Tokyo Times

Photographs from a small group of islands

Current Affairs

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Political posturing

“We are sure that we will win. We’ve been strongly motivated. We shall beat them for sure.”

North Korea’s sports guidance director Ri Hyon, saying that the national team’s football players are being promised cash, cars, and houses to motivate them to beat Japan.

As the February 9th World Cup qualifier between Japan and North Korea draws nearer, it would seem the political posturing has now started in earnest.

The coming game will be played in Japan, and due to the importance of the game and the tension between the two countries, it will be interesting to see how the usually impeccably behaved Japanese fans react. When the teams met 20 years ago in Pyongyang, the Japanese were subjected to an intimidating and off-putting silence every time they gained possession. And in another trip in 1989, the team complained about a lack of food. A situation that resulted in some of the players having to eat instant noodles, which fortunately they had taken with them.

But with the 1st leg still unplayed, talk of the return fixture has already started. And rumours have surfaced that in a bid to hinder Japan’s superior technical ability, the North Koreans will let the grass on the pitch grow a little longer than usual.

A story that this picture of Kim Jong-Il and a gang of grinning groundsmen does little to discredit.

kim_jong_il

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Sanyo’s shameless suggestion

After sustaining substantial losses due to the earthquake in Niigata last October, electronics giant Sanyo has hit upon a novel way to claw back some money. As on Saturday the company asked its domestic employees to go on Sanyo spending sprees.

Perhaps if minor purchases had been proposed, this announcement wouldn’t have made the news, but the figures suggested simply beggar belief. Division chiefs have been asked to buy up to 500,000 yen (2,500 pound) worth of products, and regular rank-and-file workers up to 200,000 yen (1,000 pound).

A spokesperson said that if every employee met the company’s specified target, sales would be boosted by about 16 billion yen. And in an act of selfless generosity by Sanyo, it has been said that workers will be allowed to include purchases by relatives and acquaintances in their money-spent-under-duress totals.

That said, perhaps they’ll all be happy to rush out and spend their hard earned cash on Sanyo Winnie the Pooh toasters.

winnie the pooh toast

Or there again, perhaps not.

Salary men seniors

In a plan to counter the nation’s ageing population and future pension problems, a governmental advisory panel has hit upon an ingenious solution. Have people work longer, thus delaying their pension claims.

The panel called for Japan to make it possible for people to work until they are 75 by the year 2030. And in a gesture of benevolence, a governmental subcommittee also recommended creating a society in which people can maintain good health until the age of about 80.

Giving future salary men seniors a measly 5 years on average to really enjoy their retirement. That’s big of the government.

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It’s me

Over the last 6 months or so, the “it’s me” telephone scam has become more and more common in Japan. And buoyed by their success, its perpetrators increasingly audacious.

The con is a fraudulent technique were unscrupulous individuals pretend to be the child or grandchild of the person they call. They then make up a false situation, and attempt to extort money from the unsuspecting victim.

A much-favoured method is to claim there has been a car accident, and that they urgently need some money (deposited into a specified bank account) in order to pay off an injured motorist or pedestrian. As preposterous as this sounds, and the fact you’d assume the victims would recognize that the voice on the telephone didn’t belong to their child/grandchild, it’s obviously a good money-spinner. As judging by news reports, it would appear that this technique swindles at least one person every week.

And we aren’t talking small amounts of cash here either. Generally it’s in the millions rather than thousands, and the more gullible victims have been stung two or three times by the same person, as the accident/incident is further exaggerated, thus requiring more money to settle matters.

But yesterday a woman in her 40’s got swindled in perhaps the most daring “it’s me” scam to date. The naïve lady got a call from her son who is a member of the Japanese Self-Defense Force (SDF). With the man claiming that, “I was driving a tank and crashed into an SDF facility wall. I want you to deposit over 1 million yen into my account today to pay for it.”

Yes, you read that right. He’d supposedly crashed his tank, and he had to pay for the damages! Yet however unbelievable that sounds, the woman promptly paid the money, no questions asked.

Police investigators were unsurprisingly shocked by the crime. Presumably at both the boldness of the criminals involved, and the gullible nature of the duped mother. One official rather understatedly said, “We’ve never heard of fraud saying that a self-defense official has crashed a tank.”

No, I bet they haven’t.

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Conservative coalition

Whilst the nation shakes its head in disbelief, its leader celebrates. As judging by his recent comments, the Prime Minister is a happy man indeed this evening.

“I don’t want to interfere with another country’s election but since I’m well-acquainted with President Bush, I want him to carry on.”

So for Mr. Koizumi, it looks like a celebratory reservation of a table for one.

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Earthquake images

Saturday’s earthquakes in Niigata seem to have been comprehensively covered, but with more aftershocks felt earlier today, I feel compelled to post a few pictures I came across this morning.

earthquake01.jpg

earthquake02.jpg

These were the worst quakes to hit Japan since the Kobe disaster in 1995. Now obviously these things aren’t quite so simple, but it would be nice to think that the weekend’s events mean that the much talked about big one will be further delayed. And if we are lucky, for an indefinite time period.