The Jingu Gaien redevelopment is now a hot topic in Japanese Twitter as more people discover what the project entails. This animation shows how they plan to swamp the park with monstrously large buildings.
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She’s at it again. Now claiming that no Japanese are among the 925 reported in Tokyo today, and that foreigners infected with the coronavirus are coming to Japan seeking free treatment. Can’t believe
@TwitterJP
puts up with her posting stuff like this. Everyone please report.
Japanese infection control specialist gets access to Diamond Princess, says infection prevention protocols not being followed, chaotic situation. Bureaucrats, rather than infection prevention professionals, were running everything "violating all infection control principles"
Those of you studying Japanese in the 90s may remember the awesome Mangajin magazine dedicated to learning Japanese through manga. Just discovered that put all the issues up online. So nice of them. Highly recommend!
PM Kishida doubled down on his opposition to Japan federally recognizing same sex marriage, saying that it would “change family values, our values system, and society”.
Reminder that the majority of people in Japan consistently approve of marriage equality by a sizable margin.
I'm being roasted by right-wing Japanese Twitter for objecting to the characterization of Black Lives Matter as a 暴徒 (a bunch of rioters). ☹️
Hundreds of likes and RTs.
These are the same people who are attacking
@naomiosaka
OK, I was trying to relax for the evening, but then read this and my blood pressure hit the roof. Health Ministry official says "there is no effective method for controlling the spread." HOW WOULD YOU KNOW, YOU HAVEN'T TRIED ANYTHING!!! (cont.) 🤬🤬🤬
Composer Ryuichi Sakamoto 坂本龍一 is trending after he spoke out to call for revision of the Jingu Gaien redevelopment plan.
"Trees benefit everyone without discrimination, but development benefits only a few vested interests and the wealthy."
TIL that the English word “skosh” is from “sukoshi” in Japanese. (Don’t know why that never occurred to me!) Evidently American servicemen in Japan after the war started using it.
Appreciating all the support on this tweet. Can I ask a favor? Please like and RT this tweet. Because right now, their post dissing me is the 1st thing that comes up when you search on my name on Twitter in Japanese ロッシェル・カップ Would be nice to have this come up instead!
I'm being roasted by right-wing Japanese Twitter for objecting to the characterization of Black Lives Matter as a 暴徒 (a bunch of rioters). ☹️
Hundreds of likes and RTs.
These are the same people who are attacking
@naomiosaka
Disturbing story. SE Asian Muslim woman in Tokyo takes 3-year old daughter to park, guy starts harassing them, calling them “gaijin” & demanding they show their zairyu card. He calls police, who bring the woman & daughter in for 2 hours of questioning. /1
Kanda residents standing watch over their beloved street trees overnight even in this cold weather, because Chiyoda Ward is hellbent on cutting them down and sends works crews in the middle of the night.
Japan came in last in a global ranking of
employees’ well being, measured by assessing physical, mental,social and spiritual health, the results of a survey conducted by McKinsey Health Institute showed.
Quotes from me in the article.
Reportedly a request was made to Zoom by a Japanese company, to vary the size of the windows, so the President would have the largest one, then other senior people second largest, etc. with lowest ranked employees having the smallest windows. 🙄
This makes no sense. One of the big reasons behind the low birthdate is young people feeling financially unstable. Raising consumption taxes, which is highly regressive, will make that worse. Not to mention hurt the entire economy.
Pandemics tell you a lot about a country
China: totalitarian, hides information
U.S. & U.K.: head of country is garbage
U.S.: right wing media disinformation
Japan:
Everyone waits for decison from top
Takes too long to decide
Can’t change policy once set
Not ready for telework
My latest in the Japan Times, on Japan's re-entry ban on foreign residents. This situation dragging on so long is doing real damage to Japan's reputation and ability to attract foreign businesses and talent.
A young Korean woman came to one of my seminars in Tokyo a few years ago. She had attended college in Japan and spoke very fluent Japanese. She joined a large Japanese company, after hearing the President talk about how hiring non-Japanese would be a "breath of fresh air." /1
You have not experienced the "real" Japan until you are unable to apply for a major credit card because the name you input in the online application must match the name on your bank account, but the application does not allow spaces so no way to put middle name and make it match.
Been speaking with more Japanese, both on Twitter and real life, about why the huge concerns about vaccine side effects. One big factor seems to be the media coverage, rather sensational. With little to balance about how scary it is to get COVID. Many Japanese I talk to … /1
Spoke to someone involved in Japanese language education in the U.S. the other day, says people seem to be more interested in Korea due to K-pop, Squid Game, cosmetics etc. and now Japan’s closed borders are another issue. Soft power is a fickle thing.
I'm seriously considering dropping japanese and going to Korea instead so... they had a chance before corona but now it's not looking good for Japan at all. Professionals and international businesses will choose other countries.
🤮🤮🤮
Remember what happened to Carlos Ghosn after his career was made into a manga...
Seriously though, the Elon Musk worship in Japan seems to be getting even worse. People don't know about Tesla problems, or understand why what he is doing at Twitter is problematic. <sigh>
Next weekend sees the releases of 「マンガでわかる イーロン・マスクの起業と経営」, higlighting the entrepreneurship and management style of Elon Musk in manga. Can't help feeling recent events may not be fully covered.
