The normally excellent reporter for the New York Times, Norimitsu Onishi, recently wrote a rather bland, meandering article on lawyers in rural Japan.

It is interesting to note the contrasts between Japan and more litigious societies. For example, Onishi states that there are 1/3 as many lawyers, per capita, in Japan than in the U.S. It’s also interesting that the Japanese government intervenes in the concentration and coverage of lawyers in the country.

Thanks to a national campaign to raise the number of lawyers, and to dispatch them to lawyerless corners of Japan, Yakumo welcomed its first one in April.

In Japan, other legal professionals, including notaries and tax accountants, often perform the duties that fall to lawyers in the United States. Still, even including those professions, Japan has only about one-third of the lawyers found in the United States per capita, according to the federation.

Beyond that, half of Japan’s lawyers are concentrated in Tokyo, leaving only one lawyer for every 30,000 Japanese outside the capital, according to the federation.

Like many Japanese who consult lawyers, the four seemed embarrassed about doing so

“Japanese by nature don’t want to publicize their problems,” Mr. Hirai explained. “And coming to see a lawyer is to admit that there are problems inside your home or workplace.”

Between studying Japanese for four years at SDSU and living here for 17, I’ve pretty much got the Japanese language down. I’ve actually forgotten a large part of what I studied over the years, especially written kanji, since the great convenience of computers that let you select the right character by hitting the space bar means that almost no one writes kanji as well as they used to, including both Japanese and foreigners like me.

Although I’m functionally fluent in the language, I’ve learned something odd — it’s often better to speak English in some situations.

The other day I was at the public bath with my son (it’s called Yura no Sato, which translates as “Village of Hot Water Relaxation”) when one of the other bathers struck up a conversation with me, asking me where I was from. He’d just finished an interesting trip around the world, visiting China, the Middle East and Europe, and was planning on going to the U.S. next.

While my long years of studying tempted me to speak Japanese with him, instead I spoke only English, since I knew that getting to practice his language skills would really make the man’s day. Speaking English instead of Japanese can open doors that might not otherwise open for you.

Once I was speaking with a Japanese female airline employee at a ticket counter about about the possibility of an upgrade to business class, and I received a somewhat cold reaction to my suggestion when I spoke in Japanese to her. I decided to ask at another counter run by the same airline, this time speaking polite English and batting my “gaijin Bambi eyes” as best I could, and darned if I didn’t get that upgrade.

My wife tells me that if I want to yell at someone for something, it’s much more effective to do it in English — it seems that angry words just carry more impact in English than in Japanese.

One interesting aspect of education in Japan is how students face competition in many forms which helps make them better students.

Starting with junior high school, many students are ranked according to their test scores, with a board hung outside the class that lists each student’s rank is in relation to everyone else. If you’re the #1 student in your class, you can bet your classmates will be gunning for your slot, so you’d better study hard.

The system of having to take an entrance exam to get into high school also provides a reason for students to be more serious about their own education, since you have to hit the books if you want to get into one of the best high schools. (My 13-year-old son is already preparing for a high school that’s known for its engineering and robotics courses.)

Although I often wonder if it’s really a good idea to put pressure on kids to study at such a young age, I can see benefits from creating a more vigorous study environment for teenagers. Growing up in the public school system in Maryland and California, I can honestly say I don’t have a single memory of studying hard or being challenged until I got to college, and getting kids to apply themselves at a younger age can’t be a bad thing.

So what do you think? There is the obvious question of sad outcomes that can happen when young people have more pressure than they can handle, but on the other hand, there is no gang violence or drug problems or other terrors that prey on kids in the U.S. I wonder which approach is better.

The temperature in my house was over 30 when I awoke, sweating and fully unrested at 7.30 this morning. We’re in for a warm one.

And if ice cream is too fattening, and solace can’t be found in only-good-for-one-glass Japanese beer, what respite is there?

One recommended way of dealing with the oppressive summer is apparently to eat unagi - eel. Eel has been marketed for centuries as a stamina food, a remedy to the sapping heat.

