I first saw this story on the news the day that it happened, and I was absolutely floored. So many children (and some adults) attacked, some killed, and no apparent motive was an incident that I would never have imagined hearing about during my time in Japan. But that sense of shock was exactly what made me feel like there was maybe something more to talk about here than just the terribleness of the incident. There are a few things that I feel would be important to discuss in the wake of it.
Firstly, this attack made very clear the contrast of this reality with the typical view of Japan as a ridiculously safe country where this kind of thing doesn't happen. Many common practices within Japanese society reflect this: parents let their children walk to and from school by themselves from a young age, people leave their bags at their seats while they go use the restrooms, people leave their cars idling in parking lots with the keys in the ignition. And this isn't to say that because of this one occurrence Japan is no longer a safe country or that those practices are foolish - I still feel that Japan is a safer place than most, and those practices reflect the trust that Japan's comparative level of safety provides its people - but Japan isn't invulnerable to violence and malevolence. Japan's exceedingly low crime rate (about 0.3 per 100,000 population, though those numbers may be somewhat under-reported) make it easy to forget that crime still does happen. Now, I don't think this particular attack could have been stopped with a simple heightened awareness of the possibility of crime (more on that later), but there are some instances where this image of safety may contribute to other areas of crime. A Tofugu article on safety in Japan (https://www.tofugu.com/japan/safety-in-japan/) discusses the cases of multiple foreign women who have been harassed and attacked in broad public daylight, pointing out that these attacks often are not recorded or dealt with if the attacker manages to get away so that the area can report a lower crime rate. It also mentions that it can be very easy for people to let their guard down when they feel they can rely on that super-low crime rate. This is in no way meant to imply that crimes are the fault of the victim for not being wary, or that being paranoid is the way to go, but the harsh reality is that criminals will take advantage of the opportunities provided by the sense of security - and often also the non-confrontational mindset - that people often carry in Japan.
Another idea that articles in connection with this story highlighted for me was the (seemingly recurring) theme of mental health stigma and social isolation in Japan. Here is where I think the root of the Kawasaki attack lies. Through research I found articles detailing more about what the life of the man behind the stabbings was like, and a lot of it seemed pretty in line with the lives of other people who have committed mass stabbings in recent Japanese history. The perpetrator, named Iwasaki, was 51 years old and living with his elderly aunt and uncle. Both relatives had expressed concern over Iwasaki becoming a hikikomori, as he had not worked for quite a while and was becoming a socially isolated. Iwasaki stayed in his room, only coming out to eat the meals that his aunt would prepare and leave in the fridge for him alone. When his aunt and uncle wrote him a letter expressing their concerns and left it outside his door, he snapped at his aunt, saying "how dare you say that I am a social recluse." More articles uncovered some details about his childhood, stating that
he went to live with his aunt and uncle after his parents divorced, he was troubled, violent, bullied at school, and quick to lose his temper. A lot of these traits and factors seem suggestive of some developing mental health issues, and it doesn't seem that he ever received help with them. Of the four other stabbings listed in this article by The Conversation (http://theconversation.com/despite-japans-low-crime-rates-its-seen-a-number-of-mass-stabbings-in-the-past-decade-117910), three of the perpetrators expressed wishes of wanting to die and showed signs of being severely depressed. People shrouded in these dark thoughts and not getting help seems to be the theme of these indiscriminate mass-attacks. The stigma towards mental illness and hikikomori and the resulting lack of attention and care doesn't excuse the horrific acts carried out by these people, but it does contribute to their occurrence.
Friday, May 31, 2019
Monday, May 27, 2019
Raising the Japanese Retirement Age and Abenomics
A greater proportion the Japanese population is over 65. Combined with a life expectancy of 84 and a declining birth rate, it is widely known that by 2030, 40% of the population will be over 65, the traditional retirement age. Thus, a new focus of the Liberal Democratic Party has been to change the economic structure of Japan to fit the “100-year life.” Currently, 38% of people want to work beyond the age of 65. Yet Shinzo Abe is looking into abolishing retirement ages, and finding ways to keep workers on the job past 70. Unfortunately, many of Japan’s most needed jobs right now, construction, nursing, and delivery, aren’t suited to an elderly population. Many businesses expect high productivity, yet older workers are considered less productive and potentially frail. The ultimate goal, however, is to reduce the nation’s growing pension bills. The government has offered to increase payments by 40% if workers delay their pensions 5 years, yet only 1% of the population has taken advantage of this. For the most part, however, many are struggling to make ends meet, and many work in addition to taking a pension.
The government focus on raising retirement age, pension age, and dependence on pensions is part of a larger focus on streamlining the national pension: as yearly dependents continue to grow, so will the cost. Yet reducing the ultimate bill by manipulating retirement ages is only one facet of Shinzo Abe’s plan, and reflects only one of the many extreme measures the Japanese government has been willing to take in recent years. In 2012, Shinzo Abe revised the rules for the Japanese Government Pension Fund (GPIF) as a part of Abenomics. One facet of this plan was allowing the GPIF to invest in Japanese bonds rated BB or lower; however, this is not considered extremely risky, as there are so few low rated corporate bonds. This is only the tip of the iceberg, however, as the GPIF reforms were largely created to increase potential reward by increasing risk. The GPIF has also expressed interest in allowing for greater risk in order to hire new more experienced managers, and changing payment to performance based compensation - a stark change from previous years.
The greatest change in the reforms, however, was boosting the allocation of the GPIF’s stocks to 24%. Between 2012 and 2018, Abenomic principals helped boost stock returns; however, between a number of Japanese scandals, in addition to Trump tariff wars, the fund lost a record 135 billion dollars. The GPIF is one of the largest funds in the world, known as “The Whale” by some in Japan, and thus this was a huge hit, raising questions over the safety of stocks in the GPIF, as well as the effectiveness of Abenomics. Thus, increased efforts on raising retirement age may signal doubled efforts as a result of fund losses, as well as looking towards the future.
Japanese Naming Convention
The
piece is about a potential new policy being pushed by Japan’s Foreign Minister,
Taro Kono, in which he will ask for Japanese names to be written in the
traditional way in overseas media, official documents, educational
institutions, etc. This means writing Japanese last names, or family names,
before first names, or given names. (Interestingly, the article wrote his name
as Taro Kono, instead of Kono Taro, which would be in keeping with the Japanese
custom.) The statement seems to reflect Japanese pride in their culture,
perhaps showing that the country wants to increase their presence on the
international stage. Kono cited the beginning of the Reiwa Era as a reason for
pushing this change. Perhaps this is because as we discussed earlier this
quarter in class, the name Reiwa for the first time came from Japanese literature
instead of Chinese. According to another article I read, at the inception of
the Reiwa era, Prime Minister Abe Shinzo stated that the word ““symbolizes our
nation’s profound public culture and long tradition”, and that Japanese values
should not be allowed to “fade away” (McCurry). Also, there are several international
events and summits occurring in Japan in the near future, including the G20
Summit, the Rugby World Cup, and the 2020 Olympics. The G20 Summit is the first
of these events that will occur, and according to another article I read, Kono
wants the policy to be implemented by then. This is partially due to the fact
that Xi Jinping and Moon Jae-in will be in attendance. Both the Chinese and
Korean President’s names are written in the proper order, family name then
given name, when they appear in English.
Based
on the article provided to us as well as my peripheral reading, it seems like
opinions about the proposal are split in both the government and the public. Some
potential concerns are non-Japanese becoming confused and having to redo all
the names in computer systems. The article also cited Japanese companies that
are strong overseas as potential opponents of the proposal, as it could disrupt
business to overhaul the naming system. A 2000 poll showed a fairly even split,
with 30.6% wanting to keep Japanese names in the Western style, 34.9% wanting
to change to the last name, first name, and 29.6% not caring either way. I
think it’s really interesting that Chinese and Korean names are written
properly in foreign media, but not Japanese. I was curious as to why, but
unfortunately couldn’t find much more than the tidbits in the articles. At the
turn of the 20th century, Japan was trying to modernize its economy
and military, and apparently looked to Europe as an example. Although I am not
sure why, perhaps at the time they felt that adopting the Western naming
convention would help them do this? They must have interacted with Europe enough
for Japanese people to decided to switch the names around, perhaps to appear
more friendly and less foreign.
Dyeing Hair in Japanese Schools
This article describes an emerging campaign by the hair care brand Pantene titled "#HairWeGo What's Wrong With My Hair." The campaign takes aim at the all-too-common experience of children in Japan who don't have naturally straight and black hair being "urged" to dye their hair so that it matches with the students who do. A push against school policies has been rising in the wake of a lawsuit that a student filed for suffering mental and physical damage as a result of her school's demands that she dye her hair.
An outside article covered the story of that Osaka teen in more detail: the girl was forced to repeatedly dye her hair black every one or two weeks until her hair and scalp suffered damage and rashes and she could no longer dye it. On top of this, she was ridiculed even when undergoing the dyeing process. She was told that if she would not dye her hair black then she shouldn't bother coming back to school, so she didn't, and the school acted as if she were no longer enrolled there.
Through some outside research I learned that one of the roots to this phenomenon is the common desire of Japanese school systems to prove how "majime" they are with their students. With a large amount of competition between schools, a school's best shot at getting parents to send their children there is to impress them with how serious, strict, and rigorous they are. Enforcing uniformity and an intolerance for rebellious behaviors like dyeing one's hair an "unnatural color" is one way in which schools may try to impress parents.
