A Fatal Birthday Present

Actually, the joke was overdone.
via Kyodo News
Couple dies after falling into pit dug for birthday prank


On the night of August 27th, a tragedy happened at a beach in Ishikawa, Japan. A married couple lost their lives because of being caught by a big trap that the wife and her friends had made.


According to the  news, as a surprise present for the husband who would turn 24 on his coming birthday, she and her friends made a big hole on the beach that took 5 hours to build. At first, their plan was intended to entrap him only. However, after she lured him to carry out the plan that night, because they headed to the snare on the beach counting on only the light from their cell phones, it seemed both of them fell into the pit by accident. 


The depth of the hole is 2.5m and the widths are 2.4m. In the midst of making it, one of the members seemed to indicate the risk, but they didn't stop. The legally-ordered autopsy revealed that their causes of death were suffocation. Both of the victims were 23 years old and new married.


Anyway, a silly thought lead to an entirely unexpected result. I feel pity for them, especially for the husband, it was good that it didn't involve other unrelated people,though.

I Lost $5,000 Due To The Bankruptcy--Gateway21 Co.,Ltd

I am one of the victims of Gateway21 Co.,Ltd's bankruptcy.


After hearing the news, I stood aghast for a while.  I couldn't understand the fact immediately. The news was about a bankruptcy of an agency that served tours for studying abroad and I booked. In short, on the day, I lost $5,000--- that I had already paid off. 
Gateway21 Files for Bankruptcy


It was 4 years ago that I reserved a tour at the agency for studying English in the United States for 3 months. I was really excited, because it would be my first time to study abroad. At that time I lived alone so it was very difficult to save a lot of money, but for my big dream, I did with much travail. After booking the tour, I paid the money by installments.


Actually I paid the last payment on 26th of September that year, and the day after that, they filed for bankruptcy.  


It took a long time to recognize the company's name as the company I had applied for. Even though I realized it, I didn't know how the incident affected me, because until that time I had never experienced such a case. However, the more the media broadcasted, the more I comprehended the fact---my money would never be back.  In Japanese law, the company that filed for bankruptcy has to pay to the banks that they owe first. It means,  consumers who lost their money are the last ones to be compensated. 


This company didn't have much money, of course it was why they failed their management.
The number of victims was more than 2300 and some customers lost more than $37,500. What was worse, many of the customers had quit their job or already submitted their resignation to their companies for their tours, like me. All the customers got furious, reviled, cried and claimed to give the money back, but it wasn't fulfilled.


This incident was so dreadful and abrupt that I couldn't cry.  They deprived not only my big money but also my dream. Since then, I haven't trusted any companies. It was what I learned from that awful experience.

【Complaint】You bastard! I Hate You Pigeons!

Who determined pigeons as a symbol of peace? They are unconditionally far from it. I really hate them because of the reasons below.


1.Smelly. It's really noisome. Of course the principal cause is their crap's odor. You know, they tend to act as a big group, so the smell is always multiplied. Yuck!


2.Odd call. Their voices are really creepy.  They cry like "coo coo" or "how how", what is worse, they do it in chorus. It's nothing but din. 

3.Loathly droppings. I encountered this incident twice until now. The first time it came about was when I was 7 years old, so I couldn't help but cry because it ruined my school hat.  The second time was after I grew up. The droppings spoiled my nice clothes, so I cursed it.  


I don't know why but originally there are a large number of pigeons in Japan. To make matters worse, many of them are used to humans because some people like to feed them at parks, streets and so on even though it is prohibited by our government. I want them to stop such a folly indeed.


By the way, my hubby has a pigeon breast, but he is truly pretty and good guy, so I forgave him.

A Simple Feast---A "Cat Food"

So simple but very tasty, besides, it's healthy!!!

Emphatically, this is one of Japanese prominent foods, but, cooking it is a piece of cake. Break an raw egg onto a cup of hot rice and stir until the egg crumbles. While doing it, pour a little soy sauce.  Sprinkle some Katsuobushi, small pieces of sliced dried bonito, as you like. That's it.


