|
And on to Adelaide MON 27 NOVEMBER 1st Test, day 5: Australia 602-9d & 202-1d, England 157 & 370; Australia won by 277 runsDay four went reasonably well, but any illusions we might have been under that England could bat out the last day soon disappeared when Pietersen was out in the first over, and so started a quick procession. Ah well, the second test starts on Friday. A change in the bowling attack on the cards, maybe? Well would you look at that MON 27 NOVEMBER Rummaging around in Direx (discount store) yesterday afternoon, my eyes settled on a familiar logo. Were these McVitie's Digestives I saw before me? Indeed they were. Immediately my imagination fired up scenes of Sunday nights, cup of tea, Antiques Roadshow, Bergerac, wondering if I'd done my homework. It's been a while since I had a digestive.And here were some decidedly Japanese McVitie's - black digestives. Made with all sorts of black cereals, and a subtle sesame flavour. Never having seen McVitie's in Japan before, I was surprised to learn there are plenty of goodies in their range. (And even though I'm convinced it's a thing of myth, I'm now actively seeking out the banana cream black digestive sandwich.) Brisbane blues SUN 26 NOVEMBER Why on earth didn't Ponting enforce the follow-on? The internet is a wonderful breeding ground for conspiracy theories. One was that the players get a percentage of gate receipts so had a vested interest in stretching the match as far as possible. Or perhaps Australia see a chance to inflict a world record defeat on their opponents.Surpassing England's total for just one wicket achieved what I think they were after, namely heaping as much humiliation on England as possible. Humiliation to the tune of a lead of 647, and 9 wickets in hand. Job's a good 'un. It'll be a long way back up after this. ...the goose is getting fat SUN 26 NOVEMBER Christmas isn't generally too noticeable round our way. Unsurprisingly, very few folks go in for grand displays of Christmas decorations. Except one of our neighbours.It starts in mid-November with a few strings of lights, and gets added to daily as the month progresses. I think it's now reached its zenith. Although more sparkle may appear in the next four weeks, I'm not sure there's much more room. Most of them flash, too. It all rings faint bells SAT 25 NOVEMBER 1st Test, day 2: Australia 602-9d, England 53-3You might have heard Tony Blair's going to go quietly, a former Nigerian politician's widow wants to transfer $14 million into your account, and England can still save the first test match in Brisbane. None of these things is true. They are all cruel hoaxes. (Though if you believed any of them, let me tell you about a great money-making scheme I've discovered. All I need is for you to send me fifty quid to get it started.) Obviously a batting track, some might say. Hmm. When Ponting declared, that last hour and a half had 'England wickets tumble' written all over it. And so they did. Strauss got himself out hooking again. Cook went next ball. Familiar territory for England fans. And it's not that Australia's batting must be more disciplined than England's either. Clark's explosive 39 off 23 balls doesn't exactly reek of discipline, does it. Although fans will recognise a certain impatience in England's batting which inevitably leads to unnecessary shots and voluntary early showers. You might hopefully wonder if perhaps our batsmen succumbed to an unbeatable bowling attack? Hardly. McGrath, who took 2 of the 3 wickets to fall, hasn't bowled in nearly a year and barely made it over 80mph. Day three starts with Bell and Pietersen. Bell's been in top form coming into this match, and Pietersen... well, you never know. Someone's got to stay there all day. Pietersen could score a hundred and still be out by lunchtime. Another 350 to avoid the follow-on. What odds on seeing Strauss back at the wicket this evening? A week goes by FRI 24 NOVEMBER And not much happens.Things take a turn for the staid and sedentary in November. Head down till Christmas and New Year and try not to spend too much along the way. So I had a bit of a gamble the other night. A little flutter to get the adrenaline pumping. Now, I've been there before. A few times, actually. I'm no stranger. I know the ins and outs (mainly the outs) of food poisoning, and I put my insides on the line again, by cooking up these bad boys. An omiyage from Mrs C's trip up to Sasebo last weekend, these things required "just a couple of minutes on a medium heat," she assured me. I'd toyed with the idea of slugging them down raw, but seeing as they last sniffed the sea a whole week ago, I decided against it. Can't say that I wasn't still nervy though. Delicious. And no trip to A&E required. The Ashes: Here at last FRI 24 NOVEMBER Not so sure England fans are quite as giddy going into this one as they were last time around. The odds are not looking quite as good this time. Australia are at home, and they're peeved at losing last year. England are still without Vaughan, meaning that they're still under the leadership of Flintoff, who I just don't think is that good a captain. And losing Trescothick just days before the opener doesn't lighten the mood any.And Fletcher's team selection betrays a lack of confidence. Having Jones in for Read and Giles in for Panesar because "they can bat a bit" is playing into Australia's hands. Read is a better 'keeper and it's far easier to imagine Panesar's bowling winning a match than Giles'. These two selections send a message to the top order batsmen that you're not confident in their ability, and they need the support of players who can chip in. It's back to the dark old days, it seems. 