Another source to this is the cultural importance of conformity in Japanese society. A derivative of the old "a nail which sticks out is hammered down" adage is one of the excuses given by administrators when they are asked about why they are so strict with their students straightening and dyeing their hair. They say that they enforce the uniformity of all students' hair so that those with hair that is not naturally that color will not be picked on for their differences. Similar to the way that school uniforms are meant to equalize students, this "hair uniform" is supposedly intended for the same purpose. I, personally, am unconvinced, since there is a large difference between requesting that students wear certain regulated clothing to school and ordering them to hide or alter their natural hair so that they can look like everyone else. A person's hair is a part of them, and although people dye and alter their natural hair all the time, ideally they should do that out of an intrinsic desire to do so rather than out of a fear of being punished for being themselves. I could potentially understand a school's desire to keep students from dyeing their hair potentially flashy or distracting colors like a bright purple or neon green, but to request that a kid change their natural hair so that they can look like the school's ideal is damaging.
This issue also highlights a weird disconnect in the experience of mixed-race children or children who are not ethnically Japanese in Japan, which was brought up in a video about a British-Japanese person recounting their experiences growing up mixed-race in Japan that I watched after reading these articles. On one hand, mixed-race individuals are sometimes treated like exotic specimens (if the other part of their ethnicity is not also Asian, and especially if part of it is western), and their peers might say things like "wow I wish I had your hair color/texture," or suggest that mixed-race people are attractive and interesting. On the other, they constantly have school administrators and officials requesting that they change their natural appearance to be more traditionally Japanese or prove that their appearance really is natural. Adding this to the fact that those same individuals who express interest in their appearance and ethnicity still don't always accept them into their community as strongly as they do with people who are ethnically entirely Japanese makes for a really confusing experience.
Students and teachers alike have expressed their confusion and frustration with the contradictory nature of these policies. One is required to have natural hair, unless their natural hair is not the standard straight black hair that schools expect. One is also expected never to dye or treat their hair, unless they're dyeing it black and straightening it, which they actually must do if their hair does not already fit that description. As problematic and potentially discriminatory as these hair-dyeing policies in Japanese school systems are, one would hope that this Pantene campaign can lead to actual change.
An outside article covered the story of that Osaka teen in more detail: the girl was forced to repeatedly dye her hair black every one or two weeks until her hair and scalp suffered damage and rashes and she could no longer dye it. On top of this, she was ridiculed even when undergoing the dyeing process. She was told that if she would not dye her hair black then she shouldn't bother coming back to school, so she didn't, and the school acted as if she were no longer enrolled there.
Through some outside research I learned that one of the roots to this phenomenon is the common desire of Japanese school systems to prove how "majime" they are with their students. With a large amount of competition between schools, a school's best shot at getting parents to send their children there is to impress them with how serious, strict, and rigorous they are. Enforcing uniformity and an intolerance for rebellious behaviors like dyeing one's hair an "unnatural color" is one way in which schools may try to impress parents.
Another source to this is the cultural importance of conformity in Japanese society. A derivative of the old "a nail which sticks out is hammered down" adage is one of the excuses given by administrators when they are asked about why they are so strict with their students straightening and dyeing their hair. They say that they enforce the uniformity of all students' hair so that those with hair that is not naturally that color will not be picked on for their differences. Similar to the way that school uniforms are meant to equalize students, this "hair uniform" is supposedly intended for the same purpose. I, personally, am unconvinced, since there is a large difference between requesting that students wear certain regulated clothing to school and ordering them to hide or alter their natural hair so that they can look like everyone else. A person's hair is a part of them, and although people dye and alter their natural hair all the time, ideally they should do that out of an intrinsic desire to do so rather than out of a fear of being punished for being themselves. I could potentially understand a school's desire to keep students from dyeing their hair potentially flashy or distracting colors like a bright purple or neon green, but to request that a kid change their natural hair so that they can look like the school's ideal is damaging.
This issue also highlights a weird disconnect in the experience of mixed-race children or children who are not ethnically Japanese in Japan, which was brought up in a video about a British-Japanese person recounting their experiences growing up mixed-race in Japan that I watched after reading these articles. On one hand, mixed-race individuals are sometimes treated like exotic specimens (if the other part of their ethnicity is not also Asian, and especially if part of it is western), and their peers might say things like "wow I wish I had your hair color/texture," or suggest that mixed-race people are attractive and interesting. On the other, they constantly have school administrators and officials requesting that they change their natural appearance to be more traditionally Japanese or prove that their appearance really is natural. Adding this to the fact that those same individuals who express interest in their appearance and ethnicity still don't always accept them into their community as strongly as they do with people who are ethnically entirely Japanese makes for a really confusing experience.
Students and teachers alike have expressed their confusion and frustration with the contradictory nature of these policies. One is required to have natural hair, unless their natural hair is not the standard straight black hair that schools expect. One is also expected never to dye or treat their hair, unless they're dyeing it black and straightening it, which they actually must do if their hair does not already fit that description. As problematic and potentially discriminatory as these hair-dyeing policies in Japanese school systems are, one would hope that this Pantene campaign can lead to actual change.
Japan wants International Media to Put Family Names First
This article discusses how Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono is pushing for international media outlets to change how the names of Japanese people are written. Similar to how Japanese names are written, he wishes for westernized versions of Japanese names to have the family name first followed by the given name. International media already does this for Chinese and Korean people, but for some reason the standard is not there for the Japanese. The article states that since the 19th century to the early 20th century amid the growing influence of Western culture, Japan has followed the western convention of name order when it comes to writing names in foreign languages.
The article states that "Japan wants...", but it is not as clear cut as that. Even though the foreign minister is pushing for this change, the article states that "one government official urged caution towards Kono's policy, citing potential technical problems, while others showed overall support". Another senior Japanese official said the government will 'cautiously' consider adopting this new name order proposal, but also mentioned concerns over possible repercussions like overhauling computer systems and rewriting government documents like passports. However, education minister Masahiko Shibayama is in full support and said they will call on other government bodies to use family names first. It does look like people are in support of the idea for sure, but some are hesitant because of the difficulties associated with undergoing this change.
It isn't clear how feasible this change is, but it looks like it will be very difficult for Japan. The article does say that foreign media outlets declined to give any immediate response. In another article, people were trying to make changes to the wikipedia entry for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to make it 'Abe Shinzo' per the new naming proposal, but other users were rejecting the changes, saying that "Wikipedia does not obey government requests" and that "If most sources started to refer to Abe-san as 'Abe Shinzo', then Wikipedia will follow suit." If other foreign media outlets had the same attitude (and why wouldn't they?), then it would be near impossible for Japan to get all international media to follow this new proposal.
As for why this proposal has come about, I think it has something to do with Japanese pride and their wish to move away from western influences, especially with the current nationalistic party. Of course, it makes sense that Japanese people would want something as significant to their identity as their name to be properly stated in media outlets and documents. However, I wonder if it will be possible for the Japanese government to get everyone including themselves to adopt this big change. I wonder if it truly is worth all the trouble and costs.
Additional Sources:
- https://edition.cnn.com/2019/05/21/asia/japan-name-abe-shinzo-intl/index.html
The article states that "Japan wants...", but it is not as clear cut as that. Even though the foreign minister is pushing for this change, the article states that "one government official urged caution towards Kono's policy, citing potential technical problems, while others showed overall support". Another senior Japanese official said the government will 'cautiously' consider adopting this new name order proposal, but also mentioned concerns over possible repercussions like overhauling computer systems and rewriting government documents like passports. However, education minister Masahiko Shibayama is in full support and said they will call on other government bodies to use family names first. It does look like people are in support of the idea for sure, but some are hesitant because of the difficulties associated with undergoing this change.
It isn't clear how feasible this change is, but it looks like it will be very difficult for Japan. The article does say that foreign media outlets declined to give any immediate response. In another article, people were trying to make changes to the wikipedia entry for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to make it 'Abe Shinzo' per the new naming proposal, but other users were rejecting the changes, saying that "Wikipedia does not obey government requests" and that "If most sources started to refer to Abe-san as 'Abe Shinzo', then Wikipedia will follow suit." If other foreign media outlets had the same attitude (and why wouldn't they?), then it would be near impossible for Japan to get all international media to follow this new proposal.
As for why this proposal has come about, I think it has something to do with Japanese pride and their wish to move away from western influences, especially with the current nationalistic party. Of course, it makes sense that Japanese people would want something as significant to their identity as their name to be properly stated in media outlets and documents. However, I wonder if it will be possible for the Japanese government to get everyone including themselves to adopt this big change. I wonder if it truly is worth all the trouble and costs.
Additional Sources:
- https://edition.cnn.com/2019/05/21/asia/japan-name-abe-shinzo-intl/index.html
Sunday, May 26, 2019
Tokyo Police Anti-groping App
News Shaping Japan Today
Sexual Harassment in Japan
Article No. 6
Source Article: “Stop it! Tokyo police anti-groper app becomes smash hit in Japan ”
In the blog I wrote last week, I discussed the recent news article about an increase in sexual assault incidences as a result of a new app designed to connect job-seekers with alumni. Unfortunately, in a similar vein, this week’s blog is also related to the enduring and widespread issue of sexual harassment in Japan, albeit from a slightly more positive perspective. According to the source article, a new app created by the Tokyo police force has been released and gained increasing popularity. With over 237,000 downloads, the app has an abnormally high level of engagement for a public service app, which is telling of how serious the sexual harassment epidemic is and the need for effective solutions. When used, the app yells, “Stop it!” in Japanese to alert others around the user that they are being harassed. Additionally, the app also has a silent option where words asking for someone to save the user from the molester are displayed on the screen.
