said about me,” Park said in a telephone interview last week. “I wonder whether there’s a chance he saw me when I was in Wonsan.” During the three years since the reunions were last held, the North tested three nuclear weapons and multiple missiles that demonstrated they potentially could strike the continental United States. North Korea has shifted to diplomacy in recent months. Leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in, a son of North Korean war refugees, agreed to resume the reunions during the first of their two summits this year in April. South Korea sees the separated families as the largest humanitarian issue created by the war, which killed and injured millions and cemented the division of the Korean Peninsula into the North and South. The ministry estimates there are currently about 600,000 to 700,000 South Koreans with immediate or extended relatives in North Korea. But Seoul has failed to persuade Pyongyang to accept its long-standing call for more frequent reunions with more participants. The limited number of reunions cannot meet the demands of divided family members, who are now mostly in their 80s and 90s, South Korean officials say. More than 75,000 of the 132,000 South Koreans who have applied to participate in reunions have died, according to the Seoul ministry. Analysts say North Korea sees the reunions as an important bargaining chip and doesn’t want them expanded because they give its people better awareness of the outside world. While South Korea uses a computerized lottery to pick participants for the reunions, North Korea is believed to choose based on loyalty to its authoritarian leadership.


As summer vacations end, grass-roots movements in Japan work on counseling suicidal students and truants

Abstract: As summer draws to an end, many begin to feel the post-holiday blues. But for some children, this time of year triggers a different level of anxiety: the terror of going back to school. The first day of September is the deadliest day for troubled young people in Japan, according to a 2015 white paper published by the Cabinet Office. The day when most elementary, middle and high school students return to class has caused a total of some 130 people under 18 to kill themselves over the past four decades up to 2015, the paper said — the most compared with all other days of the year. A separate report by the Japan Support Center for Suicide Countermeasures in early August found that the number of middle and high school students who committed suicide increased toward the end of August. With statistics indicating that the last few weeks of summer correlate with a rise in suicide among people under 18, a grass-roots movement called Futoko wa Fuko Janai (Truants Aren’t Unhappy People) held events nationwide Sunday to ease the pressure of going back to school. “What is most important is for young students to see the words ‘Truants aren’t unhappy people’ and understand that there is a place and there are people that will be accepting of truants,” said Yudai Hirota, 23, who hosted one such event in the western Tokyo suburb of Machida on Sunday. In recent years, public institutions such as the Kamakura City Library in Kanagawa Prefecture and Ueno Zoological Gardens in Tokyo have used social media in the past to support those reluctant to return to school in September. A tweet from the library in 2015, for example, said, “If you would rather die than go to school from September, remember that the library is here for you to feel safe.” What such students need is “the support and understanding from the adults around them,” said Hirota, a former middle school truant who will start studying to become a social worker from October. “My parents didn’t force me into going to school and they didn’t say, ‘You have to go.’ Instead, they asked me gently why I stopped going to school, and it made me happy to think that they were trying to understand me,” said 16-year-old Mizuki Tada, who participated in a panel discussion at the Machida event. Tada used to skip classes during her middle school years but is currently in high school. “I think it’s important for truants to have someone who will be kind enough to listen to their concerns and worries,” she added.


Misconceptions over contraceptive pills put Japanese women at risk of health issues related to menstruation

