Author: Tomomi Sasaki

The NihongoUp Blog gives an in-depth explanation of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) – “It is a Japanese language test for non-native speakers, held twice a year in East Asia and once a year in the rest of the world.”

Flight doctor George Tomioka, who is in Chile as part of the Japan Disaster Relief Team from JICA, is tweeting at @georgetomioka [ja]. Here's a tweet from March 7th: “[Chile Info #3] The parks in Chillan were filled with tents right after the earthquake, but people have started to head home and there were only a handful of tents today. Compared to the Great Hanshin Earthquake, this is a much faster pace of recovery.”

The website JANJAN, one of the pioneers of citizen journalism in Japan, has announced that they will go on hiatus for an undetermined period of time [ja] due to the changing landscape of citizen journalism and falling advertisement revenue. JANJAN, which stands for “Japan Alternative News for Justices and New Cultures”, has been running for over seven years.

As the most rapidly ageing country in the world in addition to having the highest life expectancy, Japan has a lot to think about concerning quality of life and a sustainable society. However, it's rare that one contemplates about it on a personal level. In Long Life is a Risk (長生きはリスクである), blogger Satonao shares his unique perspective that perhaps longevity itself is not to be celebrated.

Note: The post was translated in its entirety with permission from the blogger. All links were added by Tomomi Sasaki for reference.

Lately, I keep getting into conversations with various people about how “long life is a risk”.

This is probably because my closest friends are entering their forties and fifties and I regularly hear stories that hit close to home: she's had a breakdown from having to take care of her parents, his father is always in different hospitals for cancer, or her mother has dementia and requires full time care. On top of that, our salaries aren't getting any higher and money is tight. Everyone has their worries and troubles. Many people who go through a lot eventually conclude that “a long life doesn't necessarily equal happiness”. The preposition that long life leads to happiness is one that has long been passed on among the Japanese people. It seems inevitable that at some point this idea, which has been stuck in our heads since the Showa period, will have to change.

An acquaintance in their 70's has started a “slow suicide”.

In other words this person, who has so far lived a healthy abstinent life, has started doing whatever they want, including things that they stopped doing precisely because they are considered “bad for you”. Living a long life is a risk. The line of reasoning goes: rather than live a longer life, do what you want without regard to the fact that you might die sooner.

I've been so busy this month that I've neglected to take care of my body.

Even if one lives a long life by tracking health related stats and diligently 'saving' oneself from overdoing it, one may still suffer from dementia, become bedridden or wracked with illness at the end. Any of these are painful and may be a strain on the children. There is a need to think more seriously about how to balance moderation and excess because illness is not to be treated lightly. For now, however, I'd like to break free from the idea that “long life equals happiness”. Long life doesn't necessarily mean happiness. Live life one day at a time and when the time comes, die with a quiet dignity. This is how I'd like to go. My affairs are in order and I do mental exercises that today may be the last, but what remains to be seen is how to die. Obviously, this is a very complex matter.

Please note that I'm not making light of having been born or of life itself. I'm not writing about suicide, either. I'm writing about how to greet the end of life. Thinking about how one will die is thinking about how one will live. I simply want to think a little bit more strictly and specifically about appreciating the miracle of life while being able to welcome the death that we will each inevitably experience.

Remember, it's live long and prosper.

Related reading: Japan: Momus, on This Ageing Country

Matt Alt translated a diagram that shows the exaggerated schedules of a “normal” person versus that of a “NEET” (Not Employed, in Education, or Training).

In “Growing old in, and with, Japan” on the Click Opera blog, Nick Currie (aka Momus) lists several points of what could be “a silver lining to Japan's likely silver age” but concludes that realistically, “Japan will get cheaper, smaller, poorer, purer, wiser, more itself.”

Alex at VictoryManual.com lists “Top Ten Successful Expats in Japan” – “Definitely English-speaking, American, white males have the easiest access to success as a foreigner in Japan.”

In “A Beginner’s Guide to Tokyo Gallery Geography“, William Andrews at the Tokyo Art Beat blog describes some of the key areas for enjoying contemporary art in the city.

With limited work experience, how does one make the decision on which company to work for straight out of university? The question carries more weight when there's a good chance that person might spend their entire career there.

In the past, Global Voices has written about how a Japanese university student typically goes about finding a job, and the issues that this system has raised as times change.

• Japan: Un-hiring fresh graduates
• College Students Protest on Japanese Employment @ TOKYO)

Game analyst and consultant Hisakazu Hirabayashi offers his thoughts on a more personal level – for when a student starts contemplating what companies to consider for job hunting. The post is titled On having a restricted perspective in choosing a company to work for (狭い視野でしか選べない就職希望企業) [ja].

Note: The post was translated in its entirety with permission from the blogger. All links were added by Tomomi Sasaki for reference.

This weekend, a colleague asked me to give career advice for their son and daughter. They wanted to work in the game industry but were not sure how to proceed.

The two students had already compiled a list of companies where they would like to work. Criteria for these choices were simple:
1. Companies that sold the sort of games they were personally interested in
2. Well known companies with an established reputation
3. Companies that were in a good financial state

I predict a major upheaval in the next few years for not just the game industry but the media and IT industries on a whole. I did my best to convince them that to base one’s choice on the three criteria above would most certainly not be wise and practically begged for them to broaden their perspective.

One big reason for my prediction is that terrestrial analog broadcasting will cease in July 2011, which will mean the broadbandization of mobile communication…. but this kind of talk didn't resonate at all.

It just wasn't relavant to them. They loved games and had come to me for insight on breaking into the game industry but I was a “weird person” that talked about how the laws were changing.

At times like this, the situation become clearer when I use examples. No offence to the people working at this company!

This is the question I'd ask: “Okay, think back to 5 years ago. Do you know which company topped the list of desired employers for university students in 2005?”

Neither parents nor students can answer this question right away. When I tell them the answer is Japan Airlines, they understand immediately what I'm trying to say.

The danger of making decisions based on what one knows. The obvious fact that the world changes.

And it's not just 2005. It depends on the surveys but JAL was always listed as a favorite. Now, they're a company that filed for bankrupcy under the Corporate Rehabilitation Law.

Oh why is it that Japanese university students look only to the past and the present, become anxious about respectability and oddly stability-oriented? (I was this way as well.)

First imagine what the future will be like and work back from there, to think about desirable work styles and environments. They've never gone through this experience.

Students alone can't be held responsible. I feel this is a passage of rite that's much more important for a 20 year old than celebrating Coming of Age Day.

In response to the news that the Osaka Governor is talking about closing down Itami Airport, Joe Jones at the Mutant Frog Travelogue contemplates obsolete airports and suggests alternate uses.

Mari from Watashi to Tokyo links to a pageful of illustrations of Pokemon done in ancient Japanese style.