Unfortunately, many of the victims of groping on trains and subways are Japanese school girls who are often vulnerable to this kind of harassment, as the perpetrators see them as ideal victims who will be too embarrassed or afraid to take action and get help. Although the app does not directly address the root issues of sexual harassment, which are strongly linked to the social conservatism and implicit sexism in Japanese society, if it is helping women travel more safely and received help when being harassed, it is a necessary and valuable tool to address the issue. Further, it is always encouraging to see a more positive aspect of the sexual assault issue being discussed, in which measures to prevent harassment show success, not matter how small. This is especially true in light of the Japanese government’s lax history of taking action to solve the issue.
Last week during our class, the question of how Japan compared to the rest of the world on this spectrum was brought up. After looking into the inquiry further, I found a 2017 article from CNN that looks into what sexual assault statistics look like on a global scale. To my slight surprise, many countries were worse off than Japan in various indexes, like the number of females who have experience sexual harassment by the police (Brazil, 84%), the number of women who have experience unwanted sexual harassment in public spaces (UK, 64%), and the general number of women who have experience sexual harassment (Vietnam, 87%). There were no statistics specifically of Japan in this article, but I would imagine that they are not as high as many of the other countries detailed. The data provided in this article serves to further reinforce the need for change on a global scale in which women are respected and men no longer feel entitled to any body besides their own.
Supplementary Articles:
https://sea.mashable.com/tech/3944/japan-police-releases-anti-groping-app-that-yells-stop-it-to-scare-away-molesters, https://edition.cnn.com/2017/11/25/health/sexual-harassment-violence-abuse-global-levels/index.html
Saturday, May 25, 2019
Forcible Hair Dyeing
Recently, in Japan, there has been much pushback on the practice of forcible hair dying, where students in Japan feel pressured (and are sometimes fully required) to dye their brown hair black, in the context of attending certain schools. Students are also often required to submit "natural hair color certificates." Apparently, 60% of public schools in Japan require students to submit these natural hair color certificates, describing the natural color of the hair as well as the texture (curliness, etc), as hair dye (seemingly of any color other than black) is banned in schools, and they want to confirm students aren't dying their hair. Even after submitting these certificates, many students are still pushed towards hair dye if their hair isn't naturally black. This issue starts as early as middle school, but is often focused in high schools, with 1 in 13 students being urged to dye their hair black in over 80% of schools, according to a Pantene survey run in Japan. There are also reports of students - both boys and girls - being subjected to haircuts from their teachers when they determined that their hair was "too long" during dress code checks (https://soranews24.com/2018/02/10/japanese-high-school-teachers-forcibly-cut-hair-of-44-students-that-was-too-long/).
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7060877/Thousands-sign-petition-end-draconian-practice-forcing-Japanese-pupils-dye-hair.html
Students started a change.org petition to combat this, with the title #What's Wrong with my Hair? Stop telling students to dye their hair black," riffing on the aforementioned viral Pantene campaign and program to start conversation around the issue. This petition also highlights that this issue extends to biracial children, and and asserts that requiring hair color certificates as well as forcible dying are forms of discrimination.
In 2017, a girl living in Osaka sued her school after she was required to dye her brown hair black, which really shed light on the issue and generated much outrage internationally, as well as within Japan amidst others who had experienced the same. She sued for 2.2 million yen ($19,350), citing emotional damage as one of the reasons for her lawsuit. This wasn't just casual dye either - she was asked to dye her hair so frequently (at a certain point, once every four days - an absolutely insane and very unhealthy amount) that she suffered scalp rashes and other physical side effects (https://www.forbes.com/sites/adelsteinjake/2017/10/30/a-japanese-school-is-actually-making-some-students-dye-their-hair-and-its-led-to-a-lawsuit/#169fe81240c5). She was frequently barred from school field trips and other activities by the school, and she ended up dropping out in her third year (https://www.nippon.com/en/currents/d00414/new-organization-takes-on-unreasonable-rules-in-japan%E2%80%99s-schools.html). A representative from the school was also quoted as saying that even if a blonde foreign exchange student was attending the school, they would be required to dye their hair black.
Based on the information gathered by an organization looking to enact change and trace the origins of such harsh school regulations, school children in the 70s and 80s experienced particularly regulated, disciplined school environments. After, there was a period of greater freedom, but now things have become much harsher again - begging the question if those in power now are pulling leadership ideas from their own, much more regimented schoolings (ibid), fueled by a desire for a version of Japanese society that no longer exists.
This issue has been extremely contentious in Japan. Many administrators do not see these regulations as an infringement of privacy and or an inappropriate act, but many teachers and students feel differently. One justification of the rules was given as being preparation for when students enter the workforce and must conform, but many students have never heard any sort of justification for the rules. These regulations focused around returning hair to the standard "black Japanese color" seem completely in contrast with the actual Japanese population, many of whom have naturally brown hair, and an increasingly global society. This forced homogeneity is supported by those in an older, much more insular generation, but the younger generations (and many others in Japan) are not standing for it. This issue has unified many in Japan that have faced discrimination in schools over hair color and other forms of bulling - young, old, male, female. Students are taking action and speaking up, showcasing a shift towards greater inclusivity and individualism. These students value their independence and want to be able to express themselves - or, at the very least, exist peacefully without being forced to look like someone they aren't.
Tuesday, May 21, 2019
International Child Abduction
What
Japan was removed from a list of countries known to be non-compliant with The Hague Convention, which is relevant to the abduction of children typically by one guardian in a separated couple. Japan joined the convention in 2014, but was added to the blacklist last year due to disagreements on international custody issues. Japan recently made its own laws more explicit, making it easier for guardians residing outside of Japan to regain custody of a child taken without their consent. The primary purpose of these laws is to minimize mental and physical trauma for the child in question.
Background
While the article initially sounds very dire (child abduction), far and away the most common occurrence of this kind of child abduction is when a guardian with partial/split custody will take their child (under 16) without consulting the other guardian to another country for an extended period of time. Prior to the change in Japanese law, a guardian would have to hire a lawyer in Japan, and face an uncertain battle due to Japan’s history of inconsistent rulings and statements regarding split custody. Guardians in Japan have also been known to ignore court orders; however, a July supreme court ruling made this a significantly more punishable offense. Nevertheless, Japanese law also bans the use of force while extracting children from abducting parents - while this makes situations theoretically safer, it makes it practically impossible to enforce return orders.The difficulty comes in technical differences in the legal powers of Japanese and American governments over divorced couples. Nevertheless, Japan will now make it easier to enforce international court return orders.
Importance
This is important as there has been a spike in international marriages (and subsequently divorces) since 1970 - almost an 800% increase. Thus, while Japan was initially not a signatory, and later on the blacklist, the increase in its own involvement in cross-border custody disputes became an embarrassing problem. Reportedly one of the most common issues was Japanese women marrying abroad, and bringing their child home following a divorce out of fear of losing custody. This is especially complicated as under Japanese law, only one guardian retains custody following a divorce. While it was not in the article, when Japan was initially put on the blacklist, it made plans to introduce changes in the following year, and also considered introducing join custody, a primarily Western idea.
Sexual Harassment in Japan
News Shaping Japan Today
Sexual Harassment in Japan
Article No. 5
Source Article: “Job-hunting apps expose Japanese women to sexual harassment”
In a recent article, it has been reported that job-hunting apps in Japan have exposed women to sexual harassment and left them vulnerable. The job-hunting apps in question allow job-seekers to meet with one-on-one with alumni from their university to receive advice on job prospects. However, these meetings are one-on-one and there is a potentially harmful power dynamic between female job-seekers and male alumni. These factors have presumably contributed to the increased incidents of women being harassed through their use of job-hunting apps. The scale of the issue is currently unknown, as many victims do not come forward with their stories out of fear of humiliation and general societal stigma. This news story speaks to the much broader issue of sexual assault in Japanese society.
Sexual harassment is not a new problem in Japanese society, and although there have been efforts to address the epidemic in the past (e.g. women-only train cars during rush hour, passing of workplace laws, etc.), the issue continues to persist. It is important to note that, of course, and unfortunately, the sexual harassment of women is an issue in countries all over the world, and not just in Japan. It must be said, however, that Japan in particular is a country with a history of social conservatism, where personal privacy is respected and citizens are discouraged from making a scene. In the context of bringing of justice to victims of sexual harassment, Japan’s attitude towards social reform makes closure and retribution difficult to obtain.
The #MeToo movement that gained traction around the world in 2018 saw little responses of activism and support from Japan, although there are women speaking out about their sexual harassment demanding justice to bring attention to the taboo issue. In 2018, a Japanese survivor of sexual assault, Shiori Ito, went public with her story and disclosed that although she was raped, her attacker was never arrested and her case was dropped. Ito says prosecutors cited lack of evidence, despite what she says is security camera footage of her being dragged from a taxi to the hotel, witness statements testifying to her being unconscious, and DNA from her underwear that matched her alleged attacker. By bringing these injustices to the public, Ito aims to be part of what will hopefully become a healthier and safer environment for survivors to speak up.
