Shirihoudai

What an odd story on Mainichi today. 

Average age of socially withdrawn people passes 30 for first time

The average age of people who isolate themselves from society has climbed past 30 for the first time, according to a survey on a group supporting family members of socially withdrawn people.

The finding was made in a survey that experts conducted on members of Zenkoku Hikikomori KHJ Oya no Kai. While there is a base of young people who shut themselves off from society, the latest survey highlights the definite increase in people in their 30s and 40s who have kept themselves isolated and have not managed to make a return to society.

The survey found that the average age of people isolated from society was 30.12. By gender, the average age for males was 30.35 and the corresponding figure for females was 28.87. The youngest person withdrawn from society was aged 13, and the oldest was aged 52. The average amount of time they spent withdrawn from society was 8.95 years, and the longest was 25 years.

The poll has been conducted every year since 2002. In that year, the average age of people who isolated themselves from society was 26.6, and in 2006 it was 29.6, showing that the age is increasing. The average age of parents of people who shut themselves off from society, meanwhile, was 63.23 years for fathers and 58.28 years for mothers.

When respondents were asked, from the viewpoint of family members, what support socially withdrawn people wanted, “financial support” was the most common answer, accounting for more than 50 percent of responses and surpassing the answers “counseling” and “diagnosis from a doctor.”

In a section that allowed people to freely state their opinions, one of the respondents wrote, “I want a system in place so that I can die in peace, “and another said, “I want a social security system to be founded, showing that parents worried what would happen when they were gone.

The representative of Zenkoku Hikikomori KHJ Oya no Kai, Masahisa Okuyama, said that a safety net would provide security for people.

“Concerns by socially withdrawn people and their parents are leading to family breakups, and we’re starting to see terrible situations in which people kill their parents, carry out murder-suicides or take their own lives. If there was some kind of safety net, that would give people a sense of security.”

The survey was conducted by a team including University of Tokushima Associate Prof. Motohiro Sakai between November 2007 and January 2008. Members of Zenkoku Hikikomori KHJ Oya no Kai were asked to fill in questionnaires, and officials analyzed the responses from 331 people.

I did come across my share of weirdos in Japan and the good vs bad reasons for them to be socially isolated probably even themselves out.  The first theory that popped into my head was the proliferation of the internet and the ability to hide behind a false e-personality.  I’m pretty sure the increasing ways in which one can interact in their virtual world and with their “friends” whom they’ve never met face to face has something to do with the inability for people to interact with humanoids in the real world.   Society on a whole is moving in a direction of antisocialism whether we are aware of it or not.  The inventions that are making our lives more convenient are perhaps somewhat to blame for the increased inability (of some) to function in our changing society.

text messaging vs calling on the phone

emailing vs writing a letter by hand

calling someone by phone vs talking in person

talking to someone vs punching them in the face

but I digress. . .

Don’t you hate theories that pop into your head after reading a simple news article?  As comedian Chris Rock said, “What ever happened to just being crazy?”  I agree.  “Socially withdrawn”?  Nah, that person is just crazy!

image via random google search

In my search for the coolest and cheapest “engrish” t-shirts, I have found this, this, and this one.   So now I present to you, my favorite one in the collection which I am wearing today.   When viewed from afar, it looks like a dumb t-shirt of a tree with writing:

When you get up close, you are then aware of the great message this t-shirt brings:

Bwahahahahaha.  I love it. To the designer of this room, great job! Looks like someone reading up on a bunch of asian stereotypes got a little too full and exploded a mosaic of asian crap. Lets analyze this room, shall we?

Click on the tv spots to see the different tv commercials in multi languages. I challenge you to find the one that is different.
Finally, click on the bag of food for a real surprise. Korean and Vietnamese burritos!!! mmm mmm good!

Call me a glutton for punishment but it was FREE COFFEE DAY at Charbucks, so I had to visit and try out their newest blend (to combat McDonald’s coffee which kicks their ass), Pikes Peak.  I get there at 4:00 pm. . .

“sorry, the free coffee was only at 9am!”

damn them!

“but we give out samples all the time for any coffee”

ok, they are forgiven.  I get my little paper cup, the kind that you pee in at the doctor’s office filled with coffee.

“this coffee is ground and brewed every 30 minutes. . . blah blah blah. . .” 

I ask if it is a lighter roast. . .

“it’s in between a light and a dark roast.  people who like dark roasts will enjoy it and people who want a smoother taste will also love it. . . blah blah blah”

I take my coffee, while my fingers are burning, put in a little half and half and sip it. . .

and the verdict is. . .

ASS!

Yes, Charbucks coffee roasted every 30 minutes still tastes like Charbucks coffee.  If you love that freshly burnt taste to your brew, then go out and get yourself a free sample!  Which brings me to my newest idea. . . since they give out sample cups, and there is a Starbucks on every corner:

1.  Buy yourself a thermos

2.  Go to nearest Starbucks and get a sample of coffee

3.  Pour sample into thermos

4.  Drive to next Starbucks

5.  Repeat steps 2 through 4 until thermos is full

6. (optional) give coffee to your worst enemy.

Do this at various times of the day until they start to recognize you.

This story from Reuters is like the movie iRobot come true. Sure we all want to have sex with robots and let them raise our kids but did we ever realize this fantasy world would come true?  But i’ll give them credit for this ingenuous way of saving pension money in the long run.

Robots seen doing work of 3.5 million in Japan

TOKYO (Reuters) - Robots could fill the jobs of 3.5 million people in graying Japan by 2025, a thinktank says, helping to avert worker shortages as the country’s population shrinks.

