Japan @ MindSay 
japanese
The catch: Solar power has always been expensive. But costs have come down. And over the last few years, solar companies are finding themselves in unfamiliar territory: They are making a profit.
Solar panel Street
Houses with solar panels are still unusual in Japan, but you can get a glimpse of where things are headed in Kobe. In one new development there, the houses come with solar panels pre-installed.
It's row after row of plain box houses. You have to tilt your head back to see the solar panels on the roofs.
A neighborhood boy wearing a "Dinosaur Power" T-shirt sets off to find his mother, Rika Suzuki.
She says she doesn't consider herself an environmentalist. What she likes is not paying electric bills.
"It depends on sunlight," Suzuki says. "But on a nice sunny day. Even though we use all the electronic devices, I feel like we are receiving energy from the sun."
The houses have indoor electronic displays which show how much electricity the panels are generating and how much is being used. Extra electricity gets sold back to the power company. Suzuki says some months, they pay basically nothing.
Suzuki says she feels lucky.
The Philosophy of Energy
So how did all this happen? The solar panels were manufactured by a company called Kyocera, with offices in Kyoto.
Kyocera has $11 billion in annual sales, mostly from sales of high-tech ceramic parts. That's a good thing, because for three decades their solar business was not profitable.
"Last 32 years, we couldn't make money at all, but were spending money a lot," says Isao Yukawa who has been at Kyocera all of those 32 years. He got involved with its solar efforts six years ago.
"Last two to three years we're making money," Yukawa says.
Some start-up businesses expect a couple of years of not making a profit. But 30 years? Yukawa says the company's founder is a very visionary guy.
"At the same time he's a philosopher," Yukawa says. "He talks about work for the people and the society."
Kyocera was founded by Kazuo Inamori in 1959, who is a kind of management guru in Japan.
Do the right thing, Inamori says, profits come later.
Yukawa shows a photo of their solar panels mounted on a camel in Tunisia. The panels ran a portable refrigerator with medical supplies.
"I was told that 1.6 million people still do not have light!" Yukawa says. "Our mission is so much to support these people."
The company's motto: "Respect the divine and love people."
Creating a Market
But if Kyocera's success is a story of perseverance and maybe spirituality, it's also one of government subsidies.
Because the reality was that around 1994, if you wanted to put solar panels on your house — enough to cover most electrical needs — it would cost about $60,000.
Ryutaro Yatsu is a counselor for global environment in Japan's Ministry of the Environment. He says the industry needed the subsidies to create a market, so the costs could decrease.
"In order to bridge the so-called 'Death Valley,'" Yatsu says.
In 1994, the Japanese government paid half the cost of new solar installations. And people took advantage. Sales went up and costs came down by about a third. The government phased the subsidies out gradually and ended them in 2005.
Today, Yatsu says Japan is counting on solar panels to help combat global warming.
"We expect each household to have their own solar panel," Yatsu says.
Germany wants half of its energy generated by renewable sources by the year 2050.
And companies are cranking out solar panels.
In a Kyocera factory panels the size of compact disc cases get passed from one machine to another in an elaborate dance. The company can now produce enough panels to cover 300 football fields a year.
However, things are a bit more complicated.
Retaining the Interest
Solar is on its feet, but it's not exactly off and running. Today's solar boom still depends on government assistance. Solar panels are at the point of making economic sense on their own, but just barely.
If a salesman came to your door and said "I have a way you won't have to pay electric bills," you'd say "great."
But how much are the solar panels? About $20,000 dollars.
How long would it take to make that money back? In Japan, maybe 20 years.
Yukawa says the sales pitch is still awkward.
"Solar business looks so easy," Yukawa explains. "But we have direct door to door guys that have to explain this and that kind of stuff."
The houses in Kobe with the solar panels were built by a division of Panasonic, which is trying out a line of energy-efficient houses.
But Yukawa says the price of solar panels still needs to come down by half before homeowners and builders really take the plunge to buy.
The industry is growing quickly — maybe too quickly. Solar companies now consume about as much silicon as the entire electronics industry, temporarily causing the price of silicon to double, pushing costs up, not down.
Tips : solar water heater solar lighting solar panel
Contract us | Ad service | Friendly Links Google yahoo MSN Ask Alltheweb Wedding dresses Jewelry Solar panel Floor LED
Anyway, one thing that most people notice is that all kids seem to have this exact same backpack. For once, this is completely correct. A randoseru is a very well constructed backpack that is meant to serve a child for the full six years of their primary education, and although many companies make these, they all follow the same basic design.
Here, take a look:
With little more than coloration and stitching variations, they all look like this. Exactly like this. For little first graders these seem very large, but once a child reaches sixth grade and is prepared to trade in for a more adult-like satchel or backpack (some schools have a "backpack code", others don't care how you shlep your books) the child is now much bigger and the randoseru seems much smaller. Many adults still have their old ones stored away someplace, a memory of their carefree days of youth.
