Japan

[shuize]

Post ...

Spoiler:

Link: https://twitter.com/presentcorrect/status/1326516694119030784

I like Japan.*

But it can get boring.

If there's any doubt about this, the fact that there is a "Toast Association" and people can't seem to find anything better to do than attend "butter toast" events should settle the matter.

An alternative theory: "This is what happens when you lose wars."

Cf. "Heiwa boke." 「平和ボケ」

"A state of complacency induced by an excess of peacefulness."


*Actually, if I'm being honest, I should say I like my job in Japan. If not for my job and my kids, I could probably take the country or leave it all the same.

[Witness]

↑ Do they have a toast ceremony yet?

---

[Anaxagoras]

This seems like a horrible story if it's true.

Toll COVID-19 took on young woman and her prospects

The Tokyo woman first suspected she was infected with the novel coronavirus last July when she started running a fever and generally feeling unwell. In mid-August, she was rushed to a hospital by ambulance after falling unconscious with convulsions and difficulty breathing.

But no positive diagnosis was forthcoming. It was only after the woman used an antibody test kit that had become commercially available to test for COVID-19 that she learned the truth. By then it was October.

In the months since then, she has been living a nightmare.

With no one to turn to and short of funds, the woman desperately wants society to realize that some COVID-19 patients suffer long-lasting aftereffects that leave them unable to perform even the simplest chores, let alone hold down a job, and deprive them of the chance to return to a normal life.

“I have lost so much over the past year,” said the woman, who is in her 20s.

A graduate student of prestigious Kyoto University, the woman finds it distressing that scores of hair strands are on her pillow when she awakes each morning.

She feels exhausted constantly, and finds going out even for short periods extremely challenging.

Every few days, she runs a mild fever. Some mornings, she is so sick she has to spend the entire day in bed.

“I have been living this way for months,” the woman said bitterly. “I suppose I am getting used to it.”

The first time she felt there was something wrong with her health was late July when she experienced a fast heartbeat and dizziness. When she measured her fever, it exceeded 38 degrees.

The woman immediately suspected she was infected with the novel coronavirus. Several days before she fell sick, the woman visited a hospital in Kyoto Prefecture, where she lived at the time. It later emerged that cluster infections had occurred at the hospital.

The woman inquired at public health centers and hospitals in the prefecture about her suspicion she may have contracted COVID-19.

But she was not allowed to take a tax-funded diagnostic test because they said she did not exhibit symptoms common among coronavirus patients, nor show signs of oncoming telltale pneumonia.

She self-isolated at her home, but her health continued to deteriorate and she continued to run a fever above 38 degrees.

She rushed to a hospital by ambulance in mid-August in very distressed state. Then in October, she got hold of an antibody test and came up with a positive diagnosis.

When she visited a Tokyo clinic experienced in dealing with the aftereffects of the novel coronavirus, a doctor told her that the symptoms she was experiencing were the aftereffects of the coronavirus.

“Many things are still unknown about coronavirus symptoms,” she said. “I felt helpless about spending alone without any clue as to why I was developing these symptoms.”

At the graduate school, she set out to help create a medical system that patients with intractable disease can access to gain adequate treatment, drawing on her experience as hypersomnia patient.

But last year she felt too ill to watch even the computer screen and attend online classes.

School officials told her she had to repeat a school year to take more classes and further research to finish her course.

The money she had saved to cover her school expenses through work quickly evaporated as her hospital visits were not covered by public funds. This was because heath officials deemed her case was not COVID-19. She could not even work part time.

Her prospects at being able to return to graduate school soon remain murky.

Although she has yet to decide whether to drop out of the school, she is on the job hunt. But the opportunities are few due to the stagnant economy, she said.

When the woman finally landed a job interview, her prospective employer asked her why she wore a cap.

After she explained it was to hide hair loss, the official said, “Come back when you are recovered.”

