http://archive.mag2.com/0000130401/index.html 2008-10-10T11:38:09+09:00 http://archive.mag2.com/0000130401/20081010113806000.html *****-----------------------------------------------------------------*****<br /><br />　 Glimpses of Japan (外国人から見た日本)<br /> vol.210 Naked Ninja<br /><br />　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 2008.10.10<br />*****-----------------------------------------------------------------*****<br /><br />If you missed it on TV, you can pretty easily find on the internet video clips <br />showing the recent episode of the naked tourist (apparently a Briton who may <br />have been traveling with a Spanish tour group) who swam around the imperial <br />moat, possibly trying to retrieve a lost bag, and who tried with limited succes<br /><a href="http://archive.mag2.com/0000130401/20081010113806000.html">続きを読む<a> 2008-10-10T11:38:06+09:00 http://archive.mag2.com/0000130401/20081003163000000.html *****-----------------------------------------------------------------*****<br /><br />　 Glimpses of Japan (外国人から見た日本)<br /> vol.209 Secret Agents<br /><br />　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 2008.10.3<br />*****-----------------------------------------------------------------*****<br /><br />There's a new trend in an unusual business area lately, encouraged by, among <br />other things, the aging population and the increasingly hectic pace of life <br />in Japan. Entrepreneurs, mostly young ones, are achieving remarkable success <br />with agent services. That is, they provide people to act in the place of clients<br /><a href="http://archive.mag2.com/0000130401/20081003163000000.html">続きを読む<a> 2008-10-03T16:30:00+09:00 http://archive.mag2.com/0000130401/20080926173000000.html *****-----------------------------------------------------------------*****<br /><br />　 Glimpses of Japan (外国人から見た日本)<br /> vol.208 Risks Abound<br /><br />　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 2008.9.26<br />*****-----------------------------------------------------------------*****<br /><br />This has been a week of many risks being shown on television and in the internet <br />news. <br /><br />Financiers in the U.S. and elsewhere made some disastrous decisions in their <br />buying and selling and borrowing and lending of mortgages and securities, and <br />of dubious financial instruments and bundles <br /><a href="http://archive.mag2.com/0000130401/20080926173000000.html">続きを読む<a> 2008-09-26T17:30:00+09:00 http://archive.mag2.com/0000130401/20080919173000000.html *****-----------------------------------------------------------------*****<br /><br />　 Glimpses of Japan (外国人から見た日本)<br /> vol.207 Extremely Serious Tightened Security (snicker)<br /><br />　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 2008.9.19<br />*****-----------------------------------------------------------------*****<br /><br />I am cynically amused whenever I hear the phrase &quot;tightened security&quot;. First, <br />of course, one has to assume that if it needs tightening, then it was loose <br />to begin with. Aside from that, once you hear that security will be tightened <br />*again*, at the *same place*<br /><a href="http://archive.mag2.com/0000130401/20080919173000000.html">続きを読む<a> 2008-09-19T17:30:00+09:00 http://archive.mag2.com/0000130401/20080912173000000.html *****-----------------------------------------------------------------*****<br /><br />　 Glimpses of Japan (外国人から見た日本)<br /> vol.206 Kernels of (Un)truth<br /><br />　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 2008.9.12<br />*****-----------------------------------------------------------------*****<br /><br />The latest false labeling food scandal involves a rice milling company selling <br />rice intended for non-food, industrial applications as edible rice to a number <br />of food producers. The rice, tainted with illegally high levels of pesticide, <br />or irremediably water damaged, or containing toxins from mold, was p<br /><a href="http://archive.mag2.com/0000130401/20080912173000000.html">続きを読む<a> 2008-09-12T17:30:00+09:00 http://archive.mag2.com/0000130401/20080905173000000.html *****-----------------------------------------------------------------*****<br /><br />　 Glimpses of Japan (外国人から見た日本)<br /> vol.205 Motor Mugging<br /><br />　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 2008.9.5<br />*****-----------------------------------------------------------------*****<br /><br />The incidence of motorized purse snatchings seems to be increasing, although <br />that may just be because it's being reported more lately. I've seen a few TV <br />programs giving tips about how to avoid having your bag snatched, but it seems <br />that not enough people watch them, or if they watched they failed to take <br /><a href="http://archive.mag2.com/0000130401/20080905173000000.html">続きを読む<a> 2008-09-05T17:30:00+09:00 http://archive.mag2.com/0000130401/20080829173000000.html *****-----------------------------------------------------------------*****<br /><br />　 Glimpses of Japan (外国人から見た日本)<br /> vol.204 Unbalanced Scales of Justice<br /><br />　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 2008.8.29<br />*****-----------------------------------------------------------------*****<br /><br />I was very disappointed by several items in the news this week. They reminded <br />me of how uneven the application of &quot;justice&quot; can be in Japan, particularly <br />when it's applied to politicians, police, and other civil servants.<br /><br />First there was an account of the resolution <br /><a href="http://archive.mag2.com/0000130401/20080829173000000.html">続きを読む<a> 2008-08-29T17:30:00+09:00 http://archive.mag2.com/0000130401/20080822173000000.html *****-----------------------------------------------------------------*****<br /><br />　 Glimpses of Japan (外国人から見た日本)<br /> vol.203 Making Monkeys Out of the Police<br /><br />　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 2008.8.22<br />*****-----------------------------------------------------------------*****<br /><br />Virtually every TV news program on Wednesday showed the ridiculously overdone <br />and hilariously unsuccessful attempts by over 30 (some reports said as many as <br />a 100, but I doubt that) police officers to capture a monkey in and around Shibuya <br />Station.