Construction and political bribes' bypass

Under the snow coating, as today, Tokyo is such a beautiful city... but Tokyo is not always so magnificent if one looks at the architectural horrors accumulated by the time and city budgets with these gaunt, grim and desolate roads, hi ways, bridges, shuto and shelled buildings of a, sometimes, besmirched capital. The snow today hides ugly planners bad work of a city, nevertheless, candidate to welcome the Olympics in 2016, (time to clean up, boys!) Often it is a reason to despair of the "bon sens" of city planners. Why is it so I asked myself while I did "Yuki-kaki" 雪かき?

I then (emblematic) slid on this sparkling story of Ph. Brasor in Japan Times media review: "... Shukan Post ran an article on "useless roads," accusing certain LDP members of using the tax to "pimp" construction projects in their districts. Many of these projects have been named by local residents after the politicians who sponsored them. The "Nikai Bypass" in Wakayama, named after LDP member Toshihiro Nikai, is an elevated 15-km stretch of four-lane highway that cost ¥124 billion and has cut transportation time through surrounding communities by three minutes. The "Muneo Bridge" in Hokkaido, named after scandal-prone Dietman Muneo Suzuki, is a ¥300-million structure that allows vehicles to pass through a remote intersection unhindered by a stop light..."

"The most enduring monument to the tax is the three bridges built over the Setouchi Sea. The project was proposed in 1970, but studies found it would be impossible to pay off the enormous cost, so two of the bridges were "frozen" only to be "thawed out" in 1985 after the United States pressured Japan to increase public-works spending. Politicians seeking contributions from big construction companies quickly approved the project. As originally predicted, the project remains deeply in the red, and the provisional tax is being used to pay off the debt, which in 2006 stood at ¥1.93 trillion..." (nb: Pimp: noun, a man who controls prostitutes and arranges clients for them, taking part of their earnings in return.)

By far Shukan Post is not my favorite magazine, too much leaning on the bad side of the things, but today, under the snow, everything looks different. Click the title to access the article of the Jt.

Whales, dolphins, tuna exhaust: what is wrong with Japan's taste?

OK, there was first of all that sushi cop campaign that might embarrass the world's gourmets as Japan launched a campaign Tuesday to certify authentic Japanese food overseas, but insisted it was only promoting its cuisine rather than setting up a "sushi police" and where sushi inspectors and promoters indeed unveiled a logo that will identify "real" Japanese restaurants overseas, a pair of chopsticks holding a cherry petal set in front of a red rising-sun flag.



I knew that The Guide Michelin awards would generate passions in the archipelago.

But now, this is not just a matter of French autocratic gastronomy's views in this case, it is not just a matter of taste, it is a matter of "kuuki", of "atmosphere" in the way passions are enflamed with Japan's taste for marine creatures and islanders voracious appetite. Japan among sea nations as Norway, Greece, France or Pacific nations is always a target. Is it that one does not easily understand what Japan means and wants?

Can't ear Japan since pop icon Ayumi Hamasaki wrote on her fan club website early January that she would continue singing despite losing her hearing in her left ear?!?



No, serious, one example. We 'll talk soon about the "whaling complex" of Japanese authority. I 'll therefore stick to what seems to me as the loveliest creature in the sea: the dolphins.



Twice every year, up to 1.500 to 3.000 dolphins are killed in these so-called ‘drive hunts’. In these hunts, large groups of dolphins are rounded up by speedboats at sea and herded into a bay or harbor, where they are surrounded by nets and then slaughtered, or selected alive for trade in the lucrative aquarium industry.



Taiji is one of several Japanese villages where dolphins are hunted. The town this season has a nationally set quota of 3,015, of a total national quota of nearly 21,000. The actual take tends to be about 30 per cent lower than the quota, depending on demand for the meat. While other villages usually harpoon their quarry out at sea, the particularly bloody killing methods in Taiji have made the town a focal point of animal rights activists worldwide.



In addition to the fishmonger hook there is now a new threat: mercury poison. A series of scientific studies in recent years in Japan have documented high levels of the toxic heavy metal in dolphin meat, and a group of city councilmen in Taiji launched an unprecedented campaign against the hunt several months ago after doing their own tests.

