March 31, 2004
Smokers in Retreat
I think I mentioned that one area of Tokyo was banning smoking in public areas. In France, they tried to ban smoking in cafes, and in New York, in bars and restaurants, but with mixed results.
Well, from this week, smoking is banned in all workplaces, including pubs and restaurants, in Ireland. Apparently the country is looking to entice more tourists, by shedding the image of a country of Guinness-drinkers, propped against the bar with cigarettes dangling out of their mouths. The FT had an article about this change, which was fairly run of the mill writing until the last paragraph.
The writer mentioned that in large cities, the pubs and restaurants would probably comply, but the new law may be more difficult to implement in the rural areas. Previous central government dictates which caused rumblings in the countryside include "the row that erupted when the government tried to introduce rod licenses for trout fishermen inthe 1980s".
What a fantastic story. I hope John Murray Brown, the journalist, enjoyed writing that as much as I did reading it.
Resting after a hard days trout fishing?
Smokers are under attack in Denmark, as well, but this time it is not tobacco which is being outlawed, but cannabis. Until now, the Danish government has had a lenient attitude towards the weed, but now they are cracking down. I read a long time ago about Christiana, the 'hippy' section of Copenhagen, a kind of cross between Berkeley and Amsterdam. What I didn't know was that there was a hash market called Pusher Street in Christiana. You couldn't make this stuff up - if you put it in a novel or film, people would accuse you of lack of realism.
Rosie's First Rice (o-kui-zome)
We pretended to feed Rosie real food today, with chopsticks. this apparently brings good luck. Her virtual meal consisted of grilled cod, some soup, some boiled veg, and sweet black beans.
She seemed to enjoy it! Megumi has written about it on her blog as well, in Japanese.
March 29, 2004
Child Dies in Roppongi Hills Revolving Door
A 6-year-old died in a revolving door at Roppongi Hills on Friday.
Japan Times story is here. Poor kid, and poor parents.
Quite what they are doing making and then installing a death-trap like this, I have no idea. Doesn't anyone test these bloody things?
The building next to our has similar doors. I always prefer to use the regular doors, but recently they started locking them, so that the only way in and out is these revolving doors. Once, when I was in the thing, it stopped for quite a long time, and I remember being concerned that there was no emergency button or emergency way out from inside the doors.
This, Chris (in case you are still reading), would be the perfect case for a non-ridiculous lawsuit, although that is obviously of little comfort to the relatives of the dead boy. I think the fallout from this accident is going to be big.
UPDATE
Cornelius was there just after the tragedy, and saw the horrible aftermath.
There are now guards watching all the revolving doors in the building I work in, and the doors in the building next door have been changed from the 'revolving' setting, to the 'regular' automatic, sliding door setting.
Wandering Around the Neighbourhood
Inspired by Kristen, and my chiropractor (long story), I went walking around the neighbourhood for an hour or so on both Saturday and Sunday.
Check out the photos for some of the interesting things I saw.
Photos of the Garner neighbourhood.
This tiny dry cleaners has 7 vending machines around it. The building to the left, just behind the cleaners, has a further 2. What makes these people so thirsty???
March 26, 2004
Tokyo Blogger Halts Dasani Launch
(Reuters) LONDON — The Coca-Cola Co. (KO) said on Wednesday it would postpone the launch of its Dasani bottled water (search) in Europe and its UK relaunch after the product was ridiculed on Tokyo blog Gary's Boring Blog.
But despite the damage done to the high-profile Dasani brand launch through this public haranguing by the increasingly popular blogger 'Gary', the Atlanta-based soft drinks giant said it retained "full confidence" in Dasani. "Following the voluntary withdrawal in Great Britain last week of Dasani, it (Coca-Cola) has decided not to reintroduce Dasani into Great Britain at this time," the company said in a statement.
Coca-Cola has also postponed the introduction of Dasani in France and Germany, scheduled for April and May respectively.
"We remain confident in Dasani as a brand proposition," spokesman Jon Chandler said. "Dasani is a proven success story in other parts of the world and we see no reason why it could not be so in Europe. We are currently attempting to contact 'Gary' and negotiate with him. We feel that as soon as he understands the space we are aiming at with this product, he will stop his campaign against us, and leave us free to catapult Dasani into the hearts, minds and throats of customers."
(actually, the filtered tap-water Dasani was found to have illegal and dangerous levels of bromate, forcing Coca-Cola to withdraw the product. Read on for more details.)
