TOKYO BRIEFING February 2005

News this month

Second-class citizens

Foreign residents can work as civil servants in Japan, but they shouldn’t expect promotions: the nation’s top court ruled that foreigners can be barred from managerial posts in the government. The ruling was a defeat for Chong Hyang Gyun, a South Korean citizen and long-time resident of Japan, who was employed as a nurse by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. Ms Chong sued the city in 1994 after she was barred from a test to become a manager because she is not a Japanese citizen.

The Tokyo High Court (just below the Supreme Court) previously ruled that blocking Ms Chong from the exam violated a constitutional guarantee of equality for all, regardless of race or ethnicity. That decision cheered many of Japan's foreign residents, particularly the large community of expatriate Koreans that have lived here since the second world war. But the city appealed on the basis that only Japanese citizens should be allowed to exercise civil authority.

Something to sneeze at

The amount of pollen in the air around Tokyo is expected to be ten to 15 times higher than last year, and perhaps even the highest on record. Horrible news for hay fever victims, but a potential bit of lucre for retailers, drug makers and others, who are covering shelves with a range of sniffle-fighting new products. Big Japanese retailers such as Takashimaya and Odakyu set up displays selling masks, eye drops and allergy medicines weeks earlier than usual. Kirin and Suntory, both beverage makers, have introduced teas, yogurt drinks and other concoctions claiming to alleviate allergies.

The surge in pollen is due to last summer's unusually warm weather. Although sales of allergy treatments should rise, the Dai-Ichi Life Research Institute predicts the overall effect on the economy to be negative, since those with the sniffles spend less time eating out and having fun.

Shrine controversy

Yotaro Kobayashi, the high-flying Chairman of Fuji Xerox, got some threatening packages after he criticised Japan's prime minister, Junichiro Koizumi, for visiting a shrine honouring the Japanese war dead. A package sent to Mr Kobayashi contained a bullet, and Molotov cocktails (which failed to fully ignite) were found outside his home. Yasukuni, the controversial shrine that Mr Koizumi visited, was once a famous backdrop for war propaganda and emperor-worship. The dead commemorated there include convicted war criminals from the second world war.

The prime minister's visits to Yasukuni have earned him criticism from a number of Japan's neighbours, which are still bitter about the country's long history of waging war on them. China in particular has said the visits show a lack of remorse from Japan, and has called for them to stop. Mr Kobayashi has been a target of right-wing groups since late last year, after he said the visits were fraying relations between Japan and China, which have been fragile lately.

Many to blame

Six executives are facing charges of criminal negligence after a six-year-old boy was crushed to death last March in a revolving door at Roppongi Hills, one of the city's glittering new skyscraper complexes. Police are charging three executives from the Mori Building Company, which runs the Roppongi Hills complex, and three from Sanwa Tajima, which made the door.

The police decided to go forward in January after finding out that six other accidents had occurred at the same place. They allege that Mori executives did not act on all of the safety recommendations their companies devised. One of the accidents was nearly identical to last year's fatality: a six-year-old girl had her head caught in the door, but was freed with minor injuries. Hisanobu Kubo, who worked for Sanwa Tajima, allegedly failed to report a blind spot in the censors that stopped the door, fearing unattractive safety measures and slow sales. The case seems to have spurred many to act: one survey found that 30% of building managers have removed or plan to remove their revolving doors, and 30% more have stopped using them.

New digs

Construction workers are putting the final touches on a new prime minister’s residence in central Tokyo, which should be ready in March. It is in what used to be the prime minister’s office building, an historic four-story structure near the Diet building. Nearly all of the interior has been remodelled, including living quarters for the prime minister and a guest house for visiting dignitaries.

The original 1929 structure was the site of a military coup in 1936. It is also where Tsuyoshi Inukai, the prime minister at the time, was assassinated in 1932. The refurbished structure is connected by passageways to a new office building completed three years ago, and Junichiro Koizumi has asked that it feature the latest eco-friendly technologies. It is a considerable improvement on his former official residence, which he moved out of in 2002, in which the roof was leaking and rats and cockroaches reportedly kept him company.

Catch if you can

February 2005

Archilab

December 21st-March 13th 2005

Subtitled “New Experiments in Architecture, Art and The City, 1950-2005”, this interesting show brings together more than 220 projects by nearly 90 architects from around the world. It is organised by the Mori Art Museum (MAM) with the FRAC Centre (Orleans, France). This is in the first show devoted to architecture at MAM, a new gallery for contemporary art, fashion, design and architecture established by Minoru Mori, a property developer, in 2003. Take advantage of the museum's long opening hours (until midnight Fri-Sun) to catch a glimpse of some of the most striking building projects of the 20th century.

Mori Art Museum, Roppongi Hills Mori Tower (53F), 6-10-1 Roppongi, Minato-Ku, Tokyo. Tel. 03-5777-8600 (Hello Dial). Roppongi station (Hibiya and Toei Oedo subway lines). More details are available on the museum's website.