New classifieds ads site in Okinawa
Just thought I’d pass the word onto those people who read my blog from within Okinawa. A new free-ad site has just appeared, based on the hugely successful YokotaADs in mainland Japan. This one is, quite fittingly, called OkinawaADs. It’s just starting out but has a great layout and once word gets round it looks like this could be THE place to buy and sell things in Okinawa.
Charging for carrier bags: Saving the world or capitalism at work?
What are everyone’s opinions on this one; is it a way to save the planet or wonderful capitalism at work? Maybe most of you won’t know, but many supermarkets in Japan (Jusco, San-A etc) are going to start charging for plastic carrier bags after a successful trial in Naha, Okinawa. The final price is as yet undecided but it is thought to be around 5-10 yen per bag that you use. China and Australia have already warmed to the idea and are making plans to implement the same type of scheme.
Now Japan is ever so slightly OTT when it comes to plastic bags, I must admit. I personally will not be devastated if my sealed ice cream touches my sealed bottle of water, or my pack of razor blades manages to touch my loaf of bread packaging, but regardless I will get a separate bag for them all. Consequently, an idea to curb this use was definitely a good one. And my students are definitely all for this, despite them getting bags at the Family Mart for whatever they order. They feel that “MyBag” is going to save the environment, reduce global warming and possibly even find a cure for the common cold.
But, as someone who’s a natural skeptic and who dabbles in economics, I can’t help but feel something wrong with this idea. Surely, what the supermarkets are simply doing is charging for something that was provided free (or at least included in the prices) before? Wouldn’t a better scheme simply be to offer a discount of a certain amount if you provide your own bag, which would be meaning you are costing the supermarket itself less money to provide a bag? This would seem a much fairer way of doing this. Then there’s the fact that if you’re organising a huge party or plan on doing a massive load of shopping that you will have to take in a suitcase or fork out for the number of plastic bags you use. And it is still unclear as to whether the “dangerous” items which need to be bagged separately will still incur a charge for their own small bags.
I’m expecting the usual backlash that most people get when they question an environmental plan, but it is certainly something worth thinking about.
Sea Shepherd protesters board Japanese whaling boat: claim they are being “held hostage”
Well it didn’t take too long since the Japanese whaling fleet arrived in its hunting waters for trouble to brew. A few days ago an Australian Federal court said that Japan’s activities in the waters are illegal,a dnt that they should withdraw immediately. The problem with that is that Japan (and indeed the vast majority) of countries do not recognize Australia’s claim to those waters, and see them as being international waters. In addition, it is difficult to prove that the whaling fleet have been conducting operations within that area. But news has come through over the past 24 hours that 2 protesters from the rather more militant environmentalist group, Sea Sheperd, had boarded one of the whaling ships. This followed a stand-off where water cannons were fired at the protesters as they approached the fleet. The protesters responded by firing an obnoxious smelling, but harmless substance onto the deck of one of the boats, and throwing ropes at the boat’s propellor. The story below from Reuters has more details:
CANBERRA (Reuters) - Japanese whalers in the Southern Ocean will release two anti-whaling activists held onboard their vessel only if their protest ship agrees to stop harassing them, Japanese fishing officials said on Wednesday.
“We are happy to hand the two men back in exchange for a couple of agreements — that they remain 10 nautical miles away from the vessel,” Glenn Inwood, spokesman for Japan’s Institute of Cetacean Research, told Australian media.
Hideki Moronuki, of the Fisheries Agency of Japan, told Australian media that as soon as the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society accepted the conditions regarding the safety of the Japanese vessel “they will release the two illegal intruders.”
But Paul Watson, captain of the militant anti-whaling group’s ship, rejected the condition. “When you are holding hostages and you make demands, that is the definition of terrorism,” Watson said from his ship, the Steve Irwin.
Language skills to be needed for Japanese visa?
Here’s a good one from Kyodo news to get stuck into, and which could my successors who come to work in Japan:
“Japan is considering adding Japanese language requirement for foreign nationals seeking entry visas for long-term residency and when renewing their visas, Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura said Tuesday.
Komura cited reasons such as the need for foreigners to be able to speak Japanese to fit into the Japanese society. While he gave no further explanation, the envisioned measure is believed to be aimed at eradicating illegal residency and likely part of antiterrorism policies.
“For foreign people living in Japan to be able to speak Japanese is not only important for improving their own quality of life, but also necessary for the Japanese society as a whole,” Komura told a news conference.
“It would be a very good thing if this helps build momentum for learning Japanese language in the respective home countries of foreign people living in Japan,” he added.
The minister said the Foreign Ministry and the Justice Ministry will soon begin full-fledged consultations. Work visas are expected to be the main target of the new policy, a Justice Ministry official said.
Japan recently tightened its immigration control and began fingerprinting and photographing all foreign nationals entering Japan from Nov 20, exempting only visitors under age 16, special permanent residents and diplomats.
As of the end of 2006, there were 2.09 million foreigners registered for permanent and non-permanent residency in Japan, including those for work and study.
Among them, Koreans form the largest group at 28.7 percent of all foreigners, followed by a rapidly rising number of Chinese, and Brazilians; many with Japanese ancestry.”
Finally back in the water
After what seemed like an eternity (in reality, just over 2 months) I finally got back into the water and dived on Saturday morning at Maeda Misaki. I’m pretty sure it’s been the longest period I’ve ever been out of the water since I came to Okinawa, and as soon as I got in I realised how much I’d missed it. Met up with Brian at 7am at Maeda, and upon meeting we found out that parking to the dive site doesn’t actually open until 8am (shows how much we haven’t been diving!). On heading over to look at the conditions we were astonished though. It was probably the flattest I have ever seen the ocean off the coast of Maeda. There really wasn’t a single ripple in the water and was pretty breathtaking.
So 8am comes, the gates open up and typically, we are first into the water. That’s a great feeling, as you know that a lot of the more timid fish may still be around before everyone else jumps in and starts disturbing them. But man that water felt cold after 2 months being out of the loop! The official temperature was 22.7C in the water, but when that stuff hits the base of your spine it feels ice cold! But a bit of cold water wasn’t going to stop me diving so we descended and headed left along the wall. Saw a big (50-60cm) stonefish and some nice corals on what ended up being a deep dive (to around 34m). When we returned and came to the shallower waters we saw a cuttlefish too, which made my day as they really are my favourite marine animal. They just like like something not from this earth, with their colour changing and the way the propel themselves through the water.
So the 2nd dive of the day was even better, as we saw 3 of the things! Admittadly, one of them might have been the one we saw on the previous dive being spotted again, but it was still great. And I think we were watching 2 of them mating at one point. We spotted one cuttlefish which was pretty big and hovering close to the bottom. We went over and stayed a safe distance from it so as not to scare it off. Anyway, after about a minute it suddenly shot off at great speed and then we saw a smaller cuttlefish which must have been below the bigger one. Smaller cuttlefish then sauntered away with a post-coital glow to it (ok - so the very last part wasn’t strictly true!). I have to say at the end of this dive I was feeling pretty chilly. The water was a little cool and I had only had around 3 hours sleep the previous night so wasn’t full of energy. But I was back in the water for the first time in 2008 and am looking forward to getting back in once again this coming weekend. Until then, take care and dive safely.