2011: The Year of Power Saving in Japan. Time Lapse Video of Tokyo After March 11 Earthquake and Nuclear Disaster

The March 11, 2011 earthquake, tsunami and subsequent nuclear disaster at Fukushima had a profound effect on, not just Japan, but also the world.

Locally, it caused the government and people of Japan to reassess Japan's dependence upon nuclear power.

After the nuclear disaster forced the reassessment and closure of 1/2 of Japan nuclear power plants, the entire nation has spent the rest of 2011 in what has been called, 節電 (setsuden) or "power saving." No matter where you go in Tokyo, you will see signs that say, "Setsuden chu" (currently saving power).

After this "Setsuden chu" campaign started up, all over Tokyo, you could see signs of companies and stores saving power. At some of the subways stations, 1/2 of the escalators were shut off; at department stores, many of the brightly colored and lit displays were turned off... The worst part of it all, and what everyone feared the most, was the hot and humid Japanese summer. Luckily for us, this year's summer was quite unseasonably cool (Man Made Global Warming, don't you know?) and even thought the air-conditioning was off or very low at most places, it was bearable.

I stumbled upon this very cool and interesting video of time lapse photography showing places around Tokyo before and after Setsuden. I thought it was beautiful and wanted to share it with you. Enjoy!

DOUBLE CLICK ON IMAGE FOR FULL SCREEN

Police in Japan Crack Down on After-Hours.... Dancing!

This idiocy is just getting out of control. I told you that the recent crackdowns on the Yakuza are actually motivated by recent lower government revenues from taxes leading to a fear amongst the Metropolitan Police Department that they are going to have to face budget cuts (so they create a straw man like Yakuza crimes) to justify massive over expenditures, but now they went in a busted a bar because of unruly foreigners (isn't it the bar owner's right to refuse service to anyone they please?) and because, heavens, people were dancing after-hours!!! Dancing! In a night club? What's the world coming to?


The Tokyo Reporter has the story:

TOKYO (TR) – The weekend bust of two popular nightclubs within the Gas Panic chain was due to the presence of undesirable foreigners, reports Nikkan Gendai (Nov. 30).

Well, hell, if you ask me, anyone who frequents Roppongi, foreign or Japanese, if "undesirable." I hate that place. Give me the neighborhood Moe's or local yakitori (chicken BBQ on sticks) anyday!

Moe's bar. That's me on the left in the red shirt.

Early Sunday morning, Tokyo Metropolitan Police entered clubs Gas Panic Bar and Club 99 in the Roppongi entertainment district and arrested managers Hidenori Wakita, 36, and Fumiki Nishihata, 35, for allowing dancing after 1 a.m. — a violation of the Law Regulating Adult Entertainment Businesses.

Dancing!? After 1 am? In a bar in Roppongi!? Never heard of such a thing. Weird, eh? People want to go to Roppongi to drink and dance on a Saturday night? Go figure, eh? 

I'm shocked. Shocked, I tell you to find dancing going on at this establishment!

A journalist who covers the adult entertainment industry says the chain of foreigner-frequented bars is popular for those on low budgets, but in recent times police have been taking notice of trouble. “Recently, poorly behaving foreigners from the Middle East and South-East Asia have started showing up,” says the source. “They make others not want to come around, and maybe some neighbors complained.”

“They make others not want to come around.." Well, maybe, maybe not. But they can't possibly be more misbehavin' than the US military who are now confined to bases for being naughty, raising hell and committing serious crimes.

"...and maybe some neighbors complained"? What do you mean, "maybe"? Anyone who lives in Roppongi near these types of establishments cannot possible complain about drunks, foreigners or loud noises (or even, perish the thought, dancing!) 

The tabloid says that the raid of Gas Panic Bar occurred just before 2 a.m. “There were close to 200 customers in the place,” says a salaryman present at the time. “As the name says, it was a panic. At first, I thought they were targeting drugs or gangs. I was stunned that it was due to licensing problems since this sort of thing has been going on for 20 years.”

