One of those things I fail to comprehend about Japan even this many years in is why so many Hollywood films open later in Japan than in other countries. I don't just mean later than English-speaking countries, either. When there is a film I want to see, it inevitably opens in Russia and Malaysia and Djibouti before it opens in Japan. The same translation issues apply, don't they?
Lately Japan has been getting international premieres in Tokyo, and most big action blockbusters open just a couple weeks later than in LA. If they can open some movies in a similar time frame, why not all?
There seems to be no rhyme or reason the the selection of movies. Harry Potter opened soon after the US release, which is understandable, but so did House of Wax (this is how desperate I am for English, I paid ¥1800 to see this steaming pile of shite). Star Trek (which I am going to see this weekend!) is only a month late, but Twilight opened 5 months after the US premiere.
My biggest disappointment is that all of the Chronicles of Narnia films open much later here. I loved the books, and I have loved the films, and I hate waiting. The first film was 5 months later than its US premiere, and Prince Caspian was 3 months later. The DVD was out in the US a week after each of the films opened over here. I prefer watching films in theatres, but when it's faster to import the DVD than to arrange childcare, I'll do that.
I've never figured out why films open so late here. I do have a conspiracy theory that involves Johnny's Jimusho and the protective Japanese film industry, but nothing concrete. Whatever the reason, I hope this practice stops. I'm impatient and I don't want to wait until 2011 for Voyage of the Dawn Treader.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Good news for abused kids (and all families)
Today finally brings some happy news to the children of Japan. Only 20 years after signing the International Convention on the Rights of the Child, Japan has decided to consider suspending the parental rights of abusive parents.
I am not foolish enough to believe that this means the government will do this within the next year or 3, but just discussing the issue is a long-awaited step in the right direction.
The issue at hand is the feudalistic family register. The head of the family in Japan has all the power. Even if he lives away from the wife and children he abused, since they are in his family register, he gets payments from the local government for children's benefits (usually around 10 000 yen a child per month), as well as the recent 12 000 yen per person vote-buying scheme.
The family register has no place in modern society- I am not even really sure it had a place in history either. Now, I love records, and historical records like this would normally make my heart flutter with excitement. The problem is that the historical records are not normally kept in Japan. Japan's municipalities are notoriously crap with keeping records, and once everyone in a certain family register has died, there is not much chance of archiving. So if these aren't going to be kept as historical records, what's the reason for having them at all?
I think it's to have a legal way to discriminate against those who are different. One look at the family register, which is required for school registration, passport applications among other applications, and someone can tell if your family is the right kind or not. If you (or your parents) were not born in wedlock, it says the child is a "boy" or "girl," rather than "oldest boy," "oldest girl," "second boy" and so on. Which doesn't matter in the rest of the world, but Japan prides bullying those younger than you, so birth order (even for twins) is extremely important.
I'm getting somewhat off-topic (what's new?), but I think that the idea of suspending parental rights is a good one for the the reformation of the legal standing of people within a family.
Eventually, I hope that neglect is considered child abuse, and that children languishing in institutions with no ties but legal ones to their families are able to have their guardian's rights suspended so they can be available for adoption.
Adoption is a sensitive topic for me. We've been trying to adopt through the government (rather than through a religious agency) for 5 years, and had one adoption fall through. The reason that we can't adopt is because there are so few children available. Even though orphanages have hundreds of residents, there are very few whose parents or guardians actually give up their rights so that the child could be adopted by a loving family. Adoption outside the family is looked down upon in Japan, and living in an institution is considered better than living with another family that is not blood related. It's also about saving face. If another family can raise the child you gave up on, that makes it your fault rather than the child's, and no Japanese wants anyone to know when something is their fault. This makes me blind with rage. I really hope the government steps up to the plate and suspends the parental rights of people who have abandoned their kids as well as those who are being physically abused.
I am not foolish enough to believe that this means the government will do this within the next year or 3, but just discussing the issue is a long-awaited step in the right direction.
The issue at hand is the feudalistic family register. The head of the family in Japan has all the power. Even if he lives away from the wife and children he abused, since they are in his family register, he gets payments from the local government for children's benefits (usually around 10 000 yen a child per month), as well as the recent 12 000 yen per person vote-buying scheme.
The family register has no place in modern society- I am not even really sure it had a place in history either. Now, I love records, and historical records like this would normally make my heart flutter with excitement. The problem is that the historical records are not normally kept in Japan. Japan's municipalities are notoriously crap with keeping records, and once everyone in a certain family register has died, there is not much chance of archiving. So if these aren't going to be kept as historical records, what's the reason for having them at all?
I think it's to have a legal way to discriminate against those who are different. One look at the family register, which is required for school registration, passport applications among other applications, and someone can tell if your family is the right kind or not. If you (or your parents) were not born in wedlock, it says the child is a "boy" or "girl," rather than "oldest boy," "oldest girl," "second boy" and so on. Which doesn't matter in the rest of the world, but Japan prides bullying those younger than you, so birth order (even for twins) is extremely important.
I'm getting somewhat off-topic (what's new?), but I think that the idea of suspending parental rights is a good one for the the reformation of the legal standing of people within a family.
Eventually, I hope that neglect is considered child abuse, and that children languishing in institutions with no ties but legal ones to their families are able to have their guardian's rights suspended so they can be available for adoption.
