Japan Syndrome II

Hubris at Melting Point!

Japan Syndrome is NOT to do with the failure of the core cooling system in her nuclear reactors; it’s about Japan’s hubris* reaching melting point!

By now most readers are probably aware that Japan’s food self-sufficiency rate, total calories supplied, for fiscal 2006 declined from 40 to 39 percent, one of the lowest rates in the “developed” world!

Japan’s food self-sufficiency rate was 70 percent 40 years ago. However, the massive decline is attributed to the westernization of the eating habits replacing the demand for rice with increased food imports.

As if that wasn’t sad enough, Japan’s energy self-sufficiency is less than 4 percent!

What is hubris?

Hubris is the act of training monkeys how to read doctored history books, instead of concentrating all of your efforts in food self-sufficiency research.

Hubris is the manufacturing of subsonic septic tanks (SUVs, minivans and all other large cars) to guzzle the gas that you don’t have, instead of building wind turbines and other renewable energy implements that would enhance your energy self-sufficiency (especially at a time when oil and natural gas ‘producer’ countries are consolidating sales in favor of own populations).

Hubris is the practice of ontinually offending the nations that provide you with your daily chow and the gas in your subsonic septic tanks, the very nations that your survival depends on!

Hubris is the exercise of flying half way across the world to see your “gladiator” batting a ball, or throwing a curveball.

Hubris is the pretense that you are a Western nation, Americans to be exact, when clearly you aren’t and you don’t have to be, or imitate their unsustainable lifestyles and eating habits!

Hubris is the mortal culture of burrying your head in the sand and pretending that all is well, while failing miserably to protect [all of ] your nation against the looming food and energy crisis.

Japan Syndrome

Hubris at Melting Point!

Japan Syndrome is NOT to do with the failure of the core cooling system in her nuclear reactors; it’s about Japan’s hubris* reaching melting point!

By now most readers are probably aware that Japan’s food self-sufficiency rate, total calories supplied, for fiscal 2006 declined from 40 to 39 percent, one of the lowest rates in the “developed” world!

Japan’s food self-sufficiency rate was 70 percent 40 years ago. However, the massive decline is attributed to the westernization of the eating habits replacing the demand for rice with increased food imports.

As if that wasn’t sad enough, Japan’s energy self-sufficiency is less than 4 percent!

What is hubris?

Hubris is the act of training monkeys how to read doctored history books, instead of concentrating all of your efforts in food self-sufficiency research.

Hubris is the manufacturing of subsonic septic tanks (SUVs, minivans and all other large cars) to guzzle the gas that you don’t have, instead of building wind turbines and other renewable energy implements that would enhance your energy self-sufficiency (especially at a time when oil and natural gas ‘producer’ countries are consolidating sales in favor of own populations).

Hubris is the practice of ontinually offending the nations that provide you with your daily chow and the gas in your subsonic septic tanks, the very nations that your survival depends on!

Hubris is the exercise of flying half way across the world to see your “gladiator” batting a ball, or throwing a curveball.

Hubris is the pretense that you are a Western nation, Americans to be exact, when clearly you aren’t and you don’t have to be, or imitate their unsustainable lifestyles and eating habits!

Hubris is the mortal culture of burrying your head in the sand and pretending that all is well, while failing miserably to protect [all of ] your nation against the looming food and energy crisis.

2008: The Year of Garbage!

The Japanifik Calendar

On the Japanifik Calendar 2008 is the year of garbage. It started well enough. Last week there was no garbage collection until January 4. Most Japanifiks live in small apartments (average studios: 80-100 sq ft, 2bdm: 450-500 sq ft), where the kitchens have barely enough room for tiny garbage pales. Given Japan’s garbage-intensive lifestyle, it would be impossible to live with the stench of a whole week’s garbage in the Japanifik apartments.

Sure enough, starting January 1st, drive-by dumping began in earnest.

The Art of Drive-Dump

Drive-by dumping (or drive-dump for short) is carried out usually by one or more individuals from a moving vehicle, when the bag is small enough to chuck out of the window, in which case it could land anywhere, or from a momentarily stopped vehicle, when larger garbage bags are tossed into the rice paddies below the road level [to prevent unsightly garbage strewn on the roads!]

Note: Although the bamboo fields in and around Japanifik (both public and privately owned) are strictly reserved for illegally dumping of white goods, kitchen appliances, household electrical and electronic gadgets, old computers, monitors and printers (occasionally unwanted cars are left there, too), some enterprising drive-dumpers broke with the tradition this year and lobbed their ordinary garbage over the fences.

Happy Year of Garbage!