Japanese and UK helpline numbers

Photo by lalesh aldarwish on Pexels.com

As the year draws to a close, many people feel like they are unable to cope or have severe difficulties at the dawn of a new year. Below is a list of helpline numbers in the UK and in Japan.

UK helpline numbers

Please note, some of these helpline numbers are for Lancashire only. For more local helplines, please google your county along with what service you need.

Children’s social care	0300 123 6720
Health Visitors	0300 247 0040
Police	101 (non-emergency) 999 (emergency)
National Domestic Violence healpline	0808 2000 247
Harv	01245 879855
Women’s centre	01254 871771
Samaritans	116 123
Job Centre	0800 169 0310
NHS direct	111
NSPCC (adults concerned about a child)	0808 800 5000
Childline	0800 11111
Food banks Maundy Relief Our food bank Accington and Rossendale Churches Together food bank (St. mary’s)	01245 232 328 07594478093 01254 389933 01245 232433
Mindmatters	01254 226 037
Calm (suicide hotline for men)	0800 585 858
Papyrus (under 35’s suicide prevention)	0800 064 4141
Lancashire Wellbeing Directory	0300 123 6701

If you are at all concerned with the well-being of a friend or family member, please ring 999 and ask for a “welfare check” to be performed. I have spent New Year’s Eve with a friend at A&E for physiological help and they are still here!

Japanese helpline numbers

Service	Number	Language
Police	110	Japanese*
Ambulance/ Fire	119	Japanese*
Tell Japan (Suicide and general help)	03-5774-0992	English and Japanese
Befrenders Japan	06-6260-4343	Japanese
Foreign Residents’ Advisory Center	03-5320-7744	English/ multilingual
Health and Medical Information Center	03-5285-8181	English/ multilingual
Emergency Translation Services	0570-099283	English/ multilingual
Tokyo Employment Service Center for Foreigners	03-5339-8625	English or Chinese
Legal Counseling Center for Foreigners	0570-055-289	English, Chinese , or Spanish

*English may be available in major cities

If any of these numbers are useful for you, please do use them. I hope that they will not be needed but better safe than sorry.

Thank you for reading and happy (and safe) exploring.

Awareness: Parkinson’s disease in Japan

Parkinson’s disease is quite a common NCD in Japan with over 150,000 people who suffer from the disease in Japan. But what exactly is it?

Parkinson’s disease is a progressive nervous system disorder is caused by the loss of dopamine production in the part of the brain called the substantia nigra- part of the midbrain.

Parkinson’s disease is not a life shortening disease alone but many sufferes also develop dementia separately which can be life-shortening.

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Early symptoms

Parkinson’s is comprised of 5 stages and early symptoms of the disease include:

• A tremor in a hand, leg, finger
• stooped posture
• stiffness
• difficulty walking
• small handwriting
• Bradykinesia: sudden stiffness with often a ‘mask-like’ expression

Later symptoms

• Loss of balance
• sleep problems
• problem with swallowing
• memory issues including dementia

Basic treatments for Parkinson include medications which when taken convert to dopamine and help the body cope with loss of production, a healthy and balanced diet. However, as the disease progresses, patients will often decline physically.

Loss of independence

Late stage Parkinson’s patients will likely require around the clock care as they become unable to complete simple household tasks such as cooking, cleaning or washing.

About 40% of stage 5 patents will have a form of dementia as well as more common symptoms such as loss of bladder control, frequent mood changes, respiratory problems, less responsiveness to dopaminergic medications (dopamine replacement medications), dysphasia (inability to understand language), dysarthria (the inability to speak) etc.

Some late stage patients have described it as being a “drooling vegetable” but each person with the disease is different- and each treatment plan is different.

In Japan

Many universities in Japan are studying Parkinson’s disease and are running clinical trials including Kyoto University (who have transplanted iPS cells [induced Pluripotent Stem aka non-specific stem cells] to supplement dopamine-emitting neurons), and Tokyo Metropolitan University of medical science (looking at the effects of adiponectin [a protein produced by fat cells with many effects] on neurodegeneration).

The costs of PD in Japan is high. Curative care (treatment which looks towards a cure- even if not possible) is around 500 USD a month. Palliative PD care or PD care requiring a care home is significantly higher and estimates are hard to find in Japan.

With a monthly cost of around 500 USD and an annual cost of around 6000 USD, it is estimated that 90% of this cost is from PD medication- but this is mainly for earlier stages. For patients in later stages and for patients who have had PD for more than 10 years, the costs are between 550 and 600 USD a month. Costs do change with symptoms. If a patient requires pain medication, the costs are higher; if the medication is “wearing off”, the costs are higher.

One problem with PD costs in Japan is that there is very little research. One article I used (see further links page) doesn’t consider long term care home costs. But the costs are comparable to the cost of PD in the US, UK, or Germany.