Quote :
"Tetsuya Endo, a researcher at the Health Sciences University of Hokkaido, in northern Japan, has co-authored numerous studies showing dolphin meat can contain mercury at concentrations many times higher than the 0.4 parts per million allowed by the Japanese government for many types of fish. The highest concentration he has found so far was 100 parts per million from a bottle-nose dolphin, a species whose meat is butchered in Taiji. "This ought to be investigated," Endo said, calling for a government probe into the dangers of eating dolphin. "There are people who eat it a lot, and those people could be suffering health effects."

Well... All tastes are in my nature (Tous les goûts sont dans ma nature"***) Jacques Dutronc said in his famous song of his album: "Brèves rencontres".

Certains l'aiment tôt
Certains l'aiment tard
Certains l'aiment chaud
D'autres tartare

Le plaisir n'a pas de mesure
Tous les goûts sont dans ma nature
Tous les goûts sont dans la nature

Certains recto
D'autres pétards
Certains verseau
D'autres s'agitent tard

Le plaisir n'a pas de censure
Toutes les tendances sont dans ma nature
Tous les goûts sont dans la nature

Certains l'aiment haut
Avec Icare
Certains plumeau
D'autres océdar

Faut pas faire de littérature
Tout est écrit dans ma nature
Tous les goûts sont dans la nature

Certains auto
Certains motards
Certains métro
D'autres moutard

Le plaisir n'a pas de figure
Toutes les formes sont dans ma nature
Tous les goûts sont dans la nature

Certains l'aiment faux
D'autres sans fard
Certains bravo
D'autres bavards

Le plaisir n'est pas la luxure
Tous les goûts sont dans ma nature
Tous les goûts sont dans la nature

Certains l'aiment tôt
Certains l'aiment tard
Certains l'aiment chaud
D'autres tartare

Le plaisir n'a pas de mesure
Tous les goûts sont dans ma nature
Tous les goûts sont dans la nature

Le plaisir n'a pas de mesure
Tous les goûts sont dans ma nature
Tous les goûts sont dans la nature"

*** Courtoisie des Karaoke de Tokyo
私の性格は、すべての人の好み
(Text and agency)

Japanese kids shape: thick or stick-thin

How to tackle the obesity epidemic in children, with efforts
hampered by bureaucracy' attempts to stay friendly with the
powerful sometimes unsafe Japanese food industry?

Equally important is how to consider the problem of girls
not eating enough in some cases, starving themselves to
death in order to look attractive? Japanese young girls
aspire to be thin when stick-thin models dominate the
pages of magazines and advertising walls. Pills and medicines
add to the Japanese super diet teas "burning fat" syndrome.



But this is not just enough disorders.

"Currently in Japan around 10% of the population is
considered obese, up from just 3% in the 1970's. In
America, that number is 30%, nearly 33% of all Japanese
men aged 40-49 are overweight which is up over 11%
in the last 20 years" ... "these people are not clinically
obese, it is highly likely that they will suffer many of
the same symptoms in their latter years."

"As of last year, about half of all Japanese men over the age
of 40 already either had symptoms of metabolic syndrome
(getting fat; having high blood pressure, hypertension and
diabetes; and a prevalence to heart attacks, certain types of
cancer, and strokes, etc.) or were developing it, while just
20% of all Japanese women did so.

Child obesity has triggered commercial opportunities in an
area where you would least expect it: the Video Games Inc.
Besides McDonalds, most parents blame video games and the
consequent lack of physical activity as being a major
contributor to Japanese kids gaining weight."



80% of Japanese kids play video games weekly and do
not walk around during their free time with their noses
stuck in one, 58% play for more than 1 to 2 hours a day on
days off school. Look at them in the subway. Not necessarily
in the richest neighborhood. (Text & agencies)

Dr. Kerviel and Mr. Hide

Kerviel, the SocGen trader is responsible for "plain vanilla" futures hedging on European equity market indices and had taken massive fraudulent directional positions in 2007 and 2008 beyond his authority, abusing his knowledge of the group's security systems, SocGen said.



