Lost In Translation

Book Notes: The Best Democracy That Money Can Buy

I am skipping a review of Junichiro Tanizaki's two novellas, The Reed Cutter and Captain Shigemoto's Mother, two compelling stories of desire and passion by one of Japan's modern masters which I recently read. Instead, I want to discuss The Best Democracy Money Can Buy by Greg Palast, a fascinating, eye-opening and disturbing collection of investigative journalism.

Greg Palast is an investigative journalist, who is currently working for the BBC and The Guardian. He formerly worked fighting corporations with Labor Unions and consumer groups. He brings his investigative experience from these organizations to uncover greed, avarice, and injustice the world over. He is probably most well know for uncovering the voting shenanigans in Florida during the last election, which makes of the first chapter of this book. His documentation is meticulous, and his style is straight forward and to the point.

He takes on the Bush family and the corporations (i.e. Enron) and countries (i.e. Saudi Arabia) that have supported them throughout their political lives. He also has a lot to say about deregulation of power, which has significant relevance in light of the recent blackout in the northeast (click on "Greg Palast" to get to his website to read more about it). He also shows how the IMF, World Bank, and WTO have had a negative impact on developing economies and challenges the globalization. Of course he devotes a full chapter to corporate America. In another chapter, he goes after Pat Robertson and Pepsi Cola among others.

Furthermore he provides a handy appendix for "your turn-resources for action." In that section he lists organizations that are fighting against injustices all over as well as suggestions as to what people can do to get involved.

Ichiro @ Safeco Field

I hadn't been back to Seattle during the summer for quite some time, and didn't have a chance to see Ichiro play before this last visit. On August 13th, I caught a game at Safeco Field. Ichiro didn't dissapoint, he was 3 for 3 with 3 runs scored, and had two walks. The Mariners won 11-6 against the Blue Jays and Sasaki pitched one perfect inning of relief in his first appearance back from an injury. Here are some photos of the beautiful and atmospheric ballpark:

Here's a view from the outfield.

This is a view from the first base side.

That's a picture of Ichiro on the outfield scoreboard.

To The Past And Back

This week I finished teaching a seminar on teaching English to junior high school teachers in Saitama. This week it was in the distant Fukaya, the charming station is pictured above. The week before it was located near at two colleges, one in Soka city, whcih is next to Koshigaya where I used to live while on the JET Program. The other day was actually at Bunkyo Univeristy in Koshigaya. Just being there was a bit nostalgic, since I used to learn Japanse there in the evenings.

I wondered if I would meet any teachers I used to know while on the JET Program. One of the main organizers was Mr. Kanno, my old superrvisor from Koshigaya. He was assited by some of my other old supervisors Mr. Takashima, Mr. Onishi, and Mr. Ohmiya. It was nice to see them all again. I also ran into two teachers that I used to teach with at my last school, Osagami Jr. High School.

The teachers were great, but the pay wasn't all that, if you factor in travel time, preparation, and student evaluations. I don't think I'll teach it next year.

Monday I return to Seattle/Spokane for a wedding and to see family and friends. I'll be there for 19 days, so I'll try to do some weblogs updates from there as well.

In The iPod: Wilco and Luna

Last week I bought a couple of earlier albums of bands that I have been getting into a lot lately. I've been a fan of Wilco, since before they were Wilco; when Jay Farrar and Jeff Tweedy were still talking and making records as Uncle Tupelo, during my obsession with alt country that started with the discovery of X's Poor Critter On The Road. Not long ago I got the movie, I Am Trying To Break Your Heart, chronicling the odessey of the excellent, and difficult to classify album Yankee Foxtrot Hotel, which got dropped by their label only to be picked up by a subsidiary of the same company for more money. It was a reminder of how great of a band Wilco is. I didn't have the Wilco and Billy Bragg collaboration Mermaid Avenue (a collection of Woody Guthrie soungs that had been written without music, which was provided by the aforementioned artists), so I decided to pick it up. I think it is a good album as well, but not in the same class as Yankee Foxtrot Hotel. However, I particullary like "California Stars" and "Hoodoo Voodoo", which Wilco have made theirs in a sense. Billy Bragg also gives stand out performances on "Ingrid Bergman" and "Walt Whitman's Niece."