JUST POSTED!
Petition to stop construction of the no-longer-necessary Olympic viewing venue in Yoyogi Park, and thus avoid butchering of a bunch of the park's beautiful trees. 🌳🌲🌳
Please sign and spread the word!
News just in from Morning Brew: "Get ready for nori seaweed prices to skyrocket because the ocean crop had its worst harvest in 51 years. Annual demand for the product in Japan is near 7.5 billion sheets, but 2022’s harvest (which ended in May) only brought in about 4.8 billion."
Very sad news, Ryuichi Sakamoto has passed away.
People on Twitter are saying that his letter to Koike asking for the Jingu Gaien redevelopment to be revised was his last wish. I'll keep doing everything I can to make that wish come true.
This story has been the talk of the town in Tokyo for the past couple of weeks, so glad to see Kyodo out with an English version.
Composer Ryuichi Sakamoto calls for stop to Jingu Gaien redevelopment plan
"As a citizen, I could not remain silent"
And the locals had to fight a lawsuit to prevent it being ruined by an ugly port development project pushed by the government. Fortunately they won. It’s a landmark case establishing precedent for citizens’ right to a scenic area. We are referring to it in the Jingu Gaien lawsuit
Japan picks two new astronauts, one is female, of course extremely accomplished (surgeon). So in press conf. she is asked is she is married or has a partner, and "how she thinks she can contribute as an astronaut as a young woman."
Geez what year is this?
People in Japan are really not happy about the big party that Japan's leaders are throwing for Bach tomorrow. Asking "why are you partying while asking the public to stay home?" Indeed it really is terrible messaging.
I'm getting lots of messages from students stuck outside of Japan. If they can't enter the country in April, they could lose their spots and scholarships. It feels like the government has forgotten them. Meanwhile it's Olympics, Olympics, Olympics...
#japantravelban
I think I have figured out why the government is suddenly making noises about permanent residents losing their status if they don't pay their taxes etc.
And it's not because they are trying to distract from the recent scandals.
This article clarifies.
/1
Meanwhile they let the guy go, but not before giving him the woman’s name, address and phone number! Now her daughter is traumatized and she can’t feel safe in her own home.
Just found this Japanese site dedicated to reducing food loss by selling leftover food items. Looks like they have some good deals, including cookies, olive oil, black beans, tapioca. Since tourism is down, there are leftover items from hotels & shops.
LDP politician thinks the solution for Japan's low birthrate is for "women to become more tolerant of men" and be willing to get married and have kids.
Seriously, does he really think that's what the problem is? 🙄
Tweet is making the rounds of the avocado cafe employee who was awful to foreign customers. Turns out that the menu was badly translated. Japanese said お代わり自由(free refills) which implies buying the first one, but the English said “all you can drink” which does not.
Apparently some people in Japan are worried about Kei Komuro's ability to support himself and Princess Mako in New York after they get married.
I just have to laugh. I guess they have no idea how much lawyers make in NY! And likely there is a premium for being bilingual too.
Her comment, which broke my heart: "If you had just wanted someone who acts exactly like a Japanese person, then why did you go to all the trouble of hiring a non-Japanese person like me?" /3
Over on my Japanese account I pointed out some problems with the English form given when you enter Japan, as part of my series on issues with public English in Japan.
It’s gone viral and lots of debate has ensued about whether it’s actually important to use correct English!
/1
Excellent article (in Japanese) analyzing
@jt_mag_os
's awkward exchange with Foreign Minister Motegi the other day. Discusses the rudeness plus how he avoided addressing her question about the logic behind the entry/re-entry ban on foreign residents.
Welcome to Tokyo
@LilNasX
!
The Tokyo Metro publishes a monthly series of manner posters. Coincidentally, this is the one for December.
Also please wear a mask on the train.
Just looked into press reports of Miss Japan Karolina Shiino’s affair with a married man, revelations of which caused her to have to step down. Turns out he lied to her that he was divorced, and she broke it off when she found out he was married. Horrible.
Mr. and Mrs. Komuro really hit it out of the ballpark with their remarks at the press conference this afternoon. Text is here. Well written, delivered well, and they said what they had to say and in the process really shamed the tabloid press. /1 (cont.)
Three thoughts:
1. Was the male student she was dating forced to leave school too?
2. Is it common for high schools in Japan to forbid dating?
3. If you have a shrinking population, maybe let teens learn how to have relationships?
A Japanese court on Wednesday awarded ¥970,000 ($7,000) in damages to a woman who left a Tokyo high school after being admonished for violating a school rule that banned dating.
Article out about this.
"Sy was told that a representative of the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee was concerned that if they allowed an African musician to perform, they would then have to hire many different ethnicities and nationalities."
Big topic in Japanese twitter right now is this tweet about a guy who got transferred to Kansai two days after coming back from paternity leave and just having bought a house, wife still on maternity leave. Company revealed to be Kaneka, which took down its paternity leave page.
