Made in China

Most of the clothes I have are made in China.
Today, it became difficult to find clothes that are made in Japan, or other countries.
Some clothes I bought in the U.S. was made in Vietnam, but most clothes I see were made in China..
Few months ago, when I was browsing news on the Internet, I saw cars made in Chinese factory.
I was very shocked to hear that those didn't meet the German car standards, and they are considered far from safe.
In my image of Chinese manufactures is cheap. I like to buy 100 yen stuff, but those are limited.
For example, I don't buy scissors at 100 yen shop. Because those are mostly made in China and it soon become old and can't be used. In that case I buy scissors that are made in Japan although they cost abut 5-8 times more than those at the 100-yen shop .

AIDS orphans

In the CNN news, I found a news about a girl.
She is a Ugandan who lost her parents because of AIDS when she was only 10 years old.
She had to bring up 2 siblings, one of them was a baby.
She managed live and bring her siblings by washing people's clothes and watering gardens.
Now, she is 14 years old and goes to schol. Her dream is to become a doctor.
I was very impressed with her. If I were she I would not be able to survive..
I think she has a strong mind, and I hope she becomes a doctor.
AIDS is a serious epidemic worldwide.. Some cuntries are very successful preventing AIDS,
but poorer countries are still suffering. I think the economical development can reduce the number of patients, but it will take long time.

Nigeria's growth leaves elderly behind

As the urbanization takes place, it seems that something is left behind.
Traditionally people in Nigeria respect old people.
Today, however, elders are left behind and they can't get enough pension.
Though they invited the governors to the meeting to discuss about it, the governors didn't show up, saying that they were busy.
Young people in Nigeria seems that they don't care about the problem.
In Japan, if the governors did such a thing to the elders, they will be criticized by the public.
Sometimes the public opinions can change the government's point of view.
I think people in Nigeria should take the problem as theirs, not only for the elders.
I know that they are busy care about their situation in recession, but it is also
important to care about socially weak people, too.

10 endangered exports

I was reading the TIME online and found that there are some endangered exports.
10 of those were Italian pasta, French wine, Argentine honey,
German Beer, Vietnamese rice, Spanish fruit and vegetables, Maldivian tourism,
Northern European Vodka, Colorado ski resorts, and Malian cotton.
All of those ae in danger because of global warming and other problems related to it.
Many of the exports are very famous around the world.
If they are to be disappeared, it will be the same as we lose some rich cultures and climates
in the world. That is vey sad.
Besides some of the exports are important for people in Japan, too, because if those
famous foods are lost, the price of those foods will be expensive to buy.

Copenhagen Climate Change Conference

Global warming..
Most people know what it means to the earth.
We know that the earth has changed because of the things we have done to the earth.
Although we know that the climate will be changed and the environment will change
if we don't take action, it is very hard for us to do that because that is a global problem.
In some countries, they try to be environmentally-friendly, but other countries don't care
about the ecology much because they care more about their economic development.
I know that the developing countries don't want to care about the ecology, but it is time to
solve the problem globally for the future.
Also, the U.S. government should take action on global warming, because they are the
most influential government in the world.

62.5%

It seems like that the 2010 university graduates have suffered with the recession.
Only 62.5% of them could find a job.
It is the third lowest points ever.
I hope that the economy gets better soon, because if it doesn't change the bad situation for the
2011 graduates will continue.
Some of my friends had many job interviews, but many of them could find few companies that
actually hire them.
In Okinawa, there are limited jobs that are available because of the recession.
Tourism, which is the No.1 industry in his island, is likely to be influenced by the economy.
It might be important to build up more stable economy in Okinawa, such as computer technology and so on.

Convenience Stores on Dessert Battle

Convenience stores are now in a battle of selling desserts.
They are eager to defeat traditional dessert shops.
They offer sweets with cheap price but in good quality.
Being influenced of the recession, they are putting efforts to catch customers, this time with a aggressive dessert strategies.
Lawson has made its own sweets brand, Uchi Cafe, and the most popular of all is Premium Rolled Cake, which is sold at only 150 yen.
Family Mart has made its own brand, Sweets Plus, and their W Cream Eclair is very famous.
I especially like Premium Rolled Cake of Lawson's. However, Family Mart has many different sweets than Lawson, I think. Family Mart often release new sweets, which attracts young people.