Brave survivors like Ito who speak out against sexual violence are a powerful force in bringing much-needed reform to Japanese sexual harassment prevention and prosecution efforts, albeit slowly. In many instances of sexual assault, bringing justice to victims is difficult and messy. Yet despite the obstacles that are often involved with proving offenders guilty, it is important nonetheless to never give up or ignore victim seeking justice, as the act itself of supporting them, believing them, and working to convict the offender provides closure for the victim, no matter how much.
Supplementary Articles:
Monday, May 20, 2019
Corporate Japan steps up disclosure of Climate Change risks
The article discusses how Japanese companies are forming an alliance this month to disclose risks posed by climate change to their businesses. This move seeks to attract long-term investors as environmental criteria is rapidly becoming a more important factor for institutional investors to allocate their capital. Companies that neglect environmental policies seem to be having trouble attracting more investors. According to the article, businesses will lead on communicating climate-related risks and management strategies, and investors will use the information to judge companies' long-term growth prospects. It seems to me that these businesses are not just doing this to tackle climate change and ensure a stable future, but also because by tackling climate change and resorting to things like cleaner energy, they will generate new opportunities for long-term growth.
The alliance will support proposals by the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures, a task force that has gained support from roughly 600 companies worldwide, with nearly 100 companies from this Japanese group. The goal of this task force is to make the dangers of climate change more visible, setting up dialogues between companies and investors to explore long-term climate change scenarios.
The increased concern over climate change and its effects on businesses and Japan in general is likely due to a rise in more climate-change related dangers. For example, increased frequency and intensity of strong typhoons and other extreme weather events has brought about massive damages, and will continue to do so at an increasing rate. Less directly, a rise in temperature has lead to a greater incidence of heat illnesses and just generally disrupting comfortable human living conditions. There is also concern that the impact of climate change in different parts of the world may affect Japan's economy through supply chains.
Despite the positive outlook coming from this newly formed corporate group, climate change is still a massive issue worldwide and in Japan. With Japan's very limited supply of natural resources, discussion of energy resources tend to dominate politics, with not much focus on climate change at the moment. Most of Japan still relies on fossil fuels for their energy, with the government invisioning that fossil fuels will make up 56 percent of the Japanese energy mix, more than nuclear (20-22 percent) and renwable (22-24 percent) capacity combined. Public concern over the safety of nuclear power, especially following the Fukushima disaster, is preventing Japan from making any strides in that sector.
This alliance, at least in the article, doesn't seem to be directly pushing its members to tackle climate change, but rather be more transparent about their contribution to it. I think that as climate change increasingly affects businesses and the economy, we will see more responses like this from businesses and government to tackle climate change effectively. However, I worry if it may be too late by then.
Additional Sources:
- http://www.env.go.jp/earth/tekiou/pamph2018_full_Eng.pdf
- https://asia.nikkei.com/Opinion/Japan-and-climate-change-leader-turned-laggard
The alliance will support proposals by the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures, a task force that has gained support from roughly 600 companies worldwide, with nearly 100 companies from this Japanese group. The goal of this task force is to make the dangers of climate change more visible, setting up dialogues between companies and investors to explore long-term climate change scenarios.
The increased concern over climate change and its effects on businesses and Japan in general is likely due to a rise in more climate-change related dangers. For example, increased frequency and intensity of strong typhoons and other extreme weather events has brought about massive damages, and will continue to do so at an increasing rate. Less directly, a rise in temperature has lead to a greater incidence of heat illnesses and just generally disrupting comfortable human living conditions. There is also concern that the impact of climate change in different parts of the world may affect Japan's economy through supply chains.
Despite the positive outlook coming from this newly formed corporate group, climate change is still a massive issue worldwide and in Japan. With Japan's very limited supply of natural resources, discussion of energy resources tend to dominate politics, with not much focus on climate change at the moment. Most of Japan still relies on fossil fuels for their energy, with the government invisioning that fossil fuels will make up 56 percent of the Japanese energy mix, more than nuclear (20-22 percent) and renwable (22-24 percent) capacity combined. Public concern over the safety of nuclear power, especially following the Fukushima disaster, is preventing Japan from making any strides in that sector.
This alliance, at least in the article, doesn't seem to be directly pushing its members to tackle climate change, but rather be more transparent about their contribution to it. I think that as climate change increasingly affects businesses and the economy, we will see more responses like this from businesses and government to tackle climate change effectively. However, I worry if it may be too late by then.
Additional Sources:
- http://www.env.go.jp/earth/tekiou/pamph2018_full_Eng.pdf
- https://asia.nikkei.com/Opinion/Japan-and-climate-change-leader-turned-laggard
Spirited Away smooths relations between China and Japan
In the wake of improving Japan-China
relations, the Studio Ghibli film, “Spirited Away” will release in Chinese
theaters for the first time. The reason that this 2001 film is only getting its
first public screening in China now is that China limits the number of foreign
countries that are allowed into the country. I did some peripheral reading
about this: Since the policy began in 1994, only 10 film imports were allowed
per year. However, that quota was slowly relaxed, and as of 2012, 34 per year
are let in. According to the main article, “My Neighbor Totoro” was released
last December to great success. It grossed $27.3 million in China, compared to $15
million in its native Japan.
I
researched how these foreign films are handled in China. One model of foreign
film distribution in China involves the distribution industry paying the
foreign film producers a flat rate, and then has the rights to all local revenue.
(If “Totoro” was released under this model, I wonder how much the Chinese
companies paid Studio Ghibli, since it ended up being so popular in China.)
This was just one model, but regardless, it seems like the Chinese film
industry/distribution companies get a hefty cut of the profits. Because of
this, I wondered why “Totoro” was released before the far more popular “Spirited
Away”, as the latter would likely generate more revenue. I also briefly looked
into the reasons the Chinese government censors foreign films, and while it is
quite complex, it seems they are generally against films which might extoll or
produce anti-Chinese sentiment, or encourage generally degenerate behavior, including
violence, drug use, and pornography. However, it seems the government also
shuns depictions of cults and superstitions. The movie “Spirited Away” heavily
features spirits from the Shinto religion, so I wonder if this made the
government hesitate. After a quick google search, it seems like the Chinese
government states that it supports “religious freedom”, while actually only allowing
for certain practices, which does not include Shintoism.
Regardless
of the difference between “Totoro” and “Spirited Away”, the latter is being
released now as China wants to get on Japan’s good side. Because of the
increasingly strained relations between the US and China, they are searching
for a new ally in Japan, which has the third largest economy in the world
behind the aforementioned countries. As two huge economies that are geographically
close to each other, Japan and China seek to aid each other financially to
ensure mutual success. The two countries have another common issue to deal with:
North Korea. While China currently trades with North Korea, Japan is not a fan,
due to the imminent threat of nuclear missiles, as well as the Japanese
hostages that remain in North Korea. In this time of complex political alliances,
anime is helping to bring together old enemies. The timeless power of story,
wielded deftly by Miyazaki and his team will smooth relations between China and
Japan, or so the two parties hope.
Sunday, May 19, 2019
Workplace Dynamics - Sexual Assault
This article, "Job-hunting apps expose Japanese women to sexual assault" detailed an increasingly concerning issue; many students are using apps to connect with employees working for companies they would like to join, as this is more effective than going through traditional recruiters and other more university organized pathways, but for many female students these interactions have resulted in sexual harassment or assault from company employees. These dynamics seem to persist within the workplace; in a 2018 survey of 1,000 working women, 42.5% had experienced sexual harassment, but less than 40 percent reported the incident, showing that a significant amount of sexual harassment is undetected in Japan. A case from March brought this issue to light; a male Sumitomo employee was arrested on the basis of raping a female student after the two met during her visit to the company to seek job assistance.
Many proposed solutions seem to swirl around banning the use of matching apps and companies deciding to put restrictions on these meetings (no drinking, during the day, blah blah blah). But there was a huge driver of this issue missing; an outright statement regarding the clearly toxic gender dynamics in the workplace, and by extension in Japanese society. It seems that everything but is being blamed for the issues that are arising. If 42% of working women have experienced sexual harassment, banning matching apps seems a flimsy and misdirected attempt at a solution.
In the past, in Japan, women who have spoken out regarding sexual harassment and assault (especially in the wake of the #MeToo movement; see Shiori Ito, young journalist) have experienced extreme, often very verbally aggressive backlash. Furthermore, based on the account of one woman, she had experienced harassment many times in Japan such as groping and flashing, but had never thought to qualify it in that way (https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2018/01/06/national/social-issues/shifting-attitudes-toward-sexual-violence-japan/#.XOFvddMzZ0s). There is also a very different rhetoric surrounding consent in Japan - this article mentioned that the phrase "no doesn't always mean no" is commonplace (ibid). It also indicated that in a previous survey, in a small group of women sampled who experienced assault, only 4% had reported forceful sexual acts to the police (this could be because there seems to be little done when reports are actually filed - only 37.2% of those charged for rape are indicted). Additionally, as pointed out by this article, (https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20180923/p2a/00m/0na/005000c) as of 2018, there is actually nothing under Japanese law that prohibits harassment (putting Japan in the category of having some of the most lax harassment policies in the world) - though companies are required to have "measures to prevent" assault and harassment, whatever that means. Victim blaming is also quite prevalent, further discouraging people from reporting in the first place.
