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Excerpt: In a society where confrontation is hardly desired nor practiced, the Japanese’s reluctance to engage in face-to-face has created a whole new level of creepiness. Where wannabe models and actors elsewhere wait tables and tend bars, the ones in Japan find employment as wakaresaseya, or splitter-uppers. Rather than pleading with him face to face, a woman whose husband is having an affair may hire a splitter-upper to seduce his mistress away from him. Parents may engage their services to prise off the unsuitable lover of a son or daughter. Dozens of wakaresaseya companies advertise on the internet, under names such as…
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Japan
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Excerpt: The Japanese take the art of bowing just as seriously as they do with the art of honorific speech. Salon investigates the four different kinds of bows through the Toyota recall debacle. Japanese bows can be formally categorized as eshaku, a simple 15-degree bend or nod of the head; keirei, a 30-degree tilt to show respect; saikeirei, a full 45- to 90-degree bow intended to show the deepest veneration or humility; and dogeza, a fetal prostration expressing utter subjection or contrition. But it’s not just the gradient of the bows either. As important are the duration of the gesture, and the exact context…
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Excerpt: A while ago, I wrote about Japan’s export of soft power through its kawaii culture, spear-headed by Hello Kitty, and now complete with culture ambassadors wearing Lolita uniforms. The same thread was picked up by Wilson Center, whom viewed the phenomenon through more cynical lenses. Is Japan’s obsession with cuteness merely a reflection of an increasingly infantilized and emasculated culture? A clue as to what’s really going on may lie in the career of artist Takashi Murakami, an Andy Warhol–like figure who has played a big role in taking cute global. In 2005 he curated an exhibit in New York titled “Little…
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Excerpt: Not a dilemma for countries in the West, since most have imposed economic sanctions on North Korea, which means no trade, but also no humanitarian aid either. However, this doesn’t quite work for those in the neighbourhood. For South Korea, China and Japan, North Korea is a reality that must be dealt with, in all its cultural-socio-geo-political complications. This is an interesting point brought up by a blogger that I’ve not considered before: do you send aid to North Korea, or don’t you? China and Japan may be weary of a nuclear North Korea. But more likely than not, those two are more…
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Excerpt: China is but an amateur when it comes to cultural exports, Japan has been at this for decades! What started out as an uniquely Japanese obsession found success first in the Asian market in the early 90s, has now crossed the continent. The industry of cute now receives the same kind of state support and heavy-duty marketing push once reserved for keiretsu. Check out Japan’s new Kawaii Ambassadors, appointed by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. And why not? Effectively disarmed after WWII with little room to project its political will, and increasingly marginalized on the economics front by rising stars China and…
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Excerpt: Staring apocalyptic demographic trends and economic stagnation straight in the face, Japan and South Korea have told some of its workers to go home early. In South Korea, the Ministry of Health are telling its workers to go home early as part of its worker-wellness experiment. It really says something about your workforce when a government agency forcefully turn off the lights one day a month and send workers home at 7pm, this makes the news. The Ministry of Health, now sometimes jokingly referred to as the Ministry of Matchmaking, is in charge of spearheading this drive, and it clearly believes its…
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Excerpt: Alibaba.com is a popular trading platform in that allows the buying and selling of goods in and out of China. Just to give you an idea of its reach, it’s very popular with small and medium-sized import/export companies, and boasts 150 million users in China, 1.9 million in the US, and 1.4 million in Europe. When discussing the patterns of trade, the company says a couple of interesting things. Comparing its US with its UK users. “If you look at the US, we have 1.9 million users, but more than 96% of them register as buyers only. Compare that with the UK where…
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Image via Wikipedia
- Image via Wikipedia
Japan is screwed. The post of finance minister is yet again vacant. Last year, the finance minister Shoichi Nakagawa was alcoholic and sleepy before he did himself in. And then, Japan changed guards. Now, the new 77-year-old septuagenarian finance minister has decided not to go kamikaze over the country’s hopeless financial future, and quit while he’s still, alive. The wrangling seems to be over political pressures in inflating the almost ballooning budget, and public debt, with more stimulus. Not wasting ANY time, a new minister has been named.
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Excerpt: The ever so keen Asian music students are following the likes of Yo-Yo Ma, Lang Lang, and continue to conquer the world of classical music, and on their own soil. The Polish attempts to explain why Chopin is so popular in Asia. “Chopin touches chords in the Asian soul that we can’t imagine exist under the surface of calm, smiling faces – on the contrary, they are throbbing with emotion under this social mask.” Acknowledging the prestige attached to classical music and its novelty: “I think the future of classical music lies in Asia. It needs classical music… the love for classical music there…
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Excerpt: The Economist surveys the world of cell phone usage, and talks about how culture and society influences our phone habits. In Japan, a commute culture that (heavily) frowns upon talking in public led to the speedy adoption of SMS and data services. Actual mobile usage declined from 181 minutes a month in 2002, to 133 minutes a month in 2009. That’s a 41% decline in under 7 years. Some studies suggest that talking on a mobile phone on a train is seen as worse than in a theatre. Instead, hushed passengers type away on their handsets or read mobile-phone novels (written Japanese…
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Excerpt: I am very interested in the ongoing discussion on the topic of America’s newfound sense of frugality and thriftiness. For many, this is less a choice and more of a forced reality. But for the lucky few that have so far escaped the pink slip, and have not been wiped out by the market, nor devastated by a drop in their property value, the debate rages on. It would make sense to be more careful with one’s purse string in face of uncertainty, if not to display some sense of solidarity with their compatriots. Yet the consumerists in us question…
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Excerpt: Early reading list this week. I’m always interested in how cultures affect the way we organize ourselves politically and economically. See how Germany, Norway, and Canada are faring this recession. The actions and reactions are results of something more deep-rooted than a wholesale application of capitalism. Then I stumbled upon a number of older articles on what it meant to be an introvert. A fellow Twitterer pointed me to more evidence that as a marginalized and misunderstood group, we have done pretty well as far as corporate ladder-climbing and entrepreneurships go. And there’s Elizabeth Edwards, whom captivated my interest by going on an…
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Excerpt: I received the following message from a friend and reader of the Investoralist that made my week. Thank you and please keep the feedback coming! From a Japanese friend I directed to your site: ‘It was quite accurate, and well analyzed. Without this life-time employment royalty and Samurai spirit dedication to work, teams such as [Redacted] business development may not exist. Not too few business men/women see their success at work as reflect of their worth, perhaps identity. I think it is good in a way, I like the idea a person should always have a spirit of “Samurai”. Objectives often happen…
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Excerpt: Growing up, whenever I screwed up in a test or assignment in school and had to face my mom, I would always preface my failure by citing more spectacular blow-ups by my classmates. The habit never escaped me. Now instead of placating my parents, I use it as a self-administered sedative whenever things get bad. By reminding myself that it could be worse. It’s easy to fall into a depressing spiral these days. There’s little voyeuristic pleasure in watching your economy on a high speed race heading for the cliff, especially when your savings and investments are wrapped in the vehicle. But…
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