VS Animal Rights

Even though the word still sounds too radical, the word "Animal Rights" becomes popular recently.
Literally the word means that animals has rights.
If you think so, you couldn't eat any animals. Even if you like sushi, you could be inhibited to eat it. The rights can throw us into a food crisis.
That's why, if you say "Protect animal rights!" in Japan, people might think you are strange or dangerous. But now, we can't ignore the idea at all.

Animal Rights. This idea was claimed by philosophical thinkers or social activists at first. Politicians, lawers, government officials or the people living in the realer society have no interest in it. For them, it's a crazy idea. To be honest, me too. I can't agree with it, without any conditions. But I can agree taht this idea actually gives us a new perspective to our world.

A few years ago, the court of Amami black rabbits was held in Japan.
A local government planed to make a new golf course in Amami isiland, which is located near Okinawa.
On the land, a lot of rare animals lived at that time. Amami black rabbits were one of them.
Some NGO tirying to protect nature refused the golf course making plan. But, they were not the residents on the island, so under Japanese law, they didin't have the right to rufuse the plan.
But NGO got a miracle idea soon.
They became a representive of rare animals living in the island like Amami black cat, and fought against the local government.

The representive of rare animals. It was a crazy idea at that time. So, everybody thought NGO would lose in court. And, actually, they lost. the Court refused their claim soon.
However, in the judgement, the Court accepted the significance of the right of rare animals a little, and added an opinion to the judgement.
"Law can't protect the animal's right. But, we shouldn't ignore it at all."
The court itself was unique at that time, and in addition, the opinion of the Court was unique too.
So, the court was broadcasted very much, and people started to be interested in the plan, and criticize it.
Therefore, the making of the golf course was stopped, and the nature has been kept until now. The NGO substantially won. It's an interesting example to show that a new idea, or a new word, can change the world a little.

VS Winter Surfing

If you hear that somebody says winter is a good season to surf, you must think the person is crazy. Yes. You are right on a global standard.
But, not in Japan. Real surfer should surf here in the winter sea.
The cold wind from the north is actually cold, but it becomes an off-shore wind on the beach of the Pacific Ocean side. The wind make the shape of wave better, because the wave coming from the Ocean (from the south) hit the wind from the north, and at the point, the wave grew bigger rapidly. It bocomes surfer's preference.

As usual weekends, I went to Enoshima to surf yesterday.
These days, it becomes cold gradually in Japan. So, before going to Enoshima, I didn't want to surf. I wanted to stay in my bed. But, once I reached the sea, my surfer-spirit suddenly and naturally emerged.
I rushed to go to the beach.

The water temparature was.....higher! Higher than I imaged before going into the sea. And, my full-body wet suit could protect me against the cold wind. I felt very comfortable in the sea. Great.
As winter coming closer, the air seems to be clear.
On my surf board, I could clearly see the outline of Mt.Fuji existing far away. It was very beautiful.
The water of the sea is also more beautiful now than in summer time.

Although the water temparature is still okey for me to surf now, it is also true that the chilliness make me more tired than before. That's why I should buy a thicker wet suit soon, for the coming real winter.
The staff in the surfshop I always go to said, "During winter season, the day after rain or snow is good for surfing. The wave is very good."
Surfing after snow.
For me, it still sounds like a suicide. But I have watched the picture that Santa Claus surfs. I think the picture was about the Chirsitmas day in Austlaria.
He made it. So, I should challange it.
I will spend this Christmas day on the sea.

VS Coup d'etat

Two months ago, a coup d'etat happened in Thailand. The country's army made it to beat the government. The president escaped to a foreign country. Now, a new government is established, and most of Thai people seem to support it.
But, because the government change was certainly undemocratic, other countries blamed for the coup d'etat soon. Even if the previous president was a bad person, a coup d'etat can't be agreed with from the view point of democracy.
I can understand the idea to some extent. Basically, politics shouldn't be infulenced or changed by army. It's right.