1st Test, day 1: Australia 346-3 Well, I know the pitch didn't help much, but everyone's talking about Harmison. Has he psyched himself out before it's even started? England seem to have lost a dangerous strike bowler in return for a village second-changer. If it's down to confidence, you can hope it'll come back. If it's a crack in his technique as many pundits are saying, you can't expect that to be corrected mid-series. Not playing him in the warm-up matches looks decidedly silly now. The Fundamental Mistake on Education! FRI 17 NOVEMBER The government's high profile plans to reform the 1947 Fundamental Law on Education took a step closer to fruition on Wednesday when the lower house approved the bill. The four main opposition parties who were greatly opposed to the bill, on the grounds that the government had provided too little opportunity for proper parliamentary discussion, did nothing to hinder its passage by boycotting the session, meaning the paperwork just had to be rubber stamped and sent to the upper house, where it's sure to pass as the government enjoys such an overwhelming majority.The opposition demanded the bill be sent back for further debates, notably on the subjects of recent scandals, including high schools' failure to teach mandatory curricular subjects, and bullying in schools. Both issues have come under the media spotlight as being the cause of a recent spate of suicides. However, the government decided that no further debate was necessary, that plenty had already been had, and refused. A further issue the opposition raised was "the manipulation by government officials of questions at public hearings, called town meetings, on education." When the government says that there had been plenty of discussion of the proposals, it's talking about these public meetings, not parliamentary discussion. It takes its mandate from the outcome of these public events, and it was revealed this week that these events were far from open debate. Yoshiaki Takaki, a parliamentary affairs committee chairman for the opposition DPJ, spoke in these terms of the railroading of the bill. "That was an outrageous act by taking advantage of the numbers enjoyed by the gigantic ruling coalition. There was insufficient debate on a defective revision of the Fundamental Law of Education that was built upon town meetings on education that were staged."He's referring to yesterday's revelation that people raising questions at the town meetings were in fact hand-picked and paid to ask pre-prepared questions. The SDP's Nobuto Hosaka revealed to a lower house special committee on Tuesday "documents signed by Cabinet Office officials and the advertising agency contracted to organize the town meetings." The contracts stated the payment for experts on the panels at the meetings but also showed "other cooperators" would receive 5,000 yen each. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki told a press conference the following day that he saw no problem with the payments. "The payments are remuneration for fulfilling a role of starting a debate," he said. Well, not quite, eh, Mr Shiozaki. The government giving itself the opportunity to lecture the public on its plans in the most favourable light possible is hardly "starting a debate", is it. He added, "It is my understanding that they were not staged questions." So opinion on that one appears to be divided, shall we say. All 174 town meetings are now being investigated. But who are they being investigated by, you may ask? Then I shall tell you. They're being investigated by "a government committee chaired by Yoshimasa Hayashi, the senior vice minister for regulatory reform". So that'll root out any wrong-doing, I'm sure. But getting back to the bill itself, the Daily Yomiuri said of it - The bill comprises a preamble and 18 articles. The preamble contains a phrase calling for respect for public-mindedness, and the articles include a new one about lifelong learning.Which is all rather airy-fairy stuff. And it begs the question, is all that patriotism going to be on the university entrance exam? Because if it's not, forget it. Who's going to be interested? And when it comes to how all this is actually going to be taught, that's when the government sidles away from any clear statement. Will it go as far as historical revisionism? Are the voices raised in fear of rising regional militarism actually justified? Who knows, because nobody's saying! While it's clear that the government doesn't see a programme of educational reform as an opportunity to tackle the very real problem of the system being hobbled by university entrance exams, and other prevalent problems outlined by the opposition and others, it's actually very unclear as to what the government's plan