Random Photography Roundup

So this set of pictures is from last week.  I've been rather busy, and as such haven't had time to update the blog.  These pictures are from our semi-final game against Tama; who like to gouge eyeballs and generally play below the law.  Such is the way with Japanese teams who aren't physically strong enough to compete legally.  Bastards.

Anyway, I'm going to put some more pictures up tonight, and I'll annotate those tomorrow.

This first picture is our winger.  He thinks he's a fly half, but he really isn't.  There's always a cheeky smile going on around him though, which makes super closeup perfect for this guys face.

Yamagen is the club manager.  He's helped me a ton since I started playing for the Gaijin, and he even recommended me for the national 7's trials.  A nice guy, even if we can't talk because I'm terrible at Japanese, and he's terrible at English.  His written language is pretty good though, for some reason.  Maybe he reads forms all day.

Neither French nor Spanish, this basque ambassador always starts fights, and subsequently gets sent off.  I think his record is 1 minute on the field before being yellow carded.

I took this picture because the taxi doors close themselves in Japan.  Look, no hands ma!

The ground we played at was on top of a department store, undergoing repairs by the looks of things.  The scale of development is quite incredible - the number of different organisations that must come together in order to build something of this size on such prime real estate is mind boggling.  Or it might all be owned by one of the mega corporations that own Japan; a more likely scenario now that I think about it.

This was in one of the flower beds, I don't know what it means, what it stands for or why it's there, but it's 'cute,' (if that's your kind of thing) so it sums up Japan quite conveniently.

Our actual fly-half, getting on in years and only three feet tall, weighing as much as a newborn; still does a job and tackles everything.

The guy who forgot our kit in the previous game (match report link here) who plays centre, and enables a number of options with decent distribution (even if he's stopped giving me the ball, preferring the other centre!).

We lost to Tama by 1 point, so this kind of sums up the long walk home mood of the team.  We should have gone through, and I personally had three opportunities to ensure we made it to the final.  I am bitterly disappointed in my own performance, it simply wasn't good enough.

The long walk home.

Just a random couple riding past on a bicycle.  I don't know why I took this picture.

There was a giant ferris wheel at the place.  I don't know why.

The same ferris wheel.  It really was rather large.

The ubiquitous bicycle picture.

This random guy turned up when we were ruing the loss, only to turn on an mp3 player and start blasting music to no one but himself.  Bizarre.

Mao had shoulder surgery the week before this game, and the great big Samoan was sorely missed.

It's traditional (insofar as paper was invented) for Japanese people to give each other business cards at every opportunity.  I managed to take a picture of this guy as he handed one to me.

I like taking pictures when something is in the foreground, so the subject is actually only a small part of the overall picture.  I don't know why.

Another Fijian, big Joe and I have a bet to see who will score the most tries this season.  As the season is over, I don't know who has the highest tally.  Considering I haven't scored in a while, and he always scores one or two a game, I'm guessing he beat me out.

Jesse, whose shorts I lost (and someone else found) talking to someone.

I couldn't decide what was more interesting to photograph, Jesse or the water.  I took both, to make sure I had the right one.

I took a couple of pictures of these two, but I don't know which one is better.  Answers on a postcard.

And the second of the two.

Do not feed pigeons.  Ever.

When you're least expecting it, I'm there with the camera.

Natsu is the other guy who helped me go to the national trials.  He translated my form for me, and helped me work out where the station was, and what time it began.  Thanks Natsu!

Not the most flattering photo, but he's been an enormous help to me and the team, so he deserves two pictures.

The Fijian contingent is quite strong in the gaijin, and they love showing up for the photographs.

Part one of the series entitled: 'Why I don't have pictures taken of me.'

Part two, sporting a fetching burger.

Joe trying to steal the burger.

It's rare to see a Fijian not laughing or smiling.

But here is one such picture.

I wonder if he's doing a supermodel face?

Or a stroke?  Then again, I don't come off any better in any of these photographs.

