Lost In Translation

Blunt Questions

This quote, from Japan Today, is interesting in that it reflects the Japanese tendency to ask blunt questions, as well what it might imply:

 "Do you find it difficult to use the huge amounts of money you have earned?"   Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, at the outset of his meeting with Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates on Wednesday. Gates answered "Not really," citing world health as an area in which he invests.

Japanese people have no fear in asking your age, maritial status and your opinion of Japan, Japanese food, and Japnese women within 10 minutes of meeting you. So it comes as no surprise that Kolizumi might cut to the chase and ask Gates soemthing that he has long wondered about. I found several of the comments interesting as well. For example, this one from Jay_in_Texas:

I hope this question was taken out of context or translated poorly. Otherwise, it is insulting.

A "punish the successful" attitude is slowly replacing the "admire the successful" attitude in America. I wonder if it pervading other cultures, too.

I do not know Koizumi's personality that well -- so I do not know if this is just a sarcastic dig at Bill, or an ignorant, jealous rhetorical question. Gates seemed to handle it diplomatically, though.

Linux geeks, here is your chance to pile-on our fabulous American icon.

I wonder how we “punish the successful”? I think we still worship the successful, look at Donald Trump, Paris Hilton, The Osbornes, etc… I think we tend to equate monetary success as the only barometer for success. I have to admit I am distrustful of people with money, I’ve never had it and have never really known people how had, that is until I came to Japan. The point is I can admire successful people, and I do admire Bill gates, he has made the world a better place in my opinion, other may argue, furthermore he has been generous to my alma matter the University of Washington and other charities. Take someone else, lets say the guy who introduced outsourcing to the business world, he is probably rich and considered successful, but I see the legacy of this policy wreaking havoc not only on America where thousands of middle class jobs evaporated overnight, but the far reaching effects on exploited workers who are paid substantially less freeing up money for what…the shareholders. I can’t admire this individual, but I am sure almost everyone else in America would.

A friend told me that he has a Japanese business expert friend who gives lectures and he challenges his audiences by saying things like: “In Japan companies take profits and re-invest them in the company rightfully as they should", and my friend says catcalls erupt form the audience: “You don’t really believe that do you?” The western paradigm of profit at all costs is difficult to shatter. In America the averages CEO makes perhaps s much as 100 times the salary as the lowest on the totem pole. And this doesn’t make sense to me, since the workers are the ones who really create the growth not he person who gives the seed money to start the corporation-just another example of how the rich get richer exploiting whoever whenever they can. The history of strike breaking-employing children and women at lower wages (the outsourcing of the past), poor working conditions, company stores and accommodation that came out of paychecks-the messy past of capitalism that doesn’t jibe with it’s image of where it’s at today. It is much more equitable here in Japan, and therefore it has a larger middle class, a seemingly more stable society without the need for as many safety nets, and society seems more equal financially than in places like America, but who knows how long this will last before they adopt western style business standards.

It upsets me that sometimes what’s good for business isn’t good for the environment, the workers, the consumers, but corporations don’t think like rational human beings and therein lays the problem. Then you get disasters like Enron,

In America, if you are a teacher people know that it is supposed to be an important job, but they think you are a chump for doing it. Basically a tough job that doesn't pay much. In Japan at least you get respect for being a teacher it’s part of the culture to respect elders and knowledgeable people.

Basically, it seems to be me that the American/western capitalistic paradigm isn’t the only possible model-can there really be a third way? But, it doesn’t really matter because those who have the power will never cede it and it will stay the same or get worse-especially if you consider every administration in power since Carter in America.

Ginza Block Party

Sometimes on the weekends the streets are blocked off and tables and chairs are set outisde for the tired shoppers to relax with in places like Ginza and Shinjuku.

DVD Notes: Happy Together

Happy Together (1997) was the last Wong Kar-Wai movie from the set that I bought a couple of months ago. It had the distinction of winning the Best Director Prize at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival. Kar-Wai chose Argentina as his location because of his love of soccer, and it the home of the former premier soccer player Diego Maradona. It is the first of his loosely planned films that really come together in the editing room after having gone over budget-this is what happened with his next two films; In The Mood For Love and 2046. I think it is thematically similar to many of his films since it deals with relationships, thwarted love, romance, betrayal and starting over. However, this time it is viewed through the adventures of two gay Hong Kong lovers, Tony Leung and Leslie Cheung living in Buenos Aires. Christopher Doyle provides his usual cinematic magic in the city and other locations like Iguazu Falls. But I have to say that Argentina comes off as a little dismal in this film, but perhaps this is what he was looking for as his back drop for this sort of desperate love story.

Whale Burgers

Here's some interesting news on whale meat from America Today:

Whale burger goes on sale in Japan

TOKYO

A fast food chain in northern Japan began offering a whale burger on Thursday, even as anti-whaling nations urged Japan to cut back on its catch at an international conference on whaling.

Restaurant chain Lucky Pierrot is serving a deep fried minke whale meat burger with lettuce and mayonnaise for $3.50 at its 10 restaurants in Hakodate on Japan's northern island of Hokkaido, once a whaling hub in the nation.

Japan is facing increasing international criticism for its research whaling program in which the whales are killed in order to study them and their meat is then sold. Critics say it is commercial hunting in disguise.

