j-kaiwa

[j-kaiwa]

Discussion Article April 6th

Science has finally worked out why British people drink so much 

 If you’ve ever wondered why we Brits are so famed for drinking too much – a new study might just have found the answer. According to data studied from 193 countries, those who live in cooler places with fewer daylight hours are much more likely to consume alcohol than those in sunnier and warmer climates. ‘It’s something that everyone has assumed for decades,’ said lead author Ramon Bataller, associate director of the Pittsburgh Liver Research Centre. The study revealed that those who live in cooler places with fewer daylight hours are much more likely to consume alcohol. Everybody assumes that’s because it’s cold.But we could not find a single paper linking climate to alcoholic intake or alcoholic cirrhosis. 

 ‘This is the first study that systematically demonstrates that worldwide and in America, in colder areas and areas with less sun, you have more drinking and more alcoholic cirrhosis.’ Researchers using data from the World Health Organisation and the World Meteorological Organisation also found evidence that climate contributed to the amount of alcoholic liver disease. Although the reasons why a lack of sunshine causes people to seek alcohol are not explicitly clear. Alcohol can be used to warm up . One reason could be that drinking increases the blood flow to the skin, making the consumer feel warm.

 But on the other hand, heavy alcohol consumption can also be linked to mental health problems, such as depression, which also tends to worsen in areas without many daylight hours. The trend discovered by the scientists held up when comparing countries across the world, with some now stating that public initiatives should be launched in some of the colder, darker and worst affected areas. Dr Peter McCann, medical adviser to Castle Craig Hospital, a residential drug and alcohol rehabilitation clinic in the Scottish Borders, contributed to the report. The research may prompt the start of public initiatives to curb drinking He said: 

‘We now have new evidence that the weather, and in particular the temperature and amount of sunlight that we are exposed to, has a strong influence on how much alcohol we consume. ‘Furthermore this weather-related alcohol consumption is directly linked to our chances of developing the most dangerous form of liver disease – cirrhosis – which can ultimately end in liver failure and death.’ He then continued: ‘Stricter laws on alcohol pricing are surely justified when we consider the devastating combined effect of low sunlight and cheaper alcohol on consumption. ‘Advertising laws should be addressed with restrictions during winter months strongly considered.’

[j-kaiwa]

Discussion Article March 30th

Intolerant Anti-Bully laws are killing Freedom of Speech

Only July 4, the United States will be celebrating Independence Day, the birth of our nation. Unfortunately, the greatest freedom provided us by this new democracy has been dying and few people seem to be aware of it or care about it. And many others are even cheering it on.

The democratic world has made "tolerance" its number one social goal. Nevertheless, this goal has been elusive, as victimized groups continue to lobby for laws that remove the stigmas against them, and educators, social scientists and parents continue to proclaim the horrors of bullying. Despite decades of diversity education, members of the various races congregate largely with their own kind in our schools and neighborhoods.

The truly ironic thing is that the most essential element of a tolerant society has been with us for the past two centuries, as it is also the central element of democracy, but we are slowly but surely killing it. That element is in the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and is called Freedom of Speech. We need to be allowed to say what we want, as long as our words don't cause tangible harm to people's bodies or property, or society will stagnate and we will be prisoners in our own skulls, only permitted to say things that the authorities approve of. Without Freedom of Speech, we would never solve problems that require abandonment of current ways of thinking. Without Freedom of Speech, the government could be as despotic as it wishes, killing off any protestors without impunity. Where the concept of Freedom of Speech is absent, people believe they are entitled to kill others who say things they find offensive. Without Freedom of Speech, we would literally be living in the Dark Ages.

We Americans love to call our Constitution the greatest political blueprint ever created. It was formulated by wise, educated, brave men who studied philosophy and spent a great deal of time hashing out the principles for a system of government that maximizes human freedom and well-being. But the ultimate freedom, Freedom of Speech, is now dead.

Do you think I am exaggerating? Perhaps. But only a drop. Who teaches Freedom of Speech anymore? It is ignored from grade school through university. And if it is taught, is it ever given more than brief lip service? Is more than one paragraph ever allocated to it?  Are its meaning, purpose and practice discussed? Even many journalists today, who owe their professions to Freedom of Speech, do not believe in it because they don't study and understand it.

As I repeatedly demonstrate at my seminars, in my videos and in my writings, Freedom of Speech is the key to peace among people. It is a wonderful principle not only for running a country. It is also a wonderful principle for interpersonal harmony. And though it is a wonderful psychological and moral principle, it is never taught in courses in psychology or morality.

Not only is no one teaching Freedom of Speech anymore, that precious freedom is being slowly but surely killed. It is being murdered by the growing social movement that has successfully brainwashed virtually everyone into believing that the solution to human emotional misery is to create, by force of law, a society in which no one says anything anyone else finds offensive, in which there is no stigma, and in which there are no imbalances of power. There is not one social movement in the history of the world that has enjoyed such unanimous support as the anti-bully movement. Not one religious or political group has criticized it, despite its being contrary to the basic philosophies of most religions and political groups. Not one psychological organization has criticized it, despite the fact that it violates the principles of almost all major schools of psychology. Neither the American Civil Liberties Union nor any other rights-advocacy group has criticized it, despite the fact that anti-bully laws violate the most basic democratic right, Freedom of Speech. Even organizations that are dedicated to promoting Freedom of Speech have failed to criticize this anti-free-speech movement.

The number one tool of science is logical thinking. 2,400 years ago, Aristotle said, "One thing no government can do, no matter how good it is, is to make its citizens morally virtous." Simple logic will lead anyone with a basic understanding of human nature to realize that a society in which everyone is always nice to each other is impossible. It has never existed-and will never exist-because it can't exist. Only in Heaven, if such a place exists, is such a society possible. And logic will lead thinking people to conclude, as Aristotle and our Founding Fathers did, that the attempt to create such a society by force of law can only cause more harm than good. But the social sciences, in their zeal to protect the feelings of people, have thrown logic out the window and are unwittingly creating a less tolerant society. We are in effect teaching: It is very important to be completely tolerant of everyone. And if anyone shows you any kind of intolerance, we will have no tolerance for them!

Ironically, some of the most intolerant, offensive people you can find are ones who most forcefully insist that we need to create a society in which no one is intolerant or offensive. As I am wont to say at my seminars, few people get insulted as much as I do. I have given seminars to tens of thousands of people, and I get evaluations at the end of the day. It never ceases to amaze me how nasty mental health professionals and educators can be! Thanks to my website and blog, I receive letters from people all over the world. Because I am the world's most visible critic of the anti-bully movement, I am also the world's leading recipient of the vitriol of anti-bully zealots. Many angry emailers naively accuse me of having no idea of what it's like to be bullied. They should read my email! They should read the threatening letters sent to Cross Country Education for daring to sponsor my seminars! They should have been there to witness the vicious attacks against me at a few of the presentations I have given in schools! They should read some of the nasty comments to articles about my work on the Internet! Very few people get bullied and cyberbullied as much as I do! (And i haven't tried to get any of my bullies punished!)

"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." ~Voltaire

Freedom of Speech requires me to respect your right to say what I don't like to hear--even to publicly insult and humiliate me--just as it requires you to respect my right to say what you don't like to hear. And just because we have ideas that are unacceptable to each other, it doesn't make us enemies. You may be giving me the best advice in the world but I don't realize it and find it offensive. Should you be prevented from, or punished for, saying it? We are supposed to love each other despite our opposing ideas. When I recognize your right to say things I don't like, I don't get angry at you for saying them. You, in return, respect me for acting respectable. Furthermore, since I don't get angry at you, you cannot have the pleasure of getting me angry, so you don't seek to torment me with words. All wise people throughout the world understand this. It is the most basic ingredient of peace.

Unfortunately, because Freedom of Speech is no longer taught, and our citizens have been indoctrinated with the very opposite, many people today cannot tolerate criticism, insults, or views opposite to their own. And that's why bullying has becoming a more serious problem during the very period that we have been trying hardest to get rid of it. Especially during the ten years since the Columbine massacre, the anti-bully movement has been teaching us that no one has a right to say anything to us that can cause us emotional or psychological distress. So when people say things that are offensive to us, we feel totally justified in getting angry, thinking self-righteously, "You have no right to say that!" and the situation escalates as they become even meaner back to us. And when we try to get them in trouble with the authorities, that's when they really want to kill us!

So that this won't be just theoretical, I would like to present you with a couple of recent examples of intelligent, educated people who would like to deny me Freedom of Speech.

I received the following email from someone identifying him/herself as Real Person, who had apparently read my article, The Psychological Solution to the Stigma of Obesity, and didn't like it. The article is written respectfully and is based on ideas that any decent Cognitive Behavior therapist or Rational Emotive therapist would whole-heartedly advocate. (I just reread it, and I happen to think it is quite good. I believe it will help any obese person who is willing to face reality.) The subject line of the email was, Sometimes the freest speech is silence. What this writer obviously wants, as you will see, is my silence, not his/her own, God forbid.

And the greatest freedom is to not have to listen to you! You know nothing. Some cute slogan and a soapbox and you're off... There needs to be an anti-bullying movement in every heart, everywhere! It's called common decency and respect for others. With your help, and the idiocy of bureaucrats, people have divorced their own actions from any sense of responsibility. Who are you to say that the stigma of obesity isn't worse than the obesity itself? Cruel words lead to cruel actions. It's just too bad that the gentlest souls far too often direct those actions toward themselves. Then idiots like you turn around and blame them. Do the world a favor and just shut up. Listen for a change. You might be surprised at what you haven't heard.

This person insists there must be decency and respect for everyone. Except, of course, to me, because she doesn't agree with me. She doesn't question her right to be as nasty and insulting to me as she wishes.

I received the following comment to my blog entry, The "Perfect" Anti-Bully Law, from someone identifying herself as Jeannette:

article continues after advertisement

You have either no understanding or no experience - probably both - of any kind of bullying behaviour that reaches deeper than mild irritation. There are few people for whom the usual daily small and sometimes painful lessons of childhood - do not give them sufficient life skills to deal with the kind of bullying your 'booklet' describes. I checked out your infallible rules. Complete nonsense....I have listened with too much patience already to voices like yours, who recommend these simplistic solutions - ideas from people who - on finding themselves in any similar situation - would have not the slightest idea of any way to cope, and would be brought down very low by it....If you have never experienced that - you may not hope to understand how your article sounds, like nonsense, to anyone who has.

