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The Modern Epidemic: A History of Tuberculosis in Japan
By William Johnston
Harvard University Press, 1995, 432 pages.

Tuberculosis is a very serious disease. In human history it has killed millions and will continue to kill many more. In the industrialized world it is considered a very serious disease of the past. That is, if you haven’t forgotten about it completely. Tuberculosis hasn’t gone away in any country, though. We’ve merely been able to deal with it better in the industrialized world. But combined with HIV, tuberculosis is still proving to be the merciless killer it was a hundred years ago. In Africa, according to this just released WHO press release, “[in Africa] TB incidence rates have tripled since 1990 in countries with high HIV prevalence and are still rising across the continent at a rate of 3-4% annually.”

The Modern Epidemic is the story of Japan’s history with tuberculosis. The book is divided into three sections, each of which explores a different aspect of tuberculosis in Japan. The first section is “The Disease and The Epidemic.” This section tells us what tuberculosis is and how it is transmitted. We learn that tuberculosis was endemic to Japan, and was even mentioned in The Tale of Genji and The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon. However, it became a much more serious problem after the Meiji Restoration when Japan was rapidly industrializing.

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This is a translation of a Yomiuri On-Line article posted on March 24, 2005.

A religious corporation filed a lawsuit in the Nagoya district court arguing that Buddhist memorial services for pets are the equivalent of a religious act and fees for those services should not be taxed. Chief Justice Kato dismissed the lawsuit on the 24th stating, “It is the equivalent of a profit-making enterprise that must be taxed.”

This is the first judicial decision to rule that the taxation of fees for pet memorial services by a religious corporation is appropriate. The plaintiff is planning to appeal.

The religious corporation “Jimyouin” (Head Priest Enmyou Watanabe) in Kusagai City, Aichi Prefecture filed the lawsuit. It named the superintendent of the Komaki Tax Office in Aichi Prefecture as defendant and is requesting the repeal of tax penalties.

According to the judgment, as pet memorial services, from around 1984, Jimyouin performed sutra readings and cremations for pets such as dogs and cats. Jimyouin accepted 8000 yen ($75.22) to 50,000 yen ($470.10) “offerings” which it did not declare as income, because, “It is the same religious activity as memorial services for people.”

In response to this, the Komaki Tax Office is taxing Jimyouin as a profit-making enterprise approximately 6.7 million yen ($62,922.61) for the 5 year period ending March, 2001.

At trial Jimyouin argued, “There is no rational reason for pet memorial services fees to be subject to taxation.” However, Chief Justice Kato decided that, “With actions such as preparing a price list in advance, you resemble the business practices of pet morticians. It is the equivalent of a profit-making enterprise that must be taxed.”

The following is a translation of an article from the Asahi News

NEC announced on the 16th that they have invented “Child Care Robot PaPeRo,” with improved functions to play with and watch over children. It has the ability to help caregivers in places such as kindergartens and nursery schools. It will be exhibited at EXPO 2005 Aichi Japan.

15-inch tall PaPeRo can understand and converse with hundreds of simple words, and also has been equipped with singing and dancing functions. The surface of the body has been made from a touch sensor, so when children touch PaPeRo it will act happy and make noise. A video phone function has also been included so a distant guardian can call PaPeRo and using its eyes check on their child.

During the exposition, PaPeRo can be viewed in the “Robot Interaction Room,” in “Robot Station.”

Kafka on the Shore
By Haruki Murakami
Translated by Philip Gabriel
Knopf, 2005, 436 pages.

海辺のカフカ
村上春樹著者
新潮社、2002年、2冊

“Kafka on the Shore” is the story of 15 year old Kafka Tamura, who runs away from his father and his home in Tokyo, and finds his way to a small private library in Takamatsu, in Shikoku. But “Kafka on the Shore” is also the story of an elderly, slow, mentally challenged man named Nakata who talks to cats. He also makes his way to Shikoku, driven by a compulsion to find a stone and helped along by friendly people. Kafka and Nakata will never meet, but their journey and their lives are linked together psychically.

Kafka is a mentally abused boy. His mother and sister left the family when he was very young, and when his father wasn’t neglecting him, he was taunting Kafka with the omen that one day he will kill his father and have sex with his mother and sister. To keep the omen from coming true he runs away to the library. He is accepted by the quick-witted transgender library assistant and the middle-aged woman who run the library, and they provide him aid and shelter when he becomes wanted for questioning in connection with the murder of his father.

Kafka is Murakami’s first teenage protagonist. The usual protagonist he puts in his works is a middle-aged man. This may explain why I found Kafka to be an unconvincing character. Even though he is supposed to be more mature than a normal 15 year old, he is written as what I imagine Murakami thinks he himself would be like if he were 15 years old again. Kafka’s taste in music and literature are nothing like your typical Japanese teen. The one thing that really stood out in my mind is a scene where Kafka takes out an old record player, checks the needle and finds out its still good. I’m nearly twice Kafka’s age, and I even had a record player when I was a boy, but I still wouldn’t know the first thing about checking the condition of a record player now.

The Nakata narrative is more believable because it’s written like a complete fantasy. His story stretches back to the Second World War with a mysterious event that leaves him in a coma, and when he comes out of it, he becomes mentally feeble but he can talk to cats. He will have a run-in with a cat murdering Johnnie Walker and be responsible for a rain of leeches. The young truck driver he befriends will be offered a prostitute by Colonel Sanders, who works as a divine force to move the story along.

Whether Kafka fulfilled the omen or not, and what exactly anything means in the Nakata narrative, are all left up for the reader to decide. The story ends on a positive note, with Kafka finally deciding that he has to live life, rather than run away from it. “Kafka on the Shore” is an entertaining, but not great, book. My recommendation: Wait for the paperback.

The following is a translation of an article appearing on The Asashi Shimbun website.

An earthquake with an intensity of 7 out of 7 on the Japanese seismic scale has just occurred, and a tiger has escaped from its cage.—Under this hypothetical scenario the Tennouji Zoo in Osaka practiced capturing escaped animals.

The real 1975 incident of a leopard escape became the reason for starting this practice, and recently it is being done once every two years. About 90 staff members split up and pursued a keeper who played the part of the costumed tiger.

Two years ago the practice was conducted with a bear suit, however, it was too realistic and some children even cried, so it was changed to an event-use tiger costume. Kindergarteners let out a cheer, and one staff member remarked, “There was power in the movement, but it might be too cute.”