Miku Oh, an official for Lucky Pierrot, said the chain is only utilizing stock meat obtained from the scientific research and that it wants to preserve the culture of eating whale meat.

"People in other countries may think (eating whale) is strange, but it is our culture," she said.

Oh said that the whale for the burger is cooked in such a way that "it tastes like beef and tuna, and since it is deep fried it has no odor."

At an annual meeting of the International Whaling Commission, currently being held in Ulsan, South Korea, anti-whaling countries passed a resolution Wednesday urging Japan to drop plans to more than double the number of whales it hunts each year for research.

Click here to read the rest.

Nagatoro Pictures

My friend Tony posted the pictures from the Nagatoro weekend on the net. Click here to see them.

Book Notes: Ugly Americans

Ugly Americans by Ben Mezrich is billed as “The true story of the ivy league cowboys who raided the Asian markets for millions.” However, it comes across as fiction. I realize that certain details had to be changed to protect sources. I think that he did manage to get a lot of the details right, but from a market perspective I couldn’t tell you what those were really. However, after reading Rogue Trader, the book about Nick Leeson, who brought down Barclay with his trading in Singapore-and he gets some mention in the book-it seems right. Obviously there are a lot of people in finance and banking that have made and are making a lot of money. I think he is spot on how he portrays these people. The lavish lifestyle they can lead in Japan and how they have mutated into creatures that cannot return to America. They’re used to the “water trade”, which is various levels of seediness are engaged. In addition, there’s a sense of entitlement among these people, Japan is still considered a “hardship post” so they feel the need to have American style apartments, utility bills paid for, membership to the American Club, etc… an inability to speak Japanese, and so on. However, John Malcolm is a former football hero, American everyman, impervious to the temptations of the “water trade”, incorruptible, who makes a big score and benevolently remembers his friends. There’s action and romance as well. I get the feeling that Mezrich was writing for a possible Hollywood option, one of his earlier books Bringing Down The House was optioned by Kevin Spacey. Besides being incorruptible and a football hero, John Malcolm who manages to seduce and win the daughter of a Yakuza who works at a hostess club with no Japanese…then again having a lot of money goes along way. It was a mostly entertaining light read. I’d be curious to read Liar’s Poker, another book about traders, and compare it to that.

Favorite Places: Flamingo Cafe

Here's another great outdoor cafe in Harajuku, The Flamingo Cafe. It has great lunch set, a variety of dishes with a salad and drinks bar. The picture below is "tacos rice", which was developed in Okinawa.

CD Notes: Belle & Sebastian

I was surprised to see a new Belle & Sebastian CD, Push Barman To Open Old Wounds, because it hasn’t been that long since they released Dear Catastrophe Waitress. Then I found out that it was a bunch of songs that were released on EPs from 1997 to 2001. That aside, it is another great collection, 2 CDs worth, of brilliant pop songs. On Pitchfork.com they alluded to Belle & Sebastian being the modern day equivalent of The Smiths, who I feel have stood up well against the test of time, and I expect that the same will be true of Belle & Sebastian, one of my mellow rock stalwarts along with Calexico and Luna. The standout tracks include: “Lazy Line Painter Jane” featuring the soaring guest vocals of Monica Queen, the 60s retro sounding “Legal Man”, “This Is Just A Modern Rock Song”, “Jonathon David”, “Belle & Sebastian”-generally it’s hard to go wrong with any tune here.

Book Notes: Clockers

I saw the film version of Clockers when it came out in the mid 90s. I remember liking it, but the details are a bit fuzzy in my mind. I was inspired to pick up the novel version, written by Richard Price, of it after reading Nick Hornby’s rave about it. And sure enough it proved to be a compelling read. Price is excellent with the telling details about being a cop and a clocker that gives the novel an air of authority. His understanding of the drug game, his depiction of the day to day work of urban cops with their questionable behavior, and spot on dialogue pulls the reader deeper into the action, because it is a mystery and thriller at it's heart. However, it is the impressive recreation of the lawless urban hell that the inner cites became during the crack epidemic that captured my attention and admiration. His depiction of the main characters are completely flawed and true to life: Rocco, the frazzled homicide detective, looking for something keep him going, Strike, the clear thinking dealer with an ulcer, and the larger than life Rodney the charismatic neighborhood ghetto drug kingpin. I read that Price is a former drug addict and longtime New York resident so that he knows of what he speaks of. He has written a couple of novels since Clockers, so I may have to check those out sometime as well. I’d like to see Spike Lee's film version again to see how he portrayed the story.

Ivy-Samurai Bowl II

A student of mine at Toyo University is a member of the American football team and gave me some tickets to this last Sunday's Ivy-Samurai Bowl at Komazawa Olympic Stadium. The picture above is of an observation tower in front of the stadium where the gaem was played. It was my first time to this park space, which is pretty cool looking and is ahead of it's time design-wise. I'm assuming we're talking about the 1964 Olympics here. The game was billed as a match between Columbia University and Brown University, but there were only a handful of players from either team, the rest were made up of Japanese club members from various college teams. It was interesting to watch, in spite of the fact that it was super humid that day and that I was also suffering through a hangover.