is. With an atmosphere of rising fear and distrust, and government refusal to clarify or even enter into a debate, it's no surprise that Abe's approval ratings have steadily plummeted since he took over. Who knows what's going to happen next? Answers on a postcard to the usual address... Better safe that sorry THURS 16 NOVEMBER Anyone watching TV in Japan last night will have seen the news that was superimposed on most programming of the enormous 8.1 magnitude earthquake with its epicentre north-east of Japan in the Kuril islands. This was soon followed by a graphic which showed, in colour, a warning of approaching tsunamis (red for "flee to higher ground" and yellow for mere "danger"). The affected area stretched around half of Hokkaido and most of Japan's Pacific coast, and waves of up to 2m were forecast.As it turned out, there wasn't much more than 20cm. When you see TV footage of officials measuring sea swell at the dock with a long wooden ruler, you know there's not a great deal to worry about. But it served as a good drill as warnings went out in plenty of time, and flood defences were put into place. This earthquake was a few hundred kilometres out to sea, but it's the eighth time in a week those living in Hokkaido have been rattled by tremors. Not that I'm trying to worry anyone there at all. Wanton construction THURS 16 NOVEMBER Winter's giving signs that it's just around the corner. The heated carpet's come out of storage, much to the cat's delight. As has the paraffin stove, though we haven't felt the need to use it yet. Blankets are within easy reach, and I won't be separated from the laptop which serves as my central heating.But before giving in entirely and hibernating, we took a road trip at the weekend along the Amakusa coastline, from Oyano in the north, through central Hondo, on to Ushibuka in the south and the end of the road. It was a lovely warm autumnal day, perfect for taking the scenic route. We stopped in Hondo for lunch at a restaurant that we all agreed "looked interesting" from the outside. The inside even more so. I don't take my camera into restaurants so you'll just have to believe me when I tell you that this place was the gravitational centre of world kitsch. We'd hit the motherlode. Porcelain flowers of indeterminate species shared space on the white-veneered piano with a trio of ceramic penguins, for example. And I couldn't count the kitten pictures. But more than that, the service was quite the worst I've experienced in Japan. So much so that it seemed deliberate. After waiting an age for the food, it arrived as and when. Side orders were long finished by the time dishes arrived. And when mine came, most people had had time to finish. The fact that I was still eating didn't stop the mute waiter from reaching across me to clear the other plates, mind. During the meal, condiments were taken from our table and given to another without a word. Our request for coffee was simply ignored, and when we did eventually get it through, only one came. The whole place was run and staffed by people who inhabited a different dimension from ours. So we paid up, said our goodbyes and stepped out between the holographic kitten clock on one wall and the Mickey and Minnie clock on the other. I'll definitely be back though. Amakusa is a collection of islands, many of which are now connected by a series of famous bridges. When you get as far as you can go, you find yourself in Ushibuka, a small fishing town in the south west. And here is the bridge to beat them all. I'm torn between thinking it blights what must once have been a nice little harbour, and marvelling at the spectacular daftness of a bridge so out-of-place huge that it has two junctions on it. The sort of needless construction project (there was already and still is another bridge connecting the two islands) with a massive outlay (total cost: £60 million) only possible under an LDP government (famous for, among other things, feeding vast sums of public money to the building industry for gratuitous construction over the last 50 years), this thing's a prizewinner (1998 Tanaka Prize, Japan Society of Civil Engineers), just 100m shy of a kilometre long. Rather brazenly, the designer of this colossal structure, which dominates the small sleepy port, said "the simple design minimises interference with the scenic surroundings". Even those artistic types at Artpolis said that its design makes it appear "as a single line floating in the landscape and thus blend in with the natural environment". Now that's some hi-octane denial. Taking in the whole of Amakusa necessitates a 200-mile round trip, but along the rocky coast and up into the steep roads of Amakusa's southern forests, and in the company of good friends, it was a like a vacation. It was a day quite out of the ordinary. The Cradle of the White Stork FRI 10 NOVEMBER Jikei Hospital in Kumamoto announced today a plan to open what it will call "the Cradle of the White Stork" - a hatch in the hospital wall through which unwanted babies can be deposited into an incubator, and into the care of the hospital.The idea is based on a 'baby box system' started by a Christian organisation in Hamburg, Germany, in 2000 with the aim of