"Societe Generale's report of fraud comes four months after French competitor Credit Agricole SA said an unauthorized proprietary trade at its investment-banking unit in New York cost it 250 million euros. [In Japan] Sumitomo Corp. disclosed a $2.6 billion loss in 1996 on copper trades. The Japanese firm blamed unauthorized trades by its chief copper trader, Yasuo Hamanaka, who was known as "Mr. Copper" in the markets because of his aggressive trading. Hamanaka was sentenced to eight years in prison in 1998." (Bloomberg)

About Societe Generale's Jerome Kerviel, banking experts are still "puzzled by how such big positions of bad bets were allowed to pile up without any oversight by managers." In Davos, European Central Bank president Jean-Claude Trichet called on the financial sector to "discipline itself". While refusing to comment directly on SocGen, he said regulation needs to be upgraded to take account of ever more complicated financial instruments.

"There is no way all this trading could have been done in a vacuum without anyone noticing," said Bill King of Ramsey King Securities. "Somebody in the back office or in management, or both, were asleep or turned a blind eye," said King. "Ever notice that when a firm blows up, it's always blamed on a 'rogue trader' ?" (In NYPost)

"With Wall Street in crisis and banks begging for cash, the West has lost its swagger. Can China step in and keep the global economy on its feet?... The current economic crisis has revealed the close connections an interdependencies between the US, the world's biggest capitalist economy, an communist China... When the stock market caught on to what was happening, shares tanked on fears that the US would fall into recession. That prompted Ben Bernanke to slash US interest rates by an extraordinary three quarters of a per cent last Tuesday. (The Observer)

And finally, the Nikkei...
"French bank Societe Generale will aggressively market structured deposits, whose returns are linked to stock or commodity prices, to regional financial institutions. A specialized sales team will be formed to provide products tailored to the needs of each customer. (Thursday edition)"

Products tailored to the needs...?

"The world's biggest financial companies have announced more than $120 billion in writedowns and credit losses as the U.S. housing slump rattles debt markets." (re-Bloomberg)


Societe General's chief executive Daniel Bouton is facing an uncertain future.

Back to terror

Following a three-month interruption, Japanese ships of the MSDF are sailing back to the Indian Ocean, for refueling and providing water to warships fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan, and... supplying Iraq war's effort some say thanks to Japan's anti-terror law voted by the Diet to provide logistical support for coalition forces operating in Afghanistan. Not so simple it was. The parliamentary opposition had the curious idea to do its work that is to oppose the government (in normal democratic nations) but was slapped on the face when "the United States rejected a request by Japan that it verify Tokyo's contribution to the US-led "war on terror" in Afghanistan is not used for military operations in Iraq".


JMSDF destroyer Murasame

Japan had refueled warships since November 2001. (it had to order the JMSDF to sail back home after failing to gain the majority in both chambers of the parliament to extend the mission.) Not so costly and not so dangerous and welcomed move as seen abroad.

Washington gave security policy "encouragement", (you know about this little kick on the shoulders not to fall asleep in the Zen temple) and the United States and its "allies" have regularly pushed up Japan's foreign and security policymaking. How? Thanks to pressures from politicians, astrologers, free riders regarding international contribution and foreign policy by (not so) free of charge advisers of American and European military industrial complex, and thanks also and eventually to the intelligence community and why not some say... thanks to some US media in Japan whose fingers are tightly held by governmental agencies. Something the French, Belgium and Brits are too very well aware of in Africa for instance.

Japan's resumed mission is squared to refueling ships not directly involved in conflicts in Afghanistan, not to violate (what a subtile nuance) the spirit of Japan's pacifist constitution. Its unique Article 9 prohibits the country to engage, support in warfare and maintain armed forces. Article constantly violated and fueled by the neo conservatives and military geeks. Well everyone has to pretend more or less, right? Prime minister Fukuda did not attend and preferred to leave for... Davos.

Let's go harsher, "remember the glorious past" the conservatives and its press claim: "Returning to the fight against terrorism is only a passing point. Now we have to begin considering moves for continuously undertaking overseas missions."..." If vessel inspections are included in the SDF's overseas missions, the MSDF could participate not only in refueling activities but also maritime interdiction activities." (Click the title to access this comment from the Yomiuri shimbun).