The salaryman is quoted, “As the name says, it was a panic." What!? An establishment does what they advertise that they are going to do and this is a problem, officer? And this has been going on for 20 years? Gee, who'd a thunk it? Just one more piece of evidence that this, like clamping down on the Yakuza for the horrendous crimes of ticket scalping, gambling, prostitution and, Mercy! Wining and dining TV producers!? What are we going to do? If I were prime minister, I think I'd declare martial law and do something stupid like bomb another country....Say? Isn't Pearl Harbor day right around the corner? Just asking.

Obviously vicious, dangerous and drunk. 

Writer's rendition of drunk salarymen who may have been dancing!

The issue concerns the type of license. Establishments within the Gas Panic chain are licensed as bars, which under the Law Regulating Adult Entertainment Businesses are not allowed to provide entertainment, such as dancing, after 1 a.m. without special authorization. Only drinking, however, is permissible.

Oh? I see. I own a bar or club or whatever. And I need a license to serve drinks. I cannot provide entertainment without another license. So what is "entertainment"? pray tell. Isn't the BGM music that I hear when I walk into Denny's, for example, considered "entertainment"? Well, it sure is as the establishment owner must pay music publishing royalties to play music. And, I need a license for dancing? G*ddamn! This place is starting to sound like the United States! Now, if two people hear some music and start dancing, as a bar owner, is it my duty to stop them? What constitutes "dancing" may I ask?

Dirty Dancing? Footloose? Any Ho's in da house?

Not in this establishment you don't ladies. Not without a license!!!

As an aside, there's far too many stupid people, foreigners included, who are trying to make money off this "Yakuza criminal underworld" nonsense by writing and selling books about non-issues. Once again, let me state, I'm sure the Yakuza and the dirty dancing certainly doesn't kill nearly as many people as the USA and NATO do annually (sometimes with Japan's support).

This was the second arrest in two years for Wakita. In 2009, police found similar violations at Club 99 and GP Bar, which is also within the Gas Panic chain, and took the manager into custody. After that, Gas Panic Bar installed a security camera at the door to alert management to turn the music down if police appeared.

Smart guys. I'd set up a camera too. But this is the only place that I think the Gas Panic people screwed up big time. Head should roll. Better security against police raids, guys! Your customer base deserves to be able to have fun in the security of your establishment and NOT be hassled by a bunch of criminals or SS officers or gestapo who wish to eradicate things like dancing! 

This nonsense is outrageous! The police are obstructing business. If it is too loud or people are dancing, the rational thing to do would be to go visit and ask them to turn it down. The last time this guy was hassled was 2009? Disgusting. (Oh, and by the way, notice the timing? In 2009, after the Lehman Brothers crisis, the economy was tanking and the government and police stepped up this kind of nonsense.)

"I won't dance! I won't! You can't make me!"

If there had been any recent problems at any establishment such as Gas Panic, the proper thing to do would be to contact the manager in a business-like manner and discuss the matter. Busting in and arresting the guy and causing a scene during business hours is Nazi State BS and a clear-obstruction of business issue.

And what of the customers dancing? They are having fun. Are they supposed to know the business license arrangements with the establishment? Is the establishment owner to post signs that say, "No Dancing" on premises? And, even if they did, would anyone think that a "No Dancing" sign was anything but a joke?   

Wakita was eventually convicted.

Oh, what was I saying about the government and police needing money? So, the guy was convicted... For what? Not having a proper dancing license?

This latest bust sends a message, continues the adult-entertainment journalist. “The crackdown will expand,” the writer says. “There are tens of thousands of improperly licensed clubs. Gas Panic is a big name, and they have continued to ignore warnings. Perhaps the police are taking a step forward to show the serious consequences to everyone else.”