Basic care home costs in Japan are around 40,000 JPY a month for basic care needs which is 446,000 JPY a year. This would be in addition to direct PD care costs. Please note, the care home cost is for a basic level of care only- PD would require a lot more care and thus expense.

In order to combat this costs, it is estimated but the JT that around 470,000 people left their jobs between 2007 and 2012 to help care for elderly relatives which does reduce costs but by how much is yet to be determined.

Thank you for reading and happy exploring.

2019: Japanese news highlights

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There are many articles and posts that look at the year just (or almost) gone and this article is no different. 2019 has been an extremely busy year for Japan and I have picked out the 12 main news stories of this year- but don’t worry it’ll be kept short.

There are many more important news stories that did occur across Japan, but the stories I have chosen are ones that seemed to make Japan stop and think- unfortunately hit-and-runs, executions and other “depressing” events are mostly ignored.

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• January 2nd

  Was the last chance to visit the imperial palace in the Heisei era.

• February 7th

  1324 Leo Palace Apartment buildings are heavily criticized for failing to meet minimum construction standards nationwide

• March 21st

  Ichiro resigns from major league baseball. His career lasted for more than 28 years. He had 4367 hits in his career.

• April 1st

  The forthcoming Imperial name “令和” was announced on live TV. The name is the first from a Japanese source

• May 1st

  The crowning of a new emperor, following the abdication of the previous emperor. Reiwa begins.

• June 30th

  President Trump crosses the North Korean border with the Supreme leader of North Korea Kim Jong-un

• July 17th

  An arsonist attacked the Kyoto animation studio. 36 were killed in this attack

• August 28th

  Toyota and Susuki announce a collaboration to speed up the development of autonomous technology

• September 20th

  The rugby world cup starts in Japan. It ended in August with South Africa winning the title

• October 12

  Typhoon 19 hits Japan. It was the worst typhoon in recent Japanese history. The death toll stands at 74, with millions of dollars of damaged caused

• November 10th

  The imperial parade celebrating the new emperor takes place in Tokyo. Thousands lined the streets in the hopes of seeing the new emperor and empress.

• December 4th

  Japanese doctor Tetsu Nakamura was killed in Afghanistan. His body was returned to his family on the 9th of December and the funeral took place on the 11th.

It has been quite a year for Japan and other highlights include the end of the pager in Japan, the end of 7 pay, and the execution of Wei Wei, a Chinese national on the 27th of December.

But there are dates to look forward to in 2020 including:

• Oshogatsu, new Years celebration and the shrine visit on the 1st of January
• 31st of January is the proposed Brexit day
• 23rd of February the J-league starts
• 26th of Match is the start of the Olympic torch relay
• 24th of July is the start of the Tokyo Olympics

What are you looking forward to in 2020, besides perfect vision?

Thank you for reading and happy exploring.

Olympic torch relay

This month the Tokyo Olympic Torch relay timetable had been released. The relay will go to all 47 prefectures, starting in Fukushima-cho on March 26th and Finish in Shinjuku, Tokyo on July 24th- an event which will last 121 days and see 858 villages, towns, cities, and wards.

Additionally, it will visit several world heritage sites throughout Japan including Mt. Fuji (富士山), and Himeji Castle (姫路城).

The following article is a list of where the torch will be day-by-day and I highly recommend planning an Olympic trip to at least feature part of this country-wide relay!

Please note, due to the length of some place names I have romanised the Japanese with the following rules:

• If the place name starts with a direction, I have placed a hyphen between the direction and rest of the name
• I have ignored the kanji “町” meaning town and the kanji “市” meaning city except in cases where the Prefecture shares a name with a city. I have translated “村” as village but this doesn’t need to be included.
• For Tokyo wards, some include the ending “ku/(区)” and others do not.
• Place names in bold are the prefectural capital.

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Fukushima Prefecture （福島県）

3/26	Naraha, Hirono, Iwaki, Kawauchi Village, Tomioka, Okuma, Katsurao, Namie
3/27	Soma, Shinchi, Iitate, Kawamata, Fukushima City, Inawashiro, Kikatake
3/28	Minami-Aizu, Shimogo, Shirakawa, Sukagawa, Tamura, Motomiya, Koriyama

Tochigi Prefecture (栃木県)

3/29	Ashikawa, Moka, Kaminokawa, Tochigi, Oyama, Sano, Natsu-Kasasuyama
3/30	Utsunomiya, Kanuma, Nikko, Mibu, Mashiko, Nasushiobara, Sakura, Nasu

Gunma Prefecture (群馬県)

3/31	Maebashi, Isesaki, Kiryu, Ueno Village, Ota, Oizumi, Tatabayashi
4/1	Takasaki, Tomioka, Fujioka, Naganohara, Kawaba, Numata, Kusatsu, Shibuhara

Nagano Prefecture (長野県)

4/2	Nagano City, Hakuba Village, Nozawa-Onsen Village, ueda, Yamanouchi, Saku, Karuizawa
4/3	Matsumoto, Azumino, Omachi, Suwa, Ina, Nagiso, Iida