“I don’t know where I can vent my anger and helplessness that I have been experiencing over the past several months,” she said. “I just pray the aftereffects of COVID-19 will soon be widely recognized by society.”

Is this the so-called "long covid" or something else? Apparently government health officials say that her case is not due to COVID-19. But what could it be, if not that? Something psychosomatic, or Munchausen syndrome?

[shuize]

↑ Do they have a toast ceremony yet?

Not that I know of.

However, as with most things, I wouldn't be surprised to hear there is a "correct" way to butter toast.

[shuize]

This seems like a horrible story if it's true.

Spoiler:

Toll COVID-19 took on young woman and her prospects

The Tokyo woman first suspected she was infected with the novel coronavirus last July when she started running a fever and generally feeling unwell. In mid-August, she was rushed to a hospital by ambulance after falling unconscious with convulsions and difficulty breathing.

But no positive diagnosis was forthcoming. It was only after the woman used an antibody test kit that had become commercially available to test for COVID-19 that she learned the truth. By then it was October.

In the months since then, she has been living a nightmare.

With no one to turn to and short of funds, the woman desperately wants society to realize that some COVID-19 patients suffer long-lasting aftereffects that leave them unable to perform even the simplest chores, let alone hold down a job, and deprive them of the chance to return to a normal life.

“I have lost so much over the past year,” said the woman, who is in her 20s.

A graduate student of prestigious Kyoto University, the woman finds it distressing that scores of hair strands are on her pillow when she awakes each morning.

She feels exhausted constantly, and finds going out even for short periods extremely challenging.

Every few days, she runs a mild fever. Some mornings, she is so sick she has to spend the entire day in bed.

“I have been living this way for months,” the woman said bitterly. “I suppose I am getting used to it.”

The first time she felt there was something wrong with her health was late July when she experienced a fast heartbeat and dizziness. When she measured her fever, it exceeded 38 degrees.

The woman immediately suspected she was infected with the novel coronavirus. Several days before she fell sick, the woman visited a hospital in Kyoto Prefecture, where she lived at the time. It later emerged that cluster infections had occurred at the hospital.

The woman inquired at public health centers and hospitals in the prefecture about her suspicion she may have contracted COVID-19.

But she was not allowed to take a tax-funded diagnostic test because they said she did not exhibit symptoms common among coronavirus patients, nor show signs of oncoming telltale pneumonia.

She self-isolated at her home, but her health continued to deteriorate and she continued to run a fever above 38 degrees.

She rushed to a hospital by ambulance in mid-August in very distressed state. Then in October, she got hold of an antibody test and came up with a positive diagnosis.

When she visited a Tokyo clinic experienced in dealing with the aftereffects of the novel coronavirus, a doctor told her that the symptoms she was experiencing were the aftereffects of the coronavirus.

“Many things are still unknown about coronavirus symptoms,” she said. “I felt helpless about spending alone without any clue as to why I was developing these symptoms.”

At the graduate school, she set out to help create a medical system that patients with intractable disease can access to gain adequate treatment, drawing on her experience as hypersomnia patient.

But last year she felt too ill to watch even the computer screen and attend online classes.

School officials told her she had to repeat a school year to take more classes and further research to finish her course.

The money she had saved to cover her school expenses through work quickly evaporated as her hospital visits were not covered by public funds. This was because heath officials deemed her case was not COVID-19. She could not even work part time.

Her prospects at being able to return to graduate school soon remain murky.

Although she has yet to decide whether to drop out of the school, she is on the job hunt. But the opportunities are few due to the stagnant economy, she said.

When the woman finally landed a job interview, her prospective employer asked her why she wore a cap.

After she explained it was to hide hair loss, the official said, “Come back when you are recovered.”

“I don’t know where I can vent my anger and helplessness that I have been experiencing over the past several months,” she said. “I just pray the aftereffects of COVID-19 will soon be widely recognized by society.”

Is this the so-called "long covid" or something else? Apparently government health officials say that her case is not due to COVID-19. But what could it be, if not that? Something psychosomatic, or Munchausen syndrome?