The true message this sends is that the licensing business is a farce. It also shows us that the powers that be are completely and totally arbitrary in enforcing the law. When government coiffures run low, you can bet they will find some boogie man for which to try to gain revenues or, at least, makes sure certain department's within the government are not forced to take budget cuts. That they make a big scene and use the media to force the issue shows that they want to instill fear in other establishment owners in order to get them to pay up and buy or renew licenses.

Business is bad enough as it is for establishment owners. Increasing their costs will not help. Using fear to get them to cooperate is proof that this is coercion and a taxation problem. 

Recently, I have been seeing many road stops whereby the police are arbitrarily stopping drivers without due cause to look for some reason to fine them. The escalation against the Yakuza and the media BS is another indicator of this absurdness... Now, Gas Panic gets hit. For what?

For not having a license to allow dancing?*

If this is how things are going then, I say we bring back the 憲兵隊 (kenpeitai) thought police. Who knows what sorts of evil things people who dance are thinking about. They are dangerous...

Or maybe we can make money for requiring a license for any sort of body movement or even thinking about going to the toilet in a bar!

The possibility for new revenues are endless... Just thinking could be taxed.

NOTE: Oh, but I know what you are thinking: Taxing sex won't work as Japanese don't have sex.*

Holytaco reports:

One-quarter of married couples in Japan have had no sex in the past year, a survey showed.

Sex is particularly elusive as people grow older, with the study finding that 37.3 percent of Japanese married couples in their 50s were not having sex.

There was no comparable data for other countries but earlier surveys by condom manufacturer Durex has put Japan among the world’s least sexually active nations.

See? Maybe they don't have sex, but they think about it. So that's where the revenue comes from. 

* I know that the license is not specifically for dancing. It is the difference between a bar and dining establishment. But the point remains that this is a taxation issue. If the government were sincere, they wouldn't make these huge scenes and public mass media showcases. Proper business manners would call for mutually respectful discussions (not that I think the licensing is anything but coercion).

Thanks to Tokyo Reporter!

Best Place for Up-to-the-Minute Radiation Readings for All of Japan

In English 日本語もあり ここです （http://blog.safecast.org/ja/）。 Nationwide readings. Proper measurements by independent worldwide volunteer organization called Safecast. If that link doesn't work, see: http://blog.safecast.org


There have been many recent stories of high radiation readings in Tokyo that were proven to be not related to Fukushima. For example, false alarms in the water, in Tokyo's Setagaya Ward, and a litany of others, Safecast data proves that Tokyo is well within safe limits and has lower radiation levels than major international cities such as Rome, Italy or Hong Kong, China.


PBS recently featured Safecast:

From Youtube:


Eight months after a tsunami caused a nuclear accident in Japan, ordinary people are using new technology and the power of crowdsourcing to find radiation hotspots. NewsHour science correspondent Miles O\'Brien reports from Japan.


The results still show several danger zones in and around Fukushima... The Tokyo areas show completely safe levels. Please check your area for yourself.

Protestors March in Tokyo? Ho Hum...

Where have all the flowers gone? Or, "What ever happened to the good old days of real protests?"


I'm not condoning violent protests... Me being against violence and all... But this "peaceful protest" nonsense in New York and other places just doesn't work. People need to protest like the Europeans do. See Occupy Wall Street Protests Go Global. Turn Violent in Rome.


Of all the people who "just don't get it" today's Japanese takes the cake. When I first came to Japan, I worked at a company in Iidabashi. There, one day, communists and workers party people went on "strike." I was so surprised. Here was a country with a 1% unemployment rate and these people were going on strike.


Their chosen method of protesting authority? They put on headbands and sat at their desks for one hour that day, "on strike!" I would have thought it to be a useful strike had they did so during work hours, but they went on strike during their lunch hour.


No kidding. Five guys stood up from their desks. The leader barked some orders, the put on the headbands and sat back down at their desks during lunch. When the hour ended, they took off the headbands and went back to work.


That was the first workers protest I'd ever seen in Japan. It wasn't the last one... But, in my most certainly confused opinion, it continues in a long line of totally useless protests... 


Let's face it folks... The big bankers and the authorities and their lackies don't pay attention to you if you don't rattle their cages... Think about it; do bees and wasps care if you quietly walk by or do they get real excited if you hit their nests with sticks?


On the other hand, some Japanese used to know how to protest. They used to know how to get people's attention. Watch this protest against the construction of that disaster known as Narita International airport (you might have to log in as this video has age restrictions):

Woah! That's some heavy duty stuff. (the really heavy stuff starts at 2:20) I guess they don't make Japanese demonstrators and protestors like they used to... Of course, like I said, I'm not condoning violence.


The, ahem, big news today is that, in Tokyo, there was a protest supporting the Wall St. movement. It was a big farce too.


The Mainichi News reports:

Protesters march in Tokyo as Wall St. movement goes global

TOKYO (Kyodo) -- People took to the streets Saturday in Tokyo as the "Occupy Wall Street" movement to protest widening income disparities spread across the world, with similar rallies being held in Australia and Taiwan the same day.

......

About 100 people including children and senior citizens gathered in Tokyo's Hibiya Park and started marching around 12:30 p.m. toward the nearby government office quarter in Tokyo's Kasumigaseki district, waving placards bearing a variety of slogans.

Are you kidding me? 100 people? This is newsworthy? What a joke.

The demonstration was organized by a group called "Occupy Tokyo" founded a week ago.

"I was touched by the Wall Street movement," said Masaki Shoji, a 19-year-old freshman at Hosei University who participated in the demonstration.

Translation: "It seems trendy so I want to be a part of it. But it isn't a real protest. That would be too much work. We figure we could get together and carry placards and enjoy a nice walk on a Sunday!"

"Japanese are often seen as being unassertive, but I wanted to show that we can stand up as well."

Translation: The Japanese are unassertive, and I wanted to show that to be true." 

The demonstrators passed in front of the headquarters of Tokyo Electric Power Co., the operator of the crippled and radiation-leaking Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, with some of them shouting, "Stop nuclear plants now."

Translation: Like I said, whatever is trendy at the moment works for us.

Chiyoharu Yamasaki, 64, said he came from Yokohama to protest nuclear power generation. "I am surprised that there aren't very many young people taking part," he said.

Right! We are talking about young people who like their conveniences, you know. 

"Japanese have never really taken action even when they felt angry about something...so I thought I'd come this time. Japanese youth should speak up more," he said.

"...So I thought I'd come this time. Japanese youth should speak up more.." Well, you thought wrong.

The article continued: 

In Roppongi, about 30 people gathered and exchanged messages via the Internet with activists in the United States.

Thirty people? Wow! Now there's a real demonstration that will scare the authorities!

The modern demonstrations in Japan are, like I said, a farce. There is no direction and it means nothing. Just another demonstration by a bunch of ill-educated idiots who have no direction and no policy. The Japanese will not rise up until they have a focused target and enemy that they can direct their attention at. This "Support Wall Street" and "No nuclear power" is just a hodge podge that, ultimately means zip. Zero. Nada. Nothing.

And I am no hypocrite. I do not condone violence. But I also do not condone this pissy wimp assed protests. OK, folks. We don't need violence, but how about some protests that make the authorities stand up and take notice?

And don't think I don't offer solutions. Here's one:

Protest against the bankers and the bad economic conditions? Try this:

Instead of 100 people getting together for a walk to to hang around Roppongi using their Twitter accounts, how about getting a few hundred people to dress up all in the exact same color? Say black clothes. Add the Japanese touch by wearing headbands.

Get these few hundred people to march in smart step from some big train station to some predesignated meeting place for about 30 minutes. There, when everyone is gathered around, light a large fire and have every single person in the progression burn their credit cards.

