dg meets world

I already commented on the current swine flu craziness in Japan.

But since then about 20 new tabs with newsworthy facts opened up in my Firefox. I thought about writing another lengthy article about those, but, lucky me, somebody else beat it to me.

[...] On the surface, the overall media reaction to what could have been a serious outbreak seems fact-based and rational (with notable exceptions!). They followed every government move and reported on the infections. And basically the government did what it should have – maybe there was an over-emphasis on masks and they were a little slow to switch tactics when the virus turned out to be relatively harmless. But I have to agree with Mike and Takashi Uesugi who argue that the media completely freaked out over the swine flu. The breathlessness, the dead-serious tone, and the constant “breaking news” of every miniscule detail of the story all have combine to create an fearful atmosphere that’s truly numbing when you realize how comparatively non-threatening this flu virus really is. [...]

So instead of writing my own article, I will just quote some of the headlines and news videos that accumulated over the past week. And of course you really should read Adamu’s blog post and the comments. It’s worth the time!

Espescially the first comment by a fellow who calls himself Aceface is very interesting:

I have arguments here.

One.Japan isn’t the only country to think this is the second black death.So was the WHO,and elsewhere around the world.
[...]
Five [sic: it's actually #6].Very Obviously,this guy wasn’t in the states in October,2001.When America went crazy about another terrorist attack,envelopes with anthrax and wackos gunning down the Indians in turban and everyone weared the badge of the flag.
[...]
OK,so you are telling me that the whole western media outlets have somekind of mission to topple down the exisiting order and turn the whole society upside down.eh?

I think he actually has a point there with number “Five” (it’s #6, really, trust me). That reminds me of Volker Pispers (esp. 5:01 till the end).

Anyway, you should read all the comments, it’s quite interesting.

And here now the promised headlines with quotes and embedded videos:

 

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Schweine Influenza aka H1N1 in Japan Fortsetzung (2009/05/18) (German blog post by Michael Hess)

 

Masks selling out in Japan (2009/05/18) The flu is still being treated like the the ultra-deadly virus it is not, and the authorities still insist on encouraging people to wear masks.

 

Osaka governor not falling for the swine flu panic (2009/05/18) “The measures we have taken have assumed a high virulence akin to avian flu, but the swine flu virus appears to be less virulent,” Hashimoto said.

 

AP: H1N1 flu causing schools to shut down “across Japan” (2009/05/19) The Associated Press filed this video report in which it told viewers that schools were shutting down “across Japan” because of the swine flu:

 

Cases of swine flu near 10,000 (2009/05/19) Nearly 10,000 cases of swine flu have been confirmed in 40 countries, the World Health Organization (WHO) says.

 

Flu prompts karaoke boom in Japan (2009/05/19) Students from schools and colleges in Japan shut down over fears of swine flu have been flocking to karaoke clubs to fill their new-found free time.

 

Swine flu reaches Tokyo (2009/05/20) The Japanese press is reporting that the Tokyo area now has its first confirmed swine flu case.

 

Japan Fears Spread of Swine Flu as Cases Rise (2009/05/20) It seems like the Japanese Government once again treated a disease as a foreign problem. [...] From the Washington Post: To stop swine flu before it could sneak off airplanes arriving from North America, Japan dispatched masked health inspectors with fever-sensing guns to walk among passengers.

 

Japanese government to stop onboard flu checks of arriving airline passengers (2009/05/20) “We need to shift the focus of our human resources from quarantine efforts to domestic countermeasures,” Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Yoichi Masuzoe said at a hastily arranged press conference Monday.

 

Model UN conference was source of swine flu infections? (2009/05/21) The two Japanese high school students confirmed as the Kanto region’s first H1N1 infections had visited New York city between May 11th and 18th, staying in a hotel room together while participating in a Model UN conference.

