Haruki Murakami accepts Jerusalem prize
Japanese author Haruki Murakami went to Israel yesterday to accept the Jerusalem prize. Some groups had claimed that accepting the award would be an endorsement of Israeli’s military action in Gaza, but Murakami did not see it that way:
Standing on the stage flanked by Israeli president Shimon Peres and Jerusalem’s mayor, Nir Barkat, Murakami said he had given “some thought” to attending, and that his biggest reason for coming was to thank his Israeli fans for reading his books.
“When I was asked to accept this award I was warned from coming here because of the fighting in Gaza. I asked myself: Is visiting Israel the proper thing to do? Will I be supporting one side?” the Jerusalem Post quoted him as saying. “I gave it some thought. And I decided to come. Like most novelists, I like to do exactly the opposite of what I’m told. It’s in my nature as a novelist. Novelists can’t trust anything they haven’t seen with their own eyes or touched with their own hands. So I chose to see. I chose to speak here rather than say nothing.”
[via 空]
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Video: 365 days of food in Tokyo
Otaku blogger Danny Choo has created this cool video showing food he ate at restaurants in Tokyo over the past year:
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Categories: Japanese Food
Finance Minister Shoichi Nakagawa gives drunken press conference at G7 meeting
It has been claimed that Finance Minister Shoichi Nakagawa was drunk at the press conference shown in this YouTube video (currently one of the most-viewed videos on YouTube Japan):
Nakagawa has said he did not drink alcohol before the meeting. Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura told reporters that Nakagawa was in a drunken state because of cold medicine, not liquor:
“Finance Minister Nakagawa’s appearance at the press conference was not caused by alcohol,” Kawamura told reporters in Tokyo. “I asked him to take better care of himself.”
Update: He looks even worse in this video clip posted over at FG.
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Categories: Politics
A dog that walks upright
Meet Rocky, a dog in Japan that likes to walk around on his hind legs:
Rocky’s master was suffering partial paralysis, so Rock was taught to walk upright so he could keep the same slow pace as his master when they go for walks. Locals have grown to love the sight of Rocky walking down the street, and he’s even starred in a commercial for an area law firm.
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Categories: Animal Videos
Is CLAIR squandering taxpayer money?
The Council of Local Authorities for International Relations (CLAIR), the governmental organization responsible for the JET Program, could be in trouble. Popular Osaka governor Toru Hashimoto has started questioning CLAIR’s use of funds and has announced that the Osaka government may reduce its financial backing to CLAIR next year (90% of CLAIR’s financial backing comes from money paid by local governments, and Osaka pays a big slice).
A TBS feature news program took a look at CLAIR, focusing on Hashimoto’s charges that local governments pay large sums of money to fund activities of questionable importance (This is only a partial clip of the show. If anyone can find the full video, let us know so we can post it!):
Below are some brief notes on the contents of the video.
- Most of CLAIR’s executives are former high level government bureaucrats. This is a prime example of amakudari, the practice of offering high salary jobs to former bureaucrats in the hopes of receiving preferential treatment from their contacts within the government. An executive interviewed claims there is nothing corrupt going on: CLAIR has merely hired former high level bureaucrats because of they have the necessary skills to run the organization.
- CLAIR has established several overseas offices. The report examines CLAIR’s New York office, finding that it costs a huge amount of money to maintain. CLAIR seems to think it is important to send workers from local governments across Japan to the New York office, but the nature of their work – entertaining/guiding visiting Japanese legislators, writing a few reports, and organizing sister cities programs – may not seem to justify the cost. Rent for the Manhattan office is very high (about $40,000 a month) and its interior is spacious and clean. Those working for CLAIR in New York have huge cubicles, while Osaka city employees must work in old cramped offices. (TBS also seems to have a problem with the fact that CLAIR’s website mentions how workers in New York can enjoy bagels and coffee on the weekend. )
- CLAIR has been receiving much more funding than it needs to maintain its current operations. It has saved up billions of yen, which may be used to set up even more overseas offices in the future.
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Categories: Teaching English
Indonesian nurses in Japan
As Japan’s population ages, an already serious shortage of qualified nurses is getting worse. To alleviate the situation, the Japanese government has begun to allow nurses from Indonesia to come to Japan and work at Japanese hospitals and care facilities.
Here is a report from Japanese TV network MBS about arrival of Indonesian nurses at one care facility:
The Indonesians are very happy to be starting work in Japan. However, they will have to overcome a lot of difficulties if they want to stay in Japan. They hold nursing qualifications in Indonesia, but that is not enough for them to have permanent jobs in Japan. All of the Indonesians will be required to take and pass a Japanese nursing exam in 2012. Those who do not pass will have to return to Indonesia. Despite several months of Japanese language training, they have nowhere near the fluency that will be required to pass such an exam, so they must study Japanese while working.
The Yomiuri has a detailed article up about the foreign nurse program. Here is an excerpt:
On Saturday, an additional 104 Indonesian nurses are scheduled to begin working at hospitals nationwide. In addition to those nurses, about 450 nursing-care workers and nurses from the Philippines are scheduled to arrive in the country to fill jobs at health-care facilities.
Two male Indonesian nursing-care workers–Razes Mejintro, 25, and Anwar Kusumayadi, 23–began working at Katorean Home, a health-care facility for the aged in Sodegaura, Chiba Prefecture, in late January.
“Do you remember my name?” Razes asked 79-year-old Fumi Omori, a female facility resident.
“It’s hard to remember your name,” she said.
After the conversation, Razes wrote his name in katakana on a sheet of paper and recited it with Omori.
The facility requires its Japanese staff members to coach the Indonesians on a one-to-one basis. The Indonesian workers were given the homework assignment of memorizing the names and faces of the 40 residents they had been assigned to care for.
Both Razes and Anwar were nurses in Indonesia. However they will have to learn how a Japanese nursing-care center operates, including duties such as operating wheel chairs, changing diapers, cleaning the facility and bathing residents.
Despite having studied Japanese for six months, the new workers are still learning the language. They take notes on words they do not understand and review them during their breaks.
Miki Takanashi, a nursing-care worker who is in charge of coaching the two Indonesians, said she had tried communicating with them using hand gestures and English.
“We’re trying our best to communicate with them,” she said.
Read the rest on the Yomiuri’s site!
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Categories: Foreigners in Japan