Tokyo Times

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Current Affairs

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Media miscreants

Public broadcaster NHK has recently been having a torrid time due to a well publicized embezzlement scandal, and allegations of censoring a program due to governmental pressure. And now to add to its woes, a company employee has been arrested for allegedly molesting a 17-year-old high school girl on a Tokyo commuter train.

It turns out however that 36-year-old Ko Sasaki’s ignominious arrest might be merely the tip of a very large iceberg. As a blacklist currently being circulated details numerous cases of disciplinary action within the company over the last 6 years. Incidents involving prostitution, peeping Toms, molestation, and sexual harassment.

Due to the disproportionately large number of cases, I’ve only listed a few below. Most of which never made the news, and the majority of the perpetrators escaped prosecution due to pressure allegedly asserted by NHK.

nhk japan

October 1999. An employee was dismissed and fined 500,000 yen (2,500 pound) after paying for sexual favours from a high school student he met through a telephone club.

May 2000. A department manager caught stealing ladies underwear from a nearby stadium locker room. The man was eventually dismissed, but charges of breaking and entering were dropped.

February 2001. A department manager again, which makes you wonder what kind of training they are given. This one was found guilty of molesting a female student on the train. He was suspended from work for 5 days (although there’s no mention of demotion) and penalized 50,000 yen (250 pound).

November 2001. An employee caught filming up a woman’s skirt at a train station. Resulting in a 5 day suspension and a similar 50,000 yen fine.

February 2003. Another upskirt aficionado. This worker was rumbled whilst in action with his digital camera. He too was suspended for a week, but received a heftier penalty of 200,000 yen (1,000 pound).

July 2003. More train groping to finish off with. This media molester received a 5-day suspension and a 50,000 yen fine.

Never a dull moment at NHK eh? Apparently many of the suspensions were/are covered up so fellow staff members don’t find out. But with this information now doing the rounds, any employee taking a couple of days off for a bout of the flu will surely have tongues wagging upon their return.

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Grim facts

Figures recently released show that suicides in Japan rose to a record high of 32,109 in 2003. Resulting in a number over 30,000 for the sixth straight year.

Unsurprisingly Japan’s economic woes have borne the brunt of the blame, with more than a quarter of the cases in 2003 being linked to financial issues. But a couple of statistics appear to paint a decidedly bleak picture in regards to employment itself, as opposed to unemployment.

Broken down into days, Mondays had by far the highest number of suicides, whilst at the opposite end of the scale Saturdays had the least.

I think that speaks volumes, don’t you?

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Sanyo’s shameless suggestion revisited

The other day I wrote about Sanyo suggesting its employees spend a considerable chunk of their own money to help boost faltering sales. With the proposed amounts starting at a staggering 200,000 yen (1,000 pound) for rank-and-file workers, and 500,000 yen (2,500 pound) for section managers.

As expected, the comments this post garnered were overwhelmingly critical of Sanyo. Except one that is. A response rather surprisingly from the company itself. Who the person is, and what position they hold wasn’t disclosed, but the IP address confirms the reply came from Sanyo. And as such it’s a response far too interesting to be left buried in the archived comments. So here it is.

Clarification:
1. It is recommended/encouraged.
2. Employees can buy their quota or promote the sales equivalent of such.
3. Executives have a 700,000 yen target.
4. Sanyo sells homes, does reform of homes, car loans, home solar power systems, plasma TVs, heating and cooling systems in addition to small home appliances, so meeting the quota might not be too difficult if you are in the market for high end products.
5. There is a Hello Kitty toaster and hot sandwich maker too.

Now to be honest, I feel this clarification makes the whole sorry affair seem even worse (if indeed that’s possible). The fact that it’s a recommendation leads one to suspect that non-compliance will result in the employee being disadvantaged in some form or another. And the option of going out and trying to cajole unsuspecting punters into buying Sanyo products in order to reach the necessary target isn’t what I’d call a favour. Whether it be a house, heater, or home appliance.

Even the mention of a Hello Kitty toaster isn’t enough to distract attention away from Sanyo’s sneaky shenanigans.

hello_kitty_toaster

Is it?

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Political posturing

“We are sure that we will win. We’ve been strongly motivated. We shall beat them for sure.”

North Korea’s sports guidance director Ri Hyon, saying that the national team’s football players are being promised cash, cars, and houses to motivate them to beat Japan.

As the February 9th World Cup qualifier between Japan and North Korea draws nearer, it would seem the political posturing has now started in earnest.

The coming game will be played in Japan, and due to the importance of the game and the tension between the two countries, it will be interesting to see how the usually impeccably behaved Japanese fans react. When the teams met 20 years ago in Pyongyang, the Japanese were subjected to an intimidating and off-putting silence every time they gained possession. And in another trip in 1989, the team complained about a lack of food. A situation that resulted in some of the players having to eat instant noodles, which fortunately they had taken with them.

But with the 1st leg still unplayed, talk of the return fixture has already started. And rumours have surfaced that in a bid to hinder Japan’s superior technical ability, the North Koreans will let the grass on the pitch grow a little longer than usual.

A story that this picture of Kim Jong-Il and a gang of grinning groundsmen does little to discredit.

kim_jong_il

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Sanyo’s shameless suggestion

After sustaining substantial losses due to the earthquake in Niigata last October, electronics giant Sanyo has hit upon a novel way to claw back some money. As on Saturday the company asked its domestic employees to go on Sanyo spending sprees.

Perhaps if minor purchases had been proposed, this announcement wouldn’t have made the news, but the figures suggested simply beggar belief. Division chiefs have been asked to buy up to 500,000 yen (2,500 pound) worth of products, and regular rank-and-file workers up to 200,000 yen (1,000 pound).

A spokesperson said that if every employee met the company’s specified target, sales would be boosted by about 16 billion yen. And in an act of selfless generosity by Sanyo, it has been said that workers will be allowed to include purchases by relatives and acquaintances in their money-spent-under-duress totals.

That said, perhaps they’ll all be happy to rush out and spend their hard earned cash on Sanyo Winnie the Pooh toasters.

winnie the pooh toast

Or there again, perhaps not.