Do you know what わさび (wasabi) is?
Wasabi is a spicy condiment made from a root. It is most commonly eaten with sushi…but, it is eaten with other foods as well–including avacado, noodles, and mayonnaise.
There are also “wasabi snacks”—potato chips and nuts—in Japan.
I like spicy food. So, I eat wasabi on many different things.
Do you like wasabi?
Well, now McDonalds in Japan is offering a new item…
the 「チキンタツタわさびタルタル」 (which is basically “Fried Chicken with Wasabi Tartar-sauce“) sandwich.
When I first came to Japan in 1990, I was astonished that the Statute of Limitations for murder was fifteen years in this country. That meant that if the police didn’t arrest a murderer within that time, it would be impossible to charge him with the crime…even if he publicly confessed.
I was surprised that this fact wasn’t a concern to the people of Japan.
But, it turned out that it was a concern because the law was finally amended…two years ago.
As of 2010, there is no longer a Statute of Limitations on murder in Japan.
One case in particular was significant in getting this law changed. It was the death of Satoru Kobayashi.
On April 11th, 1996, Satoru Kobayashi was twenty-one years old when he got into a heated argument late at night outside one of downtown Tokyo’s biggest train stations.
The other man hit young Mr. Kobayashi in the head hard enough to cause internal bleeding and, ultimately, his death five days later.
The man who caused Mr. Kobayashi’s death was wanted by the police for charges of “Accidental Manslaughter”.
He was a fugitive and the police had seven years until the Statute of Limitations for those charges would expire.
This case became big news in the Japanese media back then because it’s considered “normal” behavior that someone who gets caught up in a heated (possibly drunken) argument and (hopefully) unintentionally causes injury (or worse) to another person would confess to the police and apologize to the family of the victim.
In Japan, sincere remorse for a crime is vital and has a big effect on a judge’s sentencing.
So, the fact that this man didn’t come forward to apologize and accept his punishment was a concern to the public in Japan.
If the man didn’t apologize and feel remorse, than maybe it wasn’t accidental. Maybe he was dangerous.
The accidental tragic outcome of two people over-reacting in an argument is one thing…but a person attacking (and killing) other people in crowded train stations was quite another.
Japan has a very low crime rate. One factor in this is the Japanese mindset…Japanese people are taught from an early age to consider other people’s feelings before their own.
It makes for a very polite society…even in densely populated areas such as Tokyo.
Due to this case being in the media spotlight and a concern to the public, there was pressure on the police to catch the man who caused Satoru Kobayashi’s death before April 2003 (when the Statute of Limitations would end).
In early 2003, just before the Statute of Limitations would expire, the charges against the fugitive wanted in Mr. Kobayashi’s death were moved up to “Murder”.
The rationale for this was, officially, that since the man was hiding from the police, he must have killed Mr. Kobayashi intentionally…but it might have simply been done to “buy time” for the police to finally catch the man.
As I mentioned, at that time murder had a 15 year Statute…so that gave the police another eight years (until April 2011) to continue their hunt.
In 2010, as the new “deadline” approached, the Japanese government removed the Statute of Limitations on charges of “Murder” completely.
Now, the search for Satoru Kobayashi’s killer can go on indefinitely.
Well, the father of the late Satoru Kobayashi publicly announced yesterday (the 16 year anniversary of his son’s death) that he would like the police to end the search for his son’s killer.
I can’t imagine a parent doing that in another country.
But this is part of the selfless way of thinking here that makes Japan a comfortable place to live.
The elder Mr. Kobayashi said that he has resigned himself to the fact that the man who hit his son will never be found…and it wouldn’t be right for any more police resources to be spent on the search when they could be focused on other cases.
The police replied that since the charges are for murder, which no longer has a Statute of Limitations, they cannot officially end the search…but after the father’s made his wish known, the ¥3 million bounty for the fugitive was withdrawn.
Do you the flashcard application / software called “Anki“?
"Anki" is a Japanese word that means "Memorization"
You can download Anki on your computer or AnkiDroid on your Android Smartphone (there’s also an I-Phone application).
This software, made by Damien Elmes, is an excellent tool for learning a language or nearly anything else that can be studied with flashcards.
You can make your own cards (and share them, if you want to) or download cards that other people have made.
And it’s all free!
I made a deck of basic everyday Japanese words. If you study Japanese, please try them…and let me know (on this post’s comment section) what you think of them.
My deck is called “Useful Japanese Vocab.“. You can find it by searching that title on the Anki site.
To use the flashcards, you are shown one “side” then you click “Show answer”.
After that, you click “Soon”, “Good” “Easy” or “Very easy”, depending on how well you knew the answer.
If you study with the deck often, you can learn a lot.
A card from my deck.
Click here to go to the Anki site.
About five years ago, Australia began turning all non-essential lights off for an hour on the last Saturday of March.
They called it “Earth Hour” and it was done to remind people to conserve energy.
The following year most major cities around the world followed suit and now Earth Hour is a world-wide annual event in which all lights (except those that are absolutely necessary) are turned off from 8:30 – 9:30PM on the last Saturday in March.
Yesterday was Earth Hour 2012.
It says 「つながる気持ちが 世界を変える」 ("This attitude can change the world").
—(The “60” in their logo represents the sixty minutes that lights are dimmed)—
So, last night from 8:30-9:30PM (Japan Standard Time (JST)), all non-essential lights were turned off…including the usually illuminated Tokyo Tower (it was only lit enough to prevent planes from hitting it).
The darkened Tokyo Tower at Earth Hour 2012.
Tokyo’s new, bigger tower…the Tokyo Sky Tree won’t be opened to the public until this May—so it’s not illuminated at night yet (except for the lighting necessary for air safety).
But, beginning next year, the Tokyo Sky Tree will be joining the world every year in dimming it’s lights for Earth Hour every year.
Tokyo Five 
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