Coca-Cola began on Friday the recall of about 500,000 bottles of Dasani from store shelves in Britain after tests showed the recently launched drink contained levels of potentially harmful bromate (search) above legal standards.
March 23, 2004
Esumi Makiko and the Pension Crisis!!!
I wrote about the offensive Esumi Makiko Pension commercial before - the patronizing 'who told you you wouldn't receive a pension, huh? Who was it?' ads that were on TV a while back.
Esumi gets a ticking off for telling porkies!
Well, in a great twist, it appears as though the Japanese govt took 3.8 OKU yen (380million yen) and spent it on this campaign. While berating the youth of Japan for not paying their pension premiums, the 'pension role model' Esumi was also neglecting to pay herself!!!
The Japanese tabloids are having a field day with this.
Japan Times story.
ON a further note regarding pensions, on TV last night there was a show explaining why the pension system is in such a bad state.
Obviously, the birth rate/death rate issue is one large reason. Another is that those in charge of managing the fund (a HUGE amount of money) have systematically made bad investments. The main fund manager was apparently studying for some kind of qualification in investment management by distance learning!!!
Basically, arrogant civil servants appear to have played Russian Roulette with people's pensions. One infamous example is the Green Pia chain of resorts, which were created across Japan to give jobs to government old boys. See below. These resorts are ALL closed now, according to the show on TV last night. Is this what the Americans call 'pork-barrel' politics???
Edano also raised the issue of the large-scale 'Green-pia' leisure facilities that were constructed with money from public pension funds. The expenditure of over 380 billion yen has not yet been recovered, and he commented that "these are not facilities to ensure the welfare of those enrolled in the national pension scheme, but to ensure a safe-landing for bureaucrats parachuting down from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. This kind of investment will only lead to feelings of injustice amongst national pension scheme members."
Kumanachi
Democratic Party of Japan
Kakyou pointed me to another link, which lists in more detail how much money has been wasted on non-pension-related things.
'Culture Of Fear' and Japan
In Bowling for Columbine, Michael Moore interviews a guy called Barry Glassner in South Central, LA. They talk about how the area is supposed to be very violent and scary, and about how these ideas/preconceptions are created by the media.
Glassner notes that news on crime has increased, even as the number of crimes has decreased. There are some statistics on this sensationalism here.
On the train this morning, the whole carriage was taken up by posters telling me how scared I should be of various different things in Tokyo. I have looked around the web, and cannot find examples of these posters, but they gave warnings like '56% of all pickpocketing occurs on trains' and 'Leaving your purse in your bicycle basket is asking for trouble'. The bicycle poster actually advised keeping away from busy roads. I cannot remember the details of the other posters.
As I wrote last week, 35% of house robberies happen when a thief enters through an open window or door. Most Japanese people are blissfully unaware of the dangers of pickpocketing and robbery. In England, I always keep my wallet in my jacket pocket. In Japan, I sometimes put it in my bag. In the UK, you have to hide your mobile phone or iPod or you may get mugged for it. In Japan, no-one gives these things a second thought.
So there is definitely a need for a bit of education in Japan. Many Japanese are easy targets for fairly simple thefts and scams. In one, the 'ore ore sagi', the 'bad guy' calls an elderly Japanese person (usually a woman), and just says 'It's me'. The elderly person then says, 'Is that you, Yoshi/Taro/Atsushi/name of other male relative'. The bad guy then says something along the lines of 'Yes, that's right. I am short of money, because I had a car crash/lost my job/had a bit of bad luck at the racecourse' etc etc, and then asks to be sent some money. The elderly 'relative' then sends the money, often hundreds or thousands of dollars, to someone who calls and says 'It's me'.
OK, so awareness of crime is poor here, most houses are not well secured, many people regularly walk around with hundreds of dollars of cash in their pockets or bags, and the government is trying to make people aware of the risks/dangers.
I'm just not sure that the hysterical tone of the train posters is very helpful...
Rosie Meets Uncle Hide
Sorry, been a bit slack at the blogging recently, and also at keeping the Rosie photos updated. There are a few new ones here, from last week when Megumi's parents and then her brother came to visit.
Megumi uploaded these hersef, using the wonderful iTunes Gallery plugin.