Recently, by chance, I had the oppotunity to talk with a co-worker working in Thailand now. I asked him about the social situation in Thailand.
I had thought it was very dangerous especially during the days of the coup d'eter. But he said very honestly, maybe too honestly, that the social situation was good at that time because Thai people can't concentrate on serious things for a long time, even if it's a coup d'eter and revolution.
Mmmmm, really?
If it was truely so, it's surprising and disapointing.
For me, social change is like a festival. So, it have to be dynamic and energetic. As I wrote above, I can understand an undemocratic social change is not good. However, to be honest, I can sympathize with it easily. Because I know festival is important for our life.

Anyway, I knew form him that the coup d'etat in Thailand was very peaceful. He said," Thai people are Buddists, so they wouldn't kill people."
I think his understanding of Thai people and Buddist is too extreme, but he would get a point.

VS Dubai

Latest newspapers say that my company will open a new bookstore in Dubai next year. Of course, I knew it before the news.
But, I didn't know the scale.
The bookstore will have 500 thousands of books on the floor.
Although maybe most people can't image the amount, I know it's a crazy amount of books.
And I knew from the newspapers that the bookstore in Dubai may be the biggest one in the world.
Oil money will change into a huge number of books? If so, it's good, at least for book-salesmen.

Why does my company make a new store there?
I don't know the detail of the reason, but I heared that the government officials came to the head office of my company a few years ago and asked for a new store in Dubai.
Not only for my company but also for Japanese publishing business, it must be a challanging job. My company decided to make a now store there. Now my company is searching for new staffs to work there.
Unfortunately I am not in the branch for the new job now. So, I think I don't have a chance to go there for business. However, someday in the future, I want to try to live in Arabic countries. It must be fun.

In democratic countries, publishing business can make a success. So, in Dubai, my company can succeed.
But in some other countries, still now, it's difficult to do a publishing business and book-sales. Because some people see free publishing dangerous. They regulate the business a lot. So we have to avoid the business in undemocratic countries.
But, on the other hand, I think it is also true that publishing make the country more democratic. That's why, in a difficult business situation in such a country, doing a publishing business must be challanging and fun.
Ok, next target should be North Korea. I think it's the most challanging.

VS Mental Illness

Now I am reading a science book, "Warped Passages" written by Lisa Randall, a physicist studying extra dimensions. In this book, we can know the possibility of the existence of another world. We can recognize only this three-dimension world, but she says we can expect that there are other dimensions we can't see if we think of this world more logically. It means there is another world.

Without any scientifical background, I can believe in the idea. Because I myself live in another world everyday.
In the world, I am a super hero, a successful man, very intellectual, strong and rich. I am very confident there.
This another world seems to have the connection with our real world. Sometimes, I in the another world infulence on me in this real world. So, I can be sometimes confident here, even though I am an ordinary man.

The another world the book treat is the challenging topic of pure science. My another world is, maybe, my goal or ideal.
They are very positive.
However, the another world one of my friends will live in is different from them at all.
Now, the person X is going to another world. It looks to give bad influence on X.
I realised X is getting mental illness.

X can read my blog, but I write this article.
One day, suddenly, X called me. I think X's last call was over one year ago. The call was very sudden.
X told me that X found out a fact.
X found the fact that there is a relationship between sexual desire and pimple.
Without any context, even without saying hello, he told taht to me. And, X said to me, "Everybody knew the fact long time ago. But although I am an adult, I know it now. So I am fool."
X regreted it, then X apologized me.( I don't know why?)
It was certain that X's talking was the crazy person's.
I think X is on the first stage to become mentally sick.

I talked about this episode to my friend. He told me that anybody including us have the possibility to have mental illness. We have to know that some percentages of people in our society have it. So, we have to get along well with the people.
I can understand it in general.
But, I think illnees has its reason. If we can identify and want to remove the reason, first of all, we should do it.

I think X is a typical Japanese, who is inconfident, tends to compare itself with others, follows others easily and/but has pride very much. And lonely.
I thought X cared for others too much. That's why X is very negative to speak frankly with others.
X looks always protecting Xself.