This feast is called the "poured-egg rice", but there is another funny name for it. It's "Neko-Manma" which means cat food in Japanese. As you can easily understand from this picture, this meal looks like a pet's food, right? That's why it's called like this.


Don't think this Neko-Manma is not heavy just because it is easy to cook.  Actually it's very healthy for your body. Eggs include enzyme called lysozyme whose main work is to kill bacteria and which is used for cold medicines. When lysozyme is boiled, it loses its usefulness, so 
Neko-Manma can enhance you well. 


In my case, at least 3 days a week, I eat it in the morning.  I have a hectic schedule before work so it is suitable for breakfast.

【A Japan's Sad History】Karayuki-San

It was not until I was a high school student that I knew the existence of “Karayuki-san”, because it was never mentioned in schoolbooks in Japan, even now. Today let me share it,  a sad history of Japanese young woman.


"Karayuki-san" signified Japanese young prostitutes who worked abroad before WWⅡ. "Kara" of this word vaguely means foreign country and "yuki" is equivalent to "go" in Japanese.　


The major reason they had to work like this was poverty. During those times, a lot of Japanese were very poor so girls were counted on as breadwinners. Also until then in Japan, the registered prostitute system, kind of a managing system to keep women in bawdy houses officially, had already established, so it was very common to sell their daughters for their living. Actually almost all of the girls came from poor families like in farm villages or fishing ones. 


The people that introduced the girls to overseas brothels were called as "pimps", who went around poor villages to buy adolescent girls from their parents by lying such as "for just working at a hotel abroad". Later, by selling the girls to brothels, pimps got much charges. 


Principal countries where Karayuki-san worked were China, Hong Kong, the Philippines and Borneo since at that time, there were many demands from Western militaries that colonized some Asian countries. Karayuki-san were popular among western customers because they were obedient and never thought stealing customer's belongings unlike other country's prosecutes. 


The girls who kept remitting to their families were able to be heard by their families in Japan, but there were some girls who suddenly vanished. In such cases, the family couldn't know whether her daughter was alive or not.
Karayuki-san's average life span was around 20 years old. After they were sold, they died of some diseases like malaria, venereal disease and opium and so on. Then many girls of them were buried under foreign lands hoping to go back to their home country.


Even though WWⅡ was over, for a long time the beingness of Karayuki-san didn't come to the light because it was considered as Japan's shame. Hence it was since 1972 that this history have known by many people when a book about the fact was published.

【Lack Of Morality】Wearing Make Up In A Train

If you take a train in Japan you can see many women transform their faces. I don't remember when this bad trend began, but in the recent years there are a lot of women who wear make up in a train without any hesitation. 


On the train to my work I always see women putting their make‐up on desperately. I can see the whole processes from foundation base to lipstick. It is really  interesting not only because I can compare their before and after but also their faces are really funny when they are focusing on their mirrors.  However, make-up should be done in their houses and in the case of going out, you should do that in bathrooms in other places, in short, we women should not show it to public.
Such people give me a certain kind of fun, but of course,  this is absolutely an indecent behavior. 


There might be some people who insist that doning make-up in a train doesn't bother anyone.  Actually it is wrong. Before I saw some powder from a woman's compact clung to a man's suit.
The guy must have felt offended.


Anyway people who do such a conduct lack a sense of morality. I hope they realized that fact.

【Complaint】This Is Not A Dish

"This is not a dish."
Can you imagine when such words come out from a person's  mouth?
This is the remarks said by my sister's husband. Saying it, he sometimes leaves dishes that my sister cooked, since the taste doesn't suit to his mouth. 


A damn fool !Hearing of this story yesterday, I really got angry.  I think it is too rude to leave food that someone cooked for me just because such a reason. I had known there were such kind of foolish guys in the world, but I had never dreamed that my brother in law belonged to the group until yesterday...  