I could see that one going either way.

[Witness]

Diversity

Japan is opening doors for a more diverse and flexible workforce.
Dynamic engagement of women, foreign national professionals and seniors make a difference in achieving sustainable growth.

https://www.japan.go.jp/diversity/

[Anaxagoras]

Well, I followed the link but I think it looks like lip service to me. Sure, myself and shuize are both foreign nationals who work in Japan, but I don't really see much in terms of concrete policies to encourage this. I guess friendly lip service is better than "Yankee Go Home" though.

[Anaxagoras]

Japan to stage Tokyo Olympics without overseas spectators

I totally agree with the decision, although it must be a bitter pill to swallow for those who hoped it would bring tourists to Japan and boost the economy. I never really bought that as a rationale for hosting the Olympics, but it's always one of those things that boosters claim as a justification for all of the money spent.

The Japanese government has decided to exclude overseas spectators from attending this summer's Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, as part of efforts to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus, officials with knowledge of the matter said Tuesday.
. . .

The government has concluded that welcoming fans from abroad is not possible given concerns among the Japanese public over the coronavirus and the fact that more contagious variants have been detected in many countries, according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
. . .

With the decision, the government will also have to review its growth strategy, given that expectations for inbound visitors to revive the Japanese economy were high, especially before the games were delayed for one year due to the outbreak of the virus.

About the public opinion:
Most Japanese don't want foreign fans at Olympics: poll

More than 75 percent of Japanese oppose overseas fans attending the Tokyo Olympics, a poll showed Monday, as organisers prepare to make a decision on foreign spectators.

The poll, by the Yomiuri Shimbun daily, found that only 18 percent of people who responded were in favour of foreign spectators being allowed into Japan for the coronavirus-delayed Games, with 77 percent against.

[shuize]

Well, I followed the link but I think it looks like lip service to me. Sure, myself and shuize are both foreign nationals who work in Japan, but I don't really see much in terms of concrete policies to encourage this. I guess friendly lip service is better than "Yankee Go Home" though.

Yeah, I checked on the link, too.

I agree that it's likely just lip service.

It reminds me of a weird Japanese law professor who used to work in our department (thankfully gone). He wrote about family law. Specifically about one foreign country's family law system, but it was such a unusual area that I'd likely identify him if I said which country.

I will say that it is a country where English is understood.

This is relevant because he once asked me to review an article about Japan's family law system he wrote for English readers in that country. In the article he addressed the fact that Japan did not yet have a post-divorce joint child custody system, but he said (only slightly paraphrasing) "Rest assured dear readers, Japan knows this is a serious issue. Please be patient. Japan will soon do the right thing."

When I gave the article back to him I asked him when he expected the Japanese government to implement joint custody. At which point he got visibly angry, started banging his fist on the table like the fucking nutjob he is and yelling, "Japan must not adopt joint custody! We must not! We must not!"

Of course, everyone is entitled to his opinion.* And never mind the table banging after I just did him the favor of proof reading his shitty English.
I still thought it was pretty sleazy to say one thing to keep his foreign audience (and foreign travel gravy train international "academic conference" sponsors) happy and lose his shit when asked about Japan actually doing what he'd said in his article.

Long story short, don't hold your breath for Japan to do anything they're posting on websites for foreigners.


* That was long before my own divorce and custody issues or I likely would have had a lot more to say.

[shuize]

Spoiler:

Japan to stage Tokyo Olympics without overseas spectators

I totally agree with the decision, although it must be a bitter pill to swallow for those who hoped it would bring tourists to Japan and boost the economy. I never really bought that as a rationale for hosting the Olympics, but it's always one of those things that boosters claim as a justification for all of the money spent.

The Japanese government has decided to exclude overseas spectators from attending this summer's Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, as part of efforts to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus, officials with knowledge of the matter said Tuesday.
. . .