Gifu Prefecture (岐阜県)

4/4	Takayama, Gujo, Yaotsu, Tajimi, Nakatsugawa
4/5	Gifu City, Hashima, Ogaki, Sekigahara, Kakamigahara, Gero

Aichi Prefecture (愛知県)

4/6	Nagoya, Kiyosu, Inazawa, Ichinomiya, Inuyama, Kasugai, seto
4/7	Toyota, Obu, Okazaki, Kariya, Anjo, Toyokawa, Hanada, Toyohashi

Mie Prefecture (三重県)

4/8	Yokkaiichi, Suzuka, Kamiyama, Tsu, Toba, Ise
4/9	Iga, Nabari, Matsusaka, Taiki, Kihoku, Kumano

Wakayama Prefecture (和歌山県)

4/10	Wakayama City, Kainan, Arida, Gobo, Tanabe, Shirahama, Kushimoto, Nachikatsuura, Shingu
4/11	Hashimoto, Koya, Katsuragi, Kinokawa, Iwade, Wakayama City

Nara prefecture (奈良県)

4/12	Kashihara, Asuka Village, Tenri, Tawaramoto, Sakurai, Totsukawa, Gose, Gojyo, Katsuragi
4/13	Nara City, Ikoma, Uda, Yamato-Koriyama, Ikarugi, Yoshino, Yamato-Takada, Kashiba, Koryo, Kawai

Osaka Prefecture (大阪府)

4/14	Suita, Ibaraki, Minoh, Ikeda, Toyonaka, Hirakata, Kadoma, Higashi-Osaka, Sakai
4/15	Habikino, Washiwara, Taishi, Kishiwada, Izumi, Kaizuka, Izumisano, Fujiidera, Osaka City

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Tokushima Prefecture (徳島県)

4/16	Ishii, Yoshinogawa, Awa, Kamiyama, Mima, Tsurugi, Higashi-Miyoshi, Miyoshi, Naruto, Kamiita, Itano, Aizumi, Kita-jima, Matsushige
4/17	Komatsushima, Anan, Katsuura, Naka, Minami, Kamikatsu, Mugi, Kaiyo, Sangochi Village, Tokushima City

Kagawa Prefecture (香川県)

4/18	Tadotsu, Zentsuji, Kotohira, Naoshima, Manno, Marugame, Utazu
4/19	Takamatsu, Miki, Sanuki, Higashi-Kagawa, Shodoshima, Tonosho, Ayagawa, Sakaide

Kochi Prefecture (高知県)

4/20	Shimanto City, Shinmanto Town, Yusuhara, Susaki, Tosa, Ino, Kochi City, Sukumo, Tosashimizu
4/21	Nahari, Aki, Kitagawa Village, Konan, Tanu, Kami, Yasuda, Nankoku, Toyo, Kochi City, Muroto

Ehime Prefecture (愛媛県)

4/22	Kumakogen, Toon, Kamijima, Imabari, Saijo, Niihama (Chuo and Shikoku), Masaki, Matsuyame
4/23	Seiyo, Kihoku, Matsuno, Ozu, Uchiko, Iyo, Ainan, Tobe, Yawatahama, Ikata, Uwajima

Oita Prefecture (大分県)

4/24	Hita, Nakatsu, Usa, Bungotakada, Himeshima Village, Kunisaki, Kitsuki, Hiji, Beppu
4/25	Oita, Bungo-Ono, Usuki, Tsukumi, Saeki, Takata, Yufu, Kokone, Kusu

Miyazaki Prefecture (宮崎県)

4/26	Miyazaki City, Saito, Takanabe, Hyuga, Nobeoka, Takachiho
4/27	Ebino, Kobayashi, Miyakonojo, Mimata, Kushima, Nichinan, Miyazaki

Kogoshima Prefecture (鹿児島県)

4/28	Kagoshima City, Aira, Kirishima, Minami-Osumi, Amami, Kanoya, Shibushi
4/29	Ibusuki, Minami-Kyushu, Isa, Hioki, Satsumasendai

Okinawa Prefecture (沖縄県)

5/2	Nago, Motobu, Ishigaki, Uruma, Okinawa City, Ginowa, Naha
5/3	Itoman, Nanjo, Miyakojima, Chatan, Zamami Village, Urasoe, Tomigusuku

Okinawan names are NOT used

Kumato prefecture (熊本県)

5/6	Yatsushiro, Uto, Amakusa, Minamata, Hitoyoshi
5/7	Kumamoto City, Tamana, Nagomi, Yamaga, Kikochi, Aso, Aso Village, Mashiki

Nagasaki Prefecture (長崎県)

5/8	Nagasaki City, Omura, Isahaya, Shinkamiguto, Goto, Iki, Unzen, Shimabara, Minami-Shimabara
5/9	Sasebo, Saza, Hirado, Matsuura, Tsushima, Goto, Saikai, Togitsu, Nagayo

