A closing radio parts mall in Akihabara

I have heard a radio parts mall in Akihabara, a downtown famous for electrical items, would be closeed tomorrow. I wanted to go there before it was closed. I left for Tokyo late this morning.

 

The radio parts mall, under the reailroad, is composed of three divisions. I knew only one of them would be closed. The photo shows the entire mall on the opposite side of the street over the pedistrian crossing. The history says it was constructed 64 years ago. One of the three divisions named the Radio Store was closed.

 

 

The mall was not very crowded. Several people were taking photo of the closing mall. Along a narrow passage, where just a couple of people could go through, there were small shops located on each side. Each shop was about 2m wide and 1.5m deep in size. There were always one or two personnel in the back of a shop as this photo shows. Every shop had its speciality. This shop seemed to sell mainly tiny parts of resistor or capacitor etc. Since my teenage days, this outlook has not been changed at all. Most of the items sold there have been changed. I used to attend there once a month grasping small amount of money in a hand. What thrill I have felt looking around for the parts I needed those days!

 

 

There were some foreign people enjoying shopping there. It was the same as in old days. All I have bought were a coil of solder, a soldering iron and a microphone for FT2000. The mic replaced an old one with a trouble and is used for PTT on CW! I should say I got a new stand by switch in stead.  

 

 

It was a fine beautiful day. I have walked from Akihabara up to Ueno. Since my mother school was near there, I used to walk this street in my student days. Gingko trees along the street looked beautifully shining.

 

 

It is a lake in Ueno, named Shinobazunoike, located the western side of Ueno Park. It was at a restaurant close to this lake, where a reception for my elmer, Ralph, WB6BFR, and his wife was held in late '60s.  I and my wife have walked around there as well. A lot of memories. It took me an hour to walk there. I was happy my feet did not complain of such a long walk yet.

 

I was pleased to know all the mall won't disappear. It seems, however, such shops won't go on for too long time since there would be less necessity for such radio parts and the internet shopping might replace it. Anyway, I wish them good luck in their business. It is still a place of my fond memory.

The State Secret Protection bill against The Tshwane Principles

I am rading The Tshwane Principles published at a meeting in S Afr in June this year. It was drafted by 22 organizations and academic centers in consultation with more than 500 experts from more than 70 countries.  The theme is regarding national security and the right to information. It warns that the authority could withold informations from the public for its own interests.

Our government is going to enact the state secret protection bill at present. It is clearly against the above mentioned Principles with respect to the following points;

1)The bill won't specify what would be the secrets to be protected. The head of the administrative organs could designate them without letting the public know of even the existence of designation.

2)The range of secrets is too diverse covering all aspects of the lives of the public. It could influence on us in serious manner. There is not any law effective to publish informations in the administrative organs yet.

3)The government says they will make effort to establish an oversight center independent of the administrative authorities. But it is just an empty promise. The entire course of enacting this bill means they won't place any such center which would tie their freedom in enforcement of this law.

4)The secrets the heads of the administrative organs designate won't be published in the future if the authority wishes. The secrets won't be critisized by the history. It would make a moral hazard of the administrative authorities.

I am sure this law could determine what shape of the country Japan would take in the future. It is as important as our constitution. The present government, which had been established with approval to the LDPJ by only 20% of votes in the election last year doesn't have the right to enact such a law. 

It is a great disappointment the public is almost indifferent to this problem. They seem to be occupied with the apparent picking up buisiness situation, which has been resulted only from the accidental drop of our currency. In addition to it, the public was given the freedom in life without any efforts. That may be the reason why they could be indifferent to it.

"Die zwei blauen Augen von meinem Schatz"

This is the last song in "Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen" by Mahler. Mahler has composed not only the music but also the words. The theme is a heartrending lost love, which he has experienced by himself.

 

I used to play this music as a member of orchestra twice. Firstly, at the med school orchestra. It was a very tough music for a beginner cellist due to the changing tonality as well as the swinging rhythm. The next chance came to me when I came back with cello in my early fifties. I have enjoyed the music as well as the words very much.

 

This last music was especially impressive to me. It seems Mahler has compromised with his fortune in this music. In the middle portion, the music sounds bright and warm in major tonality. Basically, however, it is a funeral march. In the very end, there sounds a deeply dark and pessimistic chord. The basic motif slowed down as if the travellor had breathed the last.

 

Dieskau in his young days sings dramatically in this recording. One of the best performances for this music.  

 

 

Comparison of the Status Agreements in different countries.

Since I have questioned about the fairness in the Japan US Status Agreement, a friend of mine in the US asked me to compare it with the same kind of the agreement of the US with the other countries. I understood he meant the agreement of the military status of the US with the other countries. So far as I know, here are the comparisons.

In Germany, which is also one of the defeated nations in WWII, the flights of the US military aircrafts are under the control of the German domestic law, which determines the areas being prohibitted the low altitude flights. In Japan, the flights of the US military aircrafts are out of the control of the domestic law. They could fly at any altitude in any place whatever dangerous it might be.  There have been sue cases against such flights at many places in Japan. The court decision has been for the plaintiff of the people suffering the hazard and strain from the flights. But our courts deny to judge if the presence of the US military is against the huma rights defined by our constitution. Those cases always end with payment of some money to the plaintiff by our government.