Something funny on that phone.

Not looking.

He's got that bloody camera again.

He's just been told that he owes me a thousand yen.

Nik, looking how I felt.

Jesse, walking into an out of focus ferris wheel.

Everyone seems to have kids, and they go around attaching themselves to pretty much whoever wants to give them attention.

Liam has a stock photo face.  This is it.

Poor Sean, full after being made to drink too much.

Peekaboo.

Another one where someone isn't looking; it gets some nice pictures on occasion.

A picture of a person with a camera taking a picture of a person.

Let's go home.

The same deal as before, whoever has the patience for kids will put up with them.  It's a really friendly bunch.

Teaching the kids how to use technology at a really early age.

I would say he wasn't expecting the picture, but every time I turned around he was pulling a face, expecting me.  A difficult subject to capture.

Some guy looking for money under a vending machine.

The natural disposition of a Fijian; laughter.

Bored of having pictures taken of him.

And finally, a woman in a kimono that I met on the way home.  They normally have interesting patterns of flowers and whatnot, but this one was more abstract which made it interesting in itself.

And that's it.  Check back later for some more pictures.

On My Nerves

My boss is starting to piss me off.

I told her that my knees were bad (I'm having surgery on one of them), and I'd like down-time between lessons (instead of standing around outside of classes for ten minutes, doing nothing).  She said it was okay - and then fully booked me for a week, so that I have no downtime between lessons and must walk up and down stairs every period.  No two lessons are on the same floor.  Nice.

I told her that I'd like to help teach the native English speaking kid in the school (the only foreign student) with the help of the assistant teachers, who have specific periods they work with him.  She said okay, then proceeded to book me for every single one of his lessons, so I was away for each of them.

The whole school has a meeting right now, and I'm scheduled to leave at 4 pm (ten minutes from now).  She told me to stay here until she returned; lest I abandon my post ten minutes early.

Realising that she might not be here when 4 O'clock rolls around, she asked the school nurse (who is busy bodying) to keep an eye on me until 4.  Thinking I don't understand any Japanese, she said I was lazy and needed to be checked upon.  Nice.  She also drew the nurse nearer and whispered something that I couldn't make out.  A really classy one, she ain't.

The Penis Train

So china has the fastest train in the world, as of right now.  This isn't including concept trains, as the Japanese have a floating train that they've tested to three hundred miles per hour.  It's not out yet, but it doesn't have wheels so I can't foresee any problems with track laying.  (This is a lie, it does have wheels that unfold from inside the train, for any speed below eighty miles per hour).

The point being, the fastest train in Japan right now is called (name of the fastest train here) (I want to guess at Nozomi, but it might not be).  It's a massive phallus.  There are countless pictures of foreigners standing in front of the advertisement pretending to do all kinds of things, and the actual train doesn't disappoint.  I ended up riding it on Sunday, on account of needing to be whisked from Tokyo to my house in as quick a time as possible; regardless of cost.

Nothing is displayed on this board, I don't know what purpose it serves.

This is the local train station board.  Everything is a bit rusty, a bit old, and somewhat grimy.  The contrast is quite stark considering this

Seen from an oblique angle, the shape is actually fascinating.  Doubtless, many thousands of hours of modelling and testing were done.

was the train I returned home on.  Obviously, it didn't deliver me to the door.  The bullet trains run on specialist tracks.  I don't know if they're a different guage, but they're certainly smoother than anything else.  When a train runs through a station at full-tilt (I doubt they actually pass through at full speed) everything shakes, and the noise is immense.  It's like the intercity expresses in England - everything shakes and vibrates and there is incredible noise.  The difference is that these trains are doing a hundred MPH, whereas the English trains are just pulling out of the station to get underway.

Not an awe inspiring station, but it serves a purpose.

The station I got off at was massive.  I was the only person that got off.  That's plainly not efficient.

It feels like the window is merely an after-thought.  I wonder if the drivers even needs to see outside to pilot one of these things.  Interestingly enough, the aeroplane comparisons are apt, as the inside is basically a plane interior.