Adoption is a sensitive topic for me. We've been trying to adopt through the government (rather than through a religious agency) for 5 years, and had one adoption fall through. The reason that we can't adopt is because there are so few children available. Even though orphanages have hundreds of residents, there are very few whose parents or guardians actually give up their rights so that the child could be adopted by a loving family. Adoption outside the family is looked down upon in Japan, and living in an institution is considered better than living with another family that is not blood related. It's also about saving face. If another family can raise the child you gave up on, that makes it your fault rather than the child's, and no Japanese wants anyone to know when something is their fault. This makes me blind with rage. I really hope the government steps up to the plate and suspends the parental rights of people who have abandoned their kids as well as those who are being physically abused.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Cashless in Japan
Japan is a cash society. It is slowly moving away from this, but it is still predominantly run on cash.
One of the reasons for this is the tax system. Like in France, small businesses prefer to receive cash so they don't have to log a purchase and therefore don't have to pay taxes. Almost all Japanese businesses run a loss every year to get out of paying taxes, and many salaried workers have a small business on the side, such as rice farming, in order to report a loss and get their taxes reduced on their regular salary.
It's not all about tax evasion, however. Now the problem is the lack of a coherent cashless system. It's not that there are no options in Japan for paying without cash, it's that there are too many.
Many stores and petrol stations have their own cards. You load the card with cash and then just use it for that- but they are never unified, so you end up with dozens of cards. The way the company makes a profit from this is those tiny balances you just can't use up, similar to North American gift cards. I just counted up the cards I have in my wallet (5) and the balances- and I have 7230 yen just waiting unused in my wallet. I am going to use that up over the next month, come hell or high water.
The good thing about some of these cards are their rewards. I've gotten free elecronics from BicCamera using this system, and a lot of batteries. The best for me, however, is Jusco's Waon card, with which I collect JAL airmiles. Between this and excessive use of my JAL credit card, I earned a free domestic flight last year and a free overseas flight this summer. My husband has enough on his card for a flight to Asia, and I hope we can take advantage of the recent 2-for-1 JAL mileage campaign to have a long weekend in Shanghai or Phuket this autumn.
My parents were highly amused with my ability to pay for things with my mobile phone when they visited. This has the potential to be very convenient, but for some reason it's been mucked up. A quick perusal of the Wikipedia page about the "mobile phone wallet" lists 37(!) different systems for paying with your mobile. You have to sign up for each. If you lose your mobile, you have to contact each company to cancel each system as well. This means it's actually a gigantic pain in the rear. What happened to the good old monopoly? I think Japan needs Bill Gates to come over and reform the cashless system.
Today I read about the ability to send money to someone's bank account using their mobile number. This sounds great, a very Japanese take on Paypal (which cannot yet be linked to Japanese bank accounts, although that might be coming in 2010 or 2011). It also helps with privacy issues and with avoiding having to go to the bank or ATM during the short hours they are open. I hope this doesn't get mucked up as well. I can just imagine that you could only send to someone on the same service provider as your mobile phone or something else ridiculous.
One of the reasons for this is the tax system. Like in France, small businesses prefer to receive cash so they don't have to log a purchase and therefore don't have to pay taxes. Almost all Japanese businesses run a loss every year to get out of paying taxes, and many salaried workers have a small business on the side, such as rice farming, in order to report a loss and get their taxes reduced on their regular salary.
It's not all about tax evasion, however. Now the problem is the lack of a coherent cashless system. It's not that there are no options in Japan for paying without cash, it's that there are too many.
Many stores and petrol stations have their own cards. You load the card with cash and then just use it for that- but they are never unified, so you end up with dozens of cards. The way the company makes a profit from this is those tiny balances you just can't use up, similar to North American gift cards. I just counted up the cards I have in my wallet (5) and the balances- and I have 7230 yen just waiting unused in my wallet. I am going to use that up over the next month, come hell or high water.
The good thing about some of these cards are their rewards. I've gotten free elecronics from BicCamera using this system, and a lot of batteries. The best for me, however, is Jusco's Waon card, with which I collect JAL airmiles. Between this and excessive use of my JAL credit card, I earned a free domestic flight last year and a free overseas flight this summer. My husband has enough on his card for a flight to Asia, and I hope we can take advantage of the recent 2-for-1 JAL mileage campaign to have a long weekend in Shanghai or Phuket this autumn.
My parents were highly amused with my ability to pay for things with my mobile phone when they visited. This has the potential to be very convenient, but for some reason it's been mucked up. A quick perusal of the Wikipedia page about the "mobile phone wallet" lists 37(!) different systems for paying with your mobile. You have to sign up for each. If you lose your mobile, you have to contact each company to cancel each system as well. This means it's actually a gigantic pain in the rear. What happened to the good old monopoly? I think Japan needs Bill Gates to come over and reform the cashless system.
Today I read about the ability to send money to someone's bank account using their mobile number. This sounds great, a very Japanese take on Paypal (which cannot yet be linked to Japanese bank accounts, although that might be coming in 2010 or 2011). It also helps with privacy issues and with avoiding having to go to the bank or ATM during the short hours they are open. I hope this doesn't get mucked up as well. I can just imagine that you could only send to someone on the same service provider as your mobile phone or something else ridiculous.
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