reducing the numbers of infants killed or abandoned. Quoted in a detailed Asahi report, a director at the hospital, Taiji Hasuda, said that "the baby box is mainly intended to solve two problems: to help infants who are not wanted by their parents and to give women with unwanted pregnancies, especially younger ones, an option other than abortion." The scheme has no precedent in Japan, so in answer to those with worries about the legality of the scheme the hospital has said that when it outlined the plans to the Kumamoto prefectural government, the Kumamoto city government, local police and other organizations concerned, none of them expressed opposition. Central government, however, is less sure about the legal standing and has yet to comment. But Hasuda added "We want to save both the children and the mothers. [...] Jikei Hospital cannot close its eyes to the reality that innocent babies are abandoned and later die." Critics of the scheme have raised what are to my mind spurious concerns that it will encourage "irresponsible parenting" and unsafe teenage sex. Those behind the idea aren't touting it as a solution, or as perfect, but as an emergency measure. Of course it's imperfect - for example, because of the anonymity there can be no counselling - but the fact is that it addresses what is a reality, and could save lives. The critics remind me of hard-line advocates of a certain government's 'Back to Basics' programme of 1993 which sought to "crack down on single mothers" among other 'social ills'. Many a wealthy, upper-class, be-suited rent-a-quote got up and in typical tackle-the-symptom-not-the-cause style settled on modern teenagers' lack of self-control being the problem. The fact that children were growing up in an increasingly sexualised society where the media bombarded them with sexual imagery, and yet no one spoke to them about sex, and that sexual education amounted to little more than Ikea instructions ("Insert tab A into slot B") - well, that was never raised, and barely has been since. Perhaps it's not surprising then that the UK now has the highest rate of teen pregnancies in western Europe. The point is that naysayers of this scheme would rather we sweep the whole problem under the carpet, rather than address today's social realities, no matter how unpalatable or otherwise they might be to one's own reality. And Mr Hasuda isn't claiming that this scheme will reduce teenage pregnancies. Nor should he, it's not his responsibility. But he's addressing the reality that lives that are currently being ruined or lost could be saved, particularly if this scheme grows into a nationwide system, as it has in Germany where there are now more than 70 'baby boxes'. It's progressive thinking, but it's only tackling one of the symptoms of a much wider problem. Perhaps this will open up a wider discussion and examination of the roots of the problem, and will be met by some equally progressive thinking in central government. But bearing in mind how emotive the issue is, and how uncomfortable a full examination of society's faults would be, and the likelihood of progressive thinking in this government, I won't hold my breath. Let's get philosophical THURS 9 NOVEMBER No doubt it's a question that's vexed you for many years too. When you buy chocolate with bubbles in it, are you buying the chocolate, or the bubbles?My new favourite addresses this very hot philosophical conundrum. Puku puku tai might look fundamentally like a fish. A fish with bubbly chocolate in it, no less. And quite delicious it is. But the makers of Puku puku tai want to challenge your preconceptions. Abandon your normal perspective and look at your snack and analyse it from a fresh viewpoint. Really look at it. (Looks tasty, eh.) What are you buying? A fish-shaped treat? Chocolate? Think again... It's the bubbles! The chocolate is just a convenient packing material to keep the bubbles together. And if you're worried about those bubbles around the edge escaping, that's why it's wrapped in a wafer fish! Now I've explained it, it makes perfect sense, doesn't it. Great balls of paint TUES 7 NOVEMBER Thanks to stippy.com, another of life's mysteries is solved.What are those strange plastic balls of orange paint you see on the counter in so many shops and post offices in Japan? Wonder no more. These little paint-filled baseballs (they even have the little stitching details) are for tagging robbers. Seriously. Assuming you've got quick reactions and a good aim, you chuck one at the escaping ne'er-do-well, marking him (or even his getaway car) with a patch of permanent fluorescent colour for the coppers to find, and a good stink for the police dogs to follow. They're apparently called bouhan balls, but seeing as that means 'crime prevention', I think it a bit of a misnomer, unless they mean having them on display is a deterrent. They're marketed as "Arrest Ball", which seems a bit closer to the mark. I would imagine that your clever crims know to make off with the balls too, to save them a bit of trouble, because if all the police have to go on is that "He's NOT covered in fluorescent orange paint", that makes their task a tad trickier. The video that Simon Adams made is a must-see...