Saga prefecture (佐賀県)

5/10	Karatsu, Genkai, Imari, Arita, Takeo, Shiroishi, Ureshino, Kashima, Tara
5/11	Tako, Ogi, Kanzaki, Yoshinogari, Kamimine, Miyaki, Tosu, Kiyama, Saga, Omachi, Kohoku

Fukuoka Prefecture (福岡県)

5/12	Dazaifu, Toho Village, Asakura, Kasuga, Kurume, Itoshima, Chikugo, Omuta, Shime, Fukuoka City
5/13	Kita-kyushu, Fukutsu, Nakama, Munakata, Miyawaka, Kaisen, Iizuka, Soeda, Tagawa, Chikujyo

Yamaguchi Prefecture (山口県)

5/14	Yamaguchi City, Hofu, Shunan, Kudamatsu, Hikari, Yanai, Iwakuni
5/15	Hagi, Nagato, Mine, Shimonoseki, San’yo-Onoda, Ube

Shimane prefecture (島根県)

5/16	Onan, Kawamoto, Gotsu, Hamada, Masuda, Chibu Village, Tsuwano
5/17	Matsue, Yasugi, Okinoshima, Okizumo, Unnan, Izumo, Oda

Hiroshima Prefecture (広島県)

5/18	Hiroshima City, Saka, Kure, Higashi-Hiroshima, Shobara, Miyoshi
5/19	Fukuyama, Fuchu, Onomichi, Mihara, Kaita, Hatsukaichi

Okayama Prefecture (岡山県)

5/20	Okayama City, Kurashiki, Soja, Kibichuo, Takahashi, Ibara
5/21	Tsuyama, Nagi, Mimasaka, Akaiwa, Maniwa, Tamano

Tottori Prefecture (鳥取県)

5/22	Kurayoshi, Daisen, Hoki, Kofu, Hino, Nichinan, Nanbu, Hiyoshi Village, Yonago, Sakaiminato
5/23	Tottori City, Chizu, Wakasa, Yazu, Iwami, Yurihama, Misasa, Hokuei, Kotoura

Hyogo prefecture (兵庫県)

5/24	Toyooka, Asago, Shiso, Kato, Ono, Kakogawa, Himeji
5/25	Kobe, Akashi, Minami-Awaji, Nishi-Nomiya, Amagasaki, Sanda

Kyoto Prefecture (京都府)

5/26	Kyotango, Miyazu, Maizuru, Ayabe, Fukuchiyama, Nagaokakyo
5/27	Uji, Ujitawara, Joyo, Kizugawa, Seika, Kyotanabe, Yawata, Kumiyama, Kyoto City

Shiga Prefecture (滋賀県)

5/28	Takashima, Moriyama, Yasu, Omihachiman, Ryuo, Konan, Ritto, Kusatsu, Otsu
5/29	Koka, Hino, Higashi-Omi, Aisho, Toyosa, Kora, Taga, Hikone, Maibara, Nagahama

Fukui Prefecture (福井県)

5/30	Takahama, Oi, Obama, Wakasa, Mihame, Tsuruga, Minami-Echizen, Echizen, Sabae
5/31	Echizen, Ikeda, Ono, Katsuyama, Eiheiji, Awara, Sakai, Fukui City

Ishikawa Prefecture (石川県)

6/1	Kaga, Komatsu, Nomi, Kawakita, Hakusan, Nonoichi, Uchinada, Kahoku, Tsubata, Kanagawa
6/2	Wajima, Noto, Anamizu, Suzu, Shika, Hakui, Hodatsu-shimizu, Nakamoto, Nanao

Toyama Prefecture (富山県)

6/3	Oyabe, Nanto, Tonami, Imizu, Himi, Takaoka
6/4	Asahi, Nyusen, Kurobe, Uozu, Namerikawa, Kamiichi, Funabashi Village, Tateyama, Toyama

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Niigata Prefecture (新潟県)

6/5	Itoigawa, Joetsu, Kashiwazaki, Sado, Tokamachi, Minami-Uonuma
6/6	Nagaoka, Sanjo, Tsubame, Yahiko Village, Niigata City, Shibata, Aga, Murakami

Yamagata prefecture (山形県)

6/7	Nishi-kawa, Sagae, Kahoku, Shirataka, Nagai, Takahata, Yonezawa, Nan’yo, Kaminoyama, Yamagata City
6/8	Tendo, Higashine, Murayama, Obanazawa, Shinjo, Tsuruoka, Yuzasakata

Akita Prefecture (秋田県)

6/9	Yuzawa, Yokote, Yurihonjo, Misata, Daisen, Semboku, Akita City
6/10	Katagami, Hachirogata, Ogata Village, Noshiro, Odate, Oga, Kazuno

Aomori prefecture (青森県)

6/11	Hirosaki, Nishimeya Village, Hirakawa, Kuruishi, Tsugaru, Goshogawara, Imabetsu, Aomori City
6/12	Mutsu, Towada, Misawa, Oirase, Hashikami, Hachinohe

Hokkaido [prefecture] (北海道)

6/14	Hakodate, nemuro, Hokuto, Nanae, Kushiro, Toyako, Muroran, Obihiro, Shiraoi
6/15	Tomakomai, Furano, Mukawa, Asahikawa, Atsuma, Abira, Chitose, Wakkanai, Sapporo

Please note, Sapporo is the prefectural capital. There are sub-prefectures and sub-prefectural capitals in Hokkaido.