You have absolutely no right whatsoever to be making this attempt to harrass those who try to protect the lives of children and adults from one of the most pernicious ills of our time.

This intelligent writer believes that since I am criticizing the failing anti-bully movement, trying to wake the public up to the folly of anti-bully laws, and providing free advice that has helped countless people throughout the world successully deal with bullying, I am somehow "harassing" her. Have I ever done a thing to stop her--or anyone else--from trying to protect children from each other? It is not I who is fighting for laws that force us to think or behave in a certain way.

She says I "have absolutely no right whatsoever to be making this attempt..." Absolutely no right whatsoever?! How about the First Amendment?! But Freedom of Speech is dead, and even the most educated people today have forgotten it. These anti-bully activists who are so dead set against nastiness have no hesitation to be nasty to anyone they don't agree with. Only one point of view is permitted today. The only Freedom of Speech we have today is to say things that the anti-bully crusaders approve of. Three cheers for the demise of democracy!

article continues after advertisement

If you haven't already viewed these videos, I invite you to see the power of Freedom of Speech in action. Two of the three sample videos from my Victim-Proof Your School program that can be viewed on my website demonstrate the power of Freedom of Speech to stop bullying. In each video scene, I first try to deny the other person Freedom of Speech; the second time I grant them Freedom of Speech.

The following is a scene in which a student is cursing a teacher: How Should Teachers Handle Being Bullied

The following is a medley of scenes of people calling me idiot (it would work with any other insult): The Idiot Game

I hope you are getting an increased appreciation for Freedom of Speech. If society were to spend a fraction of the time and effort teaching the meaning and practice of Freedom of Speech that it does fighting for anti-bully laws, we would achieve a greater reduction in bullying and a greater increase in tolerance and harmony than we can ever hope to achieve through the most intensive anti-bully laws!

[j-kaiwa]

Discussion Article March 23rd

The belief that interests have to be developed may have consequences.

What do you enjoy doing? What is your passion, interest, or hobby? Do you enjoy cooking, dancing, playing the drums, fishing, gardening...? You might be surprised to learn that your assumptions about interests and passions (your implicit theories) might have an influence on whether you explore unknown areas and try novel activities.

A recent study by Paul O’Keefe and colleagues, published in the October issue of Psychological Science, suggests that some people’s implicit theories of interest might prevent them from finding and developing their passions.

Passions and interests

We are often advised to search for what we love, to discover our passions. As the saying goes, if you find a job you love, you will never have to work a day in your life.

But are we to discover our passions, or cultivate them?

The former view is referred to as the fixed theory of interest; the latter, as the growth theory of interest.

Believing in one or the other view can have major consequences. To explain, O’Keefe et al. compare the search for interests with the search for love:

    People can believe that successful relationships are destined or cultivated . . . With the former perspective, people see dating as an attempt to find “the one.” Faced with relationship challenges, people may quickly move on. By contrast, the latter belief can increase people’s motivation to maintain relationships and resolve differences when they arise.

Similarly, the belief that passions are fixed means the number of potential passions are limited; therefore, once these interests are discovered, there is no need to explore other domains.

Second, these passions, once found, are assumed to be a bottomless wellspring of motivation. If one finds less motivation than expected or encounters difficulties in pursuing passions, one may conclude that these particular interests are likely not among one’s true interests.  

Passions: To discover or cultivate?

O’Keefe and colleagues conducted a series of experiments to test the behavioral effects of assumptions about whether passions are cultivated or discovered.

They found that participants with stronger beliefs that interests are innate showed less enthusiasm when reading about topics outside their area of preexisting interest. They also showed less receptiveness to novel interests. In addition, people who assumed interests are innate had lower expectations of facing difficulties in pursuing their passions.

Finally, participants led to believe that passions need to be discovered — in comparison with those led to believe passions need to be cultivated — were more likely to lose interest in a scientific subject after having read a technical article about it.

Simply put, they expected a true passion to come naturally. This was challenged by reading the technical article and experiencing difficulty understanding what they believed should be easy for them.

Reconsider your passions

Results from these studies supported the authors’ hypothesis that when individuals assume their interests are innate and fixed, they seek to discover these limited inner passions. And once they believe they have found these passions, they expect plentiful motivation while pursuing these interests.

If, in contrast, one expects to grow and cultivate novel interests, she would not stop exploring new domains; nor would she interpret frustration as a sign that she has been digging in the wrong place. She would persist in the face of difficulties.

Based on these findings, I suggest you consider the following questions when contemplating your passions.

1. What are my interests? How do I know these are my interests?

2. Have I worked on developing these passions?

3. Do I assume people who pursue a passion (e.g., painting, learning additional languages, playing an instrument) are highly motivated all the time and do not experience frustration?

4. Have I prevented myself from exploring new areas of interest because of difficulties or reduced motivation during my pursuit of some new passion?

Think about these questions. Perhaps your implicit views of interests have prevented you from pursuing new ones, or from putting in the effort to cultivate your present passions.

The common suggestion that we should discover our passions is likely well-intended, but as O’Keefe et al. note, “Urging people to find their passion may lead them to put all their eggs in one basket, but then to drop that basket when it becomes difficult to carry.” So go ahead, explore new interests and passions. Take up a new hobby. Do not let obstacles stand in the way of finding joy in the unfamiliar.

[j-kaiwa]

Discussion Article March 16th

How Millennials Talk Differently to Older Generations

Whether they’re being accused of wasting money on avocado toast or killing everything from soap to the golfing industry, Millennials are perpetually being criticised for doing things wrong.

Now older generations have started to complain that Millennials can’t even talk correctly. Recently the Daily Mail told these young adults that they need to adjust their speaking habits to address superiors – and they are also being told the way they speak is irritating.

Whether there’s really a wrong or right way to speak is a moot point, but there does seem to be some language trends that are particularly favoured by generations born in the eighties and nineties. Some of these are received better by younger generations than by older ones; in fact, there seems to be a bit of a communication gap opening between Millennials and the generations that preceded them.

Vocal fry

You may not even have heard of vocal fry but you’ll probably recognise it if you hear it. Commonly heard in vlogs and in reality TV piece-to-cameras when people under 35 express an opinion, vocal fry is a kind of crackling gargle noise that slips into conversation. It’s particularly used by young women and seen as a way to support their authority by accessing an unnaturally deeper pitch of voice than they would normally use.

Whether this works or not seems to depend on who is listening. Those under 30 apparently do find vocal fry adds authority to what is being said. Those over 40 apparently not only find it annoying but also think it makes the speaker sound less authoritative. And listeners in their 30’s don’t know what to think of it.

Perhaps that’s the key to the debate over Millennial language habits: younger people are communicating to please themselves and their peer group rather than older generations. In the case of vocal fry, this approach seems to work. Millennials are more effective at speaking to one another than they are to older generations.

This may be a sign that their communication is not successful: surely it’s not working if it’s only working on some audiences? Another way to look at this is that Millennials are communicating successfully on their own terms. Perhaps what older generations fear most is finding that younger people aren’t particularly interested in trying to communicate with them effectively.

Literally

One bugbear that frequently crops up is the modern use of the word literally. Literally is now used for emphasis, in place of words such as ‘very’. “I’m literally starving” is an example. This drives many people to distraction, as it’s an incorrect use of the word as they understand it – figuratively would be a more accurate word, but this lacks the same punch.

This suggests that the meaning of a word is immutable, which isn’t in fact the case. Many words have changed their meanings over the years, sometimes even evolving to mean the precise opposite of what they originally meant.

‘Awful’ now means dreadful but the word originally means awe-inspiring. All that matters is how the word is received by its contemporary audience.

If most people using ‘literally’ now do so to emphasise what they are saying, then the word may simply have evolved its meaning. It may be unpopular with older users to find new generation is using a word in a different manner to the one they think fit for it, but the accepted definition tends to win out eventually.

What matters is not how many people use the word, but how influential they are. With younger audiences now striking out as influential media voices, it’s likely that their use of language will start to dominate.

There’s ultimately no right or wrong way to communicate, so long as your message is received in the way you want. The right language is merely the language that’s understood correctly by your audience.

Really the debate about how Millennials talk is one about older generations trying to impose control over younger ones, to resist change. No generation owns language – although some seem to think they do.

It’s perhaps no coincidence that Millennial speech habits such as vocal fry are most commonly expressed by those that only need to appeal to their peers rather than older people – such as the Zoellas of this world. YouTube stars only have their peers to impress and it’s in their peer to peer communication that Millennial speaking habits most often find expression.

But older generations persist in holding power over younger ones and will do for some time to come. Baby boomers lead countries, organisations, and businesses; they make decisions that affect Millennials at every step of their lives.

Perhaps the most significant of these are in the workplace. Millennials have been taken aside by well-meaning colleagues who tell them the way they talk is hindering their career or told it makes them ‘sound stupid’. Language is one of the ways Millennials can negotiate with those that have power over them if they chose to.

[j-kaiwa]

Discussion Article March 9th

Coronavirus: 'Nothing ruled out' in government's virus battle tactics

No tactics will be "off the table" in the UK government's plan to contain coronavirus, the health secretary says.

Matt Hancock said an emergency "battle plan", drawn up if the virus spreads further, includes banning big events, closing schools and dissuading people from using public transport.

He told the BBC's Andrew Marr the plans were for the "worst-case scenario".

Mr Hancock said the UK remained in the "containment" phase with 23 confirmed cases - but more are expected.

The government contingency plans, which will be published this week, include that newly-retired doctors and nurses could be asked to return to the NHS.

If the outbreak worsens, people could also be urged to work from home.

A minister in every government department will focus on tackling the virus, which causes the Covid-19 disease, while a team of experts will drive a public health campaign.

