Stop the Folly of the Big Cat

Who is encouraging the unstoppable yen rise?
The currency market appears to evaluate Japan higher than the EU, which has been spoiled by its weaker members; much higher than the U.S., which is leaving substantially more than 16% of its labors unemployed.
The appreciation of yen may reflect the fact that the Japanese society, in spite of its current suffering from earthquake and radioactivity, may be evaluated as being more stable than the Anglo-Saxon-driven economy zones.
I can certainly agree to some extent. I can indeed live peacefully in Tokyo, despite the fact that parts of northern-east Japan still remain damaged.
However the market appears to be overvaluing Japan. Japan is still vulnerable to invisible threats- for example, radioactivity, as well as the potentiality of future earthquakes.
I would say that the appreciation of yen derives from weaker dollar rather than higher yen. This situation is likely to have been caused by the folly of the US, represented by its useless wars against invisible terrorists.
Remember Vietnam. All that the stupid war left were a huge garden tomb and a huge scale of debt. Everyone knows it was not the U.S. military but Coca Cola and McDonald's that opened the mind of eastern world.
The more the U.S. military attacks terrorists, the more they revenge. It is not carpet bombing but serene lifestyle that makes terrorists remove their weapon. The sun is stronger than the north wind.
Anyway unfortunately this absurd currency level is likely to last for quite some time, until the U.S. stops foolish wars which benefit only the military industry. Only after these circumstances change, a stable society and a reliable economy will be realized, which then would be the fundamentals of a strong dollar.
Of course I know no one can imagine that the crazy big cat will calm down and lower his paw so easily so far.

from Tokyo

How to Die

There is a word "juryo" or "grave of luck" in Japanese, which implies that if one builds its own grave during his or her life, it will bring about longevity. Prince Umayado, the ancient prince of the imperial family, otherwise known as "Shotoku Taishi", believed in "juryo" and built his own grave when he was too young to think about his own death.
Although I'm not affluent enough to build a grave early in my life, I do know that I need to spend time preparing to die, so that I am ready to encounter the end of my life anytime.
In most countries, it is traditionally known that death is a time of justice. What one is asked by "the judge" when crossing over, is not what one has done, but one's own thoughts- including how he or she perceives its own actions.
Reflection, there may be. Regret, however, there should not be.
To the extent possible, I'd like to welcome this time with consolation of mind and with a sense of fulfillment, knowing that I have done everything I ought to have done.
In this sense, death just might be life itself.

from Tokyo

One Day Trip to Fukushima

Last week I went to Fukushima prefecture office with my colleagues to see an executive person in order to discuss about a long term support for revival of ruined area by Tokyo-based companies. However my wording seemed to be a little bit wrong. "Revival?" the executive laughed in self-deprecation. "Far from revival. We are still suffering."
Iwate and Miyagi, two prefectures which were damaged by tsunami, located north of Fukushima ,have already started to reconstruct the ruined regions. But Fukushima is still continuously being suffered by "invisible tsunami", radioactive substances scattered by broken nuclear reactors.
I recognized it is not so easy to support this district as long as four reactors are out of control.
After the discussion, I left Fukushima Pref. office for Haramachi-city, which is located only 15 miles from reactors. Iitate route is the shortest cut to Haramachi.
The traffics were much heavier than I had expected. A lot of cars including army vehicles were coming and going. However I found nobody waking there.
Rice field along the street remained dry because nobody has taken care of it for a long time. Despite the season of planting rice it looked like the scene of winter while it was surrounded by green weed of early summer.
There is a beautiful rural scene about 25 miles away from broken reactors. However when I imagined invisible particles were flying here and there I hesitated to open the window of the car.
Haramachi-city is only 15 miles from reactors, less than 2 miles from restricted area, nevertheless the radioactivity level is much lower than Iitate probably because of geographical reason. I was surprised to find two Japanese restaurants were open there while all McDonald's shops were closed around there. One seems to have decided to function as a social infrastructure while the other gave it up.

