Author Archives: learnjapanesehl

The Economy Continues to Bleed

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The news articles this morning had conflicting stories of how the Japanese are being affected by the economic downturn. The Asahi ran a miraculous headline stating “record catches of black tuna found in Ishikawa Prefecture.” They also stated, although not in a headline, that the Nikkei average had bounced back over the past couple days.

Despite some exceptions, the headlines this morning each told of a different part of the economy sputtering. Looks like in Japanese economic news, what still catches reader’s eyes follows the old saying “if it bleeds it leads.”

Yomiuri “Record Bankruptices” The rate for bankruptcies among Japanese companies in May had increased by 6.3%, as compared with the previous month, April. The total bankruptcies now in Japan number 1,057, which has already surpassed the number of companies that went bankrupt in 2008. Debt held by Japanese companies has also increased by 6.3%.

Despite these dire numbers, the Yomiuri adds that although the number of bankruptcies continues to go up, they’re increasing at a slower pace. In April, there was 15.4% more bankruptcies than March. The rate of bankruptcies is going down, they claim, due to the government’s rescue package and stimulus that tries to decrease the amount of bankruptcies.

Asahi ”Workers are More Depressed” The Asahi reported that stress from overwork in 2008 was the highest it’s ever been, with 269 cases diagnosed. Within these numbers, 66 were reported to commit suicide, which is the second highest number on record. The report said that the work environment is getting more intense.

When the companies let people go, the employees that are left behind have more responsibility, and more work hours. The report concluded that 60% of the people diagnosed with stress from work worked over 100 hours a week! The people who worked over 160 hours a week, only 24 responded they had stress related symptoms from overwork.

Nikkei “World Economic Slowdown is the Worst Ever” The Nikkei not only focused on dire Japanese news but also highlighted that the world economy as a whole is slowing down. They quoted the report put out by the OECD that measures the economic growth rate of developed nations that includes Europe, the U.S., and Japan. From January to March of 2009, they estimated that combined GDP fell 2.1%, the lowest on record since the measurements began, in 1980.

3 Die in Tragic Accident in Yokohama

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Remember what it was like to first get your license? It’s both exciting and nerve racking to be driving around on your own free will. This is probably what the 18 year old university student was thinking last night as he was driving through the streets of Yokohoma.

Unfortunately, he did not think to check the light as he was heading for the intersection. As he went through the red light, his car was side swiped by another, and pushed up onto the sidewalk. Waiting on the sidewalk were three female pedestrians. They died shortly thereafter. The newspapers each had a different account of the story that made the driver seem guilty, or not guilty.

Asahi – Guilty: “I was really not looking” The Asahi reported the words of the university student as “I was really not looking.” The Asahi then reported the words of the other driver, claiming that she turned “following the light.” Due to this testimony the police are looking into the possibility of the student driver running and ignoring the red light.

The student’s car when it hit the other car turning into the intersection must have gone far. In the Asahi article according to the authorities, pedestrians who were killed were estimated to be about 10 meters from the crash.

Nikkei – Maybe Not Guilty: “I did not know the light was there” The Nikkei reports a different version of the student’s testimony. Instead of admitting he “wasn’t looking”, as the Asahi reported, they instead claim he “did not know the light was there.” They also tell that the authorities are looking into the possibility of the student running the red light, and omit the testimony from the other driver that was included in the Asahi’s article.

Yomiuri – Definitely Guilty: “Strong Possibility that he ran the light” When the Yomiuri reported that the authorities were looking into the possibility of the student running the red light, they emphasized that they were looking into the ”strong possibility that he ran the light”. They seem to side with the Asahi, as their report of the student’s testimony also stated “I was really not looking.”

The Yomiuri’s estimate for how far away the pedestrians were was even farther than the Asahi’s, at 15 meters! The Yomiuri also claims that there was a car stopped at the intersection, and the driver passed it and ran the red light. Guilty, as charged.

Japanese SMAP Member Returns After House Arrest

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SMAP is one of the most popular boy bands in Japan. Anyone that’s been to Japan and done Karaoke will probably tell you about their songs. Just turn on the TV and you’ll see the very popular Smap Smap variety show. According to Wikipedia SMAP leader Nakai was the highest tax payer of any entertainer in Japan in 2003.

