Tokyo Times

Photographs from a small group of islands

Current Affairs

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Segway. No way!

On Thursday, the Tokyo police sent papers to prosecutors on a businessman’s use of the U.S. made Segway on a public road. During a promotional event, the 42 year-old import company president drove the Segway along Takeshitadori Street, in Tokyo’s fashionable Harajuku district.

Not a major crime you’d think, but the Segway is classified as a motorcycle under Japanese law. And as it’s not sufficiently equipped with brakes, lights, and indicators, it’s illegal. This means that the Segway can only be used in parks and University campuses.

An imported Segway costs somewhere in the region of 850,000 Yen (almost 4,400 pounds). It has to be said, that’s a lot of money for a quick race around the local park.

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A man speeding away from the police yesterday

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Policing the police

First the bad news.

Last year saw 433 police officers punished for misconduct. The reasons were varied, but coming in at number one was violating road traffic laws. This claimed 84 officers. Slightly more interesting was the second most popular activity. Namely, undermining public trust by misconduct related to drinking and sexual affairs. A whopping 77 officers were found guilty of this, but sadly details of each individual case weren’t released. And taking the third spot was theft, fraud, and embezzlement. Managing a fairly respectable 64.

As far as the good news is concerned, the total number of officers punished was down 135 from the previous year. That’s about it.

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Avian flu creates ostrich meat boom

The current avian flu scare sweeping across Asia, and concerns about mad cow disease in North America, have created something of a boom for Japan’s Ostrich farmers.

Bird flu has already struck in Japan, but so far ostriches are in the clear. And as the birds’ upper legs and back apparently taste like beef, their popularity is soaring (no pun intended).

One chef even went so far as to claim that “If beef, pork, and chicken are the big three meats, this (ostrich meat) is the fourth.”

So there you go.

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An Ostrich being chased by a hungry mob yesterday

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An angel to watch over me

It was reported in the The Daily Yomiuri over the weekend, that Saitama Prefecture (just north of Tokyo) will begin hiring the services of The Guardian Angels this year.

Last year’s arrest rate in Saitama was a measly 14.4%. And with 200,000,000 Yen (1,000,000 Pounds) in its general security account budget, the local government seems intent on spending a large chunk of that on The Guardian Angles.

Now feel free to call me naïve, but wouldn’t the money be better spent on increasing the number of police officers, and giving them better training? Surely that would make more sense.

But whether it is the right decision or not, we all know Japan isn’t that dangerous. And with this in mind, it has been rumoured that Saitama will be looking to hire more experienced Guardian Angels. Amongst them wily old veterans such as Edna and Humphrey pictured below.

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Perks of the job

“Prostitution has become an accepted part of company trips. In some areas of China and Thailand, companies appoint people to find prostitutes for their trips.”

This is a quote from travel agent Yuji Ishida concerning Japanese company trips abroad.

After a 3 day orgy involving hundreds of Japanese guests in a Chinese hotel last year, such kinds of corporate perks are making a lot of headlines.

It would be interesting to see how imaginative these businessmen are when they have to put in their claims for travel expenses. I don’t think that hospitality would quite cover it!

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An all too familiar political stunt

Japan’s wavy haired Prime Minister obviously felt no shame yesterday in having his picture taken with the nation’s favourite baseballing son, Hideki Matsui. No doubt Koizumi is hoping that some of Matsui’s immense popularity will rub off on him.

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But does he really believe that donning a Yankees jacket and smiling at the camera will cause the whole nation to forget that Japanese troops are now stationed in Iraq? Or that people simply won’t see through this transparent stunt?

Having said that, his rumoured game of naked tennis with Anna Kournikova tomorrow could be an altogether different story.