My Birthday

July 11th is my birthday. I work from 6am to 8pm today... and my lunch was just a cup noodle. Today's Tokyo stock market movement was strange. I mean, it moved so volatile. I finally said to my boss "today is my birthday, and I am really sad to have a cup noodle as birthday's lunch".
Then he replies to me with saying "okay, if you are free tonight, I will treat a glass of wine".

So we just went to a small and cozy restaurant and grabbed a couple of glass wine. I ordered red wine, but they brought white... it is okay. Anyway, it seems that everybody gets frustrated at my workplace including this guy. So we just talked about only job things... typical Japanese business people's chat!

Anyway, I got tired because of long work time. I have tried to catch a series of information about what has happened whole day, and also I have taken care of my 8 people. For example, giving some advices on his/her work, letting people feel good with a sense of humour, protecting them from unreasonable bosses...

When I look back my birthday today, it is fine for me. Well, maybe happy.
The guy who treated wine for me said "generally speaking, a birthday should be the day to thank one's parents who gave one's birth"... hmm I think it is a good phrase. I know this already, but again, it remains in my heart firmly.

To Save Children's Lives

I watched an interview program of one pediatrician last night. He saw a lot of patients and most of them were children. He said the expression of their feelings were great and pure. He has tried to help lives as many as he has been able to. He sometimes talks about disease with a little kid with encouragement. I was feeling his job was one of the most valuable and precious in the world.

Being a journalist sometimes knocks me out. Losing the sight of why I work as it is, and what to do it. Then back to the memories of pleasure as a journalist. One might be a letter of appreciation for my article... yes, it is a tiny memory but I still remember it.

I would like to be one' side who needs some help. I am not finding the exact way to practice it, but always think of it.

Tomorrow is my birthday. I would like to thank many people who support me.

How to Survive

At my workplace, there seem to be at least two people who got mental disease. They have been absent from work these days. One guy was scolded by my boss a couple of time. He has just learned a new area at the office, and it is natural to make some mistakes. I could feel a kind of atmosphere that everybody feels relieved to see that type of guy... he or she can feel himself or herself as an upper level person in terms of ability at work. It is unbelievable for me to write like this, but I think this is an aspect of my office. I have worked with 100% energy when I need to finish some work within the deadlines and I have not been able to help him. Only I could hear some strong and strict words from my boss to him.

Yes, my office sounds like a military. The commander is the strongest and I am just like a middle-aged soldier. What can I do in this circumstance? One solution which I am doing is that I try to use some sense of humour and to be careful of others' feelings. It is actually difficult to practice.

What is the G of G8?

People say "the G8 summit has held in Hokkaido, Japan". Now here is the question; What is the G of G8? I guess G is about Great 8 Countries in terms of influential power. If so, what kind of message do they express?

The stock market has not reacted by this summit so far. Many investors seem to care of the US economy and financial system as well as the impact of inflation including the sharp movement of oil prices. Why the gap between rich and poor happens all the time? I remember that Ethiopia faced with poverty in 1984-85 when the aid movement came into being among artists in the UK and US.

The answer might lay inside of our mind. Selfish, lack of kindness, careless...

July 7th --- Tanabata

The G8 summit has started in northern part of Japan. Today is July 7th, a traditional event day for Japanese. We call it Tanabata and celebrate the peace. I found the explanation website written in English.

http://www2.gol.com/users/csr-kts/hiratsuka/tanabata/

I did not do anything special today, but I know I should. When I was a child, I tend to write my wish in a long and narrow paper (we call it Tanzaku) and hang it on the leaf of bamboo.

I watch a news program tonight, and I learned the G8 participants such as Bush, Brown, Fukuda and others also wrote their wishes on Tanzaku. They wish peace and I know it might be a kind of nonsense, but I would say, it is okay to wish vague things with discussion in concrete words and solution. We understand to protect the environment, and now we need the political leadership and reflection of each of us what we have done to the earth and what way we need to change. When we can get this type of message from G8 summit, I personally think it will become the valuable one.

Hot day

Today it was very hot. Trying to get some good sleep but I netsurfed until late at night yesterday, so it was getting hotter during my sleep hours. No good habit.

I am a guy who cannot tidy my room. Many books, CDs, Videos, newspapers and clothes... I wish I could get a couple of extra holidays, I will do my best to clean my room but I know that I need to change my nature to have some courage to take things away. I tend to think "oh this is my memory in preparation to study in the UK" or "I cannot throw this away because it reminds me of my effort to do my best at the office"...

I went to the cleaner's to take my suits for winter season today. I walked to the shop and I got hot and tired. I feel I need to be more healthy both body and mind.