Abstract: Contraceptive pills have been used by countless women around the world to control menstrual cycles since the U.S. Food and Drug Administration first approved them in 1960. But World Health Organization statistics show that only 1.1 percent of Japanese women aged between 15 and 49 used oral contraceptives in 2015 — far below the rates of 40 percent seen in France, 37 percent in Germany, and 16 percent in the United States. The low rate has been attributed to misconceptions about using such pills, including excessive worries over side effects and a long-standing belief among many Japanese women that controlling menstrual cycles via medication is unnatural and harmful. Gynecologists say that because of their reluctance to take such pills, many Japanese women suffer from severe problems related to menstruation that degrade their quality of life as well as their work performance. One problem that can be treated with contraceptive pills is endometriosis. The condition makes tissues that usually form only the lining of the uterus, or womb, spread to other organs inside the body, causing intense lower abdominal pain during menstruation or sexual intercourse. In severe cases, it can even result in infertility. While the mechanisms that cause endometriosis remain unclear, its symptoms have been found to be triggered by menstruation. According to a study by the Japan Enlightenment Committee In Endometriosis (JECIE), around 8 million women in the nation were estimated to have been suffering from dysmenorrhea — the medical term for severe menstrual pain — in 2014, up from some 7.83 million in 2004, and only 10 percent were being treated. More than 2.6 million Japanese women were estimated to have endometriosis in 2014. Mikio Momoeda, vice president of St. Luke’s International Hospital, said at a seminar in May that the main cause of the increase lies in the fact that women today menstruate around 10 times more than women in the Meiji Era (1868-1912), primarily due to changes in their lifestyles. According to Momoeda, women in the Meiji Era gave birth to an average of four to five children. With menstrual cycles interrupted before and after childbirth, they experienced a total of between 40 and 50 menstrual periods over the course of their lifetimes. In contrast, the majority of women in modern-day Japan go through pregnancy just once on average. Furthermore, they tend to have their first menstrual period earlier and undergo menopause later than women in the past, which means they can expect to have around 450 menstrual periods in their lifetimes. “People seldom realize that the risk of developing endometriosis is intertwined with the number of periods they have, and many are prone to misattribute the cause to environmental factors alone,” said Momoeda. He said women who suffer from severe menstrual pain have a high risk of developing endometriosis but that properly prescribed contraceptive pills would allow them to control and shorten menstrual periods, providing at least one way to prevent them from developing the symptoms. Yet many tend to think that feeling such pain is natural, and endure it every month while taking painkillers to manage the worst of the discomfort. According to a survey of 1,035 Japanese women aged between 20 and 39 conducted by pharmaceutical company Bayer AG in February, around 40 percent of those who responded said they were reluctant to take pills to control their menstrual cycles. The two major reasons they cited were potential side effects and a sense that menstruation is a natural process that should not be controlled by medication. The main side effects of contraceptive pills are related to the fact that they contain two hormones, estrogen and progestin, which have been known to increase the chance of developing blood clots. In the survey, 61.5 percent of the respondents said they took painkillers and tried to rest when they suffered severe pain, whereas only 7.5 percent said that they took oral contraceptives to ease menstrual pain. “Obtaining a prescription and taking contraceptive pills when early symptoms of dysmenorrhea first appear can help prevent women from developing several menstruation-related conditions that might cause infertility later in life,” Momoeda said. “Parents need to understand the realities about both menstruation and contraceptive pills, and must take their children to clinics as soon as they begin suffering pain during their menses.” Momoeda said that tackling misconceptions about oral contraceptives would also open up more choices for women who feel their capability to perform well at work fluctuates due to the often debilitating pain they experience during menstruation. In a survey of 2,000 Japanese full-time or part-time working women aged between 18 and 49, conducted by the nonprofit organization Health and Global Policy Institute in February, 45 percent reported that they felt their capacity to work dropped by 50 percent or more due to physical and mental discomfort related to menstruation. Only 6 percent said that their performance and productivity in the workplace were not affected by menstruation. “Getting rid of the misconceptions that exist around menstruation and oral contraceptive pills is crucial in order to secure Japanese women’s health and their lifestyles,” said Momoeda. “Doctors, media, and parents each have a role to play in disseminating accurate information about (contraceptive) pills and menstruation.”

pregnancy
women
menstruation
contraceptive pills


Aichi man recalls abuse his family faced when branded spies before World War II

Abstract: It was when Hisao Mesaki, now 85, returned to Japan from Saipan in early 1941 with his parents and siblings that an offhand remark to his new classmates aroused suspicion he was from a family of spies. They had been living in Saipan since the spring of 1940, with Mesaki’s father working in the shipping industry. But they were told by the Japanese government to return, as Tokyo was preparing for war with the United States and Britain in addition to the ongoing conflict with China. Pacific islands including Saipan were likely to become battlefields. When he entered a Tokyo elementary school as a second-grader, Mesaki was asked by his classmates why he returned to Japan. Without thinking too much about it, he repeated what he had heard from his parents: “We left because Japan is soon going to war with the United States and Britain.” Since most Japanese at the time did not think the nation would enter a new war, the rumor that the Mesaki family were spies spread quickly. His father, suspected of having information on enemy countries, was detained for about a month for allegedly violating the Maintenance of Public Order Law. Mesaki remembers his father being bedridden for about three weeks after he came home, possibly due to harsh and even violent interrogations. For roughly three months, officials of the Special Higher Police — a police force known as tokkō that investigated political groups and ideologies deemed to be a threat to public order — kept watch over the family. But according to Mesaki, what was most intolerable was how people around him treated his family. Someone scribbled “spy’s house” on the wall of his home, and stones, feces, animal carcasses and even fire-lit straw were thrown inside. All of the family members, including his mother and younger brother, were verbally attacked, branded hikokumin (traitors) or told to die. At school, a teacher placed red tape on Mesaki’s mouth in the shape of an X mark. His mother, who became mentally unstable, brought a rope and asked the family to die together by hanging themselves. Soon after the Pacific War began in December 1941, the family moved to Nagoya. “Because of what I said casually, my family was on the verge of committing suicide,” Mesaki said. In Nagoya, neighbors accepted the family warmly, although some were aware of why they moved there. But Mesaki recalls that near the end of the war, when children including him were told to take part in a military drill, a serviceman supervising the drill said, “There is one person with a crooked mind” and hit Mesaki with a wooden stick. Mesaki, a resident of Nagoya’s Kita Ward who used to work for the Aichi Prefectural Government, said that even after the war ended, he always felt restless when he visited Tokyo for work or pleasure. Although he had long kept silent about his experience because of his regret for what he had said, Mesaki said that considering his age he had decided to speak up for the first time. “I only want young people to listen to my story and think about what should be done so that society will never again become abnormal like before and during the war,” Mesaki said.