 

Opportunists selling surgical masks for high prices online (2009/05/21) The swine flu outbreak in Kansai caused people to make a run on stores selling surgical masks. With so many stores sold out of masks, some people have turned to the internet to purchase protection from the flu.

 

Swine flu commercial: Prime Minister tells Japanese people to remain calm (2009/05/21) This commercial, in which Prime Minister Taro Aso tells the Japanese people to remain calm in the midst of an H1N1 flu outbreak, has been airing on TV a lot in the last few days:

 

Wearing masks in areas with no swine flu (2009/05/21) A clip from yesterday’s Fuji TV news broadcast shows that kindergarteners in Chiba Prefecture, an area of Japan with no confirmed H1N1 flu cases, are being forced to wear protective masks while going on a short field trip:

 

Osaka toy retailer goes bust in 1st case linked with new flu+ (2009/05/21) The Osaka District Court decided Thursday to begin bankruptcy proceedings for an Osaka-based toy retailer which went bust due to sluggish sales at airports as people using the facilities decreased as a result of the spreading new-influenza infection on top of effects of the global recession.

 

Watch the news and be afraid (2009/05/22) After showing the range of possible infection, the fact that the girls were wearing masks is mentioned. However, an expert tells us that masks are not very effective at containing powerful coughs.

 

Shops and restaurants try to lure customers with anti-flu measures (2009/05/22) As fears over the spread of swine flu cause people across Japan to cancel outings, many shops and restaurants have been seeing a decline in business.

 

Who is that masked man/woman? (2009/05/22) As the confirmed number of Japanese infected with the H1N1 flu virus rises, the growing question among many is: Where can we buy face masks? [...] On a Yahoo! Japan auction site, one box of 100 surgical face masks was auctioned at around $280, compared with the original price of $20. One listed on Friday was offered at $5,000 for a box of 50.

 

Japan Plays Down Swine Flu Threat as Business Suffers (Update1) (2009/05/22) Japan relaxed its policies for tackling swine flu to measures similar to those taken for the seasonal influenza to reduce panic about the virus that is damaging businesses and the economy. [...] “The damage done by swine flu is worse than the Lehman Shock,” Kitamura said today, referring to the global recession triggered by the implosion of Wall Street banks. “We’re so scared since we don’t know how long this will last.” [...] The number of confirmed swine flu cases globally totaled 11,034 in 41 countries. A total of 85 people have been killed by the virus, according to the WHO’s latest tally.

 

Chinese city donates 100,000 face masks to Kobe (2009/05/23) The northern Chinese city Tianjin is donating 100,000 disposable face masks to its sister-city Kobe to help it fight the outbreak of new-flu infections, Chinese state media said Friday.

 

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I tried to quote them in order they appeared, but I didn’t go as far as to check the exact time down to the hours&minutes.

As you can see my main source of information is japanprobe.com, but they link to the various original news site themselves, so it’s no big deal I guess.

Today my friend Malte sent me a link to a funny page.

The page is about Engrish, which means (according to Wikipedia) the following:

Engrish refers to non-standard variations of English often found in East Asian countries. Spelling may also be non-standard. While the term may refer to spoken English, it is more often used to describe written English, for which problems are easier to identify and publicize. The term arises from an ambiguity between the “r” and “l” sounds in the spoken Japanese language, although the Chinese language frequently sees the “l” substituted for “r” in foreign loanwords. Engrish has been found on everything from poorly translated signs, menus, and instruction manuals to bizarrely worded advertisements and strange t-shirt slogans.

And here I present you some examples found in Japan:

Head over to engrish.com to find more hilarious translations, not only from Japan, but from all over Asia!

It seems there is a new alien registration system on it’s way.

The Metropolis Magazine reports:

The Diet is currently debating bills to replace gaikokujin torokusho with a new residency (zairyu) card, which would shift administration of alien registration from municipal offices to the Immigration Bureau.

So what are the government’s plans? And, more importantly, what are the implications for foreigners?