Speaking on the BBC's Andrew Marr Show, Mr Hancock said there were four phases to the plan:

Containment - caring for any infected people and identifying their close contacts

Delay - deciding what actions to take to slow down the spread

Mitigation - damage limitation if the virus spreads widely

Research - constant and ongoing work to inform the three other phases

Currently, the UK is in the "containment" phase - which health leaders say may still be sufficient.

But the next phase could see broader "social distancing" measures.

Rules around class sizes in schools could also be relaxed in the event of widespread staff shortages.

Asked if UK cities could be shut down, as has happened where the virus originated in China, Mr Hancock said: "There is clearly a huge economic and social downside to that. But we don't take anything off the table at this stage because you have to make sure you have all the tools available if that is what is necessary."

He added: "Under the worst-case scenario we would have to take some quite significant actions that would have social and economic disruption."

Labour shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth said Mr Hancock must give more detail of any emergency powers he wants to bring in so that MPs "can properly scrutinise" the plans.

Emergency powers designed to restrict the virus if it became endemic would only be "temporary", Mr Hancock said - adding that it was "inevitable" the scale of the virus would worsen.

He also said "a lot more resources" were being put into the NHS 111 helpline as the number of calls rose by 50% over the last week.

On Saturday evening, Willow Bank Infant School in Woodley, Berkshire, issued a statement saying one of its members of staff had tested positive for coronavirus - and it would be closing for a deep clean.

Meanwhile, more than 200 British holidaymakers locked down at a quarantined hotel in Tenerife have been told they will be allowed to fly home, if they test negative for the virus.

The travellers have been quarantined at the H10 Costa Adeje Palace hotel since Tuesday after four Italians contracted the virus. Some have already been allowed to leave but others are awaiting test results.

The Foreign Office is in contact with operators and travel agents about their plans to return Britons to the UK.

While the virus can be present but undetectable in a test, BBC correspondent Dan Johnson said advice for the hotel guests was that there is a 24-hour window after a negative test when people are not infectious, and are therefore safe to fly.

The government's response is based on existing plans for a pandemic flu outbreak - but has been adapted for the coronavirus.

What do I need to know about the coronavirus?

The plan includes holding extra meetings for the government's emergency committee, Cobra, which is already scheduled to meet on Monday.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who will chair Monday's meeting, said: "Coronavirus may very well be a challenge in the weeks and months ahead.

"But I have no doubt that with the help of the NHS and its incomparable staff this country will get through it and beat it."

A team of scientists and media experts will also be set up to work on a public information campaign from a so-called "war room" in the Cabinet Office. This will see posters and social media adverts telling people to wash their hands for 20 seconds or more with soap and water.

Whitehall officials say they will be working closely with their counterparts in the devolved administrations.

Meanwhile, the Scottish government said it was increasing tests for coronavirus to all people with flu-like symptoms, even those who have not travelled to an affected area. No one in Scotland has so far tested positive.

Mr Hancock said "every part of government" was working together to tackle "the health, economic, and social impacts" of the virus - "but cannot do this alone".

"Every single person has a role to play in helping to manage the spread of the virus - whether that's washing your hands more often, catching your sneezes, and following clinical advice," he said.

Can we answer your question on the coronavirus?

[j-kaiwa]

Discussion Article Feb 17th

Trial of Sagamihara massacre suspect spurs debate on what society may think about people with disabilities

The trial of Satoshi Uematsu, who is accused of killing 19 people with disabilities at a care facility in Sagamihara, Kanagawa Prefecture, in 2016, began on Jan. 8 and is expected to end in March. Uematsu admits to the murders. His defense team is trying to convince the judges, who include lay judges, that he carried out the killings with “diminished capacity” owing to marijuana use. This seems to be the only strategy his lawyers could think of to keep him off death row. An evaluation of Uematsu concluded he has “narcissistic personality disorder,” but prosecutors argue he can be held criminally responsible for his actions.

The focus of media coverage is Uematsu’s mental competency, a consideration complicated by the defendant’s own statements as well as the public’s general attitude toward people with disabilities. Uematsu claims he killed for the good of society, since those whose disabilities prevent them from communicating are “not people” and thus somehow “harmful.” His comments have drawn disgust, but they’ve also sparked reflection in the media as to how prevalent this sentiment is. Just because it isn’t virulent enough to compel others to do what Uematsu did, that doesn’t mean it isn’t widespread.

In December, the Mainichi Shimbun ran a feature about a neighborhood protest against the opening of a care home for people with disabilities in a residential area of Yokohama that was described by the magazine Shukan Josei as “celeb town,” meaning it’s well-to-do. The facility is operated by a company called Moana Care, which, following approval for construction in March 2018, held explanation sessions for nearby residents in late 2018 and early 2019.

Many attendees were strongly against the developer, saying that property values would drop and the facility’s residents might threaten the safety of local children. In March, protesters submitted to the local government a petition with around 700 signatures, demanding construction be halted. Two months later, Moana Care and families of future residents of the facility went to the local government asking it to act as a mediator in the dispute, claiming that the petition violated a city regulation banning discrimination against people with disabilities. Authorities told the protestors to remove the banners surrounding the construction site, since the messages they contained were discriminatory in nature. The protesters refused.

Since then people have moved into the care home, and neighbors continue to protest. One told the Mainichi Shimbun that she opposed the facility because “we don’t know what (those people with disabilities) are going to do.” Although the statement is purposely vague, the implication is that people with disabilities are unpredictable and thus potentially dangerous. According to a 2018 government study cited by the Mainichi Shimbun, 0.08 percent of people with mental or developmental disabilities committed crimes, while the portion of nondisabled persons committing crimes was 0.2 percent.

Another aspect of the case that points to discriminatory attitudes is the anonymity of Uematsu’s victims. Of the 48 persons he killed or injured, only one will have their real name used in court. For the rest, the trial will use pseudonyms. According to a Jan. 10 article in the Asahi Shimbun, families of the victims are worried the victims will be discriminated against if their names and other personal particulars are revealed. The Yokohama District Court has agreed to their request. In principle, the names of defendants and victims are openly used in trials except when minors are involved. However, in 2007, the relevant law was revised as a gesture to protect victims. Under special circumstances, courts can now decide to mask the names, addresses and faces of victims if they think the victims’ or their families’ well-being could be adversely affected by revealing such things. The Asahi Shimbun says these special circumstances were conceived for cases involving sexual assault or organized crime. Between 2008 and 2018, about 4,000 trials applied this exception each year. The Kanagawa Prefectural Police has also said it will honor the wishes of victims’ families by not providing the media with names.

One man who was injured in the attack, Kazuya Ono, has insisted his real name be used in court because, according to his father, he wants to fight discrimination. To Ono, not using his real name amounts to surrendering his very existence to the unfounded fears of the public. Uematsu himself said during the trial that keeping the victims anonymous reflects society’s attitude toward people with disabilities.

However, the people who really seem to worry about discrimination are not so much disabled people but rather their families, who presumably don’t want others to know they have relatives with disabilities. The Asahi Shimbun points out that 30 of the 84 seats in the courtroom for the Uematsu trial are reserved for victims’ families, and that they are in a section isolated by a 2-meter high curtain. The families also travel to and from the courthouse on a special bus with tinted windows.

In a discussion of the trial on NHK radio, documentary filmmaker Tatsuya Mori made connections between Uematsu’s mindset and the public’s general attitude. Uematsu verbalizes and acts on his feelings toward people with disabilities, which appear to not be informed by hate but rather by a kind of horrifying logic. If we are made uncomfortable by Uematsu’s pronouncements, it’s not so much because we find them repugnant, but because we realize we don’t necessarily disagree with his basic position. Mori gives the example of someone in a coma whose loved ones silently wish the stricken person would die in order to be relieved of their own burden.

The difference is that the people Uematsu killed were not unconscious and their inability to communicate does not preclude the possibility that they had inner lives just as rich as anyone else’s. Mori’s point is that by resenting, openly or tacitly, the perceived imposition a person’s disability has on our own lives, we effectively reinforce Uematsu’s reasons for erasing them.

[j-kaiwa]

Discussion Article February 14th

How British people celebrate Valentine’s day

Valentine’s Day is the most romantic holiday in the whole world. It is mysterious and shrouded in legends and rich history. In Britain, a special attitude to this winter holiday has developed, because this day is an opportunity to show your feelings, express sympathy, gratitude and love.

The history of Valentine’s Day

The holiday is celebrated in Britain since the XVII century. The origins of Valentine’s Day are rooted in the history of the Roman Empire, when one of the rulers, Claudius II, forbade marriages, because it was believed that the best soldiers are single men. It was then that the Christian priest Valentine began to conduct the engagements of people secretly.

Valentine was immediately arrested and sentenced to death, as soon as the ruler learned about what he did. Before the execution, on the night of February 14, his woman received the last note from the priest with the signature «Your Valentine».

Also, the story tells that the pagans celebrated the onset of spring already in mid-February. This time was considered the best for marriages.

The customs and symbols of the Day of All Lovers in England

In the medieval England, lovers gave gifts to each other secretly on Valentine’s Day, and young single boys chose «Valentines» among the girls by lot, then they wrote poems and songs for them all the year, admiring them like knights.

In Sussek, the day of lovers is also known as the day of bird weddings. Since Geoffrey Chaucer, an English poet, called this holiday a day when birds choose their own pair, ceremonies were not done without birds. According to the belief, if an unmarried girl saw a robin on that day, then she should be married to a sailor, if she saw a sparrow, her future husband would be a simple peasant, and the goldfinch symbolized a rich spouse.

In Wales, there was customary to give each other wooden spoons of different shapes on the day of all lovers. The most popular were spoons with ornaments of heart shaped locks and keys to them.

In the county of Norfolk, the lovers’ day is celebrated on a special scale. This is due to the legend of Jack Valentine, who on the night of February 14 left gifts on the porches of houses for all residents.

In England, flowers are presented on the day of lovers since the XVII century. This tradition came from France from Louis XVI, who gave Marie Antoinette red roses. They are the symbol of Valentine’s Day and symbolize the blood of Aphrodite, the goddess of love. Two drops of her blood fell on white roses, making them red.

What do English lovers give to each other?

The most valuable Valentine’s Day gift is actually pastries and sweets made with your own hands. There is a tradition of baking a cake in the shape of a heart, which is given to the loved one.

