Nadia Lee :: Author

Hero Material and I’ve been watching The Closer recently, and who would’ve thought it would manifest in my subconscious?

A couple of nights ago, I had this weird dream that Kuro committed some kind of crime. I don’t even know what he did, but that’s not the point of my dream. The poor hamster was arrested, complete with teeny handcuffs. Shiro, with her litter, came to the police station to defend him. I was playing the Brenda Leigh Johnson character (the investigator, if you’re not familiar with the series), so of course I asked her lots of difficult questions. The poor hamster squeaked in distress, hopping around on the table, but I didn’t believe that she was telling me the truth. Meanwhile the infant hamsters were writhing on the table, blind, deaf and hairless. It was just really surreal. Kuro told Shiro he loved her, and the dream more or less ended.

On the non-weird-dream / hamster front, the weather’s been odd. The temperature plunged suddenly, and it’s freezing here. The big news here is the “massive” layoffs of maybe 2,000 workers or so by several local corporations. In Japan, there are two tiers of employment: seishain (full-time regular company workers) and contract / temporary workers. The latter category is broken down into two categories: shokutaku shain and hakken shain. Shokutaku shain is someone employed directly by the company on a short-term contractual basis, usually for a year. Hakken shain is what most Americans consider temp workers, meaning the company got them through temp agencies. When companies decide to cut costs, they usually let go of their contract / temp workers first. Currently Japan still clings to lifetime employment, and companies have certain obligations to their seishain. That includes not firing them first, paying for their health and pension insurance premiums, giving perks, bonuses, etc. (Contract / temp workers do not receive any bonuses or pay raises, etc.) Due to all this inequity in employment, a lot of non-seishain have been protesting the recent layoffs, etc. Furthermore, IBM Japan laid off its seishain (gasp!), which created even more drama. Oi.

BTW — The Big Three bailout is a huge conversation topic in Japan. After all, it does affect Japanese firms. Auto suppliers hope for the bailout since many of them have contracts with the Big Three. I enjoy reading financial analyses, etc. but if I read another person write that Japanese firms have a huge cost advantage because they get free health insurance and pension, I’m going to scream. I’ve been in two countries with nationalized health care. It is not free. Everyone must pay. People pay about $400 or so per month, and if they’re seishain, companies pay a big chunk of it. Companies also pay for their pensions. If that’s not bad enough, Japanese companies must ensure that their workers aren’t overweight or overly rotund around the middle or pay an enormous fine to the Health Ministry for overburdening the national health insurance system. Furthermore, the government had a huge screwup with its pension funds, and since Japan has too many retirees and not enough young workers, it’s planning to double the sales tax. So please, stop with all this “free” stuff.

It snowed in Japan. Burr. My city was saved from the horrible white stuff (I really don’t like snow), but the temperature’s falling rapidly. It’s going to be colder tomorrow.

On the writing front, I realized that I set up the entire fourth chapter incorrectly. It’s a shopping / planning / conflict sharpening chapter, and I know that part is right. It’s the setting and how the heroine chooses to shop that are wrong.

BTW — This is something that came up on one of the online forums I lurk. One member questioned my integrity, alluding that I’d blindly defend professional associates I have relationships with (such as literary agents, etc.).

I have no patience for incompetence. If I find someone’s performance less than satisfactory, I won’t defend them just because. So if you see me say something nice about some industry professional, it means I really think that person’s nice.

Finally — since the Big Three begging for $25 billion from the government is a big discussion topic among many (it’s huge in Japan too), I’ll leave you with something to consider.

The total compensation pool (that includes salaries plus bonuses) for Honda’s twenty-seven top executives, including its CEO, is $13 million dollars. That’s $13 million for ALL of them, not $13 million per person.

Toyota just announced that it had reduced its directors’ salaries. The company stated that it is important for Toyota executives to set good examples for its workers and that the executives must sacrifice first.

On the other hand, Rick Wagoner (GM CEO) gave himself a pay raise in March 2008. He is currently receiving $2.2 million dollars a year in salary alone. Furthermore, all Big Three executives flew in their private jets to beg for $25 billion from the Senate. ABC news reported that the round trip for Wagoner alone probably cost GM $20,000.

Japanese Air Self-Defense Force Chief of Staff General Toshio Tamogami made headlines for his inflammatory and revisionist essay on the Second World War. He claimed that Japan was tricked in to joining WWII, and that Japan was the true victim. He also denounced the Constitution, which prohibits Japan from possessing offensive weaponry and engaging in act of military aggression. In his view, Japan should rebuild its army.

This essay was bound to infuriate China, South Korea and other Asian countries who suffered at the hand of Japanese Imperial Army, so Japan’s Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada ordered Tamogami to resign.

Tamogami quit, but he is refusing to shut up about the controversial essay. He is currently going around, saying how he is right and how he has the right to free speech.

This seemed to have annoyed Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso, who is in an extremely difficult position thanks to the subprime mess and strong yen. (The Japanese government does not like a strong yen.) He doesn’t want to anger China and South Korea because their cooperation is vital in order to minimize the impact of subprime and strong yen on Japan.

So Aso, in his usual blunt fashion, declared the essay unacceptable. He ordered “reeducation” for Self-Defense Force members so that they not only understand the official government interpretation of history, but also adjust their own points of view accordingly. In addition, he told Hamada to punish any and all Defense Ministry and Self-Defense Force personnel who express opinions that contradict the official government interpretation and position.

I love Japanese politicians. LOL.

They have awesome study guides! (Photos courtesy of Dangunee.com)

One of the many study guides you can find everywhere in Japan. This one is for high school chemistry.

Meet Lady Hydrogen. Isn’t she hawt?

Or maybe Lady Magnesium is more to your taste? She’s a tough kickass girl. Just look at her gun!

Who says molecular diagrams need to be boring?

Before:

After (No Water Multi-Robot):

First, I want to start by saying … THANK GOD JULY IS OVER.

This July has been one of the most difficult months I had to go through. Let’s just say that I was in excruciating pain until July 15 or so without any medication to relieve any of my symptoms — that’s just not the way doctors around here work — plus heat exhaustion and insomnia until recently. Or…at least I think insomnia will continue.

Now mind you, if I don’t feel any effect of insomnia (meaning I feel refreshed every morning) I wouldn’t complain. But I feel absolutely terrible in the morning. How many people can live on 3-4 hours of sleep per night for an entire month?

Anyway…I was looking forward to a better August until this morning I got woken up by very very loud shouting and singing from people outside. Then I remembered, “Oh crap! Peace demonstration.”

Every year around this time, they have peace demonstrations and so on in Japan to protest the atomic bombing. Although I feel a great deal of sympathy for civilians, especially children, I don’t feel much sympathy when the demonstrators shout how Americans bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki without any good reasons, how American did it out of malice / evilness, and how Japan was a helpless victim. The demonstrators conveniently forget that:

1. Japan bombed Pearl Harbor without a declaration of war, hence dragging the U.S. into the Second World War.
2. Japan also invaded Asia during WWII. Japan to this date claims that it just wanted to “liberate Asia” from the evil western influence. Ask any Chinese or Korean or Filipinos what they think, and they’ll probably turn red in the face and say something extremely derogatory about Japan.

As a Korean American I sometimes wonder what would happen in Germany if Germans got together and claimed that they were the victims of evil pro-Jew Americans or something. I’m sure it wouldn’t go over very well.

I think this is one of the big reasons why there will always be some hostility (overt or otherwise) among Asian nations. There are many countries and people who think that Japan got off too easy and they still feel angry about it.

I’m sure some of you are like “Why does she like 7-Eleven so much?”

The fact is I used to hate it when I was in the States. I didn’t start my love affair with 7-Eleven until I came to Japan.

So why does 7-Eleven rock so much?

1. It’s open 24/7. It’s hard to find a convenience store chain open all the time where I am.
2. It’s clean.
3. 7-Eleven clerks rock. They’re always so friendly and courteous that it’s always pleasant to shop there.
4. 7-Eleven has the best bento. When you buy a bento, they’ll heat it for you and give you a pair of chopsticks. An instant ready-to-eat inexpensive meal that tastes good. W00t!
5. 7-Eleven has the best onigiri. Yum yum.
6. Did I mention it’s sparkling clean? It’s utterly spotless. The floor is so shiny and clean that you can eat off of it.
7. 7-Eleven has the awesomest selection of Häagen-Dazs ice cream. Nothing like rich ice cream for summer.

BTW — this only applies to 7-Eleven in Japan. I still don’t like the American version.