Official silver seal used by Tokugawa shogunate found in storehouse

Abstract: A silver seal used for diplomatic documents by the Tokugawa shogunate late in the Edo Period (1603-1868) has been found, the Tokugawa Memorial Foundation said Monday. The silver seal, or ginin , was used as the 1859 instrument of ratification for the Treaty of Amity and Commerce between Japan and the United States. According to the foundation, the seal was contained in a box found at a Tokugawa shogunate storehouse in 2017. Measuring 9.2 cm square and 7.8 cm high, the 2.7-kg seal was used by Tokugawa Iemochi and Tokugawa Yoshinobu, who were the 14th and 15th shoguns, respectively. Yoshinobu was the last Tokugawa shogun. The shogunate ordered seal engraver Masuda Koen to make the item in 1857. It is engraved with the kanji for keibun ibu , meaning an ideal statesman who is skilled in both literary and military arts. The seal was used for documents to ratify treaties and credential letters, together with the shogun’s signature. Masashi Iwatate, a curator of the foundation, said that since documents stamped with the silver seal are mainly kept abroad, further research is now likely to take place. The seal will be displayed at an exhibition to be held at the Niigata Prefectural Museum of History in Nagaoka between Sept. 15 and 30.

tokugawa shogunate
u.s.-japan relations
edo period


Japan preparing to accept more caregivers from Indonesia, Philippines and Vietnam

Abstract: Japan plans to accept more caregivers from three Southeast Asian countries that have free trade agreements with Tokyo to help address the national labor shortage, sources familiar with the matter said. By easing some restrictions on caregivers from Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam, the government will allow more of those with strong proficiency in Japanese to work in Japan starting next April, the sources said Sunday. Under current terms, Japan accepts up to 300 caregivers from each country per year. The government aims to treat those with high language proficiency separately from those groups. The number who want to be caregivers in Japan has been increasing. For fiscal 2018 ending next March, there were 298 from Indonesia, 282 from the Philippines and 193 from Vietnam — all record highs. As Japan grays it is expected to see a shortage of some 340,000 caregivers in 2025, when many baby boomers are expected to be 75 or older and in need of nursing care services, the sources said. The bilateral FTAs with Japan took effect in fiscal 2008 with Indonesia, in fiscal 2009 with the Philippines and in fiscal 2014 with Vietnam. Under the deals, about 4,300 people arrived to work in Japan. They are employed as caregivers for three years while studying for a national language examination that must be taken during the four-year period of stay. If they pass, they can continue to work here.

