Kurashi - News From Japan

If you have ever been to Tokyo, you must have taken the Yamanote Line around town. Here are the melodies for the different stations. Sometimes, when I have an hour to spare, I take the Yamanote Line one way around, but I do hate the recent all-video trains. Let's keep the stress level down, shall we. Please, less ads, more train pleasure. Still, the JR East Yamanote Line has to be the best service around.

I love my work. Friday I had the great pleasure of interviewing Swedish documentary film maker Fredrik Gertten, who is in Japan for the first time. He had an event later in the evening at Waseda University, which is minutes from our office at Consumers Union of Japan. We had a long talk about his previous two films, about banana plantations workers in Nicaragua, who were harmed by a pesticide used by Dole. Fredrik got sued in the process of making his initial documentary, Bananas! so he promptly made another film, Big Boys Gone Bananas, about how Dole tried to stop the first film from being screened in the US at places in LA and Sundance Festival. Fredrik won, by the way. His new film, just released, is about another powerful industry, the ones that make cars. A billion of them on the roads, as of now. And cities like LA are more congested than ever, with some 70% of the public infrastructure devoted to - cars. Sao Paolo, Brazil, the figure is 60%. And only way to combat that is to t...

I write a monthly column for Consumers Union of Japan's newsletter, and the theme for January is tourism. You have probably seen them, and read the statistics. Over 13 million tourists entered Japan in 2014, a record high. In fact, the number has doubled in the last 10 years. And for 2020, the government aims for 20 million. Of course there are a lot of wonderful things to do and see. Possible troubles would usually be laughed off, a smile will save the day. There is an old saying, "When you embark on a journey, you will have a story to tell..." Except, Japan is not prepared for this level of foreign interest in its culture or favourite places. In my column, I wonder why there is no place for redress or complaints, as more tourists will increasingly be encountering difficulties or disappointments. That's only natural, it happens at all popular destinations. But here, hotel staff often don't speak English, taxi drivers are an elderly bunch with a slow learnin...

And now for something completely different... I did my democratic duty over at the Swedish Embassy in Roppongi, and voted in the Swedish elections. Then walked back towards Shibuya since the weather was ok, just a light drizzle, but after the heat we had (global warming/climate change/weird weather, anyone?) it is so nice to be able to spend some quality time outdoors again. Then in Aoyama, I noticed a camera crew, and a small showroom, and a car. The all-electric Tesla is in Tokyo, and events will start to take off from September 4. I think I may have been one of very few in Japan who got to sit in a Tesla, today! Took some photos too. Yu Yamasaki, product specialist at Tesla, was more than helpful. I don't own a car and don't intend to, and yet, if you really need mobility of this kind, the Tesla could very well be a good option. Rather this than some awful SUV. I don't think there is much of a future in private car ownership, but hey, I've been saying t...

The good people trying to stop the Maglev train line between Shinagawa and Nagoya are holding several large meetings this fall, starting on August 30 at Wako University in Tsurukawa (Odakyu Line). The theme is to learn from the network that protested against environmental destruction near Mt. Takao in Tokyo, and the experiences from the lawsuit against the Ken-O Highway construction. On September 13 a symposium will be held in Yamanashi, and on October 13 in Tokyo (with long-term Japan resident Arthur Binard, activist and poet from the US). The Linear Citizens NET is a group with branches in all the affected prefectures (J).They are concerned about the environmental destruction, the threat to water resources, and other pollution concerns (such as the huge amounts of trucks that will be needed to remove gravel during the tunnel construction). Also, there is much doubt that there will be any financial gains at all for the people affected. Construction is expected to continue we...

Most of the news about the weekend's vote in Europe has dealt with issues that I don't care so much about, such as immigration. But Bellona notes that: The European Parliament has a record of being the most ambitious EU institution within the fields of climate change and energy. Earlier this year, it passed a resolution on the policy framework for 2030, where its views on the European Commission’s proposal were presented. The members of the European Parliament voted for a 30 % share for renewables in the energy market and a 40 % improvement in energy efficiency, thereby taking a considerably more determined stance than the Commission. Bellona hopes that the new European Parliament will continue to be at the forefront of the global response to climate change and steer the EU towards a low-carbon society. I have also noticed in conversations with people that a) they don't know that Japan is the world's third largest economy b) they are not aware that a...

What a lot of travels and what everyone here calls the 連休 (renkyuu, consecutive days off) or "Golden Week" but here are some links that I think are important. Andrew DeWit has a great take on Obama's visit and how a US-Japan Green Alliance may be the key to the future. Heavy on military information but why not? The Pentagon apparently is way ahead of whoever-is-in-charge here in Japan when it comes to visions for defense that will not depend on oil. Japan Focus: Could a US-Japan “Green Alliance” Transform the Climate-Energy Equation? There was no emphasis on US-Japan military cooperation on climate change, even though the US military itself has for years identified climate change as the mother of all threats, including fully 8 detailed references to “climate change” and its consequences in its March 4, 2014 Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR 2014). Indeed, the American green military-industrial complex is openly calling for NATO to focus even more on climate ch...

IPCC report warns that climate change could threaten food security, increase poverty and become an indirect cause of conflicts, says NHK World today as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change meeting ends in Yokohama. At a press conference Monday, IPCC Chairman Rajendra Pachauri emphasized the need to take the predictions seriously and make efforts to address problems related to global warming. No one would be immune from the impact of global warming, he said. The report mentioned frequent surges in food prices that took place after IPCC published a similar report in 2007. It stated that abnormal weather that frequently struck main food-producing areas, including heat waves, droughts and floods, were a principal factor behind the sharp rises in food prices. The report said a 2 C increase in temperature would cause a decrease in the harvest of rice, wheat and corn in temperate and tropical regions. An increase of 4 C or more would deal a serious blow to each nation’s ...

We all like to compare, and here is how Bloomberg got Japan at 4th place among the world's most innovative countries. 4. Japan Japan ranked fourth in Bloomberg's Global Innovation Index. Here is how the country ranked in the determining factors: R&D intensity: 5th Productivity: 14th High-tech density: 8th Researcher concentration: 9th Manufacturing capability: 6th Tertiary efficiency: 30th Patent activity: 3rd I would be much more impressed if Bloomberg added an energy capability to its index. And why not other factors related to environmental protection? We all held our breaths, and sorry to say, Toyota once again is the world's number one car manufacturer . Too bad, I would say, as Japan has no idea how to supply the gasoline to promote a car-owning culture. I know, they are awfully fuel efficient and they do the Prius and all of that, but come on, we are facing a future with massive emissions of carbon dioxide, and other man-made gasses a...

Kodaira, western Tokyo, is one of those towns that need more greenery, not less. It also has plenty of train lines to connect, as well as buses. And don't think there are no roads for cars, already... I was approached by some people with great concern for their local park, the Central Park of Kodaira, it is just next to a couple of universities and colleges, clearly a green lung with a lot of support from the local community. They have several NGOs bringing kids in, such as the Donburi no Kai (Acorn Group) to teach values of nature. Now that entire park may be destroyed by the construction of a road initially planned back just before the Tokyo Olympics in 1964... Talk about irony as Tokyo is once again trying to get the Olympics for 2020... If you live in the area, time to do something. Join the groups and NGOs that protest this useless "development" and get Tokyo to move away from cars that pollute and cause climate change. We know better. We ought to know better. ...

It is very rare that we get a glimpse of what goes on inside the minds of the people who drive the Shinkansen trains. With English subtitles.

We know precious little about how our ancestors travelled. We do know that the Vikings used some kind of "Sunstone" to sail, and recent discoveries seem to confirm that they may have used a kind of crystal found in Iceland and other places in Scandinavia, called spar or Iceland spar or silfurberg . Fältspar is a common Swedish word, so this is not an unusual stone, and not a precious stone as such, but they simply may give a hint at where the sun may be on a cloudy day through polarization. We know of course that vikings like Leif Eriksson settled on the eastern coast of North America (called Vinland by the Scandinavians) long before that upstart Columbus reached what we now call the "American" continent, but it hasn't been clear how the vikings navigated, except for the few lines in ancient Nordic texts . Viking legends, including an Icelandic saga ‘Rauðúlfs þáttr’ with  the hero Sigurður , hint that these sailors had another navigational aid at th...

As we got a lot of snow on Monday (a public holiday) I was impressed that most trains kept running. Seibu Ikebukuru Line struggled to get me into Tokyo, and we were 25 minutes delayed, but got the job done. Well done, and much appreciated. While some lines were temporarily suspended, the Yamanote Line managed to keep running all day long. The Yamanote Line is very special for people in central Tokyo. It runs both ways, clockwise and anticlockwise, and a full circle takes just about one hour. This year, it celebrates its 50th anniversary as the first trains started to run the full loop back in 1963, just before the Tokyo Olympics. Sankei notes that the first tracks were laid down back in 1909 between Akabane and Shinagawa, and Ikebukuro and Tabata. Now, in 2013, a campaign to celebrate the anniversary will involve a "Lucky" train wrapped in special green colours. Others trace the history back to 1885 (electrification started in 1909). Current trains are from 2002, built b...