*sigh*
In Japanese culture ceremony and tradition are considered extraordinarily important and followed to the letter. So far I have seen opening ceremonies, closing ceremonies, graduations and festivals, but the idea of a more physical tradition, such as the randoseru intrigued me. I asked my teachers at school. They remembered their own and mentioned a little about receiving it and being so proud, and being sad when they put it away for good... but then I asked about the design.
"Oh, they all look like that"
"Yes, I've noticed, but why that specific design?"
The answer was always the same, "I don't really know. It's just always been like that."
Well, that answer wasn't good enough for me. I continued to ask lots of people, getting the same answers each time, until I asked one of my vice-principles.
"Oh, it's a military design, from before the Second World War I think."
Huh? I did some research and it's true. This bag is only a slight variation from those carried by Japanese soldier back when they were allowed to have a standing army.
It's hard to find old photos of Japanese soldiers fully geared up and facing away from the camera, so take a look at this one:
You can see that the design elements are all basically the same. Materials (they used heavy canvas back then and leather now) and the cross-strap design are all that have really changed.
Take a look again:
See that superfluous metal thing on the side? It can be used for a key-holder or whatever a creative child can think of, but it's real purpose was that of grenade holder. The Japanese used the same stick type grenades employed by the Germans, so a hook made for safely carrying the weapon was attached. I have seen many of my grade schoolers using this in many ways, the best of which was to carry their kendama, a ball and stick game.
It's a little scary to think that these innocent bags now used for carrying tomes of knowledge were once a part of one of the most ruthless war machines in history. But then again, these bags humbled to the point of servicing children is also a kind of redeeming sight... it's akin to seeing a munitions factory shut down and a large public park being built in its stead.
Maybe there is hope for us yet.
-Maru!
I should add that in my research I found evidence for this design originating in the Netherlands, hence the Dutch name, but I still find it amazing that just prior to its use as a school accessory it was enlisted.
I originally planned to stay in Japan to see out my original year long contract with NOVA. For reasons that are obvious, that plan isn't going to come true, so instead I now would like to work here in Japan for that same year, plus about two months to make up for the time I was working for NOVA and some time to pack and send things home.
But past that, I don't really think that I need to stay here. I would go home for good this April, except that I have a few financial obligations here and I kind of promised myself to stay out here for at least one year.
The other reasons aren't as responsible, but are equally compelling.
I want to spend a spring and summer in Japan again. I like those seasons out here and look forward to enjoying them. I also haven't made it to Universal Studios Japan yet because it was winter, and I really want to go. Lake Biwa is nearby and I plan on visiting that, as well as going to see some friends and locations in Tokyo.
There is also Okinawa to visit, the Olympics (I've always wanted to see the Olympics in another country to see what the coverage looks like), my brother and possibly my nephew visiting me... I could go home, and I would be pretty happy doing so, but I'm still not finished out here yet.
So my schedule looks a little like this:
April: My brother comes to visit early in the month, late in the month is possibly a visit to a hot spring.
May: Early in the month is Universal Studios Japan, late in the month is a hot spring and/or more Osaka exploring.
June: Best month. Lake Biwa, Osaka swimming pool, Osaka exploring, maybe nephew visiting, Nagoya and/or Nara parks.
July: Also the best month, Provided I am working at a school, I only have half a month of work, so maybe theme parks, Tokyo visit, beach.
August: All of this month is vacation. Olympics, possible Okinawa visit, lake Biwa again. There is actually too much to list. August will be the real reason I came out here, as the 28th will make one full year of living in Japan.
September: Finish up working and start to get everything in order. I may have to apply for a visa extension that will make me legal to stay for a couple of extra months.
October: This is it. I will be done with my contract and I will be using most of the month to send things home and clean up. I will also try to sell the items that I can't or don't want to bring home (my desk, TV, refrigerator, etc). If I am low on money or my visa ends here, I will go home in late October, otherwise
November: Ideally I would like to stay until the second week of November. I will then go home for the holidays and start looking for work state-side. If all went even partially as planned, I will have a fair amount of savings on the side and be okay to leisurely look for a job until 2009.
It's been an experience. I feel like I've grown a lot in the past eight months, but another six will round me out nicely. I'll try to post less pessimistic things in the future, which should be easy as not only will the weather be nice, but I have stuff figured out a lot better now then I did just two months ago.
Six months can go very fast, so I made a (very belated) New Years Resolution to enjoy the rest of my time out here, even if it kills me.
-Maru!
The JET Journal 2005 is an average enough publication, obviously circulated yearly, but it does have some nice photos and stories taken and written by JET participants. In fact, I've read through most of the stories and some are very well written. They hold my interest and are paced well, and some have even made me chuckle. But people never talk about good things, especially in blog form, so I will instead focus on one person: Dougal Phillips.