Looking more specifically at the workplace, the manner in which one becomes a successful employee in Japan is historically designed to benefit men - and works against women. “Japanese-style employment practices are characterized by seniority-based remuneration, lifetime employment, and company-based labor unions. As such, firms value length of employment over skills or performance when deciding on promotions and pay rises (https://www.nippon.com/en/features/c05604/dividing-the-sexes-the-modern-evolution-of-japanese-gender-roles-in-marriage.html)." This structure (from the time of Showa Wives) makes it extremely difficult for women to rise up in companies while also having children and taking that time off of work. These values / this structure is entrenched in Japanese business culture, meaning that there are very few women at the top and many women concentrated at the bottom of companies (called vertical sex segregation). Big companies in Japan are extremely reluctant to stray from tradition, and continue to prioritize the lifelong employment of male workers. (https://workinprogress.oowsection.org/2017/10/03/why-gender-inequality-persists-in-corporate-japan/)
To begin to address these continuing workplace imbalances and issues of sexual harassment/assault, seemingly rooted in Japanese corporate culture, there must be a large shift in societal mentality, greater legal support for victims, and more women at the top to support those working below them and experiencing discrimination. More and more women are calling for change, but Japan seems to be reluctant to give up historical power structures as the much of the world moves forward.
Many proposed solutions seem to swirl around banning the use of matching apps and companies deciding to put restrictions on these meetings (no drinking, during the day, blah blah blah). But there was a huge driver of this issue missing; an outright statement regarding the clearly toxic gender dynamics in the workplace, and by extension in Japanese society. It seems that everything but is being blamed for the issues that are arising. If 42% of working women have experienced sexual harassment, banning matching apps seems a flimsy and misdirected attempt at a solution.
In the past, in Japan, women who have spoken out regarding sexual harassment and assault (especially in the wake of the #MeToo movement; see Shiori Ito, young journalist) have experienced extreme, often very verbally aggressive backlash. Furthermore, based on the account of one woman, she had experienced harassment many times in Japan such as groping and flashing, but had never thought to qualify it in that way (https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2018/01/06/national/social-issues/shifting-attitudes-toward-sexual-violence-japan/#.XOFvddMzZ0s). There is also a very different rhetoric surrounding consent in Japan - this article mentioned that the phrase "no doesn't always mean no" is commonplace (ibid). It also indicated that in a previous survey, in a small group of women sampled who experienced assault, only 4% had reported forceful sexual acts to the police (this could be because there seems to be little done when reports are actually filed - only 37.2% of those charged for rape are indicted). Additionally, as pointed out by this article, (https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20180923/p2a/00m/0na/005000c) as of 2018, there is actually nothing under Japanese law that prohibits harassment (putting Japan in the category of having some of the most lax harassment policies in the world) - though companies are required to have "measures to prevent" assault and harassment, whatever that means. Victim blaming is also quite prevalent, further discouraging people from reporting in the first place.
Looking more specifically at the workplace, the manner in which one becomes a successful employee in Japan is historically designed to benefit men - and works against women. “Japanese-style employment practices are characterized by seniority-based remuneration, lifetime employment, and company-based labor unions. As such, firms value length of employment over skills or performance when deciding on promotions and pay rises (https://www.nippon.com/en/features/c05604/dividing-the-sexes-the-modern-evolution-of-japanese-gender-roles-in-marriage.html)." This structure (from the time of Showa Wives) makes it extremely difficult for women to rise up in companies while also having children and taking that time off of work. These values / this structure is entrenched in Japanese business culture, meaning that there are very few women at the top and many women concentrated at the bottom of companies (called vertical sex segregation). Big companies in Japan are extremely reluctant to stray from tradition, and continue to prioritize the lifelong employment of male workers. (https://workinprogress.oowsection.org/2017/10/03/why-gender-inequality-persists-in-corporate-japan/)
To begin to address these continuing workplace imbalances and issues of sexual harassment/assault, seemingly rooted in Japanese corporate culture, there must be a large shift in societal mentality, greater legal support for victims, and more women at the top to support those working below them and experiencing discrimination. More and more women are calling for change, but Japan seems to be reluctant to give up historical power structures as the much of the world moves forward.
Spirited Away
This article described the upcoming debut of Spirited Away in China. This film, which was released in Japan nearly 20 years ago, is just now coming to China in theatres in an attempt by the Chinese government to improve its relationship with Japan. Since there are only a few foreign movies allowed to play in Chinese theatres, this is a pretty big deal.
I think this story is important in a very interesting way. Recently in this class we've talked a few times about tensions or improving relationships between Japan and China, from the derivation of the new era name originating in a traditionally Japanese text rather than a Chinese one to the two almost sort of bonding over trade disputes with America. This seems like a deliberate attempt to make better friends with Japan in light of the upcoming visit between the two leaders of each respective country. With the animosity and issues which have strained their relationship in the past, it seems that a renewed period of cooperation is forming. This seems really good for Japan too, especially considering that they've been feeling more and more estranged from America lately. Being on China's cordial side looks to be a little bit stress-relieving in that respect.
I found the way in which China is going about showing its friendliness towards Japan quite interesting though. By allowing a large symbol of Japanese culture and media to be shown commercially in their theatres (to an audience which has already been exposed to it and really enjoyed it due to the apparent rampant pirating and illegal downloading in China), the government is making a public statement on its views towards Japan and its willingness to get along. This is actually the second statement of this kind to occur as well, with My Neighbor Totoro playing at the end of last year. These movies already have a huge fanbase in mainland China, and a whole lot of people are extremely excited for one of their favorite movies to finally hit China's big screens in an official capacity.
According to another article (https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3009687/mainland-chinese-cinema-audience-eager-big-screen-debut-hayao), this isn't the first time that the showing of movies originally from Japan has been indicative of the relationship between the two countries either. Somewhere within the 1980s and 1990s China was importing a lot of Japanese cartoons, but after tensions grew between China and Japan the showing of Japanese media came to a halt.
Another article has credited the introduction of Spirited Away to the massive monetary success of the release of My Neighbor Totoro, and not actually due to the improving relationship between the countries. They attribute that to the release of the Totoro movie itself, even though it occurred much earlier and far ahead of the imminent visit by the Chinese president to Okinawa.
In my attempt to do more outside reading I noticed that these were really the only two other articles I could find on the subject. I'm interested in why not many other sources seem to be covering this, because it seems like a pretty big deal.
According to another article (https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3009687/mainland-chinese-cinema-audience-eager-big-screen-debut-hayao), this isn't the first time that the showing of movies originally from Japan has been indicative of the relationship between the two countries either. Somewhere within the 1980s and 1990s China was importing a lot of Japanese cartoons, but after tensions grew between China and Japan the showing of Japanese media came to a halt.
Another article has credited the introduction of Spirited Away to the massive monetary success of the release of My Neighbor Totoro, and not actually due to the improving relationship between the countries. They attribute that to the release of the Totoro movie itself, even though it occurred much earlier and far ahead of the imminent visit by the Chinese president to Okinawa.
In my attempt to do more outside reading I noticed that these were really the only two other articles I could find on the subject. I'm interested in why not many other sources seem to be covering this, because it seems like a pretty big deal.
Tuesday, May 14, 2019
Japanese North Korean Summit
What
Following a phone call with Donald Trump to discuss recent North Korean missiles being launched into the Sea of Japan, Shinzo Abe offered to meet with Kim Jong Un without the precondition of progress on the abductions of Japanese citizens that took place during the late 1970's and early 1980's. This is crucial considering previous Trump-Kim denuclearization talks failed to make an agreement.A similar situation has happened before, in 2002 when former President George Bush named North Korea in the Axis of Evil, weakening American-North Korean relations. At the time, North Korea for the first time acknowledged the 1970/1980's kidnappings in order to strengthen their relationship with Japan in fear of American military intervention. Nevertheless, North Korean-Japanese relations cooled as soon as North Korean-Japanese relations improved, thus long term outcomes are uncertain.
Background
Between 1910 and 1945, Korea was under imperialist Japanese rule. Moreover, during WW2, Korean men were conscripted to fight alongside Japan, and Korean women were sent to serve as "comfort women." Following the warrantees, Korea gained independence and was split; yet reparations for Japanese imperialist rule has remained a sore spot in North Korean-Japanese relations, and is often met with demands for bilateral nuclear inspections in conjunction with South Korea. Other points of contention include a lack of information regarding Japanese migrants in the 1960's (no data on emigration) and the abductions.Nevertheless, the North Korea's primary ambitions are ridding itself of sanctions, and potentially developing ICBMs to establish a position of mutually assured destruction with the US. This has been made difficult, however, due to constant international pressure to deescalate nuclear research and missile development.
Considerations
Japan is already cognizant of North Korea's ability to launch a nuclear attack on Japan, thus there is a tremendous pressure on Shinzo Abe to make progress on denuclearization talks given Trump's failure. Tensions are certainly high given extremely recent missile tests, yet Japan has a particularly advantageous negotiating position at the moment due to the breakdown in North Korean-American relations. Previously in April 2018, a cargo ship exporting coal (illegal under current sanctions) was seized by America. North Korea has continued to call for its return, calling the siezure robbery. No matter the outcome of that debate, however, Abe stands to gain from the breakdown in North-Korea's relation with the American military power.