Start the day the Eeyore way MON 6 NOVEMBER For some people, a good cup of coffee gets the day off to a great start. For other people, it doesn't.Great balls of fire MON 6 NOVEMBER With Sunday being our only day off, it has recently become our Big Day Out. And just as yesterday was beginning to turn lazy, my net surfing stumbled upon the Saga International Balloon Festival. So we jumped in the car and headed north.Yesterday was the last day of the annual festival, held on the banks of the river Kase, and we'd missed the races and what we assumed was the main event of the day. But as the sun came down, a couple of teams arrived to put up balloons, and within half an hour there were dozens springing up all over the field, in a huge variety of shapes and colours. The evening display, dubbed 'the Montgolfier Nocturne', involved illuminating the balloons with the burners in time to music. As the culmination of the week-long festival, it was a spectacular show, the likes of which we'd never seen before. It's that time again THURS 02 NOVEMBER In the last few days, shops have started to put out huge displays of nengajou (New Year cards), most decorated with the symbol of next year's zodiac sign, inoshishi.New Year cards are a very important part of Japanese New Year traditions, and the Post Office hold them back in order to post ALL of them on New Year's Day. And that's a lot of cards. It was reported that nationwide about 3.79 billion cards went on sale this week. Much like Christmas cards, nengajou vary from the formal to the personalised, and each company and household sends out dozens, if not hundreds. As the tradition started as a way of informing friends and family in far-flung places that one was alive and well and wishing them all the best, many cards are personalised with drawings, and especially now with photos of new-born or growing children. As this is our first year in business, we'll be sending out our first london.net nengajou along with our personal cards. And the terrifying thought has just hit me that New Year is less than 8 weeks away, which means Christmas is only 7, which means I'm nowhere near organised, which means I'm hyperventilating... We don't need no education! THURS 02 NOVEMBER The scandal of high school students being left without enough credits to graduate is still growing. The Ministry of Education has revealed that 83,743 (or 7.2% of all senior students in the country) are now affected by schools failing to follow the curriculum in favour of teaching university entrance exam preparation.Kumamoto prefecture came in for criticism this morning when it was revealed that it was the only prefecture that had reported that no students in its schools were affected, despite the revelation that huge numbers of students had spent their entire summer 'holiday' taking extra classes to make up for a shortfall in credits. And it appears that extra classes is now the official plan - "The government [plan...] for high school seniors who have not taken all compulsory subjects as a result of schools failing to cover the minimum curriculum requirements [...is...] 70 50-minute classroom sessions - equivalent to two credits - for each subject, and on this basis the formula worked out requires about 50 sessions for students who lack two credits for graduation, while those who lack more than two credits will need to take 70 sessions plus submission of reports or other extraordinary measures, the officials said.So it's a buttload more work for the kids, and a hellish amount of organisation and mopping up. Meanwhile police in Ibaraki prefecture revealed that the head teacher of one of the schools concerned had committed suicide on Monday. Having been brought up in a culture where the honourable thing to do is to stay and fix up the mess you created, I still find it astonishing that in this culture, suicide is so frequently seen as a viable answer to failure, rather than sticking around and helping to solve the problem. Police revealed that a suicide note read "No fault lies with the students. I ask you to deal with it in a way that won't disadvantage the students" (my emphasis). However, there has been no word yet on heads to roll from boards of education or local or central government, and no resignations have been offered. Halloween: pt II WEDS 01 NOVEMBER So just how scary is Halloween in the Land of Kawaii? Well, not very. As explained here.Getting into the spirit WEDS 01 NOVEMBER The best part of teaching kids is messing with their minds, freaking them out and otherwise scaring them. And they love it. So when my children's group arrived for their Halloween lesson yesterday, they were informed that 'something' had happened to their teacher.So with the lights off, and me hiding behind the changing room curtain with a torch to my face, the spooky scene was set. When I was spotted, one of them was sent over to draw the curtain, at which point I came alive. The kids were terrified at the sight of their zombie teacher, but hid it well behind the laughing and the pointing. And so the festival of freaky fun began. First was Bobbing for Apples (little kids, very big apples, water everywhere). Next came Pin the Nose on the Jack-o-Lantern, in which I made the error of equating the number of dizzy spins to the kids' ages. So when it came to old teacher's turn it was all I could do to remain standing. Then there was my favourite, Pandora's Box, in which the children had to put their hand into a box, blind, and tell what was in there just by feel. They stormed the first round of more mundane objects (toy frog, Miffy, turd), but I took it up a level for the second round with a slice of egg-roll, a half-peeled kiwi and half a banana, all pre-soaked to be extra soggy. "Oh, it's really nasty!" "Yuck, it's all cold and wet!" "Ergh, what is that?!" Result. We rounded things off with a Scavenger Hunt for them to get some sweet goodies together in the absence of real Trick-or-Treating, and they all went home laden down with a kilo of sugar each. Which I'm sure their mother will thank me for. Despite not frightening the kids for even a moment, it seems that my costume did the trick on at least one local adult. A gentleman came into the shop halfway through the lesson to complain that he'd seen a strange-looking man here, and demanded to know what we were up to. Only partially placated by news of the Halloween goings-on, he wandered off again, into the night. Back to October? |
;){kind=link}
;){kind=link}
;){kind=link}
;){kind=link}
;){kind=link}
;){kind=link}
;){kind=link}
;){kind=link}
;){kind=link}
;){kind=link}
;){kind=link}
;){kind=link}
;){kind=link}
;){kind=link}
;){kind=link}
;){kind=link}
;){kind=link}
;){kind=link}
;){kind=link}
;){kind=link}
;){kind=link}
;){kind=link}
;){kind=link}
;){kind=link}