Category Archives: Just a thought

When I lived in a developing country called the Kingdom of Tonga, locals often asked me “when is Japan’s independence day?” I always answered “I don’t know. We don’t celebrate independence day in Japan.” After WWII, Japan was occupied by GHQ (General Headquarters). Some years later, Japan and U.S. signed a treaty to recognize Japan’s autonomy. It was April 28. This is, technically, Japan’s independence day. But at that time, some regions were still occupied by U.S.

For a long time, I have assumed that Japan, or more precisely, Japanese government did not celebrate independence day because they did not admit that Japan the loser was occupied by U.S. I have a reason to assume in this way. U.N., or United Nations, is not called united nations but called “international league” in Japan. I’ve heard that Japanese government intentionally translated it incorrectly because “United Nations” is the name of the winner who defeated Japan. But, my assumption seems not correct, or at least, it is not “the” reason.

Today, April 28, Japanese government held an event to commemorate Japan’s recovery of autonomy. Japan’s new prime minister is a rightist and likes this sort of activities. But, as I mentioned above, some regions were still occupied when “the majority of Japan” recovered her autonomy, and for those regions, like Okinawa, April 28 is a humiliation day; they were officially separated from Japan then. This may be “the”, or one of the reasons that Japan had not celebrated independence day. But the new prime minister broke the tradition. When the government was commemorating “independence day”, thousands of people in Okinawa gathered to oppose the government. As I mentioned in a previous post, Japan has a complicated history. Okinawa is the “Southern part” that I mentioned. As a Japanese citizen, I don’t want to ignore this issue. But what can I do?

Yesterday I mentioned responsibility of brands and responsibility of consumers. I do not have the power to affect the rightist government, but should look for a way to take responsibility in my way. By the way, some people in Canada now boycott Joe Fresh products because those products were made in the collapsed building in Bangladesh. This is not a constructive reaction, but may trigger positive movement. Let’s see what actions Joe Fresh will take.

The term “sustainability” is often misused. Some people do not distinguish between sustainability and eco, but they are very different. For example, if you keep consuming products made of recycled, so-called environmentally friendly materials, it definitely has negative impacts on the environment; recycling process consumes energy and emits exhaust, which will result in unsustainable solutions. Some people even misuse “eco”. For a terrible example, in Japan, electric vehicles are called “eco car”. Are they? No, not at all. Partially because of the nuclear crisis, electricity is now produced mainly from fossil fuel. Those electric vehicles are charged by burning fossil fuel. The only difference from conventional ones is whether fossil fuel is burned in the vehicle or at a power plant. Those car companies should be either not smart enough to know it or not honest enough to tell it. In either case, it is terrible.

Why do I talk about this now? The tragedy in Bangladesh, as reported in an internet article, “Bangladesh factory collapse: Who really pays for our cheap clothes?” by Anna McMullen, reminds me of sustainability issues. As I mentioned in a previous post, sustainable product design is to realize environmental responsibility, economic security, and social well-being simultaneously. Those garment companies in the Western world probably try to retain their economic security by using “cheap” labor.  Whether or not they use environmentally friendly materials, like non-toxic dye, it is not sustainable because social well-being of the labor is not secured.

So, what can we do to support sustainable garment industry? In the article, Anna McMullen argues that the brands must take responsibility, not the consumers. I agree with her. But can we entirely depend on it? As I described in another previous post, some companies in ethically-advanced nations adopt sustainable business. For example, as described in an article titled The Effects of Multinational Production on Wages and Working Conditions in Developing Countries, some companies run Anti-Sweatshop Campaign. What we can do is to support those companies. We should find our way to take responsibility. I hope they will be as visible as Fairtrade or Rainforest Alliance.

May all the victims of the collapse rest in peace.

I got a phone call from my bank. When she said the name of the bank, I had a bad feeling. Several months ago, I got a phone call from the same bank. The speaker said many things, but she was not “talking” to me but obviously “reading” something. I told her that I was running out of time, but she did not stop reading it. Finally I told her to send “the document” through email instead of wasting my time. She took offence and hung up the phone. She did not have a communication skill. Unlike that one, the speaker this time was friendly and actually “talked” to me; we had a conversation. I don’t know whether she is a friendly person or has a technique to talk friendly, but she has a good communication skill anyway.

A few days ago, I wrote about skills and expertise. I wondered if what I wrote makes sense, and looked up some words in my dictionary. According to Longman, skill means “an ability to do something well, especially because you have learned and practiced it”. [1] Expertise means “special skills or knowledge in a particular subject”. [1]  And technique means “a special skill or way of doing something, especially one that has to be learned”. [1] All of those attributes are a kind of “skill”. By the way, talent means “a special natural ability or skill” [1], and ability means “something that you are able to do, especially because you have a particular mental or physical skill”. [1] English is a funny language.

Anyways, my job hunting will go on to get a job to use my design skill, technique and expertise in design.

[1] Longman Group Ltd, Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, Harlow, England: Pearson Education Limited, 1995.

Hakone is one of my most favorite travel destinations in Japan. You will see how beautiful it is in my facebook photo albums, like Hakone in Red, Hakone motorcycle day trip, or Hakone trip. Hakone is in my home prefecture, and I am proud of it.

It has been about two years and one month since the earthquake and tsunami hit Eastern Japan. Believe or not, there are still piles of debris in the suffered areas, and many of them have been exposed to radiation. Although the level of exposure is very low, those local governments cannot afford to appropriately dispose of the debris. They need help from other local governments. According to a recent Japanese internet article, the town of Hakone decided to accept some of the radiation-exposed debris and safely dispose of them in the town. Now I have a new reason to be proud of Hakone.

The mayor of Hakone described some of the reasons. One of the reasons is that Hakone will most probably be one of stricken areas of an anticipated big earthquake of the region. Anticipated big earthquake? Yes, many researchers expect a big earthquake in the region based on scientific observations, though they cannot tell when it will hit. Another reason is that the economy of Hakone is supported by tourists from all over Japan including the suffered areas in Tohoku (North-East Japan). They help other people because they are helped by others. They help people in a disaster-affected area because they know they will be helped by other people because of a similar disaster in the future.

The Japanese proverb says, “情けは人のためならず” which literary means “charity is not for people”. Some Japanese misunderstand that it means charity is not “good” for others, but this is wrong. It means that charity is not only for other people but also for yourself; if you do something for other people with sympathy, they will do something good for others, and eventually someone else will do something for you in the future.

Now I need help. Have I helped others enough?

As I wrote in a previous post, I bought a car, often drive to Hamilton, and wonder if it was a smart choice or not.  It saves time, costs more, and obviously bad for the environment.  Owning a car and driving it is fun, but I dare not to count it for now.

China is a tremendously honest country; they focus on economic growth of today and do not care about the environment of tomorrow.  An internet article, Politics of pollution: China’s oil giants take a choke-hold on power, describes it very precisely.  They know how to reduce pollution, but do not do it because it costs and slows down the economic growth.  They do not admitting that compensation will cost a lot more or even impossible.

I still remember that one of my in-class presentations in the Faculty of Environmental Design triggered discussion on ethics of products.  I used an example of Fair Trade products; they are generally more expensive than other products of the equivalent quality, but people choose to buy those products for some reasons, and probably many of them choose it because they feel they are doing the right thing.  The advertisement titled Follow the Flog probably targeted those people like me.

You must do something about it.

This advertisement makes me feel better; I don’t need to launch a movement.  But, dose it, really?

Some companies in more ethically-advanced countries have found that business focusing on sustainability is also profitable.  An internet article, 5 Lessons From The Companies Making Sustainability More Profitable Than Ever, describes how those companies make profits while providing “green” products.  To make a long story short, the users of those products do not have to be environmentally-conscious people but can be cost-reduction-conscious people to be environmentally friendly.

OK, now, what should I do?  Can I keep using my car if I follow the flog and use sustainable products to save money?  Not really.  This discussion continues.

This is a typical conversation I hear at my workplace.

Japanese engineer: Please install the pipes here, not there.
Canadian pipe fitter: It’s better to install them there because it’s easier to walk here.
Japanese engineer: No, it doesn’t have to be. Only maintenance personnel walk here.

I can derive two points from this conversation.  First, although Japan is known for its advanced consumer products, maintenance personnel (engineers and technicians) are not considered to be “users”; only those product consumers are recognized as users. Second, technology-oriented engineers do not consider human factors.  Probably they focus on “efficiency”; in this case, using less pipe, thus shorter route with less material, is more efficient.  But, is it really?  No.  Uncomfortable work environment easily causes human errors.  It is inefficient.  Those engineers are not trained to recognize maintenance personnel as users of the facility and to design user-friendly work environment.

I have found another difference between Canadians and Japanese in this context.  Some machines to be maintained are placed near the floor.  This is because Japanese people often crouch to work, which is very uncomfortable for many Canadians.  Many Japanese simply do not know this difference.  In one case, I explained this to a Japanese engineer and Canadian pipe fitters, and advised to install some machines at a little below chest height.  Now those machines are placed as I advised, but only a few people know it.  No matter how many people know it, I’m glad to see them installed from designer’s view point in the engineer’s world.

In a previous post, I wrote about professionalism.  In a different previous post, I said I am a professional Japanese-English technical interpreter.  Should I fulfill my role?  Yes, I should.  What is my role?  That is the question.  As I wrote in another previous post, I personally think that my role is to fill the cultural gap between Canadians and Japanese, which is not officially expected.  For now, I dare not to count this.

The term “interpret” have some meanings.  According to Longman (1995), one of the meanings, which my client seems to expect me to do, is “to change words spoken in one language into another” [1].  But my Canadian colleagues expect me to do more.  I’m the only one who talk with everyone in the current workplace, and some Canadians expect me to coordinate some small works that a Japanese supervisor does not take care of.  I enjoy doing it, in fact, and those Canadians appreciate it.  In this way, things go smoothly, but some Japanese coworkers do not like it; they stick to conventional Japanese way of working though it is inefficient and takes longer time unnecessarily. Am I a good professional technical interpreter?  No.  My client expects me to work like an interpreter machine.  I should not work like a coordinator.

Of course, “interpret” has another, primary meaning, which is “to believe that someone’s action or behavior or an event as having a particular meaning” [1].  As I wrote in a previous post, Japanese conversation is like coding and decoding.  I often decode what Japanese coworkers say and then interpret it to English.  Canadians appreciate it, but those Japanese even don’t know that I do it.  Without it, those Canadians should have been confused.  Apparently, I am not a good professional technical interpreter, but I am happy to make things go smoothly.  This is how I contribute for the current workplace.

[1] Longman Group Ltd, Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, Harlow, England: Pearson Education Limited, 1995.