Japan and Singapore

In 2007, Singapore becomes no.1 country in Asian region in terms of GDP per a person. I read this article today, and the newspaper says this is based on the IMF data. Japan becomes no.2, and the article mentions that Singapore is eager to invite many foreign investments to stimulate the economy.

The message from this article is like "so what to do, Japan?". What does it mean to compete among countries? Well, I think it has some meaning. This trend has possibility to lead decline of Japan in the world and it will affect our lives in Japan.

In Singapore, they speak English and they are able to get much of western culture and information from the U.S. or the U.K. based on the assumption that there is no censorship. Yes, it is easy for Japanese to get that as well, but I am still doubtful that we are sometimes late to notice some very important change because of lack of ability in English. I mentioned about this before, I think...

People here tend to think within their own common sense, and it is important. However, I would say, we need to be interested in the outside of our own world which is very interesting.

Reflection

Now it is midnight, and I tend to reflect my behavior of today. Most of the time, I feel "oh I should not say that to her" or "oh I should not say that word to him". But of course, it is too late.

To have good quality of communication, I found one simple thing necessary. That is a sense of humour. The feeling of joy will lead people to be happy, I believe. At office, people act differently from their action with friends. For my case, I have some weird bosses, and their philosophy of communication does not suit for me. But I need to keep the communication with them to move my work forward. In this case, a sense of humour and yes, patience are the keys of smooth communication.

Metabolic Syndrome

I took medical examination in May, and a couple of weeks ago, I got my results. It says, I am the one of Metabolic Syndrome.

People call "Metabo" the guys whose stomach is big enough. I was always said a skinny guy when I was 20's. I understand to do some exercises...

When I was in Leeds, the U.K., I was not aware of this syndrome. When I got back to Japan, I had noticed everybody had talked about it too much. But now, it sounds more serious to me. This syndrome has a strong linkage to diseases.

Please Do It at Home

This is an ad on the wall of subway station in Tokyo. It says "Please do it at home".

The number of women who make themselves up in the train.

It is generally considered as shameless behavior among people before.

I talked this topic with my friends before. One of them said,

"women have become busier than before, so people should take in consideration this point".

What do you think when one guy starts to shave? I personally think it is a matter of manner. Or a matter of one's definition of disgraceful behavior. Those who do their faces tend to say "I am not hurting anybody, so why people can criticise my behavior?" And I understand there is an opinion like "simply, what's the problem?"

Some people start eating, some listen to music loudly, and I know some talk over their phone even train companies set a rule not to do it. The elderly people say they cannot believe women starts making up according to Japanese culture. It may be up to ourselves to think what kind of behavior is "matured".

The Most Satisfactory City for Japanese Travellers

A survey shows that Vienna is the most satisfactory city. A Japanese magazine for travellers called "AB-ROAD" announced the result of its survey on foreign cities.

In addition to Vienna, Las Vegas, Rome, Cairns, and Chiang Mai were in the top 5 in terms of the satisfaction. Those who like Vienna say "concerts were great" "the atmosphere of the city was really good".

On the other hand, cities like Gold Coast and the Alps got high rate of unsatisfied stay. I do not know the reasons.

The most popular country for Japanese travellers is Italy no matter he or she is a single or has own family. Among single guys, Dubai gets popularity. It ranks No. 11 of the place where they wish to visit from No.36 last year.

When I visited Venice in 2006, the atmosphere was really amazing and it was just like arts as a whole. I understand people like to visit Italy, and I wish I could visit other places in Italy with some knowledge of its history and arts.

The Mother whose daughter was abducted

The US government decided to ease its sanction to North Korea.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7476625.stm

I am thinking of a Japanese mother who met George Bush at the White House to appeal what has happened to her. The fact is that her daughter was kidnapped by the agents of North Korea, and the family keep asking to give her back.

How is the feeling of the families whose important people were abducted? I am trying to use my own imagination and thinking what I can do as an individual.

From Subprime to Oil

I have just watched a documentary program on current money flow. In the program, a family came to the US from Mexico needed to leave their home because they could not afford to pay their loans. The children seemed very sad when they left their home. I am sure they were really happy to be able to have their own home, and it was an American dream which the Bush administration appeals. On a contrary, the voice of bankers who enforced them to leave sounded high and cheerful. They wanted the houses as soon as possible because the housing market in the US has already declined.

The family borrowed money from a bank, but that was based on assumption which their home's value climbed up year after year. Subprime loan is basically low rate for the first two years, and it goes up in the third year. So the family borrowed another subprime loan from another bank.
Once the value started falling, they could not pay as much as the banks required.

The financial products which many financial institutions and companies purchased consist of loans including subprime. Now, many companies face with problems of losses.

