Recently, due to the earthquake, tsunami and the subsequent nuclear accident at Fukushima, this blog (and everyone else) has been completely preoccupied with those events. Several regular readers have asked that I start the free Sunday Japanese cinema again.
You asked for it, you got it. Here is a well known story in Japan. It is called Satoichi - the Blind Swordsman. Wikipedia says:
Zatoichi (座頭市Zatōichi) is a fictional character featured in one of Japan's longest running series of films and a television series set in the Edo period. The character, a blind masseur and swordmaster, was created by novelist Kan Shimozawa (子母澤寛Shimozawa Kan). This originally minor character was developed for the screen by Daiei Studios (now Kadokawa Pictures) and actor Shintaro Katsu, who created the screen version. A total of 26 films were made from 1962 to 1989. From 1972 to 1974, a television series of the same name was made. One hundred and twelve episodes were aired before the "Zatoichi" television series was cancelled.
Film number 17 of the original series was remade in America in 1990 (by TriStar Pictures) as Blind Fury, an action movie starring Rutger Hauer.
Today, we will watch, in full the 2003 remake starring Takeshi Kitano directed by Takashi Miike. Satoichi is a much loved character in Japanese modern day folklore and this samurai film is quite possibly one of the best of the modern samurai movies. It has a quite bizarre ending too! Enjoy!
Zatoichi - the Blind Swordsman 1/13
Zatoichi - the Blind Swordsman 2/13
Zatoichi - the Blind Swordsman 3/13
Zatoichi - the Blind Swordsman 4/13 Zatoichi - the Blind Swordsman 5/13 Zatoichi - the Blind Swordsman 6/13 Zatoichi - the Blind Swordsman 7/13 Zatoichi - the Blind Swordsman 8/13 Zatoichi - the Blind Swordsman 9/13 Zatoichi - the Blind Swordsman 10/13 Zatoichi - the Blind Swordsman 11/13 Zatoichi - the Blind Swordsman 12/13 Zatoichi - the Blind Swordsman 13/13
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"Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open ones mouth and remove all doubt." - Unknown.
"Those who don't know say that they do. Those who do know say they don't." - Za Zen Buddhist saying
I often am reminded of how much some people like to hear their own voices at meetings. Not me. If I can, I want to go through meetings and be completely silent unless I am absolutely sure that I understand all facets of the problem(s) being discussed and there is something that is urgently pressing that I feel that I must say....
To be quite dramatic... It is like the way a samurai would do things... They'd shut up unless they have something important to say. In my case, I shut up because I don't want to sound stupid.
In Japan, even from long ago, it is said that the most intelligent people say little. A zen quote goes like this: "Those who say they know, don't. Those who do know, don't say."
Hopefully, against all odds, and in spite of myself, what I did have to say at a meeting, when I finally said it, would be relevant.
Otherwise, I want to be like samurai.
According to ancient folklore, the samurai weren't big talkers. They didn't say too much.
Perhaps they kept their mouths shut because they already knew the score or perhaps they kept silent because they didn't fully comprehend the subject at hand. Or, perhaps they kept quiet because they knew that f they talked, they'd say something dumb. No matter what, it's always a good idea not to "show your hand."
Keeping your mouth shut and only speaking when absolutely necessary seems to me a good way to be.
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NOTE: Many regular readers have been asking for more great Japanese cinema. We haven't had any since the earthquake and tsunami, but here's some of the best scenes from Zatoichi a 1989 samurai film about a samurai who is blind. This is an awesome film. I will search for an English subtitled version and place it online if I can. Until then, enjoy!
Hi Mike, You're not covering the "royal wedding"...? :)
Thanks Marc. Nope. For your edification, here's three reasons why I do not "cover" important things like the "Royal Wedding." First off, fine publications like Yahoo have already asked the important questions in their online blog. They asked:
Why didn't Prince William watch his bride walk down the aisle? Who was that little girl covering her ears and frowning while the newlyweds kissed on the balcony?
And, finally, Yahoo asked the question that we were all wondering;
Where can I get those gorgeous earrings Kate wore to her wedding?
Oh, yes! Where can I get those gorgeous earrings Kate wore to her wedding? Last time I inquired at my local Walmart, they had nothing of the sort.