Japan goes Blog Mad
In the last 2 weeks, Japan's ISPs have gone blog-crazy. AOL Japan has announced the release of its diary service, OCN has announced a partnership with Six Apart to release a blog service, JENS released a free blog service, and now Biglobe has joined the gang.
Today's Broadband Watch also has some stuff about the Excite News Blog.
Where will it all lead? Will anyone make any money out of it?
March 18, 2004
Handling Charges/Booking Charges
Obviously, my rant a couple of days ago about Warner Mycal hit a nerve. Paul has given the example of Ticketmester in the US, who charge a similar fee. Now, after reading GBB (er,...maybe), Martin Samuel, a West Ham fan and Times (that's The Times to my American readers, not the London Times, or the UK Times, or the Formerly Great Britain Times) journalist, is railing on West Ham United football club and their greedy chairman Terence Brown, for a similarly cynical policy.
Which is why those most deserving of reciprocal loyalty are treated with the greatest disdain. Reserving tickets by phone for West Ham’s match with Crewe incurs a £1.50 handling charge, not per booking but per ticket. So, in other words, West Ham’s ticket office charges extra for issuing tickets — as if to do so keeps the staff from their many other tasks.
Imagine a greengrocer that imposed a levy for handling fruit and vegetables and you have the idea. It is a con. Everybody should refuse to pay it, yet nobody does.
Full article:
Large helping of spite would be just the ticket for blindly loyal fans who turn up every week By Martin Samuel
Jerry: Excuse me, Id like to return this jacket.
Teller: Certainly. May I ask why?
Jerry: For spite.
Teller: Spite?
Jerry: Thats right. I dont care for the salesman that sold it to me.
(Seinfeld, season seven, episode 129: The Wig Master. Broadcast April 4, 1996)
VERY useful, spite. Very fulfilling. Very empowering. Take last weekend. Driving back from Birmingham, I ran over a piece of metal in the road and kicked a huge hole in my front passenger-side tyre. The spare turned out to be a useless space-saver, big stickers on it instructing driving at a maximum of 50mph, and it was a long way home. So I phoned the RAC and got some numbers for companies that supply real tyres roadside.
First up, ATS. Turned out my make of car needed a special tyre. Have they got it? Yes. Oh joy. Wont be with you for 90 minutes, though. No problem. Its worth the wait just to get home in one piece. At 89 minutes and 30 seconds, ATS called. Actually, we havent got the tyre. But well be by soon to fit the space-saver. No thanks. I went elsewhere. It took longer, but I wouldnt use ATS again if they had the last Michelin in town.
And now Im rubbishing their rotten service in a national newspaper. Feels good, I can tell you. Feels spiteful. Go elsewhere, people. The company that got me back on the road was called Hi-Q. Use them instead. Spite, glorious spite.
You know the reason football fans get shafted? Not spiteful enough.
Supporters are unique as consumers because they wear their brand loyalty like a badge of honour, no matter how shoddy the product. Terence Brown, the West Ham United chairman, gets away with selling the best players and crushing the potential of the club because more than 30,000 believe it is their duty to turn up every week, even as he sells them down the river. They feel there is no choice. They need to open up to the power of spite.
Like this. I will never use Avis Car Rental again because twice it has attempted (unsuccessfully) to claim money from me for accidents that did not take place. Also, it charges 1.35 per litre plus VAT to fill your tank up. No, it isnt a misprint. Avis Car Rental charges more than double the price of petrol to refuel your car.
That is Avis Car Rental. I have a receipt here that totals 42.01. To fill the same car with the same amount, Avis Car Rental would have charged 87.79. And, at least in my case, probably tried to stick me for a crash I never had.
The customer relations staff explained that it was a service. But not one that anybody who could be trusted at the wheel would wish to use. So I dont any more for spite. Yet I may still pay to watch West Ham versus Crewe Alexandra tonight, even though that means lining Browns pockets, and I feel just as strongly about being ripped off by him. Now wheres the logic in that?
Those who run the game are well aware of the inconsistency. Long ago, they realised sport was not bound by the same responsibilities to the customer that regulates other businesses. There are market forces in football as the chairman of any relegated club will confirm but sponsors, television companies and executive box-holders desert more readily than the poor bloody infantry occupying the main stand or the terraces behind the goal.
Which is why those most deserving of reciprocal loyalty are treated with the greatest disdain. Reserving tickets by phone for West Hams match with Crewe incurs a 1.50 handling charge, not per booking but per ticket. So, in other words, West Hams ticket office charges extra for issuing tickets as if to do so keeps the staff from their many other tasks.