The government has concluded that welcoming fans from abroad is not possible given concerns among the Japanese public over the coronavirus and the fact that more contagious variants have been detected in many countries, according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
. . .

With the decision, the government will also have to review its growth strategy, given that expectations for inbound visitors to revive the Japanese economy were high, especially before the games were delayed for one year due to the outbreak of the virus.

About the public opinion:
Most Japanese don't want foreign fans at Olympics: poll

More than 75 percent of Japanese oppose overseas fans attending the Tokyo Olympics, a poll showed Monday, as organisers prepare to make a decision on foreign spectators.

The poll, by the Yomiuri Shimbun daily, found that only 18 percent of people who responded were in favour of foreign spectators being allowed into Japan for the coronavirus-delayed Games, with 77 percent against.

I don't really give a shit about the Olympics.

But I'd like to be able to visit relatives in the States without having to spend two weeks in quarantine on my way back.

[Anaxagoras]

Students submit petition to raise age of consent from 13 to 16

[robinson]

The great earthquake tsunami Fukushima disaster was 10 years ago today

[Witness]

Ascetic (gyōja) monk Endo passing through gate of Sekizan-zen-in near the end of his 100-day 64 km walking circuit of Kyoto, the last major challenge in the 1000-day ordeal.

[Doctor X]

There goes anime.

– J.D.

[Anaxagoras]

Even though I've been living here for 20 years now, there's still some things about Japan that I didn't know about.

Like this:

No consent from spouse needed for abortion in broken marriages in Japan: ministry

I take it that means that up until now, a woman did need her husband's permission to have an abortion (and still does if the marriage is not considered "broken"). In America, a woman doesn't need anyone's permission.

TOKYO -- Japan's health ministry has spelled out new administration guidelines to the Maternal Health Act, which would allow women whose marriages have effectively collapsed due to domestic violence and other reasons to undergo abortions without their spouse's consent.

There have been many cases in which women wanting abortions have been given the run around by multiple medical institutions or have been forced to give birth because they have been unable to provide their spouse's consent for an abortion. Because of this, support groups have been calling for a review in the administration of the law.

The Maternal Health Act stipulates that when carrying out an abortion, doctors must obtain the consent of the pregnant woman and her spouse. Even if the woman is not married, many medical institutions seek consent from the man believed to have impregnated the woman out of fear of lawsuits and other problems they may face with the man involved.

According to a 2017 survey conducted by the Cabinet Office, of 141 women who had been raped by men, 26.2% of the men were former spouses and 24.8% were former boyfriends. In response to the serious state of sexual domestic violence experienced by women, in February of this year the All Japan Women's Shelter Network, a nonprofit organization that assists domestic violence victims, submitted a request to the Japanese government seeking the elimination of the provision in the Maternal Health Act requiring the consent of the spouse for a woman to receive an abortion.

[Anaxagoras]

Sri Lankan woman dies in detention, wrote about her hunger

NAGOYA--A 33-year-old Sri Lankan woman being detained by immigration authorities here died of emaciation on March 6, after requesting provisional release and expressing a desperate desire for food in notes and letters.

“I truly want to eat now,” she wrote in hiragana in a note while under detention at a facility operated by the Immigration Services Agency of Japan's Nagoya Regional Immigration Bureau.

The facility houses foreigners who have overstayed their visas.

According to a group supporting foreigners, START, the woman became unable to eat and walk due to the extreme stress and deteriorating health she suffered while under custody.

The woman’s health condition was so dire, she brought a bucket to vomit in if needing to do so when START members visited her at the facility, according to the group.

A copy of a document submitted to immigration authorities in December showed that she was requesting provisional release as immigration officials denied her access to medical care.

“I want to go to a hospital to receive an intravenous drip, but immigration authorities would not take me,” she said in the document.

In response to the woman’s death, Justice Minister Yoko Kamikawa, who has oversight of the agency, said on March 9 that the ministry is investigating the case.

“She reportedly saw doctors at an agency clinic and an outside hospital,” she said. “We are trying to confirm the facts, including the cause of her death.”

