Saturday, August 30, 2014

From Rocket News 24: Japan’s secret garbage problem–and what you can do to help

This is a reblog of an article from Rocket News 24. The plight seems serious and heartfelt, so I figured I'd reblog it and get the word out. Keep Japan clean!

Japan’s secret garbage problem–and what you can do to help

1024px-Algal_bloom(akasio)_by_Noctiluca_in_Nagasaki
Japan is one of the cleanest countries you’ll encounter as a traveler. The inside of the bullet train is kept absolutely spotless, taxi drivers can be seen buffing their vehicles of dust and road grit while waiting for the next customer. Graffiti is rare here and men in jumpsuits are employed to scrape off gum and anything else adhered to train station floors. Glamorous and gleaming is the way the Japanese like things. Even diesel trucks are washed down in their terminals after a day on the roads.
So it’s no surprise that the city streets are litter-free, that public trash bins ask you to separate your refuse into burnable and non-burnable bins, or that the Japanese have a reputation for taking their garbage home with them when attending sporting events.
So it may have been a surprise to some of our readers when someone commented on the trashiness of Japanese beaches in response to my previous article on Japanese beach culture, saying: “The number one beach activity in Japan is actually turning it into a giant open dump, full or empty beer cans, cigarette buds, and plastics of all kinds. It’s a big paradox when you see how clean the streets are.”
While I can’t speak for other beaches, our public beach on Shiraishi Island is quite clean. Beach-goers clean up after themselves and take their garbage home with them. We regularly clean the beach of any stray debris that washes up, including P.E.T. bottles, plastic bags and cans.
But I think I know what our disgruntled reader was talking about. And it’s one of Japan’s biggest, dirtiest secrets that needs to be addressed.
While Japan is known for recycling garbage and having clean streets, there is one big secret that most people don’t know about.
▼Trash cans that are found in stations and in front of convenience stores in Japan ask you toss your waste into the appropriate bin: Cans & Bottles, Newspapers & Magazines, and All Others
garbage cans
▼At 7 a.m. on the way to Okayama Station, this coffee can in the gutter was the only piece of litter I could find!
clean streets
▼As you can see, the water and beach on Shiraishi Island (where I live in the Seto Inland Sea), is sparkling clean.
clean water
You may not know it, but Japan has a garbage problem. Those who live here are well aware of the refuse constantly dumped on Mt. Fuji, a cultural World Heritage Site. As a matter of fact, because of Mt. Fuji’s garbage dispute, the sacred mountain did not qualify for status as a natural World Heritage Site when it was first nominated. After being turned down, it was resubmitted as a Cultural World Heritage Site instead, in which it qualified due to its significance to Japanese culture. Only now that it has become a World Heritage Site has the garbage predicament being tackled.
Other people are cleaning up Japan as well.
Mangetsuman is an individual who has taken it upon himself to clean some of the streets of litter in Tokyo.
 ▼Mangetsuman (Full Moon Man) volunteers his time to clean up streets and entertain people while doing so.
street cleaner
Greenbird is an NPO that has “teams” all over Japan of volunteers who go out and clean the streets of litter.
So it seems that Japan is doing a pretty good job with garbage on land. But what about the sea?
The truth is that the Seto Inland Sea is filthy. Sailors often have to dive into the water to untangle their engine propellers from floating plastic bags that get wrapped around the blades, freezing the shaft. Sailors, kayakers and fishermen see oil floating on top of the water as well as unbroken chains of garbage floating by on currents that are meant to bring plankton and seaweed to sea creatures to feed on. This flotsam is regularly tossed up onto beaches that dot the Inland Sea. Take a look yourself: 