In late April of this year, SMAP member Tsuyoshi Kusanagi was arrested for indecent exposure in a public park. He was found not guilty by authorities, and is scheduled today to return back to showbiz on the show Smap Smap. The Japanese newspapers each had their own account of the Smap member’s return.

Yomiuri He’s Back As Popular Than Ever This summary of the article basically sums up Yomiuri’s reporting of the return of Tsuyoshi Kusanagi. They quote him by saying “I’m happy to have my job and start from square one. I apologize for any inconvenience caused to my band members, and I also thank the fans for all their encouraging words.” The “encouraging words”, according to Yomiuri, were about 45,000 letters sent by fans during his one month absence. Yomiuri paints a picture of Tsuyoshi both as popular as ever, and also as busy as ever. After his debut on Smap Smap tonight Tsuyoshi then is scheduled to appear on “Waratemoii” the following day.

Asahi He Has Risen and Reformed The Asahi fails to mention the massive fan mail and rigorous schedule of Tsuoyoshi and instead paints a picture of a secluded entertainer who has emerged and reformed himself. Quoting Tsuyoshi, “From today I, Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, would like to start again as a member of Smap. I feel happiness.” They then add Tsuoyoshi, for his one month under “house arrest”, did not go out once. He instead chose to read and exercise. “All I can say is how grateful I am for my fans and the people involved.”

Nikkei “Teacher Arrested on Indecent Exposure Charges” The Nikkei did not run a cover story about the SMAP member returning to showbiz but instead focused on an engineering teacher for a girls middle school being arrested for indecent exposure. According to authorities at the school, the teacher’s being charged for exposing his “lower half” to three girls on their way to school. When questioned, he replied, “I’ve been very stressed out to the point where I’ve been unable to continue writing my own thesis.”

SMAP is one of the most popular boy bands in Japan. Anyone that’s been to Japan and done Karaoke will probably tell you about their songs. Just turn on the TV and you’ll see the very popular Smap Smap variety show. According to Wikipedia SMAP leader Nakai was the highest tax payer of any entertainer in Japan in 2003.

In late April of this year, SMAP member Tsuyoshi Kusanagi was arrested for indecent exposure in a public park. He was found not guilty by authorities, and is scheduled today to return back to showbiz on the show Smap Smap. The Japanese newspapers each had their own account of the Smap member’s return.

Yomiuri He’s Back As Popular Than Ever This summary of the article basically sums up Yomiuri’s reporting of the return of Tsuyoshi Kusanagi. They quote him by saying “I’m happy to have my job and start from square one. I apologize for any inconvenience caused to my band members, and I also thank the fans for all their encouraging words.” The “encouraging words”, according to Yomiuri, were about 45,000 letters sent by fans during his one month absence. Yomiuri paints a picture of Tsuyoshi both as popular as ever, and also as busy as ever. After his debut on Smap Smap tonight Tsuyoshi then is scheduled to appear on “Waratemoii” the following day.

Asahi He Has Risen and Reformed The Asahi fails to mention the massive fan mail and rigorous schedule of Tsuoyoshi and instead paints a picture of a secluded entertainer who has emerged and reformed himself. Quoting Tsuyoshi, “From today I, Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, would like to start again as a member of Smap. I feel happiness.” They then add Tsuoyoshi, for his one month under “house arrest”, did not go out once. He instead chose to read and exercise. “All I can say is how grateful I am for my fans and the people involved.”

Nikkei “Teacher Arrested on Indecent Exposure Charges” The Nikkei did not run a cover story about the SMAP member returning to showbiz but instead focused on an engineering teacher for a girls middle school being arrested for indecent exposure. According to authorities at the school, the teacher’s being charged for exposing his “lower half” to three girls on their way to school. When questioned, he replied, “I’ve been very stressed out to the point where I’ve been unable to continue writing my own thesis.”

