Hiko's Blog

Futurism, and My Totally Unreasonable Expectations of What Should be Possible with Apple's AR Glasses

2023-01-09T18:28:00.002+09:00

It's often said that writing is a discipline and the first thing to do in order to write good thoughtful stuff is to make sure you are writing. I want to form that habit again, so I'm going to see if at least once a week I can't jot down some extended random ideas about things I want to see.

I saw a news story the other day that Apple's mixed reality headset is going to be out in Spring. I'm very curious to see what comes out. I've always had a pretty clear view on what "feasible" AR looks like for me, and it is probably some years out but here it is: It should be as unobtrusive as a regular pair of glasses, and in time become even less obtrusive even than that (contacts, or some kind of other inconspicuous attachment). You'd want to be able to wear these and not be too identifiable as wearing them like people were with Google Glass. On them, I'd like to be able to see at reasonably high resolution everything from full VR full screen images and interfaces, to simulated screen/mouse/keyboard AR interfaces floating in the real world that I can interact with without needing hardware, to totally new digital interfaces I can see in the real world. On the screens, what I mean is the ability to basically watch movies on a virtual big screen while standing on a crowded train, and being fully aware of my real world surroundings.

On virtual interfaces, what I've wanted for years is a real world AR version of the Ghost Car time trial mode of Gran Turismo for running. In Gran Turismo, one way you can do time trials on tracks to beat your best time is you can see a "ghost" version of yourself on your fastest run, and see the race lines, brake timing and so on that you used on your best run to use as a goal to beat your best time. I'd really love a human version of that in AR glasses I can wear comfortably by running. I guess the base version is to replicate that so I can look around in 3D space and see an animated version of myself running and if they are ahead of me or behind me, and their cadence (pace of steps per minute) etc. I'd also expect to be able to see all the real time data from my Apple Watch in real time in heads up - my time, my pace my heart rate. I'd also want access to maps so I can do more exploring and orienteering without the hassle of going through my phone, or ever having to look down. AR glasses could transform running, or hiking or orienteering.

But why stop there? We're still talking about an AR app that just does a combination of what my Playstation, my watch and my phone already does. Let's do more.

Why not set myself pace runners that I can see in the glasses while I run to push myself or control my speed in certain legs. Why not create a virtual coach version of myself that gives visual and audio cues based on my pace, breathing, heart rate to ease back or push harder, with different goals in mind of building fitness, losing weight, doing an easy day or a hard day? And if I can do that for myself, why not get proper running and fitness coaches that can do that for anyone. If you have a goal of training to be able to run a marathon, or to build fitness for playing other sports like football? Why not make it so you could not only have virtual coaches or make your own self coach, but actually have a real life coach give you real time feedback and guidance if you are training for a run, the way F1 teams communicate with the pit crews?

But here we are still talking about what's practical and foreseeable. While yes, I do run for fitness and I enjoy the stats and time tracking aspects, surely the goal is to make the hobby something I do more for pleasure or fun. I already do this when I'm running by letting my mind wander, listening to podcasts, listening to music, thinking of things to do. I actually do some of my clearest thinking and best planning when I'm running. So...

Why not make running itself more of a video game? Race virtual runners with characteristics you train up? What about making it a kind of zombie survival game? Instead of just listening to music to match my running cadence (a lot of hip hop and Drum and Bass), since I don't need to look down any more and can control playlists on a heads up display why not let me curate and DJ my own playlists easily in AR while I run - hell even let me stream my sets while I run? Why not let other runners listen in? How about I Twitch stream my live running game while showing off live images of Tokyo and DJing music? How about agreeing a running beats per minute with someone in a remote location and doing running with that group live streaming music to everyone and chatting? I could run with friends in India, USA and Europe at the same time, we can gamify the run based on our heart rates, improvement, show each other the view, motivate one another training for upcoming races and such, perhaps agree to virtually coach one another?

I often think while running about how cool it would be to DJ an event while running, or to be able to go on virtual group runs. I suppose this could be done now but it would be a logistical hassle for everyone to sync up and do. To me a no brainer of AR glasses from Apple would be to make running with heads up display a launch app, and for developers to make apps and games that enhance virtual experiences in real world spaces and to allow virtualized "battle royal game" style mass interaction to add to the fun.

And that's just running - something I do for 30-60 minutes every two days.

There are other obvious fitness applications for AR such as Muay Thai and boxing training. But for me the other thing I get excited about still is other forms of productivity and creativity.

It's a no brainer that I want multiple enormous screens I can work on. Legal work, particularly multilingual legal work, usually entails looking at multiple documents at the same time, so I usually use a minimum 3 screens and even then I'm digging around for windows. So yes, now I can have mulitple enormous lovely computer monitors. And not just 3. 4 if I want. 6! 9! And I'm not constrained to having them all on a desk in front of me, but they can be all around me. And they don't need to be square or have bezels. And while we're all very used to using keyboards and mice, perhaps we can come up with better interfaces. And no I don't think audio commands or waving hands Minority Report style is it. Imagine working solidly for 8 hours and coming home only using audio inputs instead of keyboards - you would be hoarse, and anyone in earshot could hear everything you are typing. And if we replaced mice with Minority Report hand gestures, we'd all end up with arms like Hulk Hogan! That would be like doing press ups for 8 hours a day. But that said, we're good at using keyboards and mice, but people also get RSI from them, and we learn to use them adapting to the physical construct that they represent. I'd love to see what we could come up with to make inputting text like this more seamless. I expect in time it would be something like Black Mirror where you have some sensor behind your ear that you can guide with thoughts but until then, while I don't doubt we will use a mix of real and virtual keyboards and trackpads in the beginning, we'll rapidly figure out better ways to input and control digital environments. And I think for things like virtual art, video editing, and music creation that will get crazy fun fast.

I'm looking forward to the AR version of Garageband letting me play keyboard on whatever desk I'm sitting at the same as when I was in elementary school. Why not let me actually input guitar by air guitar. Or using a ruler? Or what I really want - just let me hum the damn thing!

I spent $7k of my student loan on two SL1200 turntables and a mixer, and my Dad was annoyed as hell with me for it, but to this day I consider it one of the best uses of money I've ever spent. That said all that kit is now easily replaced with an $8 iPhone app that does more than I could with that setup, and never messes up a mix, like I did. Often. But why spend $8 and be constrained to a tiny screen? I want all my kit to be enormous premium stuff, where I can spread out, see all my playlists, make all kinds of on the fly adjustments. I think the AR DJ apps are going to be crazy - and yes, I will totally use them while running provided they can make them or a version of them in a way that won't make it a public health hazard to do.

But coming back a moment, we're not even talking about AI enhancement yet. AI is getting good enough at learning and pattern recognition now that I should be able to make Drum and Bass tracks telling it "use an intro like Alex Reece's Feel the Sunshine, but change the instrument, and make the melody like 'dun dah dah dah', build up using a high hat like XXX" and be able to use a combination of taps on a table, voice inputs and so on to mold and build up a track with original and referred elements. Pretty sure actually if people weren't so afraid of music companies suing there would already be available generative AI apps that let you make music by pure description, although I am thinking more of what really happens where people build up a combination of original inputs and references. Basically the way people think of music as they listen to it, but making the ability to create the music you have in your head without the need for all the practice and music training.

Anyway - sorry Apple, I know I am perhaps expecting too much. But I do this. I wanted the iPhone I have today back when I had my Japanese Sharp feature phone back in 2002 that had basic internet, MP3s and played video, but everything was too hard. I immediately saw the inevitability of smart phones and they only recently got up to the standard I expected back then. I've been impatiently waiting for full self driving cars that you can just quasi-work/live/sleep in and use that to overnight watching some movies, sleep in and wake up at 6am well rested at the beach with the best surf and tide conditions in Kochi prefecture 10 hours drive away from Tokyo. And I'm positive that all the stuff I'm demanding of AR glasses will be similarly far off, but at the same time I'm equally positive that all this is inevitable, and I'm hoping that recent advances in machine learning combined with software and hardware development is going to mean I won't need to wait 20 years to see it.

Ray Kurzweil, a futurist who has consistently maintained since the 1990s that machines will pass the Turing test by 2029, and we will achieve an AI singularity by 2045 pointed out the shock everyone felt at the Moderna RNA vaccine, and that it was developed and released in just 10 months, which was unprecedented for any kind of vaccine. Normally testing the billions of combinations of potential solutions in the real world, finding the best vaccine, confirming it, and then doing demanding safety trials on real patients takes years, and people felt 10 months was so fast that it made the vaccine inherently suspicious. He points out, it didn't actually take 10 months to develop the vaccine. The vaccine used biomedical simulations in AI to test billions of simulated vaccine candidates and find the best one in just two days. The other 10 months was safety trials, but the vaccine itself was developed in two days, when this until now has always taken years just to discover. We live in an exciting time and I'm hoping the capacity of technology to exceed my expectations in shorter timespans grows similarly quickly. It's an exciting time to be alive.

App Project Ideas I Have Bouncing Around in my Head

2023-01-04T15:06:00.004+09:00

Every year I start the new year pledging to blog more, but never do. It's a discipline, and on top of that you have to have something to say. I've heard that the best way to overcome writers block is to force yourself to write, even if its bad stuff, and good stuff will come.

So consider this my reintroduction to blogging, and allow me to let my mind wander a bit and capture ideas that are too long form for Twitter or Mastodon, and/or off-theme for Tokyo Tonight. And to kick things off, let's imagine that MyChan took off as I dreamed, magically self monetized, and left me with millions of dollars to start developing new applications and do new projects, what would I do.

Perhaps a bit of personal background before I start. After graduating with a law degree, my first job was actually as an SAP consultant. I'm certified for configuring Sales and Distribution R/3 modules, and by necessity in Japan a big part of the job here is not just configuring SAP but also writing code for "add on" custom programs in ABAP, which is an object programming language similar to JAVA. It was 20 years ago now, but my first ever job was a mix of project management, requirements definition hearing and documentation, designing spec sheets for add on programs, testing developed add ons, writing a few myself, using SQL to test data was migrating and moving as it should, doing final testing and bug squashing post release, on two big implementations.

I moved into other jobs until 2012 when I moved back into IT consulting as a lawyer. I found knowing how consultants worked helped a lot with being a legal advisor for IT companies. In 2016 I jumped from traditional consulting into my current role in what I still consider is the most leading edge and high tech area of IT, although with the stuff emerging in machine learning, I do wonder if the ground is starting to shift.

The result of all this is that I actually have a pretty good idea of how IT projects work and get made, and of what is possible, and is not really possible with the tech. However what I lack are the actual skills to implement my own ideas. I've spent all my time since I stopped being a consultant myself supporting the work of others. I do like to tinker with the tech I work with to get a hands on feel for it, but I lack the expertise to build a full web app, and have this as an idea of something to do as a side hustle, particularly when I go to the US this year.

Nonetheless, taking the view that I'm busy and enjoy my work, and have precious little time outside of work and family duties to learn something new from scratch, what I'd really love is to pay some developers to build some of my ideas and see how they fly. To relate to the fantastic "Mythic Quest" TV show, I want to be Ian, and I need a Poppy. Here are some starting ideas that I know are easy to build and want to do:

1. MS Outlook Inbox Assistant

I can get dozens of emails per day in my job. There are days when I've gone to lunch and come back and had 100 new emails. When I spend days focusing on mails, I fall behind on big tasks. More often, when I focus on big tasks and let mails build up, my inbox becomes overwhelming. Particularly the anxiety that in that pile of dozens of mails lie bad news. I use hundreds of mail rules to try to filter out notice emails and less important stuff but also admit I'll procrastinate facing the bigger mails by knocking out the easier smaller mails first, and even on that, can lose a day. I also worry if I open a mail with something I need to do, but then leave it marked read and move on to clearing other mails before completing the task, I'll lose my note on the task or forget it so deliberately leave important mails unread as a way of ensuring I'll come back. Which makes looking at important unread emails more anxiety inducing.

So I'd love to make 3 apps that can integrate into Outlook:

a) Read my mails to me - I'd like to be able to listen to email being read to me like an audio book that I can check without the mails becoming marked read, but so that I can assess if there is anything urgent I need to respond to. To do this it would need to group mails in common threads, starting with the name of the thread, and after giving each mail in sequence saying who sent it at what time, and just the text from that mail discarding send lines, CC lines, attachments and previous threads. I'd like to be able to listen to it at increased speed like an audiobook, and to detect and assign voices for gender, and possibly even for specific senders.

b) Intelligent filtering and ordering - I have hit the limit of 300 mail filters. Which I think is the same limit as 1995. I think it is time for more intelligent and unlimited rules to classify mails by priority, and the ability to flag and present to me first mails that need my urgent response or action and/or to be able to present mails to me based on an intelligent ordering of priority that I can train my mailbox to learn for me.

c) Gamify my mails - I realize this last one will sounds dystopian to people that are addicted to being responsive on emails but as someone who tracks health stats, I think a system for gamifying mail related stats just for the user would be a good way to reverse paralysis/anxiety. I think some kind of way to score and reward responsiveness to high priority emails and volume could help people stuck with huge inboxes of important unread mails. It would need to track metrics based on volume, priority, and responsiveness, and perhaps other metrics like tone, spelling, etc or other areas people want to improve, create numbers for those, and then consider ways to turn those metrics into incentives. I think Strava and running apps are good at doing this - tracking performance in certain segments and noting if you've had a best time or metric for that month or something. In a sense, the idea her is to "create" email addicts. Probably not a good goal. But one that is good for people like myself that can end up overwhelmed and anxious about email.

=> Key issue with all the above apps btw are obvious issues, especially for my line of work, with it requiring handling of confidential and sensitive emails. I guess you'd need something that can run securely and ideally locally or at the edge, and be accepted from app security perspectives. Or hell, even just for Microsoft/Google to try some of these ideas.

2. Read that Back to Me

I already use text to audio apps for proofreading. The quality and naturalness of voices is pretty remarkable now. The only frustrations I tend to have are with regards inputting larger amounts of text (sometimes requiring manual uploads and downloads of files) and the need to download and use a personal audio player to vary speed. It seems to me it should be easier to allow large scale text to audio of large files with in browser playback with variable speed, and the ability to save settings of preferred voice, language auto detection (English or Japanese for me) and playback speed. This is actually something I feel I should be able to do myself.

3. Translation Checker

A step beyond Read that Back to Me would be an app that allows you to input either a single side by side file, or two files that are a translation of the same file, and sentence by sentence read to me the English and then the Japanese or Vice Versa. For large translation checks, it can be hard to stay focused, but being able to proofread a translation as a simultaneous translation would be pretty cool, especially as incongruent translation tends to jar, and strikes me as a good way to be able to find mistakes in large translations. Plus of course the fact that this would allow me to proofread while on a train or run, something I've done with Read that Back To Me files.

A true digital assistant.

All these app ideas build up I guess toward ultimately becoming a true personal assistant. To use an antiquated image, I guess I'd really like the idea of an automated personal assistant that I can check in with in the morning, and highlight to me my most important messages and tasks, remind me of them during the day, manage my schedule to ensure I have blocked out time to focus on bigger tasks, and schedule ahead to remember other things like filing expenses, doing taxes and so on. There tons of productivity apps out there that try to help us do each of these things but ultimately the "input burden" of these things itself becomes another task that adds to daily noise. It would be nice to start to feel like productivity tools are working for us rather than adding to our work. Some of the above are projects I feel would be relatively easy and help me out with my daily workload. I'll do more posts on other things I'd want to try developing if I had a team to do this, and who knows, maybe I'll make some of these myself and post them on this domain in future?

Thoughts on Emerging General AI, Where it Fits in the Context of the Ongoing IT Revolution?

2022-12-17T12:11:00.003+09:00

Lately I've been deep diving on some longform discussions on what these monster ML models racing to become the first General AI are doing and what implications they represent, and it causes me to buzz a bit and reflect on how this really changes my world view on what's coming.

In the 1980s I had teachers at school tell me and my elementary classmates that with CPU capacity doubling every year resulting in exponentially growing tech advancement, my generation was going to experience "Future Shock" where tech would start advancing faster than people will be able to keep pace with and this would be the main challenge of my Gen-X in the future.

Then in the mid-90s, at university when people started using the Internet I recall law and politics lecturers talking optimistically about the Internet and democratized access to it through Netscape and Usenet would result in a kind of networked human hivemind that would accelerate our ability to empathize with one another and advance our ability to solve problems facing humanity. One out of two wasn't bad.

Then I started working in the late 90s and early 2000s in corporate ERP systems, and the conversation shifted to how productivity was going to dramatically improve based on better ability to capture and use siloed data stored on legacy systems, and how this would advance everything from insurance risk calculations, to medical treatments, and manufacturing.

Perhaps partly because I was in Japan, and I dropped out of IT to work in environmental policy and corporate law for 10 years, I had a bit of a gap returning to IT in 2012 and finding it still kind of the same as in 2002. Then in 2014 I started to see some of the first chatter about "cloud" being used in big companies, and how cloud was going to democratize access to IT and compute power the same way the Internet democratized access to information.

In 2017 I saw cloud infra IT providers make available platforms for IoT and machine learning that made the hyperscale infrastructure needed for advanced ML that had only been accessible to governments, universities and large corporations accessible to anyone.

And then, I admit, the last 5 years I just saw what I feel like has been all this technology iterating. And yes, it has been cool - I guess it is a bit of "future shock" that we are still just touching the surface of what applications we can realize with all the above technology, and everything we are seeing in medicine, space, science, self driving cars and so on is based on people taking the time to digest and fully utilize all these technologies.

As someone working in IT I admit to feeling excited but a bit sad, that we were moving into doubling down and using this combination of technologies more than unleashing the next big technology. Machine Learning, combined with unlimited access to compute power in the cloud, combined with unlimited ability to use any kind of data, combined with unlimited ability to access data and people anywhere any time, combined with the continued exponential advancement upon advancement of compute power. We've only had all of these elements available together for a short period of time and it is why the world is changing so fast right now.

But this desire to see the "next big thing" in terms of technology is what has me excited all over again about these huge "AI" platforms racing to be general AI. On the one hand, these are just particularly advanced ML models using all the above technologies very well, and can be seen as iterative. But on the other hand, they seem to be making tangible the idea of these general AIs as its kind of platform, even more disruptive than all of those other jumps I described until now - machines that can generate a feedback loop improving themselves and underlying technologies of internet connectivity, compute, ability to use isolated data, all rolled together into something that can learn, create and problem solve without limitation. With the positive (solving the mysteries of the universe and resolving bottlenecks of things like energy, resources, population etc) and dystopian implications that brings (like one person being able to mass produce WMDs, and the "grey goo" risk of a self replicating machine programmed to turn all matter into grey goo until the whole universe is wiped out.

Science fiction writers have been talking about the opportunities and challenges of a general AI since before the 1950s. But now it's really close. I mean REALLY close. I'm hearing timelines of 10 years, some even saying 3-5 years. And yes, these sound like fusion timelines, but use chat-GPT and some of the other public versions of these moster AIs, and consider their exponential rate of improvement and it feels like we have to reevaluate all our expectations of the world 10 years from now all over again.

As a tech lawyer, I see public and political debate around regulation of tech and cringe a little. Not only are the debates slow, but they are focussed on the wrong things quite often. Policy debate around AI seems to be focussed on anthropomorphic concerns, treating technology like it is some kind of human that has to be regulated, than understanding what the technology is and the more profound implications and issues raised with how that technology is developed and what it will result in.

Policy debates around image recognition AI for example seem to be more focused on whether or not such machine learning algorithms are violating privacy, and have racist biases, than more fundamental issues such as whether training data is being legally and ethically sourced, and the broader implications of how many jobs and life processes will be disrupted by being able to infinitely accurately instantly recognize any object or person. And that is just in that one use case. People are trying desperately to understand the technology and are grasping for the easiest way to do so - by thinking of it as a person that might be racist, and is violating your privacy. Which is true and a valid concern. But is allowing the much bigger and more profound issues this technology raises continue on unaddressed.

Basically law makers and NGOs can't adapt with proper needed regulations to help society make necessary preparations for this technology that is soon going to be upon us, because it has developed too fast for most of them to understand it sufficiently. And even regulations that address racism and bias in technology are taking years to be developed. The technology is moving too fast for most people to understand it well enough to prepare society for its profound implications.

Which means, I guess, that my Standard 1 teacher, Mr. Walsh, in New Zealand Forces School Sembawang in Singapore in 1983 was right telling me that the biggest challenge of my generation was going to be coping with "future shock" (a concept itself published in 1970). We're kind of in the middle of it right now, and muddling our way through it, but damn if we aren't in for a crazy time if everyone starts being able to access and use general AI as a platform for anything. And I can't wait.

Postscript - here are some great videos I've enjoyed on this subject:

Welcoming 2022 in Japan. What a Time to Be Alive

2021-12-31T12:58:00.002+09:00

Like a lot of people I'm spending December 31, 2021 at home in Tokyo. The global pandemic is now going into its third year. For all practical purposes I can't really travel to New Zealand or Australia for Christmas again so I've spent a quiet end of year working from home and lying low. Democracy is giving way to authoritarianism, democracies are becoming more polarized and dysfunctional, conflicts continue unabated, climate change is more evident and happening faster than predicted. The news and social media has plenty of fuel for the need people have to detect and focus attention on dangers and threats, and it is easy to obsessively think civilization faces imminent collapse.

But, for all the terrible things admittedly happening in the world, what gets pushed to the back pages for not grabbing enough clicks and attention is that there are a lot of changes happening right now and mind blowing speed that are transforming humanity in ways I would have thought 10 years ago would still be science fiction for the next 50-100 years. For all the challenges, 2021 has been a great year to be alive, and I'm still excited and optimistic about the year and remaining decade ahead.

The main areas I think we've had a good year and have a time of monumental positive change ahead are automation, energy, science, medicine and culture/entertainment. But the big one is automation.

