Economist.com Cities Guide: Tokyo Briefing - May 2006

News this month

Bunker bubble?

In May the Bank of Japan reported that the total value of all Japanese land inched up by 1.4% in 2005. Average Tokyo land prices have been heading north for some months, but this modest rise was the first such national increase in 15 years, raising fears of a property bubble reminiscent of the 1980s.

The gathering sense of dread has pervaded recent political debate, and many now have the hard evidence they need to confirm the worst: Japan's secondary market in golf-course memberships is soaring again. Such memberships have long been treated by some speculators as a proxy for the overall property market, as they are regularly traded by those with no interest in ever hitting the links. As in the golf-membership heyday of the 1980s, the most hotly traded memberships in the current boom are for clubs nearest to the capital. Thus membership at the Yokohama Country Club (a mere 40 minutes' drive from central Tokyo) has more than doubled in value since January, reaching ¥13.5m ($120,000).

National pride

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government has led the way in imposing patriotism in Japanese schools. Teachers in the capital have been punished for their failure to stand during the national anthem, and many graduation ceremonies in March were held in halls without chairs.

The trail blazed by Tokyo's authorities looks set to be followed by the rest of the country. The national government recently adopted a highly divisive education bill that emphasises “public spirit and love of Japanese tradition”, and introduces “patriotism” as a central feature of the curriculum. The bill's controversial wording is precisely what conservatives have been demanding ever since Japan's education law first took effect in 1947, during the American occupation. Its opponents, who include thousands of teachers throughout the country, believe that this shift in emphasis could unnecessarily antagonise China and South Korea and promote the sort of blind nationalism that gripped Japan before the second world war.

Judge dread

A sweeping reorganisation of Japan's creaking judicial system has hit a potentially troublesome obstacle: a national reluctance to judge. Japan has not had a jury system for criminal trials since the second world war. In preparation for the introduction of “citizen judges” in 2009, the Supreme Court conducted a poll to establish the level of enthusiasm for the scheme.

The radical plan was designed largely to imbue the judicial process with a sense of democracy and transparency. In a typical trial, six citizen judges selected randomly from voter registers will work alongside three trained judges. Verdicts will be delivered by the majority vote of the nine judges. Yet the plan has not captured the public imagination: 33% of those surveyed actively did not want to become lay judges and another 28% were not particularly eager. Much of the reluctance stems from a fear that lay judges may receive threats from those involved in the cases.

Blessed are the matchmakers

Sweating over the steep decline in Japanese birthrates, particularly in Tokyo, the government has devised a scheme to revitalise the image of Japan's 4,000 matchmakers. More Japanese are marrying later in life—or not at all—and some speculate that this trend could be reversed if professional matchmakers were made more socially acceptable. A baby boom would naturally follow.

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) is so serious about the revitalisation plan that it has compiled Japan's first official report on matchmaking. METI's proposals include establishing an industry regulator and forcing TV companies to end their censorship of advertisements by matchmaking agencies. Marital matchmaking, which has a long and noble history in Japan, has taken something of a knock in recent years as Japanese confuse the concept with internet dating.

Charity begins on the street

Dispensing everything from strawberry gateaux to rare stag beetles, vending machines have peppered Japan's streets for decades. But if an experiment being conducted in Sendai works out, Tokyo may be lined with a new variety: a vending machine that also offers the glow of benevolence.

The machine, produced by a volunteer organisation known as Miyagi Heartful Vendor, will still sell canned drinks, but users can then press one of two buttons—marked ¥10 and ¥100—to indicate how much change to hold back for charity. How the Japanese will react to this is unclear. While the government is generous with donations to international relief efforts and other development funds, individual Japanese lag far behind their American and European counterparts in charitable giving.

Catch if you can

May 2006

Picasso: Five Themes

Until September 17th 2006

High up in the mountains near Hakone, the Pola Museum is offering a magnificent Picasso feast. This exhibition of 33 pieces from the gallery's permanent collection includes works from the artist's Blue and Cubist periods, and proceeds through sections entitled “Picasso and Braque: Still Life”, “Sacred Love and Profane Love” and “Picasso and the Spanish Tradition”. There are also some books Picasso illustrated, and works by Cézanne and Braque.

The Pola is a 90-minute trek from Tokyo—a trip involving trains and a shuttle bus—but no museum in the capital rivals its setting or Picasso trove.

Pola Museum of Art, Kozukayama 1285, Sengoku-hara, Hakone-machi, Japan 250-0631. Tel: + 81 (0)460 4 2111. Open: daily, 9am-5pm. Entry: ¥1,800. Take the slow bullet train to Odawarao, then the Hakone Tozan Railway to Gora, then the shuttle bus. See the museum's website.

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