Once again a hateful hashtag is being bombarded with food photos to render it useless. #在日のツイート
So here is the persimmon, walnut and blue cheese dish I made the other day.
Infections are rising. No foreign spectators for Olympics. Vaccination proceeding slowly. Students, businesspeople and separated spouses have no idea when they can enter Japan. But let’s plan to re-start GoTo Travel! Geez Louise...
Good article in the Nikkei focusing on how shutting out researchers and students with the
#japantravelban
is hurting Japan’s competitiveness. Glad to see Japan’s leading business newspaper take up this subject.
What this graph should tell us is that
#1
priority should be getting companies to telework, and that
#2
priority should be on going back to remote learning plus curbing summer camp and summer bukatsu activities. But all we hear is picking on restaurants and bars.
@jamesajack
Caught this on television last night (and tweeted it, so forgive me if you have seen it).
Interesting breakdown of where clusters actually occur.
Happy to report that I got my second jab! Big thanks to the incredibly well-organized clinic staff who were all working on a Sunday and cheerfully vaccinating a LOT of people. And of course to
@theyokohamalife
for her amazing help that enabled me to find this clinic!
My latest in the Japan Times, on how scholars are banding together to help peers who are stuck outside Japan. The need for this effort underscores the negative impact of the travel ban on the field of Japan studies.
Poor baby, Tokyo isn't as much fun for you to visit. Hello, there is still a pandemic going on and maybe it makes sense to continue to be careful. Why does
@NikkeiAsia
publish such complaining?
Discussion with Japanese business contact over lunch in Tokyo today. He mentioned the fear that people have of “reputational consequences.” For example, if a worker is found to have Coronavirus, having to close a whole factory. And personal reputation as well. /1
However, once she started working there, she discovered that anytime she did or said anything that was different from what a Japanese person would do, she was penalized for it by her Japanese supervisor and co-workers. /2
Completely agree, but to improve digital competitiveness you need IT engineers. Yet in Japan they are often underpaid, not respected, and relegated to maintaining legacy systems (thus not developing current skills). Japan needs to treat its IT engineers better.
@yurikageyama
The people I see on here expressing concern (not seeing any "ranting") about the new border controls are ones who are scheduled to come here soon to live or work and in many cases were waiting a long time to do so, now may not be able to start jobs/school. A little empathy please
Will note, this all started because the man claimed that her 3-year old daughter pushed his son. Is that really a matter that necessitates calling the cops in?
“Police questioning "happens on the street, so naturally people who are around see this and may think that foreigners are up to no good. … This completely contradicts the Japanese government's policy of welcoming more foreigners to Japan."”
BREAKING: Pointing to the concerns raised by people in Japan and abroad, they are not going to have Kawabuchi be Mori’s replacement, and instead are going back to the drawing board 👍
@UnseenJapanSite
And I have lost count of how many times I have been told in the past few weeks by random Japanese accounts “Japan doesn’t have discrimination against LBGT”
JICA calculates that Japan is going to need 4x more non-Japanese laborers by 2040 than it has currently.
Immigration rethink is going to be necessary, but hard to imagine given the current border situation and the right wing of the LDP.
Yes, that's me in a Japanese tabloid (Shukan Gendai), fighting for Jingu Gaien! The reporter was excellent, asked great questions, turned out a great article.
Haneda is an absolute ghost town. It’s really creepy. To be honest, this is the first time since this Coronavirus thing started that I’ve really felt viscerally frightened.
Friend in Kawasaki tells me that classes are canceled, but school is open for students to go there and hang out, and teachers are supervising. This is intended to help working parents, but in terms of virus spread it doesn't seem much different than having classes.
The problem with this is that some of the things here are illegal and some things are frivolous/merely annoying (like テクハラ making someone feel badly for inferior digital skills). It devalues the meaning of the word harassment.
There are over 50 types of harassment in
#Japan
so says some new research. Tele-hara (people who attack call centre workers テレハラ), love-hara (ラブハラ) when colleagues constantly ask when you’re going to meet Mr Right. Good to have discussion I guess but focus people focus 🇯🇵
I would say to abolish the Olympics completely, but that would be sad for the athletes. I think they should build facilities in Greece and just have it there every time, and stop the wasteful circus of having it in different cities.
Koike throws staffers under the bus, says of the vaccine site for youth in Shibuya "It was mitsu (crowded)...I'd like for the staff working there to figure out how to fix it."
This is not the recommended approach for leaders when there is a problem.
I have been jabbed! Major thanks to
@theyokohamalife
and her creation !
I got mine at the Ikebukuro clinic. The doctor is a really nice guy. I brought some sweets and he seemed to very much appreciate the gesture.
Hardly felt the needle, not painful.
🆘The issue with people waiting to come to Japan to start jobs or school is not completely solved by the latest announcement from MOFA. Because although people can come to Japan, their employer or school has to fill out an intimidating form. Problems happening already. /1
The name of my Jingu Gaien petition is trending, just blew past 150K signatures and adding 1000 more every 15 minutes right now.
People are viewing saving Jingu Gaien as Ryuichi Sakamoto's last wish, so it's a way to honor him.
If you haven't signed yet: