Kurashi - News From Japan

The Daily Yomiuri has the results from a survey that was conducted in Japan, France, South Korea, Sweden and the United States between October and December 2005 to obtain data that will help the countries tackle their falling birthrates: Less than half of pollees in Japan said their country offers a sympathetic environment to parents raising children, while a majority of those surveyed in Sweden and the United States said sufficient support is provided in their countries for child-rearing, according to the results of a five-country survey released by the Cabinet Office on Thursday. Asked whether their countries provide an environment in which they can easily have children, 48 percent of those polled in Japan gave positive answers, but the rates of those in Sweden and the United States--which have a reputation for supporting families--reached 98 percent and 78 percent, respectively. The survey results also showed that many respondents in Sweden regard raising children as the joint work ...

This is one impressive lady... Sakie Yokota, 70, whose daughter Megumi was abducted by North Korean agents, met U.S. Congressman Steven Chabot, R-Ohio, on Tuesday to relate the tale of her family's ordeal since Megumi's disappearance in 1977. In the 30-minute meeting with Chabot at the congressman's office on Capitol Hill, Yokota said all she wanted was to see her daughter returned to her. During the meeting she showed Chabot a photo taken on a family trip made when Megumi was a primary school student. The congressman, who has been involved in the abduction issue, said it was very serious and promised he would continue his efforts to resolve the issue, according to Yokota, who spoke to reporters after the meeting. Megumi's brother, Takuya, 37, who also attended the meeting with Chabot, said he told the congressman they had not taken family photos for nearly 30 years since his sister vanished. He also told Chabot that Japan as a whole was now embroiled in the abduction i...

I have previously written about Japan Offspring Fund's campaign to raise awareness about the five nuclear reactors in Hamaoka, south of Tokyo. Now, JOF notes that it doesn't take any strength at all to crush what Chubu Electric Power Company refers to as "solid rock". This is the kind of rock bed that the Hamaoka nuclear reactors are standing on. In case of the Tokai earthquake , the fact that the ground easily crumbles is a major concern. Japan Offspring Fund, a NGO based in Kojimachi, Tokyo collected samples of rock at a distance of 100 meters from the actual site of the Hamaoka nuclear reactors, identical to the "solid rock" that the reactors are built on. Read more here . "Of all the places in all the world where no one in their right mind would build scores of nuclear power plants, Japan would be pretty near the top of the list." - Leuren Moret, who visited Japan in 2003. The Japan Times: Japan's deadly game of nuclear roulette Of all the ...

NHK World has produced a program about the Chernobyl accident that you can hear on the website here (click on Tuseday and Wednesday). Japanese photo journalist Ryuichi Hirokawa talks about his impressions from his 50 trips to the area. Also in the Tuesday program, lovely music by Nataliya Gudziy. On the 20th anniversary of the Chernobyl accident, Citizens' Nuclear Information Center remembers the tragedy of this, the worst industrial accident in human history: We recognize the dangers of using nuclear energy. We also recognize that using nuclear energy encourages nuclear proliferation. We therefore make the following appeal: 1. that nuclear energy be phased out as soon as possible; 2. that governments industry and the general public work together to dramatically reduce total energy consumption in the 21st Century; and 3. that the use of renewable forms of energy be expanded as rapidly as possible.

The train lines I use, Saikyo line and Yamanote line, were halted all day today. It is impossible to get the necessary information, except on the JR website (Japanese only). For JR to not be able to provide any information in English or other languages is really mind-boggling. Yamanote line seems to be running again as of 16:00, and the TV news now at 17:00 says Saikyo line stops at Ikebukuro, and passengers are encouraged to change trains there. Mainichi explains what happened, but has no updates. NHK Online has ticker information with very brief updates.

"Small-space living will be a characteristic throughout the entire store," said Tommy Kullberg, the head of IKEA's Japan division. "We have visited hundreds of homes, and really gone through in detail how the Japanese live, how they cook, how they sleep." It is that kind of meticulous preparation that has helped the company grow from a one-man venture in a small Swedish village to a global phenomenon with an almost cult-like following. Today there are more than 230 IKEA stores in 33 countries, and sales have more than tripled in the last decade, to euro 14.8 billion (US$18.3 billion) in 2005. Mainichi has more details here . IKEA's Japanese website is here , with an online catalogue... I have so many nostalgic memories related to that catalogue. While growing up it was always great fun to flip through its cleverly designed pages, imagining what kind of furniture to choose. Nice to see it in Japanese, but actually, I live with almost no furniture these days, ...

(Photos from the great Earth Day Tokyo 2006 blog )