The second reason why I don't write about the Royal Wedding can be summed up in this short video (that was not funded by taxes):
THE HOLY GRAIL - KING ARTHUR
May I quote?
"How'd you become king then?"
"The Lady of the Lake...Her arm clad in the purest shimmering samite... held aloft Excalibur from the bosom of the water... signifying by Divine Providence... that I, Arthur, was to carry Excalibur.... That is why I am your king!"
"Listen, Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government. Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses not from some farcical aquatic ceremony...
You can't expect to wield supreme executive power just because some watery tart threw a sword at you."
In a nutshell, that's why I can't even tell you the names of who is getting married and I don't care.
The third, and final reason, why I don't cover, write about, nor even care about any Royal Wedding is due to pressing matters at home that must be attended to immediately; the weeds in the back garden.
Weeds versus Royal Wedding? Tough to decide which is more exciting.
Toss a can of beer in with pulling weeds and it's an easy call.
When you add up these three factors listed above, then, I'm sure you'll agree, that we all have much more important things to take care of than spending a day on front of the TV watching a wedding ceremony that is heavily funded by the local taxpayers. Why, it's even more boring than watching the local tax-funded funeral of some long dead king.
I mean, really, why even care about the Royal Wedding? They are just going to wind up getting a tax-funded divorce in a few years anyway.
Royal wedding memorabilia has reached a new level of tastelessness: Crown Jewels Condoms of Distinction is selling Prince William and Kate Middleton-themed condoms!
Instructing randy Brits to “lie back and think of England” because “like a royal wedding, intercourse with a loved one is an unforgettable occasion,” The condoms are sold in royal purple packages with a picture of the happy couple on the front. But some folks are not amused. “This is completely tasteless and rather hurtful,” Ingrid Deward, editor of Majesty magazine, told Orange News.
I wonder if the Royal couple get paid "royalties" on each pack sold?
Today is April 29, 2011. It is the first day of the annual "Golden Week" Holiday in Japan. From today, many Japanese business people will take an entire week off from work and travel with their families to visit their hometowns and their parent's homes. That's about it. That's the big news. Nothing much else happening... After I write this blog post, I'm going to take a nap.
CHAD VADER: DAY SHIFT MANAGER - NOTHING HAPPENS
YOU NEED A LAUGH. WATCH THIS VIDEO. IT'S PRETTY FUNNY!
My family will stick around Tokyo, as we always do, during Golden Week as, during this time, Tokyo is empty and an wonderful place to be.
It's now been about seven weeks since the Fukushima nuclear accident occurred. In spite of the scandalous panic and spittle coming from the main stream media about how Tokyo was going to be filled with deadly radiation, we're still here.
Inspite of the mass media pronouncements of disaster and impending nuclear doom, 130 million Japanese people are still unaffected.
Yesterday, little children attended school, like they always do. The trains were crowded with business people going to and from work, like they always do and the department stores were packed with shoppers buying gifts, like they always do, to take as presents when visiting relatives.
All in all, it is the same as it's always been.
There are no power outages. The stores have no shortages. The restaurants are slowly becoming filled with customers. There is no invisible radioactive monster stalking the streets.
Despite all the fear mongering and outlandish claims of certain death, we're still here. Nothing has happened. Today's radiation level is basically in line with the radiation level in Tokyo on March 1, 2011; ten days before the earthquake and tsunami which caused the nuclear accident.
Of course, nothing has happened to us in Tokyo. We are hundreds of miles away from Fukushima. Ignorant pundits claimed that we were all going to get dangerous levels of radiation poisoning, but it didn't happen. Of course it didn't happen. It cannot happen. Radiation levels in Tokyo have been and are still today - and will be tomorrow, and the day after that, and the day after that, and the day after that, and the day after that - roughly 3/100th Microgray higher than they were ten days before the earthquake. And still at 1/4th the daily levels seen in Rome, Italy.
It was predictable. I predicted it. It was an easy call.
Why was it an easy call? Because I am an experienced news person with decades of experience in the mass media and now I am a blogger.
Why do people like me want to write the truth? Because a blogger should be more interested in the truth than a fast buck. That is also why, in my case, there is no advertising on this blog whatsoever.
Mish Shedlock from the Global Economic Trend Analysis Blog has sent me a link to his latest post showing a shocking one-two double punch whammy of extremely bad news for the Japanese economy. If you are interested in money and the economy, the Mish's blog is a daily must-read.