In Italy, another defeated nation, the US military stationed there should get permission from the Italian government and/or Italian military when the US military makes any military training operation. The US military is supposed to inform about their operation prior to its execution. The low altitude flights are actually prohibitted. The US military flights in Japan, as described in the previous paragraph, are not regulated by our domestic law. According to the Japan US Status Agreement, the US military aircrafts could fly and execute any training operations as the inter-base flights anywhere in Japan.

In Korea, the regional government has the right to investigate on the pollution by some toxic substances to the land/property of the US military base . In case that any pollution was found, the US military is responsible for the decontamination. In Japan, the regional government is not capable of investigation the possible pollution. Even in case that pollution becomes evident, the US military won't be responsible for the normalization. In Korea, the government knows how many personnel of the US military are located in the country. It has not been grasped by our government. The US military personel are free at entering and exiting our country. No immigration nor emmigration for them in Japan.

In Iraq, the US military has already withdrawn from the country. The Iraq US Status Agreement says
1)The date of the withdrawal of the US military was definitely determined.
2)Though the escape clause for crime is almost the same as with our agreement, Iraqi authority had the right to sue any private company from the US.
3)It is prohibitted for the uS military to attack the neighbor countries from the bases in Iraq.
4)Iraqi authority had the right to investigate any cargo etc on ships belonging to the US.
Our system is almost totally opposite to this content of the Iraq US Status Agreement. The Iraqi officials are told to have investigated about the Japan US Status Agreement before they concluded theirs with the US. What an irony!