Iwate prefecture (岩手県)

6/17	Shizukushi, Takizawa, Hachimantai, Iwate Town, Ichinoke, Ninoke, Hirono, Fundai Village, Noda Village, Kuji
6/18	Iwaizumi, Tanohata Village, Miyako, Yameda, Otsuchi, Kamaishi, Oyunato, Rikuzentakata
6/19	Ichinoseki, Hiraizumi, Oshu, Kamegasaki, Kita-Kami, Hanamaki, Tono, Shiwa, Yahaba, Morioka

Miyagi Prefecture (宮城県)

6/20	Kesennuma, Minami-Sanriku, Ishinomaki, Ongawa
6/21	Higashi-Matsushima, Matsushima, Shiogama, Shichigahama, Tagajo, Ohira Village, Rifu
6/22	Yamamoto, Watari, Iwanuma, Natori, Sendai

Shizuoka Prefecture (静岡県)

6/24	Kosai, Hamamatsu, Iwata, Fukuroi, Kakegawa, Shimada, Shizuoka City,
6/25	Makinohara, Fujieda, Yaizu, Shizuoka City, Fuji, Nagaizumi, Mishima, Numazu
6/26	Ito, Shimoda, Izunokuni, Susono, Oyama, Gotemba, Izu, Fujinomiya

Yamanashi prefecture (山梨県)

6/27	Nanbu, Minobu, Hayakawa, Fujikawa, Ichikawa-misato, Chuo, Showa [city], Kai, Minami-Arupusu [Southern Alps], Hokuto, Nirasaki, Kofu
6/28	Fuefuki, Yamanashi, Mt. Fuji, Koshu, Uenohara, Otsuki, Tsuru, Nishi-Katsura, Oshino Village, Fujikawa-guchiko, Narusawa Village, Fujiyoshida

Kanagawa Prefecture (神奈川県)

6/29	Hakone, Isehara, Odawara, Oiso, Hiratsuka, Chigasaki, Fujisawa
6/30	Miura, Yokosuka, Kamakura, Ebina, Atsugi, Sagamihara
7/1	Kawasahi, Yokohama

Chiba Prefecture (千葉県)

7/2	Kisarazu, Kimitsu, Futtsu, Minami-Boso, Isumi, Ichinomiya, Susa, Sammu
7/3	Choshi, Asahi, Katori, Shibayama, Narita, Narashino, Chiba City
7/4	Urayasu, Funabashi, Kamagaya, Kashiwa, Abiko, Matsudo

Ibaraki Prefecture (茨城県)

7/5	Kashima, Hitachinaha, Oarai, Daigo, Hitachi, Hitachiota, Kasama, Mito
7/6	Koga, Bando, Joso, Ushiku, Ryugasaki, Namegata, Tsuchiura, Tsukuba

Saitama Prefecture (埼玉県)

7/7	Kawaguchi, Warabi, Toda, Wako, Asaka, Niiza, Hidaka, Sayama, Fujimi, Miyoshi, Fujimino, Tokorozawa
7/8	Soka, Yashino, Misato, Yoshikawa, koshigaya, Chichibu, Minano, Nagatoro, Kasukabe, Sugito, Miyashiro, Kuki, Kazu, Gyoda, Kumagaya
7/9	Kawagoe, Tsurugashima, Sakado, Honjo, Fukaya, Ranzan, Higashi-Matsuyama, Namerikawa, Konosu, Kitamoto, Okegawa, Ageo, Saitama City

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Tokyo Metropolis (東京都)

7/10	Setagaya, Komae, Inagi, Machida
7/11	Tama, Hino, Akishima, Hachioji
7/12	Hinohara, Okutama, Hinode, Ome, mizuho
7/13	Hamura, Akiruno, Fussa, Musashi-Murayama, Tachikawa
7/14	Kunitachi, Kokubunji, Kodaira, Higashi-Yamamoto, Higashi-Murayama
7/15	Kiyose, Higashi-Kurume, Nishi-Tokyo, Kogamei, Fuchu
7/16	Chofu, Miyake Village, Kozushima Village, Niijima Village (Niijima and Shikinejima), Toshima Village, Oshima
7/17	Mikurajima Village, Hachijo, Aogashima Village, Ogasawa Village (Chichijima and Hahajima), Mitaka, Musashino
7/18	Suginami, Nakano, Nerima
7/19	Toshima, Itabashi, Kita, Adachi
7/20	Katsushika, Edogawa, Sumida, Arakawa
7/21	Taito, Bunkyo, Chiyoda, Chuo
7/22	Koto, Ota, Shunagawa
7/23	Meguro, Shibuya, Minato
7/24	Shinjuku

There is no prefectural capital as Tokyo is the capital of Tokyo. Ward or “区” meaning special district in Japanese just translates to city in each official English translation. Every place from the 18th is a ward in Japanese. Finally, Chiyoda could be considered the “capital” of Tokyo if such a thing were to exist.