Denied access to medical care? I why she was unable to eat? Isn't it pretty obvious that a person will die if they cannot eat?

[Witness]

Denied access to medical care? I why she was unable to eat? Isn't it pretty obvious that a person will die if they cannot eat?

Just some wog, as ed would say.

---

A reluctant Japan Inc at last enters the digital age



S A BUDDHIST priest performed last rites at a temple in Tokyo, Naganuma Fumihiro, an entrepreneur, beamed. It was in fact a celebration: he and two colleagues had gathered to send scores of hanko, the personal seals that epitomise Japan’s analogue business practices, to the afterlife. “It's not quite the Meiji restoration, but it’s a big turning-point, a paradigm shift for working culture,” Mr Naganuma said.

Covid-19 has turbocharged digitisation around the world. But for all its technophile reputation, Japan has more ground to make up than other big economies in its embrace of information technology (IT). “Japan is a developing country in terms of IT,” Mr Naganuma laments, exaggerating only slightly.

Business culture displays a stubborn attachment to face-to-face contact. Bosses put a premium on staff’s presence at their desks. Firms invest little in IT compared with rivals in many countries, and only reluctantly adopt new technology to sell and promote products. Offices are stacked with paper and schedules packed with meetings. According to Morgan Stanley, an investment bank, “inefficiencies abound in numerous commercial practices.”

The pandemic provoked a reckoning. In the race to lead the ruling Liberal Democratic Party last year the traditional economic battleground of monetary policy faded into the background, notes Yamaoka Hiromi, a former senior central banker who now sits on the board of Future Corporation, a technology consultancy. Instead, he says, “the conversation has shifted to enhancing the efficiency of business practices.” All three candidates played up their digitisation plans. The winner, Suga Yoshihide, has made a priority of digitising government services to reduce the administrative burden on individuals and firms. “We need to develop a non-face-to-face model,” explains Nishimura Yasutoshi, the minister in charge of economic revitalisation. This week parliament began debating a bill to create a new digital agency.

https://www.economist.com/business/2021 ... igital-age for the rest.

[shuize]

Even though I've been living here for 20 years now, there's still some things about Japan that I didn't know about.

Like this:

No consent from spouse needed for abortion in broken marriages in Japan: ministry

I take it that means that up until now, a woman did need her husband's permission to have an abortion (and still does if the marriage is not considered "broken"). In America, a woman doesn't need anyone's permission.

TOKYO -- Japan's health ministry has spelled out new administration guidelines to the Maternal Health Act, which would allow women whose marriages have effectively collapsed due to domestic violence and other reasons to undergo abortions without their spouse's consent.

There have been many cases in which women wanting abortions have been given the run around by multiple medical institutions or have been forced to give birth because they have been unable to provide their spouse's consent for an abortion. Because of this, support groups have been calling for a review in the administration of the law.

The Maternal Health Act stipulates that when carrying out an abortion, doctors must obtain the consent of the pregnant woman and her spouse. Even if the woman is not married, many medical institutions seek consent from the man believed to have impregnated the woman out of fear of lawsuits and other problems they may face with the man involved.

According to a 2017 survey conducted by the Cabinet Office, of 141 women who had been raped by men, 26.2% of the men were former spouses and 24.8% were former boyfriends. In response to the serious state of sexual domestic violence experienced by women, in February of this year the All Japan Women's Shelter Network, a nonprofit organization that assists domestic violence victims, submitted a request to the Japanese government seeking the elimination of the provision in the Maternal Health Act requiring the consent of the spouse for a woman to receive an abortion.

There's a few things like that about abortion here.

I may have this wrong, but off the top of my head, I want to say abortion is technically illegal.

But, as with many things in Japan, I believe there are "exceptions" before a certain date.

I also seem to remember reading somewhere that Japan was one of the go to countries back when hospital abortions were unavailable in the States.

On a related subject, I would take claims of "domestic violence" with a grain of salt.