Imagine a greengrocer that imposed a levy for handling fruit and vegetables and you have the idea. It is a con. Everybody should refuse to pay it, yet nobody does.
This week the ticket allocation for the European Cup final in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, was revealed. Get this. In a stadium that holds 52,000, there will be a mere 14,000 each for the two competing clubs. Uefa, via hospitality packages, national associations, sponsors, media, security and online ballots of neutral fans, has siphoned off the remaining 24,000.
This is nothing short of scandalous. Of the eight teams left in the tournament, only AS Monaco, with an average home attendance of 10,320, would not sell out its allocation. Real Madrid average 71,517 (and drew about 90,000 in tragic circumstances on Sunday), AC Milan 60,492, Chelsea 41,263, Arsenal 38,043, Lyons 35,026, FC Porto 26,218 and Deportivo La Corua 25,940. That Uefa places corporate customers and its European football family as if the ordinary supporter is some bastard interloper above those who pay to watch the game week in, week out in seven cities across Europe demonstrates contempt that should be hard to bear.
Chelsea and Arsenal each have more than 20,000 season ticket-holders, not a difficult number to satisfy if the event is held in a suitable location and tickets fairly distributed. Not to be able to accommodate supporters who do not miss a match on what would be the biggest night in the history of their football club is a failing that should leave any administrator shamefaced. It is staggering that Uefa not only indulges this incompetence but adds to it with its greed. Time for another spiteful interlude, I think.
Uefas arrogance reminds me of Norwich Union, the building society that ran my endowment policies (into the ground) over several years. I used to spend idle spite-time imagining new slogans for its advertising campaigns. Norwich Union Why Not Just Set Fire To It? Norwich Union Wrong About Everything Since 1993.
In this case, the truth was stranger than my fiction. Norwich Union did such a bad job with investments that it imposed a Stupid Tax on people daft enough to leave money with it. After a series of letters informing us that the future wasnt as rosy as anticipated and its experts seemed to have no greater idea of what would make money than the florid-faced deadbeats one finds in high-street bookmakers backing each-way shots at Wincanton, it was decided to place our money somewhere safer. Like under the mattress.
Far from quoting me happy over this, Norwich Union revealed that so many people had reached the same dismal conclusion that it was imposing extra charges on those wishing to jump ship. In other words, it was penalising you after it had lost your money.
Dick Turpin would have donned a mask at this point. So now Norwich Union sits in my file marked cheats, charlatans and highwaymen, alongside ATS, Avis, the West Ham ticket office and the chap at Uefa who allocated 24,000 of 52,000 tickets to his pals.
And while a cancelled policy, tyre or holiday rental is not going to bring big business to its knees overnight, there is a reason companies fear the power of the discerning consumer. In time, a trickle becomes a flood. Uefa might believe that it needs no more than 14,000 Real Madrid fans in May, but its backers wouldnt be too happy if, next season, every regular cheated out of a ticket in Gelsenkirchen turned his back on the Champions League and left the Bernabu half-empty.
In an era when Englands football team is referred to as a brand and its followers as customers, maybe more should exercise their consumer rights wisely. As it stands, fans are treated little better than serfs and their blind loyalty keeps them in chains. They need to find the power, to learn the value of spite.
And, yes, I know. A fan stays true to his team. A supporter supports through thick and thin. So why isnt such devotion respected? Sadly, to those that run the game, the man in the 30 seat (plus 1.50 booking fee) is a consumer without the power to shop around. Maybe it is time to give the salesman his jacket back. After all, if we really are supporters, shouldnt we have tickets?
March 17, 2004
Demon Dentist trips finished
You'll be happy to hear that my regular trips to the dentist are now complete. My teeth are clean, plaque-free, and all holes have now been plugged. I am several thousand yen worse off, but feel better for putting myself through this torture. If you are reading this and wondering when the last time you visited the dentist was, I highly recommend you go. Now. Stop reading this nonsense and get yourself there at once.
One vaguely interesting story from my dentist, Mr Miyamoto. He asked me why I hadn't been for so long, and I said:
'I don't like coming to the dentist', or something similar.
He laughed, and said 'NO-ONE likes coming to the dentist, it's just one of those things you have to do'.
'Mmm, so why did you choose to be a dentist, then, if you know no-one wants to see you?', I enquired.