Obama Bows Too Deeply

The US President Barack Obama bows Saturday while he greet Emperor Akihito at the Imperial Palace.
However, according to U.S. conservatives, he bowed too low.
Many countries have its own unique way of greeting.
Therefore I think it is hard for foreigners to follow different customs just like the way native people do in the country.
Maybe the president bowed too low, but I think he just wanted to show his modesty. Besides, he looks very polite the way he greet to the emperor.
Some U.S. ex-presidents had also claimed by the conservatives of their way of greeting in foreign countries.
They should not criticize the president too much, since some people have hard time following the custom of different countries. Rather, that can happen to everyone.

A Head Found in Hiroshima can be hers?

A head was found on mountain in Hiroshima on Friday.
It is not yet clear whose head it is, but the police think there is a connection between the head and the disappearance of a 19-year-old college student, Miyako Hiraoka.
No one has seen her since Oct. 26th, after she had left from her part time job.
I don't understand that there are people who can do such crual things to others. Recently there are many murders that kill young women, which I think is very sad.
What I hate most of all is that man kill young woman because she refused to go out with him.
I think he is wrong. That is not her to blame but him. Usually men who do such a selfish thing are less attractive to women.

A man shot three, commited a suicide

A sixty-year-old man who had a gun commited a suicide after he shot three men. It occured on Friday, in a building in Yokohama.
They were arguing about the loan payment. The man who killed himself was a member of a gang, which is something to do with Inagawa kai, a major yakuza group.
One of the three people got shot in the left chest, the others got shot on the neck.
The incident washapped near the busy subway stationon the afternoon.
Because of the incident it became clear that the group has a connection with owing a gun, which is illegal in Japan.
What was happed in the incdent can be ironical because the man couldn't kill any of the three at the moment, although he killed himself.

Why France is Pushing Its Students to Master English

French President Nicolas Sarkozy say " all our highschool students must become bilingual, and some should be trilingual." The reason why he say so is his government has spending 5.8% of annual GDP on education ( the 5th highest amount in the world) , but its currently score of TOEFL is 69th out of 109 countries. He says that the master of foreign languages are essencial in this internationalized world.

I hear that French are very proud of its own country, so it can be possible they are not willing to study foreign languages so hard. However, speaking foreign language is necessary especially in Europe, where many counties are connected together and has a tie culturally and economically.
Besides, many people in Europe speak more than one languages. My friend, who is Danish, speak 3 languages, including English, Danish, and German. Her boyfriend speak 4 languages, including German, French, Danish, and English.

Is Trick-or-Treating Dangerous?

It's about an article in TIME magazine.
They say trick-or-treating can be dangerous.
The parental fear of it first appeared in around 1964, when a woman handed out dog biscuits, steel-wool pads, and aunt poison to teenagers she thought too old to be trick-or-treating.
There have been reports of people with twisted minds putting razor blades and poison in taffy apples and candies. At least we have some risks when we allow them to trick-or-treating.

The day before yesterday was Halloween.
Kids who live in my neighborhood were doing trick-or-treating wearing cute costumes.
They visited the room of a couple who lives next door. So I was worried if they also come to my room, since I don't keep any sweets in my house recently. I was very relieved when they passed.
It seems like that Halloween is getting popular in Okinawa. When I was a kid, which is only about 10 years ago, there were no kids who wear costumes and doing trick-or-treating. Now I saw several kids who were doing trick-or-treating near my house.

Softbank Profits the Double

Softbank Corp. said that their profit has doubled in the last quarter as its cellular business continue to expand.
The net profit was 43.37 billion yen during the July-September period, up from 21.75 billion yen a year before.
Softbank is the only Japanese operator to offer the iPhone, which are popular for its convenience in countries such as North America and Europe.

The upstart carrier is the smallest of Japan's big three mobile companies, but has been successively undercut rivals with cheap calling plans and impressive advertisements, including the Otousan series, adopting famous American stars, and Japanese stars.

I am also a user of Softbank cell phone, and I'm satisfied with the plans they have.
I use call phone every day, e-mailing someone and calling whenever I want to. But it doesn't cost much. It's about 2500 yen a month. When I was using docomo cell phone, it cost about 6000 yen a month doing the same thing.
I think their plans are economically impressive to consumers.