Automation

Automation is not new. In fact every "revolution" of civilization from ancient agriculture, to the printing press, to the industrial revolution, and so on all involved some extrapolation of finding a way to do things at exponential scale with less effort. The agricultural revolution let us exponentially produce more food. Writing and printing let us store knowledge. The printing press allowed exponential distribution of knowledge. The Internet did the same thing again. And we often reflect today on how the Industrial Revolution replaced the muscles of work horses and people with machines.

Even in the modern age, automation can be seen as a facet of finding a better smarter way of doing something more efficiently that has been at the core of every business for a long time. This is fundamentally what software does, and the hallmark of innovative successful businesses. What's happening now however is a rapid convergence of democratized universal Internet access, democratized universal access to unlimited computing capacity through the Internet, and the exponentially advancing ability to extend the benefit of that Internet access and computing power to every day tasks.

Where the last 10 years have seen a revolution in traditional information technology taking advantage of unlimited access to computing power to develop software applications that have transformed work and entertainment (think of Netflix, Spotify, SalesForce, etc.). And this trend is continuing to get supercharged with the addition of democratized access to machine learning that can be incorporated in such apps, and that can be made by pretty much a student in a dorm without the need to access VC funding for capital to start up any more.

However what got really crazy in the last couple of years and really started to show up in 2021 is the way that information technology is now becoming visible in every day things previously considered tangential to IT, and with it we are starting to see the same kinds of leaps in automation based innovation in the physical world that we have seen since 2010 in software.

We are now seeing IT based automation in agriculture (use of sensors to minimize unnecessary use of water and fertilizers with improved yields), medicine (mRNA vaccines are a shining example of how machine learning is helping to allow us to develop new effective treatments at exponentially greater speed than was possible just a few years ago), energy (IT is helping make intermittent renewable energy sources more feasible at bigger scale on power grids, improving batteries, and driving a surge in new power sources like the first fusion reactors), retail (anyone living anywhere can now quickly and easily buy pretty much anything they want for the first time ever) space (look at how quickly space tech is now innovating and iterating at lower cost thanks to better availability of IT) and mobility (the race for full self driving is fully underway).

10 years ago if you had asked me whether in 2021 we'd be on the precipice of cancer vaccines, self driving cars, space tourism and Moon bases, and affordable non-carbon based energy, I'd have said that sounded 30 years too early. But all these things happened or are happening, and the acceleration curve of innovation is going up at mind blowing speed. Where the news cycle is failing is that while it is covering these innovations in isolation, it's doing a poor job of conveying the full context of how these things are happening and why they are all happening so rapidly at the same time, or considering on a bigger level what this means. Instead we have a news cycle with partisan politics or international conflict, and an end of news story that "oh and by the way we developed an amazing vaccine in 6 months" or "oh and by the way we just contained a fusion reaction for the first time" or "oh and by the way many cars coming out in January will have electric motors and level 3 self driving capability".

You'd think that the 4th Industrial Revolution happening before our eyes at breakneck speed would get more than intermittent coverage in the news cycle, but it seems to be covered mainly as a series of seemingly disconnected human interest and consumer news stories.

All the other highlights of 2021 to me connect in some way to this first one. They all come down to the same overall theme: we are doing much cooler better stuff, with much less resources, in much less time. Take medicine. Starting with the obvious one, COVID vaccines, I get the sense a lot of people don't really understand what actually happened here - it certainly feels like there was a global emergency, so all the governments and scientists started working overtime and pouring money into doing research and testing that normally takes years and through sweat and determination did it all in 6 months. Indeed this belief that we somehow "brute forced" COVID development, and must have cut corners on testing and trials to do so is behind voiced mistrust of the vaccine. But that's not what happened. What we saw was a combination of innovations in different fields, but including automation of testing and integration of machine learning to allow the kind of iteration and broad exploration of options previously only available in software development in medicine. Similar innovations sped up testing, allow detection of cancer in patients at earlier stages, and more customized treatments that minimize the need for chemo and are allowing us to develop whole new approaches to treatments and possible cures to diseases thought incurable.

Space travel has suddenly gone from pedestrian routine launching of government satellites by rockets using 1960s technology every few months, to a vibrant global industry with significant launches weekly, private space companies in places like New Zealand mass producing 3D printed engines, universities in developing countries launching satellites and space probes routinely, and the start of competitive routine space tourism, with the addition of multiple space stations imminent. Space has gone from something requiring capital investment that only the most powerful governments in the world could do, to something small startups can do. Yes they still need capital, but exponentially less thanks to the way these companies are able to rapidly design and cheaply produce the tech to get us to orbit, kick starting space based internet, and hopefully very soon space based manufacturing and power generation - within the order of a decade. I'm also hopefuly that once a decade space probes and once every 20 year space telescopes become monthly events in that time period as well. And I'm optimistic that rather than saving for a cruise cruise liner trip in my retirement, I'll have the option instead to visit a space hotel for similar money.

COP26 was generally seen as a disappointment, although I think in recent years it's become apparent that what's going on in the private sector matters more than what diplomats agree at a conference based on the whims of political debate at the time. This year scientists contained a fusion reaction using magnets and lasers for the first time. This is the first step towards sustained net positive fusion energy production. Which is for all intents and purposes unlimited clean energy. That won't be coming out in 2022. In fact it would still be a stretch for 2050. But the application of improved computing to accelerate the development path of fusion means we could very well be talking about this as something about to happen in 2030 if other accelerating cycles are an indicator. And in the meantime, cheap access to computing power is driving innovation in more efficient solar cells, better batteries, smart grids that can handle higher levels of installed intermittent renewables and microgeneration, making all these technologies cheaper and cleaner as they go, making many of these technologies now directly commercially competitive with carbon based fuels. Jumps in renewable energy generation are lessening the need for subsidies, meaning like with EVs, much of the innovation and adoption seems to be happening now without the need for government subsidy or coercion.

And speaking of EVs we've now seen an all electric car company become the most valued car company in the world basically brining Silicon Valley style development to auto making. And other companies in the US and China (Rivian, Lucid) are now doing likewise, and traditional auto makers are struggling to pivot. But also we saw the first Level 3 self driving cars (Mercedes Benz beat Tesla to this btw) that can drive on highways entirely autonomously, and companies are racing toward full Level 5 self driving - and this is basically making your car a big metal AI app. And as hard as this challenge is technically, the Moore's Law is certainly now happening for something that used to be purely mechanical and I'm sure we will see Level 4 and Level 5 cars released soon. And in the 2030s when this becomes the norm, its going to have a big disruptive effect on human civilization. Why do we need to live in cities any more? Why do I need to own a car? Why live in a house? Logistics will become so automated that sending a crate from one point to another could be automated end to end where it becomes like sending an email.

And of course, when machines are testing pharmaceuticals, building wind farms, launching rockets, moving crates of goods, and moving us around everywhere (which is pretty much happening right now), what are WE going to be doing?

The Efficiency Dilemma

Efficiency is an easy sell. "We'll take this thing that takes you hours, and costs you money and inconvenience, and do it for you automatically for cheap or for free, and you'll get all that time back to spend it doing things that you REALLY want to do". We attribute the fostering of civilization in Mesopotamia and Greece to the extra time given to allow people to think about law making and philosophy when they didn't need to spend all day foraging for food any more. Here in Japan, it is still within living memory when there was a debate over whether it was a good idea to give women washing machines to use at home, leaving them "idle" for the rest of the day.

The problem is that, especially nowadays, the promise of an automation dividend being more leisure time, looks increasingly false and remote. Automating routine processes gaining efficiency has become for many like a pie eating contest, where the prize is that you need to eat more pie. For now, those lucky enough to already be in the "information economy" are being worked relentlessly in building and developing automation, unironically increasingly using automation themselves to do their own jobs better and more efficiently. I'm in this sort of a job and I can point to a mountain of repetitive work I've eliminated from my own job. But yet when you do this, you get a pat on the back, and then start all over again, with diminishing low hanging fruit to simplify, forcing you to think and innovate harder to automate more complex tasks. The reward for automation, for now at least, if you are in the right industry, is that you get to do more automation. Burnout is a well known hazard of being in the information economy and I don't see any sign of that risk becoming less, or even staying the same in coming years.

But it is also easy to see where this is going. For a start huge swathes of civilization are being made modern horseshoe cobblers, enjoying some of the benefits of automation but also needing to redefine what they do and even if they continue doing what they do at all. When farms become mostly automated no doubt farmers will still have things to do, but it is easy to see they'll spend more time monitoring farm related sensor data and managing equipment than they will spend hoeing soil. But for the fruit pickers those jobs will be gone and that's a significant part of the economy.

Moreover at some point those farm owners, and even those IT company workers at the heart of the automation push will themselves become "fruit pickers". So what do people do for a living then? And if they are not working or earning much, then what is the point growing all this food, generating this energy, and making all these consumer products if people don't have income to consume it?

There's no easy fix here but people are starting to think about it. Some countries are even now experimenting with basic universal incomes. I think the most interesting baby step in this direction is the data coming out of experimentation with four day working weeks. These 4 day weeks are not about working LESS yet, only about doing 40 hours in 4 days instead of 5. But even then, giving people 3 days of leisure time seems to produce tangible productivity benefits and go some way to countering the side effects of relentless high intensity work. I'd really like to see this get more adoption in the next year, although when you have an economic system based in part on squeezing every bit of efficiency and time out of people that they can, even working the same hours I'm not sure you could convince a company like Tesla that it is good for efficiency to use 4 day working weeks. But the data says this is true. Perhaps we'll need the machines to drive this innovation for us - and perhaps this is the end game of IT based innovation. After we are doing using information tech to figure out how to get the most out of every machine and business process, we'll finally have them focus on helping us to achieve our own potential rather than being cogs competing with machines to do work they will ultimately end up doing better than us.

Culture and Entertainment

Okay, I'm about to talk about YouTube here but don't worry, I'm not using a thesis that we are all just going to end up as YouTubers so please stop throwing things, sit down and take some deep breaths.

YouTube encapsulates the transition we've seen in the last 15 years for the ground shift in how information, culture and entertainment works and is consumed, and what to expect. It's remarkable in many ways the site has survived and remained relevant when its peers have not. However I also feel it shows the best model of the end game of the long vaunted "long tail" and what this is going to look like in other realms, both virtual and physical.

In 2005, most people in most places around the world still got most information through mass market TV and radio. For a period of about 70 years, the world went through a period where people all basically watched the same news, listened to the same music, and watched the same TV shows and documentaries, at least based on where they were living. The first appeal of YouTube was it became a smart way to watch clips of mass market TV shows or pop music that we liked, whenever we wanted. However this form of uncontrolled distribution represented a threat to the revenue model of mass entertainment and of course led to endless lawsuits and disruption. And if we are honest, for the first 5-10 years of YouTube, anyone being intellectually honest would admit that YouTube's main business was showcasing "pirated" content without permission. The few weirdos and freaks that actually uploaded their own content to YouTube were by and large making poorly thought through, incoherent rambling monologues, on blurry webcams with barely intelligible microphones. The vast majority of stuff uploaded to YouTube at this time (present company included) was utter crap, and the content within this that was actually decent was hard to find, drowned out by the sea of noise. Some channels had small followings, often of other creators supporting one another, and we all thought that was the "long tail" of millions of channels with small niche followings. And we were kind of right. But mostly wrong. We were having fun learning the medium but this was FAR from the endgame.

What has happened with increasing speed in the last 10 years is that the sea of absolute crap in user generated content on YouTube has now rapidly become a sea of innovative well produced content that is increasingly hard to tell apart from studio produced content. YouTube channels I enjoy using relatively simple formats have staff that help with writing, editing, uploading, and use studio quality audio, cameras and lighting. At the same time peak production content costing millions of dollars like The Mandalorian are done now entirely on a set using green screen using Unreal Engine technology and needing fewer and fewer people and time to make movie quality content. Automation of content production tools and access to information on how to make good content is lowering the barrier to entry.

What this is really noticeably doing is that YouTube is no longer just a domain for freaks, geeks and J-Vloggers, but instead it is becoming a medium where informational content such as scientific papers, history papers, niche tech topics and so on, that are accessible on the web but generally only found by small groups who know they are there, are becoming easily discoverable and professionally presented by larger groups of people interested in diving deep in that niche in an easy to consume format. THIS is the long tail, and now it is really happening. While I think something is lost in not having the common language of everyone watching Seinfeld at the same time or buying the same pop singles being played on every radio station at the same time, the fact I can now watch great professional content on Netflix, Disney and Amazon, and consume similar quality content on cars, space, science and history on YouTube means we are FINALLY seeing a feasible way for creation and consumption of pure culture and information in a distributed way, brought about by the same technology that I think will lead to distribution of economic production, energy production and even where and how we live. I really think we will see YouTube type models start to finally be adopted and work in fields like music, science, and academia in the coming years, particularly as, hopefully, we get the promised "automation dividend" I think we are owed.

This is really all coming to a head right now and I'm loving it. The growth and impact of these trends are the most significant thing that happened in 2021 and will be even more pronounced in 2022. Even locked up at home, and all the doom and gloom, I think there is no question that as a participant and a spectator, this is the luckiest time ever to be alive.

Tokyo Digital Crew Hot 25

2017-01-24T22:08:00.003+09:00

Magical Places in Tokyo and Japan, Pt II...

2015-10-05T19:51:00.003+09:00

I have blogged before about love for the concept of "magical places" as expressed in the movie LA Story. They are places that either make magic, or where some kind of some enduring memory or experience - good or bad - has occurred, that is so powerful that it creates a sense of nostalgia when you revisit it. To me, places can be as powerful as smells or tastes for triggering vivid memories and emotions.

There are two kinds of magical place:

1. Places that are magical because the place itself tends to cause a memorable experience to happen

2. Places that are not at all magical in and of themselves, but become that way for you because of some experience you had in that place.

Tokyo is full of places that fall into category 1. Places that you just walk into and instantly become "this is awesome" places that are burned into your memory forever. One such place is "Golden Gai" which I went to for the first time on Saturday night. What constitutes memorable is personal I guess, but for me, I would say such places include the walkway over the Rainbow Bridge to Odaiba. Another is the back streets of Akihabara. Another is Shinsen/Dogenzaka near Shibuya. Some places are amazing restaurants. The list is endless and the sheer concentration of such places in Tokyo and never ending list of new places is for me what makes living in Tokyo so addictive.

And you could live a full life just in Tokyo discovering new magical places that constantly give you new experiences.

But for me, what I really love are "category 2" magical places. These are places that probably have no significant meaning or memory for most people, but they do for me because of experience that stays with me for a long time later. In LA Story, the idea of this is captured perfectly by the highway sign that talks to Steve Martin. And for me, Tokyo is full of talking highway signs. Such magical places are like nostalgic smells. Sometimes you don't even realize that the memory is coming, until that moment when you suddenly realize where you are standing, and your entire brain lights up piecing together the experience you had in that same place years ago. Sometimes the memory is happy, or sad, or embarrassing. But whatever it is, it is powerful and emotional. It can be overwhelming sometimes. But it is also a small source of joy in my life.

I have moved house 37 times in my life, 8 times in my 16 years in Tokyo. It is also the nature of rapid change and renewal in Tokyo that most places change dramatically after about 2-3 years. Every place I have lived in is like a delicious meal with a different flavor. Rediscovering places I have not been in for many years is for me, like eating old comfort food for the first time in ages.

For example, I recently found myself back in Edogawabashi, an obscure neighborhood full of small printing companies near Ikebukuro where I lived for several years. I was walking through it matching up the familiar landmarks, such as my favorite Chinese restaurant in Tokyo, while trying to reconcile the parts that don't match my memory, like the disappearance of one of my favorite Korean restaurants, the closing of a convenience store, and new LED highway billboard signs.

Other such places for me are the fountain in the park between the Shin Maru Building and the Palace near Tokyo Station, a traffic island near Shibuya on route 246, the batting cages in Central Kabukicho, the entrance to Nakano Sakaue station, the pavement of part of the main strip of Roppongi, a dirt sports field at Tokyo University... I've been here for so long, and yet the city continues to give me powerful memories and experiences.

Perhaps I overfocus on these things, but I find linking the memory to the location means I still get an incredible buzz moving around Tokyo and Japan. Old and new memories and experiences collide constantly.

Where are your magic places and how did they get to be that way? Let me know in the comments.

Interpreting and Setting TOEIC English Thresholds for Job Candidates

2015-10-01T16:40:00.004+09:00

Okay... Standardized testing is a highly flawed and imperfect way of assessing the ability or value of a job candidate. As, for that matter, can be a job interview. Many times I have had the discussion as to whether "it is really worth it to take the JLPT", or how "I don't need a piece of paper to say I know how to speak Japanese, or he can speak English."

Well.... Yeah... You kinda do...

YES, there are plenty of people who can speak Japanese just fine that don't have JLPT level 1, and indeed there are plenty of students that have level 1 but can barely order a Coca Cola at a convenience store. And the same applies the reverse way for the famed standard tests for English ability in Japan - TOEIC and TOEFL.

However, problem is that employers see a lot of job applications and they need to decide which candidates appear to have the necessary skills to do a job that justifies taking the time to schedule an interview and focus on assessing their ability. I can tell anyone that I can speak Swahili - and not let them find out until we get to an interview that I am completely wasting their time. In order to minimize wasted time, most employers ask for JLPT or TOEIC certification as some kind of evidence that you are not embellishing before you meet. It sucks, but my view is, if you can really work in Japanese or English, you are selling yourself short not having the certification to back it up.

Interpreting TOEIC Scores

In my job, I interview Japanese people for a range of roles and positions, with varying degrees of English proficiency. We use minimum TOEIC scores as threshold criteria for interviewing for certain roles and positions. And while a score does not always accurately predict or correlate to actual ability in English, having interviewed dozens of candidates over the last couple of years, I have developed a pretty good idea of what to expect based on a TOEIC test score range. So here is my summary of using TOEIC for interviewing:

TOEIC is the most common standardized test of English language ability used by people in Japan, it is usually a requisite item on CVs, and most companies set a minimum level of competence based on the test result, which is a score out of a maximum possible 990. It is a multiple choice test, and while it is true that as an exam, it won't always necessarily reflect the true communication ability of the person taking it, I generally interpret scores as follows:

Above 900 is generally fluent, usually someone who has lived for some length overseas and is completely comfortable.
Above 800 is someone proficient enough at reading, writing and speaking to work in an international environment in English, if not be completely fluent or comfortable. I consider 800 around the minimum level for working for prolonged periods entirely in English, where a job requires the ability to talk, read, interpret and prepared detailed documents in English for review by native speakers.
If someone has a score of above 700, an interview test is certainly required, but if they can talk to me for an hour without too much trouble, they are probably proficient enough to survive working periodically in English as needed, and meet minimum communication and reading requirements, while working mainly in Japanese the rest of the time. I generally consider 750 the minimum for working in a global environment, but am open to meeting candidates below 750 and above 700 in case there is a mis-coleration of ability and score.
Below 700 is getting into the realm of someone who would normally struggle to have a conversation, or to read work related documents in English. Usually people who have only studied English and never been abroad, and weren’t particularly good at studying it. Below 600, I would not expect to be able to have more than a rudimentary conversation in English.

The test is offered every few months and results look like this:
http://www.toeic.or.jp/english/toeic/guide04/guide04_02.html

I do factor in other elements - sometimes you have someone with a TOEIC score of 750, but they got it 5 years ago and have worked in the US since then and are now fluent for example. But this kind of mismatch is pretty rare. Japanese tend to know to retake the test if they are sure they can obtain a higher score. I've never met anyone with a TOEIC score below 700 who was able to properly function in an English language work environment.

Advice for Setting TOEIC Based Hiring Criteria

My advice for employers looking at candidates and setting thresholds is this:

If you basically need a skilled native English speaker, set your threshold at 900.
If you need someone who is fully functional in English, but not necessarily native, I would suggest 800. The difference between 800 and 900 is setting the bar at 900, you are starting to limit yourself to language scholars and people who have lived a long time outside of Japan. Setting at 800, you tend to get a bigger pool of more rounded candidates with broader skills outside of English. Unless someone who is native is an absolute requirement, I generally recommend 800 for an international company.
If you need someone who can work mostly in Japanese, but needs to be able to make occasional reports and give updates in English, I would suggest the 700 or 750 threshold above. And I would suggest not bothering with anyone below 700 if working in English is a need you have.

Hope that helps.

Where to Blog - Facebook or Blogger?

2015-10-01T07:30:00.001+09:00

I have three exacting criteria for selecting a blog hosting.

It has to be:

1) Free
2) Easy
3) Popular

I don't ask for much. I set up on my blog on Google Blogger because it met the first two criteria and I assumed being backed by Google, it was fairly secure and integrated with Google Plus, which was going to take over all social media, criteria 3 would be a no brainer.

The problems I now have with Blogger are:
- The site appears to be in the process of being slowly abandoned by Google. And while I would not have previously thought such a thing possible, we have seen that Google has, such as in the case of Google Reader, not hesitated to cut loose "underperforming" sites, even with dedicated followings
- It's interface is great and user friendly in a kind of 2007 kind of way. Sorry to whine, but it should be easier to post, format and edit from mobile, but it just isn't.
- With Google Plus a wasteland, it really is now a kind of stand alone Geocities, that I need to plug on FB and Twitter on my own.

And before you start, don't start up with that "Wordpress" crap. I don't want to code, I don't want to pay, and I don't want to find a dodgy server that will disappear one day.

Stop it.

So looking for a new alternative, I have to admit, the recently updated Facebook Notes function to accommodate blogs looks kinda appealing.
- Facebook is rock solid as a platform
- It automatically is in reach of my FB follower audience and their comments
- FB provides solid mobile application based support

So I dunno. I am not looking for high customization at all - just a stable, easy to use, free to use platform with good audience reach. Any reason anyone can think of for not making the jump?

