Wednesday February 15, 2012

JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION

Piglet's past comments

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PigletAug. 25, 2011 - 09:50AM JST

@JesusLovesJapan

check this: http://ftalphaville.ft.com/blog/2011/02/14/487246/japans-savings-rate-about-to-go-negative-goldman-says/

Posted in: Moody's cuts Japan debt rating by one notch to Aa3
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PigletAug. 25, 2011 - 08:30AM JST

It is a common mistake to believe that Japanese people still have a lot of savings. It used to be true until the end of bubble years. But during the last 20 years, the savings rate decreased dramatically (you can check on the internet) and reached the same level than the savings rate of American people. The savings rate is only a few percent now and might become negative in a few years: the huge savings are getting used by an increasingly old population for covering life expenses (retirement plans are quite low). In addition, younger generations cannot afford anymore to save as much as their parents did. Combined with a sharp increase in social spending, this does not sounds good for the long term sustainability of the debt.

Those people who pretend that Japan can keep increasing the debt level are delusional. One day or another, rates will climb and partial default will not be impossible anymore.

Posted in: Moody's cuts Japan debt rating by one notch to Aa3
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PigletAug. 24, 2011 - 04:15PM JST

By doing so it can fund recovery from 3.11, stimulate the economy, increase government revenue, pay off the public debt, and achieve a reasonable amount of inflation

"excess" employees in Kyushu, for instance, can go to Tohoku to help out

JesusLovesJapan is daydreaming.

Posted in: Moody's cuts Japan debt rating by one notch to Aa3
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PigletAug. 24, 2011 - 04:12PM JST

@JesusLovesJapan

What world are you living in?

"As the economy is stimulated through public works": for 20 years, Japan has seen the biggest and longest ever stimulus program. Billions and billions of money poured by the government. And guess what? It did not work at all. The ideological keynesianism of the last 20 years is fully responsible for the crisis we are living now, and yet these people are asking for ever more public investment? Blinds leading blinds...

"At any rate, for now the government can still afford to increase public debt and public spending": at the current low rates, maybe, but definitely not if the rates rise

Posted in: Moody's cuts Japan debt rating by one notch to Aa3
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PigletAug. 24, 2011 - 02:40PM JST

The debt is not sustainable over the long term because the savings rate decreased dramatically over the last decade and might even become negative in the near future. The population get older and taps into their savings. Younger families cannot afford to save more than a few percent of their income (while it used to be up to 20% during bubble years). This indicates that inevitably, the demand for Japanese bonds will start decreasing (unless the obedient local banks keep buying en masse under pressure from the government) and rates will start rising... which would be a disaster because the debt service would rise to impossible levels.

Posted in: Moody's cuts Japan debt rating by one notch to Aa3
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PigletAug. 19, 2011 - 11:13AM JST

Typical non-commital answer of irresponsible staff. They should answer that in the current state of knowledge, no health effects should be measured if necessary precautions are taken (avoid the most contaminated areas, diversify food sources, etc...). No cancer effects can be measured below exposures of 100 mSv, however better safe than sorry, so it is a good thing to limit exposures as much as possible. Since infants are more sensitive to radiation, you might want to avoid any risk, but we can tell you that as much as we know, the evacuation zones are in agreement with international consensus (ICRP). You should decide what to do as a personal decision (move away or stay).

Posted in: I asked the medical staff at the center whether a baby would be affected. They said it ‘should' be OK.' What kind of answer is that when talking about having a baby?
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PigletAug. 18, 2011 - 08:32AM JST

Maybe strong tax incentives (no tax for 5 years for example) would help bringing businesses to the area.

Posted in: Towns hit hardest by tsunami stuck in limbo
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PigletAug. 18, 2011 - 08:31AM JST

I feel very sorry for the people. I wouldn't wait for governmental decisions though. Governments are unable to do the best choices for people. Rebuilding cities at the same location with no more business activity might be a waste of money. What these communities need is entrepreneurs and businesses to bring jobs and economic activity. Then the infrastructures will follow progressively.

Posted in: Towns hit hardest by tsunami stuck in limbo
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PigletAug. 18, 2011 - 08:26AM JST

FYI I am against "marching bands" in US, Japan or elsewhere. Pseudo-military imagery has nothing to do with education (the idea of sports teams for schools in US is also ridiculous). As a responsible father, I am in charge of my son's education (together with my wife) and this is not what we want for him.

Posted in: Japanese marching drill makes robots look sloppy
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PigletAug. 17, 2011 - 03:28PM JST

As written above by cleo, the system is logical... for administrative purposes. It is definitely not intuitive for everyday use. If it was, people would use the official address system to give directions ("from 1-chome-5-ban 2-go turn to 5-ban 7-go until you reach 8-ban 1-go"). But nobody does. People give directions using landmarks and station names.

If you live in an older neighborhoods, then the "ban" and "go" numbers are definitely non consecutive when you walk through the streets. You definitely need a map, unlike other systems.