The World Reacts to North Korea

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Earlier this year in April North Korea did two long range missile tests, aimed at the two bodies of water bordering Japan. Although North Korea claimed the rockets were designed to launch a satellite, these launches were widely condemned by the United Nations as acts of aggression. North Korea in response to the U.N.’s condemnation said it would start testing its nuclear facilities again and continue to do more long range missile tests. Yesterday North Korea put words into action by conducting a nuclear test. The Japanese newspapers this morning reported different world reactions to the North Korean nuclear testing.

Asahi “Korean Foreign Minister: 3-4 Times the Size of Hiroshima” In response to the nuclear testing conducted by North Korea, the Asahi reported that Korea has determined the blast was 3-4 times the size of the bombs dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Yu Myonfan, the foreign minister, claimed this in an interview in front of the Korean cabinet. Although these numbers are alarming, the Asahi does point out that the Defense Minister, Lee Sanghi, claimed the day before that the blasts were not as big as the Hiroshima blast.

Why are the opinions differing between the Defense Minister and Foreign Minister? The Asahi offers this troubling thought: “According to scientists, both the defense and foreign ministers would have had a different perspective on the bomb blast. If they were in different parts of the country when the nuclear bomb went off, they would’ve felt a different earthquake-like wave.”

Nikkei “Russia: A Strict Resolution is Inevitable” The Nikkei reported the commentary by the Russian Foreign Ministry. As Russia is part of the Security Council, any commentary made by them will surely affect the outcome of how the United Nations responds. “Using our power in the Security Council of the United Nations, we cannot back down from giving a strict response of sanctions to North Korea.”

To echo these comments, the economic summit that was planned between Russia and North Korea for the 28th of this month was delayed until further notice.

Yomiuri “Missiles Launched at the Sea of Japan” Perhaps the most alarming headline this morning about North Korea was the Yomiuri’s. It is one thing to talk about an event after it has taken place and the world’s reactions. It’s another to briefly state: “North Korea, as confirmed by the authorities in Seoul, launched two missiles directed at the Sea of Japan. One missile was a surface to ship, one missile was surface to air.” It appears Yomiuri, unlike the Nikkei and Asahi, preferred to focus on the long range missile testing instead of the nuclear testing. I know if I was living in Japan though, my first reaction to that article would be: where did the long range missiles end up?

The Sumo Tournament for Losers, Asashoryu Included

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Last night sumo’s match was an upset for the returning champion sumo, Asashoryu. After an accusation from the sumo authorities for “playing soccer in Mongolia”, among other charges, he was officially banned from sumo for an extended period of time in 2007 to 2008. Now this year he’s back along with his arch rival, Hakuhou. While Hakuhou was undefeated last tournament, Asashoryu racked up two losses. Last night also demonstrated that Asashoryu is not going to be able to come out of this tournament unscathed. Each newspaper had a slightly different take on Asashoryu, Hakuhou, and the tournament last night at Ryogoku, in Tokyo.

Yomiuri “Asashoryu hits the floor, Hakuhou racks up a third win.” The Yomiuri, compared with the other two papers, focuses on Asashoryu’s loss and him literally “hitting the floor.” His rival, Aminishiki, pushed him out of the ring by a well positioned start. The Yomiuri then describes this defeat as the seventh time Aminishiki has beaten a sumo champion. Hakuhou on the other hand, as they describe in their second paragraph, has racked up his third consecutive win.

Nikkei “Asashoryu’s first defeat, Hakuhou and Haruma win” The Nikkei cleverly gives the spotlight in their headline for a win to both Hakuhou and Haruma, to take the focus off of Hakuhou’s win. They then also describe Asashoryu being defeated for the first time, which could well be true in this tournament, but as mentioned in the background of this article Asashoryu had lost twice in the last tournament. The Nikkei favors Asashoryu, and the Yomiuri cheers for Hakuhou.

Asahi “Asashoryu was unilaterally pushed out” The Asahi stated that Aminishiki defeated Asashoryu by “unilaterally pushing him out of the ring.” Comically they stated the first day of the sumo tournament was a wave of chaos, in that most sumo wrestlers had lost, with the exception of Hakuhou and Haruma. For supporters of Hakuhou and Haruma, they wouldn’t see this as chaotic, but rather a good day for sumo. Asahi joins the ranks of the Nikkei in cheering for Asashoryu, while the Yomiuri seems to favor Hakuhou.