Where is this? Shiraishi Island. And believe it or not, that video was taken on a pretty good day for that beach. I’ve seen it much worse.
▼Same beach, different day
Untitled
These “angry beaches” as I call them, are all over the Seto Inland Sea. I’ve seen plastic car bumpers, old TVs, even a dead cat that have washed up here. But the majority of the plastic is P.E.T. bottles, something people know they can recycle.
Remember I told you Shiraishi Island has clean beaches? Well, we do. But we also have dirty ones. Our public beach is clean only because it faces West, and the sea’s current carries the dreck past it. With just a little effort, we can keep the beach garbage-free. But the East side of the island is different. Junk is deposited on that side of the island daily.
Japanese people who live in this area say most of the Inland Sea garbage comes from rivers on the mainland. When heavy rains, storms or typhoons fill the rivers, the water rushes down to the mouth at the Inland Sea. With it comes refuse that has been dumped into the rivers.
Who knows how long this plastic floats around the Inland Sea, or how many beaches it washes up on and off of, before it eventually empties out into the Pacific Ocean or the Japan Sea via one of three narrow straits that takes water in and out of the Inland Sea with the tides.
▼Even tiny pieces of plastic get hung up in the natural debris that washes up on shore.
tiny bits of garbage
Isn’t it illegal to dump into the rivers? Yes. It’s called fuhou touki (illegal dumping) and is subject to punishment.
In fact, water pollution control laws have been around since 1970. In 1973, the Environmental Agency implemented a Special Law for the Conservation of the Environment of the Seto Inland Sea, an area of Japan undergoing industrialization and thus degradation as a result of good economic times. The law was meant to improve water quality and the sea areas around reclaimed land used to build factories. The destruction of the marine environment had brought on “red tides,” (algae blooms) which resulted in a depletion of oxygen in the sea, which killed off much of the fish population. Wow! Right?
But most laws against water pollution in Japan are aimed at industrial waste. The problem these days is household waste and little is being done to address this.
Beach clean-ups are common in Japan. We even have them on our island.
▼Students from a local school come to clean up Shiraishi Island’s beaches.
Beach Clean-up
▼After the beach clean up. Natural rubbish is a part of nature’s ecosystem and will decay on its own.
Beach Clean-up
The fishermen clean the beaches on the island every year on Sea Day, the third Monday of July. But the sad thing is, these cleaned beaches will only last a day, because more junk will be washed up almost immediately. So, no matter how often the beach is cleaned, it’s never clean.
While beach cleaning activities increase awareness, it ignores the cause of the problem: People. People are illegally dumping garbage into the sea!
▼A full moon rises over Shiraishi Island. It is a bitter-sweet reminder that the full moon tides bring the most debris to our beaches.
Full moon
The tides are highest at a full moon.
▼The high tide mark on the beach after a full moon.
high tide mark
It was this beach in the video that made me go off plastic. I’m happy to say I’ve been plastic-free for two years now. This is not to say that I don’t occasionally have to use it. But I don’t choose it. I’ve also curbed my addictions to Styrofoam, cheap products and cheap energy. And you can too.
The dilemma with plastics is that even when properly disposed of, they are not biodegradable. And no one really knows what happens to their garbage after it has been disposed of. After all, there would have to be tens of thousands of households dumping their waste into rivers to fill up the Inland Sea with the amount of rubbish it has. I don’t believe for a moment that it’s the fault of just a few individuals.
▼Plastics and other non-biodegradables just lie there, then go to a different beach and lie there, forever on a permanent beach vacation.
regular tide mark
While I commend our RocketNews24 reader on bringing up the point that Japan’s beaches are full of garbage, and for prompting me to write an article about it, I disagree with the commenter about one thing. It’s not just beer cans, cigarette butts and plastic that is littering the beach. It’s all kinds of everything! We are all to blame.
Beer drinkers,
beer can
coffee drinkers,
coffee can
tea drinkers
tea drinkers
and 7-11 patrons.
plastic cup
Those who eat candy,
Snickers wrapper
popsicles,
popsicle stick
and the instant food brigade.
instant ramen cup
Those who wash their hair,
shampoo bottlewalk,
shoe
or plant flowers.
IMG_2896
People with fresh breath,
Clorets
People who wash their clothes,
detergent scoop
and people who tie up their boxes for shipping.
ties
Those who use plastic containers,
plastic container
Those who eat fast food,
fast food wrapper, milk carton
even those who (gasp!) drink milk.
In other words, it’s everybody. And only we can take responsibility for the garbage we produce. Remember, this is just one of the many beaches on one of over 700 hundred islands in Japan’s Seto Inland Sea.
Since Japan seems to be doing little towards remedying water pollution, I thought I’d introduce at least one idea that could help. Here is a device I saw recently in Australia, invented to help combat river flotsam. And it seems to work.
▼Melbourne’s “litter traps” collect floating garbage before it becomes a menace.
litter trap
The litter doesn't come from people tossing it into the river–it comes from street litter getting diverted into the river through storm drains (yep, during heavy rains, storms, and cyclones).
▼Signs near each trap explain: “This litter trap is one of 17 [placed] at the most effective collection points.”
litter trap
Why isn’t anything being done in Japan? Good question!
Most people don’t realize the problem is as big as it is, or they’ve come to think it is normal. When people’s reaction to garbage in the sea is: “It comes from the rivers,” or “It’s because of the rain,” you know there is a problem. That’s just twisted thinking! The garbage problem comes from people (not the rivers) and it’s because of people (not the rain).
Or maybe, they just don’t know what to do about it. Perhaps Japan needs suggestions from people like you. After all, this is a world-wide issue being tackled by other countries as well. How does your country deal with the sea pollution?
My second guess at the reason nothing is being done is that people have yet to demand change. And this is where you can help.
If you love Japan like I do, you won’t allow this to continue. Let’s show Japan that we care about her rivers and seas. Demand change by taking the first step: share this article with your friends and on social media. Give your opinions on the subject.
Be proactive! Japan will thank you for it.

Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Amuro Namie Drawing

I used to draw at one point in my life. Not so much anymore, but this is a drawing of mine that I liked. It's of Japanese pop star Amuro Namie (安室奈美恵). Apparently I was a big fan of hers back in the day, big enough to want to draw a picture of her anyway. I'm posting the original as well as a version of it with a filter that I liked on top of it. I can't find the original photograph for reference so you'll just have to take my word on it that it closely resembles it.






Monday, August 25, 2014

Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra: Ska Band For the Ages




One of my most favorite bands of all the bands that have ever banded is Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra. They're a nine piece Ska band from Japan that has been around since the beginning of the 90's and they have not slowed down since. They've overcome a couple of tragedies and set backs here and there––the death of two former band members, members leaving for various reasons––but they keep trucking along. As well as keeping it traditional, they also infuse their brand of very danceable Ska with other genres such as Rock, Funk and Jazz. The sound of the band has changed a little over the years––there was more of a Rock sound to it than the Jazzy sound of recent years due to changes in their music direction, but they sound as good and as polished as ever.

The Ska genre is all but dead here in America, and I hear it's dipping in Japan as well (it used to be a haven for Ska fans like myself during the dark times), but you know who keeps releasing albums regardless of this miserable absence of a proper music scene? Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra, that's who!

Do not mess with these dudes or you'll get a trumpet up your ass! Or a trombone. Or a Saxophone. Oh, you do not want a saxophone up there, let me tell you.

I count myself lucky being a fan of such a hard working and prolific band as I am never want for new music from them––they put out new full albums seemingly quarterly––and their quality has never waned. I couldn't imagine being a super fan of say, Creed, or something.



For reasons other than 8 year gaps between albums, obviously.

In fact, they have so much output that I missed an album from the end of 2012. I have since rectified the situation, but, as a self proclaimed hyper fan, I still beat myself up over that one.

As of late, they have taken a page from The Skatalites and have recorded a number of singles as a backing band for some of Japan's most popular artists and singers. From Okuda Tamio to Shiina Ringo to Puffy to Chara to Crystal Kay, and, most recently, Yoshie Nakano of Ego Wrappin' fame, Asian Kung Fu Generation and Mongol 800. They've even done a collaboration with Angelo Moore from Fishbone. They don't even stop there, having also provided the soundtracks or theme songs for television shows, commercials, video games and anime, most notably, One Piece.






About ten years ago, Skapara (their nick name) performed in Hollywood, CA and I was extremely fortunate to have seen them play live and it was one of the best Ska shows I've ever been to. They even played Coachella in 2013. These guys are going strong some twenty five years after their formation and show zero signs of stopping any time soon. I, myself, am in it for the long haul.


With all of their collaborations with famous Japanese artists I certain hope they finally do one with my other favorite band of all bands that have ever banded, Sambomaster. Then, and only then, will I be able to achieve full personal musical bliss.

Below are a few choice songs from their catalog. Enjoy: