Typhoon season has arrived in Japan, with Typhoon No. 13 (named “Shanshan” by the American weather service, although no one uses storm names here) washing away homes, roads and power lines in Japan’s southernmost island of Kyushu. Sadly, nine lives have been claimed from such accidents as a train that was derailed by 144 kph winds which killed three passengers, a ferry boat that overturned killing a crew member, and one person whose car was washed away by a storm-engorged river. Typhoon season is always a trying time in Japan, and last year was especially bad, with extensive damage done to many parts of the country, including the 1500-year-old shrine at Miyajima. Incidentally, typhoon is the official term for a high-wind cyclone in the Northwest Pacific; in the Atlantic they’re called hurricanes. Between typhoons, volcanoes and earthquakes, living in Japan is seldom boring.
Today is a holiday in Japan, Respect for the Aged Day, which has been a time to show respect for the older members of society and thank them for their years of hard work since it was officially enacted in 1966. It’s also a time to take stock of how the face of Japan’s population is changing. According to a report recently released by the Japanese government, 20.7% of Japan are now aged 65 or older, compared with just 12% in the U.S. The number of centenarians in Japan is way up too, reaching a whopping 28,395 — wow. Everywhere you look in Japan, you see signs that older Japanese are becoming a larger part of society, whether it’s the toy store near our house that went out of business to be replaced by a store that sells Buddhist altars and gravestones, or television commercials for products like Depends or hair coverings for women. While the number of elderly Japanese living in nursing homes and similar facilities is increasing, it’s still much more common for them to live at home with their oldest son or daughter, who by tradition remain at home and take over the land and family business, if applicable. (We live with my wife’s parents in a situation similar to this, since she’s their only daughter.) One of the trends in Japan today is “reforming” (remodeling) your home to make it “barrier-free,” so that elderly parents can get around the house safely.
The death penalty for Shoko Asahara, former leader of the religious cult Aum Shinrikyo, has been upheld by a court in Japan, paving the way for his sentence to be carried out sometime in the future. One of the most terrifying groups in recent Japanese history, the “Supreme Truth” cult is a mishmash of Buddhist and Hindu imagery centered around the charismatic (?) leader. The crimes committed by the group are many, including the brutal murder of lawyer Tsutsumi Sakamoto and his wife and baby son for trying to bring attention to the misdeeds of the group. Their activities culminated in a Tokyo subway attack using sarin nerve gas which left 12 people dead and 54 seriously injured (including many who will never wake up from comas). The group fancied itself the “true” government of Japan, and doled out lofty titles to their members like Head of Ministry of Science and Technology or Secretary of State, and the sarin gas attack was an attempt at knocking the current government out of power so they could take over, bringing on the Rapture, or some such nonsense. I think the whole situation showed how ineffective Japan’s government and police system can be when they put their minds to it. The Aum group had motive in the murders of Mr. Sakamoto and his family, yet they were not properly investigated at the time; instead the police spent years accusing Yoshiyuki Kono, who happened to live next to an Aum compound where sarin was released and whose wife is still in a sarin-induced coma because of the attack. They suspected him because he happened to have photographic chemicals in his home, and didn’t investigate other possibilities.
J-List continues our spin up for Halloween, offering unique costumes and other products that are popular in Japan — great for anyone looking for something special to wear this October 31st. Today on the site we’ve added a Sumo mawashi (the special belt that sumo wrestlers wear), a cool rubber wig that makes you look like a samurai, and something really esoteric, a wig and glasses set that will make you look like Yon-Sama, aka Bae Yong Joon, the South Korean hunk who starred in the drama Winter Sonata. A great costume if you have any Korean or Japanese friends!