I just want to promote a really good idea that some people are working on: they call it Greenheart, a way to "bring economic resilience to marginalized coastal communities around the world while combating the pollution of the shipping industry by putting a ship in the hands of the community thus eliminating the need to depend on polluting port towns and middle men who drive up prices for goods." It is all about shipping. In a better way. Well, best of luck to them! Jen over at Ten Thousand Things says: ...we are working hard to launch our first zero-emissions, environmentally low-impact, solar/sail container-ready ship for a global pilot voyage in 2013. To this effect, we have kickstarted our first major grassroots campaign here: http://www.indiegogo.com/greenheart We have an ambitious goal of $120,000 and we need to get the word out. The Greenheart idea is to create a new type of low-cost, zero-emissions small cargo ships that use environmentally clean...

Revival of the sleeper train, the Blue Train, during Golden Week? You bet. While I like trains a lot and have done my fair share (I think) of train travel, I never had the pleasure of riding this classic one - it was in service for some 50 years until 2 or 3 years ago. Lots and lots of tetsudo fan showed up for its last run from Tokyo Station, which was covered live by TV stations. Tetsudo Fan 鉄道ファン (Railroad Fan) is also the name of a magazine here that covers all kinds of train-related issues. This is the magazine (and website) that all true train spotters you see on weekends with their huge cameras read. Today, in 2012, two sleeper Blue Trains remain in operation: Akebono (from Ueno to Aomori) and Hokutosei (from Ueno to Sapporo in Hokkaido). I'm very tempted! Here is a nice video of a Blue Train, Izumo, as it heads from night into dawn going from western Japan to Tokyo... Asahi Shinbun had a great article about the special revival of the Blue Trains during Golden W...

Back a long, long time ago, in December 2010, the new Shinkansen line to Aomori prefecture in northern Japan was opened. Shin Aomori station is about as far as you can get in a hurry from Tokyo, but that also means people "up there" are now able to go to meetings and conferences, if they really have to, in the big city. (I'm sure they all mostly prefer to stay up there in Aomori and enjoy the slow life...) Japan likes fancy commercials and even dramas about things like this. The "CM" as it is called here sometimes contain a certain element of drama, with characters that carry a message of hope, concern, love. In the case of the Aomori Shinkansen, they have put all of that into a series of 30 second long TV commercials. The main guy is a young JR employee who gets selected to be transferred to Aomori prefecture - not a great move at first sight. His nick name is simply "Tokyo" and he has a lot to discover. But, the real reason he is here is that the Sh...

I'm just back from a brief business trip to Aizu, Fukushima prefecture, using the trains as usual. I just love the Shinkansen, the fast and comfortable way to get from A to B in Japan, since 1964. I know, I have mentioned it before... But compared to jets, trains are just so much more pleasant for trips like this. I can't imagine having to check in my luggage and wait and get through all kinds of hoops to board a plane. This year, getting people to travel to Tohoku, the region north of Tokyo and Kanto, may be an uphill battle? But, there are a lot of posters and commercials, to show that the north is open for visitors, in spite of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in 2011. The Onyado Toho hotel I stayed at was fully booked, which made me happy. I'm glad to see this region getting back on its feet, with all the precautions in place, but still, they are so very happy to greet visitors. I think there are a lot of "repeaters" as it is called in tourism, i e people ...

Time - we have no concept of it. Eggs, about a week. Milk and cream, we can get in about three months if we have a couple of cows, and if we know how to deal with them (including the bull). Wheat and rice, about six or seven months, but a lot more if we consider all the history from back way before. Other veggies, well, it depends on where you get your seeds from. Most seed sold in small bags are imported. We talk about farming, but if we don't acknowledge that there are people out there, who know how to work the soil, and who understand the concept of time, then how are we going to feed ourselves? I really liked this article in The Guardian about Irene, a 1907 sail ship that will be chartered to ship food slowly... Organic beer from the UK, olive oil from Spain, and then cocoa, coffee - and rum - back from South America. The whole point is to "blaze a trail for wind-powered cargo ships." For Pike, this trip, which begins on Valentine's Day, is about romance but also ...