If enacted, the bills submitted by the Cabinet in March would revise three laws—the Basic Resident Registration Law, the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act, and the Special Law on Immigration Control—with the government looking to pass them before the end of the current ordinary Diet session on June 3. Once passed, the revisions would become effective in less than three years.

(via)

Of course, the new system will not only have positive but negative points, too.

Positive

According to the immigration bureau, the government’s main aims are to simplify the administration of foreigners by having the bureau handle nearly all paperwork related to immigration and residency; reduce the burden on foreigners living legally in Japan by extending visa periods and relaxing re-entry rules; ensure all legal aliens join social insurance and state pension schemes; track the movement of foreigners more closely; and clampdown on illegal aliens such as visa overstayers by denying them the right to carry the new card.

Negative

However, opposition parties, legal organizations and migrant activists have slammed the revisions. They claim the changes could impose excessive fines for failure to carry the card, make notification of status changes less convenient, and lead to undue dissemination of personal information and excessive monitoring of foreigners.
[...]
The Juki-net cards distributed to Japanese do not have numbers printed on them, and the law strictly protects information on the IC chip imbedded in the cards. But as the revisions stand, numbers would be printed on foreigners’ cards, and a greater amount of data could be kept on the chip. While this would ostensibly enable smoother administration, critics have conjured up an image of a regulatory Big Brother tracking foreigners more rigorously than their Japanese neighbors.

They want to save a lot of personal data on the card (photograph; name; date of birth; sex; nationality; address; visa status, type and expiry date; card number, issue; date; expiration date; working restrictions; and other necessary information), and it’s planned to be used as identification card for banks or libraries.

But one constant factor seems to stay alive: the card will still be another symbol for racism in Japan:

Ichikawa also sees disparities between the treatment of foreigners and Japanese. “The law on resident registration for Japanese permits only the card number to be recorded on the IC chip—not the card—and does not make available information from private establishments such as banks. We want foreigners to be protected in the same way as Japanese.”

Oh, and of course you still have to carry it with you, all the time.

It would still be a crime, however, for foreigners to not always carry the new card. The current law, which the immigration bureau says would not change in the revisions, specifies that aliens must present certification (i.e. the gaijin card) to officials such as immigration inspectors and officers, police officers and maritime safety officers, but mentions nothing about having to show the card as identification to private organizations such as cellphone companies and banks.

About those cellphone companies and banks: I had to show them my gaikokujin torokusho when I wanted to buy a cellphone or open an account. So nothing new there. Is it even possible today to open an account or buy a cellphone w/ a contract w/o the card?

The maximum fine for failing to carry the new card would remain at ¥200,000.

Woah. Not nice…

Anyway, go ahead and read on for yourself, it’s an quite interesting article!

Just for your convience, here is the list of pros and cons for the new card system!

Pros
- Typical length of visa stay changed from three years to five years
- No need to obtain a re-entry permit when leaving the country for less than a year
- Assurance that all legal foreigners will be placed on social insurance and state pension schemes
- Administrative procedure simplified
- Possibility to notify authorities of certain changes of status by email or post

Cons
- Notification of most changes of status must be made at Immigration Bureau rather than at local municipal offices
- IC chip on the new card raises privacy concerns
- Asylum seekers and visa overstayers won’t be eligible to receive the cards, resulting in possible loss of basic health and education services
- Possibility of visa annulment if status notifications are not made within a 90-day period

I, for one, think that the new system doesn’t sound that bad. That is, if you really can notify authorities by email or good ol’ snail-mail.

Just ran across this enlightening article:

ENOUGH with the masks already! インフル予防効果のビミョーなマスク着用は不要 (by Adamu, May 15th, 2009).

DEAR JAPAN - YOU DO NOT NEED TO WEAR MASKS IF YOU ARE NOT SICK OR PARTICULARLY AT RISK FOR SWINE FLU!!
In Japanese for clarity:

日本の皆様へ：豚インフルエンザを予防するには、マスク着用の効果は低いのである。これはＷＨＯの発表でも明らかであり、日本の各メディアでマスクの推薦は、十分な裏づけがあるとは言えないだろう。

[...]

English translation:

People of Japan: Sanitary masks have little effect in preventing swine flu. This is clear from WHO reports and indicates that the Japanese media’s recommendations to wear masks do not have sufficient basis in fact. [...]

Like I said many times before: stop overreacting! It’s not helping the issue!

You are just being used!

Worst of all is the uncritical recommendation of masks by the Japanese media (as can be currently seen on the Asahi.com front page), flying in the face of WHO recommendations. Considering that the pharmaceutical companies (who make the masks) are ubiquitous advertisers in the media conglomerates (this blogger caught a documentary with one drug company executive laughing his ass off at how easy it is to sell masks), it is probably difficult to push back if it’s suggested that masks are the answer.

And here is another thing.

My girlfriend just wrote me about another stupid thing. Apparently the university where she is working just canceled their participation in the annual NAFSA (homepage) which is held in the USA. Of course, swine flu is the reason behind this idiotic decision.

I bet my life that right now, if they could, they would reestablish 鎖国 (sakoku, lit. locked country, or chained country), ie lock up the country, so no one can get in or out. And all those who trespass regardless will be shot. There, problem solved.

BTW: Here is a nice little list of things the Japanese paranoids have done so far. And it provides the prove that one can catch the flu even without going abroad.

Those unlucky enough to enter the country on a plane containing a flu carrying passenger will be forced to undergo 7 days of quarantine if they happen to be seated within a risky distance of the flu carrier.

Oh, and we have racism, too!

Josai International University had to cancel an academic conference because it was feared that its international guests would cause flu infections.

And I just have to comment on this one!

A panel of experts believes the virus may already be spreading throughout Japan. Those who may already be infected may not show symptoms for several days, and when they do, they will have likely spread it to other unsuspecting victims.

TOLD YOU!

But, the most perverted thing is that they started “to kill” everybody who does not follow mass hysteria!

Three high school students and a teacher from Osaka who were the first people in Japan confirmed to have the new flu have become the target of malicious phone calls and e-mails, local board of education and municipal officials said Friday.

[...]

“A few people called us to express their sympathy for the students, but the majority of the calls were spiteful,” said a spokesman in the city’s crisis-management division, adding that many were critical of the patients for not wearing protective masks during their stay in Canada.

[...]

“One of the schools has been receiving 20 to 30 calls of complaint a day,” the spokesman said, noting some of the comments were too horrible to repeat.

“Many people (who called the schools) criticized the students and teacher without really understanding their situation,” he said.

(via Japan Times)

QED: People are stupid.

PS: Here are some German information about the whole flu mess.

Update: A shopping area was not very crowded, and many of the people shopping were wearing masks.

the universitykindergarten:

Aoyama Gakuin University is phasing out traditional methods of taking attendance at its School of Social Informatics, in favor of free GPS-enabled iPhones.

The faculty began providing Apple iPhone 3Gs to all 550 staff and students Friday, using the GPS function to determine whether they are in school or not. The university will initiate full operation of the system in the autumn. The school also has plans to expand their use to setting simple tests and questionnaires, submitting homework and reviewing class video materials.

(Mainichi Japan, via)

And that’s why I’ll never attend a Japanese university. Again. I was at one for a 1-year exchange program, but I’ll never enlist in one to get a full degree. It’s just too damn ridiculous, I mean, they treat you like little children, they have those stupid rules no grown up can take seriously.

It’s like a kindergarten for grown ups there, and most of the students aren’t studying at all, because they are too busy with either アルバイト (part-time job), 部活動 (or サークル動: club activities) or 就職活動 (job search: they start with it in the 3rd year and are at it till the end). And even when they manage to show up in classes the level of their studies is really, really low. Espescially in human science studies or (western) language (especially En