Until that day of glorious past which is deeply rooted in the heart of the Murasame ship captain Saeki ***, the ferocious activities and engagement with enemies such as North Korean navy cruisers are attributed to the credit of the Japan Coast Guards ships and machine-guns. Why more and why defenestrating the uniqueness of Japanese so called peaceful constitution?

*** JMSDF Escort Division 1 (Murasame and support ship Oumi of Sasebo) Captain Seiji Saeki's speech on January 24th at Yokosuka naval basis, morning time: "Some have said we are violating the Constitution but we have pride and dignity. We'll do our utmost to restore confidence in our country" Captain Saeki is quoted as saying. Clearly violating the spirit of past missions' speeches and entering into troubled waters of political involvement by the Japan militaries. Remember?

Is there a post sub-prime world?

Bank of Japan Gov. Toshihiko Fukui announces after the policy board meeting Tuesday that the BOJ will not raise interest rates for the time being, citing growing concern that a downturn in the U.S. economy could slow global growth.

Regarding the sub-prime financial crisis, Economist Dr. Madsen analyzes the risk of recession, and sees an unknown future for the consumption market, "a risk of crisis for the coming months", depending on what the regulators and professionals will decide. Dr. Madsen, the author of the Economist Intelligence Unit's quarterly Japan Country Reports and Senior Fellow at MIT's Center for International Studies hinted at the fact that "we maybe have not seen all yet." Market also knows about self regulation. "There are new financial products being created at regular rhythm".

So it is not so bad after all and there is a world after the sub prime crisis? Looking further, about East Asian economies, Dr. Madsen forecasts great future for Japan and Republic of Korea in the years ahead. "The high rise of China will be beneficial to both" while the distance will handicap Europeans and North America economies. Koizumi's so called boom "was created by China growth, and less by a so called Japan reform". There is no reason it should stop as China demands for upgrade are simply huge, he said.

Beijing envoy on North Korea's risk : "We are facing a new world"!

If the international community did not react in a timely manner as internal order in North Korea deteriorated rapidly, China would seek to take the initiative in restoring stability, this is according to a report that appeared in several publications in the world, based on the Washington's Center for Strategic and International Studies and the U.S. Institute of Peace and other think-tanks newsletters reaching my mailbox recently.

Who could be the best person to comment this report if not a senior Chinese official who worked on the 6 party talks, Ambassador Cui Tian-kai himself? Ambassador Cui is the current envoy from China, the successor of Vice Minister Wang Yi.

Cui Tian-kai was our guest at FCCJ January 18th. He faced more than 150 guests. The diplomat received a lot of questions (18 questioners as president Williams accounted). As Co MC of the conference with our president, and listening attentively to his words, I had the last question to wrap up this sumptuous event. I focussed on two words the Chinese ambassador often mentioned. These words are: "Security cooperation". Then, I asked him on this theme what China would do if a risk of complication related to nuclear issues would come from unpredictable DPRK and if China troops would stop DPRK, should the regime alter the security of nations in North East Asia? I felt a silent angel passed through the room, everyone kept its breath and watched Mr. Cui.



The comment was answered first as "hypothetical", but the question was tough enough to draw further lines from the Beijing envoy and here is a summary of the comment of our guest speaker:

"Let's prevent such a situation to happen... we are ready to work with the others including DPRK... tension has been here for half a century... but we are facing a new world, China, Japan, Russia RK and DPRK are to work together and in a way that everyone can feel more secure and share the fruits of development."

This was the diplomatic way to comment and as it was not a direct answer, I then simply repeated my question to have a clear cut answer from Beijing's dignitary. His 2nd comment came, witted and straight: "If you entirely believe any news of our troops movement in the US press, then you might be mistaken". "No further question", I answered with a smile that we both shared, and the folks in the event's room could breathe again, applauding to the talent of ambassador Cui who surely passed "magna cum laude" his passage through the international press based in Tokyo on that day. Just 3 months after his assignment as the man who speaks smoothly and in an amiable manner.

Naturally one highlighted comment that one can find in the press is that ambassador Cui estimated that the long-standing dispute between Japan and China on gas exploration rights in the East China Sea will likely be settled "well before" a visit to Japan by Chinese President Hu Jintao in spring.