In Phillipines, after the political change by Aquino, they have founded the new constitution, which realized the withdrawal of the US military from Phillipines. Phillipines has not got any disadvantage in the territorial issues even after the US military withdrawal. Phillipines has concluded a mutual defence treaty with the US and has been in good relationship with the latter.

~~~

I believe the US military should withdraw from our country. Afterward, they should conclude another treaty in fairness. I know some of our politicians and bureaucrats are getting profits or advantages from the present suboridanating relationship. We should be aware of that and speak against to the present system. In addition, hopefully, American people pay a bit of attention to this issue and would know what is going on here. I believe it will straighten our relationship for now.

At present, a law to protect from espionage is going to be made in the congress here. I believe it will work to hide things disadvantageous to the authorities here like this problem. It might fix the problem as stated here. The problem must go underground or get hidden with the new law. I hope as many people as possible will be concerned about it.

Anisakis

Anisakis is a parasite which could be found in raw seafood like squid or salmon. I thought its infection or infestation had been a rare event. But, when talking about it with my wife a few days ago, I have heard from her that a lady who used to prepare our dinner told her that she had found that parasite from time to time in raw squid.

This story may mean the case of anisakis infestation is not a rare problem but it could occur around myself. Anisakis could be killed by freezing the food. Chewing when eating certain food is also helpful to kill it. The gastric acid might be also a barrier to have Anisakis reach the gastric wall. But some could reach the gastric wall and infest it causing very bad stomachache. In the case of stomachache by Anisakis, you should undergo an endoscopic procedure and take it away from the stomache.

It is quite problematic that fresh raw seafood could cause this problem more easily. I have had raw seafood for thousands of times without any stomachache. There could be some genetic vulnerability for this infestation. I should study about that. But no one could assure I won't have the problem tomorrow.  So Dennis' comment on the risk of parasite infection is not negligible. And Don's belief Kirin would pasteurize the parasite doesn't seem practical either.

PS:After uploading this article, I found this review abstract. It won't mention about the genetic diversity in host defence against this parasite. There seem to be two pathophysiological causing problems in human being. One is the direct infestation. The other is an anaphylaxis via specific IgE. The immunogenetic factor must be involved in the latter. The severer allergological symptoms should occur only in selected cases determined by the immunogenetic trait.

Eur Ann Allergy Clin Immunol. 2012 Aug;44(4):150-6.

Anisakis simplex: current knowledge.

Pravettoni V, Primavesi L, Piantanida M.

Source

Clinical Allergy and Immunology Unit, Foundation IRCCS Ca' Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, via Pace, 9, 20122 Milan, Italy. v.pravettoni@policinico.mi.it

Abstract

Anisakiasis, firstly described in 1960s in the Netherlands, is a fish-borne parasitic disease caused by the consumption of raw or undercooked fish or cephalopods contaminated by third stage (13) larvae of the Anisakidae family, in particular Anisakis simplex (As), A. pegreffii and Pseudoterranova decipiens. Every year, approximately 20,000 cases of anisakiasis were reported worldwide, over 90% are from Japan and most others in Spain, the Netherlands and Germany, depending on the habits of fish consuming. Live As larvae can elicit i) a parasitic infection of the digestive tract or, occasionally, other organs, causing erosive and/or haemorrhagic lesions, ascites, perforations until granulomas and masses, if larva is not removed, and ii) allergic reactions, as anaphylaxis, acute/chronic urticaria and angioedema. Like other parasite infestations, As larva induces an immune adaptive response characterised by T-lymphocyte proliferation with polyclonal and monoclonal (responsible for As allergic symptoms) IgE production, eosinophilia and mastocytosis. Several As allergens, many of which thermostable, were described In particular the major allergen Ani s 1 and Ani s 7 could characterized a past or a recent infection. There is a general agreement that an active infection is required to initiate allergic sensitivity to Anisakis. Until now, the only effective treatment for anisakiasis is the endoscopic removal of live larvae and the best protection against anisakiasis is to educate consumers about the dangers of eating raw fish and to recommend avoiding the consumption of raw or inadequately thermally treated marine fish or cephalopods. 

A fancy dinner

It was the special dinner day yesterday. We went to a French restaurant near by. Not so many people there even though it was a week end. We have had a course of French cuisine. Very good. An elegant and delicate outlook. Complicated tastes in a dish. But we won't return there for a while. Too heavy for our stomach!

 

 

 

We have talked of our wedding ceremony 35 years ago. I noticed how much we owed to our parents. It was a ceremony for ourselves but not for the others, we concluded. It took us so many years until we noticed that.

For the remaining years in our lives, we should go on by ourselves. While taking oily foie gras and beef steak there, we stressed how necessary it was for us to take good amount of vegetables.

I wish we would come back here together for the celebration of the wedding anniversary next year.

The Japan US Status Agreement

Recently, I have noticed since I started working in the garden almost every day that there were many helicopters and cargo airplanes were flying over in this area. Almost no interval between those flights in the daytime. They are not at the low altitude, so that they won' t be so noisy as that disturbing our lives. But I wondered where they came from and went to. I haven't reached any conclusion about that yet. It seemed not a private planes or helicopters, but, most likelily, those belonging to the Air Self Defence Force, ADSF, or the US Military. There are still a couple of air force bases 20 or 30 miles away in the both directions they have flown to and from. 

From a book regarding the Japan US Status Agreement based on the Japan US Security Treaty, I have learned that there are 7 training routes of the US Military airplanes or helicopters. They extend
all over our country except for the big city areas. It seemed a route in Tohoku area could be involved those flights in this area. The Status Agreement says that the US Military aireplanes or helicopters could fly anywhere in Japan as the inter-base flights. In the training route, they are told to fly as low as 200 ft even in the residential areas like in Okinawa.  It is against our domestic law which prohibits flight below 500 ft anywhere. Of course, so is it in the US. The flights of US Military are out of the control by the law of either country.

A number of the Ospreys, the cargo hellicopter famous for a number of serious accidents and called as the widow maker, have been stationed in Japan. According to the Status Agreement, they must be in the training on those routes above mentioned. I have heard, with the citizens' protests, the flights of this hellicopter were given up or postponed in such as New Mexico or Hawaii. On the other hand, despite of a powerful protests against its flights in Okinawa, those hellicopters are still stationed and are in the training. The people are living just next to the air force bases. They also have experienced a crash accident at a university several years ago.  Okinawa has 74% of the US Military bases in Japan despite of its small size of land, 0.6% of the whole land in Japan. It would be too late if we are aware of the risk the flight gives to them at ceratin crash accident in the future. Something is wrong.

The Japan US Status Agreement and its related secret agreement have a number of rules one sided to the US Military. For examle, in addition to the above mentioned free flight by the US Military anywhere in Japan, any suspect of a crime are supposed not to be accused so far as the crime is not serious. Even serious crime cases are accused at lower rate than that committed by  japanese suspects. The suspects of the US Military and of the service personnel/families are not arrested by our police until they are accused. And there are many more examples of the one sided rules. It was a real surprise to me. Even compared with the US Status Agreements with the other countries like Korea, germany, Italy or Iraq, this Agreement is too one sided in a variety of fields. Not fair.
   
A friend of mine, a US citizen, told me in an SNS that the US military has been working for the security of Japan for years. Yes, it is a right insight. But the Japan US Security law says we, Japanese, should do with any friction with the other country by ourselves for the first place.  It is a common sense in the international society. We won't claim the US Military should do more than this. It has been almost 70 years since the end of the war and 61 years since the San Francisco Peace Treaty was concluded. Those unfair rules may not be related with the aim of the security treaty now. 

Of course, it is not due to the indifference of the US Military but also to the unwillingness or indifference of our politicians and the officials, especially, in the Minstry of Foreign Affairs. They should negotiate and reform the Status Agreement as that suitable for a independent nation. It seems there are, in this Agreement, a culture to regard the relationship to a certain country more important than the right of the people, or, I suspect, rather something profitable to them. The relationship with the US is distorted and giving rise to much defect in our society.   

The relationship with the US still remains one of the most important ones in the world for Japan. Personally, I have so many good friends in the US. I felt, however, it is the time for us to straighten our relationship at present. Hopefully, my friends will be interested in this issue.