It looks like that my sister's husband comes from the Southern part of Japan and it is far from my sister's place or my family's place, so his taste is different from one that his wife cooks.  However, although taking it into account, I can't forgive his attitude. He is a crap. If I were her, I would make him get out of my house. 


Fortunately, my hubby is not such a person. He eats all I cooked for him whether it is tasty or not.  Eating up all foods that his wife cooked is one of the good points in looking for a future husband.

Wedding Photo Business

Especially  in the recent years, photo wedding business has been very hot in Japan.
Let me explain about it. Actually, it's just as the name says. Instead of holding their own wedding ceremony or  party at a church or at another venue, they make do with just photo shooting wearing a wedding dress or tuxedo. It may sound weird, but photo wedding has some pros. 


First, it is very reasonable. Generally, wedding ceremonies and parties cost about $50,000 in Japan. However a photo wedding requires only about $625, but of course it depends on the plan you choose. You can save a lot of money by this. 


Second, you can secure a lot of well taken pictures. When you plan your own wedding ceremony, you may ask your friends to take your pictures or hire a photographer. However it is very hard to take good pictures during a ceremony and a party since the groom and the bride are hectic, in short, there is little time that both of you stay still. Actually my husband and I experienced my own wedding ceremony, but at that time we were so busy handling our schedule so we couldn't  take many good pictures. In contrast, when it comes to a photo wedding, you can save many pictures since the photographer takes your pictures steadily. Hence this business can satisfy couples that want a lot of nice pictures.


Third, it is good way for shotgun marriage. Such couples don't have much time to arrange a ceremony hall that is suitable to their plan, because in general, couples reserve it a year before their desired date. And you know, the bride's belly becomes bigger and bigger soon. Many brides want to wear pretty wedding dresses rather than maternity ones. Thus these couples tend to choose photo wedding.


By the way, we used this service even though we held our wedding ceremony and party. This is because we wanted to experience Japanese-style wedding clothes, that is, Kimono. Kimono for wedding is very expensive to rent so we couldn't wear it in our ceremony and party. Therefore we made up with it by photo wedding.

Fatal Plunge At Niagara Falls

This news truly made me realize again that it is dangerous to get too much excited .
Tourists still too close to Falls after fatal plunge

When I heard of the news about a Japanese woman who fell over a railing overlooking Niagara Falls, I couldn't believe the tragic event immediately. Why? I'm thinking of that maybe there is a proper and safe railing since  this place is a famous tourist spot. Moreover her friends or some acquaintances must have been near who spotted her dangerous situation and could have warned or stopped her. I discussed it with my husband and he has the same thoughts.

Perhaps she was highly excited because she was supposed to take some interesting  pictures that would be posted on her Facebook account or something. If I were in her situation, I might also do the same thing. Like this 20-year old girl, I like funny things and originally I get easily excited.


Hearing this news, many Japanese said that she was stupid, that she forgot the fact she had come to Canada for studying English while others critically said she acted shamefully. Some part of these statements might be true. However I think many people tend to do same thing, especially the young ones. This was her fault, of course, but I can't say that because I feel so sorry to her. It goes without saying that she was very young, so there would be a lot of  possibilities and promising events ahead of her, if only she avoided such tragedy. 


Anyway, what I learned from this mishap was that I should be more cautious and watchful of the dangers lurking around me even though I am in a very thrilling situation.

Let's Ignore Your Nasty Boss In These Ways！【2】

Let me share the continuation of "Let's Ignore Your Nasty Boss In These Ways！【1】".


5)Make an effort to avoid talking with him about your private life
A morally-hazardous boss always looks for some employees who is compliant to him. If you talk with him in a friendly way,  he might think he can handle you as he wishes. Therefore you should try to avoid talking with him except about your work. In short, keep distance between yourself and him. Your friendly attitude to him will put you in danger.