I hope that this information is useful in planning your Olympic trip to Japan.

Thank you for reading and happy exploring.

Recommendation: Hard-off

Firstly- Hi eveyone I’m back!! On the 16th of December, while updating my laptop, the update broke my laptop and it is stuck in boot-loop (it still is) and I was left with a rather bad phone to try and type on.

I did try to post during this time but what once would take an hour, took over 2 days to research and type, so this post is still to come, along with several others.

So what to do? My first thought was to back up and restore my laptop and while all files and everything else still works, I could not open the recovery options. Additionally, my back-up hard-disk would not work and finally, there was no recovery save on the hard drive.

At this point, I decided to buy a Windows 10 OS disk to wipe my laptop and reinstall windows. The problem with this is that it costs 20,000 JPY and that was unacceptable. I then decided to look at buying a new laptop and this is what I decided to do.

Hard-off is a second-hand electronics store that offers laptops, PCs, Macs, new and old games and hardware (Xboxes, PS4s, Switches, Femicons, N64 etc) at a very reasonable price. I had bought a half decent laptop with 500 GB HDD, 4Gb (dual core), windows10 (32 bit) etc for 16,500 JPY including tax. The cheapest new notebook at a similar spec costs at least 60,000 JPY- but anyway I am very happy with my purchase.

My recommendation, therefore, is to go to hard-off for all your technology needs. If you are wondering/ worrying about buying something used in Japan, please don’t worry- a used product is like new in any other country.

Thank you for your patience during my period of silence.

Thank you for reading and happy exploring.

Allergies in Japan

Although this is not applicable to me, for many people coming to another country can cause anxiety because they have allergies. Sometimes allergy some minor things like hay fever for example however some people can have major anaphylactic reactions to certain products.

This post is to fold the first post this post will be a guide on how to navigate Japanese food labels and restaurants. The second part of this post will be an awareness post on allergies in Japan.

Food labels

Under Japanese law there are 7 foods or ingredients that must be labelled on food packaging and these are: shrimp (えび), crab (かに), wheat (小麦), buckwheat (そば or 蕎麦), eggs(卵), milk (乳), and peanuts (落花生).

There are more foods that may cause a deathly reaction and an epipen to be used and that is the first problem: what are you allergic to? Because there are so many other allergens, you must look up in Japanese, ideally before you travel, what you are allergic to. A handy phrase would be:

______アレルギーがあります。I’m allergic to_____.

A person I know who moved to Japan is allergic to bananas and must be careful with any confectionery product because it’s an ingredient that is used everywhere.

In restaurants, the 7 allergens will be listed in Japanese on the menu if not apparent e.g. “egg salad” contains egg. If you are allergic to anything else, research before you arrive. Most menus are available online and even if you only have the ingredient that you are allergic to, you can usually see if they have it.

Additionally you can ask! If you don’t speak Japanese, use the phrase above and the waiter/waitress will help you out.

Voluntary ingredients

In addition to the 7, there are an additional 20 ingredients that can voluntary be put on packaging. These 20 can roughly be separated into 4 groups: nuts (walnuts, cashews etc), fruits (oranges, bananas etc.), meat (pork, fish roe etc.), and other (gelatine). This is down to the manufacturer of each product and you need to be aware of this fact when buying food.

Furthermore, there is always a risk of cross-contamination because even though there are extremely high standards of food manufacturing in Japan, allergies seem to be the exception rather than the rule.

The reaction to allegies

Japan is becoming more aware of allergens and allergies as the number of sufferers increases globally. One brilliant example of this is Mos Burger. This fast food chain has released a range of low allergen products in an effort to allow people with severe allergies to still enjoy their food.

According to the ministry for health, it is estimated that around half of the Japanese population have some sort of reaction to some foods.

Medication

Japan is known for having a hey fever problem and there are many medications for this and others. There are 5 types of medicines for allergies in Japan:

• General allergy medicines (the best I would say is Claritin EX [loratadine 10mg] which is a pharmacy only product, or contac Z [cetirizine HCl 10mg]- if you can take these. There are many other ones but the list of contras(contra indications e.g. Don’t take if you have X or not for people who are Y) does get quite long.
• Eye drops. Many people use medicated eye drops to stop an inflammatory reaction occurring.
• Eye washes. None medicated option to clean the eye of irritants
• Nadal sprays. To stop the airways reacting to allergens or to prevent this reaction
• Epi pen.

