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Hello again from Japan. I've made the 6760 miles
(10,879 km) hop from Baltimore to Japan, and have slipped into
my "Japan mode" once again. As always, going from one
side of the world to the other brings with it some head
spinning, no matter how many times I do it, and I spend a few
surreal hours re-adjusting to my new surroundings. I wasn't the
only one to return to Japan yesterday -- my kids also arrived at
the airport, having flown by themselves for the first time. We'd
sent them to the U.S. so they could be immersed in English, and
as usual, they soaked up an amazing amount. To celebrate being
back together as a family, we went out to eat at our favorite
ramen restaurant.
Japan has one of the lowest birth rates among
developed countries, with just 1.38 children born per woman,
compared with 2.08, 1.66, 1.37 and 1.26 for the U.S., England,
Germany and Spain. The difference between Japan and other
countries is that Japan is an island nation with a very low
level of immigration to pick up the slack, which is causing
depopulation at an alarming rate. And now it's looking like
Japan's population is going to peak, either this year or next,
at around 127.74 million, before starting a long decline as more
peopple die than are born each year. Since fixing the problems
of a low birth rate are beyond the capabilities of any
government, Japan needs to do something about opening its doors
to foreigners who want to come here to work and build lives, as
I have done, if its wants to keep vitality in its society. It's
a difficult question, both politically and socially, but it must
be faced sooner or later. At Otakon, there was a booth sponsored
by the Japanese government with a banner that read Yokoso! Japan
("Welcome to Japan"), trying to get the fans at the
show to consider taking a trip to Japan to see its many
beautiful sights. I think they need to go a step further, and
start encouraging people to consider making a permanent move
here.
The science of Japanese car names is always
interesting to study. Above all, car names must sound "kakko
ii" (cool, stylish), and since nothing sounds cooler to the
Japanese ear than English, most cars here get their names from
English words -- like Honda Life and Subaru Legend, or Nissan's
Sunny and March. But many other names come from slightly altered
English, so that they cause the same emotional response while
remaining unique. Words like Corolla or Tercel or Sylphy or
Premacy sound like English, but car companies can still
"own" the original names. In recent years, Japanese
car companies have started mining Spanish as a source for car
names, resulting in cars like Daihatsu's little van Vamos (I
love that name), Nissan's El Grand, Toyota's Carina and Familia,
and Mitsubishi's Diamante and Viento, and the oddly named Pajero
(which means something strange in Spanish). Japanese cars must
never, ever have Japanese names, since that would be "kakko
warui" (un-cool, bad style) -- Japanese are always amused
to learn that the Suzuki Jiminy was sold as Suzuki Samurai in
the U.S. However, there are some cars whose names started out as
Japanese words before being "English-ified." Toyota
Camry, for example, gets its name from "kanmuri,"
which means crown in Japanese -- which is funny, since Toyota
sells a higher-priced sedan here called Toyota Crown, and in the
past as sold the Toyota Corona, which means crown in Spanish.
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