The Role of Religion - King James and Me

2015-09-30T21:30:00.000+09:00

I stood before the High Court of New Zealand in Christchurch. I was nervous and full of adrenaline, in awe of my surroundings. The entire court is surrounded in varnished wood paneling. The chief justice sat in full old fashioned English Court regalia at the head of the court as my family looked on nervously from the gallery.

As my name was called I slowly rose, called to step forward. I rose from my seat, taking care with my robes and ensuring that the horsehair wig I had on did not fall or slip as I stood up. I took a step forward and straightened my back as the court clerk walked toward me bible in hand for my oath. As the clerk stepped toward me, he moved the bible back and held it at his side before instructing me to give my oath.

This was the ceremony where I became a barrister of the High Court of New Zealand back in 2006. Before the ceremony, I was asked if I wanted to take my oath to become a barrister on a bible, or to do it as a civil oath. To tell the truth, I was a little taken aback by the question. It was a quick reminder that New Zealand, like the "mother country" UK is a kind of secular state, but also one with an official state religion, the Church of England, and where the Queen plays a kind of double role as Queen and defender of the faith. Under New Zealand's brand of secularism, there is no rigid separation of church and state. Our national anthem is sung to God. We celebrate Christmas without much of a thought, and Easter is a national vacation. But we don't force everyone to swear oaths on the King James bible, even though in the church in which I was raised, that is the bible we used.

I didn't really hesitate with my response. "I'll take the civil oath."

In the event, of 12 people being admitted to the bar, I was one of about 2 that didn't use the bible for my oath. The family isn't super religious, but my stepfather did ask me directly "How come you didn't use the bible?"

It's complicated. I am fascinated by religion and theology, but I tend to be put off by the way it is studied and debated by others. To tell the truth, I don't even think about whether I really still am a Christian or not very often at all. Living in Japan, it just isn't that important to me. What is more important to me is not so much my own faith, as to recognize the freedom of faith and belief of others. I don't have a strong conviction that God does or does not exist, or which religion has his or her message down right. I do however have a strong conviction that anyone else has a right to believe or not believe and to worship as they see fit, provided they similarly respect and tolerate the right of others to disagree. And this to me is the heart of the kind of "secularism" that I believe in.

I didn't hesitate with my response to not use the bible. It was not an assertion of any real position of my own belief, so much as an assertion that it felt ridiculous that any oath or commitment I made needed a religious seal in order to be effective or meaningful. To me, a Civil Oath was an oath people of any faith or non-faith would recognize equally. Anyone who rejects the bible I swore it on, would logically, if sufficiently fundamentalist, also consider the oath I made to be only as valid as the book I made it upon. I would prefer to make my oath and be accountable to it in earthly law than heavenly. It was not a hard decision to make.

The next day I was married. At the ceremony, we had Protestants, Catholics, Buddhists and Jews. All were family that I loved. According to respective religious dogmas, all should have considered that 75% of everyone else at that wedding day was doomed to go to Hell. Which is clearly something that no one wished. So why make the wedding vows valid in the code of one religion, when barely any family at my ceremony was united by a shared religion in the first place? No question in my mind there either - Civil Ceremony. Done in badass Japanese wedding dress, in a park in Christchurch. With Chocolate wedding cake. Yolo.

So why the sudden talk about religion? Recently I saw again the same interview of Reza Aslan being interviewed first on CNN and then on FOX, gracefully handling embarrassingly ignorant interviewers questioning his position on "muslim issues". It caught my attention because it highlighted an issue I care deeply about, which is the deterioration and corruption of our news and information systems, to a point where I think CNN and FOX actually cause harm to society rather than provide the basic service news used to serve of giving people the raw material they need to think for themselves. Mr. Aslan looked like a gallant tragic hero fighting back against relentless "stupid" from his interviewers. And I guess I understand why he was grinning through it, because I guess people watching it like me ended up wanting to buy his book.

More commenters really impressed me on the thread linked above with more videos, showing Mr. Aslan being more tested among the likes of Sam Harris, who I feel has a little bit of an unfair advantage in an academic debate advocating aetheism. The speakers are all thought provoking and absorbing - it is a great thread for the videos shared under it and I thank the posters for it.

But at the same time, it also drove home to me why I won't call myself aetheist and why I also won't make any important oath or vow that I care about in a religious context. What I value most is respect and tolerance for others, tempered by a sense of responsibility and civic duty to adopt and abide by the shared norms that transcend religion of any society. And if it is a matter of law or society versus religion, religion should come second. My own, those of my loved ones, those of my friends, and those of my fellow residents of Japan that I don't know but respect their right to live alongside.

Religion I think has intrinsic value in guiding us to be better people that contribute to our societies and loved ones. But the goal I choose in life is that one of contribution, not of religion. I don't think religion is in itself a goal for life nor should it validate or invalidate any action I take. I'm glad I was raised with religion, and when my Lad is old enough, I will help him with and support any spiritual path he wants to follow (from the family he is in, he has plenty of choices and advisors), so long as that path is one that is personal and does not inhibit the way he, or anyone else he knows can be seen to contribute to society.

Buta Kusa - Pig Grass

2015-09-30T12:09:00.001+09:00

Although people don't think of Japan or Tokyo as being drowned in nature, actually it really is. Some crazy amount of Japan's territory (95% or something) is too steep or rugged to build on so it just stays in a rugged forested state. Because earthquakes and typhoons often cause landslides in these areas, for a long time the Japanese government promoted bolstering the soil in these areas by planting Japanese pine trees ("sugi"). Sugi are great but they have some problems, such as roots that aren't THAT deep, and a habit of emitting choking amounts of pollen every spring, which something like a third of Japanese are allergic to. So every spring, weather forecasts add "pollen forecasts" and the streets are taken over by what appear to be out of work surgeons and welders wearing pollen filtering face masks (those masks are to keep out NATURE, not pollution), and full protective eye glasses.

Spring in Japan is a season considered to be something like an outer circle of Hell for most. It starts with typhoon power winds, moves to highly allergic sandstorms of pollen dust, then transforms into a month of non stop heavy rain, and finishes with the announcement of summer by unbearable sauna steam heat. The rainy season is welcomed only because it marks the end of pine allergy season for most. Everyone then pretty much just huddles and waits for Autumn to roll on.

Autumn is nice but for me it brings one problem. I don't suffer pine allergies, so apart from the climate washing machine spring is, I am fine that time of year. But for me, Autumn in Japan brings hayfever. Itchy eyes, runny nose, all that stuff.

I never suffered this in NZ so I was curious as to what I was reacting to. I would ask "you know what causes hayfever this time of year" to people and get the same answer over and over.

"Buta-Kusa". Literally "Pig Grass". Everyone gives the exact same answer: "I'm not exactly sure, but I am pretty sure right now it is buta-kusa that is pretty bad."

So I had my answer. Not exactly sure what Buta Kusa is, but easy enough to imagine some nasty bastard little clump of grass with flowers that bloom in September. Great. And by October, I normally get better.

But over the years here I started to notice strange goings on...

In December, a coworker is sneezing and spluttering all over their desk. Sympathetic coworkers shake their heads "ahh yes, I heard the buta-kusa" was really bad at the moment..."

In February, a friend with a skin rash is told by another friend "You know what that is? Buta Kusa. Definitely."

In July, a colleague is home from work with a mystery illness. Sympathetic coworkers shake their heads "Yeah, you know, I'll bet it is buta-kusa, I heard it is really bad this time of year.

My faith in buta kusa as the cause of my hayfever has come to be shaken. Apparently Japan has two hayfever seasons: pine pollen in May, and buta-kusa every other month.

To tell the truth, I am not even sure buta-kusa even really exists now. Either it is a biologically weaponized bastard shrub with a monthly renewal cycle, or it is just a tooth fairy explanation for anything that looks like allergies not in May.

So I have a touch of hayfever at the moment.

And it is probably caused by buta-kusa....

14 Awesome Things I Mean To Do But Don't

2015-09-29T20:19:00.001+09:00

This blog has been dormant for a while and so I have been thinking of ways to revive it quietly. I think I am going to try it in baby steps. Short posts, just of random stuff I am thinking. And the thought that brings me here is of stuff that I want to do sometime, and have a list tucked away for but haven't gotten around to.

- Create a web site or use this blog to catalog and make my soundcloud music accessible for YouTubers in the same way Kevin MacLeod does
- Make my weekly vlogs podcasts also
- To restart Falling With Style. The reason I stopped this by the way was that my Mum told me a blog I wrote upset her, and that kind of took my motivation away. Plus it takes time and focus to do that I haven't had. But I really want to go back to it. Sorry Mum, I'm going to have to block you when I do...
- To make regular weekly vlogs in Japanese. I really need to do this.
- To figure out an efficient workflow for subtitling on video in Adobe Premiere
- To figure out how to make Kinetic Subtitles like on Japanese TV shows
- To figure out how to make Kinetic Titles like on the original CeeLo Green music vid
- To learn how to make music on more tools together at the same time
- To get back into Kick Boxing and run a couple of times a week
- To get my weight back down to 82kg
- To speak only English with my son
- To make and post videos of my music, have one go up every Friday
- To get back into rugby and refereeing
- To seeing my old surfer mates more
- Get my blog going again

The main issue I always have is of time and energy. I do the best I can with the free time and energy that I have which is never enough. Work is busy and challenging, which is good, but at the same time I am no good at work if I am not also fit doing regular exercise, and keeping my creative needs satisfied. I get by with what I do, and I still do a lot. But there is much more I wish I was getting done, and hopefully I can start to shorten this list soon.

Starting with blogs. Let's see how this goes. I will keep them short, random, and see if I can sustain them. And for those still reading, welcome into my head.

The Lucky 1% - Meet Miyuki, Helping Refugees in Japan from the Japan Association for Refugees

2015-05-21T23:08:00.000+09:00

So in the past, I have mentioned Japan's stand out poor showing and track record in terms of support for refugees. Basically, in spite of Japanese such as Sadako Ogata having been head of the UNHCR for 10 years, and the proud history cited even by PM Abe, who on his recent visit to the US went to a museum featuring the work of Japanese diplomat Chiune Sugihara (the "Japanese Schindler") during WWII who rescued thousands of Jewish refugees, Japan retains an abysmal record on offering asylum to refugees.
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/sugihara.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiune_Sugihara

To give you an idea, in 2014, Japan received 5,000 refugee visa applications. Of those applications, only 11 were approved. Sugihara personally gave transit visas to 6,000 Jews in 1 year saving their lives at the time.
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/03/10/national/asylum-seekers-in-japan-soared-to-record-level-in-2014/#.VV3SgPmqpBc
http://www.nippon.com/en/features/h00107/

The visa process takes about 3 years, and has a less than 1% chance of success. Applicants usually have to wait for six months before they can get a temporary work visa to support themselves, and even then, finding work can be very difficult.

The Japan Association for Refugees and groups like it provide support for the visa applications of refugees, and basic life support. The group receives certain government subsidies for specific purposes, but relies upon private donations to provide the full range of services it does to help refugee applicants survive and support themselves as they go through this process, as well as find alternatives in the likely event they are not successful with their application.
https://www.refugee.or.jp/en/
https://www.refugee.or.jp/

Today, I went up to donate some large sized summer clothes I don't need, and got to talk to a member of the group, Miyuki, about who these refugees applying in Japan are, why it is so tough, what support the group provides, and what kind of support the group itself needs. I did a slightly longer and more detailed interview in Japanese. I learned a lot and I hope you find the videos interesting.

In Japanese Here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVg7-bcZTzE&feature=youtu.be

In English Here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WiNgIQ1pOlE&feature=youtu.be

Quick Email Interview with AFP on the Whaling Issue Following ICJ Case Decision

2014-04-21T09:55:00.000+09:00

Just after the ICJ decision finding that Japan's scientific whaling in the Antarctic did not meet IWC criteria for the scientific whaling exemption to the whaling moratorium, I was contacted via Twitter by a journalist from AFP asking for my thoughts via email. I gave my full response below and he kindly used some of them in his coverage:
http://news.yahoo.com/un-top-court-rule-japan-whale-hunt-antarctic-014628570.html

Of course recent news indicates that the Japanese government is looking to "rectify" its hunt and continue rather than "read the atmosphere" and put its scientific whaling program to bed. My honest position has always been middle of the road. I've defended Japan's moral right to hunt whales based on sustainable quotas and think that the opposition from my own home country and others like it is based upon a deep seated culture of belief in the superiority of western civilization and the need to "correct" cultures with incompatible values (and indeed, our "morality" of killing whales being wrong only came about when we discovered we could get oil from digging holes in the Middle East and had no need to hunt the few that were left for that purpose anymore). At the same time, I'm also frustrated at, however unjustly, Japan allows the issue to damage its reputation, to the point of harming other much more important strategic aims. Whaling is not unique to Japanese culture, and it is not a subculture commonly shared even among a small minority of Japanese. Yet, it has become wrapped up in the world of politics, subsidies and nationalism that has forced the government to embed a stake in the ground it cannot remove, and that is a shame. Basically, when it comes down to it, I agree Japan is right, but Japan should be smarter about picking its battles. As such, I am disappointed to hear that Japan is looking to get back in the scientific whaling game, but we shall see what happens.

Anyway, the questions and my answers from the time of the ruling are as follows:

1) What will Japan do now? Obey the letter and spirit of the ruling, or find a way around it?

That depends on whether Japan decides to take a narrow interpretation of the ruling, which appears to be that scientific whaling in the Antarctic is permitted provided the program is amended to address the concerns specifically raised in the court findings, or whether it recognizes that there is a broader "spirit" in the finding with a cultural dimension, that recognizes that there is an emerging global cultural norm that whaling is not acceptable, and the scientific whaling exception to the IWC rules will only be allowed in very limited circumstances.

I think it is clear that both sides here, while litigating on the technical aspects of the scientific whaling, were seeking moral vindication of their positions, with Australia seeing Japanese whaling as a "sham" and Japan seeing Australian and other objections to it as "cultural imperialism". Both sides promised to respect the outcome, and it was Australia that received the backing of the court. Japan needs to now weigh up that even if it can fix the technical issues with its scientific whaling program, this finding will give further moral authority to critics of the program if it resumes, and Japan will need to weigh up whether it is worth the increasing PR damage this issue causes Japan, for the principle of preserving an aspect of its culture which the court failed to do for it. At a time that Japan is trying to assert itself as an engaged international player, "normalized" from the stigma and restrictions imposed on it after WWII, it might be counterproductive to its broader strategic aims to continue having an antagonistic relationship over this issue with many of its most important allies.

2) Is whaling an important issue to the average Japanese?

I don't think whaling itself is. However, tactics used by non-governmental groups to demonize Japan over this issue has galvanized a seige mentality that has has transformed this from an issue about the right to hunt and eat whales, into a more fundamental issue of fair treatment among countries with different cultural values, and of defying cultural imperialism by people from western nations that have seeked to dominate and change the cultures of other nations. The illegal and confrontational tactics used by groups like Sea Shepherd in particular, and apparent acquiescence of sympathetic governments has also reinforced a sense of unfairness and hypocrisy, which has undermined meaningful debate about the issue itself in Japan.

3) With so much international pressure, why has Japan continued whaling for so long?

I believe the pressure itself has served to some extent to reinforce defense of whaling, even where very few Japanese whale, or consume whale meat. There are also other factors, which include national pride, a sense of moral authority (based on Japan staying in the IWC and attempting to adhere to IWC rules for its program, unlike Norway and Iceland), and aspects of the political system here that disproportionately favours small rural areas that include whaling towns, giving them a disproportionate political voice in national politics in comparison to less empowered and less politically engaged urban voters.

4) Is it possible that the Japanese government will be secretly breathing a sigh of relief - they've been offered a way out of the corner into which they had painted themselves and can now end a damging practice without having to take the blame? (Do the Abe administration's well-established nationalist credentials allow this in a way that a more liberal govt could never get away with -- a kind of Nixon-to-China thing?)

I think that is very possible. However, there is no question it is very complicated. Whalers benefit from a lot of government subsidies that flow into local constituencies that become the political lifeblood of representatives that end up with a vested personal political interest in sustaining these towns that still attempt to survive on whaling. So it is not simply a matter of saving face. However, it will be very interesting to see how PM Abe reacts. On the one hand, he is a cultural nationalist and advocate of Japanese national cultural pride. On the other hand, he has established a record in his current tenure of also being very proactive as an internationalist, seeking to cast off stigmas restraining Japan in the international community and moving forward as a "normal" nation in trade, diplomacy and defense. An Internationalist Abe would recognize the opportunity to close the book on this issue as a way to demonstrate his commitment to a more internationally engaged Japan. A cultural nationalist Abe would see the ruling as technical, and push ahead in the belief that he can still somehow convince the world of Japan's moral position, even though his government failed in this case.

I think based on Abe's recent track record, and the commitment to abide by the finding of this decision, the government will give serious consideration to substantially winding back its whaling program, and looking to support whaling towns in other ways. But we shall see.

Pulp Non Fiction - Tokyo Vice by Jake Adelstein

2014-02-06T23:37:00.000+09:00

Let me begin by saying that this is not a review of Tokyo Vice, the book by Jake Adelstein, but more of a blog telling the story of me reading it. While I am a news addict, I guiltily admit to not being an avid reader of literature, and I know some of my stream of consciousness reviews of other books have gotten people upset with me not talking enough about the book. The book itself has been out for 5 years now (maybe more?) and has been thoroughly reviewed by people far more qualified than me, and even featured on the Daily Show. If you want to read an expert review, there are many out there better than I will write. I'm going to instead focus on what more than a dozen people I know have asked me for, which is "my take" on his book.

I'm not gonna lie. My first impressions of Jake Adelstein were not positive.I became aware of him around the aftermath of the earthquake/tsunami/nuclear accident disaster that took place in 2011 as I became more aware of the broader community of active Japan based users of Twitter. Among the din of information, with tweets competing for attention and facing off between "official and verified information" and hyperbolic scaremongering, one guy getting a lot of retweets in my feed was "@jakeadelstein". He wasn't really participating directly in the "information wars" going on per se. But he was tweeting, consistently with his profile of being a 'yakuza expert' journalist with a book, trying to highlight or speculate about yakuza involvement in different aspects of the disaster and recovery. This rubbed me the wrong way on many levels. I'm still in a mild state of trauma having watched 25,000 people die live on TV in front of me from days before, and distraught that instead of the enormous quake and tsunami disaster, most foreign media outlets were cowering in hotels in Osaka or Okinawa, reporting on the still intangible fear about the uncertain situation around the Fukushima nuclear reactors. I didn't really see how tweeting about yakuza was contributing to anything, and got particularly annoyed with a tweet where he put yakuza on a list of "heroes" alongside rescue workers and volunteers helping in the recovery. There is a small genre of 'yakuza expert foreigners' with stories of being chased out of Japan and doing books and lecture tours about it, with varying degrees of credibility (we had a recent such case in the Daily Mirror of a "Yakuza refugee" with a story that leaves many unanswered questions).

So here we have a loud, self promoting, foreign journalist with ANOTHER yakuza expose book apparently trying to sell his book by linking it to a natural disaster at a time when crappy foreign journalists were the source of a lot of pain and stress in my life.

Sorry Jake, you went pretty much straight to the top of my shit list.

What was interesting however was that although my initial judgements remained pretty firmly embedded, his name and his book kept coming up around me. I must have had more than a dozen people, some of whom know me very well and whose judgement I trust, curiously asking me if I had read the book, because they really wanted to hear my take on it. I would usually roll my eyes and say "oh yes, ask me anything and I will show you it is tied to the Yakuza, buy my book", but my friends would insist, "no, seriously man, you should read it - I learned a lot from it and I think he has some similar types of experiences to what I hear from you." I would usually skeptically ask "how's that?" and they would mention "well, he used to work as a crime reporter for the Yomiuri - in the regular Japanese edition".

That part of his credentials to me always stood out to me as the strongest thing setting him apart from everyone else. I have worked in the world of "black" jobs in Japan, a label applied to jobs that borderline violate human rights, working in the boonies in Japanese IT implementations in my first few years in Japan. My job and life was crappy, but I knew the jobs that were worse - restaurants, publishing, any kind of artisan oriented job. I knew a few journalists - mostly Japanese, mostly returnees working in foreign papers, but was aware that a job like that would have been Hellish work conditions, for Hellish pay, with deep exposure to Japanese society in ways I never could. And I was immediately aware without needing to be told of how unique that was. As Jake mentions in his book, I would first need to confirm "Not in deliveries? Not in translation?" Nope - apparently on that part, he was the real deal. THAT was interesting. Then someone told me one day that he had been on the Daily Show. Massive credibility boost. Until I saw the interview, where he was mostly goofing around (as one should when on a show like that selling a book), and then mentioned Japan's "beheading problem because of the tight control of guns." Aaaaaand he's back on my shitlist again...

Yet still, I kept getting people asking me me about him and his book and wanting to know if I had read it. My best friend at my previous job in particular, a Japanese returnee from Kobe (heartland of Japan's largest mob syndicate) said I really should read it. I put it onto my to-do list, albeit somewhere near the bottom...

About two years passed, and Jake always seemed to be around online, in many of the same circles (its a small world as a western expat in Tokyo), sometimes missing each other at different events. I had always considered how I would approach him if I ever ran into him.

And perhaps with this comes the important final caveat before I get into the book. I'm quite aware of my own capacity to being a complete dick sometimes. Truth is, I've always had an arrogant presumption that when it comes to Japan, I am the most knowledgable or experienced guy in the room. And even where I'm surrounded by very knowledgable scholars or experts in a field of Japan, I still draw a lot from my years working in the trenches of a Japanese IT company on some hell projects. And if I'm being perfectly self aware and honest, there is a certain "big schlong syndrome" that kicks in when I detect someone on my radar whom I suspect might be barking a bit more than they have bite.And for all the vouching I had from friends I trusted that this guy was the real deal, there was still doubt from other things I said, and I guess I intentionally avoided getting round to the book for a long time.

The thing is, even without reading his book, and my doubts still lingering, over time I have observed certain qualities that gradually enhanced Jake's credibility with me, to the point that without having read his book or met him, I was willing to certainly recommend the guy and his credentials to others. No question, the guy comes across as interesting, humorous, well spoken, and has a very interesting background in Japan, if at the same time, also somewhat of the "obnoxious freelance reporter" persona at the same time. I guess my recent public recommendation of his twitter account was the final tipping point for me to get round to reading his book and finally setting all my presumptions and pre-judgements aside.

Okay, cut to the chase. The book is great. The reason that it is great, and the realization that I came to about Jake while reading it is that the man has a duality of talent I think is rare in the field of writing about Japan. There often seems to be a divide in writing about Japan, between racy, exciting prose about Japan that grabs attention and sells well outside Japan, but is based upon superficial and often mistake riddled understanding of the subject matter that they proclaim to expose. And then you have "real" Japan experts who have spent their lives truly gaining deep insight into Japan as they live here, who release books on the obscure objects of their Japan cultural obsession, such as sake, or Zen, or Sumo, or pottery making, or whatever. Conmen are interesting, and experts are boring. Jake seems to have found the rare balance of demonstrating a deep knowledge and experience of his subject, while being able to write in the style of so much proclaimed pulp non-fiction about Japan, that seems to sell so much better outside of Japan.

The prologue/intro is a case in point. If you bought the book expecting it to be a build up to a scene of having your life and that of your family threatened by a Yakuza, the book cuts straight to the chase - it is a little disarming for that to be the entry point. But there it is, the expected plot climax is put right there in the beginning. And from there, just as you start to expect a detective novel of some sort, the book returns to Jake's university days working as a Swedish Masseuse... And then far more importantly, it goes in taking his time talking about how he started up in his life as a Japanese newspaper reporter in Japan, on the topics someone like me is most interested to hear: how did this guy get a job at the Yomiuri? Was it a "real" crime journalist job? What was it like learning the ropes as the only foreigner assigned to cover crime in Saitama? How did you learn to get by? How did you make friends? What sorts of stories did you cover?

The joy of the book is that he doesn't just cover this in a cursory manner either. The better part of two thirds of the book talks about his time learning the ropes as a beat reporter. For someone like me, that is what I'd be perfectly happy with the whole book being, even if it might not sell as well. I read each page and chapter hoping he would keep going into more detail on his early life in Japan, and not just giving the obligatory hardworking background before kicking into the racy running from the yakuza story. And he delivers - the book is a kind of memoir of his experience living life as a gaijin newspaper journalist in the already very unforgiving world of Japanese police/crime reporting. And the stories are full of insights gained and nuggets of experience that not many people, even like me have had, but can relate to and immediately recognize as authentic.

I started to figure out why people I trust were recommending this book to me. I was expecting some yakuza pulp fiction, but it wasn't that. It was a memoir of experiencing an aspect of life in Japan in a very deep way, that I could relate to in my own different way, but that I found fascinating.

The cleverness of the book however is that it is clever to not go "full native". Like a clever Disney movie that installs plots and humor to keep both the kids and the parents happy, there are elements throughout the book cleverly put in to keep the overseas ninja/anime/yakuza fan interested, while at the same time still being satisfying to read as a long term resident. I took notes on my Kindle as I read, highlighting interesting bits, and leaving comments for when I may hopefully get to talk with him.

There is a chapter where I left the note "bullshit" twice. It was his "orientation" described in the chapter of "Welcome to Kabukicho" where, having been assigned to cover crime stories in Japan's most notoriously crime ridden neighborhood, he drew attention to himself at his first police department press conference about a sex club bust, where he embarrassed himself asking what "honban" (full sex) is. Having attended university in Tokyo, and then spent years covering crime in Saitama as an entry level reporter, he apparently arrives in Kabukicho somehow knowing nothing of how sex entertainment works in Japan. It holds no water because Jake is a man. Who can speak Japanese. With lots of Japanese coworkers and friends. And it is my experience that not only 100% of Japanese men I have met have paid to "get it out", but it is a pretty common topic of conversation in offices like the one he described as the press office in Saitama. Guys here talk about these clubs, and the nuances of them like they would baseball, or landscape gardening. Plus as a reporter, he obviously would have been familiar with Japan's tabloids that cover these subjects extensively. And Jake shows throughout the book that he is not exactly uninterested in topics of sleaze.

But it works.

It works as a vehicle, because it provides the perfect lead in to meeting "Alien Cop", who takes young Jake under his arm, and gives him a tour of Kabukicho, complete with happy ending, that familiarizes both Jake in the book, and "dude who wants to go to Japan but only knows about anime" reading the book, with the subtleties and nuances of the sex trade in Japan (within which, pretty much anything and everything other than "honban" is perfectly legal). The education this chapter provides starts at "where do babies come from, 101" with me tagging notes saying "come on.." and accelerates pretty quickly to some fascinating insight, relayed by his new vice cop friend, on the legislative and enforcement philosophy of controlling vice in Japan. The story itself feels a little contrived, but it works because that isn't the point - the point is orienting the reader, and encapsulating Jake's probably much longer orientation on the subject into a nutshell that readers not familiar with the subject can digest quickly. It is a story that immediately works with David Radcliffe acting out a screenplay being taught this subject in a way that gets the viewers up to speed on the subject, and that I guess is the point (and yes, I visualized this, and most of the book as being played out by the grown up version of Harry Potter rather than Jake, since it now seems highly likely he will be playing Jake in the soon to be made film).

As you learn the ins and outs of the reporters life through his memoirs of early cases he learned, such as a murderous kennel owner in Saitama and following that investigation, you become more familiar with the intricacies of the world he got deeper into of forming relations with police, criminals, and performing work assignments. The first story that really made me step back because I knew it well, was the case of Lucie Blackman. It was a very high profile story in the news in my early early years in Japan that I followed through the finalized television and print news. To read a chapter on how he investigated a story on the case itself and the details he learned both of the world she was in, and the man convicted of everything other than actually murdering her, Joji Obara. It really hit home with that story that he was now talking about involvement in cases involving figures that were major news in their time.

In the later chapters, the book begins to form the narrative indicated at the very beginning, as the focus shifts from vice, to murder, to human trafficking, to loan sharking, and ultimately to confrontation with mobsters. The final chapter and Epilogue are a mark a sudden and pretty intense crescendo from the chatty, often wit-laden chapters that lead up to it. I finished the Epilogue - in fact, I stopped once or twice in the middle of it, thinking "damn!" to myself. Just in case there was any room left for admiring the yakuza in any way, it is pretty forcefully shaken out of you in the end.

But at the same time, and I have to be honest here, while I took the stories and events told as credible and the narrative is plausible, there is a recurring sense that elements of the narrative have been deliberately manipulated and jut out a bit, not so much exaggerating or embellishing events, but rather a sense that some names, some deaths from illness, some descriptions of characters feel like they may have been adjusted, simply in order to be able to tell the story without repercussions for the underlying "real" characters. A recurring feeling that seemed to be confirmed by the "Note on Sources" at the back of the book where he admits to as much. Frankly, both with the "training day" orientation in Kabukicho, and the name changes (some obvious and based on nicknames, some more discrete), I think the devices used are used appropriately and it works for telling the underlying story better.

As a writer, Jake is not an artist like Baye McNeill. His prose is simple and straightforward, but full of wit and insight that makes the book fast and easy reading. Reading it knowing that it is now going to be made into a movie, you can sense almost that Jake was thinking of that possibility as he wrote and edited the book, using a lot of storytelling devices and styles that lend it to that. I enjoyed the read, and learned a lot of new stuff. Which as a general know it all, is not a compliment I pay lightly. I think he did a great job with the book, and frankly, I'd recommend it to anyone, even without an interest in Japan. But if you want to learn a bit about the life of the inner workings of the mainstream Japanese press and life at the bottom of the employment food chain in Japan, I'd say the book is excellent, and broke through my own stereotypes of mainstream press as simply taking and reprinting press club handouts issued by the police.

The book has changed the way I see and understand the Japanese news I read, and is a fascinating parallel memoir of my own early years in Japan when many of the stories and events related in the book were going on. Good stuff.

Why Should Japan Debate With "Cultural Fascists" Over Taiji When it is Already Winning?

2014-01-26T01:09:00.000+09:00

This blog is a response to a comment on my previous blog about my frustration in how the Taiji Debate is being mishandled by both sides. The commenter picked up that I perhaps did not spend enough time explaining why Japan should even entertain discussion, when sticking to the view that the debate is not worthwhile seems to have Japan "winning". I submit that this is not the case and would like to explain why. So here goes...

Hi Day-Bee-Toe (nice handle...). You make a good point on something I left out of the blog, which is the reason I think the Japanese side needs to follow my advice and change its approach.

The case is relatively easy for the critics of the hunt: because under the status quo, nothing changes. The hunt keeps happening, unchanged, each year. Do you keep banging your head against a wall or do you try to start again from a different tack. It's not hard to point out how the conservation movement has been failing with Taiji.

One could point out in the case of the Japanese government and defenders of the hunt, the approach of remaining "above" the debate has been, and logically will remain effective. The colonial (or as you put it "cultural fascism) approach of critics has rallied opposition to the conservationists in Japan, and to support the hunt as a defense of Japanese culture. Why put that at risk by changing tactics, or showing weakness by demonstrating a willingness to compromise?

Well, as a permanent resident of Japan, with a Japanese family, who cares about Japan and its place in the world, I'm concern that political leadership supported by the mass media either understimate or willfully ignore the damage that Japan's approach to this debate does Japan's international reputation, and the ramifications this is already having and will continue to have for Japan's credibility where it is needed, on far more important issues such as trade and national security.

I understand the attitude to refuse to debate, but the problem with refusing to engage is I think people don't realize how badly this is undermining Japan's credibility. And my criticism is not of any of the arguments per se, it is of the approach on both sides to drive up passion and hysteria in ways that prevents meaningful debate.

I understand the neo-colonial attitude and hypocritical appearance of these protests to many Japanese. I share that view myself to some extent (that there are such attitudes in many of the criticisms) . But I also have lived the other half of my life in NZ and Australia, which share language, history and cultural values with the US, UK and at a further level with the EU and institutions that founded the UN. This isn't just Sea Shepherd expressing concern - the government of the US supported the recent concerns of the US ambassador, and whether right, wrong, misguided or whatever, the populations of most of these countries believe in the credibility in some or all of the anti-Taiji arguments I listed in my blog.

When a reasonable person sincerely has what they feel is a reasonable concern, and is dismissed as hysterical and debate is refused, I understand that on the Japan side, the intent is to demonstrate and to make the critic realize that what they are saying is not worthy of a response. But to the populations of many western countries, and a small number of supporters within Japan, a refusal to debate looks like someone accused of wrongdoing giving a "no comment" response to the press. The refusal to engage in debate, rather than showing how wrong the criticisms are, is received by the general publics of those countries who feel their legitimate concerns have been ignored, as proof that the Japanese government doesn't have a good response.

It is also an incorrect but widely held belief in many western, particularly English speaking societies, that defenses based on "culture" are false, and that the term "culture" is used as a defense because there is no moral or rational response.

As we know, that is not the case. But you have a terrible situation that most people in Japan seem to be unaware of that where Japan see a few hysterical Sea Shepherd extremists making white supremacism based attacks on Japanese culture and have been rightly put in their place and dismissed as they should be, the image that goes out in the western press over and over again, is that the Japanese government is pretending to ignore the concerns of the world and does not have any good answer to defend the Taiji hunt.

Of course neither view is correct, but this is the problem - you have a misinformed public view and policy in Japan that "there is no problem to be fixed", and a misinformed public and policy view in the US and Australia that Japan cannot be trusted to act in accordance with morality and global norms.

With dolphins, to be honest, I continue to be frustrated, but ultimately could care less.

But consider the broader picture. The negative perceptions of Japan generated by this very small issue affect areas far beyond Taiji. They affect perceptions of Japan in trade talks. When Abe gives speeches emphasizing Japan's shared values with the west, he looks two-faced - Obama refused to have him stay with him or have dinner with him, where he did the Chinese Premiere. The perception that an ally is not trustworthy will play a part when it comes to matters that involve life and death, such as those involving Japan's security treaty with the US. Misunderstanding generated over the poor handling of this debate has a toxic effect of undermining public and political support for Japan in other countries at a time when Japan realizes that for economic, political and security reasons, it needs to work with the international community. And that is what concerns me about the mishandling of this, and other similar debates.

Which is not to say I am saying Japan should give in and concede. I'm just saying, the Japanese government does a disservice to the Japanese people allowing it's positions to be misunderstood, and these are causing damage to Japan in ways that people don't sufficiently understand.

The purpose of my blog is to find the points where all concerned sides - governments, NGOs, etc, could sit down and have a discussion based on shared values and criteria. Such a discussion is impossible on the basis that dolphin killing is murder, or non-domesticated food production is immoral and dangerous. Likewise it is also impossible on the basis that Taiji critics are merely hypocritices with views that Japanese culture is "beneath" there own. The problem, which I acknowledge is that people on both sides seem to deeply hold such feelings, and this is what drives the damage that goes on in the absense of dialog.

Japan is winning the debate by refusing to engage, in the sense that the Taiji hunt continues unabated and well supported by the Japanese public. I'd suggest, the Japanese government could achieve the same outcome however, or another satisfactory outcome using tactics that did not cause so much harm to Japan's international image. That is what I would like to see from Japan.

Peace

Engaging Japan (And Vice-Versa) Over the Dolphin Hunt in Taiji - 太地におけるイルカ漁の問題に日本（と世界）が取り組むために

2014-01-22T17:48:00.000+09:00

Updated: Now Bilingual! My warmest thanks and appreciation to Yoshiyuki Yamada who spontaneously provided me with an excellent Japanese translation of the blog below. Yamada san explains that he shares my greater concern in the cross cultural misunderstandings and communication issues that this gives rise to rather than taking a side on the dolphin issue. I do translation myself and realize this is about 4-5 hours work at least that he put into this, so thanks so much! Please enjoy a bilingual version of this blog now, and share with your best Japanese and non-Japanese friends!
訳者は彦左衛門氏同様、異文化間相互理解／コミニュケーションに興味があるものの、イルカ漁自体については特定の立場・団体に関与している訳ではないことをお断り致します。）.

Generally speaking, I find most international issues involving Japan extremely frustrating to follow. From territorial disputes, to comfort women, Yasukuni, apologies, whaling, nationalism, etc, etc, the pattern repeats. A lot of emotional under-informed misdirected rage at Japan, that is badly handled or not handled at all by the people that matter in Japan, and taken up with similar misdirected rage by fringe groups.

概して、日本が関係するほとんどの国際問題は、フォローしていると極めてフラストレーションが溜まるものである。領土に関する議論から、慰安婦、靖国、謝罪、捕鯨、ナショナリズム等々に至るまで、同じパターンの繰り返しだ。日本に向けられた情報不足に基づく見当違いの怒りに対して、日本の要人が扱いを誤るか怠るかする一方で、日本の過激主義者が同じく見当違いの怒りを募らせる、というパターンである。

The Taiji dolphin hunt is a classic example of angry emotional debate with nearly both sides missing the mark. If I were to play "marriage counsellor" between Japan and the Rest of the World, here is how I would intervene to get the debate at least on the right footing for discussion.

太地イルカ漁の問題は、議論に参加する両サイドが核心を逃し憤怒の応酬になってしまった典型的な例である。もし私が日本と世界他国の「結婚カウンセラー」の役を演じるとするならば、少なくとも議論を正しい地点からスタートさせ争いの調停を試みるべく、以下のような提案をするであろう。

Where International Critics Need To Refocus

No matter how it looks, this is not a world versus Japan issue and treating it as such is a dead end to finding a solution. Taiji is a small town and dolphin is not widely eaten - perhaps in terms of ratio, I would speculate as many people hunt and eat dolphins in Japan as Americans (mostly indigenous) who hunt and eat whales. The moment you frame the debate in terms of "Japan", you recruit 99.99% of a country to the defense, who would otherwise be uninterested.

世界のイルカ漁反対論者が焦点を絞るべき点

問題がどのように見えるとしても、これは全世界対日本というものではないし、そのような扱いをすると、解決策を見出せず袋小路に迷い込むだけである。太地は小さな町であり、ほとんどの日本人はイルカを口にしない―恐らく、イルカを捕獲して食用とする日本人の割合は、鯨を捕獲して食用とするアメリカ人（ほとんどはイヌイット）の割合と同じようなものであろう。議論を「日本」という枠組に収めたその瞬間に、元々は問題に関心のなかったであろう99.99%の日本人をイルカ漁擁護に回すことになってしまうのだ。

Messaging needs to be simplified. There are many arguments against dolphin hunting, that on a spectrum seem to go from (i) "dolphins are special animals that should be treated as humans", to (ii) "there are sufficient alternatives to dolphin meat that dolphin hunting isn't necessary and should be stopped" to (iii) "hunting and killing of wild animals generally is in principle inhumane and unnecessary" to (iv) "the specific herding and slaughter techniques used in Taiji are inhumane and should be corrected" to (v) "dolphin hunting is uneconomic and the meat represents a human health risk".

日本に向けたメッセージの発信は単純にする必要がある。反イルカ漁の論点は、①「イルカは特別な動物で人間と同じように扱うべきだ」というものから、②「イルカ肉の代替品は十分にあるのだから、イルカ漁は不要で停止すべきである」、③「一般に野生動物の狩漁と殺生は原則として非人道的で不要である」、④「太地で用いられているイルカ追い込みと殺害の技術は非人道的だから改めるべきである」、⑤「イルカ漁は非経済的であり、イルカ肉は人体の健康に害を及ぼす可能性がある」というものまで、数多く多岐にわたる。

Many critics of the hunt sincerely and strongly believe in (i) to (iii) and cannot put those arguments aside. But they must. (i) and (ii) are cultural views, unenforceable without a UN Charter on Human Rights type consensus, which at this time is not achievable - and creates a strong counter-reaction of apparent colonial attitudes towards Japan. The idea that killing dolphins is the same as killing people is basically an anti-abortion type mindset, that is extremely polarizing and radicalizing since you are categorizing a practice as murder that most don't do, but don't see as murder. (iii) is also a strong ethical view that resonates with vegetarians, and many westerners that only eat meat and domesticated agricultural food sources. However, it won't work in Japan because the seafood diet of Japanese means that the distinction of domesticated and non-domesticated food sources is not as strong in Japan, which means it will come across as purely a vegetarian argument. Which would only appeal to a small niche of the population. In fact, completely the opposite to many parts of the west, ethical Buddhists in Japan have a morality code that PROMOTES eating seafood and poultry and prohibits eating four legged animals. The idea that because beef is a domesticated food source, it is more ethical than tuna or dolphin does't work here.

多くの反対論者は心底から強固に①から③を信じており、これらの論点を脇に置くことができないが、彼らはそうすべきなのだ。①と②は文化的な観点であり、人権に関する国連憲章のようなコンセンサスがない限り強制できるものではない。そのようなコンセンサスを現時点で形成することはできないし、このようにあからさまな日本への植民地主義的態度は強い反発を生むであろう。イルカを殺すことは人間を殺すことと同じだという考えは、基本的に反中絶論と同じような考え方である。ほとんどの人がそもそも実践しないし殺人とも見なさない行為を殺人と分類するという点で、極めて物議を醸す急進的な態度であるからだ。③も強固な倫理的観点であり、菜食主義者ならびに家畜由来の食肉・農作物のみを摂食する多くの西洋人の共感を得るものである。しかし、魚介類を食する日本人にとって、家畜化された食材とそうでない食材の区別は希薄であるため、この論点は純粋な菜食主義者の議論という印象を与え、ごく少数に訴えることはあっても、多くの日本人の共感を呼ぶことはない。実のところ、西洋の多くの地域とは正反対に、日本の倫理的な仏教徒の倫理規範によれば、魚介類や家禽の摂食は推奨される一方、四つ足動物の摂食は禁忌とされるのである。従って、牛肉は家畜化された食材だからマグロやイルカよりも倫理的なのだ、というような議論はここでは通用しない。

No matter how strongly people believe in (i) to (iii), the only places for dialogue are in (iv) and (v) and in order to appeal to the Japanese public to further the anti-dolphin hunting agenda, this is where the debate must focus, even if it is based on a precept that dolphin hunting CAN be okay, which many objectors find abhorrent. The humaneness and efficiency of the slaughter techniques used was touched upon in the Cove, some Japanese explaining their view that the techniques used are efficient enough. There is of course a good reason that slaughterhouses do not broadcast what goes on inside and PETA and vegan animal rights groups use hidden cameras to get inside and film slaughterhouses with hidden cameras to promote their anti-meat agendas. It is because in an age where fewer and fewer people ever kill their own food, and meat is a sanitized product you pick up at a supermarket like a bag of potatoes, coming to terms with the murder part of the food chain is increasingly ethically challenging for increasingly urbanized and affluent human populations. Western news seems to focus on this as the main argument against dolphin hunting but as shown by the reaction to the US Ambassador's tweet, it raises and opens up to the accusation of hypocrisy and double standards. In the end of the day, accepting that dolphins are large mammals like other sources of meat, it becomes a debate about the ethics of mammal slaughter. I doubt objectors would be pacified by improvements in killing techniques, and indeed, many ordinary people who expressed shock at the Cove, would probably feel similar shock if shown the many PETA videos online shot in meat slaughter houses. It is an area where compromise can be found if parties are sincerely willing to find compromise - Japan can go on killing if they do it better.