Not saying it doesn't happen, but according to [someone I know] it is quite common when marriages break down in Japan for the wife to leave (usually going back to her parents), claim "abuse," and then ... here's the interesting part ... dig her heels in and refuse to divorce.*

"Abuse" justifies the wife's leaving, gains sympathy, etc. But, more importantly, if both sides do not consent, divorce can take a long time here -- years in some cases -- especially if the court wants to punish the husband for his "abuse," cheating, etc.

The way they do this is by ordering "family support" (which is often higher than what the ex-wife would receive post-divorce) while the case drags on and the court gives them a chance to "try to work things out."

I remember a case [someone I know] handled involving her friend, someone I had met prior to her divorce, who claimed "abuse" and demanded an exorbitant amount of "family support" but refused to divorce. All was going according to plan until ...

Well, let's just say a hypothetical husband hypothetically produced photos on various dates of hypothetical bruises and violent scratch marks all over his body which a certain hypothetical client then wanted to try talk her way out of with everyone within earshot ...

Opps. That's what we lawyers like to call "bad facts."

Funny thing, after those photos came out and any chance of milking "family support" for years disappeared, the wife ... Opps, I mean, "hypothetical wife" didn't seem to want to "try to work things out" after all.


* My divorce did not follow this pattern. But that's a story for another day.

[shuize]

A reluctant Japan Inc at last enters the digital age

Spoiler:

S A BUDDHIST priest performed last rites at a temple in Tokyo, Naganuma Fumihiro, an entrepreneur, beamed. It was in fact a celebration: he and two colleagues had gathered to send scores of hanko, the personal seals that epitomise Japan’s analogue business practices, to the afterlife. “It's not quite the Meiji restoration, but it’s a big turning-point, a paradigm shift for working culture,” Mr Naganuma said.

Covid-19 has turbocharged digitisation around the world. But for all its technophile reputation, Japan has more ground to make up than other big economies in its embrace of information technology (IT). “Japan is a developing country in terms of IT,” Mr Naganuma laments, exaggerating only slightly.

Business culture displays a stubborn attachment to face-to-face contact. Bosses put a premium on staff’s presence at their desks. Firms invest little in IT compared with rivals in many countries, and only reluctantly adopt new technology to sell and promote products. Offices are stacked with paper and schedules packed with meetings. According to Morgan Stanley, an investment bank, “inefficiencies abound in numerous commercial practices.”

The pandemic provoked a reckoning. In the race to lead the ruling Liberal Democratic Party last year the traditional economic battleground of monetary policy faded into the background, notes Yamaoka Hiromi, a former senior central banker who now sits on the board of Future Corporation, a technology consultancy. Instead, he says, “the conversation has shifted to enhancing the efficiency of business practices.” All three candidates played up their digitisation plans. The winner, Suga Yoshihide, has made a priority of digitising government services to reduce the administrative burden on individuals and firms. “We need to develop a non-face-to-face model,” explains Nishimura Yasutoshi, the minister in charge of economic revitalisation. This week parliament began debating a bill to create a new digital agency.

https://www.economist.com/business/2021 ... igital-age for the rest.

That black and white photo gives the impression it was from the distant past, but I've seen lots of offices that look just like that.

Minus the weird lighting.

[shuize]

「同性婚禁止は違憲」 札幌地裁が初判断 賠償請求は棄却

A district court in Hokkaido ruled the bar on same sex marriages unconstitutional.

It'll be interesting to see if that decision stands.

My gut feeling is "No."

I'm not a big fan of going through the courts rather than the legislature on these things but, at the end of the day, it doesn't really affect me.

Having said that, I'm still going to be pissed off if gay marriage is legalized before joint custody/guaranteed child visitation.

Thinking it through, however, I shouldn't really be surprised.