And this is the front of the train.  Or the back, as was the case in this instance.  I tried to de-emphasize certain qualities with the picture.  Interestingly, that front nobbly bit comes off for when they want to attach two front cars together.  All the cars are powered, this reduces wear and tear on the track and helps the speed, apparently.

My shirt was completely clean.  The team must have dominated - leaving the fullback with nothing to do.

Of the rugby; someone forgot our regular shirts.  We had to beg for another set of shirts; these were worn minutes before in another game.  Nice.

Just pushin' water around.

This is a typical view around my home town.  There are tons of rice fields and people moving water from one end of the field to the other.  I never know what they're doing.

A familiar sight all over England, for a day.  Then the bikes are stolen.

These bicycles have been at the station at least as long as I've been in the town.  With the levels of rust present, I suspect they've been here somewhat longer.

These bullet trains are extremely long.

The fastest shinkansen has a rather fetching green, pink and white livery.  I'm not sure why they went with those vomit inducing colours, but it certainly stands out.  White is so last year, apparently.

I Smell Like Cheese

So one of the many stereotypes surrounding any number of nationalities, is that of smell.

Indians smell like curry, the French smell like Garlic, Koreans smell like Kimchi, Japanese smell like fish, English smell like dairy products, americans smell like obesity.

I am conforming to stereotypes right now; for some reason I smell like cheese.  I had a shower last night, and as it's not bollock-melting (yet) I'm not sweating either.  I honestly don't know why I smell so awful, but the second I get home, it's another shower and clothes washing.

Anyway, of the news.  I played for Tokyo Gaijin yesterday, against Waseda Old Boys.  Waseda are a university here in Japan, their old boys aren't old, but simply ex-students.  They're all really young, in fact.  If we won, we'd go through to the semi-final.  If they won, they'd go through.  An important factor to remember is that they are all Japanese, and we are primarily foreigners.

In any other country, exiles are treated with respect.  London Welsh, London Irish and a host of others were influential enough to be part of the top tier divisions.  Even if none of the teams have any affiliation with their original nationalities now, they did at some point and yet they still succeeded.

In Japan, if a Japanese team loses to a foreigner team, it's ritual suicide time.  Therefore, the referee was once again horrendous.  He did his best to ensure the Japanese team went through.  Boy, he did his best.  The penalty count would have been roughly 20 to the locals, 7 to us.  I obviously don't know the exact count, but in all honesty I'm probably being kind to the referee.  I think a ratio of 1:4 is more likely.

The quality of refereeing in Japan is appalling.  Racism rocks!

Anyway, I had a howling first 20 minutes.  The kind of first quarter that makes managers take people off the pitch.  I turned over a couple of balls, I dropped two high kicks, I broke their line only to pass into touch.  It was the kind of nightmare start no one wants.

I was very much the barometer for the team, because we gave away penalty after penalty.  We let in a try and a number of goal kicks.  We were basically two tries down after 20 minutes.  If the referee weren't a racist prick, we'd probably be down a handful of points.  As it was, we were down a bucketful.  It was like mandara all over again; a racist referee deliberately giving the home team a massive advantage, so that the locals didn't have to commit hari-kari.

After the 20 minutes mark, things started looking up.  They put a couple of kicks in behind us, but they ran dead.  I got the ball a few times and made a few breaks.  They all fizzled into nothing, but I was making ground.  Our scrum annihilated theirs.  To the point where it was wheeling before their scrum half had put the ball in.  He delayed as long as possible, the referee let it go of course.  It was 90 degrees before the ball was in, but the ref let them play on.  Our scrum was perfect, yet we had 3 penalties against us for being foreigners.  Their scrum kept popping up under the pressure, their number 8 wasn't bound once.  Their flankers were on our side of the scrum when we rolled through them.  Not a single penalty against them.  Unbelievable.  I hope someone at the JRFU is reading this, because it's not good enough.