vietnam
indonesia
fta
elderly
caregivers
the philippines


Florida's famed weirdness creeping into political races

Abstract: NEW YORK - Florida’s penchant for the weird and strange — often manifested in new forms of criminal behavior (think chasing people through a store with a live alligator) — is so prevalent it has created a cottage industry of chroniclers and followers. But, like a contagion that has escaped a hermetically sealed lab, the swamp fever of Florida weirdness appears to be spreading now to the politicians who represent the state’s nearly 21 million residents. Over the past week, a legislative candidate staged an elaborate scam to try to convince people she was a college graduate. Another candidate had to deny putting out a Facebook ad accusing an opponent of distributing tainted breast milk. And then there is the thing about sphincter bleaching (more on that later). Even for longtime followers of the Florida experience (guns, gators, greed) this is a bit confounding. “Florida politics has always been as weird as Florida in general, but this year has seen a Twilight Zone level of campaign screw-ups, oddball candidates, post-Republican Trumpers in all their lunatic glory, edge cases, easily debunked fraudsters and a cavalcade of stupid,” said Rick Wilson, a GOP consultant whose recently channeled his hostility toward the president into a best-selling book. “The political subspecies of ‘Florida man’ is in full glory.” Ah yes, Florida man. The now-revered meme and trope about bizarre incidents in the Sunshine State often spreads across the internet faster than a startled palmetto bug in the middle of the night. It does not, on most days, refer to those men and women who have sought public office. (Although the record must reflect some notable incidents over the years, including a fist fight in the Florida House of Representatives, a parking lot brawl instigated by insults hurled on the radio, and a county commissioner who fled the country amid a tangled tale involving drugs and a stolen car.) But consider these recent events: A city commission candidate on Florida’s east coast told The Daytona Beach News-Journal on Wednesday that his Facebook account had been hacked and that the hacker had put up an ad attacking his opponent for passing on genetically defective breast milk. Melissa Howard, a candidate for the Florida Legislature, dropped out of her race this past week after it was revealed that she had falsely claimed to have a college degree and posted a purported copy of her diploma online. Howard had previously posted a photo of herself with what looked like a Miami University diploma. But the Ohio university later sent reporters a statement saying she attended the school, but never graduated. The Miami Herald reported that the mayor of Hallandale Beach in south Florida on Monday accused a city commissioner of making a living from “sphincter bleaching” after she questioned whether he made a living at all. Mayor Keith London was appointed to his job earlier this year after the previous mayor was arrested and charged with accepting illegal Russian campaign donations. The Herald acknowledged it wasn’t clear what London meant. Commissioner Anabelle Lima-Taub’s mother does own a spa that sells skin-bleaching cream, but she told the paper she doesn’t work there. One veteran political observer in Florida isn’t convinced that Floridians are witnessing a new trend. Instead, Steve Schale, a Democratic strategist, contends the rise of social media has made it more likely that such incidents get attention. “I don’t think it’s any more or less crazy,” Schale said. “I think it’s more out there. … For democracy to be representative, the public space is going to have its share of people who are nuts.” OK, America, you have been warned.


Osaka leaders revel as casinos bid for attention

Abstract: When the Diet passed a law governing the operation of integrated casino resorts last month, public celebrations were few. Media polls showed strong public opposition to casinos, with respondents citing worries about problem gamblers and more crime. But the champagne corks were popping in Osaka, where the smart money is on the city being one of only three locations where Japan’s first casino resorts will be built. With the legislative process over, international operators hoping to win an Osaka casino are stepping up local public relations efforts. Though several casino firms have expressed interest in Osaka, America’s MGM Resorts and Hong Kong-based Melco Resorts and Entertainment are the front-runners to win the rights to an integrated resort. Executives from both firms have upped their local presence recently, attending festivals like the Tenjin Matsuri last month, donating money to victims of the fatal earthquake in June and hiring Japanese staff connected to politically powerful corporations in the Osaka region. So far, there have been no headlines blaring “Osaka politicians wined and dined by casino representatives” or “Osaka bureaucrats received envelopes of cash from lobbyist tied to casino operator,” because Osaka has set rules that restrict official contact with casinos. But an already intense lobbying campaign is expected to heat up as Osaka Gov. Ichiro Matsui pushes to pick one as soon as possible. What will Osaka’s politicians, and their corporate allies, including contractors, hotels, and public relations firms, try to secure from casinos seeking to enter Osaka? Money and jobs, of course. First, this means assistance for municipal transportation infrastructure projects like trains and subways to get customers out to the casino, which is expected to be built on Yumeshima, an artificial island in Osaka Bay. Second, it means money for programs to treat gambling addiction. Third, it means assistance for whatever other pet projects Osaka’s politicians can squeeze out of the casino. Local leaders will also seek local hiring guarantees, and not just for blackjack dealers and floor managers. Before the Universal Studios Japan theme park opened in Osaka 2001, it faced pressure from corporate and political partners to offer “adviser” type jobs to various silver-haired men of dubious business ability who were owed favors by Osaka politicians or senior corporations. Thus, it’s a sure bet that before a final decision is made that the bidding casinos will be sounded out by local politicians and business partners about hiring, at excellent wages, their friends who are politically connected but largely incompetent good ol’ boys. Merely to provide advice, of course, on how the casino can best deal with politicians, bureaucrats and senior corporate leaders who just happen to be old college chums or former co-workers. Finally, to what extent can an international casino operator be involved with other aspects of an Osaka-based integrated resort? Should it concentrate on the card tables, roulette wheels and slot machines and let Osaka politicians and businesses deal with everything else related to the surrounding hotels, theaters, concert halls, restaurants and public spaces? Do local businesses have the smarts and savvy to make up for their lack of experience in the international casino hospitality industry? Or, is it better if the experienced casino operator be heavily involved in planning and managing other aspects of the resort to ensure it turns a profit? Such questions are being debated behind the scenes. Osaka’s politicians are obviously thrilled at being courted by the international casino industry. But the ultimate success or failure of an Osaka casino resort depends on whether local leaders are smart enough to follow the advice of experienced international experts in order to avoid turning an integrated resort into yet another failed public works project.