When considered from a pragmatic, "Which is more likely to make government workers' jobs harder?" approach, that is the most likely result.

https://www.msn.com/ja-jp/news/national ... d=msedgntp

[Witness]

Personal info on Japan's Line app accessible from China since August 2018

TOKYO -- Users' personal information on the Japanese free messaging app Line has been accessible by an affiliate firm's engineers in China since August 2018, it was revealed on March 17.

Line Corp. has submitted a report to the Japanese government's Personal Information Protection Commission for failing to explain the situation in its privacy policy, and will establish a third-party panel at an early date to improve operations.

According to the firm's parent company Z Holdings Corp., Line commissioned an associated company in Shanghai to build artificial intelligence and other technologies for the app's services. During the development process, data stored on servers in Japan, including some users' names, phone numbers, email addresses and messages, were accessible to four Chinese staffers at the Shanghai firm.

The four workers had accessed servers in Japan at least 32 times since August 2018 for operational necessities. Z Holdings explained that this "was conducted with the oversight of a person in charge in Japan. Thus far, no data has been tapped inappropriately." However, Line barred access by the Shanghai engineers on Feb. 24 this year after the situation was pointed out by a third party.

In January 2020, the company also hired a Japanese firm to monitor inappropriate posts on Line's "TimeLine" and other services. This Japanese firm commissioned work from a separate company in Dalian, China, and staff there accessed posts and images stored on servers in Japan. Line intends to revise this arrangement as well.

Japan's Act on the Protection of Personal Information stipulates that service providers need to obtain users' consent if they either relocate personal information to foreign countries or make such information accessible from abroad.

https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20 ... na/031000c

[shuize]

Tokyo 2020 creative chief quits over Naomi Watanabe 'Olympig' pitch

Thou shalt not joke about women.

Especially the fat ones.

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2021/ ... ics-gaffe/

[Anaxagoras]

Personal info on Japan's Line app accessible from China since August 2018

TOKYO -- Users' personal information on the Japanese free messaging app Line has been accessible by an affiliate firm's engineers in China since August 2018, it was revealed on March 17.

Line Corp. has submitted a report to the Japanese government's Personal Information Protection Commission for failing to explain the situation in its privacy policy, and will establish a third-party panel at an early date to improve operations.

According to the firm's parent company Z Holdings Corp., Line commissioned an associated company in Shanghai to build artificial intelligence and other technologies for the app's services. During the development process, data stored on servers in Japan, including some users' names, phone numbers, email addresses and messages, were accessible to four Chinese staffers at the Shanghai firm.

The four workers had accessed servers in Japan at least 32 times since August 2018 for operational necessities. Z Holdings explained that this "was conducted with the oversight of a person in charge in Japan. Thus far, no data has been tapped inappropriately." However, Line barred access by the Shanghai engineers on Feb. 24 this year after the situation was pointed out by a third party.

In January 2020, the company also hired a Japanese firm to monitor inappropriate posts on Line's "TimeLine" and other services. This Japanese firm commissioned work from a separate company in Dalian, China, and staff there accessed posts and images stored on servers in Japan. Line intends to revise this arrangement as well.

Japan's Act on the Protection of Personal Information stipulates that service providers need to obtain users' consent if they either relocate personal information to foreign countries or make such information accessible from abroad.

https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20 ... na/031000c

Headline seems to make it worse than it might be

Was it a few staffers in China who accessed the data in the normal performance of their duties, or was it abused somehow?

I guess the underlying problem here is outsourcing some jobs to another country. Actually though, this doesn't seem like normal outsourcing. They were building artificial intelligence functions, which is pretty high level stuff. Maybe Japan lacks the knowhow?

[Witness]

Japan's music school students not subject to copyright fees, but teachers are: high court

Japan's Intellectual Property High Court ruled on March 18 that performances by students in lessons at music schools are not subject to fees from Japan's music copyright body, in a modification of a February 2020 ruling that stated teachers and students' playing was chargeable.

In the prior ruling, the Tokyo District Court stated that because music schools are involved in selecting pieces of music, and profit by playing them, the schools are primary actors using music played by teachers or students. This definition makes them subject to fee collection by the Japanese Society for Rights of Authors, Composers and Publishers (JASRAC).