While they hold up their burning credit cards and placards then they chant something like "Down with the bankers" or whatever the designated target is. 

Do you think having a few hundred Japanese all dressed in black burning their credits cards won't make the big news all over the world? 

I'll bet it would.

But would it matter? Probably not. Even though it would make a good image, if the people don't get organized and arrange these types of protests all over Japan, then it won't matter...

It certainly won't matter if, after they burn their credit cards, that they take off their headbands and get right back to business as usual.

Karl Denniger in a very timely article writes: OWS (And Everyone Else): Pay Attention to Greece:

Here are some realities for everyone to think about and (hopefully) understand:

Government cannot expand faster than domestic economic output does.  That is, if you want government to get bigger, the economy must get bigger to support it.

Growth in the economy must come from economic surplus, not borrowing.  Economic surplus is what you have left after you (1) labor, and (2) pay for all of the things you must buy with that labor.  Whether your payment is direct (e.g. you pick strawberries and get to keep X% of your output) or indirect (you are paid a wage in "dollars" and then spend that money) the fact remains that economic growth can, in the long run, only come from economic surplus

The process by which economic surplus is turned into economic expansion is called capital formation.  Capital formation is not borrowing; borrowed funds are fungible (that is, interchangeable) with formed capital but they are not the same thing.  Only capital formation produces lasting prosperity.  Replacing formed capital with borrowed funds produces bubbles; these are inherently pyramid schemes in both concept and execution and thus must eventually burst.

Due to inefficiency in all things, including the markets, when a bubble bursts you're worse off than if it had never occurred in the first place.  This is the principle known simply as "there's no such thing as a free lunch."  It's true in thermodynamics and it's also true in economics.

Gaijin Gourmet! Part 5: Great Udon in Tokyo: Rakugama Senmenjyo

Well, it's another episode of the fantastically popular Gaijin Gourmet. The blog post written by me, Mike Rogers 'The gaijin cheapskate with the tastebuds, bud!', tells you where the best cheap places are to eat in Tokyo. 

I once was told that, "If someone eats out for over 300 nights a year, they can be a newspaper or magazine restaurants critic." Well, for several years, I ate dinner outside 364 nights a year... Lunch everyday too!

But, I never became a critic (until now) because if I don't like a place, I don't go there twice. If the service is bad upon entering or seating, I will get up and walk out.

I don't have time to write about restaurants I don't like. I, actually, don't have the time to write about nice restaurants that I do like because if they are nice restaurants and I do like them, one of the good reasons I like them, is that they are undiscovered. I certainly wouldn't like to write about them now and ruin one of the few spots I enjoy and look forward to going to.

One more thing, expensive restaurants should be delicious. It's the cheap ones that are delicious that are the real treasures. So it's the cheap and delicious ones that I want to write about in Gaijin Gourmet! 

*Oh, and many years ago, I wrote that Fuji Soba was good and now that's one reason it is so popular for foreigners... But! Fuji soba has really gone downhill. I cannot recommend it anymore. Today's restaurant blows Fuji Soba away!

Today, I want to tell you about Rakugama Seimenjyo. Rakugama Seimenjyo, in English means, "Easy Pot Noodle Place"

This place rocks. It a chain restaurant that serves Japanese noodles (Udon). This is a chain restaurant and the place is packed at lunch time during the week, so don't even try to go there at those times. 


Get there at 11:30 or after 1:30 and you will be in for a real treat.

CLICK ON IMAGE FOR LARGER VIEW

The typical basic bowl of noodles is about ¥280 ~ ¥330 ($3.60 ~ $4.27 USD). See menu and HP here: http://www.sankofoods.com/shop/rakugama/index.html

Walk into the restaurant. Chose from the menu. I recommend the "Kama Age Udon" (kama a-gay uu-do-n) at ¥280 yen. Order from the nice lady. (Notice that you can see into the kitchen and it is spotless!)