6)Parry him
In spite of your big effort to avoid him,  you can't ignore him when he speaks to you. His talk apart from your work is mainly about his bragging or vilification. You should parry these like "oh, really?" to avoid showing your interest on what he is saying. Generally a morally-hazardous boss is narcissistic. It is very dangerous to disagree with such a person, but it is also risky to agree with him because he might think of you as his yes‐man.


7)Shut down your mind
A morally-hazardous boss is always indulgent to himself and strict to others so you might be criticized by him without reason. Moreover he might passed the buck to you. If you are a delicate person, your mind will collapse. To prevent it, shut down your mind in front of him. That is to say, if his criticism is about to start, hypnotize yourself so that your mind is closed like a thick wall.


8)Never stand out as much as possible
Anyway, never hope to become his favorite. Especially for a capable person who tends to think like "Someday my big effort will pay off ", but in front of him, it is worthless. Just cope with your work and try to refuse his offers on going out after work. Always stay quiet and become a subordinate who he never has concerns with.


How were these? I hope these tips will be useful.

Let's Ignore Your Nasty Boss In These Ways！【1】

Aren't you annoyed by workplace mobbing from your boss? If your boss is such a person, in short, he is morally-hazardous, he might tend to pass cumbersome tasks to you  or force you to praise himself very much. 
You subordinates can't choose your boss,so it is nothing but  bad luck to work under such a boss. Therefore this time let me share some good tips on how to deal with it, and ignore his tyranny.


1)Do your best not to ask questions from him.
When you are instructed about something by your boss, try not to ask him questions about it, even though you don't fully understand it. Your morally-hazardous boss tends to think of your qestions as your criticism.


2)Write his instruction down on memo pad.
However, if you kept on working on his instruction without fully understanding, you would be scolded severely by him because he would think that you didn't accept what he had instructed you. Therefore it is best way that after writing his instruction down on your notes you should ask him the contents of it is ok or not.


3)Pretend to be incompetent.
A morally-hazardous boss is fickle, so his mind and instructions might change easily. Moreover, even though it is absolutely his lapse of memory, he often gets angry saying "You didn't do what I had instructed before". As a subordinate, it is something you just can't put up with. Then, it is best to try not to take on his assignment. Of course it is impossible to refuse all his instructions, but when he is about to instruct you something apart from your routine works, escape from him saying "I can't do that".


 4)Don't apologize to him immediately
Morally-hazardous boss has a short temper and he tends to get furious without reason. Then some of his subordinates might apologize to him immediately because  his anger is definitely something troublesome. However it is not a good way because by your instant apology, your boss might consider you as a good target for his diversion. Hence, in the case of his scolding, you should not make an instant apology but understand his anger and pretend to learn from him like "Oh, you meant like this?".

Prepare For A Big Earthquake--------LASIK！

As a preparation for earthquakes that might occur in the near future, you might come up with a lot of stuff, for example, hardtack, a flashlight and insurance etc.  However, how about laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis, that is, LASIK? Do you take it into account? I heard many voices that deeply regret not having LASIK after the devastating earthquake on March 11.  Let me explain why they should have undergone it.


You know, LASIK is a surgery to recuperate your eyesight.　Let's imagine the situation that you are very shortsighted people and a dreadful earthquake occurred. At first you have to secure the safety of your family and some important stuff. If you don't wear contact lenses when it starts , for example, in the early morning, can you smoothly do that? It's hard, because at that time your house will be chaotic and moreover you  must be already panicked. In short, you have to look for someone or something  with arduousness since you can't look well. After the earthquake, there is still a problem. It is hard to procure new contact lenses and glasses in stead of broken one in the disaster because terrible earthquake give rise to shortage of resources and cut off transportation. You might end up spending truly inconvenient time.

Many years ago my sister-in-law underwent a LASIK  in case of earthquake. When I heard of that I felt she thought too much, but after the earthquake I realized she was right. Actually my eyesight is very bad so I can't live without contact lenses. It might be the time I start to think of LASIK. 