Webtoons vs. Manga in Japan
This
article is about how digitization is affecting classic media. The Japanese
manga industry has always released stories in print first. Historically, if those
stories ever got put online, it was often done by third parties. Some manga also
get adapted into anime and are digitized this way. This piece talks about South
Korean web-comics called “webtoons” that are beginning to eclipse manga in
terms of popularity. With the ubiquity of computer technology, these comics are
more popular with “digital natives” because of the ease of access on phones. The
article addresses the question if manga should make the jump to digitization to
a “foreign, tech-savvy audience”. Opinions are split in the industry according
to the piece, but one argument for going digital is that manga magazine sales
have been spiraling downward, and that making the jump to webtoons could help
this. As a side note, this reminded me of the other article about Japanese companies
innovating and prioritizing digital technology as they move towards the future.
In
another article I read, as of 2017, the sale of digital manga surpassed their
print counterparts. Besides the reasons mentioned in the webtoons article, another
reason for the increased popularity of digital manga is that there were promotional
discounts for buying popular manga online. Another reason cited was that print
manga were becoming less popular because older popular series were ending with
no new popular print stories to replace them.
The
other main thrust of the provided article was that many Japanese probably do
not realize that the webtoons they are reading are from Korea and not Japan. Interestingly,
the Korean language, including names are changed to Japanese when the content
is provided to Japanese consumers. I found it very interesting that some
Japanese readers were completely turned off when the main character’s name was
kept Korean. Despite Japan’s increasing openness to foreigners, it seems that
in some realms they still prefer to keep it traditional. This made me wonder
about how other foreign media are received in Japan. During the leadup and
premiere of Avengers: Endgame, I saw tons of promotional material including
pop-up shops showcasing the American blockbuster. Why was this creative work so
popular, yet webtoons are shunned when discovered to be from Korea? Perhaps
because the movie is not a traditionally Japanese medium or style of art
(unlike manga), there is no issue.
Technological Innovation in Japan and 'Society 5.0'
The Japanese government has an ambitious plan to create what they call Society 5.0, "a supersmart world in which digital innovation leads the way." In particular, Tokyo is aiming to resolve economic and social problems by incorporating new digital technologies, like artificial intelligence and robotics in a wide array of fields like industrial output and social care. The article discusses whether Japanese companies and executives leading those companies are capable and willing to take the required steps. The article says it may be challenging to make the jump on full-on investments and rebase their businesses on large-scale use of AI. It also brings up another problem that Japan specifically has with its aging population: a shortage in their workforce. It states that because of this, Japan must go first using tech to support its economy and its people.
The real challenge that faces Japan according to this article is not with innovation, but rather with implementation. It is pretty clear that Japanese companies have been innovating new digital solutions to fields like healthcare, social work, and education. However, it faces problems of implementation. For example, they are lagging behind in adoption of cashless systems, with only 18.4 percent adoption while China was already at 60 percent and South Korea was 89.1 percent. The article says the technology is there, but the 'real challenge' is moving from proofs of concepts to wide-scale implementation of digital solutions in industry and infrastructure.
As a Stanford student surrounded by all the innovation in Silicon Valley, I hear a lot of these kind of discussions. There is huge economic incentive in implementing new digital solutions in different aspects of people's lives. AI systems have huge potential for improving different aspects of people's lives, but more importantly, when implemented in industry, can eliminate the need for human workers, which would certainly help in Japan's case. However, there is also the concern of unemployment rising and wealth being more concentrated with the development of smarter automated systems. The Japanese government would have to make sure to regulate companies to keep employment up or take some other action to ensure that people without work are taken care of, like through universal basic income.
As a side note, this article may be biased as the author is the CEO of a company that specializes in digital technologies. Of course, they would want for Japanese society to rapidly adopt new digital technologies. One thing that went to mind as I was reading this was about how exactly these technologies would help Japanese society improve--does Japan have to implement all these new AI technologies on a widespread scale? Sure, innovative humanoid robots have so much potential in social work, and medical robotics are vastly improving healthcare for the direct benefit of people. However, it seems a bit bold to say that AI systems need to penetrate every area of people's lives.
The real challenge that faces Japan according to this article is not with innovation, but rather with implementation. It is pretty clear that Japanese companies have been innovating new digital solutions to fields like healthcare, social work, and education. However, it faces problems of implementation. For example, they are lagging behind in adoption of cashless systems, with only 18.4 percent adoption while China was already at 60 percent and South Korea was 89.1 percent. The article says the technology is there, but the 'real challenge' is moving from proofs of concepts to wide-scale implementation of digital solutions in industry and infrastructure.
As a Stanford student surrounded by all the innovation in Silicon Valley, I hear a lot of these kind of discussions. There is huge economic incentive in implementing new digital solutions in different aspects of people's lives. AI systems have huge potential for improving different aspects of people's lives, but more importantly, when implemented in industry, can eliminate the need for human workers, which would certainly help in Japan's case. However, there is also the concern of unemployment rising and wealth being more concentrated with the development of smarter automated systems. The Japanese government would have to make sure to regulate companies to keep employment up or take some other action to ensure that people without work are taken care of, like through universal basic income.
As a side note, this article may be biased as the author is the CEO of a company that specializes in digital technologies. Of course, they would want for Japanese society to rapidly adopt new digital technologies. One thing that went to mind as I was reading this was about how exactly these technologies would help Japanese society improve--does Japan have to implement all these new AI technologies on a widespread scale? Sure, innovative humanoid robots have so much potential in social work, and medical robotics are vastly improving healthcare for the direct benefit of people. However, it seems a bit bold to say that AI systems need to penetrate every area of people's lives.
Sunday, May 12, 2019
Cool Clothes
This past week, the Japanese government launched Reiwa’s first energy-saving Cool Biz campaign, an annual effort to promote workplace energy conservation. The campaign is part of Japan’s larger policy of working to reduce their carbon footprint and combat global warming, and although it officially ends in September, Cool Biz aims to be a campaign with lasting impacts. As per the campaign, employees at participating companies show up to their place of work wearing cooler, light and airy clothing; for example, many donned short-sleeve Hawaiian shirts and passed on the necktie in order to make the 28 degree Celsius air-conditioned room temperature more bearable during the increasingly warm weather. This story highlights the greater effort being made by Japan to be conscious of the nation’s contribution to global warming, and is a tasteful and practical way of working to reduce carbon emissions.
 |
| Employees at a Japanese company during the Cool Biz campaign.
As of 2017, Japan's Ministry of Environment and five major Japanese utilities have been working together as part of the Ministry’s effort to promote a Japanese model of information-based C02-reducing behavioral changes in the residential sector. Japan aims to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions from by 26% by the year 2030 compared to 2013 levels. The Ministry commissioned a nationwide study to measure the potential of residential behavioral energy efficiency programmes as a means of reaching Japan’s CO2 emissions’ reduction goals. In order to reach this goal, a 40% reduction is required in residential-sector emissions alone. Cool Biz is just one of the Japanese government’s efforts to reach its energy goals.
Postwar Japan had always been firmly set in their goal to be self-sufficient in many regards, energy production being no exception. This being said, I find it admirable and perhaps something that other countries should take note of, that despite having this lofty goal, Japan has not let its “personal” desire to overshadow the greater pressure felt to pay heed to the globe’s declining environmental health. Cool Biz is just one example of Japanese efforts to reduce carbon emissions through behavioral changes in the population, and other countries should follow suit. In America’s case, in recent times there has been greater public recognition and support for greener practices and policy, yet without government cooperation and the adherence to green policies of major corporations, the public can only have so much impact. Japan’s continued commitment to being kind to the Earth is something America should follow suit.
Supplementary Articles:
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Response to Yakuza article
This story was a really interesting read, and covered something that I was actually quite curious about: how do the police in Japan go about handling the Yakuza and other organized crime in Japan? Surprisingly for me, this article seemed to imply that, at least until relatively recently, they didn't. Previous to the ordinances put up in 2011, it was pretty difficult for the police to hold gang members and especially leaders accountable for their crimes. However, with the new legislation any gang members (and former gang members) are now in a really tough position. It's getting easier and easier to arrest gang members, and perhaps also more and more difficult for those gang members to be rehabilitated.
The importance of this story comes from the effects that these changes have on the population of Japan as a whole. With more and more gang members being arrested, it seems that there is finally a chance for Japan to become free of organized crime. The Yakuza have felt unthreatened enough to have offices out in the open without fear of being prosecuted for a long time, according to other articles that I read in light of this article. Violence between gangs was also largely overlooked, which is where most gang violence actually occurs (even though it tends to affect the general public surrounding the offenses too). With some focus being shifted to these instances, there is a lot more opportunity for gang members to be arrested. On the other hand, the reforms made are very focused on getting criminals behind bars rather than rehabilitating them and turning them into productive and harmless members of society again. With it being so difficult for former gang members to get a job after being convicted, it seems like the increase in arrests could at some point result in a mass of people who might not feel they have any options outside of returning to a life of crime independent of the Yakuza. There is also a perhaps another unexpected way that the reduction of organized crime may not necessarily imply a reduction in all crime. Similarly to the way that drug cartels in Mexico monitor and protect their territories from other gangs and some level of petty crime not approved by their organization, the Yakuza has a history of lowering the crime that goes on in their areas. It's difficult to predict what will happen in the absence of that protection, even though this is definitely not to say that the Yakuza should remain unchecked and allowed to continue getting away with committing crimes.