The British do not make expensive gifts. They buy chocolate sweets, various sweets, valentine’s cards and soft toys, among which Teddy bears are the most popular.

As for valentines, anonymous valentines still are given. Confessions of love can be often seen in British newspapers and local magazines.

Flowers are a must-have gift for Valentine’s Day, a symbol of sympathy, tenderness and love. The color of roses and their number in the bouquet have different meanings — scarlet roses are given to a girlfriend or a boyfriend; yellow and white — to acquaintances and relatives.

In addition, British people congratulate and give gifts not only to their lovers, but to all those whom they love — parents, relatives and even pets.

[j-kaiwa]

Discussion Article February 3rd

How science can teach us to be more relaxed

After a busy and stressful year, I recently found myself physically and mentally exhausted with a very real need to relax. A last-minute holiday felt like a perfect solution and I returned feeling refreshed and recharged. What was it that helped me to relieve my physical tension and restore my inner calm? Was it exploring somewhere new, swimming in the sea, spending time with family – or just lying on the beach, touching the sand and completely switching off?

As a clinical psychologist, cognitive neuroscientist and mindfulness teacher, I am fascinated by how our thoughts and emotions relate to our physical responses. They are a key to understanding our ability to tolerate and respond to stress. Scientific research has highlighted a range of ways our individual perception and experience of stress vary. For example, the amounts of certain chemicals in our bodies that affect how we feel, such as cortisol and oxytocin, can be negatively affected by a lack of attachment, social support and even how confident we are that we can control our situation.

Responding to stress

Modern working patterns, and in particular our use of technology such as smartphones, make it harder to establish clear boundaries between our work and personal lives. We are constantly bombarded with sensory information and exposed to global events in an instant. When coupled with greater demands on our time and less time for ourselves, this gradually can lead to stress or burnout.

Our ability to respond to stress is essential for our survival. Our sympathetic nervous system is responsible for activating our fight, flight or freeze responses. Our bodies quickly restore balance when stress is short-lived, but more persistent stress is much harder to manage. Our long-term physiological responses are regulated by specialised brain systems that release hormones when our highly evolved frontal cortex perceives stress.

The development of humans’ frontal cortex has provided us with a greater capacity to contemplate, make decisions and plan ahead. But it is also responsible for generating even more stress. Our unique ability to mentally “time travel”, to remember the past and imagine the future, can also mean that we spend too much time ruminating on things that have happened, leading to low mood, and worrying about things that have yet to happen, leading to anxiety.

Ultimately, this can take its toll on our physiology and disrupt cortisol regulation. This leads to fatigue, reduced immune function and changes in brain structures, including connections associated with learning, memory and emotional processing.

Given the problems this can cause, our ability to relax and effectively manage stress is essential for our physical and mental well-being. Interestingly, our choices and the activities that can help us relax and manage stress can vary hugely from person to person. My own response tends to be grounded in my belief in science, my personal mindfulness practice and my love of dance, which I find gives me greater awareness of my body and mind and helps reconnect me with nature and loved ones.

Immerse yourself

Mindfulness meditation is a way of encouraging you to be aware of your internal and external experience – your thoughts, feelings and bodily sensations, including breathing – that can quieten the mind and relieve tension. Focusing on and accepting these experiences can improve the flexibility and control of your attention and reduce distress and discomfort. Recent studies have shown that mindfulness interventions, delivered by trained instructors who are aware of all of the psychological effects, are powerful techniques that increase brain connectivity and activation, and thickness in the frontal cortex. This especially is the case in the brain areas that regulate emotion, pain, attention, stress and well-being.

But other people may find physical or creative activities just as relaxing. Creative and physical activities including art, music, sport, dance and yoga can have beneficial effects on immune function, blood pressure, heart rate, cognitive function and well-being. This may again be due to the way these activities refocus your attention and can create a sense of flow when you are fully immersed in them. Our levels of oxytocin also can increase with greater social connection, easily recognised when we are with our friends, family and even even pets.

There are also physical techniques that have been specifically designed to promote relaxation, which can be useful for those who find it difficult to relax without guidance. Progressive muscle relaxation involves systematically contracting and then releasing different muscle groups and noticing sensation. It has proved very effective in reducing physical tension and relieving stress. Some therapists also use guided imagery to encourage people to imagine that their muscles have become heavy or warm in a similar way.

Biofeedback techniques provide people with a visual representation on a computer screen of how their heart rate, blood pressure or brain waves change. This can be incredibly useful in helping children and those with attention difficulties to focus and combat stress, as visual cues can provide motivation and encourage self-monitoring.

Given the complex links between our environment, minds, brains and bodies, it is not surprising that relaxation can be challenging, elusive and at times neglected. Yet simply allowing ourselves time to focus on our breathing, a feature that is common to most relaxation techniques, can improve cardiovascular and brain functions and reduce stress. Each requires elements of attentional control, curiosity, connection and body awareness. Our personal preferences for unique combinations and timings of these elements are essential. This may explain why my holiday in the sun was so effective.

[j-kaiwa]

Discussion Article Jan 27th

The best place to live in the Japanese countryside? Kyushu, poll respondents say

Sometimes, it seems like all of Japan is slowly being drawn into Tokyo. As the county’s economic, educational, political, and even entertainment capital, for many people born elsewhere in Japan, it’s not so much a matter of if they’ll move to the country’s biggest city, but when.

But as in any society, not everyone in Japan is enthralled with urban living. After enough time in the concrete jungles of Japan’s major metropolises, anyone can find themselves thinking about packing up and moving someplace where the horizon is dotted with forests instead of skyscrapers.

Of course, pulling up stakes and moving to a rural part of the country can be an intimidating proposal. Helping to take some of the uncertainty out of the equation is publisher Takarajimasha, which recently released the results of a survey on which bucolic town people in Japan would most like to move to. Starting with a list of 137 candidate cities, Takarajima asked participants 70 questions in seven categories related to the natural environment, support systems for new arrivals, and child-rearing issues. Questions about help for job seekers, health care facilities, and transportation infrastructure were included as well.

Although there are large patches of rural communities on each of Japan’s four main islands, the runaway winner was the southern island of Kyushu. All four of the highest ranked cities are located there, with the two towns tied for third, Bungotakada and Taketa, both located in Oita Prefecture.

Bungotakada received high marks as a place to raise a family, with respondents praising its educational and housing support systems. Parts of the town of less then 30,000 residents have even been modeled in an attempt to preserve the relaxed atmosphere of the 1950s and ‘60s.

Located in the southwest corner of the prefecture, Taketa’s historical vibe stretches back even further with its connection to Rentaro Taki, one of Japan’s most beloved composers from the beginning of the 20th century. Taki, whose life was tragically cut short by tuberculosis at the age of 23, was inspired by the ruins of Taketa’s Oka Castle when creating his best-known song, "Kojo no Tsuki" (The Moon Over the Ruined Castle).

In more modern times, Taketa has seen a stream of craftsmen moving to the city, sparking a mini-renaissance in fabric dying, woodworking, and paper craft. Recent arrivals have also expressed their appreciation for the town’s consultation counter for those who have just moved to the city, which is open on weekends. Even more impressive, the city has also opened an office in Tokyo to assist those thinking of moving from Japan’s largest city to 25,000-person Taketa.

In second place was Takeo in Saga Prefecture. Takeo is a little bigger than the two previous entries, with a population of 50,000 people. However, the loss in solitude is offset by a gain in convenience, as Takeo is just 50 minutes from Ariake Saga airport, as well as an hour from Fukuoka Airport and the high speed Shinkansen rail service that runs through Fukuoka City’s Hakata Station.

Takeo has also received a bit of recent media attention for its collaboration with national video rental and bookstore chain Tsutaya, which has been involved in keeping the local library well-stocked, plus the local government’s push for greater interaction with citizens through the city’s official Facebook page. New arrivals can look forward to the support of four city employees employed to help them settle in, as well as a non-profit organization involved in restoring traditional Japanese-style houses for new owners.

Finally, the top of the list takes us back to Oita Prefecture and Usa City. Like Taketa, Usa can claim significant cultural and historical value. Its Usa Jingu serves as the head shrine for the 400,000 branches scattered throughout Japan dedicated to the Shinto deity Hachiman.

Other local attractions include the ruins of Teruoka Castle, as well as the boyhood home of Futabayama, a grand champion sumo wrestler of the 1930s and ‘40s. In more recent times, Usa is said to be the home of the first karaage (Japanese-style fried chicken) takeout stands that have been proliferating in Japan over the last few years. Usa also has its own quirky mascot character, Lucky Usa, designed by a musician from the popular dance/vocal group Exile who shares his name with the town (although Usa the performer was born in Kanagawa Prefecture, not Oita).

Of course, if you can’t live without the excitement of new people to meet every day or the convenience of a grocery store five minutes away by foot, these towns might not be for you. But the next time you find yourself pressed against a dozen other commuters on a Tokyo subway train, just remember that it doesn’t have to be like that, because there’s always space in Kyushu.

[j-kaiwa]

Discussion Article Jan 20th

The Effects Of Illegal Downloading On The Music Industry

Dictionary.com defines piracy as “the unauthorized reproduction or use of a copyrighted book, recording, television program, patented intervention, trademarked product, etc.” while The Economic Times narrows it down and claims piracy is “the copying and distributing copies of a piece music for which the composer, recording artist, or copyright-holding record company did not give consent.”

Illegal music sharing started back when the phenomenon of CD-burning was introduced. It was a much cheaper option that came, however, with slow copying time and provided a level of inconvenience.  Eventually, Napster became the presented and preferred option in the early 2000’s where users were afforded the privilege of downloading songs for free and got the chance to reproduce them. The peak user subscription for Napster reached 57 million users and it became the first of its kind. By the time it was shut down after much controversy and debate, it had set off thousands of similar websites such as Limewire that allowed peer-to-peer sharing over torrents. Sharing music illegally grew in leaps and bounds and reached dimensions that even governments and institutions were unable to control.