【Complaint】Don't Smoke While Walking!

Why they smoke while walking? It's nothing but a big nuisance, so I hate them even though they are my bosses, friends or families. I can stand their smelly breath  and stinking bodies of them somehow, although sometimes I get cravings for killing them. However, I can't accept a behavior that jeopardizes other people.                                                                                                                                                             An incident happened when I was child. At that time, I was walking outside, maybe in a park and someone passed by my right side. The man was smoking and at that moment he dropped his left hand that was holding a tobacco. You can imagine, the burning tobacco scraped me by right arm. It was very hot and I shouted "Ouch". My arm was burned but the man seemed not to be aware of it and left with no apology. 

Actually it was very dangerous. It is said that the temperature of the heat of tobacco is from 700°C to 800°C. If it had not been my arm but my eye which was touched, what would he do? It would have lost my eyesight. 

I think Almost all smokers such as this person are thoughtless so they throw tobacco away onto streets  brazenly. Worse so, sometimes without putting the fire out. I wish they would be  burned by their own fire for them to realize what they do.

12 Machos Made Me Palpitate

Have you ever seen such a calendar? Never,right? Me neither! This is no ordinary calender. 
via nycwebstore.com
2011 NYC Firefighters Calendar


Generally, people who show up in calenders are movie stars, pop stars or athletes, but this, as the title "the New York City Firefighters" suggests, featured real firefighters !  In it, 12 firefighters generously exposed  their well-built bodies with  their top half naked. Well, they are not only macho but also good looking! Look at their handsome smiles and the tattoos that enhance their brawny muscles!  If you buy the calendar, you can amply appreciate these gorgeous and the bravest guys in New York City every months !

Actually, this idea is very humourous. At least in Japan context, I have never seen such a calender that adopts general people. Hence how about a calender that focuses on policemen, the Self‐Defense Forces, and other guys that work in Tohoku Area in Japan who help much in its recovery from the devastating earthquake on March 11th?


One more thing, you know, not all women love machos. I mean, some women like slim guys rather than them, so a calender with slim firefihters should be launched.

Silver bullets to forget your ex-boyfriend

What is the sovereign remedy to forget your ex-boyfriend after your break up? Whatever the reasons are, separation leaves a deep scar in your mind. This time I would introduce the efficient ways to recover from a heartbreak. 

1:Never try to search his name on the Internet
When both of you were in good terms, it might have been fun to search his name on the Internet thinking what he was doing at the moment. However this act after break up would be nothing but a sharp knife that could hurt you because you will surely be disappointed and  in case you find out that he already has a girlfriend, you will certainly be knocked. Therefore, swear not to search his name. Let's remove him from twitter and block his posts on Facebook.

2：Never call him when you're drunk
If you drink a lot, it makes the work of the inhibitory system in your brain worse, so you will behave following only your instinct. Although you lose of control of yourself, don’t call your ex-boyfriend at midnight. Even though you say like “ Well…I still love you…” in a drunk voice, he will never come back to you. Of course neither in the case of e-mail.

3：Ask the fortune teller for your future with a different guy
He is already a "has‐been", so it is helpless to forecast the affinity between you .　Hence let's consult fortune tellers about the possibility to meet another nice guy!

 4:Eat sweets
It has been proved that eating some sweets makes you feel better because it stimulates your pleasure center. Yet never eat it up so much, otherwise you will put on weight so much.

5:Throw away bravely the memorabilias you have of him
Let's fling stuffs that remind you of  him such as pictures and presents. It's kind of a shock therapy that makes you be unable to see nor touch them, but it 's efficient more than you expect.

6：Heal the scar from a man by another man
How about going out to pursue new encounter bravely!?  Break up indicates you just weren't meant to be. Hence it is better to search new love than to be annoyed about one guy because it saves your precious time.