His reply was interesting. 'I didn't choose to be a dentist. My father and grandfather were dentists, so I had no choice'.
This got me wondering how many sons and daughters of family-run businesses/professions follow their parents' professions. When I was in the States, I often heard that Asian-American parents, many of whom were doctors and lawyers, wanted their children to follow in their footsteps. At university, I knew a couple of people whose parents had farms, and expected their children to take over the family business.
This tends not to happen so much with teachers, accountants, policemen, etc. I wonder why?
March 15, 2004
Customer Service Hint (for Warner Mycal)
Here is a tip for Warner Mycal cinemas in Japan, and indeed any other organization struggling with how to deal with the move to online payment/booking etc: don't charge customers more for making your job easier!!
The amount in question here is only 100 yen, but here goes the rant.
Warner Mycal in Japan is a chain of multi-screen cinemas. The sound is great, the screens are great, and you get assigned seats (this contrasts nicely to the older-style cinemas here where people just rush in when the doors open, try to find the best seats, then put jackets and bags all over the place to make it impossible for latecomers to sit down).
Recently, Warner Mycal has decided to improve the lot of customers even more, by allowing online reservations with credit cards. You choose your seats online, you pay with your credit card, then at the cinema, you swipe the same card to get your tickets. Simple, painless, and efficient.
So why am I complaining? It's the 100yen they charge per booking for this 'service' that disappoints me.
Of course they had to invest in card-swiping machines to make this happen. They also had to revamp their web-page, and introduce card payment, with all the security and data protection issues this change brings. BUT SO WHAT??? That is nothing to do with me, the customer. As far as I am concerned, I have saved Warner Mycal the cost of the salary of the young lady who used to dispense us with tickets. They could get rid of the ticket booth altogether, and use the space to sell more obesity-inducing fast food, for all I am concerned. I have no idea how they came to the decision to charge customers more for managing their own purchase. Imagine if your bank charged you more to manage your account online than to go into the branch. Imagine if booking a flight online (doing a lot of the booking agent's work) cost you more than calling the agent or going into the airline office. It would remove the whole basis of a lot of e-commerce.
So, in a nutshell, Warner-Mycal, you are getting there, just please don't charge extra for online bookings.
Lord of the Rings...
Went to watch Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King last night - our first time to go to a cinema since last summer when Megumi was pregnant. I'm not going to attempt a film review here (many people can do that much better than I can). Instead, I will just list a couple of points that interested me:
-effects etc were great.
I, like most people I know, was impressed by the pure scale of the thing.
-the downside of this is that some of the effects could really have been taken from another film. There was just something about the CG that made some of the scenes a little anonymous - the flying Ring-Wraiths could have come from Jurassic Park, the 'elephant' scenes reminded me of Star Wars AT-AT fighters, and a couple of the set-piece battle scenes could have come from Braveheart.
-to be really pedantic, there is NO WAY that Gandalf with his huge white staff and Aragorn with that big sword would have found room to swing the bloody things around the way they did. The armies were stacked about a hundred men/orcs deep, they charged straight at them, and then managed to find room to swing 8-foot long poles around! Come on, Mr Jackson, that's not very realistic is it...? (and by the way, in hand-to-hand fighting, those in the front always died)
-One group of humans in the film comes from Gondor, and another from Rohan. If they decided to create one empire, they could call it 'The Empire of Gohan', or Rice Empire (sorry, it just struck me as I was watching the movie...)
-Finally, congrats to one of the characters who manages to hook up with a pretty girl called Rosie.
March 11, 2004
Break-In
Just after I started writing this blog, there was a large fire in my neighbourhood. Megumi was in the early stages of pregnancy, so it was a worrying period for both of us. Fortunately for us, the fire did not reach our house, and while our neighbours have had a hard time rebuilding their lives, they all have places to live, and have put their lives back together, one way or another.
Another bit of bad news in the vicinity of our house. 2 days ago, our next-door neighbours' house was broken into. One of the 2 sisters next-door is getting married in Italy, so they are all out of the country at the wedding. They will come back to a ransacked house. We didn't hear anything, but it appears as though the glass on the back door was broken by the burglar. Our house is in a very quiet, peaceful area, so it is a little unnerving to think of some piece of scum watching the house, staking it out and then pouncing when they were away. If the same thing happened to us, even if we didn't lose much of value, I know Megumi would be upset at the invasion of privacy, and I'm sure our neighbours will be as well (they have a 4-year old daughter).