My advice in the call was "Don't compare you with others."
I am not sure whether X understood my advice at that time.

When I was a child, I requested my mother to give me a gift on Christmas day. Because my friends got it from their parents.
But my mother said with or without a smile, "They are they. You are you."
From then, I have finished comparing me with others.
It's silly.

VS Wedding Party

I am writing this article in Fukuoka now. I came here to join my best friend Nomura's wedding ceremony.
The ceremony and party had continued almost for 14 hours, and finished successfully this early morning. I enojoyed very much, so I was not tired at all last night.
Even now after a short sleep, I am still excited.

Everytime I join my friend's wedding party, I think about the friend's life until now. Looking at the participant surrounding the bride and groom, we can know the life of them. Parents, Friends, Colleagues, Teachers etc. Great people are surrounding them.
In a wedding party, I look like a part of their life. I am proud of it. And, I can know other parts there. And, all parts are combined completely there. I can understand my friend more deeply.
For Nomura's party, he has a lot of parts in the life. And, his wife Maki has them too. Actually the party was very big. Over one hundred people joined it.

After the long party night, I walked around in Fukuoka city with another Nomura's friend. I saw him the night for the first time. I asked him to go to eat Ramen. He took me a Ramen shop. After that, we went to a business hotel by taxi, and stayed there for a short time. He paied everything for me.
I said "I can pay! You don't have to pay for me!"
But, he refused me to pay.
Because, he said "You are Nomura's friend. So, in Fukuoka, I can't allow you to pay money."

Friend. It's great.

VS Promotion

I got promotion suddenly this week. I was surprised very much, because I didn't expect for it at all.

I belong to Unchained Dogs Four in my company. It is composed of four members, including me. We work very hard for theirselves and for their customers, but/and are very critical to their bosses. That's why their relationship with the bosses are totally and utterly bad.

When I started to work in my company around ten years ago, I realised soon my boss at that time shouldn't manage my branch for the lack of his management skill. And soon, I asked a head office to change my boss.
This request from a new comer seemed to be shocking for my company. Needless to say, the relationship between me and the boss became very very bad later.

So, I had not expected for promotion, and I had thought it had no meaning in my life.
However, suddenly, all the members of UDF were ordered to promote by the head office. What's happened with my company?
I asked my present boss why I would promote, but he didn't know the reason, and even my promotion! Gash.

VS Sales Job

Very nervous feeling in my mind had continued in the last month, because of a lot of taugh businesses. But now, all my struggles are almost coming to the end with successful results. I am very relaxed at this point.
I beat my business competitors. I negotiated successfully with my customers. I convinced my boss of my decision. From the successful results, now I think I am a natural-born salesman.

Not so long time before, sales job was regarded as a men's job in Japanese companies. However, recently, in my company, the number of sales-women are increasing rapidly. Why? Because, a lot of new famale staffs in my company hope to work for a sales division. My company's human management policy is very simple. The person who wants to do the job is the best person who should do the job. So, a lot of ladies are working as saleswomen now. On the other hand, a lot of men don't hope for the job. Why? Mmm, I don't know.
I heard that more new female workers will come to my division next year.

This month, a lot of universities in Japan are going to have their students' festival. I like them. They remind me of my first experience of sales job.
When I was a student, I sold frankfurt in my university's festival. I searched for a good meat shop, negotiated with the butcher for the meat price, calculated the cost-benefit balance, decided how many to buy and how much to sell, and even cook them by myself.
Maybe my management and cooking were terrible at that time. The commodities produced by me were often too salty, and sometimes still cold. Frozen-frankfurt would have been original, but immatured, literally. When a customer complained of a cold frankfurt to me, I had nothing but to give him an additional cold one free.
Even though the management of the frankfurt shop was crazy, fortunately I could get a little bit of revenue. It was a funny experience.
That's why I am looking forward to going to some university festivals in this season. I might see a funny business by students.

For book-sales, I don't have to cook books. It's an easier job. I don't know the reason why guys don't want the job.