7:Change your mobile phone number and e-mail address
After you have altered both your phone number and e-mail address, and you didn't inform him of these change, the possibility of  him sending you messages to get in touch with you is zero. This is arduous and needs a lot of braveness, but you should do that.  

8:Try to convince yourself that you had a good experience
A break up is equals to a failure in your life.　The more failures people make, the more their lives become abundant. You should convince yourself that you have been upgraded. Besides you can talk about your break up story to your friends, which means your repertory of topics is increased. It might make your personality more attractive.

9:Read a lot of books, anyway
To force him out from your mind,  it is most effective to concentrate on other things. Let's look for some books that enhance you and you cant't keep your eyes off from. While you read the books intently, you can forget almost all things about him. Furthermore, you can get a lot of new knowledge. It is really efficient.

How were these? These ways  might be difficult but they are worth conducting. If you know another good remedy, please inform me!

【A Must Experienced Activity】Let's be a Maiko!

When you come to Japan, I'm certain that you want to visit many historical places, ex. Kyoto. If you come to Kyoto, make sure to try Maiko experience. Maiko is a traditional occupation in Japan that give a boost to dinner parties by singing some songs, dance, and playing the shamisen, a three-stringed Japanese guitar, with herself dressed a fabulous Kimono. 
Geisha,  another traditional job,  and Maiko have some similarities in its contens of duties and the appearance. The difference between them is that Geisha is above 20 years old whereas Maiko is under 20 years old and in the step towards Geisha. 


 2 years ago, my husband and I experienced as a Samurai and Maiko . Arriving at the shop near the Kiyomizudera temple, the shop's staffs made us put on some make up, and dressed us up kimono. The kimonos were a fake but still very heavy so I wonder if I could walk around wearing it. After that, they put a bit wig on my head and we each wore pair of tall wooden clogs. They were terrible. Due to them, I couldn't walk well. The shop had 2 activities, one was only photo shooting  with the classical dress, the other included taking a 1 hour walk in Kiyomizudera temple besides it.  We chose the latter. While we were walking, many people rushed to us to take pictures with us. Actually we were so surprised because they were not only foreigners but also Japanese.  During the short walk, we felt as if we had been movie stars.  


Anyway, it was a wonderful experience. I assure it will be one of your most unforgettable memories.  Therefore someday, try it!

【A Must Watched Movie】Grave Of The Fireflies

6th Aug. is the memorial day when the atomic bomb was dropped in Hiroshima.Therefore, let me share a movie that is related to this commemoration.


This movie was based on the novel which was written by Nosaka Akiyuki, a novelist in Japan.


On Sep. 1st.  1945,　Seita, a 14-year-old boy, died due to debilitation at a station yard. His only property was a rusty drops canister that contains a bone fragment of Setsuko, his 4-year-old sister. Later, a station employee found it and threw it onto the grass roughly. Then, the bone fragment came out of the open canister and many fireflies started to fly around it.


During those time, the last stage of WWⅡ, that area was attacked from the air, B29, every day. The little siblings, Seita and Setsuko had been separated from their mother on their way running out of their house during the B29's attack. Later they found their mother  in critical condition in a shelter but shortly after she got died. After that, because their house was clashed by B29, one of their relatives, a meadow, started to look after them. 


At first they and the meadow's family were in good term, but later the relationship got worst. Feeling so uncomfortable, one day  Seita slipped out from the house with his sister. With a few  property on a trolley, they started to live  in a cave beside a river. The life just by themselves was very poor but so happy. They didn't have lights so they used fireflies which were packed in a bin.  


After their foods went out, little Setsuko became weaker day by day because of malnutrition. In the summer of 1945, WWⅡended but their father in Navy seemed not to come back alive. Seita tried to make her eat some foods which he had stolen, but she couldn't eat anymore. Finally, she got died, and Seita just started to wait his coming death at the station yard with other vagrant.

Wedding Party at McDonald’s?!

I like McDonald’s, especially their Quarter Pounder hamburger.
Actually my husband and I go there at least once in 2 weeks to have lunch.
One day I read a funny article about this company. Have you ever heard of that?
via Wierd Asia News
McDonald’s Slated to Offer Ultra-Cheap McWeddings

I am not sure when McDonald's started to offer this Ultra Cheap Mc Weddings promos, but I think they launched it early this year. According to the article the idea was taken from  regular customers of  McDonalds who dated at their Hong Kong branch and they wanted to make their wedding ceremony at McDonalds. Since then the number of inquiries increased.
Well, what is "McDonald’s wedding party" like?


This wedding package includes a personalized menu, decorations, McDonald’s-themed gifts, a special apple-pie wedding cake, and a fry in place of the traditional cherry witch a couple shares prior to kissing. Then, it offers only HK$1000 ($129 or \1,00,000). The typical price of Hong Kong wedding is HK$10,000 or $1,300. Therefore you can save a lot, so it is good for the couple which don't have enough money to hold their wedding party at, ex, hotel, church.  
However, this wedding doesn't have any privacies. It means during your party, customers walk into to have their meal as usual, so it doesn't suit to shy couple. Furthermore, McDonald’s never serves any liquor or beer, so it is hard to a person who likes his drinks.


Although there are such cons, this ultra-cheap ceremony is very attractive for many people. Surely, it is far from romantic ceremony, but after saving much money by this you can pour your money into other things, for instance, honeymoon or new house! I wish McDonald’s started this business in Japan also! ...Oh but, I think a very big hamburger is more suitable as a wedding cake than the idea of an apple-pie cake!

Unconscious Discrimination Against Women Found In Nadesiko Japan Victory

In Japan we still have many kinds of discrimination, especially against women. 
After the victory of Japan's Women's Football team in World Cup, a lot of TV reporters rushed to the members of Nadeshiko to interview them.  Then, they asked such as "Do you want to marry?", "Do you have a boy friend?", "Do you want to become a mom  in the future?" 


If you said such things to your female colleagues at work, you would be criticized.
How offensive these questions were!
Did they ask at least a member of Samurai blue like this? No. 


To give you a background on this situation, there are prejudices like "Football is a sport for men" or "Getting married is an obligation of women". But people often throw these offensive questions without awareness of it. This fact meant we Japanese have discrimination against women potentially, in short, unconscious discrimination.  


According to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, the number of consultations towards Equal Employment Opportunity clinic was more than 23,000 cases and more than half of them was about sexual harassment. It is followed by being ill‐treated because of marriage, pregnancy and childbirth. I think this totally meant unconscious discrimination. We Japanese should be aware of it, face it and deal with it.

Amagasaki Rail Crash

China derailment reminded me of the derailment accident in Japan called the "Amagasaki Rail Crash".

In 2005, a train got derailed and crashed into an apartment building after tearing fences. The death toll was 107 people including the train driver.  The cause of this accident was over‐speeding. But there was another factor, it was  so called  “day service training”.


This phrase meant training that is done in the daytime.
In the case of train companies, generally employees work under Variable Working Hours System, but this training was done only during day time hence we call it as such.
But why only in day time? What is the training?

The training are for drivers, conductors and station employees that have made mistakes in work. After making mistakes, they are once taken back to their duties and trained again by their bosses to avoid making the same mistakes.  But actually, after this accident, the existences of power harassments and moral harassments during the training were revealed.
For example, a boss made his subordinate sit down for hours and kept abusing him saying “You are useless! ”.

This is torture to one’s mind.
There were many employees that developed mental disorder later on and what is worse, there were a few staffs who killed themselves.

Let's go back to the topic of the accident. At that time, the schedule had been delayed because at previous station the driver had overrun for 40m by mistake. Due to this overrun, he went back to adjust the platform that allowed passengers to get on and get off,  this had delayed the train time schedule. Yes, he was in such a hurry to make up for this delay. And he worried about the training.(of course he wanted to avoid undergoing this training). So he speeded much more than usual and it made him unable to cope with a curve then the devastating accident happened.