Immediately after the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami, foolish Japanese politicians told the Japanese public that we should not be trying to live our lives normally. Shintaro Ishihara, the mayor of Tokyo, even told people that the traditional "Hanami" celebrations should be cancelled this year.
Hanami is an old tradition whereby the Japanese go to park and eat and drink with friends under the cherry blossoms.
Due to these sorts of short-sighted pronouncements, many famous Japanese festivals were cancelled and the country went into a sort of mourning like that of a funeral. Things still haven't gotten 100% back to normal. Now, because of these ill considered pronouncements, the Japanese people, businesses and the economy are paying the price.
The best thing the people could do is try to get their lives back in order as soon as possible as get back to work and get the economy back on track. In that way, with a strong economy, can we help those poor people who suffered in Tohoku in this terrible tragedy. But, no! The government wonks made their dumb announcements and now we are paying the price.
Japan prime minister Naoto Kan has announced his idea for reconstruction but he's not said how he will pay for it. The idea to raise taxes was floated but that died a quick death - especially after Kan's party got trashed in local elections this last Sunday. Now, ratings agencies suspect what I fear; more Japanese government debt.
That's the last thing we need. Mish writes:
Japan’s sovereign-rating outlook was cut to “negative” by Standard & Poor’s as the nation’s reconstruction needs following last month’s earthquake will likely add to what’s already the world’s biggest debt load.
The outlook on Japan’s local-currency debt rating, at AA-, the fourth-highest grade, was lowered from “stable,” S&P said in a statement today. The company had reduced the rating by one step in January in the first cut since 2002. Moody’s Investors Service said last month the disaster may bring forward the “tipping point” for the country’s bond market.
Today’s decision adds to pressure on Prime Minister Naoto Kan, who has yet to detail how the rebuilding will be paid for and how he plans to rein in longer-term fiscal deficits. As public spending increases, revenue will likely decline because of the economic hit from the disaster, with a report today showing retail sales tumbled the most in 13 years last month.
Moody’s today reported no change to its negative outlook for Japan's Aa2 grade rating, the third highest, after a reduction from “stable” in February because of political gridlock. Japan’s public debt will probably increase 5.8 percent to 997.7 trillion yen ($12.2 trillion) in the year started April 1, from a projected 943.1 trillion yen last year, the Finance Ministry said in January.
As I predicted in December of 2010, Naoto Kan will be gone by summer. That's the good news. The bad news? That will do nothing for Japan's political stability and our credit rating and economic outlook.
The only thing we can say for certain is that it looks to be a long hot summer in 2011.
The title of this blog post is completely wrong. It should read "Unorganized and Completely Inept Charities." Included in that list would be the world famous ones too that every knows.
BUZZCOCKS - WHAT DO I GET?
Probably top of the list would be the Red Cross. In an article entitled, Japan Red Cross? Too Slow to Help Out I castigated that organization for extremely slow reaction in helping those affected by the Great Tohoku earthquake in Tsunami in northern Japan on March 11, 2011. I wrote:
".....at the time of the writing of this article, more than one month after the crisis began, Japan Red Cross has not allocateda single yen to the disaster victims. On the web page of the Japan Red Cross, in a post dated April 15th, 2011, they had finally announced that they had decided how much money will be allocated to which areas - so that the monies can then be sent to committees in those areas to be decided how they should be allocated! Odd, but something here seems to reek of bureaucracy.
This is outrageous.
I thought an organization like Japan Red Cross would be acting immediately to relieve those in desperate need rather than debating in long meetings what local chamber gets how much money or making sure their bookkeepers have their antiquated accounting in order by the end of each month. But, if this event and past scandals such as the poor handling of the relief efforts for the Katrina disaster or Haiti is any indicator, the glacial speed of reaction to crises by the Red Cross leaves much to be desired.
When people and small children are suffering and starving in the freezing cold they need help right now, not after six to eight weeks. They certainly need help quicker than the former government bureaucrats at cushy positions at the Japan Red Cross seem to be capable of delivering."
Over the last three years, I've been helping out with many charities and organizations. I have seen just about every major charity in Japan running in some form or another. I must say that I thought "Rock Challenge Japan" and "Hands on Tokyo" were the only ones that I felt satisfied the minimum level of professionalism I want in a charity.