Remains to see if it would simply be a joint exploitation that would be secured or if we are talking about a comprehensive agreement in the East China Sea, including the tough litigious issue of the demarcation line (a fault line probably in favor of Beijing, some specialists say). The latter might be more difficult to negotiate these coming days between Tokyo and Beijing. But aren't things getting better these days and the music played more in tone between these two East Asian colossus?


Olympian tune!

Pyongyang dictator's son and his magician on a romantic leave to Paris?

Next week, Kim Jong-nam the eldest son of Kim Jong-il, ruler of North Korea, is said to be again heading for Paris and this time with Ms. Hikita Tenko, the magician. Sulfurous rumour? No. Neither an escape from the Stalinian regime but a simple journey. Simple? Or is it an initiation journey back to the source of Korean shamanism* re-interpreted, how ironical, by the heir of a Marxist Leninist dictator bound for the capital of stars and lights?

Well, there are maybe suspicions of financial issues linked to this journey, or is it just gambling, medical treatment? Is it attraction and nostalgia for the atmosphere of France known as the country of lovers and for creating a romantic mood as Nicolas Sarkozy's alleged engagement with "Carla" attested. Ouch. What is related to the dictator's son travel to France? "If the journey is attested, maybe financial reasons", according to Tokyo based sources.



Kim Jong-nam was in Paris in november. He was caught by Asian media strolling in Paris streets and was asked what was he doing in the City of Lights, Kim Jong-Il son answered them in fluent French: "I came here to see a dentist. I don't have much to say. Sorry." Asked how he can speak fluent French, he replied, "You know I studied in Europe."

Kim Jong-nam was one of the heirs of the North Korean ruler until recently. It is believed that he was being groomed as Kim Jong-il's successor but it appears that, according to North Korea watchers, recent reports suggest that although he may for a time have fallen from favor. Nevertheless, Kim Jong-nam is now "once again seen as a possible successor to his father - dictator Dear Leader..."

Going to Paris with a magician is an other form of North Korean hazardous diplomacy?

Who is this magician? Princess Hikita Tenko is the stage name of Mariko Itakura (板倉満里子 Itakura Mariko) born in 1959 in Arai, Niigata, a region known for numerous cases of North Korean spies abducting Japanese citizens.



Tenko is a pop singer turned magician specializing in grand illusions. Her name is taken from Tenkō Hikita (引田天功 Hikita Tenkō), a male Japanese magician who was managed by the same person as Mariko and to whom Mariko was apprenticed in 1976.

A magical affair or a mere business trip, Harry Potter or Disneyland inspired, point is taken that the son of the dictator and the magician are for the least a quite unusual couple. More appreciated than a romance would be a North Korea democratization and denuclearization... "par un coup de baguette magique".


Dictators, ex or current, in action mode or in "peopleization mode", they all seem to be fascinated by the Seine river bank. Quite unfair and frankly " très discourtois."

* On the Korean peninsula, shamanism and magic are common phenomenon, if true, the fact is that dictatorship and repression of North Korean society neither played nor altered deep rooted superstition and traditions regarded as "opium mania" in North Korean society. Who are these magicians? A woman known as a shaman is called a “Mudang” and is part of a tradition that predates nearly every religion and looks to the spiritual world for guidance. A Mudang is chosen two ways. In divine election, the spirits have communicated with them and realized the person’s ability to communicate spiritually. Other Mudangs come from a line of shamans that pass down their tradition. I met some of them and realized documentary magazine on the French broadcasting channel.

JSDF Out to Africa

After the tragic comedy of the "terror bill", Japan's ruling coalition forced its law through parliament to revive an international U.S. led anti-terrorism mission in the Indian Ocean. Done. Now what does it mean for other engagement of Japan's defense on mini scale and expeditionary cute missions overseas? Well, simple, a Japanese military specialist said: "Chinese sent troops for PKO in recent missions", they did it, then the Japanese did it too and they will follow Beijing's mood again. "士馬 tel le Samouraï chevauchant son noble destrier."