CScout Japan reports on a new ‘black beer’ from Miyashita Brewery, that purports to be the perfect companion to an eel supper. Not sure I’ll be trying it myself, as the brewery describes the beer as “sweet and fragrant”, but perhaps you might. (Though I particularly liked the exhortation that, translated, claims eel and black beer is “new common sense!”)

If you want to take it a step further (and if you’ve come this far, then why not?) you might actually like some eel in your drink. Check out CScout’s whole post for details.

Click here to read a first-hand account of a blogger who was on hand during some of the demonstrations currently going on in South Korea against the importation of U.S. beef. Fascinating stuff.

Found via The Marmot’s Hole.

It goes without saying that hate, intolerance, discrimination and violence have been the mark of mankind since the dawn of human history… and all efforts to curb this characteristic behavior through laws, religions and other forms of influence have failed.

In fact, male-dominated religions, the largest, most organized and most powerful of these efforts, have fueled rather than diminished the hatreds, the intolerance, the discrimination and the violence that have plagued humanity since day one.

But despite the evils that have been inherent in the dogma and teachings of religions and the propensity for evil that is part of the primitive nature of mankind, men in particular, ordinary people in many societies have achieved a level of civilization that is praiseworthy.

However, most countries in the world remain awash in irrational and violent behavior because their cultures are generally incapable of instilling in people the mindset that is necessary to build and sustain rational, positive, humane, and constructive societies.

The reasons for these cultural failures have been known to many people for ages, but the very evils that have traditionally plagued mankind have prevented most societies from being able to create the kind of cultures they could have.

The problem is that the beliefs and institutions that control the behavior of most humans make it virtually impossible for people to agree on and work together to develop and implement educational and training systems that would transform the way children are raised.

As simplistic and perhaps as other-worldly as it may sound, there is one training program that all children could be enrolled in at an early age that would go a long way toward instilling in them many of the cultural attributes that are the most desirable and admirable in human beings—and the only thing their parents would have to do is enroll them in this program and keep them in it from around the age of five to fifteen.

This program is nothing more esoteric or mysterious than the physical, emotional, intellectual and philosophical training provided by the modern-day version of karate (kah-rah-tay), originally imported into mainland Japan from distant Okinawa after that island was conquered by a Japanese warlord in 1609 and the residents were forbidden to have weapons of any kind.

Bereft of weapons, Okinawan warriors soon developed the ancient Chinese version of karate [“empty hand”] into a more formidable martial art, making it possible for them to inflict serious injury or death on a person using only their hands.

During the following centuries of the Tokugawa era [1603-1867] karate was gradually subsumed into the training of the samurai who ruled Japan and Okinawa. Later, after the fall of the Tokugawa Shogunate in 1867 and dissolution of the samurai class in 1870, karate became a part of the training of Japan’s imperial army and police forces.

By the early 1900s farsighted martial arts masters had transformed karate into a sport aimed at developing the character of the individual, with special emphasis on respect for others, concentration, self-confidence, diligence, a sense of order, perseverance, honesty and courage.

Today most people around the world are familiar with the word karate as a result of movies, video games and comic books which continue to present it as a fighting technique, but in real life training in karate is aimed at building the kind of character and behavior that all parents would like to see in their children.

The number of karate training centers around the world is growing [there are over 3,000 in the U.S. alone] as more and more parents come to understand that its remarkable benefits include improving the character, personality and behavior of their children.

I believe that the physical, emotional and philosophical discipline offered by karate training could go a long way toward reducing many of the evils that continue to afflict mankind—if not eliminating some of them altogether—and advocate making the training mandatory in all elementary and high schools.

__________________
Boyé Lafayette De Mente has been involved with Japan and East Asia since the late 1940s as a member of a U.S. intelligence agency, student, business journalist, and editor. He is the author of more than 50 books on Japan, Korea and China. For synopses of his titles go to: www.cultural-guide-books-on-china-japan-korea-mexico.com. His books include: Samurai Principles & Practices that Will Help Preteens & Teens in School, Sports, Social Activities & Choosing Careers.