You, person from the JRFU, why is the national team so bad?  Could one of the (admittedly many) factors be the awful refereeing?  I think the fact that no referee has ever seen a game of rugby before, certainly doesn't help.  I'm not asking for professional level refereeing; I'm just asking for some semblance of sanity.  Or maybe read a book about refereeing.

Oh, and stop being racist.

That last bit might be difficult for Japanese referees, I admit.

Anyway; I made a few line breaks in the first half, and we went over to give some form of parity at half time.  We were still behind, but the fact we'd scored made a massive difference.  The team started playing with ball in hand, and we threatened every time we put a few phases together.  We kept knocking on, and making stupid handling errors in the first half, but the second half was much improved.

I managed to smash a guy.

I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but Japanese love to cheat.  They love the dirty shots.  I was on the floor getting up, in full view of the referee who was looking at me, when one of the opposition kicked me in the nads.  It was deliberate, it was in full view of the referee who was looking at me and the guy who did it; and he shrugged.  He fucking shrugged.  That referee is a piece of shit.  Fuck him.  Cunt.  Unsurprisingly he didn't get any cheers at the end of the match, and he didn't walk through the tunnel.  Typically the referee will get some kind of plaudit at the end of the game, even if he did terribly.  For him not to get anything is indicative of how loathed he was.  He's an asshole.  Fuck that guy.  I wonder if he would like to be kicked in the balls and have no repercussion for the other player?  That boggled my mind, and my testicles.

Anyway, of the cheating.  A player kicked the ball through, in the act of kicking I hit him.  Before he'd actually kicked the ball, or I'd actually touched him, he was shouting with his arms raised (you have to imagine the comedy of dropping the ball to kick it, and immediately raising your arms, it's really difficult to do) that I'd impeded his progress.  The whole event was so farcical as to render it impossible for the referee to yellow card me, but it was surely on his mind.  I winded the cheating piece of crap, so the moral is that if someone is about to hit you with their shoulder, don't raise your arms thereby exposing your rib cage.  Twat.

I managed to stop a couple of players who broke through the line.  I didn't miss a tackle all game; it seems to be something of a standby that when I have a poor attacking game, I am relatively solid in defence.  I pulverised a guy who made it through the line, he stayed down for a while.  I dearly hope it was the guy who kicked me in the gonads in front of the referee, or even better it was somehow the referee, but I doubt it was.

We scored, and from the kickoff one of our locks put me through a gap.  It was glorious.  With all the mistakes I'd made up until that point, it was great to finally be making yards.  I want a yards gained count, like they do in the professional leagues.  Anyway, I left a guy face down in the dust after stepping him just like Jason Robinson does in this clip (20 secs).  It felt great.

I got smashed a few times, my left knee now hurts just like my right knee does (they dive at your knees in order to dislocate or break knees/legs, I told you they were dirty cunts) and all I can hope is that it's not ligaments.

The same lock put me over the try line, I beat one guy on the outside, had a couple tackling me as I fell over the line.  It was only a couple of metres, and I probably should have passed, but I got over anyway.

In the end it was a comfortable 30 odd points to 12 or so; but that referee.  What a colossal dickhead.

I'm still recovering from the flu, and I used up all my energy in that game.  I fought to get back into it, from a horrible start.  I made a lot of mistakes, and I pushed and pushed to get something to happen.  It's probably why I made so many mistakes.  But by the end,　everything was happening naturally for both me and the team, and we were deserved winners.  We should have won by 50, but the locals enlisted the help of bent officials so what can you do.

Next week is the semi-finals, and I hope to have fully passed the flu's and diseases.  I'll hit the gym starting tomorrow to get my energy levels back up; swimming and whatnot will help.  Unfortunately I've knackered my finger, so weights will be a chore.  What must be done, must be done - I guess.