I think something that struck me while reading this article in terms of the greater context comes back to a comparison between the Yakuza and the drug cartels in Mexico. I think that the organizations work and maintain their existence in similar ways, by providing some levels of protection to their areas of influence, in some cases providing assistance to their community in order to generate some level of support or necessity for their existence among the general public, and sometimes taking advantage of corruption in the political or justice system. However, I think that the Yakuza doesn't have quite as strong of a hold in many of these areas, and have mainly been relying on authorities' unwillingness or inability to touch them for so long. As such, now that they're under direct fire from the police and the ordinances that are now being taken advantage of, their hold is slipping and it's becoming more difficult for them to exist. I wonder if this will result in them becoming more violent in their desperation (the way that many cartels ensure that the authorities do not have the will to oppose them), or simply fizzling out of existence. From an outsider's perspective, the Yakuza does not strike me as being quite as overtly violent as the cartels, preferring to keep up a good public image, which makes me think that maybe the police's efforts will be more successful.
The importance of this story comes from the effects that these changes have on the population of Japan as a whole. With more and more gang members being arrested, it seems that there is finally a chance for Japan to become free of organized crime. The Yakuza have felt unthreatened enough to have offices out in the open without fear of being prosecuted for a long time, according to other articles that I read in light of this article. Violence between gangs was also largely overlooked, which is where most gang violence actually occurs (even though it tends to affect the general public surrounding the offenses too). With some focus being shifted to these instances, there is a lot more opportunity for gang members to be arrested. On the other hand, the reforms made are very focused on getting criminals behind bars rather than rehabilitating them and turning them into productive and harmless members of society again. With it being so difficult for former gang members to get a job after being convicted, it seems like the increase in arrests could at some point result in a mass of people who might not feel they have any options outside of returning to a life of crime independent of the Yakuza. There is also a perhaps another unexpected way that the reduction of organized crime may not necessarily imply a reduction in all crime. Similarly to the way that drug cartels in Mexico monitor and protect their territories from other gangs and some level of petty crime not approved by their organization, the Yakuza has a history of lowering the crime that goes on in their areas. It's difficult to predict what will happen in the absence of that protection, even though this is definitely not to say that the Yakuza should remain unchecked and allowed to continue getting away with committing crimes.
I think something that struck me while reading this article in terms of the greater context comes back to a comparison between the Yakuza and the drug cartels in Mexico. I think that the organizations work and maintain their existence in similar ways, by providing some levels of protection to their areas of influence, in some cases providing assistance to their community in order to generate some level of support or necessity for their existence among the general public, and sometimes taking advantage of corruption in the political or justice system. However, I think that the Yakuza doesn't have quite as strong of a hold in many of these areas, and have mainly been relying on authorities' unwillingness or inability to touch them for so long. As such, now that they're under direct fire from the police and the ordinances that are now being taken advantage of, their hold is slipping and it's becoming more difficult for them to exist. I wonder if this will result in them becoming more violent in their desperation (the way that many cartels ensure that the authorities do not have the will to oppose them), or simply fizzling out of existence. From an outsider's perspective, the Yakuza does not strike me as being quite as overtly violent as the cartels, preferring to keep up a good public image, which makes me think that maybe the police's efforts will be more successful.
Thursday, May 9, 2019
Yakuza
Recently, numerical involvement in the Japanese organized crime network named the Yakuza has been on the decline. Law enforcement is going after gang members mainly centered around destruction of evidence and fraud. In 2011, new organized crime ordinances were introduced, further criminalizing business involvement with syndicates -- it is now illegal to do business or pay off the yakuza -- resulting in, most notably, many bank contracts with gang members being cancelled. This means that it is more and more difficult to actually make a living as a gang member, which is one of the key drivers of decreasing membership (https://www.nippon.com/en/currents/d00372/no-way-out-the-dilemma-of-japan%E2%80%99s-ex-yakuza.html).
Reading this, gang activity felt shockingly out in the open to me. After some research, I learned that yakuza organizations are actually not illegal in Japan - they are registered and thus able to be heavily regulated. The organizations existing as semi-legal entities actually gives law enforcement significant power to do exactly what they are doing currently; imposing more and more restrictions and making gang membership less desirable. All of these organizations have offices (with addresses accessible on many maps), many have strict codes of conduct, and actually seem to operate as businesses - making investments and providing labor. This level of establishment and connected shift towards white collar crime seems to be a more recent phenomenon; quotes in several articles regarding the yakuza indicated that now, business and profitability seems to be the primary concern for organization heads. As an indication of why there has been less inner-gang violence recently, one source indicated that these "gang wars" were "bad for business." https://www.blackpeakgroup.com/2016/08/japans-yamaguchi-gumi-split-and-the-formalities-of-gang-war/ Law enforcement's methods - regulating members out of jobs, bank accounts, and more, seems to have put gang members on the defensive rather than offensive. Indicative of this - "these days most gangsters are more focused on not getting caught for crimes rather than committing them effectively." (japantimes ^ ) Another quote from a gang member referenced that being in the yakuza was not as "fun" as it used to be and therefore much less appealing for him, due to an increasing focus on business, a high cost of membership via dues, and constant police evasion.
One of the best examples of how law enforcement is approaching recent gang activity is related to the recent split of the Yamaguchi-gumi into the YG and the KYG (Kobe Yamaguchi). https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2017/09/30/national/media-national/gangsters-prefer-things-book/#.XNRgpNMzZ0s This split occurred in 2015 (the YG's 100th year in business), with an accompanying assassination -- but the police had security camera footage of the shooting, and quickly respond to this with a wanted notice and a crackdown. In 2016 (7 months later - the fastest recorded turnaround) the government declared that the KYG would become the 22nd "designated crime organization" - thus subjecting this group to governmental regulation. This designation and the accompanying limitations greatly cooled relations between the two groups.
It's not just the police that are unhappy; many yakuza leaders have expressed distaste at the current methods of profit - and one specific leader, Yoshinori Oda, former KYG underboss, held a press conference to declare he was starting a new organization focused on more traditional methods and values, with a humanitarian approach. They wanted to go into private security. And set up peace patrols within their territories to stop street crime. Previously, the yakuza has also been heavily involved in multiple natural disaster relief efforts (notably, responding faster than the government), and the YG apparently has a halloween party? with trick-or-treating for nearby children in their headquarters. They also have manuals for quite possibly all situations, which members are supposed to follow. https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-yakuza-is-rebranding-as-a-humanitarian-organization Most notably, "the nuclear industry is also dependent on organized crime to provide laborers for cleaning up the disaster in Fukushima and to assist with putting power plants back in operation. This has been attributed to why the Japanese government declines to conduct background checks on workers or their dispatchers associated with the cleanup. Officials have admitted as much on the record."
Reading this article, I was expecting a gritty account of gang dealings and crime, but that wasn't exactly what I ended up with. I came away with a shaky grasp of the yakuza's current and future role within Japan; as much as law enforcement seems determined to rid Japan of the yakuza, in many ways, the yakuza seem to be an intertwined part of Japanese society. Also unexpected was the sense of pride/nostalgia and distaste for petty crime expressed by many leaders and members - interesting to me because, on a base level, the yakuza is a gang. An interesting point brought up, and one I feel is quite significant, is that as more and more members are driven away from these organizations, very few re-integration programs exist. Very very few companies in Japan will hire ex-yakuzas, so a small fraction hold jobs after gang involvement, and many turn to more common forms of crime (https://www.nippon.com/en/currents/d00372/no-way-out-the-dilemma-of-japan%E2%80%99s-ex-yakuza.html). This is one of the biggest issues surrounding the current governmental approach to yakuza management, and a key aspect of Japanese society's future.
Reading this, gang activity felt shockingly out in the open to me. After some research, I learned that yakuza organizations are actually not illegal in Japan - they are registered and thus able to be heavily regulated. The organizations existing as semi-legal entities actually gives law enforcement significant power to do exactly what they are doing currently; imposing more and more restrictions and making gang membership less desirable. All of these organizations have offices (with addresses accessible on many maps), many have strict codes of conduct, and actually seem to operate as businesses - making investments and providing labor. This level of establishment and connected shift towards white collar crime seems to be a more recent phenomenon; quotes in several articles regarding the yakuza indicated that now, business and profitability seems to be the primary concern for organization heads. As an indication of why there has been less inner-gang violence recently, one source indicated that these "gang wars" were "bad for business." https://www.blackpeakgroup.com/2016/08/japans-yamaguchi-gumi-split-and-the-formalities-of-gang-war/ Law enforcement's methods - regulating members out of jobs, bank accounts, and more, seems to have put gang members on the defensive rather than offensive. Indicative of this - "these days most gangsters are more focused on not getting caught for crimes rather than committing them effectively." (japantimes ^ ) Another quote from a gang member referenced that being in the yakuza was not as "fun" as it used to be and therefore much less appealing for him, due to an increasing focus on business, a high cost of membership via dues, and constant police evasion.