Receive your basic tray of noodles. Then proceed to the toppings rack to the right. Choose the toppings of your choice. They have delicious fried chicken, fried veggies, fried squid, shrimp, pumpkin, and an assortment of rice balls... And! The prices are much cheaper than even a convenience store! 

Choose any or all of the toppings you like. Super cheap too! You can easily fill your stomach up for $7.50 (USD)... No tipping too!

Hot udon with an egg and fried shrimp. Most restaurants about ¥800 ~ ¥1,000 yen. Here? ¥400 (about $5.18 USD!)

Large hot udon and fried squid ¥480 (about $6.12 USD)

My wife had the "tempura udon" at ¥400 (about $6.12 USD). This place is delicious and you just can't beat the prices!

The restaurant is called, Rakugama Seimenjyo in English means, "Easy Pot Noodle Place." They have 19 shops all over Tokyo. Here's a webpage that shows locations (sorry it's all in Japanese!): http://www.sankofoods.com/shop/rakugama/shop.html

My favorite one is just 1 minute walk from Sangenjyaya station!

楽釜洗面所

(Rakugama Seimenjyo)

Sangenjyaya 2-13-11

Setagaya-Ku,

Tel: 5779-8340

I highly recommend this place for locals and for tourists. This gets the Gaijin Gourmet 5 stars award for cleanliness, delicious taste, and awesome price.

Olympics! Sex! Scandals! Bribery! Geishas and Sushi! Burning Books and Nazis! This Post Has it All!

Oh no! Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara wants to try again for the Olympics to come to Tokyo. We just got lucky and "lost" our last bid a few years ago. Not again! Tokyo is already way too crowded as it is. We don't need the Olympics. 

EDDIE MURPHY AND RICK JAMES - PARTY ALL THE TIME

Now, though, I bet Tokyo has a good chance to get the Olympics because of the March 11, disaster because people feel sorry for us.


Please world! Have mercy on us! Don't put the Olympics in Tokyo, send them to someplace really needy... How about Las Vegas? Or Chicago? Or even Compton!


Most people don't know this, but the last time Japan hosted an Olympics, the taxpayers had to foot a $6 billion dollar shortfall. Sounds like fun to me! I'll tell you more about that but first up, Tokyo's Olympic Bid!


Yahoo reports:

Tokyo formally announced its bid to host the 2020 Olympics as a symbol of Japan's determination to recover from the devastating March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC) president Tsunekazu Takeda on Saturday said that his executive committee had approved Tokyo's bid at a special meeting earlier in the day after the capital failed to capture the 2016 Games.

"Japan must recover from the great earthquake disaster," he told a reception in Tokyo marking the 100th anniversary of the JOC which was attended by International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge.

"We wish to make the 2020 Olympics a symbol of our recovery."

Tokyo's outspoken governor, Shintaro Ishihara, said as he proposed a toast at the reception: "There is no meaning in fighting a battle that is the Olympic bidding if we don't win it."

"Tokyo won't mind fighting a bloody battle in building facilities. I want the JOC to win a bloody battle (in leading the bid) no matter what."


He also added, "What the heck do I care if we spend tons of taxpayers money? As long as it's not my money, then who cares?" Nah. He didn't actually say that, but I'll bet he thought it.

In 2009, Tokyo lost to Rio de Janeiro in the race to host the 2016 Games, along with Madrid and Chicago.

Hey, isn't this Ishihara Shintaro the same guy who told us that, right after the earthquake and tsunami hit Tohoku, we weren't supposed to drink and celebrate  spring and party? Now, he wants us to spend lavishly on the Olympics to impress his friends? Hmmm?


Seriously, I'd much rather drink with friends and celebrate life. Tokyo is way too crowded as it is. We don't need the Olympics.


Anyway, didn't Nagano lose a ton of money by hosting the 1998 Winter Olympics? Wasn't it filled with scandals? Why yes it was. It was $6 billion in debt. Who paid for that? The Japanese tax-payer, of course! 