On the way there, and on the way back, I recorded video of the train journey.  On this camera an hour and fifteen minutes of video is 32 gigs, and after encoding the video (adding a song and changing the codec) it came to 8 gigs.  I uploaded it to youtube, and you can see one of the most relaxing videos in the world, right here.  I went on the (really expensive) penis shaped bullet train (pictures to come) on the way back, because I was shattered and needed to be home A.S.A.P

That is all!

So I saw this on a facebook post from a friend.

Now this was in addition to a post calling everyone who doesn't understand the tax, stupid.  Always dangerous ground to find yourself on when you're making a political point (opposed to an inward-facing blog) as people don't like being called stupid.  They are, of course.  Everyone is stupid.  But when you're trying to court favour for an idea, it's best to pretend that at least one other person is smart.

Anyway, I didn't understand the specific need for this tax.  The aim is to stop the most polluting companies (I don't know what constitutes the most polluting, (if it's just carbon dioxide footprint, shoot me now) but for the purpose of this interaction I don't care enough to find out) from cruddying (nice) up the ozzie environment.  The three benefits can be gained through other more effective means, which is why I came to question my friend on the picture.  I genuinely didn't (and still don't) understand why this was the best option.

I wrote this:

I don't understand why charging to pollute makes more sense than other forms of tax? The companies are going to raise prices to cover the cost of polluting, or to cover the cost of reducing their pollution footprint. That price increase will be handed over to the consumer in terms of price increases for goods.

The rich won't care, because it impacts them relatively little, but if the cost of a car (something that creates a lot of pollution in production) goes up, the poor will be most affected. So why is it better to put a crimp on the lifestyles of the poor and not the rich?

A friend of the friend replied.

In hindsight, I made a lot of mistakes.  I shouldn't have mentioned the car.  Once you give an exacting example of a general concept, they latch onto it and never let go.  That minutiae then controls the conversation, making it pointless.  It becomes an exercise in who can become the most anal, and by extension who can miss the entire point of the argument.  I've never seen a people argument (completely different to an academic argument, where sources and excruciating detail are a necessity) come to anything except anarchy.  People are stupid, after all.

Obviously everyone knows that some of the tax will help the poor.  IT SAYS RIGHT THERE IN THE PICTURE.  But the reply I got assumed the poor would get back the exact increase in costs:

Dear Sam - Those things such as the cost of a car will be subsidised by assistance of living costs - that's the whole idea behind government support to households. As coal and other energies are depleted, their costs rise anyway. Resources sunk into the renewable energies sector create more jobs and opportunities. And as for cars; the fact is that the more we use them, the less we are going to be able to use them!

The goods will increase in cost more than the subsidy will cover.  If the government weren't trying to create jobs with the billions put into superfluous work, maybe it could cover the cost of general price increases.  I shouldn't have mentioned the car.  People become so focussed on unimportant specificities that they fail to grasp anything.

'That's the whole idea behind government support to households,' no fucking shit Sherlock.  But as I just said, if you think they will cover the entire increase in cost, you're delusional.  The top 500 companies will include pharmaceuticals, heavy industry (cars, plastics creation, any and all factory work) and electronics, to name a few.  That means pretty much everything you buy in Australia will become more expensive, but because the numpty latched onto cars, they failed to comprehend that a couple of hundred dollars a year won't overcome the deficit created by the tax.  Hell, when was the last time you bought a car for 200 Australian dollars?  Then add the odd few cents here, the odd dollar there, for a years worth of supplies, and you'll find that suddenly you're down a chunk of change.

Then, what the holy hell has supply and demand got to do with this tax?  'As coal and other energies are depleted, their costs rise anyway.'  Yes.  Yes they do.  Congratulations.  What does this have to do with anything?

'Resources sunk into the renewable energies sector create more jobs and opportunities.'  This I agree with.  Money sunk into any sector will create 'jobs and opportunities.'  That is a safe statement to make.  Of course, it's a sector that will never recoup any money, and those jobs are temporary at best - but hey, at least they're trying to make a couple of jobs for a couple of people, right?