The Japanese system is based on the old East-Asian address system, but Japan is the last country (to my understanding) using it. All the places I have been in China use a street number system. And apparently Korea is switching now.

Sapporo has a much better system than other places in Japan, because blocks are numbered based on their coordinates relative to a central point in the city. So addresses in Sapporo are written like N5W8 (five blocks north, 8 blocks west).

Posted in: 'Streetwise' South Korea drops Japanese legacy
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PigletAug. 17, 2011 - 02:57PM JST

I am not saying that it is impossible to master it, just that it is definitely less intuitive and logical than a system based on consecutively numbered buildings. No wonder no other country kept using the same system (all the countries colonized by Japan including Korea reverted to a street number system).

Posted in: 'Streetwise' South Korea drops Japanese legacy
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PigletAug. 17, 2011 - 02:53PM JST

I will definitely win a Godwin point with this one but the last time I saw similar stuff was on a TV program about Hitler Youth.

Absolutely no way my son would participate in any of these pseudo-military exercises during sports day or graduation ceremonies.

Posted in: Japanese marching drill makes robots look sloppy
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PigletAug. 17, 2011 - 02:40PM JST

But I don't expect the bureaucracy to change this anytime soon in Japan (after all this is "how we Japanese do things", even if it is not rational or logical).

Posted in: 'Streetwise' South Korea drops Japanese legacy
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PigletAug. 17, 2011 - 02:39PM JST

This is simple logic: consecutively numbered buildings is much more intuitive to people than any administrative registration-based system. This system might be good for the bureaucracy but it definitely isn't designed for the population (like many things in Japan).

Posted in: 'Streetwise' South Korea drops Japanese legacy
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PigletAug. 17, 2011 - 02:32PM JST

The main problem with the Japanese system is that you need to have a map to find your way once you're in a neighborhood. Nobody gives directions using block numbers, so you have to rely on landmarks (which are fluctuating relatively fast since buildings are reconstructed every 30 years on average). Furthermore you cannot even find your way in a street using street or building numbers. Since the building numbers are attributed chronologically (based on administrative registration order), they don't run sequentially when you walk in a neighborhood (especially in older neighborhoods with decades of systematic construction/destruction/reconstruction process). For example in some neighborhoods 1-2-10 can be between 1-2-5 and 1-2-3 which is next to 1-3-8 and 1-4-12.

Everybody agrees that this is a mess.

Posted in: 'Streetwise' South Korea drops Japanese legacy
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PigletAug. 15, 2011 - 10:48AM JST

I also never understood why geothermal energy is not more developed? It could provide hot water and electricity on a massive scale in Japan. Some studies estimate that geothermal energy could provide 23.5 gigawatts.

Posted in: Japan's largest solar power facility commences operations
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PigletAug. 15, 2011 - 10:44AM JST

In the current state of technology, solar farms are not efficient enough to provide energy on a big scale. Solar energy is better as an additional source of energy for individual households/companies (on the roof of buildings).

Posted in: Japan's largest solar power facility commences operations
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PigletAug. 15, 2011 - 10:32AM JST

@USNinJapan2

Exactly. Even if they do not implement a street name system, a first step would be to require a mark on each building with the address. In many places right now, you need a map (or your cell phone) to find your way, as the neighborhood planning maps are located only around a few locations (which you need to find) and are often not updated regularly (often written by hand on wooden boards, with some parts barely legible).

The Japanese system was designed to be inconvenient for the population but convenient for the bureaucracy. It was not designed to find easily an address, but to manage blocks in a hierarchical way. It emphasized authority over usefulness. It also made difficult for outsiders (people from other towns/prefectures) to find their way (the power was suspicious of travelers and any source of political instability).

A modern address system should be based on convenience for the population and businesses.

Posted in: 'Streetwise' South Korea drops Japanese legacy
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PigletAug. 12, 2011 - 08:55AM JST

Maybe people should start a campaign to postpone paying TEPCO fees next month. I wouldn't condone boycotting the payment of fees (we could be in trouble). But if a significant number of people pay next month's fee one month later than usual, it could send a strong signal to the politics: we are fed up with TEPCO, private monopolies and collusion with the government. Bring us real and fair competition between utilities (by allowing other utilities to compete with TEPCO in Kanto area and allow new and smaller innovative utilities to emerge and provide alternative sources of energy on a smart grid).

Posted in: TEPCO says it has lost contact with 143 nuclear plant workers
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PigletAug. 11, 2011 - 08:46AM JST

So if I understand correctly, this programs suggests you should use manipulation and deception (liker Hitler) in order to succeed in life? I think that even if Hitler was a good orator (in addition to a merciless evil dictator), it is not a good advice to suggest that you should use the same oratory techniques in your own life. Good oratory skills doesn't necessarily mean deception.

Posted in: Japanese TV show invokes Hitler as motivator