Absolutely true, nationalisme oblige "China joined the UN PKO both in East Timor and in Cambodia" as Professor Edward Friedman wrote, "China has launched a major effort to train Chinese PKO forces and has brought trainees to China from all over Asia." Remember the early 90's, when JSDF did a deployment for PKO to Cambodia, helped by France defense personal, and, to Mozambique * in addition to Middle East? The Japanese armed forces specialist continues: "So, Japanese will do it again, as Chinese do", and this time following the mood of the time, to Africa too because things changed there.

This China Japan watching each other moves is an "interesting element", fact of major importance, a fresh update, in substance, according to political scientist Dr. Richard J Samuels, author of "Securing Japan: Tokyo's Grand Strategy and the Future of East Asia" (Cornell Studies). "Japan is more rational than we think", Dr. Samuels said to an informal group of Japan watchers recently in Tokyo.

Indeed Japan is "considering sending members of its Self-Defense Forces to a peacekeeping training facility in Africa as instructors, this is according to government sources on Thursday. The first dispatch is intended to highlight Japan's international contribution, as it often faces difficulty sending peacekeeping troops to Africa due to stringent domestic rules according to sources.

In Africa, instructors from European and other countries' forces are training military personnel and other experts at facilities such as the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Center in Ghana and the Peacekeeping School in Mali.

Tokyo has recently rejected a request from Burundi to send an SDF helicopter unit to help airlift its soldiers to take part in the United Nations-African Union Mission in Darfur, Sudan, and a similar request from Tanzania, citing the lack of a comprehensive peace accord there.

Under the PKO cooperation law enacted in 1992, Japan requires parties of a conflict to have agreed on a cease-fire and accept Japan's participation in a peacekeeping operation in the area, and that Japan remains neutral and withdraws if these conditions are no longer met."

* The law has allowed the SDF to take part in operations in Cambodia, Mozambique and three other countries. SDF troops are participating in the U.N. Disengagement Observer Force in the Golan Heights to maintain the cease-fire between Israel and Syria, and the U.N. Mission in Nepal under a cease-fire accord between the Nepalese government and Maoist rebels.


One cannot say one day that China is backward and the day after that China is a growing threat thanks to European, Russian, Israel military technologies... Click the title to access to this blog "angrychineseblogger" which describes the contradicting views prominently growing in the "Kick China's butt" sphere.

Defense Inc. generous funds

I remember attending some superb seminars in Tokyo on Japan US defense, invitations of VIPs entirely paid by US Japan institutions linked with defense firms. At that time officials from both US and Japan attended and offered their speeches about the issue of the moment. North Korea, China, Integration etc. But who paid such seminars and for what reason, some people asked...? Here is a good answer in this article: "Akiyama reveals sphere of influence" (Click the title to access the story.)

The answers are obvious except for Mr Akiyama and his American colleagues. Insiders know who is targeted in Nagatacho and in town, will these people be moved out? There is one who dares to talk about it these days. From Tottori (furusato), he is born in the year of the Rooster* and he's rising in Japanese politics. He, no doubt, is ready to wash his hands and money a.s.a.p. from the Akiyama Moriya Miyazaki case.



Quote: " Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba effectively admitted Tuesday that the Defense Ministry controls a slush fund worth tens of millions of yen pooled from money earmarked for gathering information and investigating crimes committed by Self-Defense Forces personnel. "We are not in a situation where we can answer correctly whether (the fund) is worth ¥20 million or ¥70 million," Ishiba told the House of Councilors Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defense, rather than dismissing the existence of such a fund. He was responding to a question by an opposition lawmaker over a recent news report on the fund. Ishiba said he has a "vital interest" in whether money is used for its original purpose of collecting information or other activities, indicating the ministry will announce how it will deal with the allegation after fully investigating the alleged slush fund, including its total amount. Some retired ministry officials have said the Defense Ministry and the SDF built up the slush fund over several decades using fake receipts." (Agencies)

Defense Ministry plans to talk about " the alleged slush fund " later, in January.


Born in the year of the Rooster? It means "hardworking, resourceful, courageous and talented, Roosters are self-assured people. They possess powerful personalities and are notoriously dominant. In groups they are vivacious, amusing and popular. But Roosters can be conceited creatures, vain and boastful, with a strong egotistical need to constantly be the center of attention."