In a sense I was into Luna before they were a band as well, that is I was a fan of Dean Wareham's previous band, Galaxie 500. I suppose it is typical understated indie rock, but I think Wareham is a superior wordsmith. I find their music atmospheric, good for background music while reading or studying. But before last year, I was only familiar with tracks by Luna on the I Shot Andy Wahrhol soundtrack and another compilation from a now defuct magazine called bob. That is until I read a glowing review of last year's release Romanitica, which contained more praise for 1995's stellar Penthouse. So from there I am still trying to assemble the backlog. Last week I picked up Pup Tent, which is another solid album, but doesn't reach the heights of Penthouse. My favorite tracks on this one are "Beautiful View", "Bobby Peru", and "Tracy I Love You."

Book Notes: number9dream

About three years ago a friend gave me a copy of a novel written by an English teacher living in Hiroshima. I had expected not to like it and was pleasantly surprised and wrote a book review, which became my first professional journalistic piece (i.e. I was paid for it), it was a book review (there would be a link to it if I knew how to transfer a text scan into a regular text file) of David Mitchell's impressive debut, Ghostwritten.

It wasn't until recently that I read his follow up, number9dream (2001), I?m not sure why I waited so long, since, I, myself, had pointed out that he had enormous talent and was looking forward to what he'd write next. I think the reviews of the novel?s content turned me off, however, I can't say exactly what it was. But now having read the acclaimed book, which was short listed for the Booker prize, I know exactly what it is that I don't like about it.

The previous novel was a collection of stories that interconnected to form a novel. One of those stories owed a heavy debt to Haruki Murakami, as does this novel. It is a sort to of mystery (a boy searching for his father), which is one of Murakami's favorite genres. It features a female character praised for an atypical beauty point, in Murakami's case it was the ears, here it is her neck. There are elements of fantasy and science fiction, however, I can't see how they move the story along or add to it. I find it something that I usually overlooked in Murakami's work, because of all the other great qualities his novels possess. Early in the novel, the main character Eiji has several sci-fi fantasy sequences that d little other than introduce some characters and make you wonder what kind of book you've gotten yourself into. Later, there is a sequence where Eiji is hiding out reading fantastical stories by the occupant of the safe house, which almost seems like filler, and to be honest I skimmed most of those stories. And instead of naming his novel after a Beatles song like Murakami, "Norwegian Wood", he has named it after a John Lennon song, "number9dream."

Furthermore, I had trouble getting around the English slang. I know he was making an approximation of how Japanese in meaning and tone would sound in English. And he has had success with an idea that I've had as well, which is to write a typical literary story, but set it in Japan in order to distinguish it from the hundreds of other literary novels. And to Mitchell?s credit, he has had a lot of success in doing so.

He seems to be dealing with some big issues like fate, the nature of evil, and man's role in society. But sometimes the story comes across like a manga (comic book) story, with every evil character being cartoonishly so over the top.

I know that Mitchell lives in Hiroshima, but must have spent extensive time in Tokyo, because he knows all the right stations and describes the city with an eye for detail. He chooses obscure areas in shita-machi (downtown) like Kita-Senju and Ueno station. That being said Mitchell is an impressive stylist. In professional terms this was a successful follow-up to his initial book. But in my eyes he is capable of more.

My Neighborhood

This is the view from my roof, that's Shinjuku you're looking at.

These are some lanterns set up for a matsuri (festival), there are a lot of these durnig the summer. This usually meanis dancing, food stalls, and fireworks. This one is at a station near my sports gym in front of Otska station.

This is an old temple near my house.

This is one of my favorite restaurants near Myogadani station. They always give me a free beer ticket when I eat there.

This is something I like about my new neighborhood. You don't see houses like this everywhere in Tokyo.

This just happens to be the house next door, but these houses are unusual, most of them are more modern and uglier.

Art, Here And There

I went to a bar called Office on Saturday night expecting to find an "office"- themed bar with a killer view of the busy Aoyama-dori, but after parting the grass curtains we were welcomed with a hearty "Welcome to Okinawa!" Apparently the tropical island-themed decor coincided with an exhibition of drawings and paintings inspired by Okinawa, of which, most of them featured women in bathing suits. The artist or one of his friends was playing Okinawian ballads(?) and Beatles on an acoustic guitar. It was a friendly and intimate gathering.