Increasing Tobacco Tax

Prime minister Yukio Hatoyama said Friday that there are possible tax increase of tobacco.
He says that t should be possible to raise the tax in light of its impact on the environment and public health.
It seems like he wants to adopt the environmental tax, but cautious because the econmy is not getting much better at this point.
He knows that it should be difficult unless the government gets the public support for a new tax
desighed to protect the environment.
He also said that his government will abolish gasoline and other taxes related to roads from the fiscal year starting next April.

I agree with the increasing tobacco tax. There are many smokers don't care about other people and smoke anywhere they like. It is distracting others. The prime minister should make a law that forces smokers to follow the rule and manner when they smoke.

Unemployment rate unexpectedly eases to 5.3%

According to the Japan Times, the government said that the unemployment rate has dropped to 5.3% in September.
In August, the rate was 5.5%.
There seems a signs that a recovery in the economy is spreading to consumers.
According to Toru Shimano, head of econmic research at Okasan Securities Ltd. , said that the productions slowely increasing, which means that the job market is probably not going to get much worse. Still, it is too early to be optimistic.
The U.S. economy , Japan't largest verseas market, expanded at an annual 3.5% rate last quarter after a year of contraction. The growth in China which has 8.9% of economic expantion could have lead to it.
However, the situation of recruitment of university graduates have not changed a bit.
The big companies in Japan, such as Nomura Holdings Inc., and Mitsubishi UFJFinancial Group
Inc. say they will cut the recruitment of those graduates to almost a half.

Hatoyama Says Futenma Can Wait

Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said over the weekend that the decision on where the U.S. Futenma military airfield in Okinawa will be relocated does not necessarily have to be reached before President Barack Obama visits Tokyo next month.
The day before, Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada made remarks that contradicts from the position the prime minister takes.
I was born in Ginowan and have been lived in the city for almost 21 years, and feel that the loud noise of the airplanes has always been annoying. I definately agree with the idea that the government think the military base should be removed from this island. However, I strongly oppose the idea to move it to Henoko. If they move it there, we lose the beautiful nature and the animals living in the ocean. The problem whon't change unless we remove the air base from this island. It's better not to remove it if we can't remove it out of this island. People in Ginowan knows how noisy it is, and I don't want people who live close to Henoko suffer the same way.
There's no good points to remove it to Henoko. Eventually we spend a lot of money and destroy nature, make people suffer and put them risks to be killed by the crached airplanes.

Creationism and Evolutionary Theories

More than half of adults in a survey of 10 countries thought school science lessons should teach evolutionary theories alongside creationism. The countries in survey were Argentina, China, Egypt, Great Britain, India, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, Spain, and USA.
Among those who knew of Darwinism, on average 53% felt other possible perspectives should also be taught. The higher percentage of those who feel this way were Argentina ( 68% ) , and Great Britain ( 60 % ).
The highest proportion agreeing that evolutionary theories alone should be taught was in India, at 49%, followed by Spain (42%).
1/5 people in China and in South Africa thought other perspectives ( other than evolutionary theories ) should be taught.
However, the debate over creationism and evolutionary theories are somewhat difficult because
the theory is a scientific point of view, and the creationism is a religious perspective.
In Japan, the evolutionary theories are widely known but not so many people know the creationism. If they learned creationism, though, I think its hard for them to believe the perspective because the majority of them don't believe in Christianity.

Italy: A Castle Becomes an Cashmere Factory

An Italian entrepreneur has transformed a castle and outbuildings in the medieval village of Solomeo into a cashmere factory which has proved a hit with local employees.
The factory makes the high quality garments, skirts, jackets, and so on with the cashmere of hih quality.
Brunello Cucinello's factory runs along less traditional lines, there is no clock watching, and he says the well-being of workers is just as important as profits. He says that he is going to make a profit, but use it for the people's dignity.
Cucinello is called " a king of cashmere " in the village and the factory has been successful for his fame.
The factory has about 500 workers, and many of them feel happy to be able to work there.
Cucinello donates 20% of its profit to the district, making schools, churches, and even the theaters in the village.

Punishment or Reward: Which Works Better on Behavior?

It seems like that adults are much more cooperative if they work in a system based on rewards. Researchers at Harvard University in the United States and the Stockholm School of Economics in Sweden did the study.
They had about two hundred college students play a game known as the Prisoner's Dilemma.
They are divided into groups of four. Each members can reward or punish each of the other three players.
The result was that the group that rewarded the most gained 2 times more than the groups that rewarded the least. Also, the group with the most punishment had 25 percent less points than the group with the least punishment.
I think the study made us clear that Rewarding works better than to punish.
Although there are some people who work hard as they punished, people in general feel better and try to do their best if they can get the reward.