The Head of Japan’s Opposition Party Resigns

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Representative Ozawa of the Democratic Party of Japan announced his resignation today. The DPJ, or Democratic Party of Japan, has gained unprecedented political prominence in recent years. Just earlier this year it was highly rumored that the DPJ was going to unseat the ruling party, the LDP or Liberal Democratic Party, for the first time since the Second World War. Then, amidst a scandal where Ozawa’s secretary was accepting illegal campaign contributions, Ozawa and the DPJ abruptly started losing public favor. Each newspaper took a slightly different account of Ozawa’s resignation speech and how they viewed his departure from power.

Asahi A Political Soldier, “I did it for the Unification of my Party”. The Asahi reports that Ozawa’s main focus in his resignation was to unify his party, and continue the political battle. It’s almost made to seem as if a soldier has just retired from the battlefront. “Not only am I doing this to pave the way for a transition of power, but beyond that I’m doing this for sake of political solidarity.” The Asahi then adds that Ozawa still feels that “winning the snap election is of the utmost importance. I will continue along with my party to fight till the end.”

Nikkei A Vulnerable Threat, “The Party was Unstable”. The Nikkei focused on very different commentary than the Asahi for why Ozawa resigned. Their summary of the commentary states “I was the focus of attack from the media, and my departure will hopefully smooth things out and give the party the framework to work together to continue the political battle.” The Nikkei makes it seem as if Ozawa was the weakest link, rather than a strong soldier. The most interesting commentary is the words from Ozawa where he admits “My party was unstable. I couldn’t let this instability go on any longer.”

Yomiuri A Weathered Politician, “It was decided on vacation”. Interestingly enough, Yomiuri was the only newspaper that reported Ozawa’s commentary on when he decided to leave his position of power. “I decided to leave during my vacation, when I had time to sit down and think.” Although the Yomiuri also adds in comments about how Ozawa will continue to fight on within his own party, the nuance is slightly different. They add these comments after he states “I decided on my vacation”, making it seem as if his influence within the party might wane quickly.

Toyota’s Debt: The Biggest Japan Has Ever Seen

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Car companies are part of the corporate identity of Japan, and at the head of the pack is Toyota. With car sales higher than GM, they’re the number one car company in the world. What the economic crisis has taught both America and Japan, however, is that being big isn’t necessarily always best. The newspapers released today the most dismal earnings forecasts that Toyota has had in its 70+ year history.

Yomiuri “850 billion yen for two years” Yomiuri states in their first paragraph that Toyota’s debt forecast will reach a whopping 850 billion yen (8.5 billion dollars), the largest debt on its balance sheet history. According to the Yomiuri, due to the economic slowdown in the world car market, next year’s debt will be twice as much as this year’s.

Nikkei “550 billion yen” The Nikkei paints a very different picture of Toyota, listing their losses as only 550 billion yen (5.5 billion dollars), instead of 850 billion yen. They then cleverly go on to state that if you add the taxes, the total adds up to 850 billion yen. Still, the Nikkei cites factors out of Toyota’s control such as the quick drop in car sales globally and the strong yen that have led it to have such dismal sales forecasts.

Asahi “The Whole Market will Freeze” Asahi also focuses on the 8.5 billion debt figure, and goes further to state that Toyota’s forecast for debt losses will have a ripple effect on the stock market as a whole. They then claim that for Japanese companies, 8.5 million dollars is the largest debt on record. The release of debt will be coupled with effects on the labor market and profits on Toyota’s auto part suppliers, leading to a ripple effect for all Toyota’s sphere of influence.

Baby Boy Found in Freezer

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In Hyogo Prefecture, Ono City, Miyuki Otsuka was arrested yesterday on charges that she left her child’s body in the freezer. According to the police, Miyuki showed up the police station and said that she was hiding her baby’s body in the freezer. Both the Yomiuri and the Asahi Newspapers tell this gruesome tale differently, and interestingly enough neither paper speculates on how or why the baby was killed.

Yomiuri “He was already dead when I got home.” Miyuki claims that she made her son stay at home while she went out. After she returned home, she found her son dead. The Yomiuri mentions some interesting details surrounding this, like for example Miyuki is unemployed. Also, they point out that the body was found in a vanilla bag, wrapped up. They end their article saying the police are currently doing an autopsy to find the cause of death, but the scene they set makes you wonder how it couldn’t be Miyuki.

Asahi “This is my baby, who died years before” The Asahi’s first quote for Miyuki is that her baby had died years before. They then mention that the police are currently doing an autopsy, and at the same time they are questioning the husband. In their closing paragraph they claim that Miyuki is “testifying” that her son died a few months after they moved to the apartment in 2007. The Asahi’s focus on time and the husband hints at the fact that Miyuki might not have killed her baby.

Nikkei ”First American Killed in Texas by the Swine Flu” The Nikkei did not run a story on Miyuki this morning but instead focused on the first death in Texas supposedly from the Swine Flu. According to Routers they claim that a 23rd month old baby was confirmed to have died of Swine Flu, the first death outside Mexico.

Ichiro Breaks Record

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One of the inspirations of this blog entry is to translate directly Japanese news stories from Japanese to English. It is often interesting and enlightening to get the Japanese perspective. After reading an American paper’s account of Ichiro breaking the record and realizing there was no interviews with the man, it became necessary to write about what Ichiro himself said about his record breaking achievement.

Asahi (I was hitting “for dear life”) When Asahi asked Ichiro what it was like up at bat during the seventh inning, when the record could be broken, he exclaimed, “I had no time to think about what was actually going on, or that this was a special moment. It was like I was hitting for dear life.” Asahi then asked, “Can you explain what you mean by “dear life””? Ichiro replied, “Well basically I wanted to take advantage of the moment that my team was doing well. I wanted to add to the flow of the game.”

Asahi also asked if he felt good after playing the game. Ichiro replied “Well I actually had a bad feeling. It was that the current record holder would get upset, hearing cheers after the record was broken.”

Yomiuri (“Not bad at all.”) Ichiro’s feelings while he was at bat, according to Yomiuri, “I was thinking, not bad at all. I should take advantage of the flow of my team. Although I say take advantage, I don’t mean just the act of “taking”, but I think I was more wrapped up in the feeling of the moment.”

Nikkei (“I’ve surpassed the current record holder”) The Nikkei focused on the actual act of breaking the record. Ichiro in the seventh inning left a mark by getting the 3,085 hit of his career. It also went on to explain that Ichiro had stomach pains and was out for eight games last season, and he seems to have recovered well this season. Ichiro exclaimed “I’ve now passed the current record holder.”

The Release of the Mini Coop, in Japan

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BMW has just released a new version of their convertible in Japan, the Mini Coop Convertible S and the Mini Coop Convertible. Each newspaper focused on different features that its readers would enjoy.

Nikkei (New Functionality) The Nikkei focused on the new engine and catchy functionalities that come with the “newly improved mini coop.” The car “employs an effective new engine, with gas consumption performance increased by 40%.” The roof is now able to close mid drive, in reaction to unexpected rain storms. Its closing time has also been decreased to 15 seconds; quick enough so it can close in the time it takes for a stoplight to turn green. Although both newspapers list the car has come out in two models, the Nikkei lists the models as a selection process, with the faster type “more equipped with a 1600cc engine”.

Asahi (New Comfort) The Asahi describes the car as a “new release” in Japan, with different characteristics than previous models. The Asahi talks about the space available in the car, both when driving with the top down and top up. Not only is there luggage space which exceeds 170 liters when the top is up, but it then goes on to elaborate how 2 people can fit in the back comfortably. The space overall has increased by 55 liters as compared to the last model.

NHK and Yomiuri (Crane Accident) Both the NHK and Yomiuri this morning did not run articles on the mini coop but instead focused on the tragic crane accident in Tokyo. 6 people were injured when a large crane suddenly collapsed on its work site and nearby sidewalk. The cause of the accident is currently being investigated.