This accident occurred near my place and as I have said, many people died including my father’s co-worker and now a large number of the suvivors are still suffering from the trauma.

It was a really sad, shocking and devastating accident.
And we also have to focus on harassment issues that are rampant in many companies today.

【Complaint】People Who Are Neither Considerate Nor Responsive

There are 2 kinds of people in the world.
The first kind is the one who is considerate and responsive, the other is neither considerate nor responsive. Being considerate and responsive person means you can any situation or one's mind then cope with that immediately and accordingly.


Last Sunday, my husband and I went to a beach to have a BBQ party with my friends. 
This was an annual event for us so we knew that first thing we have to do after arriving at the beach was to set up our tent which shaded us from direct sunlight.  
Hence some people had no sooner arrived there than they started to assemble the tent.
But the others did not move at all. They kept standing on the beach until they were asked to do some tasks by other people.


I don't like this kind of people although they are my friends.
On our way back after this event  I complained about this to my husband, but he said laughingly "Calm down.  They don't have the ability to adjust to the situation and take initiative. It can't be helpled."
But, I don't think so.
This is not a problem of one's ability.
This is negligence, in short, they are neglect to consider the situation and to move accordingly.
Disgusting!

【Complaint】Can You Accept $88 Lunch On Non-Anniversary Day?

The other day, I heard a little surprising story from one of my friend. 

The friend has a new friend(I call her Ms.A), and one day Ms.A asked my friend to lunch.

Ms.A likes preparing for something so she reserved a restaurant.
And on that day,my friend went to the meeting place, a hotel where Ms.A reserved.

By the way,my friend is an absolutely ordinary middle-class person so she started to feel something wrong.

The meal was so delicious and a little bit gorgeous.

After finishing it, my friend saw the bill which was put on their table, and a surprising number came into her eyes.

¥7,000- (each)

She paid the bill reluctantly.

What do you think about this situation?

If I were her I would be angry.(but my friend is kind so only to complain in her mind.)

This was just a lunch and not on a special day. Why should I spend such big money for a lunch?

Even if it is a dinner, it is still too expensive.

I think, in this case Ms.A should have asked my friend whether this the price was acceptable or not.

This was not only a problem of money, but also one of consideration.

Japanese businessmen think lap tops more useful than iPads.

Nowadays the iPad is one of the most attractive gadgets and many people desire it.
Everywhere these days is wall-to-wall iPad and its application Programs.
But do you know the fact that there are a lot of people who consider it not useful?
It's Japanese Businessman.
The article below is one of the examples.
via Japan Times
Salarymen stick with laptops over iPads


Recently a lot of companies in Japan are starting to offer iPads to its employees for their business activities. But some...no, a large number of them think it useless than laptops after beggining iPad use.Why? I'll explain the reasons.


1)iPads aren't suited to inputting
iPad's input system is not efficient for Japanese.　Sometimes we have to make documents by writing vertically. In iPad, it is impossible. And as you know, the iPad inputting style is a touch panel , so  you have to keep raising your fingers up, unlike the laptop where it is easier to input information because you can put your hand on the keyboard whhether you input something or not.


2)We can't use Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Words without compatible software.
Almost all Japanese businessmen use them all the time in business situation but we can't use them on iPads. To make up for it, we have to buy compatible software. It is costly and what is worse, the compatibility is not high. So for people who need them most of the time,  iPads is useless.


3)We Japanese have small and useful lap tops already.
In Japan, there are a lot of kinds of lap tops, that weigh less than 2 kg, and the features are excellent. iPad weighs around 600g, which is much lighter than these, but lightness is no match for efficiency.


Due to these reasons it isn't the time to exchange our business tool with the new gadgets at this moment. It will end up decreasing the efficiency.