Japan faces a 16 percent slide in the size of its workforce by 2030 while the number of elderly will mushroom, the government estimates, raising worries about who will do the work in a country unused to, and unwilling to contemplate, large-scale immigration.

The thinktank, the Machine Industry Memorial Foundation, says robots could help fill the gaps, ranging from microsized capsules that detect lesions to high-tech vacuum cleaners.

Rather than each robot replacing one person, the foundation said in a report that robots could make time for people to focus on more important things.

Japan could save 2.1 trillion yen ($21 billion) of elderly insurance payments in 2025 by using robots that monitor the health of older people, so they don’t have to rely on human nursing care, the foundation said in its report.

Caregivers would save more than an hour a day if robots helped look after children, older people and did some housework, it added. Robotic duties could include reading books out loud or helping bathe the elderly.

“Seniors are pushing back their retirement until they are 65 years old, day care centers are being built so that more women can work during the day, and there is a move to increase the quota of foreign laborers. But none of these can beat the shrinking workforce,” said Takao Kobayashi, who worked on the study.

“Robots are important because they could help in some ways to alleviate such shortage of the labor force.”

The current fertility rate is 1.3 babies per woman, far below the level needed to maintain the population, while the government estimates that 40 percent of the population will be over 65 by 2055, raising concerns about who will look after the graying population.

Kobayashi said changes was still needed for robots to make a big impact on the workforce.

“There’s the expensive price tag, the functions of the robots still need to improve, and then there are the mindsets of people,” he said.

“People need to have the will to use the robots.”

(Reporting by Yoko Kubota; Editing by Rodney Joyce)

 If they look like this, then sign me up!

(image via www.whatheck.com)

Was in my old stomping grounds of Gardena this past weekend and had a craving for inari and maki sushi. I haven’t gone to Sakae Sushi since I was a kid so the need had to be filled. As you open the door to the little shop, your nose immediately notices the nice vinegar rice smell. Delicate and not overpowering. The menu hasn’t changed ever! Inari, Maki, saba, egg, shrimp, and california rolls.
Ordered a 7 pc mixed set and 7pc california roll so I can taste everything. At around 70 cents a piece, that has to be the best sushi bargain ever! So fresh and comes nicely wrapped in white paper with a green string. The Inari and Saba are my new favorites. Yes, it’ll make you smile.

storefront:

sushi box:

menu:

their sushi (top: egg, california roll, maki; bottom: inari, shrimp, saba) 

Notice how much rice they use? Its done that way for a reason. Eating their expertly prepared rice is a definite experience. Sticky with a hint of vinegar. I’ve gone to sushi shops that sell sushi for 10x this price and their rice can’t match what they do here at Sakae.

1601 W Redondo Beach Blvd Ste 112
Gardena, CA 90247
(310) 532-4550

(images via Yelp review)

 AKA Kanamara Weiner Festival - the celebration of ugly trannies and horny tourists.  This is still on my list of things to see in Japan as I love a good freakshow.  Women straddling the 6 foot rocket penis. . .

and 70 year old tranvestites. . .

what more could you ask for at a spring festival?  Phallic shaped candies? You got it!

As quoted from the Mainichi

Kanamara Matsuri, literally the Festival of the Iron Penis, had its beginnings in the Edo Period (1603-1868) with the prayers of women called meshimori onna, according to Wakamiya Hachimangu, the Shinto shrine in Kawasaki where the event was held.

Meshimori onna were women employed by the Shogun rulers of Japan during the feudal era to serve travelers along major roads such as the Tokaido that ran from Edo (modern Tokyo) to the ancient capital of Kyoto, with Kawasaki serving as a lodging spot.

Although the meshimori onna were supposed to serve only food, they also served themselves for a price, and it was their custom of praying to the gods that led to the festival as it is today.

Kanamara Matsuri is said to have positive effectives on business and fertility, increases the chance of an easy birth, heightens the possibility of finding a partner, boosts marital harmony and wards off sexually transmitted diseases.

So you see, there is a reason for all the madness.  In addition to helping solve  Japan’s declining population, the festival serves many purposes - increasing the population, helping the local economy, AIDS awareness, transvestite tolerance, uncensorship of genatalia in public places. . . the list goes on and on.

(photos via Mainichi)

They even posted a video of the phallic fun here

A Zoo in Japan? Not just any zoo. . . the INNER CITY ZOO! I was blown away when i first went here. It’s kind of small, but they more than make up for it in the kinds of animals they put on display (and are for sale). From monkeys to mountain lions. . . pirannas to penguins. . . you won’t believe what you’re seeing.  One of my must-go-to places in the Yokohama area.

For a small cover charge, you’ll walk inside one of the coolest pet stores ever! Where else can you buy a fennic? Ah, those long ears are so cute. . .
(image via random google search)
It is located in Yokohama and there are some nice shopping outlets nearby.  But anyway, here is the site 

So it is well known that the JR system is so precise that you can set your watch to it.  Aside from the occassional suicide that delays passengers from their destinations, the trains in Japan all run on time. 

Here is a great site that will plan out the route you need to take, including the line changes and time tables.  For all of you who need to be on a tight schedule, this just might help out.

HYPERDIA-timetable
Just enter your start point and destination point. Heck, even throw in some stations you want to stop at in between. It’ll show you which trains to catch. Coolio.

Stumbled upon this movie trailer while reading my usual Japanese sites and I must say, this looks like a winner! Combines my favorite movie elements: girls in bikinis + westerns + samurai swordplay + zombies? Genius!