As an aside, Japanese families tend to keep foolishly large amounts of cash in the house, and it is not uncommon for a house burglary to yield 5 million or 10 million yen. Hopefully our neighbours used the bank...
Some old data about the rise in burglary in Japan.
Viewpoint from a comparisons of burglaries in Japan and the Netherlands:
In Japan one out of four burglars tries to get into the house by climbing to the balcony. The most popular entrances of the dwellings however are the front door and one of the windows. In each case 31% tries to break into the house by using one of these apertures in the facade.
The working method to gain access to the house is straight forward in Japan: 40% enters the dwelling by breaking a window-pane, 31% simply walks into the house through an open door or window, and 11% finds and uses the key that was hidden by the occupants.
(More on crime in Japan, borrowed from Terrie.com)
In true Japanese fashion, there is a whole media fixation growing up around people's fears of burglary. For example, did you know that the proper etiquette for preventing burglars from trashing your apartment is to leave between JPY10,000 to JPY30,000 in "Welcome Money" (we made that term up) to encourage them to get on with the job and leave? Apparently in this last few months there have been a rash of burglaries in Kanagawa into single women's apartments. When the intruder finds little or no cash, they mess the place up, including even peeing on the bed. Accordingly, young women's web sites are saying that JPY10,000 may not be enough to prevent such actions -- so JPY30,000 is considered to be the right amount... Only in Japan!
March 08, 2004
That baby is so WHITE!
Went out on Sunday, and must have heard this about 5 or 6 times. Megumi then went to the doctor today, for Rosie's 3-month check-up, and when her name was called out, everyone turned to look at her and Rosie.
'Wow, so white', was the cry again.
I think when I asked a while ago whether Rosie looks like Megumi or me, the reponse from the readers of this blog was about 50/50. Someone noted that we all instinctively recognize difference very easily. This may explain why, in Japan, people notice Rosie's skin colour and round eyes, whereas if we were living in the UK, people would probably notice her 'Asian' features - hair colour, eye colour.
Anyway, I asked Megumi a while ago if she wasn't embarrassed to have everyone look at her when her name 'Garner-san' was called out at the bank, post office, doctor etc. 'Not at all', she replied, 'I am proud to be your wife'.
Moments like those make me realize what a lucky man I am.
March 07, 2004
Hina-Matsuri
It was hinamatsuri last week - here is a picture of Rosie with her dolls. Other new photos are on the gallery.
March 03, 2004
Coke Sells Bottled Tap Water
Coca-Cola is selling bottled tap water in the UK. The new brand, Dasani, is normal tap water which has been filtered, and is therefore 'pure'.
My local supermarket, Queens Isetan, offers filtered water for free. Many companies sell water purifiers for the home. Yet the Coca-Cola company of Atlanta Georgia is spending 7 million pounds promoting this 'new' product.
Bizarre.
http://www.nbc6.net/nbc6specialreports/2618635/detail.html
http://www.kron.com/Global/story.asp?S=1534881
March 02, 2004
My Blog as a News Source
I received an email from a friend who has left Japan, and sometimes reads my blog to keep up with what is happening in sunny Saitama. He was upset that I appear to have neglected to report a few important events that were happening among our circle of friends (weddings, pregnancies, etc).
I'd like to take this opportunity to apologize to anyone else who has been disappointed with my blog recently. I recognize the importance of my role as a source of news and gossip, and promise to take my responsibilities a little more seriously.
March 01, 2004
Rosie's Gums
Just a brief aside - Rosie has started laughing and smiling regularly now. Since she has no teeth, she proudly shows off her gums, and reminds me of an old, toothless lady (If you don't believe me, check out the newest pictures on the Rosie gallery).
Just thought I would share that with you.
Blogging - the new Dieting?
Blogs have become popular in Japan in the last couple of years. There was a report on the usage of the various services which came out last week.
It's in Japanese, so here are the registered user numbers in English:
Hatena Diary 2,020,000
Cocolog 594,000
My Profile 303,000
Blog People 284,000
Livedoor Blog 26,000
Note that these are all basically free services, so the typical blogger in Japan is probably someone who starts writing a blog, then soon gives up, just like elsewhere .
So, a blog is something that's easy to start, everyone starts them with good intentions of carrying on, and most people don't have the willpower or energy to keep going. As a fad, it's kind of like dieting, don't you think?