Debate over Fukushima statue takes on a life of its own online

Abstract: Few topics have proven to be more sensitive online than the present state of Fukushima Prefecture. Years after the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster wreaked havoc in the region, the topic of radiation continues to spark intense debate from all corners. A statue that was unveiled in the prefecture last week has just added plenty of fuel to the fire. Contemporary artist Kenji Yanobe donated a statue titled “Sun Child” to the city of Fukushima at the beginning of July. The work of art depicts a child clad in something resembling a hazmat suit and holding a helmet. A radiation counter on the child’s chest reads “000.” The statue was inspired by the Fukushima nuclear crisis. It debuted in 2011 , traversing the country ( including Fukushima’s airport in 2012 ) and generally attracting a positive reception. Even while it was being assembled in its new home, people snapped photos of it and remarked how “ cool ” it looked. However, people’s views regarding the statue began to fragment after it was officially unveiled on Aug. 3 , with debate intensifying last week . Fukushima residents started to post negative comments about the statue after a local news organization published a short story on it . Some argued that it was too soon to erect an artwork along such lines in a city still recovering from a nuclear crisis, while others noted that it was scaring children . Yanobe had created the statue to celebrate a nuclear-free future, but it ultimately had the opposite effect and reminded people that this was still far from reality. After a few days, the issue started to get picked up by national and international news outlets. The questionable science behind the artwork was frequently brought up, with many arguing that natural radiation alone would prevent any counter from hitting zero, among other complaints. Many netizens were simply irked at the inclusion of the hazmat suit, arguing that such imagery was misleading . As serious as all of this sounds, let’s take a quick detour to talk about another aspect of the statue that captured the internet’s attention: its crotch . While plenty of discussion on message boards such as 2chan focused on the lasting impact it could have on the local economy or the general challenge of creating art that has been inspired by tragedy, many zeroed in on the tap extending from the front of its trousers. It carried over to Twitter, too, with one user wondering how effective the statue could ever be if schoolkids were distracted by the contents of its nether regions . Coupled with other jokes and references , it’s a good reminder that memes will always be created online, whether or not the issue is particularly sensitive. Some of the discussion online focused on the art itself. Yanobe’s “Sun Child” has to date been largely been celebrated by domestic art critics. Anti-nuclear pieces have been central to Yanobe’s work since the early 1990s — he even went to Chernobyl and documented the fallout from the nuclear disaster there . By placing his art in the heart of a place that was affected by a nuclear accident, Yanobe changed the way people viewed “Sun Child.” Once the mystery had been stripped from his work, ordinary folks introduced new interpretations , with some slamming the idea of someone hiding behind “artistic license” to dodge criticism. Fukushima Mayor Hiroshi Kohata claimed the artwork reflected an optimistic view of the future , but noted that art, unlike science, can sometimes be abstract . This latter point, though, has become a tricky matter at times when the majority of conversation online feels reactionary, and not just in Japan. Some of the opinions voiced about “Sun Child” centered on the challenge of creating political art that doesn’t offend (this is the closest to a real defense of the statue I’ve seen). Others said it might have looked better if Yanobe had actually spent more time in Fukushima, instead of simply “ making a cup of tea and leaving .” For his part, Yanobe apologized . Part of the reason the statue has attracted so much attention online is that Fukushima’s radioactive status remains contentious. A number of sites aim to dispel myths surrounding the perceived lack of radiation safety in Fukushima. Twitter user @nonbeekaeru takes the opposite approach, arguing that radiation is traveling around the world and could envelop the 2020 Olympics or poison K-pop stars . As an example, check out the new Netflix show “ Dark Tourist ,” which features an episode about Fukushima that paints the prefecture as a nuclear wasteland. Indeed, this is the real reason this statue has caused a stir online: It’s another reminder that what happened in Fukushima actually lingers over the whole country and continues to shape the way in which people see the prefecture. With social media, though, locals can counter such misinformation, whether or not they use art to do so or not.

fukushima
radiation
kenji yanobe
japan pulse
sun child