Japan needs to attract a large number of foreigners to help revive the farming and fishery industries in areas devastated by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, the head of a key reconstruction panel said Friday.
“It is important to draw human resources, including permanent foreign residents” to the hard-hit northeastern region of Tohoku, Makoto Iokibe, who chairs the Reconstruction Design Council, said at a news conference at the Japan National Press Club.
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インドネシア人看護師、岩手での活動報告 姫路
日本との経済連携協定（ＥＰＡ）に基づき来日、姫路赤十字病院（姫路市）で勤務するインドネシア人看護師、スワルティさん（３２）が、東日本大震災の被災地岩手県山田町での支援活動を終え９日、同病院で記者会見した。スワルティさんは「今後も支援できる方法を考えたい」と話した。
外国人雇用に積極姿勢＝被災地の農漁業再生－復興会議議長
政府の東日本大震災復興構想会議の五百旗頭真議長（防衛大学校長）は１３日、日本記者クラブで会見し、被災地の農業や漁業の再生に関し、「外国人をどう活用するか。国際的な人材を吸引するという在り方も考えなくてはいけない」と述べ、外国人の雇用を積極的に進める方策を検討する考えを明らかにした。
Suzuki’s Super-Cool Strategy: Short Pants
It’s going to be a sticky summer for Japan’s companies, in more ways than one.
The strain on reduced post-March 11 power supply, even as demand for air conditioning grows, means energy has to be saved, by hook or by crook. While some firms ponder night shifts, three-day weekends or extended summer holidays, Suzuki Motor Corp.’s 81-year-old chief executive, Osamu Suzuki, has a radical proposal of his own: Not only no-tie, as per Japan’s usual ‘cool biz’ summer energy-saving campaign, but also no suit. Maybe not even long pants.
“We should have an attire revolution,” Mr. Suzuki said at a news conference this week, when asked about how his company will deal with power shortages expected this summer. The auto industry veteran didn’t say exactly what attire might work as the company bids to save on power-guzzling air conditioning. But he seems to know what outfit works for Japan’s hot/humid summer when he spends his spare time playing his favorite sport.
“When I go playing golf, I wear short pants and socks. It is very cool,” he said.
Short pants or not, for Suzuki Motor the need to conserve electricity will be no joke this summer, especially after Chubu Electric Power Co. decided to shut its Hamaoka nuclear power plant after pressure from the government following the crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi reactors. Chubu Electric supplies power in the central Japan area where Suzuki Motor is based and runs all of its domestic two- and four-wheel vehicle factories.
“I wonder if ties and jackets (are needed) in a country like Japan which has a hot and humid climate,” in the summer, Mr. Suzuki said. His comments echo an idea suggested by Japan’s environment ministry Thursday on how to dress this summer. The ministry decided to allow its workers to dress casually in Hawaiian-style ‘aloha’ shirts and jeans under a new ‘Super Cool Biz’ summertime energy-conserving campaign. Workers will be able to even wear polo shirts, plain T-shirts, sneakers and sandals in order to cope with office temperatures set to 28 degrees Celsius amid concerns over power shortages, news agency Kyodo reported.
If Mr. Suzuki has his way, it could make for a cool summer sweetener for golf-loving staff at his company: They could wear golf gear to work, head straight for the fairways at the end of the (possibly shortened) work day, and still be home in reasonable time for a cooling beverage.
http://blogs.wsj.com/japanrealtime/2011/05/13/suzukis-super-cool-strategy-short-pants/
90% of foreigners to stay put: poll
More than 90 percent of non-Japanese studying or working in the country are willing to stay despite the risks and damage caused by the March 11 disasters, an online survey indicated.
The International Foreign Students Association conducted the survey from March 22 to 26 and received 392 responses.
A breakdown of the respondents showed that 60 percent were students and 40 percent were graduate. More than 90 percent were from China, Taiwan and South Korea.
Those who said they were willing to stay in Japan explained their responses by saying: “Because I like Japan,” or “At a time like this, I think I want to work together (with Japanese) to help the recovery,” according to the Tokyo-based nonprofit organization.
The survey also showed that 73 percent of the respondents noticed gaps in information provided by Japan and by their home countries on the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear emergency. Some said overseas news on the nuclear crisis was “excessive.”
Psychiatrists aid traumatized foreigners
A group of psychiatrists who have been providing mental health support for foreign residents has set up an emergency committee to aid non-Japanese suffering from stress and trauma from the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.
“Those who are suffering the most are the elderly, children, the handicapped and foreigners. And foreigners are particularly prone to become isolated, suffer from a lack of information in their mother tongue, easily become confused by false rumors and suffer from growing anxiety,” said Fumitaka Noda, president of the Japanese Society of Transcultural Psychiatry and professor of psychiatry at Taisho University in Tokyo.
“It’s really important to provide them with accurate information, and then to listen and understand their anxiety,” said Noda, who has been providing mental health care services to foreigners in Japan for 18 years, especially to refugees.
Comprised of psychiatrists and other mental health professionals, the transcultural psychiatry society established the Transcultural Mental Health Emergency committee March 19 to help foreigners directly affected by 3/11.
As the only medical society in Japan that focuses on studies of foreigners who have mental health issues due to transcultural problems, the society is working closely with groups that support foreigners, including the Japan Foundation, to continue gathering information on people in need of professional help. It is also planning to teach supporters basic knowledge of mental health, so that when they spot signs of depression or posttraumatic stress disorder they can contact Noda and his colleagues.
Mental health care has become more important as people recover from the initial shock of the disaster and gradually start to get a clear picture of what happened and what situation they are in, Noda explained.
“As people start to look around, they begin to feel more clearly the sense of loss, and anxiety over the future. . . . Some may develop PTSD,” Noda said. “Many suffer from numbness. Because they lost everything they had and they begin to wonder about the meaning of making an effort, making a commitment or loving someone.”
If such cases continue over a long period, then people need to seek professional help, Noda said.
“In this kind of situation, a foreigner’s stress can be more than that of Japanese. We have to spend twice the time we do for Japanese to treat foreigners. We need to listen to their voices wholeheartedly,” Noda said, adding he and his team are ready for action, to help foreigners with mental problems.
“I want people to know there are services available to them. Many may hesitate to ask for mental support, but please, be open about it and contact us,” Noda said.
E-mail Transcultural_mental_health@yahoo.co.jp or call Fumitaka Noda at (080) 5196-8325 or fax (03) 5225-1292.
American teacher in Sendai stays in Japan to help with volunteer efforts
However, many ALTs have not stayed behind. According to the Council of Local Authorities for International Relations (CLAIR), which every year mediates the contracts of around 4,000 ALTs at local authorities around the country, 44 ALTs quit their jobs after the earthquake.
Industries left short-handed after foreign workers flee Japan following nuke accident
Tens of thousands of worried foreign workers left Japan shortly after a crisis at the nuclear power plant that was crippled by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, causing serious labor shortages in some industries.
First openly gay candidate wins in Tokyo ward
Openly gay candidate Taiga Ishikawa won a seat in the Toshima Ward Assembly in Tokyo in Sunday’s election, marking a historic first.