反対論者がどれだけ強固に①から③までの論点を信じているとしても、対話の余地があるのは④と⑤のみであり、一般の日本人に訴えかけ反イルカ漁運動を推進したいならば、これらのみを討論の焦点とすべきである。たとえそれが、イルカ漁が場合によっては許可されうるという、多くの反対論者にとっては唾棄すべき認識に帰結するとしても、である。イルカ屠殺技術の人道性と効率性については、それが十分に効率的であると説明する何人かの日本人の観点と共に、映画「ザ・コーヴ」の中で取り上げられた。無論、食肉処理場が内部で行われていることを公開放送しないのには理由があるし、だからこそPETA（訳注：動物の倫理的扱いを求める人々の会、People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals）や絶対菜食主義（訳注：卵、チーズ、牛乳など一切の動物製品を口にしない）の動物権利保護グループが隠しカメラを使って食肉処理場内部の様子を撮影することにより、反肉食運動を推進しようと試みるのである。自らの食物となる動物を殺めた経験のある人がどんどん少なくなり、食肉がまるで袋入りポテトのようにスーパーマーケットで入手可能な殺菌済製品となっている時代に、都市化と富裕化に拍車がかかる人口層にとって、食物連鎖における屠殺という側面はますます心理的に受け入れ難くなってきている。欧米のニュースは、反イルカ漁の主な論点として屠殺技術の残酷性に焦点を絞っているようであるが、駐日アメリカ大使のツイートに対する反応に見られるように、これは欺瞞と二重規範に対する弾劾へと発展するものである。結局のところ、イルカが他の食肉用動物と同様に大型哺乳類であることを受け入れるならば、これは哺乳類屠殺の倫理性に関する議論になる。屠殺技術の向上によって反対論者が口を閉ざすとは思えないし、実際のところ、ザ・コーヴを見てショックを受けた多くの一般人は、食肉処理場の様子を収めた多くのPETAのオンラインビデオを見ても同様なショックを受けることであろう。これは双方が誠実に努めれば妥協点を見つけることができる領域なのだ―屠殺技術を向上させれば、日本はイルカ漁を続行することができる、というように。

I would suggest that whatever the passion about (i) to (iii) and appeal of arguments based on (iv), the messaging to Japan should focus on (v). The concerns about health and safety, and the costs, both of the hunt, and to Japan's international reputation, are not worth the meager economic benefit. And as the Cove pointed out, the economic equation can be influenced by westerners accepting giving up hugely popular dolphin aquarium shows that generate the enormous demand for captive dolphins that Taiji is the number one supplier of. Best thing about focussing on (v) is that it is non-cultural, non-geographic, and should appeal directly to the majority of Japanese who do care about food safety, wasteful government spending, and Japan's international image. Once you take the cultural arguments out, even if you believe in them, you open the door to recruiting Japanese to put forward the case and debate in Japan, and ONLY there lies the possibility of change.

しかし、いかに①から③に対する情熱があろうと、また④に基づく議論が魅力的であろうと、日本に対するメッセージは⑤に限定すべきである、と提案したい。イルカ漁により得られるわずかな経済的利益は、健康・安全に対する懸念と、漁自体のコストおよび日本に対する国際的評価の悪化に見合うものではない。そして、ザ・コーヴにおいて指摘されたように、圧倒的な人気を誇る水族館のイルカショー中止を西洋人が決定した場合、イルカ捕獲に対する莫大な需要は低下し、世界一の供給地である太地が得る経済的利益は大きく目減りする可能性があるのだ。論点を⑤に絞る利点は、それが文化的・地理的条件に無関係であると共に、食の安全、政府の放埒な歳出、日本の国際イメージを懸念する大多数の日本人に響くはずであるということだ。たとえ文化的な論点を信じていたとしても、ひとたびそれらを取り除けば、日本人自身が国内で問題に関する議論を始めるきっかけを作ることができるし、これ以外に変化が生まれる可能性は存在しない。

And that is the big takeaway. If the end goal is really change, and you work backwards from that goal, you need to recognize that the change must be made by Japanese within Japan. Shouting at them will not get you there - in fact it will unify opposition. If the goal is fundraising for professional activism, as it often appears, the current approach of many groups of demonizing Japan is highly effective no doubt, and the emotion and passion of the arguments used is good for media attention. But if the goal is change, you have to rethink and refocus, and turn this into a domestic debate among Japanese supported from outsiders.

そして、これこそが大きなテークホームメッセージである。もし本当に最終目標が事態の変化であり、その目標から逆方向に取り組むならば、変革は日本国内の日本人によってこそなされなければならない、ということを認識する必要がある。彼らを怒鳴りつけることは役に立たず、むしろ彼らを反対意見に凝り固まらせるだけであろう。もし議論の目標が（しばしばそう見えるように）反イルカ漁活動家の資金調達であるならば、日本を悪魔に仕立て上げるという多くのグループが採っている現在のアプローチは疑いようもなく非常に有効であるし、感情的かつ情熱的な論調はメディアの注目を集める上でよい手段である。しかし、目標が変化であるならば、考え方や焦点を改め、外部の支援を受けた日本人の間でなされる日本国内の議論へと変えるべきである。

Where Japanese Defenders Need to Refocus

As happens too often in these debates, where Japanese government/people feel unjustly attacked and righteousness is on their side, rather than engage, there is a cultural tendency to disengage and shut down. "You don't understand, this is pointless" is a standard response to attempts at discussion in Japan. In a consensus oriented culture that structurally and legally discourages conflict and confrontation, there is a strong tendency I have encountered, especially when dealing with authority, for those in authority to simply respond "go away and come back when you understand and are willing to be reasonable." This vein of thinking is prominent in Japanese diplomacy and government relations and is at the root of where Japanese are their own worst enemy often in diplomatic and international disputes.

日本のイルカ漁擁護論者が焦点を絞るべき点

このような討論においてあまりにも頻繁に起こることではあるが、日本政府／日本人は自分たちが不公正に攻撃され、正義が自らの側にあると感じる場合、討論に参加するのではなく、撤退して黙り込むという文化的な傾向がある。「話が通じないのだから無意味だ」というのが日本で議論を試みる際によくある反応だ。日本は社会構造上も法律上も対立や衝突を避け、同意形成を重んじる文化であり、特にお役所関係の人たちが「家に帰ってもっと勉強し、聞き分けがよくなってから出直して来なさい」というような反応をする傾向が強い。このような思考スタイルは日本の外交・政府関連組織において顕著であり、日本人がしばしば外交・国際的討論の場において上手く立ち回ることができない根深い原因でもある。

The origin of this type of culture isn't material to finding a solution, but it is helpful to understand as a reference for overcoming the communication challenges that Japan seems constantly unable to overcome in its international relations. I would submit that it comes down to Japan's long lack of cultural diversity and isolation, and the lingering cultural impact of the shogunate, which employed a mix of strong government control and government sponsored morality in order to pacify and control Japan by suppressing disputes. The benefit to Europe and Middle East of having a long history of cross-cultural empires is that language and cultural practices developed in ways designed to anticipate and overcome cultural difference and misunderstanding. Roman Law was created to allow a Jewish Moroccan trader sell to a pagan German customer under binding contracts that could be mutually understood and disputes could be objectively resolved. Specificity and over-elaboration on detail and understanding, and refraining from unstated assumptions is a hallmark of how western cultures coped with the multiculturalism that their empires fostered, and logically, these same coping mechanisms are deeply embedded in the international community of nations at the UN. Countries with a background and history of accommodating diversity have a natural advantage, and expectation of certain groundrules for engaging in debate that were not as necessary in a Japan that chose hundreds of years of self imposed isolation instead. Japan has been open for more than one and a half centuries now, and during its expansion prior to WWII, did go through a period of western style colonial diversity. But basically it still seems to be too often guilty of behaving in the international space in accordance with social and cultural norms that work and apply within Japan, but fail to work in a multicultural international system.

このような文化の起源を探ることは問題解決において必ずしも本質的ではないが、国際関係において日本が常に抱えるコミュニケーション上の問題の解決策を考える上で、参考にはなるかもしれない。私の意見を述べるなら、これは鎖国により文化的多様性が長期間にわたって欠如していたこと、および江戸幕府が国内を平定し統治するために敷いた強い言論統制の名残に起因しているのではないだろうか。ヨーロッパや中東では多文化地域を支配下に治めた帝国の長い歴史があるため、文化の違いおよび誤解が存在することを予期しかつ解決するための言語的・文化的習慣が醸成された。古代ローマ法は、例えばユダヤ・モロッコ系の商人が異教徒のゲルマン人にものを売る際、お互いに理解可能な売買契約を結び、異論が発生した際には客観的に解決することを可能にした。細部の明記、理解への過剰なこだわり、明記されていない一切の前提を排除する態度―これらは多文化帝国の歴史を通じて、社会に共存する複数の文化に対処するために西洋文化が発展させてきた特質であり、必然的に国連における国際的コミュニティにおいても深く根付いている。当然のことながら、自ら数百年の鎖国の道を選んだ日本においてはさほど必要ではなかった議論・討論という場面において、多様性を包容する素地と歴史を持っている国々はアドバンテージを持っているし、一定の原則的ルールが存在することを期待している。日本は鎖国を終えてから今日に至るまで一世紀半が経過しており、第二次世界大戦前までの拡張期において西洋型の植民地的多様性を経験している。しかしながら、未だに国際社会という舞台で日本国内のみでしか通用しない社会的・文化的規範に従って行動してしまい、多文化主義に基づいた国際システムに順応することに失敗しているように見受けられる。

These are simple things and it astounds me that so many of Japan's leaders and diplomats seem to fail to grasp this, but I think leaders in a position of speaking for Japan in these debates need to go back to basics and refocus on some basics they are not getting right:
= Never presume anything is understood. In fact, always presume nothing is understood, and focus on explaining things in as clear and concise a manner as possible. Never presume there is anything that doesn't need to be explained.
= Dismissal of opinions based on what is seen as the misunderstanding or emotion of the other side, comes across at best as condescending, and at worst as acquiescence. Treat the views behind criticisms with the same respect that you would expect/hope to receive of your own statements, even if you feel that such criticisms are not valid or hypocritical.
= Fight the urge to get sucked into debates based on a "we Japanese" or "us and them" mindset, even if this is the mindset of the debate being brought, and focus discussion on the principles involved. Any response that leads off with a position that a criticism is invalid because it is not Japanese taints any subsequent discussion of principle that follows as invalid, or an excuse for a view that cannot stand on its own principle.
= Respond based on universal commonality rather than uniqueness

上記は単純な事柄であるにも関わらず、余りにも多くの日本政府首脳・外交官が理解できていないように見えることに驚かされるが、このような議論において日本の立場を主張するリーダーに求められているのは、下記に挙げる基本に立ち戻ることであろう。
・相手が何かを了解していると決して期待しないこと。逆に、相手は何も理解していないという前提に基づき、できるだけ明快かつ簡潔に物事を説明するよう注意すること。説明しなくてもよいことがあるなどとは決して仮定してはいけない。
・相手の意見が誤解や感情に基づくように思われたとしても、それらを無視してしまうと、よくても傲慢であると見られ、最悪の場合にはその意見を黙認したと受け取られる。たとえ不見識あるいは偽善であるように感じる批判を受けたとしても、自分が受けたいと期待／希望するのと同じだけの尊敬を以て、その批判の背景にある見解を理解し対処するように努めること。
・「我々日本人は」とか「我々と彼ら」という考え方に基づいて議論したいという衝動に抗すること。たとえ議論がこのような考え方に基づいて始まったものであったとしても、一般原則に議論を再フォーカスすること。日本人／日本的ではないから批判は無効だ、という立場から返答すると、その後どんな議論をしても、無意味であると相手にされないか、大義名分を欠いた見解に対する言い訳と見なされるのが落ちである。
・日本の独自性ではなく普遍的に通用する共通原則に基づいて返答すること。

Typical responses seem to go along the lines of (i) Japan should be entitled on the basis of culture and history like indigenous peoples are allowed to do, (ii) critiques of whale and dolphin hunting are hypocritical when made by mammal/marsupial eating westerners and represent a colonial mindset condescending towards different cultures, and (iii) this is a domestic matter done in accordance with Japanese law and that is sufficient. The problem with each of these types of the responses is that they avoid directly responding to the concerns raised by critics in the types of criticisms made above. While speakers may believe these responses are sufficient and appropriate to dismiss inappropriate criticism, to anyone who believes the unanswered critiques are valid, they appear evasive and excuse-making. They lead to scoffing responses, both in the media and in international forums, which reinforces the damage this issue causes Japan and the negative view of Japan and Japanese that it fosters.

（反イルカ漁論への）典型的な返答は、①あらゆる固有民族に認められているように、文化と歴史に基づいて日本にも漁の権利が認められるべきである、②鯨・イルカ漁への批判は、哺乳類／有袋類を食用とする西洋人によってなされ、異文化を見下す植民地主義的態度を象徴しており、偽善的である、③イルカ漁は日本国内の問題であり、法令に基づいて適正に行われているからそれで十分である、といったものであろう。問題なのは、これらのいずれも前項で紹介した批判に対する直接の応答になっていないという点である。イルカ漁擁護論者は、これらの返答が適切かつ十分であると信じているのかもしれないが、直接的応答がない限り批判は有効なままであると信じている反イルカ漁論者にとって、これらは言い逃れや言い訳にしか聞こえないのだ。さらに、これらの返答はメディアや国際フォーラムにおける嘲笑的な反応を引き起こし、この問題が日本に与えるダメージならびに日本や日本人に対するネガティブなイメージがさらに強固なものになっていく。

I'd again come back to the Cove. It didn't give much airtime to Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries officials, but it was the only time I have ever seen some attempt at explaining the Japanese position in a detailed way and I believe showed the way to how this should be addressed. In it, officials demonstrated that the slaughter techniques used are regulated, and the fishermen themselves demonstrated how they believe them to be effective and humane. The officials also expressed their belief that such food is safe. I think rather than simply dismissing critiques as imperialism and saying it meets Japanese law, I think the responses should be as if the claims were made by Japanese groups, and explain WHAT the legal standards are applied to dolphin slaughter are and why they are sufficient, WHAT monitoring/testing to ensure food safety is done to ensure it is sufficient, and WHAT the justification is for providing government subsidies and support to sustain the hunt. On the more emotional issues, I think it is relatively easy to respond acknowledging that many people feel that dolphins are "special" but there is no international consensus on which non-endangered animals deserve intrinsic protection and Japan has a cultural tradition it can highlight where, in reverse, land mammals were treated as sacred and sea mammals were not. But that would be a side note. All it need do is point out that the practice is done in a manner that is appropriately regulated, and not inconsistent with agreed international norms.

ここでもう一度ザ・コーヴに立ち戻ってみたい。映画内で農水省官僚とのインタビューシーンにはあまり時間があてられていなかったが、日本の立場を詳細に説明しようという試みを今までで初めて目にしたものであったし、思うにこの問題にどのように返答すべきなのかを示したものでもあった。官僚たちは現在用いられている屠殺技術が規制に基づいていることを説明し、漁師たち自身も屠殺技術がどれだけ効果的で人道的であるかについての見解を説明していた。また、官僚たちはイルカ肉が安全であるという見解も表明していた。私は、単に議論が帝国主義であると決め却下したり、日本国内の法令に従っていると言ったりするのではなく、反イルカ漁の議論が日本国内の団体によってなされた陳情・苦情であるかのように扱い、イルカ屠殺にどのような法的基準が適用されなぜそれで十分なのか、イルカ肉の安全性はどのような検査基準によって保証されているのか、政府の助成金や支援がイルカ漁にあてられることの正当性は何なのか、という点について説明するべきだと考える。

より感情的な問題への返答は比較的簡単で、多くの人がイルカを「特別」と感じることは認めるが、いずれの非絶滅危惧動物を保護すべきであるかについての国際的なコンセンサスは存在しないし、逆に日本には陸生哺乳類を海洋哺乳類よりも神聖なものとして扱ってきた文化的伝統がある、と返答すればよいだろう。しかしこれはあくまで補足的返答にすぎない。日本がすべきなのは、イルカ漁の慣習が適切な規制の下で行われており、国際的に合意された規範にも違反するものではないことを指摘することである。

Getting To A Final Solution

There are two end games one can see for this. One is that in Japan and everywhere, the practice of dolphin hunt/capture/slaughter is ended, and the other is that the practice is allowed to continue in a manner that is tolerable to all reasonable arguments against.

Continuation is the status quo and requires no change. And in the absence of a change of policy and view by the Japanese government, that seems unlikely to change. Very few Japanese show much interest in the issue, and those that do overwhelmingly seem to express resentment at western interference in Japanese culture, even if it is culture they don't practice. There is no political party with any agenda to end or change dolphin hunting. Basically, it continues to look very much like a siege of western NPOs and sympathetic governments attempting to force Japan to change through external pressure. My view is that this is a dead end strategy that will simply result in no change in dolphin hunting practices, and continuing deterioration of Japan's international image.

最終的な解決に向けて

この問題の結末には二つのシナリオがありうる。一つはイルカ漁／捕獲／屠殺の慣習が日本および世界中のいずこにおいても終わりを迎えるというものであり、もう一つはこの慣習がいかなる理性的な反論にも耐えうる形で存続するというものである。単なる存続は現状維持であり、何の変化も必要としない。そして日本政府の政策や見解に変化がないならば、事態に変化はないだろう。この問題に関心を示す日本人はほとんどいないし、関心を示す日本人は、たとえイルカ漁を自分たちが実践している訳ではないとしても、日本文化に対する西洋の干渉に対してひどく憤慨している。イルカ漁の中止や変化を公約に掲げた政党は存在しない。事態の基本的な見取図は、西洋のNPOとそれに同情的な各国政府がしつこく日本に外圧を与え変化を強要する包囲戦、といった様相を呈し続けるであろう。私の見解は、そのような作戦は実りのないものであり、イルカ漁の慣習に何の変化ももたらさない上、日本の国際的イメージを悪化し続ける、というものである。

The only precedent I can think of where the current type of external pressure strategy worked was with Korea, when it banned consumption of dog meat around the time of the Olympics there, amidst a lot of bad PR about the issue. If campaigners are hoping to shame Japan into a similar result with dolphins however, I'd point out there are some key differences demonstrating why to not be so hopeful. For one thing, Korea at the time was coming out of an authoritarian dictatorship, and even since has demonstrated it is a much more top-down, leadership driven society than Japan is, capable of making short term and radical policy changes. Japan's consensus culture makes dramatic shifts in policies and practices notoriously difficult. If you look at the protracted dramas around Minamata, Okinawa Bases, the airport at Narita - even relatively simple disputes carry on for decades without resolution where decisions get made and implemented much more rapidly in Korea.

私が知っている限り、現在のような外圧が奏功した前例は韓国に対してのみで、ソウル五輪当時に大量かつ劣悪なPRを通じて犬肉の消費が禁じられた。もし反イルカ漁活動家たちが日本を辱めることにより同じような結果を予期しているのであれば、それはあまり得策でないことを示す決定的な違いを指摘したい。当時の韓国は権威主義的な独裁体制から脱却したばかりであり、以来、日本よりトップダウン型でリーダーシップに基づいた社会であり、根本的な政策変更が短期間に起こりうる、という点である。よく知られている通り、日本のコンセンサス指向文化は、政策や慣習の劇的な変化を困難にしている。水俣、沖縄米軍基地、成田空港において長らく繰り広げられてきたドラマについて考えてみれば、比較的単純な議論でさえ解決を見ることなく数十年にわたって続きうるということが分かるであろう。一方、韓国では遥かに迅速に意思決定がなされ実行に移される。

And this is precisely why, if the anti-dolphin hunting movement wants to improve and ultimately end dolphin hunting in Japan, I think it needs to change strategy from the external pressure to create top down policy change as worked with Korea, and instead focus on developing better grassroots understanding and support in order to forge a process of change within Japan by domestic consensus. Campaigners need to engage and recruit Japanese rather than alienating and demonizing them. Truth is, most of the online defenders of Japan's right to hunt dolphins could care less about the issue. Almost no one hunts dolphins or eats the meat. The anger is generated by the misdirected tone of the debate. Campaigners need to make this a domestic issue within Japan if they want to see positive change, and that will require a fundamental change in approach. If you ask me, the safety issue, the tax waste and economic issues are the ones that will ultimately end the hunt if it ends.

だからこそ、もし反イルカ漁運動が日本におけるイルカ漁の現状を改善し、究極的には中止することを目指すのであれば、韓国にトップダウン型の政策変更をもたらした外圧という作戦を変更し、草の根の理解と支援を育み日本国内のコンセンサスを形成することにより変化を生むよう注力すべきなのである。運動家は日本人を疎外し悪者扱いするのではなく、味方に引き入れる必要があるのだ。実のところ、ネット上で日本のイルカ漁権利を擁護する人たちのほとんどは、問題にほとんど興味がないのである。実際にイルカを捕獲したりイルカ肉を食べたりする人はほとんどいないのだから。彼らの怒りは、反イルカ漁論者の見当違いな論調によって生み出されている。よい方向への変化を期待するならば、運動家たちはこれを日本国内の問題へと変える必要があり、そのためには自らのアプローチを根本的に変える必要があるだろう。もしイルカ漁終焉の可能性があるとするなら、それは安全性の問題、税金の無駄遣い、経済的な問題が最終的な原因になると私は思う。

And of course, as the Cove itself pointed out, dolphin lovers themselves need to understand that dolphins will keep being hunted in Taiji, if they keep going to dolphin shows, for which Taiji is the world's number one supplier. If the economic incentive to capture dolphins is gone, that makes the hunt more difficult to justify domestically, so perhaps boycotting your local Flipper show is the best place to start.

そしてもちろんのこと、ザ・コーヴが指摘したように、イルカ愛好家は自分たちがイルカショーに行き続ける限り、世界一の供給地である太地においてイルカが捕獲され続ける、ということを理解する必要がある。イルカ捕獲の経済的利益がなくなれば、日本国内でイルカ漁を正当化するのが困難になるので、イルカ愛好家たちは恐らく地元のフリッパーショーのボイコットから始めるのが最もよいだろう。

I guiltily confess, I'm neither here or there on the core issue. I am more passionate about the fact that the debate is being mishandled - through a mix of ignorance and deliberate exaggeration - by both sides in a way that provides an unending road with no solution. I'd really like to see both sides lift their game and the debate a bit, and meaningfully try to engage and improve things, even if only by baby steps at first.