Today I went to an opening party for a friend of a friend, Jack McLean, and another artist. This is one of his paitings. I was hoping to see some of his drawings, which are really amazing, funny and detailed, and often of the dark humor vareity. He should have his own comic book, his style is very Crumb-esqe. Unfortunately, I don't have any copies of his drawings, but this is the crow painting I liked best.

Film Notes: City Of God

On Thursday last week I finally saw City of God at The Roppongi Hills Virgin Cinema. Roppongi Hills is a new building complex for the well heeled by a local real estate mogul named Mori. That being said, the Virgin Theater is state of the art, with stadium seating and advance ticket purchase available online, therefore useful to all inhabitants of Tokyo no just the super rich. I have been going to Heartland, a bar owned by Kirin, that has a cool, sleek interior, 500 yen ($6) beers (a bargain in Roppongi where it's usually 800 yen, $10, for a beer), and uses top drawer liquor in their cocktails, furthermore, it?s a bit removed from the seedy main strip.

As for City of God, it is a rare treat to have the opportunity to see a foreign film with English subtitles (the English appears at the bottom, while the Japanese subtitles run vertically to the right of the screen). I have read a lot of great reviews about this movie and it didn't disappoint. I like the way that the director moved back and forth across time to tell the story of the Rio de Janeiro slum and it's inhabitants in a non-linear fashion. The opening sequence sets the tone for the film in which life is fraught with danger coming from several different directions. In some ways this film reminds me of the equally powerful opening story in the Mexican film Amores Perros, relating to life in a ghetto quarter of Mexico City. It is as much a social chronicle of Rio as a personal story of survival and triumph based on a book that recounts real life events. Probably the best movie I've seen this year.

Book Notes: One World, Ready Or Not

I've been meaning to write about One World, Ready Or Not (1997) by William Greider for some time since I finished reading it a few weeks ago, but it is a difficult book to describe in detail given it's scope and content. I first encountered Greider in the pages of Rolling Stone magazine where he writes about politics and economics and was impressed by his intelligence and rational thinking. Needless to say, he is somewhat liberal and progressive. This book is an excellent look at globalism, especially how economic systems and policies affect the world. Some of these sections are bit difficult to follow, but I found his case studies of different companies and labor movements quite fascinating, especially the section about the airplane industry and Boeing in particular. He explained how Boeing parcels out parts contracts to countries that order airplanes as a sort of kickback for countries doing business with them.

The section about the negative impact of free trade zones on the poor people who work in them is very telling. (For a more comprehensive look at the exploitation of third world workers see Naomi Klein's excellent No Logo, which is a good companion text to this). It is something that has troubled me since I saw a large group of peasant girls lining up at the gates of a textile factory in Cambodia, they looked like they were twelve, it was very Dickensian. The fact that they make around $20 a month for shoes that cost over $100, is absurd to me. I'd like to present some of the suggestions he has for reforming the global economic system, which has been spiraling out of control. All of them seem quite reasonable to me.

1. Tax capital instead of labor.

2. Reform the terms of trade to ensue more balanced flows of commerce, compelling export nations to become larger consumers of the global production.

3. Bring the bottom up-raising wages on the low end as rapidly as possible-by requiring trading nations to honor labor rights.

4. Forgive the debtor-that is, initiate a general write-off of bad debts accumulated by poorer nations.

5. Reform the objectives of central banks so they will support a pro-growth regime instead of thwarting it.

6. Refocus national economic agendas on the priority of work and wages rather than trade or multinational competitiveness, as the defining issue for domestic prosperity.

As Greider mentions, "None of the propositions I have suggested is especially radical or even new in historical terms, since they all have been actively employed at one time or another." Nonetheless, I don't really expect to see any of these reforms adopted given the fact that there's no real economic motivation to do so. The problem as Greider states it, is that there is no governing body with the best interests of workers overseeing economic policies. As a result the gap between the haves and have-nots will continue to extend. All in all, a very thought provoking look at global economics.