One of the best examples of how law enforcement is approaching recent gang activity is related to the recent split of the Yamaguchi-gumi into the YG and the KYG (Kobe Yamaguchi). https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2017/09/30/national/media-national/gangsters-prefer-things-book/#.XNRgpNMzZ0s This split occurred in 2015 (the YG's 100th year in business), with an accompanying assassination -- but the police had security camera footage of the shooting, and quickly respond to this with a wanted notice and a crackdown. In 2016 (7 months later - the fastest recorded turnaround) the government declared that the KYG would become the 22nd "designated crime organization" - thus subjecting this group to governmental regulation. This designation and the accompanying limitations greatly cooled relations between the two groups.
It's not just the police that are unhappy; many yakuza leaders have expressed distaste at the current methods of profit - and one specific leader, Yoshinori Oda, former KYG underboss, held a press conference to declare he was starting a new organization focused on more traditional methods and values, with a humanitarian approach. They wanted to go into private security. And set up peace patrols within their territories to stop street crime. Previously, the yakuza has also been heavily involved in multiple natural disaster relief efforts (notably, responding faster than the government), and the YG apparently has a halloween party? with trick-or-treating for nearby children in their headquarters. They also have manuals for quite possibly all situations, which members are supposed to follow. https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-yakuza-is-rebranding-as-a-humanitarian-organization Most notably, "the nuclear industry is also dependent on organized crime to provide laborers for cleaning up the disaster in Fukushima and to assist with putting power plants back in operation. This has been attributed to why the Japanese government declines to conduct background checks on workers or their dispatchers associated with the cleanup. Officials have admitted as much on the record."
Reading this article, I was expecting a gritty account of gang dealings and crime, but that wasn't exactly what I ended up with. I came away with a shaky grasp of the yakuza's current and future role within Japan; as much as law enforcement seems determined to rid Japan of the yakuza, in many ways, the yakuza seem to be an intertwined part of Japanese society. Also unexpected was the sense of pride/nostalgia and distaste for petty crime expressed by many leaders and members - interesting to me because, on a base level, the yakuza is a gang. An interesting point brought up, and one I feel is quite significant, is that as more and more members are driven away from these organizations, very few re-integration programs exist. Very very few companies in Japan will hire ex-yakuzas, so a small fraction hold jobs after gang involvement, and many turn to more common forms of crime (https://www.nippon.com/en/currents/d00372/no-way-out-the-dilemma-of-japan%E2%80%99s-ex-yakuza.html). This is one of the biggest issues surrounding the current governmental approach to yakuza management, and a key aspect of Japanese society's future.
Monday, May 6, 2019
Aging Japan Grapples with 8 Million Empty Homes
Aging Japan Grapples with 8 Million Empty Homes and Stashed Cash
Thariq Ridha
This article covers another issue stemming from Japan's aging population: empty residences. A record 13.6% of housing stands empty nationwide. 8.46 million residences were unoccupied in 2018. This increase is said to come largely from a building boom that defies the shrinking population. Developers continue to construct new homes, which lowers demand for the older, vacant buildings.
Vacany rates were highest in Yamanashi prefecture, at 21.3 percent. Wakayama and Nagano Prefectures followed at 20.3 percent and 19.5 percent, respectively. These areas mostly consist of rural areas, which seems to be where the problem is most serious. Another article discusses how the combination of Japan's aging population and the attraction of urban lifestyle to younger people has left rural regions with a much older population and more abandoned homes. Kensaku Fueki, a resident in a small town in the mountains, says that he "remembers a time when many of the houses weren’t abandoned, when more people farmed the land and children roamed the streets."
One cause for this issue stated by an article is that jobs are increasingly clustered in cities, and there is not much opportunity for employment in the countryside. One resident in a small city said, "They graduate high school, they go to university in Tokyo, they start working in Tokyo, and they set up their lives in Tokyo and never come back."
In terms of what is being done to circumvent this issue, some municipalities around the country have urged owners to repair or demolish 708 properties, and took action on 118 of these cases. As owners are responsible for demolition costs, it is sometimes difficult to track them down, and the process of demolition is costly and time-consuming. Some solutions done include making a park out of the lot following a demolition, doing renovations for reselling, or re-purposing the building as cafes, guesthouses, or Airbnbs.
While the population-decline in Japan may not seem an inherently bad thing, there are a lot of economic difficulties as the overall population becomes more elderly. As we saw in a previous class discussion, the problems with an increasingly elder population include a smaller workforce that cannot push the economy enough to sustain-ably support the entire population. We see here that this also leads to issues with abandoned homes, which is also affected by rising urban concentration.
Sources:
Backlash against Japan's new Emperor
“Japan’s
new emperor wishes for world peace upon taking throne.” This article reminded
me of our discussion a few weeks ago about how the royal family isn’t supposed
to have political opinions. I recall we even talked about then Crown Prince Naruhito
getting in trouble for expressing a seemingly non-controversial opinion about
something. I tried to find write-ups about that, but without knowing the object
of his passionate, contentious stance, I was unsuccessful in my search. Crown
Prince Naruhito once again seems to be representing an unassailable position. Yet,
somehow, there are still some unhappy with this sentiment.
This
piece lays down the details of Naruhito’s recent ascension. Naruhito received a
sword and a jewel, family treasures, and gave remarks about his father and the
past, as well as his future as emperor. He expressed “his hope for ‘the
happiness of the people, a more prosperous nation and world peace.’” It also discusses
Naruhito’s first official duties, which included signing documents approving the
appointment of various officials. Sort of randomly, the article mentions that Emperor
emeritus Akihito, Naruhito’s father, actively engaged with the Japanese people
during his time on the throne. Then, a brief history of the word “Reiwa” is
given as well as a statement by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The article wraps up
with a few paragraphs about the celebration of the end of the Heisei era in Tokyo.
In
researching outside sources, I found that while the majority of Japanese people
seem to be fond of Emperor Naruhito, there are groups to both the far left and
right with separate reasons for disliking him. Yoichi Shimada, a Fukui
Prefectural University professor of international relations stated that “there
are some in Japanese society who feel they are at a disadvantage – in terms of
income, education, opportunities – and see the monarchy as a symbol of
hereditary oppression of the working classes” (Ryall). There were serious
protests and displays of anti-imperial sentiment surrounding Naruhito’s
ascension. The day after the enthronement, police were called because of illegal
drone activity around the Imperial Palace, and the Akasaka Estate, the home of
Emperor Naruhito. The day before former Emperor Akihito abdicated, a man entered
12-year-old Prince Hisahito’s school and taped two knives to his desk while he
was outside. The perpetrator told police that he was showing his hatred of the
imperial system. Finally, a man committed suicide at the Musashino Imperial
Graveyard near the mausoleums of former emperors Hirohito and Yoshihito. However,
it is not just the left that is against the imperial family. Some extreme
right-wing supporters think that the new emperor is too peaceful, and should “demonstrate
military strength” and “have soldierly characteristics” (Ryall). It is clear
that not all Japanese see the Reiwa era as a time of “beautiful harmony”. It is
interesting how a seemingly uncontroversial topic always has more layers and
perspectives when you dig a little.
Sunday, May 5, 2019
Emperor Naruhito Enthroned
What
The Nikkei Newspaper described the enthronement of Japan's 126th emperor, Emperor Naruhito, succeeding his father Emperor Emeritus Akihito (the first emperor to abdicate the throne before death since 1817). Before the ceremony, Emperor Naruhito signed documents to hold the ceremony as affairs of state. During the handover ceremony, the sword and jewel, two of the "Three Sacred Treasures" were passed over, and the emperor gave a speech to the 300 guests in attendance. He pledged to work with the people and abide by the constitution, similar to his father's speech in 1989. Across the country, many celebrated the event as it marked the beginning of a new era.Background
Following WW2, the United States established a new constitution for Japan, separating the religious and political powers of the Emperor, and delegating political responsibilities to the prime minister. Thus, the imperial family now holds a similar role as the British monarchy, acting as a symbol for the nation. While historically the emperor's duties involved mostly prayer, Emperor Emeritus Akihito was the first to demonstrate his approachability, marrying a commoner (for the first time in 2,680 years), championing the Paralympics, visiting houses of leprosy, and atoning for some of Japan’s wartime history.
Importance
While there is little political controversy surrounding the new emperor, there are some notable topics. First, there have been many recent (failed) legal challenges to the assignment of the handover ceremony as an affair of state, as the Japanese constitution states that the government may not sponsor religious ceremonies. Because the imperial family is believed to trace its roots to the Shinto sun goddess Amaterasu, and many of the elements in the handover ceremony are of Shinto origin.
Additionally, although there are many male heirs in line for the throne after Naruhito, Emperor Naruhito has no male sons. In 2006, the Asahi Newspaper published a poll that 82% would approve of a female heir inheriting the throne, currently blocked by the Imperial Household Law. Discussion subsided after Emperor Naruhito gained a nephew from his brother; however, polling remains strong on the issue. While Abe promised to consider the idea after the enthronement of Naruhito, the only written implications of women being included in imperial activities is an addendum to the law allowing Emperor Emeritus Akihito to abdicate, encouraging lawmakers to consider allowing the sons of female heirs to be considered for the throne.
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This past week, the Japanese government launched Reiwa’s first energy-saving Cool Biz campaign, an annual effort to promote workplace ene...
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I first saw this story on the news the day that it happened, and I was absolutely floored. So many children (and some adults) attacked, some...