The New York Times recently reported on a new trend in Japanese tourism, both those visiting Japan and Japanese going abroad. While fewer Japanese are traveling outside the country, more foreigners are visiting; most of whom are coming from Asian countries.

Once prohibitively expensive, Japan is suddenly drawing soaring numbers of Asian tourists who splurge at the nation’s department stores, lounge in its hot spring resorts or explore remote corners, like this stretch of pristine mountains and forests on Japan’s northernmost tip.

Japan itself was once known for its free-spending tourists, who flocked to boutiques from Hong Kong to Fifth Avenue. But as Japan’s economy stalled for the last dozen or so years, rapid development in countries like China and South Korea raised living standards there.

At the same time, there has been a decline in the number of people going abroad from Japan. The number of Japanese traveling abroad has fallen 3 percent from the peak in 2000 of 17.8 million, the government-run Japan National Tourist Organization said.

By contrast, the number of visitors to Japan from South Korea, Taiwan, China and Hong Kong almost doubled last year from five years earlier, to 5.36 million, according to the tourist group. Those four regions alone accounted for nearly two-thirds of all foreign visitors to Japan last year, the organization said.

Many Asian tourists interviewed said they liked to shop here because Japan has the latest fashions first, and at prices way below those in many other Asian countries, where tariffs are steep. They also said they liked visiting Japan because it was close, safe and cleaner than much of the rest of Asia.

During the 1980s, Americans were the largest group of overseas visitors to Japan, but have now fallen to fourth behind South Korea, Taiwan and China. Surveys also showed Asian tourists came to Japan for different reasons than Westerners. While Americans said they came to see cultural attractions like temples, Asians cited shopping, followed by hot springs and nature. Visits to factories are also popular, he said.

A couple of weeks ago, the New York Times reported that Benihana’s (chain of restaurants) founder Rocky Aoki has died at age 69. He was a colorful personality (see below).

 As for the restaurants:

Benihana’s style of food is called teppan-yaki. Eating there is “equal parts restaurant, magic show and performance art,” said David Rockwell.

There is a Benihana’s restaurant near where my family lives in the suburbs of Cleveland, Ohio. We went there from time to time and enjoyed the food and the show. I haven’t been to a restaurant here in Japan, though, which features the style of food at Benihana’s. Does anyone know if it actually exists here, and if so, where?

Back to Mr. Aoki:

He pleaded guilty to charges that he had used an illegal tip to buy stock. He was fined $500,000 and given three years’ probation.

He raced boats, and flew in hot-air balloons. In the summer of 1979, in San Francisco Bay, he had a near-fatal accident on a 38-foot powerboat. During a test run at 70 miles an hour, the boat lost its trim and dived into a wave. Mr. Aoki suffered a ruptured aorta, a lacerated liver and a leg broken in four places.

In September 1982, he was piloting a 35-foot Active Marine racer in the Kiekhaefer St. Augustine Classic in Florida. He suffered leg injuries when the boat, going 80 miles an hour, hit a swell and shattered.

His love life was as tumultuous as his racing. He had six children by two women. Mr. Aoki’s third wife, Keiko Ono Aoki, survives him, along with all of his children.

bin is Japanese for “bottle.”

There have been a lot of changes in Japanese society since we started J-List in 1996.

First, the old concept of lifetime employment, that Japanese workers will generally stay at a firm their entire lives without ever changing jobs, fell by the wayside when iconic companies like Sony started eliminating jobs and laying off employees, something that had never been done in the past (although companies would often force layoffs in their subsidiaries when times got tough).

Another big change was the idea that Japanese companies could be headed by (gasp!) foreigners, a trend which probably started when Brazil-born Lebonese-French Carlos Ghosn assumed leadership of Nissan in June of 2000, turning the company around by eliminating jobs that the company’s core business couldn’t support.