A charity is a business, try to run it that way
Some of the others wouldn't even return my phones calls... And that was after calling several times. I won't name them.
From helping many of these charities I have come to recognize one things that runs through most of them and that is, while many people seems to be well-meaning, they are completely and totally incompetent, have zero business experience and do not understand even the most basic principles of the term: ROI when approaching sponsors and asking for donations or support.
ROI stands for "Return on Investment." It is so basic that I am astounded that, out of all these charities that I have cooperated with, I have only met a very few people who seem to grasp this idea.
ROI goes like this: I am a big corporate sponsor. You are a charity. You ask me to support you. Sounds like a good idea. OK, what do I get out of helping you?
And, no. Your "Thanks" just doesn't cut it anymore. When sponsors are few and far between we need a much better effort than the, frankly speaking, half-assed efforts we've been getting from most charities up until now.
Yesterday I had a guy ask me to try to arrange travel tickets for his charity that will be held in 7 weeks time. I was so surprised. There's just no way that can be done. Maybe Clark Kent could pull that one off, but Mike Rogers can't.
Recently, I arranged airfare for two to London on British Airways for a school charity at St. Mary's International School that will be held second week of May, but I started organizing that deal over three months ago. With that, I made a proper professional quality business presentation on Power Point along with several pages of documentation and presented that to the client along with several follow up phone calls and dozens of emails.
The guy who asked me to help yesterday? Nothing. No data, details, nothing. In fact, it was the first time I had heard of it.
Anyway, I can't help them. It's totally impossible as it is way too late. Talk about poor planning! (I've mentioned many times that 80% of success lies in good planning). I then asked my friend about what sort of metrics that the sponsor could be offered? Meaning, what sort of visibility on flyers, posters, etc. I was told that the flyers were already made and distributed that there would be no visibility for the sponsor at all.
Now, if there is no ROI benefit for the sponsor, why in the world does anyone think a sponsor is going to say "OK" to something like this? There's no way.
I also refuse to look stupid in front of a client by even asking such a dumb and ridiculous question. Just because the charity is unorganized and fouled up, doesn't mean that I am willingly going to go there and look stupid too!
ROI! ROI! ROI! What does the client get in return for their help investment? That's the only question that matters. This is not fun and it is not a game. It is a business decision!
There's many reasons why corporations have rules concerning charities and standards concerning ROI. The biggest one I can think of right off the top of my head is to prevent abuse. I mean, if there's no rules concerning these sorts of activities, then what's to stop a, country manager from giving away a thousand dollars of goods to, say, her best friend's ladies luncheon group or their son's kindergarten school function?
I don't write this blog post to blast some of these charities but I write this to help you folks out (I write it directly too as I haven't the time or patience to be giving out free advice all the time). Some basic common sense and a basic understanding of this simple concept of ROI - as well as some thought put into, "Gee, if the sponsor supports us, what kind of bang do they get for their buck?" Will help separate the charities that receive from the charities that don't.
The bottom line? What does the client company get out of sponsoring and helping your charity and how does the in-charge at that company justify to his boss and book-keeping manager the fact that he wants to approve giving you thousands of dollars worth of support in cash or in prizes?
Sponsors need something to show for their efforts. You had better figure out how to give it to them too if you want their help. Trust that, as time goes by, the charities who do figure this out and take my advice to heart will be the ones who get. The others who fail to recognize this common sense fact of life might as well close their doors.
Here's one good idea: On a recent relief trip to the tsunami hit area, my partners who helped me organized, made sure we created a top-quality professional video of the effort and we placed sponsors and supporters names at the end of the video with company logos.
Now, when I want to arrange any sort of charity to help the earthquake and tsunami sufferers, all I need to do is direct people to that video on YouTube and they can see for themselves what their ROI is. See the video Ishinomaki - Black Water here.
Compare that with your charity that is asking for free airline tickets to support your event or festival, yet you can't even give me metrics on how many posters are to be printed or where my company logo will be placed.
In this day and age where corporate sponsorships are getting harder and harder to come by, a better understanding of their needs is critical.
Everyone already knows what the charities need. That doesn't need explaining too much. Explain to me, the client, "What do I get?"