The world is still filled with much money. In the documentary, an American guy who once worked for Bear Stearns is still selling the new type of financial products which consists of loans and oil prices. The oil prices moves up and down everyday. If it is "bubble" or just money game, another type of crisis will happen. This was a message from the program.

The Meaning of Feeling Isolated

There are some people who cause unimaginable murder. A critic said in a news program those people tended to think they were isolated and lonely all the time. When I look at myself, it is not a special thing for them, I would say. When I think of definition of friends, what will it be? Do friends need to understand what he or she likes and dislikes? What is the difference between friends and the best friend? What about a partner or family members?

I would suggest those who tend to think "I am not a valuable person to live in this society", just away from there and go another world. I mean, no need to go out actually, but do mentally. Thinking of others who call for some help.

To do such the actions above, I understand that it is necessary for them to have enough rooms in their mind and enough time to take in consideration. They need to understand the fact "you are not the only one who suffer from much confusion and frustration"...

Everybody seems to be a participant

I watched some news programs on an incident which a young guy killed 7 people in Tokyo. The fact is that 7 people were killed and they never come back to their families. What a sad and fearful incident... and many people who were there took photos by mobile phone. They just stared how the things were settled after killing and sent the photos to the media. The media use them as scoop photos. Some people who were there talked how crazy the scene was with their excitement. The way of their talk... I can't help thinking if they really consider the families' feeling.

My town changes

Here is a photo of my home town's supermarket. This building was closed yesterday, 6pm. I just went there after 6pm so I could not get inside.

I remember the day when this supermarket opened. The image was new and sophisticated, and recently I still heard the prices were a little more expensive than others.

However, I could see some parts on their floor were dirty and flawed. I was feeling there were some reasons not to repair, then understood that they decided to close.

This building will be reconstructed as a combination of supermarket and condominium. That will be the fall of 2009. I feel sad a little to see the change of my town.

Work and Life

I know that my life is mostly dominated by work. When I look back a day at the end, I tend not to remember what I have done in that day. I remember I have been busy, but there is almost nothing in my heart, to be honest. I have noticed my interest exists in a different world, but I do not want to get away from my current situation at the same time. I can find many new things through my job, and these are difficult to find if I do only what I want to do.

But simply, I am feeling that life is too short to use my time like that way. I understand I need to focus on what I want to do and to be. It is actually hard to recognise it.

What It Means to Take An Action; A Review of "Lions for Lambs"

I recently think of the meaning of taking an action. We can see many sad and considerable incidents in our daily lives. In order to stop or change the situation, it is important to start something we can do... but is it enough to do anything we are JUST able to do? For me, I tend to excuse myself to say "hey, this is very important issue so I need to take in consideration in depth at first", and as a result, I do not do anything.



Human rights, Environment problems, Aging society, and the like. I have a little money and time, then I feel and understand I should act something to solve these. I believe that is my understanding to take my responsibility.



I watched an US movie called "Lions for Lambs". The Japanese title of this movie is "The Great Intrigue"... sorry to make an digression, I disagree of this title at all. I think this is a matter of sense and intelligent to catch the message or I would say, philosophy of this movie. The marketing team of this movie on Japanese side sometimes mislead the message with putting wrong titles. Having a word like "Great" sounds very cheap and I felt "okay, they just see this movie as unpopular among majority".



Anyway, the movie is very short like 90 minutes and I was like "oh is it the end?" After seeing this movie, I was in depression a little. A journalist (Meryl Streep) got some information from a Senator (Tom Cruise). The relationship between them seemed realistic. A professor (Robert Redford) tried to let his intelligent student look at his potential power to start something. His other two students joined the war on terror under the name of "what we can do" to solve problems.

To change the world, it is actually important to make an action. Ignorance, being indifferent, talk only with nihilism can create almost nothing in a sense. However, a strong will is not enough as well. Some "lambs" use it to make their purpose come true. It is important to understand how society works and start to take in consideration how to make an action, and this is very tough to come to conclusion. The movie asks the audience's decision what to do. The student's face in a last scene is just as same as the audience's face.

Another spring scenes in Tokyo

I was writing this on Apr. 7th and could not post on this blog...
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Those pictures were taken about 10 days before.


The right one on the above was taken in the place near the Emperor's house.





The picture with a traditional dancer wearing Kimono was taken in Yasukuni shrine on the same day.

Spring has come in town

Now spring has come. I went to a national park in Tokyo to see cherry blossoms. There are many cherry blossom and this picture is one of them I took by my mobile phone. This park is called Shinjuku Gyoen, and the Wiki explains its history ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shinjuku_Gyoen).

This year, I had a couple of times to enjoy watching beautiful trees in Tokyo. I am going to put other pictures from now. To enter this park, you need to pay about 1 pound. There are Japanese style, British, and French. You can enjoy some different types of cherry blossoms.