Did you know that 30 billion songs were illegally downloaded between 2004 and 2009? According to the Recording Industry Association of America, music sales have dropped by 47% ever since Napster made its debut. RIAA, which is made up of large companies that oversee the recording and distribution of music, revealed that the music industry suffered 12.5 billion in losses by 2012 and also disclosed that over 71 000 jobs have been lost. The positions that have had to be cut include people who once worked as songwriters, producers, engineers, technicians, marketing support and artists.  Record companies were placed in the unfortunate position of having to lay off employees as they suffered profits loss and couldn’t afford personnel anymore. This still remains the case across the music industry as the availability of free music continues to increase.

Illegal downloading has also caused the music industry to have less funding options and opportunities to recruit and develop new talent. Record labels are now forced to focus their finances and time on artists that are established instead of scouting for new artists.

This means that new artists face a harder time and have to look for outlets to create and promote music on their own, such as selling it off directly online. Artists signed by record labels are not any better off as they barely receive any compensation. Record contracts include provision for both royalties and advances to artists. Advances are paid out before the release of a recording and when the album or songs bring in enough sales, the record companies recover the money they paid out in the advance. If the sales don’t amount to enough money, they write off the loss. As the music sales decrease, record companies are forced to offer fewer and lower advances. Royalties on the other hand, are also paid to artists for each song purchase. When we illegally download an artist’s work, neither the record company nor the artist receives compensation. This will likely reduce the opportunity to access good music in the future as musicians may then turn to other alternatives for making a living.

Additionally, illegal sharing of music has also impacted how the music industry chooses to market and promote its artists. Illegal downloading and the introduction of Napster assisted in bringing in an era where accessing singles has trumped having a full-length album. The music industry has adopted new tactics such as ringtones and digital licensing music to sites like YouTube and Pandora in order to expose its artists to wider audiences. Touring and promotional deals have become more worthwhile and beneficial for the music industry than selling songs.

Several artists have spoken about against illegal downloading and have expressed how it has affected their livelihood and careers. The late Prince, who was an American singer-songwriter and record producer, said “The industry changed. We made money before piracy was real crazy. Nobody’s making money now except phone companies, Apple and Google. I’m supposed to go to the White House to talk about copyright protection. It’s like the gold rush out there. Or a carjacking. There’s no boundaries. I’ve been in meetings and they’ll tell you, ‘Prince, you don’t understand, it’s dog-eat-dog out there’. So I’ll just hold off on recording.”

“I’m sorry; when I worked 9-to-5, I expected to get a paycheck every week,” Eminem, American rapper, record producer and actor said. “It’s the same with music; if I’m putting my heart and all my time into music, I expect to get rewarded for that. I work hard and anybody can just throw a computer up and download my music for free. It could kill the whole purpose of making music.”

At the end of it all, illegal music sharing is something that is still going to continue, unfortunately. People will always choose to go for the cheapest option available.  Also, with the involvement of common search engines, it will remain an undeniable practice. What the music industry can depend on now are services such as Spotify, Tidal and Apple music who are finding flexible and creative ways to deal with this problem.

Let us know what your thoughts are concerning illegal music downloading and how it affects you as an individual with an influence in the music industry.

[j-kaiwa]

Discussion Article January 6th

How To Make The Most Of Your Weekends

We cherish our weekends. More often than not, however, they don’t live up to our expectations. How many times have you found yourself eagerly anticipating the weekend, only to be left disappointed because it went by too fast and you didn’t make the most of it? If you want to enjoy weekends that leave you feeling refreshed and energized, then here are a few ways to help you make the most of it.

Change your mindset

Can you change how satisfied you are with your weekends just by changing your mindset? Researchers say yes. In a study published in the Harvard Business Review, Cassie Mogilner Holmes and her colleagues wanted to see whether we could get the same enjoyment from our weekends as we do a vacation, so they ran an experiment with more than 400 U.S. workers. On the Friday before the weekend, half were told to treat the weekend like a vacation, while the other half (the control group) were told to treat the weekend like a regular weekend. What they found was that those who had treated their weekend as a vacation were significantly happier than those who had treated it as a regular weekend.

What is significant about their study is that it wasn't the difference in activities across the weekend that was responsible for the increased happiness. Instead, it was treating the time like a vacation that seemed to make the “vacationers” more mindful of and attentive to the present moment throughout their weekend’s activities. In other words, the vacation-minded people weren't happier because they did fewer chores; they were happier because they were more present in whatever it was that they were doing.

The big take away from their research is that you can apply a vacation mindset to your weekends just by slowing down and taking notice to whatever, it is that you are doing, because your mindset is more important than the amount of money you spend or the activities themselves.

Change your approach

After you’ve changed your mindset, here are a few more ways that you can make the most of your weekend.

1. Start with a plan

According to Laura Vanderkam, you should plan your weekend just as you plan your week. Decide in advance what your plan is for the weekend. While it doesn’t mean that you will have each moment planned, you should start the weekend knowing what you want to get out of it. If you don’t have any plans, you will end up doing nothing and then wonder where the time went once the weekend is over. If, however, you make plans during the week for what you will be doing on Saturday and Sunday, the anticipation will improve not only your weekend but also your week.

2. Avoid routine

We live our lives mainly by routine Monday through Friday. If we're not careful though, the familiarity of our patterns can easily lead us to become stuck in a rut of only doing the same things over and over again. The weekend, therefore, is a good time to force ourselves to step out of our comfort zone by trying new experiences, joining a new club, crossing an item off our bucket list, or revisiting a hobby that we used to enjoy.

3. Allow for some downtime

Filling your time with different activities can be fun, but to the extreme, it can also take its toll both mentally and physically. Instead, make sure to set aside some time just for yourself so you can recharge your batteries in any way you find relaxing such as reading a favorite book.  You should be careful not to fill up your empty time with things that aren’t relaxing like constantly checking email.

4. Get outside

Getting outside for a walk, run, bike ride or anything else that will help you get some exercise and enjoy the fresh air will leave you energized while you also reap the health benefits. Since we often don’t get enough exercise during the weekdays, the weekend is a perfect time to catch up.

5. Reclaim Sunday

One mistake we often make over the weekend is allowing thoughts of Monday morning and the work that is waiting for us to take over our ability to fully enjoy our Sunday. You can stave off the Sunday blues by making sure you have something planned not just for Saturday but also for Sunday, such as a brunch or dinner with others.

Sunday night, you should spend some time planning the upcoming week so that you know what you want to accomplish across the week, both at work and in your personal life. By spending some time on Sunday night planning another fun activity for the week as well as thinking ahead to the next weekend, you can extend the weekend feeling you’ve just created into your week instead of it ending so abruptly on Sunday.

[j-kaiwa]

Discussion Article Decemeber 23rd.

Why Hogmanay is so important in Scotland

Ever wondered why Hogmanay is so important in Scotland? Or why there are so many rituals and traditions associated with it?  Well so did we, so we thought we’d have a look into the history.

The Date - As with lots of traditions at this time of the year, many have their roots in Pagan and Norse customs.  Long before the arrival of Christianity, the inhabitants of Scotland were celebrating the arrival of the New Year around the time of the winter solstice (the shortest day)….we celebrate that on the 21st/22nd December here in Scotland.  Logically this is when we should still be celebrating the New Year, but the subsequent arrival of the Romans with their own calendars led to changes in the date.  The date changed several times over 100’s of years until the matter was finally settled when the Gregorian calendar was adopted by Britain in 1752.

Throughout this time Scotland also experienced the arrival of Christianity in its various forms as well as the first celebrations of Christmas……which were subsequently banned in the Middle Ages.  Christmas and was not made a public holiday until as recently as 1958!  This meant that the biggest celebration of the year in Scotland was New Year, or Hogmanay!

Customs….in the order you should perform them!

Redding the House

– This is the act of cleaning out the house before the start of the New Year, particularly the act of cleaning out the ashes from the hearth which could be read to predict the year ahead.  The ‘redding’ refers to the readying of house for the coming year.  There may not be many hearths left now, but many people do still do observe the tradition of cleaning the house so they can start afresh in the New Year.

Hogmanay Bonfire in Biggar

Bonfires and Torches– Harking back to the influence the Vikings had over much of Scotland, the use of fire is prevalent throughout many Hogmanay celebrations.  It is thought that the fire would ward off evil spirits or ‘burn the old year out’.  In places like Stonehaven and Biggar the New Year’s celebrations are started with a torchlight procession which lights an enormous bonfire.  Quite a spectacle if you are lucky enough to experience it.  Mostly though you can expect to see lots of fireworks....from the huge display in Edinburgh, to the more local, yet still impressive displays in places such as Grantown on Spey.

Auld Lang Syne

– On the stroke of midnight up and down the country….indeed, all around the world, everyone will join in singing Auld Lang Syne and wishing one another Happy New Year.  This poem was written by Scotlands most famous poet, Robert Burns and somehow has become the theme tune to New Years Eve parties everywhere.

First Footing

– Possibly the most famous of all the Scottish Hogmanay traditions is the ‘first footing’.  This is where a stranger is welcomed after midnight, bearing gifts of coal or shortbread and is repaid with a dram of whisky.  The arrival of a tall dark stranger on your doorstep was thought to bring especially good luck for the following year. Apparently this was due to most Vikings being fair haired and therefore not a welcome knock on the door....but then the same theory decreed that the a knock from a strange woman, a redhead or someone with cross eyes or flat feet would also be bad luck! Nowadays it is more likely that the neighbours will be calling.  Whoever it is, they must not already be in the house on the stroke of midnight or live in the house.

Steak Pie, Neeps and

Tatties

– Quite when this tradition started we do not know, but if you are in Scotland before New Year you will see the butchers and supermarkets piled high with Steak Pies.  Families the length and breadth of the country will be tucking in to Steak Pie, neeps (turnips) and tatties (potatos) on New Years Day. The best pies are home made of course, but if you go to the butchers, you buy your pie by weight! ie. the amount of steak in the pie!