最後に告白すると、申し訳ないことに私自身はこの問題の核心についてはどちらの立場でもない。両サイドの無知と意図的な誇張により、解決の目処もないまま終わりのない道を行くかのごとく議論が錯綜している、という事実に大きな関心と懸念を寄せているのだ。たとえ最初は赤子の歩みであっても、両サイドが今よりも少し高いレベルで討論に参加し、事態を改善するべく取り組むよう、意味のある努力をすることを望んでやまない。

A man can dream...
少なくともそう夢見ることくらいはできるはずだ…

Thoughts on CES 2014 - Wanna Buy a Bracelet? Nope, Me Neither...

2014-01-07T23:56:00.001+09:00

I'm trying to get into all the CES coverage from this year, but is it just me or does it all feel a bit like a "gap" year for consumer tech? I see a lot of matured technologies that I'm not enticed from my existing tech to buy (4K curved tvs, smartphones, tablets, laptops, cameras, etc) and a lot of technology I don't yet see as fully baked enough to invest in (fitness trackers, smart tv and internet boxes, desktop/mobile bridging CPUs and operating systems). I like where a lot of this stuff is pointing but I can't see myself shelling out serious cash for new consumer tech until things progress along a little further. Some cases in point:

Fitness trackers: smartphone makers convince us to stop putting crap on our wrists, and now they want us to put crap on our wrists again? And sure, maybe there is a chance there, but the idea of a combination pedometer/heart rate tracker, for all the interesting apps you (or your insurance company) could put that data to, until we start getting actual diagnostic technology in wearables, I fail to see the point. I won't spend $100 for a bracelet that keeps track of when I have elevated heart rate during a day. I will spend $100 for a bracelet that tells me I have just picked up a flu virus, or I have elevated blood sugars, or clogged arteries, or early stage cancer - stuff which can tell me what is wrong with me before I notice it myself so I can get treatment to catch anything early enough to avoid life threatening or life changing illness. They are saying tricorder type tech is on the way. Call me then - I'll pay a lot for something that saves me a trip to the doctor rather than reminds my I'm fat and have a pink bracelet on.

TVs: I'm not saying a 4K curved 100 inch tv isn't cool. But my 50 inch 1080p plasma is as big as my room can take, and more than sufficiently awesome picture quality. I can't imagine spending a few grand on another tv for a few years at least.

Smart TV / Internet Boxes: What I want is very simple, and has been available, illegally for free in various forms for over 10 years now, but now media company wants to admit is the future of tv because they don't know how to ensure they will get paid by it. I want a TV with this built in or a Google Chrome type dongle that very simply does the following:
- Lets me watch/record live all public broadcast/cable/satellite TV from anywhere in the world (paying a reasonable price for specific content is fine).
- Lets me easily and comfortably browse online streaming video sources like YouTube and Comedy Central
- Lets me easily and comfortably search and watch for free, rent or buy any tv show ever made, through YouTube, iTunes, Netflix or whatever.
- And while we are at it, also lets me stream/download/buy any song ever made.
The above is all there, and has all been quite possible for a long time. Because content makers won't accept this is the future, people are leaving the TV and going to smartphones and tablets instead - and this is being seen with a sense of crisis that is completely unnecessary. Just wake up, give consumers what they want without the need to torrent - charge a reasonable price for it and do what technology has allowed for ages now.

PCs, Laptops, Tablets, Phones, CPUs, Operating Systems: This one is very simple. All I need is a Mac that can run any iOS app and sync data from my iPhone, and a nice 8" tablet that runs full Windows with any high performance app I want without the need for any compromised operating system or isolated app ecosystem. I want to put an SD card with HD video and photos into a small tablet, and edit it with Adobe Premiere on the spot. Intel has been promising all kinds of vision and wearable tech. But this far future vision is a cover for the fact 2014, they will not be able to bring to market chips that bridge the gap between mobile and desktop chips. They can call me when they get that one fixed. Methinks 2015 at least before that barrier is broken down properly.

3D printers are cool and I can see will be world changing, but they are still very new tech and we need to let that market grow some more. "Wearables" like bracelets, Google glass and so on come across as first gen gimmicky expensive toys still. Self driving cars? Can't wait - call me in 2015. Commercial space tourism? 2015 will be a good year for that.

I dunno, I hope I am proven wrong about this, but 2014 is feeling like a filler year. The problem is we've had some great years of tech and I'm feeling quite comfy right now. Anything at CES that has gotten YOUR attention that you think is worth looking forward to?

Love, Life, Technology, the Future, San Andreas and Santa Claus

2013-12-26T00:22:00.002+09:00

Allow me to post a quasi blog here. Not Xmas related per se. In fact, it almost feels a bit dirty posting this on Xmas day. But screw it. I'm feelin' it, so bear with me.

As we move through life, we progress through phases, of complete compromise as children, to complete self serving no-compromise as young adults, to compromises that get us as close to that ultimate and unreachable point of happiness as we can get.

The great thing about single life in Japan is that most people live in small single person "rabbit hutch" apartments, earning enough money to get by and have a completely self centered and self focussed lifestyle. All the talk about sexlessness and population decline this year - I think this is the biggest reason. Young single life in places like Tokyo is just so damn good, that the populace of Japan is being progressively deconditioned from being able to make the kind of lifestyle compromises necessary to live together with others and raise a family. And that isn't even a criticism. It's an observation. For many years, and for many young foreigners in Japan, I think people can agree that at it's core, the unfettered independence one can have in their lives as a young adult in Japan is possibly the best thing about living here.

Personally, I went through my self indulgence phase pretty full on. I dated dozens of girls. I surfed. I boxed. I built computers and gave them away to friends. I DJ'ed at some nightclubs and was event organizer for some excellent club parties. Pretty much every whim or interest I had, I acted on, even if it meant giving up sleep and all my spare income, and I did it.

At around 30, whatever it was - biology, age, exhaustion. It made me suddenly feel the desire to move to living a more "settled" life that I could share with someone else. It changed the way I looked at dating and being around people. The decisive moment came on the Chiyoda subway line platform in Otemachi station one day, when I randomly bumped into an old "ex" I had dated several years before only briefly, but had often looked back and realized was the type of person I should have kept around. We hooked up again, took it slow, and soon moved in together.

Moving in with another person is tough, even at the best of times. It works in places like New Zealand, because it is a refuge from parents or flatmates. In Tokyo, especially for people in their 30s, it involves sharing a life space people have spent the last 10 years in without compromise. I know many long term couples who actually prefer not to live together. Love is the biological glue to help us get through the bumps of moving in together, but I think those bumps are particularly jarring in a place like Tokyo.

I was however of the mindset to compromise when we moved in, and willingly cut back on some of my hobbies and habits for the greater good of getting along.

One of those 'oh, I have to give this up too...?' moments however came with the playstation. My wife is into watching sports (a major plus for moving in) so that was cool. However, it hadn't occurred to me that as a non-gamer, having the living room tv dominated by me fixated playing video games was going to be an issue. And not that I was a hardcore gamer of any sort. Just liked the occasional bit of Grand Theft Auto, some soccer, etc.

Just around the time we first moved in, Grand Theft Auto San Andreas came out. I had pre-ordered the game for my PS2, and ran up to the shop to get it on release and start clearing levels. If you know the GTA franchise, you know that they are really like deeply engaging movies, and take days to complete. I got to a very specific mission, up in the hills outside Los Santos, performing a raid on a mansion - about one quarter the way into the game. When my wife, a non-gamer, saw what GTA involves, her distaste for seeing me play video games like some sort of manboy coalesced with her moral outrage that I was fixated on a game that involved running around picking up prostitutes, stealing cars and killing people. I have to admit, it's kind of hard to explain to someone new to the whole thing...

The PS2 got unplugged, wrapped and put into the storage at the top of the wardrobe. No further discussion. That thing or me. It was one of those compromises, for the greater good that had to be made. Life went on...

Around a week ago, I was on the train to work, skimming through my RSS reader and a phrase in a story title from Gizmodo caught my eye... "iOS".... "San Andreas"... "....today..."

Guilty confession. I have spent the last week, sacrificing sleep and giving every spare second I can take, be it from taking the slow train rather than the express, sitting instead of standing in the dunny, just clearing that "one more final level for today" before sleeping at night. About three days in, I reached the mission that caused the PS2 to be put into storage. Like a time capsule shut away 10 years ago, that I thought I would never see again. And yet here it was in my hands, on my iPad Mini and iPhone 10 years later, uncompromisingly ported in full to a device I carry with me in my pocket and base much of my life around. Just two or three years ago, iPhones and the apps on them were a massive societal phenomenon, but remember, the apps were never considered any kind of threat to "consoles". It was all Angry Birds, all kind of retro and gimmicky games that used the features of the smartphone and its mobile phone CPU to give the best toy gaming experience they could squeeze out of the thing.

San Andreas on the iPhone 5 and iPad Mini however is breathtaking. It is no compromise. And yes, while gadget mag editors are talking about it as a nostalgic re-release of a classic game, this is a moment frozen in time for me for 10 years, where my life playing games on consoles stopped. Granted, yes, it is 10 years down the road. But as far as I am concerned, this is it. Absolute proof. Smartphone gaming isn't even a compromise any more. Console gaming is dead.

Well, not DEAD per se. I can understand, 10 years from now, that some hardcore gamers might want to have a box in their living rooms dedicated to pumping out room filling holograms or something beyond the hardware capability of a mobile device, but it is absolutely clear that by the time my 4 year old starts being a 12-13 year old and demanding his own phone, that device is going to offer in his pocket almost everything I used to need a small apartment to myself to have - and a bunch of things people are still only starting to think about now. Of course he won't need an apartment for his own tv, stereo, cd collection, games console, magazines, internet, camera. iPhones already provide all those things now. But you look at the other features coming out that you can imagine working their way into smartphones in 10 years time - photos that 3d scan and model the rooms or objects they photograph, and the possibility of 3D printing of anything you can see or photograph. Control/management of autonomous robots that act as small flying assistants helping us as we walk around. Control of cars or taxi like carriages that autonomously drive us wherever we want to go. The ability to scan and act as a complete medical analytical tool for looking after our health. The ability to tap directly into our biological nervous system to show and share experiences in ways that we experience as real.

All of this stuff is around and being developed, and everything is converging on focussing on getting it into the smartphone form factor - and who knows what will supercede it.

What it gives me, is a small piece of my more selfish former life back, in a way that doesn't have to disrupt that of my family as it would with a PS2 hooked up to the living room TV. Which translates to me as regaining freedom I thought was lost.

No question, this technology does not leave me completely undisturbed on many levels at once, especially as a father of a kid who is going to grow up when this stuff is developing and advancing faster than technology like this ever did as I grew up. And no question, I think this technology will fundamentally change the way humans socialize and live life. It could prove so fundamentally disruptive to our biology that it could result in families that live together but are constantly absorbed in their own technological worlds only barely physically interacting. If there are still families at all...

But this is all stuff for the future to worry about. If it destroys humanity, so be it. I'm still going to be first in line with a pre-order. For now, I get to have a wife, a kid, and finish San Andreas. If that isn't a merry Xmas, I can't think of what the Hell is.

My Review of "Loco in Yokohama" by Baye McNeil

2013-09-25T01:15:00.000+09:00

Well, I just went and read Baye McNeil's new book, "Loco in Yokohama"

I know my review of his first book got the book some favorable attention and I'm happy to have played a role in that, if only for the fact I have had message me and thank me for the introduction to his first book "Hi, My Name is Loco and I am a Racist". I picked up the Kindle version of that book expecting a few sparring rounds with an 6 year old karate student for fun, and found myself knocked to the floor and looking up in shock discovering the kid was Musashi and was wiping the ring floor with my metaphorical ass. To say Baye's first book caught me off guard was an understatement. I was expecting a long, hopefully not too painful rage blog. What I got was writing so good, I realized I had possibly not seen it since arriving in Japan 14 years ago.

The joy of the first book came with the surprise. And Baye did not hold back with any moves or dance around jabbing and dancing with this first book. He unleashed an arsenal that left me in awe for the whole two days I read it, barely sleeping, finding excuses to hide somewhere from my family to jam in another chapter.

That is a hell of a first movie for a sequel to live up to. So what was it going to be. Empires Strike Back? Or Weekend at Bernies II..?

The answer is of course neither. And a damn good thing. Don't pick up this book expecting another epic life of Loco. I'd also say don't pick it up expecting to have the book come out at you like Tyson looking for a 30 second knockout and a piece of your ear. This book is a different beast. And I think sets another piece of the foundation for what Baye is demonstrating should be a long and diverse career of writing ahead.

The first book was a journey through Baye's upbringing and life in New York, moving back and forth with his new life in Japan and the internal conflicts and questions this path raised within him. Like many people however, the first book drew a line between the 'day job' and the 'real life' outside work. This is natural in most places, but perhaps especially Japan. I can make my wife yawn within 5 seconds just by indicating I am about to talk about work. In my experience "how was your day at work honey" is not a catch phrase in any sitcom I am aware of in Japan. I'm sure it happens, but this is a country where people compartmentalize their home self, from their work self, from their sempai self, from their kohai self and so on. A man is defined by the room he stands in, and so are much of the conversations he has. So I didn't feel much of a gap in the absence of that part of his life in the first book.

This book takes you into how his day was. And not just how it he felt about it. He takes you there, and lets you experience it with him, through his eyes to some extent, but also through the characters that shape his life as an assistant language teacher (ALT) in Japan. Where the first book was at times painfully introspective, this book is like a long, fascinating chat with someone at a bar. Baye sets the scenes in plain English, and rather than charging and overdressing the situations through his own perceptions and emotions, he simply tells compelling stories about the many compelling characters he deals with throughout his life, and the small insights and lessons they helped him realize. By the end of the book, he drops the greatest wisdom through straight quotation of the conversation he had with an elderly substitute teacher he calls Mrs. Betty. It's a refreshing change of pace and tone from the first book.

I have to admit, I did not come to read this book without prejudices, once again. Just as I had wondered whether his first book was going to be a rage blog, I'll take a leaf from Loco and confess, as I read the prologue and the introductory chapters and realized this was going to be a book about being an ALT, I really started to wonder if I was going to enjoy this. I quickly got a warning light indicating one of my prejudices was coming up that I needed to be aware of and shut off.

There are many ways to divide gaijins in Japan, but I think there are three, endlessly sniping tribes that stand out in particular, particularly on the web that can make you think at times they are irreconcilably different. In one camp, you have the "Japanophiles", a group I am often ascribed to arbitrarily by others sometimes described by members of the other two camps when they encounter them variously as "eggs" (whites that think they are Asian), and "apologists" (people that are incapable of allowing any criticism of Japan to stand, defending it even against the most obvious and plain defects that they refuse to recognize). Then you have the expats. Wealthy, central Tokyo overpaid, oversexed ghetto bankers, that snort with contempt at the "gone native" apologists, and the "loser" English teachers seeking payment for breathing and speaking their own mother tongue. And then you have the "English teachers"that tend to get a bad rap as unmotivated, people here for an easy job, easy money and drinking money. The expats look at them as losers without real jobs. The Japanophiles go further, often proactively loathing them as the antithesis of their approach to coming to Japan to learn Japan, and not caring about the image they give to Japanese as drunken Yamanote Train riding louts.

Now these stereotypes are in 90% or more of cases unfair in the real world. Such people exist, but they rarely fit. I know expats that have made deeply embedded lives here. I know long term Japan lovers that are also outspoken critics of aspects Japan. And I know many English teachers that take their job with pride, and as a profession that they will sometimes go on to achieve everything anyone in the other two groups can achieve. But try telling that to the Internet.

I stumbled forward knowing that I mustn't presume this was going to be a book of episodes about staffroom gossip, and classroom episodes by quirky and memorable kids.

Well... It turns out, I actually overcompensated too much a little, because those presumptions were correct to some extent. But what I had not fully appreciated was how much someone even like me, that after a short Eikaiwa stint of 3 months in 1997 has gone to great lengths to avoid any proximity to English teaching, was that there are a lot of great stories, great characters and great insights to be learned through the humble setting of two Junior High Schools in Yokohama.

Every time I felt the narrative going a little too far down the road of office politics and started to lose me, it would take a sharp U-turn down an unexpected side road, through gems of stories and characters that would pull me back. And while not the emotional knockout punches of the first book, this little side roads got me to chuckle, and choked me up in one or two places. And these moments were timed like a jazz rhythm, whisking me off down one of these rabbit holes just as I felt myself starting to err from attention to the narrative.

A lot of people I know will appreciate the chance to read a well written account of doing what so many English speakers come to Japan to do. Many use the experience of teaching as an opportunity to study or pursue other interests. Some just take it as a gap year to save some money and be in a more interesting setting.

It is however a testament to Baye's writing, and the cast of characters he introduces to throughout the book, that a 14 year old veteran like myself could be drawn in, as he was, in particular by the stories of hafu and returnee students in his classrooms, that faced Japanese versions of many of the same cultural and ethnic hangups Baye himself had previously written about in the much contrasted setting of New York.

I recognized Terrence to some extent as David from the movie "Hafu" that I recently reviewed. I recognized Kevin immediately as similar to the white Japanese kid who grew up in Sendai (Michael), and imagined his somewhat stressed out father as the father of that boy I saw on video but that never popped up. Contrary to trying to assert individual identities that stand out (as some did, like another Hafu, Risa), most of the international kids Baye describes in his book that he expects to relate to because of how they "look" turn out to be desperately trying to assert a Japanese identity no different to that of their classmates. When I reviewed Hafu, I mentioned, a little unfairly, that this was one type of Hafu I had wanted to see more of in that movie (David was close to that) which is where I see my own son going in future. Baye filled that gap for me, and not just with one, but from a number of kids, any one of which could by my own lad one day, in a school perhaps much like Loco's. He shares how he learns each of their "angles" on who they are and how they get by, and the struggles they face every day, which he realizes are not just from other students but also from the unintentional extra stares and presumptions they get from well intentioned gaijins like he and I.

But the stars of the story are a handful of trouble maker kids, and one or two standout teachers that weave through his own journey of adjustment to Japan and the path to self discovery as he wrote his first two books.

I didn't lose sleep reading this book like the first, and I did not end up on the crapper crying. But I'm glad about that. Instead of that, I spent two and a half days having Loco quietly tell me stories about the other people he met and the wisdom he got from them at work. It was some quiet drinks, with him sharing with me how his day was. And it was a damned interesting two and a half days.

My biggest regret from reading this book is the sense that with this book now complete, Baye's days in Japan may be soon coming to an end. Part of me really doesn't want to see a guy here - one of us - a gaijin blogger who can actually WRITE, start to do well and pack up and leave. But at the same time, like losing your best pitcher to a major league team, if Darvish is going to Texas, I hope he heads over there and turns some heads and makes people see what our small community of English speaking Japan residents can put out and share with the world when we focus on it. Loco's first book inspired me and many others to write. I think this book will have that impact also. But I'm even more sure that this book will reach out to those thinking of coming to Japan, and even to other countries to broaden their experience, and be that extra nudge to do so with a sense of open minded adventure.

As someone who came to Japan with that same sense myself 14 years ago, I can attest that can be Hell of a gift to give someone. I got a lot out of this book even having lived here so long. I think it is going to become a go-to book for anyone thinking of coming to Japan to teach. You can read plenty of blogs and books about teaching in Japan, but you don't get many chances to experience it in this way.

For me, I'm looking forward already to Loco's next book. Which I am sure will be something completely detached from the first two. And I hope throughout his own journey, his next book becomes a vehicle for more people to discover and appreciate the hometown star that this book will see Loco become among English authors starting out in Japan.

Find out where to get the book here:

http://www.locoinyokohama.com/

Peace!

Family Vacation from Tokyo to Singapore

2013-08-05T01:02:00.002+09:00

I recently got back from a three week vacation to Singapore. To be able to go there with my family to visit my Dad represents another one of many moments of coming full circle that I have experienced since becoming a father myself. Of the many house moves I did as a child, and the 37 and counting throughout my whole life, the 1982 to 1983 stint where I lived in Singapore I think it is fair to say had the greatest impact of any single move on my whole life.

Magical Places

One of my favorite actors is Steve Martin, and one of my favorite movies of all time is LA Story. There is an innocuous line that I've never seen quoted, from one of the monologues in that movie that resonates profoundly with me: "There are two events in my life that I consider magical that couldn't be explained scientifically. The first of them was about to happen." I love this line - I attach this way of thinking to certain places, events and people in my own life that have a significance for me that goes beyond logic or reason. One such event was preparing to move to Singapore in 1982 with my family from Wellington as a six year old New Zealand kid.

My father was an infantry officer with the New Zealand Army at the time, and this would be his second posting to Singapore, where New Zealand had looked after a large base (by very small NZ Army standards) filling in for the British as they lost interest in protecting their own imperial outposts after the end of WWII. I was actually nearly born in Singapore - we moved to NZ before my birth, which saved our family the hassle of needing to change my citizenship upon birth to avoid Singaporean military conscription as an 18 year old - something some of my army brat friends had to go through. The New Zealand government ran a large army base in Sembawang, in the center north of the island, and a large primary and high school for New Zealand children staffed by teachers sent from New Zealand by the Ministry of Education - a kind of "base school" that was not on base. Most New Zealand personnel and their families lived in Woodlands and Sembawang near the base. However, my father was a major at the time, and with a family, we got a nicer, bigger house in the middle of the Singaporean military camp in Nee Soon, more toward the center of the island, near where Singapore Zoo is today.

