According to the Times online:

There was a time in Japan when courtesy was second nature. If you saw an elderly person, a pregnant woman or somebody on crutches, you would leap up and offer them your seat. These days, you pretend to be asleep and avoid eye contact at all costs.

Is this true? Or is it just a myth? I’ve been in Japan 14 years, and it seems to me like it’s always been this way. There are some pleasant exceptions, of course. And of course, sometimes there are valid reasons for not giving up a seat — not that I have time right now to go into that …

This picture along with an associated article seems to be making the AP rounds. Basically the article has nothing to do with Japan, yet I wonder what kind of impression people get of Japan when they read articles like this. Perhaps some would say it’s quintessentially Japanese — because it’s cute and weird. Sometimes it’s best just to laugh and not think about these things too much.

It’s looks like slim pickings for Americasn feeling nostalgic for thanksgiving tomorrow in Nagoya. I think the Hilton Hotel has a dinner, and I would probably take my family, not even so much as to celebrate the holiday as to eat turkey, but I have to work.

If only there was place offering a lunch menu.

I do have a friend selling microwavable turkey dinners from America. I haven’t had a chance to try these yet though.

It’s a bit strange, but even after 13 years in Japan, Thanksgiving is the holiday I still feel the most remiss about missing. If by chance you read this and live in Nagoya and know of a restaurant serving turkey lunch, please let me know …

From the Asahi:

A 31-year-old man expressed remorse Tuesday for storming an office and smashing 22 computers with a truncheon in a rampage triggered by an unopened gift.
 
The former part-timer at an online clothing sales company in Osaka’s Kita Ward admitted at the Osaka District Court that he became enraged when he found out that the president of the company did not bother to open his chugen midsummer gift.
 
… the man started working in the shipping section of the company in January after hopping from one job to another, including construction work. In late July, he gave a box of assorted jellies to the president. However, the employer left the box under his desk. On July 29, the man stormed the office where about a dozen people were working and destroyed the computers, the prosecutors said.
 
No one was injured.
…
“I had no time to open the gift,” the president was quoted as saying.

And so .. uh … um … well … skip comments, go to links:

• Japan-Guide: Giving Gifts in Japan
• Everything2: Gift giving in Japan
• Kwintessential: Gift Giving in Japan

If you’re living in Japan, take no chances. Study this issue.

Here is an interesting story:

Mie Univ. associate professor arrested for breaking mobile phone
TSU, Japan - An associate professor at Mie University was arrested Tuesday for breaking the mobile phone of a woman at a bar in Tsu, Mie Prefecture, the police said. Satoru Yamamoto, 50, an associate professor at the university’s Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, suddenly snatched a mobile phone from the 18-year-old employee of a tailor’s shop and broke it into two at about 9 p.m., the police said. (Kyodo News)
Japanese source: 三重大准教授を逮捕＝居酒屋で女性の携帯折る−県警

This guy was a professor so he must deal with 18 year olds every day. I wonder how he treats students in class when they attempt to use a cell phone?

I once heard of an foriegn English teacher who got so annoyed by a student talking on her cell phone that he took the phone away from the student and threw it out of a four story window. I don’t remember the teacher ever getting into serious trouble over this …

How do you deal with annoying people with cell phones?

McDonalds to introduce McCafe to Japan in August.

Coming to Japan –

More information follows …

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Update: I should have noted that this isn’t really a Japanese story. We’re given no reason to think that this phenomena is any bigger in Japan than elsewhere. For example, here’s a link to a very disturbing guy in America who also prefers love dolls to real women.

Here’s a fairly disturbing video about love dolls in Japan …

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Here is a fascinating study that was in the news today:

Foreigners more eager for local interaction than Japanese: survey
(Kyodo) _ Foreign residents in Japan show more appetite for interacting with local Japanese people than the other way around, according to a survey unveiled Monday by the land ministry and other agencies. The survey showed that 56 percent of foreign respondents living in districts where foreigners accounted for 15 percent or more of the total population expressed eagerness to communicate with their local communities while only 10 percent of Japanese respondents said they want to interact with foreign residents.
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The survey was conducted between December 2006 and January 2007 among 738 foreign households and 1,104 Japanese households in a total of 16 districts in four prefectures — Gunma, Tochigi, Saitama and Ibaraki. By nationality, 49 percent of the foreign respondents were Brazilian nationals. The next largest group was Peruvians at 14 percent followed by Chinese at 12 percent. The average length of their stay in Japan was 8.7 years. According to the survey, 31 percent of foreign respondents were somewhat reluctant to communicate with local communities while 77 percent of Japanese respondents showed reluctance to some degree.

The Yomiuri has an interesting article about copyright piracy. I want to comment on this but am pressed for time, so will update this entry later today or tomorrow with some comments! Below is a small excerpt …

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Interesting story at the Japan Times:

Nightclub hostess world still seen as one where profit trumps visas, safety

This article is very notable because a Welsh TV reporter does some undercover investigative reporting.

Undercover invetigative reporting? Fantastic. Let’s see some more of this please.