Facts and Details reports:

 After the games, Nagano was more than $6 billion in debt. The expensive luge and bobsled course was largely unused. One of hockey rink was made into a swimming pool. Other venues had a hard time just coming up with money to cover their maintenance fees.

Yeah. There's a bunch of facilities sitting there unused. Great way to spend the public's money! $6 billion? How much money is that? That's a 6 with 11 zeros and one decimal point behind it. 

That's $6,000,000,000.00 dollars in debt!

But there's a lot more fun and games where that came from too!:

Nagano Olympics, Scandals and Money

 The Nagano Olympic Committee was accused of being involved in some shady activities. It reportedly took a $200,000 kickback from a Sumitomo Heavy Industries in return for a construction contract. There was also an investigation of a mysterious deposit of $230,000 into the account of Italian Olympic committee member who inexplicably voted for Nagano instead of Valle d'Aoasta in his own country.

Simple clerical errors, I'm sure.

"I'm shocked. Shocked. I tell you!"

 Yoshiaki Tsutsumi, one of the richest men in the world in the 1980s, had a personal dream of bringing the Olympics to Nagano, which was his home town and contains a number of hotels and ski resorts owned by him. According to one report met with International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Antonio Samarach in a Tokyo hotel and offered him $20 million to finance his pet project an Olympic museum, in return for help to bring the games to Nagano.

Of course an honorable and decent man like Samarach refused the money. Those reports of scandals were all just hearsay. What proof do they have for these outrageous accusations? 

A high-ranking IOC Committee member surveying 

the possibility of "games" in Nagano. 

 When the IOC visited Nagano, members were given first class plane tickets and welcomed with sushi feasts, geishas and luxurious hot baths. The bill alone for Samarach’s two week stay in Nagano was $80,000. The Nagano committee not only spent lavishly in Nagano they spent just as much and sent a 1,000-member team in 1991 to Birmingham, where the voting for 1998 games took place.

Olympic Paaaaaaarty in town! Woo-hoo! How many ho's in da house? Say Yeah! Yeaaaaaaaah!

Don't let this happen to you!

 On the eve of the voting, all the I.O.C. members were invited to a huge estate outside Birmingham for a banquet of sushi, piled on little miniature boats, and prepared by one of Britain’s most famous sushi chefs. The Nagano committee says it spent $18 million on its bid, other estimated the true figure was around $65 million.

So, what's yer point?

Steve "Poots" Candidus sends the the winning design for the 

Tokyo Olympics logo of 2020!

 When the Nagano Olympic committee was asked to produce documents relating to the scandals and a $28 million deficit, the committee said the 90 volumes of carefully-maintained accounting books had mysterious disappeared. What happened to the books remained a mystery until 1999, when the Salt Lake City Olympic scandal broke, and Nagano committee vice secretary-general Sumikazu Yamaguchi admitted, "I ordered them burned. I didn't want the I.O.C. members to feel uncomfortable." One reason why the Salt Lake City Olympic committee engaged in corrupt practices to get the Olympics for 2002 is because it felt it lost an earlier bid to Nagano because Nagano spent more money and gave more expensive gifts to IOC members than it did.

Cool! Burning books too? Wow! These Olympics had it all! Scandals, corruption, bribery, wild parties, hot baths, decadence, sex, Geishas, sushi, miniature boats and now burning books and even Mormons from Salt Lake City!? Supreme! With a great line up of activities like this, we can even invite some high-ranking Nazi's to the festivities! Now wouldn't that make it fashionable?


Wow! Think about it! Just make sure we have lots of hot babes, Japanese and foreign, some SS Nazi officers and this would make a great Hollywood movie script!!!! 


Gee. On second thought, this Olympics idea-business sounds like a real exercise in, er, "honesty and fair play." 


I change my mind. I'm all for it! What do you think?


Thanks to News on Japan!