'And as for cars; the fact is that the more we use them, the less we are going to be able to use them!'  I assume the recipient is referring to the fact that oil will eventually run out.  I have genuinely no idea why this was written.  A finite resource will not last forever.  GIVE ME A NOBEL PRIZE.  Adding monetary incentives to a sector will promote growth.  I WANT ANOTHER NOBEL PRIZE.  Two incisive insights from this person, entirely unrelated to the tax.

Never mention cars.

My point is essentially this.  Taken at face value, the three primary concerns for the aussies are these:  giving more money to poor people.  The solution, tax the rich, give to the poor.

Invest in (industry here) to create more jobs.  Tax the rich some more.  If you're feeling really English, tax everyone.

Protect the environment - bring in new laws governing the pollution creating industries.

If taxing the crap out of industries worked, the carbon trading scheme would have had an impact.  It's been running for a decade and has created a few dozen millionaires, and done exactly nothing to change the way we pollute the planet.

My solution has the same downsides (poor people getting poorer, rich people not giving a crap) but might actually force the industry to change something.

And remember, never mention cars.


#EDIT#  I went searching for information on how much more it would cost poor people to eat, but saw that this was a carbon based tax.  I immediately ceased giving a flying fuck.


This issue is now as important as the asparagus growing season in Germany.

Holy Donkey Balls

As it turns out, it only takes a few days of not sleeping to send a person mad.

I caught the flu from a bar floozy on Saturday night, returning home entirely unawares.  I felt a bit rough on Monday, felt about the same Tuesday and then BAM!  I struggled through work on Wednesday but left after all my classes had finished, a couple of hours early.  Thursday was a trip to the hospital for my scans, with enough energy left over to get home and sit on the sofa, sweating into it.

Friday was a trip to the hospital to get the results of my scans, talk to the doctor, then a road trip to the local county capital city for my visa.  That was a long day.

Saturday was a sit on my ass doing nothing day, as was Sunday.  On Sunday, things got worse.  It felt like I had an ear infection, then the glands under my chin (#EDIT# hahaha, I meant in my neck) swelled to make moving my head impossible, and I had no painkiller to combat it.  Every time I swallowed, it hurt.  Not a little bit either.  I couldn't cough to clear my lungs, or swallow to clear my throat.  It's that which makes it so painful, knowing that you're going to cough a hundred times, and clear your throat (involuntarily) a hundred more.

It really sucked, and I didn't sleep.  This after struggling to sleep the few nights prior, meant I didn't go into work on Monday.

But here I am, on Tuesday, feeling substantially better.  I still ache, my joints still hurt a bit, my neck is sore and my head throbs, but I've crested the hill.  I can eat, I can drink, I can laugh and play.  I am better.

And I have grown as a person:

Never again will I kiss a random floozy at a bar.

I Use a Lot of Painkillers

Warning.  This post is going to contain a lot of swearing.  It's also not going to make much sense gramatically, and it's going to have a lot of spelling mistakes.

I'm in far too much pain to give a flyingfuck about any of those things.

I have had the flu for a week now.  I can't remember whether I've written about being deathly sick or not, frankly at this point I don't care.  I am in a lot of fucking pain.  So much fucking pain.

I have used up all my painkillers.  I don't havae any left.  I had some soluble ones shipped in from the UK because I get a lot of sore throats due to not having tonsils.  Also due to me having ear infections a lot.  It's 4 am by the way, I've not slept.  This is common.  I do not sleep much on account of being insomniacal.

I was told that the UK stopped selling co-codamol.  Ona ccount of there being codeiene in it.  I think this is a lie, because the amount of codeine in co codamol is tiny.  I think the person that told me this thinks I have a codeiene addiction.  Which is hilarious, because I have no taken codenene in two or more years now.  I simply wanted the painkiller because IT'S THE ONLY ONE THAT WORKS.  GEE I WISH I HAD SOME NOW.  I WISH I HAD SOME PAINKILLER THAT WORKED. 