I hope this guide is helpful if your travelling to Japan.

Thank you for reading and happy exploring.

Awareness: vaccine

This week I along with one of my colleagues went to a clinic and got the winter flu vaccine. The winter flu is said to be exceptionally terrible this year and it requires, in some cases, an entire week off work- no thank you.

As part of the visit I had a chat with the doctors and I need further tests. The ironic thing is that one of my awareness topics (diabetes) is something I am now being tested for along with hypertension (high blood pressure).

The vaccine costs ¥3300 (regardless of insurance) and an extremely common side effect is a localised rash and fatigue, both of which I had.

I would recommend getting the vaccine if you haven’t already had it. Additionally, if your at a clinic, spend an extra ¥1000 and get a diabetes test.

Thank you for reading and happy exploring

Quick note, my laptop has broken (thank you window’s update) and is stuck in a boot loop, and my recovery disk broke, so posts may be slower or shorter for a time.

Diabetes in Japan

Diabetes Millitus is an extremely common non-commutable disease (NCD) that exists in every country- and Japan is no exception. In fact, diabetes has been on the rise in Japan and it is getting the recognition it deserves.

Background

Diabetes in Japanese is 糖尿病 which is read as [too/nyou/byou] and is made up of 3 kanji: 糖- sugar,尿- urine, and 病- sickness so it is a decent translation.

There are a suspected 10 million people who suffer from diabetes in Japan but there are only 78.7% of men who receive treatment and 74.1% of women who receive treatment- but the difficulty is there are an additional 10 million who are at risk of becoming a diabetic. Additionally there are more than 300,000 people who regularly undergo dialysis.

Scientific background

There are 2 main types of diabetes which are simply called:

• type 1
• type 2
• other

Type 1

Type 1 is an immunodeficiency disorder (which means the body attacks its’ self) where the immune system is destroying pancreatic beta-cells that are responsible for producing insulin. People with type 1 diabetes need to inject insulin for survival.

Type 2

Type 2 can be a few things but it is generally the body’s inability to cope. For example, the body either in unable to cope with the amount of insulin it produces (i.e. too little) or the insulin it does produce cannot properly interact with receptors on the cell membrane and take in sugar.

Other types

Other types can include gestational diabetes- diabetes during pregnancy, diabetes which is due to other conditions e.g. endocrine disorders, liver disease, drug or chemically induced etc.

Additionally, there is idiopathic diabetes is diabetes without a known cause. Idiopathic comes from 2 Greek words: ἴδιος (one’s own) and πάθος (suffering).

Diagnosis

In Japan, a singular blood test is not enough to be diagnosed as a diabetic. One of the required symptoms of diabetes is chronic hypoglycemia or long-term high blood sugar (慢性低血糖).

After this symptom has been observed and a HbA1c test performed (which gives the average blood sugar level over a 3 month period), further tests are performed which are:

• a fasting blood test. Diabetes is suspected if the result is greater than 126mg/ dl (which is greater than 27.0 mmol/l )
• An oral glucose tolerance test (a 2h test) and if the result is greater than 200mg/ dl (or greater than 1.11 mmol/l)

The Japanese problem

With the westernization of Japan and the influence of the Japanese diet, in addition to reduced physical activity- Asia and Japan are going to be the epicenter of global diabetes.

Japan has sugar in everything and the Japanese diet is extremely carbohydrate heavy (rice) which encourages poor control and helps the development of type 2 diabetes. Additionally, the estimated cost for diabetic treatment is 400,000 JPY a year and even with the national health insurance discount, this is a whopping 120,000 JPY a year. While this is cheap for Americans in Japan, anyone from a country with a funded health system, this is an extraordinary expense.

Diabetes education and awareness

There are a few diabetes organisations in Japan that are actively working to promote health living and help people who have already been diagnosed with diabetes. However, there is still a lot more to be done. The main source for this information is the Japanese diabetes society (information in English and Japanese). Please check out the “further information” page for further links and reading.

Thank you for reading and happy exploring.

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Final note, the following is a list of diabetes vocabulary and the Japanese translation.

English	Japanese	Kana	Romaji
Diabetes	糖尿病	とうにょうびょう	tou/nyou/byou
Diabetic	糖尿病患者	とうにょうびょうかんじゃ	tou/nyou/byou/kan/ja
diabetic retinopathy	糖尿病性網膜症	とうにょうびょうせいもうまくしょう	tou/nyou/byou/sei/mou/maku/shou
hyperglycemia	高血糖	こうけっと	kou/ke/tto
hypoglycemia	低血糖	ていけっと	tei/ke/tto
Type 1	1型糖尿病	いちがたとうにょうびょう	ichi/gata/tou/nyou/byou
Type 2	2型糖尿病	にがたとうにょうびょう	ni/gata/tou/nyou/byou

Christmas: Asunaro line

Asunaro line, Yokkaichi

As I travel around Japan, especially at this time of year, I seem to almost be assaulted with Christmas, it is inescapable. Just when I thought I would get a break, I’m proven wrong.