An extra Bank Holiday

– Unlike the rest of the UK, Scotland enjoys an extra Bank Holiday on the 2nd

January…..possibly to recover from all the revelry of the days before!  Until recent years everything was closed, but gradually shops and supermarkets have started to open.  So far, everything remains steadfastly closed on the 1st

of January

[j-kaiwa]

Discussion Article December 16th

When I Grow Up… Why Only 6 Percent Of Us Achieve Our Childhood Dreams

We all had childhood dreams. Many of us likely wanted to be astronauts, painters, actors, chefs, musicians, firefighters, police, archaeologists (Indiana Jones), teachers, lawyers, doctors or perhaps even the president. Some of us might have been a bit more eccentric and wanted to be orthodontists, paleontologists or even entomologists.

Many adults probably don't even know what an entomologist is. But you can bet your ass that there's a 5-year-old somewhere that really wants to be one, even if he can't pronounce the word.

Indeed, the magical brain of a child perceives the world as an endless array of possibilities.

Yet, a recent study in the academic journal Social Forces has revealed that only 6 percent of adults ended up in the careers they dreamt about as kids.

The study didn't reveal why that is, however. Thus, it's an open question.

Why don't the vast majority of people end up in the careers they wanted when they were kids?

Some might take the negative route, arguing that childhood dreams are ultimately futile. These individuals would likely contend that the world is a harsh place. Tough sh*t. Move on, suck it up and pay the bills.

This is a very narrow way to look at this, however.

Life is full of twists and turns. There are ups and downs, moments of glory and periods of despair. It's all a tenuous balance between the positive and negative. There is no single path to happiness.

If all of our dreams came true, life wouldn't be the beautiful, random and enlightening journey that it is.

Here are five reasons why it's a good thing that most of us don't achieve our childhood dreams:

It makes us realistic.

It's important to have aspirations in life, but in many ways, it's more important to learn how to accept failure.

Life isn't always easy. It's a struggle. But it's through struggle that we grow stronger.

In order to rise, we first have to stumble and fall.

Yes, we all need to have dreams and goals, but we can only know the true extent of our strengths and weaknesses when we falter in pursuit of them.

Success is not achieved by aimlessly stumbling from one accomplishment to the other. It's trial and error; it's victory and defeat.

If we got everything right the first time, we'd have an extraordinarily unrealistic perception of what the world is like for most people. We'd be less empathetic, less prepared and more narrow-minded.

Failure is what makes us human.

It's important to embrace change.

The only constant in life is change. You can either go with the flow, or swim against the current.

We often find what we are truly gifted at by failing at what we initially desire. It's true that we might feel defeated for a time, but if we accept that life is a series of constant changes, we'll learn that it's only temporary.

Think about failure like accidentally making a wrong turn on the way home and taking the scenic route. Yes, it's more time-consuming, and somewhat enraging at first. Yet, in the process, we also get an exceptionally beautiful view.

Simply put, we all have to learn to take the good with the bad. We might believe that we are going to follow a distinct path in life, but nobody can predict the future.

As the philosopher Alan Watts once stated:

The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance.

Embrace the unexpected. Revel in the convoluted nature of existence.

Society necessitates diversity.

Everyone has a different path in life. We can't all be pop stars. As a society, we function because there are people who end up in an endless assortment of positions.

Accordingly, Martin Luther King, Jr. once stated:

Whatever your life's work is, do it well. A man should do his job so well that the living, the dead, and the unborn could do it no better.

In essence, take pride in your profession, regardless of where you end up. The worth of an individual cannot be equated with his or her career. Ultimately, our true value is a product of the way in which we interact with others.

Not everyone will achieve wealth and fame, but this should not be how a person measures success.

Success is achieved by having a positive impact on the world around you, even in a minute way. A tiny stone can create big ripples when thrown into water.

No one should live a predetermined life.

Life is not meant to be set out and determined from the very beginning. Humanity's darkest moments have been a product of this mentality.

When we seek to control, it produces an oppressive environment. It's possible to do this on a personal level as well.

Don't constrain yourself with a prescribed lifestyle. Enjoy all that this world has to offer. Explore, discover, take risks and step outside of your comfort zone.

Humanity was not meant to be placed inside of a box and shipped from birth to death.

Life is arbitrary and dynamic. When we plan too far ahead, we forget to enjoy the moment.

Disappointment makes success that much sweeter.

The great American poet, Robert Frost, once wrote:

In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on.

Indeed, regardless of our own feelings towards the world, it will continue on without us.

We will all face disappointments, it's a natural aspect of existence. Yet, there would be no victory without defeat.

Simultaneously, the world is not black and white, there are shades of grey. We aren't always sitting at one extreme or the other.

It's impossible to appreciate success without first understanding what it means to fail. Remaining cognizant of this takes patience and perseverance. The most accomplished people in history possessed both of these qualities.

This is not to say that you should give up on your dreams, but that it's important to understand that they will likely change as we grow.

Likewise, in the words of Winston Churchill:

Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.

We can never really know where we will end up in life. Your childhood dreams could end up becoming minuscule in comparison to what you ultimately accomplish.

Enjoy the ride, remain indefatigably determined and remember that the future is a product of our actions in the present. Carpe diem.

[j-kaiwa]

Discussion Article December 9th

The luckiest unluckiest man in the world (cheated death 7 times)

In case you’ve a close shave with death while you are driving or travelling in a train but somehow emerge unscathed, you may deem your escape purely coincidental. And if you again cheat death by a hair’s breadth, coming out with your life and limbs intact, you might ascribe your getting away to the sheer stroke of luck. But how will you describe your deceiving death seven times at a stretch? ‘Providential’.

Believe it or not, an octogenarian man from Croatia, Frane Selek, had a hair-raising brush with death on at least seven occasions but managed to escafpe each time. And after Almighty decided that Selek had had enough, he rewarded him with a $ 1 million (£6, 00,000) lottery jackpot.  No wonder, Frane Selek has been dubbed the ‘luckiest unluckiest man in the world’.

His hide-and-seek story with death started way back in 1962 while he was travelling in a train which jumped off the tracks and plunged into an icy cold river. His final faceoff (with death) happened in 1996 when in an attempt to avoid a frontal collision with a truck his car hit a guardrail, and fell 300 ft below into a canyon. However, he was thrown off the car while the vehicle was nose-diving since he was not strapped to a seatbelt, and someway hung onto a tree.

His intensely fictional real-life saga has been adapted into a YouTube cartoon movie (below). The following paragraphs elucidate Frane Selak’s encounters with death as well as the miraculous escapes.

1962: Frane escapes with injuries from a train that plunges headlong into a cold river

It happened to be a very chilly morning when Frane boarded a train in Sarajevo (capital of Bosnia Herzegovina) that was headed to Dubrovnik, a tourist hotspot in Croatia. Unfortunately for him, the train derailed while passing through a precipitous ravine and plunged headlong into the freezing river below. A total of 17 passengers drowned to their deaths but someone pulled Frane out of the water as he escaped sustaining hypothermia and a fractured arm.

1963: Selak is ejected from a plane along with a few others but lands on a haystack

It seemed that the evil spirits were still in hot pursuit in 1963 when Selek was getting ready to board a plane in Croatia, his homeland. Incidentally it was his first airplane ride and the only one till date. One of the doors of the airplane happened that was not functioning properly flew open and Frane along with 19 other passengers were sucked outside.

He kept on plunging downwards at breakneck speed owing to gravitational pull only to land in a heap of haystack. The 19 other passengers fell to their deaths.

1966: Frane swims ashore suffering minor injuries after a bus he was travelling in skids to fall into a river

In 1966, a bus that Frane Selek had boarded, careened while passing a viaduct and rolled down to fall into a river. Four of his co-passengers passed away but he somehow swam to the shore and managed to survive, taking on minor bruises and lacerations.

1970: Frane’s car catches fire while he is driving and rushes out just before the fuel tank explodes

While Frane was driving to a destination in 1970, the engine of his car began to burn. Sensing trouble, he rushed out of the car and within a few seconds, the fuel tank blew off.

1973: Car engine again catches fire due to a leaking fuel pump and his hair is singed thoroughly but he yet again survives

Exactly three year after the automobile explosion incident, the engine of Selek’s vehicle caught fire as it was drenched in hot oil that had seeped out of a faulty fuel pump. He desperately tried to rush out of the car as flames shoot up via the vents, and in the melee, his hair was thoroughly burnt. However, he survived to tell the tale.

1995: Frane sustains minor bruises  as he is hit by a bus in Zagreb but stays alive

After a long hiatus of 22 years, Frane yet again finds himself staring at death as he is hit by a coach in Zagreb but escapes with his life.

1996: His car struck head-on by an UN bus falls into a canyon but he lives to tell the tale

Within a year, while driving on a curvaceous mountainous path, his car is hit by an UN lorry coming from the opposite direction. His car breaks through the guardrail and nosedives into a ravine 90 meters below but he manages to cling to a tree and save his life.

After cheating death so many times, Frank is extremely lucky again, for the eight time when he wins the $1 million in the Croatian lotto just two days after his birth anniversary. He went on to marry for the fifth time and eventually sold off his palatial home that he had bought with the sweepstake money and distributed the money to his near and dear ones.

[j-kaiwa]

Discussion Article December 2nd

Why restaurants hate Uber Eats

For Claire Van Vuuren, owner and head chef at the inner Sydney restaurant Bloodwood, it's not just the profit-eating commission that Uber would charge her for every delivery that stops her signing Bloodwood up to Uber Eats.

Since the advent of home delivery apps, average profit margins at Australia's restaurants have plummeted as much as five-fold, from 10 per cent immediately prior to the arrival of Uber Eats, Deliveroo and Menulog, to between 2 and 4 per cent now, says the Restaurant & Catering Industry Association, citing its own and ATO figures.

And it's not just Van Vuuren's belief that those commissions, anywhere between 30 and 35 per cent of the cost of a food order, over and above the delivery fee, have helped put many in her industry out of business that stops her signing up to Uber Eats, either.

For Claire Van Vuuren, the economics of Uber Eats are just part of the reason for not adopting it. Steven Siewert

Figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics reveal businesses in the hospitality industry now fail faster than in any other industry the ABS tracks. Of the food service and accommodation businesses that were in existence in June 2014, only 53.8 per cent were still in business in June 2018, the most recent period the ABS has reported on. For mining, that figure is 63.9 per cent. For healthcare, it's 74.4 per cent.