Conversely, the Intellectual Property High Court presided by Judge Masayuki Sugano viewed teachers and students separately. The court decided that students -- not music schools -- are primary actors using music played by them, because they play to improve their own skills under the instruction of teachers and are not required to perform above a certain level. However, with consideration for Japan's Copyright Act allowing the collection of fees on music played publicly, the high court decided students' performances are not for public consumption because they play to be heard by specific teachers.

Meanwhile, as teachers' performances are conducted as part of music schools' instruction and supervision, the court said schools are the primary actor in the use of music played by teachers. From a music schools' perspective, the students are the public, and teachers' performances are for public consumption, so the court said teachers are subject to copyright fees as ruled in the first trial.

In February 2017, JASRAC announced it would take copyright fees for music usage from music schools. A group of some 250 music school operators across Japan filed a suit against the move in June that year. The plaintiffs and their lawyers issued a statement reading, "If the development of music culture is taken into consideration, the importance of education provided by music schools must be respected fully."

https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20 ... na/004000c

[Anaxagoras]

Just something that came up on my feed and I thought it's not too shabby and kinda weird and quirky:



Ningen Isu means "Human Chair"

[Anaxagoras]

Tokyo police department cheerleaders make debut with warning about fraud schemes

TOKYO -- The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) Cheerleaders made their debut in Tokyo on March 28 with a warning to the public to beware of fraud schemes.

The squad was formed to cheer on the No. 9 Riot Police Unit's American football team "MPD Eagles" and to assist in the department's PR efforts to call for countermeasures against crimes, among other purposes. On their debut at the steam locomotive plaza in front of JR Shimbashi Station in the capital's Minato Ward, the cheerleaders dressed in blue uniforms called for passersby not to be deceived by fraud schemes.

In less happy news:

Japan karate world champ claims she was abused with bamboo sword during training

I wonder if his defense will be that he is "old school"?

[Doctor X]

If he was he would be Okinawan.

In which case a bamboo sword would be considered, "something in the nature of tender forbearance and filial consideration for the feelings of the victim."

– J.D.

[Doctor X]

For those who remember this story:

Terrace House: Japan man fined $80 after Netflix star's suicide



A man has been fined 9,000 yen ($80; £59) over online abuse directed at a Japanese reality star who took her own life last year, said prosecutors.

Before she died, Hana Kimura, 22, had written a series of social media posts implying she had been cyberbullied.

Reports say the man posted messages on her social media account saying she had an "awful personality", and asking "when will you die?"

BBC

– J.D.

[Grammatron]

Japanese carpentry was developed more than a millennium ago through Chinese architectural influences such as Ancient Chinese wooden architecture and uses woodworking joints. It involves building wooden furniture without the use of nails, screws, glue or electric tools.

[Witness]

For 1200 years, the date that cherry blossoms have fully opened has been tracked. Climate change is shifting that date earlier every year.

https://old.reddit.com/r/dataisbeautifu ... _blossoms/

Article, if you care: Japan’s Kyoto cherry blossoms peak on earliest date in 1,200 years, a sign of climate change

[Witness]

In 2015, Godzilla became an official Japanese citizen and was also employed as a tourism ambassador of Japan.

[Anaxagoras]

Princess Mako seeks public understanding over boyfriend's trouble

Poor kid. None of it seems to be his fault. Just a dispute over money between his mother and her former fiancé.

[shuize]

Yeah, from my limited reading none of it is his fault.

Not that anyone’s asking, but I’d have a hard time marrying into that level of scrutiny.

I hope she’s worth it.

[Witness]

[Witness]

[Anaxagoras]

Comeback for futurist version of human washing machine

Everything old is new again!

[Pyrrho]

https://y-n10.com/

Not recommended for anyone sensitive to certain visual stimuli. Seriously.

Also turn your audio levels down.