Now it seems that many of the most visionary Japanese companies are headed by foreigners, for example Shinsei Bank, a popular Internet-based bank that’s breaking rules and taking names in the extremely conservative Japanese banking world, introducing concepts like not charging a $6 fee to transfer $20 to someone’s account, letting Japanese use ATMs without fees when traveling in other countries, and having bank branches that stay open past 3 pm. My theory is that banks in Japan close so early in Japan to encourage young men to get married, so they’ll have wives who can do their banking for them.

Foreigners have taken the lead in sports, too, for example Coach Bobby Valentine, who made a name for himself as the talented coach of the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters.

Japan Talk #118 is now available on the Japan Talk website and at FeedBurner.

* Special all IreneB, all Spanish-language music edition

* Blogging an earthquake

* Does IreneB have a Japan connection?

* Japan News Junkie. . . Please join!

Listener Mail
* Ronaldo “Racum” Ferreira (Brazil): Japan/Latin America connection
* Duncan (Hokkaido): Using Japan Talk in the classroom

* What was it like for IreneB being an R&B artist in Spain?

Japan News Roundup
* Woman stabbed in Hachioji in killer’s bid for fame
* J-exports fall for the first time in more than four years
* Consumers like Panasonic best
* Newly rich women in Japan
* J-docs avoiding generic drugs
* Press urged to lighten up on Masako
* Acupuncture improves tuna meat
* Frank talk about beans
* Japan recycling more food waste
* Mutt owner dogged by prankster
* Peace demo slated for Yasukuni
* New protein named for Pikachu
* Pokemon bullet train goes into service
* Japan’s 62,000 dying communities
* J-cell cameras designed to thwart pervs
* New defendants “rights” in Japan
* Paul Simon sues clockmaker
* Man arrested for stealing and wearing women’s undies

* What are IreneB’s plans for the future?

* Where can people go to find out more about IreneB?

Music - All by IreneB
* Mi Realidad
* Me Dejo Llevar
* Un Nuevo Camino

Links of Interest
* Japan News Junkie

* IreneB on Myspace
* IreneB on YouTube

* Mainichi Daily News
* Japan Times
* The Daily Yomiuri
* Asahi Shimbun

* Japan Talk in the iTunes Store
* Japundit

Contact: podcast@japundit.com

Here is the Open Thread for this week.

This is the place to talk about politics, policies, and cultural issues if that is what turns your crank, or just about anything else you might have on your mind.

Rules are very loose for open thread posts, and usual restrictions concerning topic matter do not apply.

From the amazing and talented Koharu and friend comes the following video of their Tokyo street performance.

If you missed our past posts on Koharu, here is a blast from the past.

More here.

The following is a look at a mostly foreign rock band, the Sushi Cabaret Club, based in Nagoya, Japan.

The members hail from Scotland, England, Australia, and Japan. They talk about their music, what brought them to Japan, what it’s like for bands in Japan, and what it’s like playing for Japanese audiences. They dispel a few myths like how easy it is for Western musicians to make it big in Japan as well. Also, few of their fans talk about their interest in the band’s music.

The Sushi Cabaret Club site

Here are two videos the band made themselves while they still had their first drummer:

Back when I was learning Japanese, I distinctly remember thinking to myself that the Speedo swimsuit company had to be Japanese.

The reason for this was the way all Japanese sounds are based on syllables — for example, you can have sa, shi, su, se and so but never s by itself — which plays some tricks with English names when rendered into Japanese.

Since all syllables end in vowel sounds (except for n, the only consonant that can come at the end of words), English words get a bit of unwanted vowel at the end, which changes a word like “meet” into something like “meet-oh” and the word “friend” into “friend-oh.” The English word “speed” similarly becomes “speed-oh,” which is where my confusion came from.

The Japanese know that they often have thick accents when speaking English, and sometimes try to snip this final vowel sound in order to sound more natural. Sometimes they clip too much, though. Once a student of mine asked me for a “tish,” and it took me several minutes to realize he was trying to get me to give him a tissue.