Until this point, I had been born in New Zealand, but moved to Australia while still small and lived in the small town of Portsea south of Melbourne, close to my mother's own home town, enjoying a quiet life for many years near the beach in a small holiday town near an army camp down there. The move back to New Zealand, when we moved to Wellington was a challenging one for me. For whatever reason, when I was four or five, I joined the legions of New Zealanders that make up the ranks of the country with the highest asthma rate of any country in the world. Unlike Australia, New Zealand, Wellington in particular, has an unrelenting cold, windy wet climate. Whatever the origins, I had some pretty nasty asthma attacks there, and when my father got a posting back to Singapore, I now know there was some concern as to whether we could even go due to my condition.

In the end, we did go, and it saw the start of a two year period in my early development that has been burned into my memory ever since.

I vividly remember the first night we arrived in Singapore, after a long flight from New Zealand, stopping in Darwin on the way up. Unlike New Zealand, it was warm, even at night. It was warm, but not like the dry heat of Australia. The air might not have been that good - but I love the smell of the humid tropical air there. Our house was on the edge of the camp facing the start of a jungle, surrounded by coconut palms with squirrels, monkeys, snakes and all sorts of insects. The houses in those days didn't have glass windows, just metal bars for security. If storms came, we would shut large heavy wooden shutters with hooks, and you could sit close to the windows and see drops of water bounce off the slats on the shutters and fall onto the concrete/stone tiled floors. The cars there were all new, cheap Japanese cars, and all had airconditioning, which was another novelty and new smell. And along with all the new sights and smells - no more asthma. Something about the place meant I enjoyed fantastic health while living there, as I did in Australia also.

Unlike many of my friends, rather than living in a New Zealand housing area, I lived inside a Singaporean military camp, which meant that visitors and housekeepers (Amahs) had to go through tough security and passport checks to go in and out. A white schoolbus would come and pick me and the other Kiwis living in Nee Soon up to take to school each day, where I would sit in my class of fellow Kiwis, about half of caucasian background, half Maori. My bus ride would take me out the camp down Transit Road where I would buy a Star Wars figure each week with my pocket money, past the Hokkien Chinese shops and restaurants, through the Indian market neighborhoods to my school. When I came home, some days we would have an Amah to help with cleaning up the house - I remember an Indian, and later a Sri Lankan lady who would come and cook up samosas and nice food for my sister and I.

Part of my father's job was doing military exchanges with the Singaporean military, and through those friendships, we went to some family dinners with Singaporean families that I remember vividly. One family was Sikh - the father was military but wore a turban and had long hair. Another dinner was with an ethnic Chinese family - they lived normal Singaporean lives in high rise government built apartment complexes, and we would go and eat what they would eat with their families and the parents would talk while the kids played together.

When you are a kid, you don't really question or analyse the significance of new experiences like these. You accept the world as it is presented to you. And in the world that I lived, I was a perfectly normal blonde haired Kiwi kid, living in a Singaporean army camp, that would sit next to my Maori friends on a bus going to my NZ school most days, taken by my mother to buy toys and sweets from Hokkien shops, or clothes from Indian shops with a chapati or two as a treat, and would go and play with Sikh and Chinese kids if I was being taken to their houses for dinner. For two years I lived in this small, still dirty at the time, still cheap at the time, bubbling multicultural tropical island city being bombarded constantly by foods, faces and cultures spanning the entire Pacific, Asian and European continents expecting that all this was normal.

It probably wasn't until our next posting, when I was 8 - to Point Lonsdale in Southern Victoria, that it all sunk in fully just how lucky I had been. As much as I loved the small town life by the beach in Southern Victoria, and even the clean mountain air and outdoor lifestyle of Waiouru back in New Zealand, as young as the age of seven, I was hooked on a place where in two years, I had as many life shaping experiences and memories as I may have had in my other first 12 years put together.

I loved the busy-ness, friendliness, smells and atmosphere of Singapore - and longed to experience it again. I had always been fascinated by the Chinese characters that were everywhere in Singapore and hoped to learn that language when the chance came up. And it did - only not as Chinese, but rather as kanji using Japanese, during an economic drive by the New Zealand government in the 1980s to switch our economic focus from Britain to Japan and other Asian markets.

I took up Japanese as a stop-gap for wanting to learn Chinese. However, in time, I came to Japan, first Fukuoka and later Tokyo, where I was able to get that same buzz of stimulation and excitement that I became accustomed to as a kid, and I have stayed here ever since.

Returning to Singapore as a Dad

There is no question - if I had not lived in Singapore, I would never have taken the focus and interest I took in Asian culture and languages that I later did. Having spent my whole adult life in Japan now, I can point to those two years as setting in place the foundations of the direction my life has taken. However, Japan is not Singapore. Certainly, as an adult, I have no regrets about learning Japanese instead of Chinese, and committing as I have to my life in Tokyo, which is a city that for me is without parallel as an exciting stimulating limitless place to be - perhaps on a par only with New York. Singapore can take credit for pointing my head in this direction, where I've been quite happy to go forward myself since then.

However, for the endless things I love about Tokyo, there are certain aspects of life here, particularly as a parent, that really made me think consciously about what a great developmental experience Singapore was for me. Singapore now has a cost of living on a par with Japan, but still slightly below that of Tokyo. It is not only as clean as Tokyo - I would go so far as to say it is even cleaner (some expats complain "too clean" - almost sterile), and possibly even as safe as Tokyo is. But what you get in addition to those points in common, is a huge vibrant multicultural melting pot in a country where 2 million of the 6 million residents there are foreigners, and the locals are made up of four roughly equally proportioned ethnic groups. You have all world religions being actively practiced (every night as a child I could hear the muslim calls to prayer, and saw Hindu, Sikh, different types of Buddhist, Christians, Taoists and muslims every day). You have a wonderful diversity of faces, foods, smells, cultures, a cacophany of languages, all in a small overpopulated island the size of Chiyoda Ward.

Holding everything together is an unquestionably slightly overbearing patriarchal government. Technically, Singapore qualifies as a democracy, even though the opposition and political speech is highly controlled, and the influence of government - like a nervous parent - is visible in all aspects of media and daily life, as everything on the island from land ownership and reclamation, infrastructure development, broadcasting, and numerous social message oriented posters and billboards remind, the government has the unmistakeable personality of the famed ethnic Chinese Tiger parents known in the west, that focus and drive their kids to be nice, study hard, and do well. Everything is carefully guided to ensure everyone is well mannered, that in every instance, all Chinese, Malays, Indians and occasionally a western face are shown together as smiling agreeing equals. When I was a kid, we would always cheekily copy the refrain of our parents that whenever we ran into any problem, however small, it would be addressed and fixed by its elder statesman and president at the time, Lee Kuan Yew.

While the fact that things are very deliberately and obviously being stage managed to some degree is clear to anyone visiting the island, you still have to stop and admire the results. After nearly 50 years of independence against existential threats from its neighbors and the ever present fear of breakdowns in ethnic relations domestically, the country has pulled together remarkably to build up a strong patriotic national image of a polite, friendly, successful and determined Singapore made up of pretty much every ethnic group in Asia. And the patriotism is something to behold - unlike Japan, there are flags everywhere, the news runs quizzes on viewer's favorite patriotic songs (that a Chinese name, Malay name and Indian name always seems to win prizes for), and even from my own childhood, Singaporean citizens and foreign permanent residents who are all obligated to do two years military service all do so.

To some, the island is too clean, too controlled, too artificial - forced. But for me, it kind of represents in many ways an interesting incubator for the way I wish humanity could be without coercion. And I think part of Singapore's success, where more totalitarian governments have failed in nearly every case attempting to achieve the same goals, is that rather than acting like a King or God lording over its people at a whim (as many other Asian and Middle Eastern governments unfortunately do), Singapore allows enough freedom and keeps enough distance to be more of a concerned, slightly hyperactive parent. And as a parent, concerned about making the island a place of cultural diversity and harmony, with lots of zoos and parks and things for families to do, great schools, great transportation, public safety and a prosperous economy, frankly, it's the kind of place that as a concerned hyperactive parent myself, I'm very happy to take my son to.

It was a bit of good luck that my father moved back to Singapore this year giving the chance for a long summer vacation there. I had some holidays saved up, so I went ahead with the lad and spent the first 10 days with him while my wife was in Japan, until she joined us for the last five days. In order to boost my son's English a bit, and let him play with some local kids, I put him into a daycare for three mornings a week in a shopping center in Little India, and spent the rest of the time enjoying with him the zoos, aquariums, parks and family oriented shopping centers and trying all the food that Singapore is full of.

One interesting contrast with Tokyo is that Singaporeans are much more friendly - they will look straight at you, smile and say hello randomly. And going around with a son of mixed Asian heritage seemed surprisingly to be unique enough for many Chinese women in particular to come up and stop me to tell him what a good looking kid he is, and take photos and whatnot. Full on rockstar treatment for the lad! Which brought home actually, for all the diversity of Singapore, and groups of friends you see of different ethnicities, families still tend to be very much down ethnic lines and there is not as much obvious mixing as you might expect. In fact, it may be fair to say that a caucasian/Japanese mix like my son may be a more common sight in Tokyo than a caucasian/Chinese mix would be in Singapore. The big difference is of course that in Singapore, there is already such diversity of faces that really, no particular type of face really stands out much.

Tokyo versus Singapore

Tokyo is certainly cosmopolitan by Japan standards, up to one in 20 residents are foreigners. But it is a long way from the one in three foreign residents of Singapore, and light years from the cultural and ethnic diversity of that place.

There are some things about Singapore I really think the Tokyo Prefectural government can/should go and study - particularly about accommodation of foreign tourists and visitors, and such. Tokyo should also go and figure out how Singapore got rid of all the mosquitos - because in 1983, that was an unthinkable dream in Singapore, especially where I lived on the edge of a patch of jungle. Once I got so many bites that my leg got infected and I had trouble walking. Now in three weeks - just one bite. This is in an apartment with doors and windows always open, a visit to the zoo and river safari in the central jungle part of the island, and no repellent at all. Shintaro Ishihara, eat your heart out.

Another thing I really like about Singapore is the shining example it shows that flies in the face of the increasingly accepted idea that large scale immigration and diversity is destabilizing for public safety and prosperity. Public xenophobia is a factor that restrains Japanese immigration policy from being made a public or political debate, in exchange for which policy makers at the ministry of justice who plainly do seem to understand the need for increased immigration to sustain an ageing Japan continue to try to balance the need for more workers, nurses and caregivers with public anxiety about allowing too many foreigners in. The anxiety in Japan now focuses mainly on multiculturalism in Europe, and social problems experienced increasingly over recent years in France, Germany, Sweden and other advanced countries from disenchanted youth often of minority or immigrant origins. I think the growing consensus that mass migration in the EU has been managed poorly is a significant source of concern and restraint for Japanese policy makers. To that, I would say that Japan, or at least the Tokyo prefectural government, should really go down to Singapore and take a look at how they have turned a society based on extreme multiculturalism such a success. From where I sit and observe, the key is over-inclusion. Government led messages of shared national identity across ethnicities, acceptance of permanent residents both as voters, and as obligated to serve in the military, and relentless patriotic indoctrination based on acceptance of multiculturalism as a foundation point. Granted, Singapore is in its origin an island reclaimed by the British and developed based on immigration and diversity, where Japan is not and there are many reasons what works in Singapore would be harder to implement elsewhere. But what I love is that here you have a country with all the qualities Japanese take most pride in and that many inside and outside Japan attribute to its relative ethnic homogeneity - peace, prosperity, cleanliness, order, safety, harmony - achieved in the antithesis of ethnic homogeneity. I think the way Singapore embraces and promotes diversity offers lessons not just for Japan, but even for other diverse developed countries like Australia, Canada and the EU.

At the same time, there are also things I think Singapore can take pointers from Japan/Tokyo on. For example, Japan's better late than never attempt to regulate smoking in its own way has had a curious outcome where you almost never see smokers outside any more - at least in many parts of Tokyo. Where most of the world forced smokers out onto the streets, on the basis that sharing smoky air indoors is a cancerous health risk, the Japanese government, which chose instead to regulate smoking more as "bad manners" chose instead to ban (on a local government basis) walking while smoking, and herding smokers into limited, overcrowded, and plainly very unpleasant smoking areas, which themselves have guidelines to be partitioned and have ventilators. So you very seldom get bothered by smoke outdoors any more, and the lower visibility of smoking I am sure has contributed to drops in smoking rates. It was a little surprising in clean Singapore to be constantly stung by the smell of cigarette smoke up and down the many smoking ashtrays and walking smokers on Orchard Road.

Overall however, it's a fascinating country, and really, I think a great place to take your kids to experience.

Look what it did for me! Here are some pics from the trip.

Peace!

You can check out the complete album with full size Creative Commons authorized pics on Flickr HERE!

Heading down to Orchard Road

Something you don't see in Japan! I could live here...!

They have EVERYTHING!!!!

The lad enjoying the view

View of the enormous Gardens By the Bay Complex

Oooh, rental Ferraris and Lamborghinis...?

The amphibious Duck Boat with a road and sea based tour around the heart of Singapore. A pretty fun tour with a big splash right in the middle

Marina Bay with the Sands Hotel and central business area seen from the Singapore Flyer

The Singapore Flyer - the world's biggest observation wheel

The Merlion - Singapore's symbol

An old fashioned Ferry-Junk heading to the central city

The lad suggests that Dad rents "this one" for a quick drive...

Sentosa Island, containing many resorts and theme parks including Universal Studios

The Sentosa Monorail - I rode this when it started up back in 1982

The Cable Car connecting Sentosa to Singapore

Looking back at Sentosa - lots of fun for family vacations

The Lad taking a look at the world's biggest aquarium tank at S.E.A Aquarium

Shark!

Parrot!

Gecko!

Polar Bear?!?! (There are only two places Polar Bears can live in Singapore. The special Arctic enclosure at Singapore Zoo, and the Lido Movie Cinemaplex in Shaw Center...

Orangutans at Singapore Zoo

White Rhinos

Beautiful Tree Snake

Crocodile seen on the River Safari. I was totally snorkelling when I took this. Really... (actually, no...)

Singapore has Pandas. Good looking ones. With air conditioning.

Ahh, the good life. The Pandas are on the River Safari beside Singapore Zoo because... erm... Pandas love rivers?

Here is one reason to go to Singapore. Satay from a Hawker Market

Hot Chinese Fried Noodles from outdoor night markets

Making the magical Satay...

Emerald Hill, old fashioned Chinese houses

The Sands Hotel with the huge boat shaped swimming pool on top

Singapore's Arab Street in the muslim quarter. Beautiful temple and amazing food all around nearby

Another view of the Arab St Temple

The Mustafa Shopping Mall in Little India. Fantastic fun shopping mall in a modern super clean version of India

Along the terraced houses are corridors that double as a footpath and the entrance porches for each of the houses - walking through is like a tunnel of people's front porches

Emerald Hill footpath along houses

A view of the neighborhood I was staying in - old terraced Chinese style houses

The lad running up Emerald Hill

Rows of houses going down to Orchard Rd from Emerald Hill

Not just the design of the houses, but the distinctive colours and patterns used make them a nice bright part of the inner city

Old fashioned house used as a bar near Orchard Road

Orchard Road at night. Subways are convenient and cabs are cheap - very easy to get around.

Went to a Hawker Market for the last night out. You'd be wary of food from places like this in most places, but here you see expat families, bankers, and people from all over enjoying the huge range of fresh delicious food from every part of Asia. These are one of the best parts of Singapore

It is wonderful how safe and clean Singapore is. Ishihara reducing the number of crows was one thing, but I only got one mosquito bite in three weeks of being in Singapore - how they got rid of the mozzies in an equatorial swamp I have no idea.

Prawn satay.... ahhhh.....

They have subway posters in Singapore too! Reminding people to be excellent to each other and all

The overt social control in Singapore bothers some, but I like it for the same reasons I like the more customary/informal social control in Japan. It just makes it harder for dicks to act like dicks. If you are going to have a tightly controlled city state with limited political freedom and human rights, Singapore is about the best example of how to do it.

A Quick And Dirty Unpatriotic Rushed Summary of NZ History

2013-07-29T00:54:00.003+09:00

I haven't blogged in a while, but I'm inspired so why not kick it while the iron is hot as they say. This is a mercy mission. Twitter legend and all round good guy Warpedgaijin is interested in learning about New Zealand history all of a sudden, and I warned him it is NOT interesting. To spare him a lot of time and pain, I will now attempt to give as simple and interesting explanation as I can of New Zealand, it's history, and why it is not interesting (from vague memory, with no references or sources - if you find any of it interesting and/or wrong, look it up and feel free to drop a comment).

New Zealand / Aotearoa / Nova Zelândia, a photo by Miguel H. Carriço on Flickr.

New Zealand was discovered in 1778 by James Cook of England. Before that, it was discovered in 1642 by Abel Tasman of the Netherlands. Before that, it was discovered around 1200 by various Maori Polynesians that came to NZ over the course of a few hundred years, and before that, it was discovered by the Moriori, a separate group of indigenous people of unknown origin, who were mostly enslaved and eaten by the Maori.

Being late to be discovered, and not being particularly interesting to the British, New Zealand was not annexed and colonized like the much more interesting colonies of America, Canada, Jamaica, India, South Africa, and Ireland. Australia was useful to the Brits, taking over the role of the US as dumping ground for convicts and the poorest and least desired from Britain's over populated north and countryside following America's independence. Australia, having kangaroos, koalas and wombats was so desirable in fact, that they avoided the legal problem of there being people there, through a combination of legislating that there were no people there (Aborigines could not vote and were left out of population censuses until the 1960s, up until when they were counted with animal populations), and shooting the ones they found that tried pointing out that they were people.

Missionaries, keen to similarly liberate the Polynesian natives of NZ asked Britain to annex them and Britain said "not interested". Not only did it not annex New Zealand, but it recognized New Zealand as an independent nation run by the united Maori tribes in the country. Worried that NZ needed British civilizing, the missionaries persisted and Britain only acted interested when the missionaries said that French catholic missionaries were arriving causing local Maori to beg for the British to annex them instead.

Skeptically, the Brits said "only if you get a treaty from all tribes of NZ showing that they consent to annexation." The missionaries did so - getting around the tricky issue of the criteria the British government laid out, and the criteria that would be acceptable to sane natives of any country giving away sovereignty in their own country, by ensuring that the Maori text of the treaty bore only a passing resemblance to the English version. An unimaginative response, that got the desired result more or less. The monarchy got dominion over NZ, and Maori got full citizenship and rights as British citizens (more or less) - so very different to "no one here" Australia.

New Zealand 2007, a photo by Szymon Stoma on Flickr.

The above highlights the key flaw of the original missionaries - a good nature but general lack of imagination. As the wonderful Maori names were set aside for the more civilized Anglicized names that were imposed, they showed all the creativity and spontaneity of Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man filling in the map. The north island was named the "North Island". The south island was named the "South Island". The west coast was called the "West Coast". The east coast was called the "East Coast". The northernmost province was called "Northland". The southernmost province was called "Southland". It goes on and on. I used to live on a plateau in the central North Island called the Central Plateau. My grandmother was born in the alps in the South Island called the Southern Alps. It's a wonder any mountain escaped being called "Mt Mountain"...

Colonization proceeded after NZ was established as a colony by the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840 and went reasonably smoothly until 1860, under a system where tribes sold land they were happy to sell to the imaginatively named "New Zealand Company" who sold the land at a mark up mainly to immigrant Scottish and English farmers. NZ was sold as a cross the world mini-Britain waiting to be recreated, and they marketed to and were colonized by a very different group of immigrants to those initially drawn to (sometimes by force) Australia. Although NZ was originally run out of New South Wales, and the Aussies were nice enough to include New Zealand in the definition of Australian territory as they do to this day. However, we never came to the party of Aussie Unity and went our own way from the 1850s.

All went well until a hiccup was hit in 1860. More people kept coming but Maori were running out of crappy land to sell them. And new arrivals cared less and less for the powers the Maori had over them, and the colonial government they set up backed them, so they started taking a few notes out of Australia's playbook, and started confiscating and taking land instead.

Things would have played out the same as Australia were it not for the fact that the Maori were switched on to the possibility of this occurring, and took payment not just in money but also guns and weapons. It all seemed harmless enough at first, when the first Northern tribes to get guns simply ran off to the unarmed south Island where Te Rauparaha waged genocide on the Ngai Tahu South Island Maori, and then got a ride on whaling boats to the Chatham islands to conquer and systematically exterminate and then eat the only remaining Moriori natives. However, it became less fun for the British when it came to trying to steal from people who already had sophisticated military abilities and weapons who were able to fight back and occasionally even defeat the Brits. Trenches dug at Gate Pa withstood the heaviest canon artillery barrage in history and when the Brits marched in to raise the flag were massacred (British military involved in the disaster dug similar trenches in the Boer War in South Africa years later, and it all worked so well that the strategy was used in World War One, where it was much enjoyed by all involved). The Maori also had their own "Gandhi" - a chap called Te Whiti at Parihaka waged a passive resistance movement, that while more successful than that of the Moriori against Te Rauparaha, still led to much unpleasantness for the Maori.

Maori travelled to Britain to make legal appeals against government confiscations of their land, and won in British courts (whose orders to return lands and property were ignored in NZ). The British Army was so fed up with the settlers in the Land Wars that they pulled out and left NZ to sort itself out. In short, in spite of Kiwi's boasts of moral superiority to Australia, it is only for our own failure to succeed in replicating what they did that the Maori survived to start to have these issues redressed 100 years later, allowing us to say how much nicer we are than the Aussies.

New Zealand never followed Australia into draconian racist policies like the White Australia policy, but this was partly because it didn't need to. Our immigrants were nearly exclusively British, although there was enough alarm caused by Chinese coming to the South Island following a Gold Rush in the 19th century that the country did ban Asian immigration for some time. Because of this, the New Zealand Born Chinese up until the 1980s were more often than not descendants of migrants from the 19th century, making them "more" New Zealand than most white immigrants, and leading to some tension when a wave of Taiwanese, Hong Kong and later Korean immigrants came in the 1990s.