JET Journal runs a yearly essay contest and this particular year they started running a Japanese language version of the contest as well. According to the stats page 23 people in total submitted a Japanese language essay for consideration, and it is here that I was introduced to Mr. Phillips. It seems that Dougal Phillips is apparently proficient enough to write an essay in Japanese without making any grammatical error, as in the intro it mentions that grammar was the number one reason that participants were disqualified. I also found out that Dougal Phillips is a CIR, or Coordinator for International Relations, which once again proves his proficiency in the language as a CIR must have a good command of the Japanese language (as stated on the JET recruiting website). The one thing linguistically that Dougal Phillips seems incapable of is writing an interesting story.
But a boring story about his going to meetings and learning about internationalization is no crime and does not deserve my ire. No, what makes Dougal Phillips special is not that he's a boring writer, but that he's an asshole.
I've never met the man and I'm likely to never as he apparently is from Australia, although I wouldn't put it past someone like him to live in Japan for the rest of his life. No, I make my decision about Dougal Phillip's disposition based solely on his acceptance essay. Well, more like his acceptance paragraph.
In it, Dougal Phillips writes about how he got a "C" on his last Essay in High School Japanese. Now, eleven years later, he wins this award. We are obviously very impressed at this point, so he then offers up some advice. He then proceeds to explain why we (the unwashed masses) don't write in beautiful Japanese. See, the problem is we don't try hard enough. We convince ourselves that our lack of Japanese proficiency is someone else's fault (that is almost a direct quote), and thereby limit ourselves. Now, armed with this sage advice, he informs us that he "look[s] forward to seeing your essay here next year." This is a short lead in to what I have already described as a rather boring short story.
In his essay, Dougal Phillips clumsily takes us from one paragraph to the next in an attempt to explain to us non-verbal cues, high and low-context cultures and internationalization. Unfortunately, he spends only enough time on each subject to basically mention it, almost as if in passing, and then immediately shifts to the next. He complains about work and how it would be so much more efficient if things were done his way and as a sappy final note mentions in the last three sentences about how he has learned to accept people for who they are. No wait, I'm sorry, his exact words were "...Japanese people whom I accept as they are" (emphasis mine).
So why waste time writing about some asshole with a boring job? Because I want to. I personally write because I like to and this was on my mind. This brings me to my final point.
Because of the problems with flow and basic storytelling that Dougal Phillips had with his essay, I got the feeling that he is not inclined to write anything very often. He had months to finish this essay and yet it still read like something a semi-proficient high school student would think is good because Dougal Phillips doesn't spend enough time refining his style; the irony being that, according to his acceptance essay, he claims people don't spend enough time getting their Japanese papers corrected.
Most people look at writing as the art-form that anyone can do. If you can't paint, write. Can't sculpt? Write. Can't draw? Just write! The truth is writing isn't easy, and most writers fall into the trap of just regurgitating whatever is popular at the moment and maybe riding a mild wave of success (case in point: sure were a lot of penguin movies lately, weren't there?). Others, like Mr. Phillips, confuse a small award with being truly proficient as a word-smith. So why did I write about Dougal Phillips? Because I try to write about anything that inspires me so that I can improve my own writing ability, and inspiration can sometimes come in rather unexpected forms.
That, and Dougal Phillips is an asshole.
-Maru!
Post script: You may have noticed I used Dougal Phillips name a lot instead of the personal pronouns "he" or "him" and the like. This is because I would like to see if Dougal Phillips ever Googles his own name. I'm looking forward to the results.
hee hee, dougal google...
Jr. High School kids are a strange lot. I feel sorry for the ones who are having trouble fitting in, because I just know how awkward and strange they feel all the time and how much they get picked on. I feel bad for the popular ones, because for the most part they are probably peaking now and it's going to be a rough ride down into early and middle adulthood. I even feel sorry for those middle of the road kids because, despite being well adjusted, they are not really allowed to explore their own personal interests in lieu of strict rote learning.
But there seems to be one connecting factor between all these kids. Yes, from the lowliest nerd to the coolest pop-star looking kids, Jr. High School kids smell bad. Very bad. Not just "no deodorant" bad, but full on "I haven't bathed in at least three days" bad. I find it amazing that my girls who expertly apply their make-up each day smell like they just swam through a combination of onions and vinegar.
Now, I don't just go around smelling my kids. It's when they come up to the head of the class and I catch a whiff of them as they write something on the board or turn in completed papers. My grade school kids are thankfully free of body oder, but anyone who's ever had or worked with kids know that they find ways to compensate for their inability to make their own stench.
I love my kids tho, stench or not. I'm really hoping I get to stay at the same schools until I go home so I can watch them grow and become more mature. With all the schools and classes I have each week I'm only now starting to know some of my students personally. Of course, they are just now warming up to me as well, so it's nice that we are mutually making efforts to get to know each other now. Besides, now that I'm getting to know names better, I can keep a better list of the ones I should breathe through my mouth around.
-Maru!
Showing 1 - 5. [ Next ]