The "Clean" Smells Encourage Clean Behavior

According to the study by Katie Liljenquist, professor of organizational leadership at Brigham Young University's Marriott School of Management, the clean smells makes people to be nice.
" People feel contaminated by immoral choices and try to wash away their sins." She says.
The experiment used the citrus-scented Windex to put in a room. The other room was unscented.
The result was that the people who were sorrounded by the flesh scented air were more likely to act fairly and charitably than those sniffing unscented air.
That is very interesting.
I've read an article about the smells affect humans before. That was about smells influence
prople's dreams. I don't remember it clearly but it was a study from German scientist.
They experimented among women, divided into 2 groups. One of them smelled the rose odoers
when they sleep, and the other slept in air that doesn't smell good.
The resulf was that those who smell the rose scented air could have good dreams, and the others had bad dreams probably because of the bad smell of the air.

BIG EARTHQUAKES??

I read an interesting article which was in TIME online,
and that was about the places that can have big earthquakes in the future.
They introduced 5 of them, including Los Angels, Tokyo, Tehran (Iran), Pacific Northwest,
and Indonesia. Above all, Sumatra (Indonesia) just had an 7.6 earthquake last month, killed more than 1000 people.
As for Tokyo, one of the busiest city in the world, it is estimated that at least 10000 people
will be killed and $1 trillion damages will be caused if the big earthquakes like in 1923 hits the city. The 1923 earthquake in Tokyo killed 150000 citizens.
Although Okinawa have had few earthquakes which are considered big in the past,
I think we have to be prepared for the earthquakes at least, such as connecting shelves to the wall, and storing food and bottles of water.
By the way, there is a company that makes houses, and they invented an air cushion
that prevent houses from being damaged by earthquakes. That was pretty interesting.

Many Americans Now Plan to Work Past 67

According to the study from Sun Life Financial, about two-thirds of American workers

now think that they will work until the age 67.

The main reason for this is mostly from the confused economy , and

the stock market losses they faced.

In Japan, the general retirement age is 60, but some people retire a little earlier,

or stay a little longer, if their company want them to.

I watched TV the other day and there was a program called "the paradise of life."

It was about an old couple who makes lunch and sell them at a train station

in a suburb.

The old man said he retired from his company at the age of 57.

It seems like he enjoy his second life there.

I think it's important to have hobbies, because then one can enjoy spending time

doing his/her hobbies after the retirement.

A Woman Was Killed By the Balinese

A Japanese Woman Was Killed in Java, a Tourist Spot

A 33-year-old Japanese woman was killed by the 37-year-old man.
She was staying in Malang in East Java province.
The place was pretty famous as a tourist spot.

These days, more and more Japanese woman travel overseas, with friends or by herself.
Therefore, they should be more careful not to become a victim of crimes.
The woman who was killed seems to have a friendly character, so that might be
a cause for the incident. If she was more careful, however, she might be alive now.

Last month, a friend of mine left Japan and traveled to Vietnam.
I haven't heard anything from her yet.. Hope she's doing okay, ,

Kao's Econa loses 'healthy' label

Econa loses healthy label....

The Kao's oil, Econa, was very famous for its healthy, safe, and functional ingredient.
It was also accepted by the government as a "Tokuho" oil.
However, it was found that the oil has a little amount of cancer-causing ingredients.
Therefore the government canceled the "Tokuho" label they had.

...That was shocking.
I have been using the oil for cooking for a year and I thought it was pretty safe and
the healthiest. I never thought it could have a risk of getting a cancer...
Not only me, but also the famous athletes seem to have been used the oil for their diet.

I hope they will change their problematic ingredients and get the Tokuho mark again.

swine flu

H1N1 vaccinations

seems like it is going to start from Monday, next week.
However, not all people can get it simultaneously.
Those who are working at hospitals should get the vaccinations first, then kids or people who have some risks to be badly infected , pregnant women, and students, moms and dads, and so forth.
Young college students like me would be the last to be concerned , and the time we can have the
vaccination is said to be next year.
That's sad, because the swine flu is very well spread in this island. The only thing we can do now is to be careful not to be infected by the flu.

So, let's wash your hands and take vitamin C!
Many doctors say that we can prevent the flu from us by doing some simply things.

reading anf writing

i love reading and writing.