And it's not just the way Uber has been forcing restaurants to pay for its own mistakes that keeps Bloodwood off the app, she says.

Up until the ACCC intervened last week, Uber could force restaurants to wear the cost of meal orders that went awry, even when Uber Eats was to blame. The ACCC found that condition in the Uber Eats contract was "unfair", "not reasonably necessary" and caused "significant imbalance between restaurants and Uber Eats", and asked Uber Eats to amend it so restaurants are now clearly liable only for their own mistakes.

But for Van Vuuren, it's the effect that Uber Eats, Menulog and Deliveroo are having on her neighbourhood, on urban and restaurant culture, that she finds hardest to swallow.

On Sundays nights, the streets around her restaurant are virtually deserted but for delivery bicycles and  motorbikes. She fears the future may be one of so-called "dark restaurants" everywhere: restaurants that have been forced to remove their seating and sack their waitstaff, so they can get costs low enough to survive the high commission charged by the delivery platforms.

They're not value-adding to the industry. They're absolutely raping and pillaging it.

— Mark Jensen, restaurant consultant

"There's a million reasons why Uber Eats doesn't make sense. There's community, there's culture, there's the socialisation that takes place when people turn up to eat.

"The platforms take the hospitality out of hospo,"  Van Vuuren told The Australian Financial Review.

Mark Jensen, the director of the eatery Red Lantern, who consults to the restaurant industry, tells his clients there is no problem they have, to which signing onto a delivery app is the solution.

"I tell them not to do it. If you don't have a viable business model within the four walls of your establishment, these delivery platforms aren't going to save your business."

He wants the ACCC to go further than merely addressing the question of what happens in the case of a refund. It should put a cap of 5 to 10 per cent on the commission charged on deliveries, much lower than the 30 to 35 per cent now being charged.

"It's not fair. There's a whole conglomerate of Silicon Valley idiots who are just clipping the ticket off everybody's hard work, off their blood and sweat.

"They're not value-adding to the industry. They're absolutely raping and pillaging it," Jensen says.

[Uber Eats] shifts food preparation from unpaid labour at home to paid labour in restaurants.

To answer the question of whether its commission is excessive, Uber Eats says it recently engaged the University of Wollongong economist Professor Alex Frino, who surveyed more than 1000 Australian restaurants on the app.

While the results of his study were yet to be finalised, “early indications show that the majority of these restaurants are having a positive interaction with  ... Uber Eats. Increased revenue and profits, as well as physical expansion and employing more people are some of the positive impacts they identify,” Professor Frino says.

As many as 70 per cent of restaurants had a "positive experience" with Uber Eats, and 20 per cent of businesses were "unchanged".

“It is my early view that [Uber Eats] is good for the economy in so far as it increases economic activity. It creates new employment for deliverers, restaurant staff and shifts food preparation from unpaid labour at home to paid labour in restaurants,” he says.

Jodie Auster, the general manager of Uber Eats Australia New Zealand, disputes the restaurants' and the ACCC's contention that Uber Eats has been unfair in the way it passes all the risk of non-delivery back to the restaurants.

"In practice it is only in very few circumstances that we ask restaurants to cover this cost. Restaurants have always been able to dispute any refund amounts that they are charged back for that they don’t agree with," she says.

But for Bloodwood's Van Vuuren, the question of whether the platforms are treating restaurants unfairly, and contributing to their high rate of closure, is only part of the issue. Just as important is the question of what sort of restaurants, what sort of urban culture, we want to survive into the future.

"It's the principle of it. I love going to restaurants. I don't want that culture to die," she says.

[j-kaiwa]

Discussion Article November 25th

Why Are We Attracted to Our Friends?

New research reveals why we fall for friends (and fail to 'unfriend' exes)

The friends in the 90s sitcom Friends were often anything but. I lost track of how many times Ross and Rachel got together and broke up, only to hop back into the sack by the time the season finale rolled around. Then Chandler and Monica got in on the act, and didn’t Joey and Rachel knock boots for a while too? I forget. But it’s safe to say that when Phoebe finally married Ant-Man, we were all surprised. “But you’ve not been friends with him for ten years…”

Three new scientific papers reveal why even those of us who eschew sweater vests and don’t live in massive rent-controlled Manhattan apartments are sometimes prone to fall for our friends, and explain why so many of us try to remain friends with an ex.

Is it a Man Thing?

Let’s try out a little thought experiment. Think of a specific friend who identifies as a gender you find attractive.

Do you have someone in mind? OK. Now rate how attracted you are to that friend on a scale of 1–9. One means “not at all attracted”, five means “moderately attracted”, and nine means “extremely attracted”.

Research by April Bleske-Rechek, a psychologist at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, shows that women rate their attraction to their male friend at an average of around four; men rate their attraction to their female friend one point higher, at around five.

Men appear to see their opposite-sex friends as possible romantic partners somewhat more than women do.

Or do they? Bleske-Rechek wondered if men and women differed in their ratings because of the type of friend they were imagining. Perhaps when you ask a woman to think of a male friend, she does just that. Men, on the other hand, might find their thoughts turning to a female acquaintance they wish was more than a friend.

In a new follow up study, Bleske-Rechek, had two research assistants approach male-female pairs of adults in a university student union. The research assistants invited the pairs to take part in a psychology experiment. Those who agreed were asked to stand apart from one another and then given a survey to complete.

The survey included questions about each volunteer’s attraction to the other person in their pair. The volunteers also reported if they and their partner were in a relationship, were just friends, or knew each other in some other capacity.

Bleske-Rechek examined the data for the pairs in which both members stated that they were friends. She found that men rated the attractiveness of their friend at around four, and women rated the attractiveness of their friend at around 3.5: a difference revealed by statistical analysis to be non-significant. In other words, men appear to be no more or less attracted to their opposite-sex friends than women are.

This suggested that Bleske-Rechek’s theory could be correct: perhaps when men are asked to think of a female friend, they don’t think of a woman they hang out with at the student union but instead of the most attractive woman they know, even if she barely qualifies as a friend.

To find out for sure if she was right, Bleske-Rechek had around 300 young men and women think of an opposite-sex friend. Then she asked those same volunteers which of two definitions fit their friend best: “A person of the opposite sex who is a friend” or “A person of the opposite-sex who I am physically attracted to.” Volunteers were free to select both definitions if they wished.

The researchers found that 42% of men, but 66% of women, chose “a friend of the opposite-sex”. Another 42% of men, but only 29% of women, chose “A person of the opposite-sex who I am physically attracted to”. As much as 17% of men, but only 5% of women, thought both definitions described their friend.

It seems Bleske-Rechek was correct: men may be more attracted to their opposite-sex friends than women are, but only when men are given a free choice of which friend to consider. Given a free choice, the first friend a man thinks of will be someone he finds alluring. Women are more likely to think of someone they have relegated to the “friend-zone”.

Escape From the Friend-Zone

Perhaps you’re lucky enough not to have heard of the friend-zone. It’s the limbo to which attractive people send us when they decide that we are definitely not partner-material. Entering the friend-zone is like passing the event horizon of a black hole: just as light cannot escape a black hole, a friend cannot escape the friend-zone.

Anyway, that’s the lay-theory. But what does the research say? If you are attracted to a friend whom you suspect has placed you firmly in the friend-zone, can you convince that friend to reconsider your suitability as a relationship partner?

That’s what Edward Lemay and Noah Wolf of the University of Maryland set out to discover.

For their first experiment, the scientists rounded up 127 pairs of platonic male-female friends. Each of these volunteers completed a series of questionnaires about their attraction to their friend, how much they felt their friend reciprocated their desire, and whether they had ever tried to initiate a romantic relationship with their friend.

article continues after advertisement

Lemay and Wolf found that the attraction between friends was detected by those friends. In other words, we can tell with a good degree of accuracy if our friend is attracted to us. Lemay and Wolf also found that those who were attracted to a friend also thought that their friend reciprocated their desire: we project our feelings onto our friends, assuming that if we like them, they must like us too. This projection effect was stronger than the accuracy effect. In short, we’re delusional.

But this delusion could be useful. If we kid ourselves into believing that our friends are attracted to us as much as we are attracted to them, we are more likely to take a chance on initiating a romantic relationship with them. A chance we may not have taken if we were more accurate in our perceptions. If we knew that our friends didn't dig us the way we dug them, then we would remain confined to the friend-zone forever.

Now, you may have spotted a flaw in this plan. If you hit on a friend who likes you less than you like them, surely they will knock you back. What’s to gain from self-delusional overconfidence?

Lemay and Wolf carried out a second experiment, this time following 102 pairs of male-female friends over the course of a month. This allowed them to follow how friends’ perceptions of one another developed over time. They found that volunteers whose friend attempted to initiate a relationship with them came to desire that friend more over time.

article continues after advertisement

As Lemay and Wolf put it:

Initially biased perceptions appeared to motivate behavior that resulted in targets [i.e. the desired friend] confirming those perceptions, the hallmark of a self-fulfilling prophecy.

So there you go: with concerted effort, you can claw your way out of the friend-zone. If you fancy your friend, and let them know it, your desire could inflame theirs and lead to a long and fulfilling relationship.

Staying Friends with an Ex

Or your relationship could crash and burn. In which case, you may hear your erstwhile partner suggest “let’s just be friends”.

But should you stay friends with an ex? And would you want to?

Justin Mogilski and Lisa Welling of the Oakland State University in Michigan decided to investigate the motivations of male-female couples to maintain their friendship after the spark has gone from their romantic relationship.

First, they asked 348 volunteers to brainstorm reasons why a person might want to remain friends with a partner after a split. The volunteers came up with a sizable list of 153 unique and specific justifications for maintaining a friendship with an ex.

[j-kaiwa]

Discussion Article November 18

Why Fukuoka is Japan’s most innovative city

Sandwiched between the mountains and the sea in Japan’s far-west corner, Fukuoka is a city trying to reinvent itself. In a land long dominated by mega-conglomerates and the inexorable pull of Tokyo, the country’s fastest growing urban centre wants to become Japan’s answer to Silicon Valley.