Things quietened down - we banned Maori language and gave them measles and the flu to sort out, and settled about making ourselves more British as we took on fully self governing colony status in 1907 with Britain looking after our foreign affairs and defense policy. Britain fully kicked us out in 1931 with the Statute of Westminster, but NZ chose to ignore it and pretend we were still part of Britain until 1947.

Up until that time, we spent a lot of time trying to prove how British we were. The first was World War One, where we had the highest casualty and death rate per capita of any country involved in the war (58%! woohoo!) where Maori and Pacific Island Battalions helped out. We also administered much of the Pacific, and were given administration of German colonies like Samoa, where New Zealand allowed in and then failed to address an influenza epidemic in 1918 that killed one fifth the people there in just two weeks.

In WWII, we kept up the fighting spirit being the toughest country in the commonwealth on conscientious objectors who we basically put into concentration camps that many remained in for up to a year after the war ended. Fighting in North Africa with the Aussies, the Aussies returned to defend the homeland when the Japanese took Singapore and began bombing Australia from Indonesia. New Zealand however seemed to think it was more important to stay fighting in Europe to defend Britain.

Many great Kiwis also preferred to be called British. Ernest Rutherford is the father of modern nuclear physics, first split the atom, and NZ members of his team worked on the US bomb program at Los Alamos which produced the first atom bombs. Ironically, the guy is on our $100 bill, but NZ has legally prohibited all nuclear weapons and power generation from its territory since 1984. Edmund Hillary, first man to climb Everest was also a Kiwi who went as a Brit (attended my high school, but hated the school and refuses to allow a photo of him to be displayed in the school hall).

New Zealand 2006/2007, a photo by Travelling Pooh on Flickr.

After WWII, NZ developed into one of the most prosperous countries in the world, basically as a breadbasket dedicated to producing food for export to Britain, with a closed borderline socialist economy (like Scandinavian countries or Yugoslavia - the government owned a lot of businesses, taxes were high, but good standard of education, living, life expectancy, etc). From the 1950s to the 1970s we oversaw the independence of Pacific Island countries like Samoa and Fiji from NZ administration, where people from those countries have special status in NZ still, as we draw a lot of immigration from those territories (Auckland is the biggest Pacific Island city in the world, with more Niueans than Niue, for example).

In the 1970s, Britain announced it was joining the EEC (later EU) and over time it had to cut imports from NZ. For survival, NZ had to switch focus from Brita, to Australia, Asia, and new markets for our lamb and whatnot such as the Middle East. The 1970s also saw the opening of the Waitangi Tribunals to address injustices against Maori in the Land War period and during the 1970s and 1980s there was a revival of Maori culture and language where Maori was recognized as an official language and it was taught in schools (the army camp schools I attended were very heavily Maori represented and I had some Maori teachers that taught the language a lot).

In the 1980s, the country basically went bankrupt and under the Labour government of the time, NZ switched from a closed socialist economy to an open free trade based economy with almost no tariffs or subsidy protections. Labour also got into a fight with the US about nuclear armed ship visits that led to our anti-nuclear law, that led to NZ being classified diplomatically as an enemy country of the US for two decades, and led to some economic retaliation by the US. In 1985, French agents bombed a Greenpeace nuclear test protest boat in Auckland Harbour killing one of its crew members. The agents were caught and imprisoned but were handed to France in the face of economic threats, to serve their sentences, where they were almost immediately freed (this is a big part of why NZ has the highest membership of Greenpeace and one of the most successful Green Parties) in the world. In the late 1980s, NZs new trade focus saw a strong focus on Japan, which is where I took up Japanese as a new school subject as did many of my peers, and so many New Zealanders later ended up here. We also established an economic union with Australia that never really fully evolved although it means to this day that Aussies and Kiwis can live and work in the other country without requiring a visa to be there. Many professional qualifications are transferable, and there are very few tariffs and barriers, although we still keep separate systems of government, separate legal systems and constitutions, separate currency, separate armed forces and so on.

On some of our good achievements - we were the first to give women the vote in 1893, were among the few countries founded on the basis of equality with indigenous inhabitants (regardless of how flawed the implementation of that proved to be), and seem to travel pretty well (given that most of us leave to go abroad around the age of 20.

That's about it. Today NZ remains pretty small, and because of heavy outward and inward migration, increasingly Asian in composition. New Zealand is one of the most open countries in the world in terms of both citizenship and migration, allowing multiple citizenship, and allowing permanent residence after just 3 years stay on any visa, and allowing full voting rights with permanent residence (and loss of all voting rights, even by citizens after 3 years absence - as has happened to me). It is a diverse, multicultural, pretty worldly and well educated, but without the economy to really meet the expectations of many of the people in it which means many of us leave and travel, some returning, some staying away, while we constantly attract many new migrants looking for better quality of life which I think the country still offers.

New YouTube Vid: 日本人妻を持つ外国人夫の悩み

2013-02-27T23:34:00.001+09:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsnQHZzOfXs

My First Look at the Tokyo YouTube Space

2013-02-20T01:41:00.002+09:00

Last Friday, I was among the lucky Japan based YouTubers to get an invite to go over to Roppongi Hills for the opening of the new Tokyo based YouTube Space, just the third in the world to be established after Los Angeles and London. I was very excited to first hear about the plans to develop such a space in Japan, and admit, perhaps let my own expectations and imagination get the better of me in the lead up to the party. The party itself was a great opportunity to talk to fellow YouTubers, as well as Google and YouTube staff, and to get to talk to a few of the people outside the current YouTube community, that YouTube is clearly looking to reach out to with this facility, in order to bring in more polished exclusive content here in Japan. The conversations and what I saw were informative in terms of the direction that YouTube seems to be trying to move into, and the role for the new space.

YouTube and Me

So to set a bit of background in to what I was doing at the opening party, I've been lucky to have had many opportunities now to meet with and talk to YouTube staff in Japan, and have been invited to give talks at YouTube organized events like the partner forum in Tokyo, and late last year to give a seminar on copyright law and using third party material in videos to the current batch of YouTube NextUp winners.

When I was originally invited to become a partner back in the days where there were not many partners around, some years ago now, I was in the awkward situation of being torn between wanting access to the cool bonus features partners had access to, but being wary of my YouTube hobby leading to any ethical issues with my job as a commercial law attorney at the time (specifically, the issue that receiving any payments from Google could give the appearance of a conflict of interest when providing legal services to competitors of Google). The compromise I took was that I accepted the partnership invite, but never set up monetization until I stopped working at that law firm. In fact, I believe I set up monetization the next day after I changed jobs and stopped work as a commercial attorney...

The good thing about not monetizing was that I think it took the edge off the hunger some YouTubers feel for getting more views, or the ever elusive "feature" (if you don't know what that means, go ask your grandad about YouTube back in the old days, around 2008...). I was genuinely interested, as I still am, in how to get the most out of the new features YouTube regularly added, and giving my feedback as a user to the people I was occasionally lucky enough to meet and talk to. I think I give good feedback, and I always tackle things from a position of understanding and respect for the YouTube staff, and I feel that they have been good to me in return over the years. A lot of people spend a lot of energy whining about YouTube, and granted, sometimes with good reason. But I feel lucky as a partner that I occasionally get the opportunity to get in early on new features (Victor and I got live Hangouts a few days before they were opened for general use for example), and it is great to be able to get a "vibe" for where things are going with these events.

So the aim of this blog is to try to give my impressions of the YouTube Space in Tokyo, and the general impressions I got from the many conversations I had at that party.

Imagining the YouTube Space....

I honestly don't know a lot about the Los Angeles or London Spaces (other YouTubers clearly know a lot more, certainly about the LA space at least). I will therefore admit some guilt at perhaps letting my imagination run away with myself imagining what the Tokyo Space would be. Indeed, the features I imagined for a dedicated YouTube space, and to some extent what I consider to be an "ideal" Space from a regular Vlogging YouTuber is are the following:
- A number of dedicated studio rooms for recording, oriented around single or small numbers of users. Basically a clean space alternative to our regular offices and bedrooms.
- High speed internet connections, wired and wireless everywhere (including direct plug in feeds into Google Hangouts for guaranteed stable high resolution broadcasts)
- Portable green screens, furniture (chairs, desks, etc), tripods, props, etc for setting up recording rooms.
- A range of video recording equipment (DSLRs, HD Camcorders, Prosumer and Pro Cameras)
- A range of sound recording equipment (lapel mics, wireless mics, boom mics, etc)
- Configurable lighting equipment
- Editing facilities with high end computers offering top end software, and staff available to give tutorials or advice in effectively using such software (ie, people you can ask to help with tasks for Adobe After Effects, Premiere, etc, and popular Mac Software).
- A booking system allowing use at all hours based on hour by hour availability of rooms.

I was looking at this as a "normal" YouTube creator, which in most cases is someone who:
- Physically works alone, and collaborates over the internet with people in nearby and remote geographies
- Who is always on the lookout for the best hardware and software tools to get, and wanting the opportunity to try such kit out
- Someone who is always looking for ways to shoot and edit cleaner looking and more polished videos
- Someone who prioritises ease of shooting, speed of editing, and quality of output

With the above image in my head, I must admit, I posted some rather embarassing Facebook updates about looking forward to going and molesting the cool equipment there... I admit it. I got a little over excited.

Idealism, Meet My Friend, Reality.

Now, the "Space" I just described is the facility that I would create, if I was Google, and I was making a space to help improve video quality by offering existing creators the tools, resources and space they need to churn out production level video using familiar workflows. Based on my conversations with YouTube staff, I am still optimistic that this is the kind of thing the Space will be able to be used as and over time will become more like. However, they introduction to the Space at the party brought home what the primary focus of the Space will be, and where YouTube is directing its primary efforts to right now.

YouTube is enormously popular in Japan, and it has even now overtaken its long time rival, Niconicodouga as the top video site here. However, despite YouTube's efforts to get its enormous audience here more interested and focussed on locally produced original content, with vloggers selected for it's NextUp Program given weeks of coaching and training on video production, and a budget to upgrade their recording kit, it is still fair to say that only a relatively small proportion of Japan views go into locally made YouTube exclusive content.

Google seems to have a reasonably clear global strategy for YouTube, as the vehicle through which it ultimately wants to effectively compete with, and replace traditional broadcast media. The primary focus of the YouTube Space appeared to my eyes to be as a stepping stone more for traditional broadcast media to transition over onto YouTube than for current YouTube creators to step up, although there is the potential for that kind of use also.

A Strategy to Beat Commercial Television in Japan?

Looking at Studio 1, a large recording stage and studio 2, a full studio sized green screen room, I must admit, I first felt my heart sink a little. These were facilities clearly not aimed at vloggers looking to step up, but rather for established production crews to record in an environment and in a manner they are familiar with, but in a way that lets them easily "broadcast" through to YouTube via the specialized studio control room also set up there. These are not rooms or facilities a lone vlogger could easily use. Besides the enormous amount of space they offer for one person, you need people on the cameras, in the control room and so on to use them. You need FRIENDS. Real life ones. I saw nothing but issues...

It seemed to me they had gone and made a facility designed for commercial TV production to come and use to make professional grade tv shows the way THEY are used to. It wasn't new media taking over, so much as old media being hand-held into new media. Here I was with dreams of user creator hordes stampeding over traditional media via YouTube, and here is YouTube instead offering the dinosaurs wheelchairs and a red carpet to get the best spots on YouTube instead. Reality started to hit a little hard, and I admit I felt some disappointment.

It wasn't until I started talking to some of the other, less familiar guests who were not YouTubers and not Google Staff that I began to better appreciate the potential for this kind of studio...

Japanese TV has a problem. As easy to watch and digest as it is, it is by and large crap. I don't want to sound mean. There are some good dramas, some nice short original shows and so on. But the problem is that prime time commercial broadcasting, much like many Japanese movies, are hamstrung by the compromises needed to satisfy the many interests behind the running of TV. They have quotas of registered Tarento to give air time to, largely through talk shows and variety shows, usually interwoven with commercial sponsors, advertising companies like Dentsu, and certain time and format constraints that mean broadcasting is done to ensure you see certain actors, being presented in a certain way, with certain musical jingles in the background, played with certain commercials. TV between 5pm and midnight in Japan is largely indistinguishable between most channels. The current "in" tarento will be saturation marketed through a drama on one channel, a talk show on another channel, a commercial on the next channel all at once.

In all this, there are thousands of talented and creative cameramen, script writers, producers, production staff all trying to get their work through and recognized. I have met and talked to these people whose life has focussed around wanting to "break" in broadcast production, and been disillusioned by the real life world of commercial broadcasting in Japan.

Coming to Japan as a television addict, and overworked salariman, I soon discovered that Japan has excellent "indies" television production which can be seen mainly after 1am on the commercial channels. This is the time when commercial channels will give the most talented and creative young producers an opportunity on limited runs to try broadcasting the shows they actually want to make. Being the graveyard shift, the time is low risk to advertisers, and is a limited means of discovering and rewarding young production talent. Only very rarely do the great shows on during this time period each night ever break into pre-midnight broadcasting.

Talking to frustrated creators in the commercial space at the party and previously, it dawned on me during the party that the real potential of the YouTube Space, as a means of raising the profile of YouTube and standing up to seriously compete as a broadcast medium of equal standing, was to get these abused and ignored "indies" producers onto YouTube. And this facility offers them the ability to make the jump from traditional to web based broadcasting in an environment that is comfortable and familiar to THEM and their workflow.

As presented on the night, I began to look at the YouTube Space as a way for more traditional professional creators, and commercial interests to look at getting up alongside commercial broadcasting on their own terms, and to bring the talent that exists in that space between being squeezed out of regular TV and unfamiliar with the web, onto the side of YouTube. I think that is an excellent strategy, and one that offers an exciting new outlet to very talented creators out there not on YouTube that might not otherwise get the opportunity to have their work seen.

I would love to see the Space be a serious production studio that gets these kinds of creators seen and recognized, and I think it is commercially smart for YouTube to invest in this as a strategy. Ultimately, more users on YouTube, more engaged for longer means more potential for standout original content to also get clicked on, watched and appreciated by new users. There is a "knock on" effect that will benefit high quality original content creators already on YouTube from this.

But What About Us?

I was going through the spectrum of emotions on this. Excitement, denial, disappointment, anger, compromise...

But unlike a normal person trying to cope, my geek instincts and emotions got involved also. As I walked around the studio spaces, the feeling I felt more than anything else was frustration. I was trying to reconcile what I was seeing with my dream space I described above. "Where are the high speed wired connection ports?! There are none-anywhere!" "Where is the editing room?!" "Where are the cameras and equipment we can use!?" "The Green Room is nice, but how about a smaller room with a green screen I can put up?!" I was looking for the things I was expecting and not finding them, and getting that knot in my stomach of frustration you get when putting together a PC, or using new editing software for the first time. That feeling of, it SHOULD have this, but it DOESN'T. WHY NOT?

After talking to one or two Google Staff, I got some helpful answers.
- Yes, there are no wired ports, but you don't need them, there is high speed WiFi everywhere here.
- Yes, those studios are big, but there are a bunch of small booths at the other end of the space you can use.
- Yes, the control room is a big live production set up, but there is an Editing Room with computers and lots of software installed you can use.

For all my frustration, there were answers for each point more or less. The YouTube staff were apologetic also - the event is aimed at a lot of different interests - it wanted to appeal to commercial creators and sponsors, but also cater to YouTube creators at the same time, and there was some acknowledgement that the YouTube creator features were not on display as prominently as the more commercial features were. Indeed, the event was a PR event to showcase the facility from a more commercial point of view, and to showcase the top creators in Japan already on YouTube, through invited partners and NextUp winners, and to give us all the chance to mingle, which it did. But it was also acknowledged that it was not an event for us creators to just go in and molest camera equipment. They assured me I would get the chance later...

I walked back around to find the booths and the editing room. I saw the booths, and they were okay, regular sized empty white rooms, used on the night for party logistics. I also saw the editing room, which was locked. I asked the staff member by the door if I could go in and have a look. The guy told me "No, there is lot's of expensive equipment in there..."

I thought to myself, "Yeah, that's ENTIRELY the point..."

But point taken, the facility does have YouTube creator friendly features, but they weren't on show that night. Which was disappointing, but I still remain optimistic and look forward to the chance to go check them out.

So, What IS The YouTube Space?

The good thing is that there were a bunch of features explained on the night that I learned as things progressed, and a bunch of extra information now available on the live page for the Tokyo YouTube Space.

The YouTube Space in Tokyo is a medium sized studio facility, taking up half a floor in the very central and very expensive Roppongi Hills Building (so Google splashed out to give us the facility somewhere convenient). It is made up of three main studios (one large, one a green screen room, and one a window-side more regular shooting space from a web perspective). It also has a sound recording room that strikes me as being a nice room for recording a hangout from with nice sound quality. It also has a number of smaller rooms and 3 booths, that can be used for a range of purposes, from changing and make up rooms for larger productions, to smaller work or shooting rooms for smaller scale setups like... erm... me.

I was pleasantly surprised by the inclusion of a lounge, cafe area and kitchen space. Again, I presume this was there more with large productions in mind, but I would love to see facilities like the cafe and lounge to be available for YouTubers to meet up to brainstorm and plan out creative projects. Some whiteboards might go a long way in this regard also. I REALLY liked the idea of the cafe within the space, and hope we can get to use that or something like it in parallel to others using the main studios. Of course we could do the same thing in Starbucks downstairs, as we already do, but there is something nice and creatively focussing about being able to meet to brainstorm in a dedicated creative studio space.

There is also a training room which I guess will be used mainly for creator oriented events, and one would hope seminars and so on about production.

The Edit Room is separate to the control room, and just as I wanted, has high spec Macs and PCs with software like Final Cut, CS6, and so on. Again, it would be really nice if they could allow individual creators the opportunity to use this room to edit project and collaborate, and for there to be access to help for us to learn to effectively use these pro-tools.

In fact, looking at the information given on this page on the YouTube Space site, I can see that it appears many of the items from my wishlist are covered to different degrees:
http://www.youtube.com/yt/space/about-tokyo.html

The other point that the staff at YouTube emphasized was that the Space is still being finalized and they would be taking an adjust as you go approach to determining how broadly to make the facility available, and how to set it up best for people to get the most out of the Space, and that they would look to feedback from early users on how to do that.

Kicking the Tyres

Information on the website, and from other YouTubers at the event seemed to point to the facility being available, at least at first only to limited users. Apparently this is the way things have gone with the LA facility, really only being open to some of the biggest players on YT in the States. However, YouTube is a very different animal in Japan, and how time and resourcing in the facility will be allocated is yet to be seen.

Apparently it won't be set up as booking a time slot for parts of the studio as I had first imagined. People to whom the facility is made available will need to submit an application containing a production plan and outline to be vetted and approved before permission to use the Space will be given. This again implies the primary focus will be for more "serious" productions by traditional crews, and for planned collaborations between groups of YouTube users with access to the studio physically.

I suspect my "plan" would be like many - I would want to get on my bicycle late Wednesday night, set up a high quality DSLR cam and Mic onto a high speed wired connection for a live hangout, drink a beer, talk and shout more obnoxiously than the conditions of my marriage license will allow me to do at home for an hour, pack up, and bicycle home. Perhaps, on other days, I might want to rock in to edit a project in the YouTube Space Edit Room, and get some advice from other users and staff there. Or just hang out there to shoot and edit small solo projects like music videos and time lapses. It's not clear yet how open the facility will be to that kind of use, and if so when. But I am hopeful that it will at least let me go in to try out the YouTube Creator facilities, and have a run at using the equipment there to shoot a simple video, to figure out the best kind of workflow for a user creator there and how the facility can be used to help enhance my video making and production abilities, and for it to do the same for others.

On this, I will will look to make a more serious sort of a plan, and take the opportunity one day to more fully use the rooms and equipment that were not available to me on the night, and to compare this against my "dream list" at the top of this blog, and make suggestions for users wanting to use the space, and YouTube for making sure it meets the needs and desires of user creators as well as it clearly seems to be set up for indies and commercial production.

Exciting Times...

The best thing about the party for me was the chance to meet and talk to many friends, both vloggers like Sayulee, Ericsurf6, Nothingeverlasts, Megwin, asakawaz, ariorali and so on, as well as the YouTube staff I have gotten to know over the years, and to geek out on our shared and common interest in making YouTube bigger and more fun for us both as users and creators. We got to talk cameras, sound, the new channel design, the move towards reemphasizing subscriptions, and the future direction of YouTube and where this studio Space fits in.

The cool thing about YouTube is that despite what some people may say, they DO care about ordinary users and they do listen, and try to fit us in to the complicated framework of other goals they have, which also include taking over broadcasting, transforming the way we watch and interact with media content, expanding viewership, raising quality, and making money along the way. It's a lot of responsibility for a few people. I left the Space wanting to see more, but looking forward to see how much of the potential of this space can be unlocked.

Check out the links below for more information.

http://www.youtube.com/yt/space/tokyo.html
http://www.youtube.com/yt/space/about-tokyo.html
http://www.youtube.com/yt/space/create-tokyo.html
http://www.youtube.com/yt/space/faq-tokyo.html

Photos above are copyright of Google.

New YouTube Vid: 日本人の妻はどう？？？ Ask a Japanese Housewife!

2013-02-13T23:34:00.001+09:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPA_jYIvqhE

New YouTube Vid: Love and Marriage in Japan

2013-01-30T23:50:00.001+09:00

"Japanese Women Won't Marry Low-Income Earners, Reveals Poll" http://www.japancrush.com/2013/stories/japanese-women-wont-marry-low-income-earners-reveals-poll.html So what makes for a good marriage - and is it something we should even aspire to. And what about kids? Adoption? We talk about all this and how it works in Japan, so sit back and enjoy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEtlNXyA7HM