from Tokyo

Too Big for Children

"We did what artists should do", said a young girl member of "Chim-Pom", the self-professed artists' group who is said to have added a graffiti on Taro Okamoto's wall painting at Shibuya, Tokyo.
The group pasted the Taro-style-mimicking parts which remind people of broken reactors of Fukushima on the wall painting, "Legend of Tomorrow", one of Taro's masterpieces. Fortunately the group members seem to respect Taro and his work, a great artist, so that the precious work was not hurt by the prank.
"I recognize they have done it as guerrilla instant histrionics obviously in an artistic context", the superintendent in Taro Okamoto Museum said calmly. "However nothing new to be praised is found from their cheap work".
Taro might be too big to play with such children.

From Tokyo

Why Nuclear?

I remember it was in 90's that the excuse for nuclear propulsion changed drastically.
When I was a child teachers used to tell me "Nuclear power should be promoted because the amount of oil is limited". However as soon as people recognized that oil and natural gas are more abundance than they had imagined the excuse was substituted abruptly by "global warming".
As some of you may be aware the real reason is not such a peaceful one. A country which can run nuclear power plants can easily develop the technology to manufacture an atomic bomb in case it is required. That's why Japan has been eagerly promoting nuclear power.
In this sense Japanese electric power companies including TEPCO, which is struggling with uncontrollable monsters (they used to be called nuclear reactors) at Fukushima, might have been victims.

from Tokyo

Fukushima， Happy Island Again

"Fukushima", the place which is being spoiled by radioactivity of broken nuclear reactors, seems to have become one of the most well-known districts in Japan like Hiroshima and Nagasaki in opprobrious sense. "Fukushima" seems to have become synonymous with nuclear accident.
"Fuku" means "happy". "Shima" is an island. So "Fuku-shima" is a "Happy Island" although its history and its current status have not been so happy.
The district, in which four broken nuclear reactors are emitting radioactive substances continuously, had been a very poor underpopulated area until Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) decided to build a nuclear power station there. TEPCO has created a very stable local employment and paid enough money to change this town as rich as an urban area in exchange for its residents' risk. It might have been a rich town worth named "happy island" as long as the reactors were safely controlled.
People who once had a deal with the devil might be doomed to go to hell. However it's too early to call it fate. Now more than a million of people are living peacefully in Hiroshima, 0.4 million in Nagasaki although scientists believed that no creature would be able to live there including the strongest plants within decades when these cities were destroyed and polluted by atomic bombs.
I believe someday refugees will go back to their town to live again there.
I'm sure we can do it.

from Tokyo

TOKYO is Safe

I would like to say thank you to all the support to Japan from the world. However I would like to let you know that the area destructed by tsunami was less than 1 % of whole Japan although it seems to have been reported as if whole Japan was damaged.
Japan can revive soon. More than 99% of Japan including Tokyo is ready to reconstruct this country or they have already started it.
Looking at the world map, Japan appears as small as California Peninsula of northern America. Hence most people of the world seem to misunderstand as if Tokyo is almost next to Fukushima, where broken reactors are located. That's why some of panicked foreign residents have evacuated from here and a lot of visitors from overseas have cancelled their trip to Tokyo.
Don't worry. Be calm. Tokyo is more than 150 miles away from Fukushima. It would take three hours to access broken reactors by the fastest car. Fortunately radioactivity still remains within the level as low as residents including children and babies can live in health here in Tokyo although it's a little bit higher than before. It's rather lower than that of Hawaii or Rome.
Tokyo is perfectly safe and most of its residents including myself are living in peace so far. Every little thing including air, water, as well as food is not polluted here besides bad rumors and its effect on our mind. As for first food chains and supermarket chains, food safety is guaranteed by private companies through daily radioactivity monitoring although people don't trust the official announcements released by the unreliable government.
Tokyo is safe.
Come to see us.

from Tokyo