Despite the country’s reputation for hi-tech wizardry, Japan’s start-up scene remains surprisingly stunted. The world’s third largest economy has only one “unicorn” – a private company valued at over $1bn – compared to the United States’ 127 and China’s 78.

Fukuoka’s charismatic young mayor is determined to change that, and he’s convinced the city has the ingredients to replicate the success of the US’s west coast innovation hubs. In 2011 he declared Fukuoka would become Japan’s start-up city, and since then it’s risen to the top of the country’s business creation league tables.

Whether it can truly rival the capital remains to be seen as funding and talent continues to concentrate in Tokyo, but the city’s leaders have a convincing pitch. A tight-knit start-up community, a young workforce and an affordable city that promises that elusive goal of a work-life balance – something they hope will appeal to a new generation of entrepreneurs keen to avoid the Tokyo rat race.

Fukuoka's local government has established a city-wide low-power communication network that helps local companies to test their hi-tech products 

Shortly after being elected as the city’s youngest ever mayor in 2010, former TV presenter Sōichirō Takashima, 44, visited Seattle and was struck by the similarities to his hometown. Both are compact coastal cities surrounded by nature, with well-developed transport infrastructure and plentiful human resources, he says. In Seattle those ingredients support titans like Amazon and Microsoft, as well as a thriving start-up ecosystem. Takashima believes Fukuoka can replicate that success and help drag the Japanese economy out of a rut it’s been in since the early 1990s.

“The presence of start-ups which create new innovation and value is necessary to break economic stagnation,” he says. “With that in mind, I positioned start-up support as our city’s growth strategy.”

Since then he’s been busy. In 2014 the central government granted his request to designate the city as a “national strategic special zone” for start-ups, which has allowed them to cut corporate taxes for new businesses and create a special visa for foreign entrepreneurs. It’s also allowed them to relax planning rules so they can redevelop the city centre and wireless regulations to create a faster and simpler licensing process for experiments and technology demonstrations aimed at the Internet of Things (IoT), which embeds sensors, communication and computing hardware into everyday objects.

Takashima has also been aggressively promoting the city at home and abroad, leading business delegations and signing cooperation deals with start-up hubs like San Francisco, Taipei and Helsinki which provide support and introductions for Fukuoka start-ups looking to expand abroad or foreign start-ups looking to enter Japan.

Back in Fukuoka, the government has renovated an old school in the central Tenjin business district to create Fukuoka Growth Next (FGN), a one-stop shop for budding entrepreneurs which opened in 2017. “Simply put, our mission is to raise future unicorns,” says Yasunari Tanaka, director-general of the FGN secretariat.

Facilities include discounted office space, a prototyping lab, a start-up cafe where consultants provide free business, legal and accounting advice, and the Global Startup Centre to help foreign founders set up in Fukuoka or local entrepreneurs expand abroad. There’s also a bar to lubricate the networking process and a regular schedule of talks, seminars and matching events to link start-ups with customers and investors.

Locals in Fukuoka attend a festival at the Toka Ebisu shrine and pray for good luck and success in business in the year to come (Credit: Edd Gent)

While the city’s first unicorn is probably still some way off, there’s been encouraging progress. The initial goal for FGN was for tenants to raise 500m yen (£3.37m) by September 2018, but they smashed that target, raising 7.1bn yen (around £50m). Fukuoka also has the highest new business creation rate (the percentage of companies newly registered in a year) in the country at 7%, well above Tokyo’s 4%.

The city has some strong fundamentals in its favour. Japan’s ageing population and shrinking workforce are causing politicians and economists sleepless nights, but Fukuoka is the fastest growing city in the country, and has the highest proportion of young people. Rent is about 60% of that in Tokyo and the city is closer to Seoul and Shanghai than the capital, leading it to be seen as Japan’s "gateway to Asia".

That combination is what prompted Fukuoka native Yasuhiro Ide to transfer the headquarters of his e-commerce business New World back to his hometown. He’d moved to Tokyo in 2015 in search of business opportunities, but last year he decided his goal of expanding into China would be easier from Fukuoka. “In Fukuoka it's easy to recruit engineers and designers who are low cost and office costs are less,” he says. “And if I want to go to China it’s two hours by plane. From Tokyo it’s four.”

The compactness of the city also means the entrepreneurial community is both tight-knit and diverse, says Hashimoto Masanori, CEO of software company Nulab and a veteran of Fukuoka’s start-up scene. That makes team building and networking much easier. “If I go drinking I will bump into someone at a related IT company,” he says. “In Tokyo I go to community events and it’s only programmers, but in Fukuoka I go to these events and I meet programmers, designers, marketers.”

Another key plank in the government’s pitch is the city’s “liveability”. The international airport is a 15 minute metro ride from the centre and commutes are short, with walking or cycling to work common. You’re never far from nature with mountains looming at the city limits and picturesque beaches a short drive away. “Fukuoka is more laid back,” says Tanaka. “If you want to seek a good work-life balance Fukuoka is a very attractive city.”

That was what drew French entrepreneurs Yasmine Djoudi and Thomas Pouplin to settle in the city.

They first came as part of a student exchange program and when they decided to launch their start-up Ikkai, an online platform for students to find short-term work, they chose to stay in Fukuoka rather than move to Tokyo

“The lifestyle here is really nice,” says Djoudi, adding that the lower costs were also a major boon when starting out. “We didn't regret it, because we realised that the burn rate is way lower. We couldn't have done half of the things we did in Fukuoka if we went to Tokyo.”

The pair were the first recipients of the city’s start-up visa and helped shape the application process. Pouplin admits that language barriers and inflexible regulations still make Japan a tricky place for outsiders but he says Fukuoka is ahead of the curve in making things easier for foreign founders.

Fukuoka may be attractive for start-ups, but as the businesses mature, many decide to set up new offices in Tokyo (Credit: Getty Images)

The city’s re-branding has generated significant buzz in both the domestic and foreign press, but despite the positive coverage two key ingredients remain in short supply – talent and funding. There’s limited venture capital available in Fukuoka, says Pouplin, so when start-ups grow they generally have to head to the capital for investment and customers. “Fukuoka is a great starting place, but it's not a great growing place,” he says.

One of FGN’s most successful graduates is Skydisc, which uses artificial intelligence to help customers boost factory productivity and has been pegged as a “future unicorn” by financial newspaper The Nikkei. Overseas strategy officer Yoshihiko Suenaga is full of praise for the city government’s approach and says their time at FGN opened a lot of doors. “They gave us cheap rent and a lot of opportunities,” he says. “We actually met one of our partners as well as one of our big clients at a matching event there.”

But he admits they are only staying in Fukuoka because it’s the founder’s hometown. Their operation is now split between Fukuoka and a Tokyo office that opened three years ago because most of their clients’ headquarters are located there. Talent was also a big driver – while it’s possible to find competent developers in Fukuoka, more advanced technical skills are concentrated in the capital. “AI-focused engineers are relatively difficult to find in places other than Tokyo,” he says.

In an attempt to coax this kind of talent to the city the government recently declared itself an “engineer-friendly city” and followed up with recruiting events in Tokyo. But even Fukuoka’s brightest find it hard to resist the pull of the capital, says Suenaga, who spent 15 years in Tokyo himself. He hails from neighbouring city Kitakyushu and only returned due to family reasons. “After graduating you’ve got no choice but to go to Tokyo,” he says. “That’s the regular mindset.”

That’s not to say perceptions of Fukuoka aren’t changing in the capital. Shun Nagao, who runs the Tokyo office of global venture capital firm White Star Capital, says in the last two years there’s been a lot more buzz around the city thanks largely to the mayor’s efforts. It’s still seen as a relatively immature ecosystem though, he adds.

“I don't think there's an understanding about what Fukuoka excels in,” he says. He thinks the city needs to do a better job of branding, pointing to Kyoto, which has developed a reputation as a hotbed for hardware start-ups by building an ecosystem around the world-class Kyoto University and the city’s big electronics companies like Kyocera, Omron and Rohm.

One major opportunity for the city, says Nagao, is its proximity to Asia, which could allow it to attract talent from abroad rather than going toe-to-toe with Tokyo. But in terms of attracting more funding, he thinks there needs to be some clear success stories or big valuations before investors commit serious resources to the city.

Fukuoka is considered one of the most "liveable" cities in Japan (Credit: Alamy)

That’s something officials in Fukuoka recognise, but they’re also aware that laying the groundwork for that kind of success takes time. Their current target is to create one hundred start-ups worth 1 billion yen (£6.8m) in the next five years, says Naokatsu Matono, director of the city’s start-up department. “To make a unicorn we believe first we need many start-ups,” he adds. “In the future, our goal is to help one of those one hundred companies become a unicorn.”

And the city isn’t resting on its laurels. FGN closed down for a revamp at the end of March and when it relaunches under new management in May it will team up with a well-known international start-up accelerator to mentor and help fund a new batch of start-ups.

The government is also in the process of creating an ambitious new “smart city” – an urban area that uses technology like IoT and data analytics to enable smarter service in areas like transport, utilities and government – on a 124-acre former university campus within Fukuoka, just 2.5 miles (4km) from the centre.

Typically these kinds of projects end up on greenfield sites far from urban centres or layer technology on top of existing infrastructure, says Kouichi Matono, who is leading the project. This smart city will be unique because it will be built from scratch in the heart of the city with the infrastructure and technology developed in unison.

Demolition work has already started, and the government plans to partner with a consortium of companies to create an open source test-bed for advanced technologies like 5G, driverless vehicles and telemedicine. The aim is to spur the creation of many new start-ups, says Matono, and act as a proving ground to show the rest of the country how to use technology to solve Japan’s most pressing problems.

“We are trying to create a new lifestyle not just buildings,” he says. “Japan has a lot of issues. The number of old people is growing and we have a small birth rate so we’re going to have problems with labour and healthcare. That’s why we want to use new technology like AI and IoT to solve these issues.”

Developing the ecosystem of talent, expertise and funding required to support the kind of “living lab” the mayor has previously said he want to turn Fukuoka into will take time. But the city’s unique combination of entrepreneurial energy, quality of life and a supportive government makes it as good a place as any for those trying to build a more liveable future.