<br /><br />It's likely that thi<br /><a href="http://archive.mag2.com/0000130401/20080822173000000.html">続きを読む<a> 2008-08-22T17:30:00+09:00 http://archive.mag2.com/0000130401/20080808173000000.html *****-----------------------------------------------------------------*****<br /><br />　 Glimpses of Japan (外国人から見た日本)<br /> vol.202 Hot and Wet<br />　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 2008.8.8<br />*****-----------------------------------------------------------------*****<br /><br />There have recently been unusually sudden, violent thunderstorms in Tokyo, <br />with torrential rains of relatively short duration and limited area. On Tuesday <br />August 5th, several workers in a Toshima Ward sewer tunnel were washed away by <br />a flash flood before they could escape through the nearby manhole. In Adachi <br />Ward<br /><a href="http://archive.mag2.com/0000130401/20080808173000000.html">続きを読む<a> 2008-08-08T17:30:00+09:00 http://archive.mag2.com/0000130401/20080801173000000.html *****-----------------------------------------------------------------*****<br /><br />　 Glimpses of Japan (外国人から見た日本)<br /> vol.201 Suite Irony<br />　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 2008.8.1<br />*****-----------------------------------------------------------------*****<br /><br />Soon after I first arrived in Japan, someone called me &quot;_zuzushii_&quot;. At the <br />time, I spoke and read almost no Japanese, so I carried around an all-_romaji_<br />pocket dictionary. Being small, it was rather limited, and it listed _zuzushii_ <br />as &quot;bold&quot;. I took it as a compliment, which was not reall<br /><a href="http://archive.mag2.com/0000130401/20080801173000000.html">続きを読む<a> 2008-08-01T17:30:00+09:00 http://archive.mag2.com/0000130401/20080725173000000.html ****-----------------------------------------------------------------*****<br /><br />　 Glimpses of Japan (外国人から見た日本)<br /> vol.200 Defeating Darwin<br />　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 2008.7.25<br />*****-----------------------------------------------------------------*****<br /><br />For a long time now, two of the concepts that I've most disliked in Japan were <br />&quot;_gaman_&quot; (enduring/bearing) and &quot;_shoganai_&quot; (it can't be helped). Both of <br />them, I have thought, tend to discourage people from attempting to improve <br />their situations, find better ways of doing things, loo<br /><a href="http://archive.mag2.com/0000130401/20080725173000000.html">続きを読む<a> 2008-07-25T17:30:00+09:00 http://archive.mag2.com/0000130401/20080718173000000.html *****-----------------------------------------------------------------*****<br /><br />　 Glimpses of Japan (外国人から見た日本)<br /> vol.199 Easy for Police, Hard for Citizens<br />　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 2008.7.18<br />*****-----------------------------------------------------------------*****<br /><br /><br />First, you should know that I have very little sympathy for anyone who is so <br />gullible as to become a victim of billing fraud/telephone fraud. To follow <br />the instructions of a stranger claiming to be a relative, regardless of how <br />much they may sound like the person whom they are impersonatin<br /><a href="http://archive.mag2.com/0000130401/20080718173000000.html">続きを読む<a> 2008-07-18T17:30:00+09:00 http://archive.mag2.com/0000130401/20080711170000000.html *****-----------------------------------------------------------------*****<br /><br />　 Glimpses of Japan (外国人から見た日本)<br /> vol.198 Warning Warning<br />　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 2008.7.11<br />*****-----------------------------------------------------------------*****<br /><br />A survey was recently taken of people in the cities of Morioka, Sendai and <br />Fukushima. It was an attempt to assess how useful the new earthquake warning <br />system was to people in the region affected by the recent temblor in Tohoku.<br /><br />I personally find little value in a warning system that gives you less than <br /><a href="http://archive.mag2.com/0000130401/20080711170000000.html">続きを読む<a> 2008-07-11T17:00:00+09:00 http://archive.mag2.com/0000130401/20080704173000000.html *****-----------------------------------------------------------------*****<br /><br />　 Glimpses of Japan (外国人から見た日本)<br /> vol.197 Big Brother Bubbles<br />　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 2008.7.4<br />*****-----------------------------------------------------------------*****<br /><br />A good friend of mine, who happens to be a foreigner, told me an interesting <br />story recently. It's a disturbing story, too, and somewhat mysterious.<br /><br />He went to a pharmacy to get a prescription filled, and while he was getting <br />his medicine, he also bought a bottle of hydrogen peroxide (http://en.wikipedia.or<br /><a href="http://archive.mag2.com/0000130401/20080704173000000.html">続きを読む<a> 2008-07-04T17:30:00+09:00 http://archive.mag2.com/0000130401/20080627172000000.html *****-----------------------------------------------------------------*****<br /><br />　 Glimpses of Japan (外国人から見た日本)<br /> vol.196 The Great Escape<br />　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 2008.6.27<br />*****-----------------------------------------------------------------*****<br /><br />I have seen news stories about many animals in Japan that escaped from captivity, <br />or were abandoned by their owners, and then had to fend for themselves. Some <br />have been more successful than others. <br /><br />It seems as if most of the reptiles and big insects that get into public places <br />are found pretty q<br /><a href="http://archive.mag2.com/0000130401/20080627172000000.html">続きを読む<a> 2008-06-27T17:20:00+09:00