The Asunaro is a small train line located in Yokkaichi city, Mie which would be a bus route in any other city. It’s small, cheap and great value for money, it is so much smaller than the Iga tetsudo line but amazingly it has 2 lines.

However Christmas is here as well. Admittedly it was a lovwlth offering but it was so out of place. Yokkaichi is an extreamly Japanese city, even on the train they use ございます(gozaimasu) instead of です(desu) for station names, not even the JR line does that.

Into this mix christmas flows as easily as reading the city’s name: 四日市市 which is easy once you know it (Yokkaichi-shi) but trying to work it out from the Kanji alone is troublesome.

Thank you for reading and happy exploring

Awareness: Japan has capital punishment

Capital punishment or the death penalty exists in Japan and it is still used. This may come as a shock to people who are excited by the ‘strangeness’ of all things Japanese but it is a reality.

Criticisms

The world seems to be moving away from capital and corporal punishment and there is heavy debate about this- no matter the culture or religious background of the country.

Japan has received criticism, sometimes rightfully so, for many things. The most controversial is political motivation. Executions in 2018 were at a 10 year high at 18 and the reasoning for this simple: it may be hard to carry out executions in 2019 due to the abdication and crowning of the emperor, and a reluctance to carry out an execution when the Olympics are taking place.

Additionally, under Japanese law, commended prisoners are not classified as prisoners so the conditions they are kept in are not reported on. Japan has come under fire from Amnesty International on several occasions because of the way it treats prisoners.

The process

In practice, the death penalty is only given to multiple murders or murders with additional unspeakable actions e.g. murder kidnapping etc. In addition to this, there are a further 9 factors which will affect the sentencing:

1. Degree of viciousness- was the person ‘put out of their misery’ or was it a messy affair?
2. Motive- revenge, money, love, just because?
3. How the crime was committed; especially the manner in which the victim was killed. (also looks into planning and additional factors)
4. Outcome of the crime; especially the number of victims.
5. Sentiments of the bereaved family members. (The most important one on the list).
6. Impact of the crime on Japanese society.
7. Defendant’s age (in Japan, the age of majority is 20). (18+ can be given a death sentence)
8. Defendant’s previous criminal record. (first time or long history)
9. Degree of remorse shown by the defendant. (does depend on the person and the crime)

This was something that I studied in detail during my time a NUFS and it has always stuck with me. In theory there are safeguards and at a sentencing level it does work. Additionally, the death sentence is rarely imposed and the Japanese BAR association want to:

…  the JFBA hereby strongly protests the executions conducted today [02/08/2019], and reiterates its stance that the Government should immediately suspend all executions [moratorium], looking towards the total abolition of the death penalty system in Japan by 2020.

Yutaro Kikuchi, President (August 2, 2019)
Japan Federation of Bar Associations

The JFBA posts in English, Japanese, and Chinese and it is a brilliant resource which does report on “unpopular” topics- if noting else, please do check out their ‘opinion’ posts.

Alas, the death sentence seems like a convenient option for the Japanese government to be seen to be doing something.

Public opinion

Public opinion is in favor of the death sentence and it is logical that the family of the victim seek the harshest punishment possible- whether this is always the correct choice is another conversation.

Fun fact: trial by jury was only introduced in 2009 in Japan (please re-read that statement. The line in ‘ a trial by your peers’ goes back to 1215 in UK law, to the foundation of the US (it’s the 7th amendment), was used in the ancient world (Greece and Rome) but it is only 10 old in Japan.

Most Japanese are in favor of the death sentence and even though there are campaigns against it, it does not seem likely to change any time soon.

Another fun fact: condemned prisoners sentenced before 2009 have been campaigning for a retrial and to be tried by their peers- most appeals for a retrial has been denied.

The Death chamber

The actual process of execution is carried out by hanging using the ‘long drop’ method to snap the neck.

The death warrant is signed by the minister of justice and once signed the condemned will be executed within 5 days. The problem with this system is that no-one is told. The prisoner is only told the morning of his execution that he as, at best, 15 hours left in this world.

Death chambers are located across Japan, but the 3 that are used the most are in Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagoya (which are the 1st, 3rd and 4th biggest cities ion Japan).

A clash of culture

Japan is an extremely Buddhist country and many laws reflect Buddhist teachings. The death sentence was initially introduced from China (along with a writing system, culture, law, philosophy etc) before being abolished until 1180.

Even though Buddhism teaching the scanty of life and the importance of preserving life, executions until the Meiji period (1873) were cruel and unusual and the meaning for this is said to be Confucianism- where your position in society must be protected and any perceived threat was dealt with. Think of the witch hunts- and you know how they got confessions, treated the accused and just what rights they (did not) have- this was how the condemned were treated in Japan.

In modern Japan, only murder gets a death sentence. But, is this still too much, or is it too little? What do you think?

Thank you for reading and happy exploring.