Prior to me running out, I was taking far above and beyond the recommended daily amount.  It still does not work.  I do not understand how people take paracetemol or ibuprofen for their headaches or general pains - they do not work.

When people ask me why I don't take painkillers if I have a headache I respond by saying that they don't work.  They respond by saying well it's better than nothing.  No it fucking isn't moron.  It's extra work for your kidneys and liver, it's extra money quite literally pissed away.  It's a disgusting taste.  There is no benefit to taking painkillers that do not work.

I wish I had some painkillers right now.

When I get sick, or cold, or hot, or get a spot somwewhere on my body, or look at a window, or car, or if I scratch my head, I get an ear infection.  I think this is because I've always had shit ears, coupled with the no tonsils, and gandular fever resulting in my body a not having a immune system.

The great thing is, I get by in terms of the pain by pretending 4 paracetemol are actually one tablet, and then banging my head against something hard until I am unconscious.  Or, I use co codamol GODDAMN I WISH I HAD SOME PAINKILLERS THAT WORKED RIGHT NO,w, and ice my throat with anti-feeling spray and don't sleep, because you can't sleep with that much pain.  I just zone out until I need to swallow, move my tongue, move my head or jaw.  Now, because I have no painkillers, I can't eve zone out.  I can't focus on anything but the pain.  It's been six hours of just thinking about the pain and I'm rready to scream.  I want out.  Fuck this fucking pain.  Fuck my ears. 

I don't know why thes time is so bad.  I just want it to stop.

Stop

Stop

Stop

Just fucking stop already.

Fucking hell.

I can't focus on the screen because my head is fucking me over, so that'll do.  Fuck off pain.

Homelessness

So I have previously talked at length about the homelessness around Tokyo.  It's a problem, but I'm divided as to whether it's as big an issue here as elsewhere.

Obviously, the fact that a single person is homeless is unacceptable.  That people spend billions on building missiles, while others can't afford a few pennies for food strikes me as bizarre.  Striking at the rampant overpopulation of planet earth from both sides, apparently.

Anyway; one thing is absolutely certain.  Japanese people don't care about the homeless.

This isn't to suggest that English people do, or americans, or anyone else.  No one does.  The point being that they exist somewhere outside the societal consciousness - until they get drunk and throw up in your shopping trolley.

Spending hundreds of dollars on a bag that phillipino slave labour made, worth ten US cents.  Spending millions on placing that advertisment.  Money well spent.

 I went out with a couple of the Tokyo Gaijin on Saturday night.  We went to the middle of Tokyo, and these pictures are actually taken from Shibuya station.  To put this in perspective, the starbucks at Shibuya is purportedly the busiest in the world.  It's either 24 hours, or as near as makes no difference.  The crossing at Shibuya is what you'll see whenever anyone writes an article about Tokyo as the busiest city in the world.  When the lights go green, thousands of people will cross the road at once, in all directions.  Thousands of people in the thirty second window between red and green lights.

When we were between bars, he disappeared off somewhere for a minute, reappearing to usher me around the corner.  The corner turned out to be the entrance to Shibuya station - I wouldn't be surprised if half a million people tramped these steps over the weekend.

This guy was really well kitted out, he had all new clothes and a bag.  Then he turned around and had a ragged shirt that looked a thousand years old.  To be honest, I think he was just drunk - not homeless.

He seemed genuinely saddened by the homeless guys, sleeping in the most hedonistic of areas in one of the richest places in the world.  It's the first time I've seen a Japanese person express genuine emotion about anything, and that it should be about something that struck me on a previous visit made it a somewhat poignant moment.

Then I turned around and realised that I'm a middle class alien, as far from the circumstances of the homeless as from the culture of the Japanese.

This guy was definitely homeless.  I didn't see any women.  The misogyny of Japanese culture would appear to have fringe benefits for the female population.

If we've learned anything this year, it's that charity is as corrupt and broken as any other human endeavour (thanks to the kony campaign) so there's no point donating money.  Not that charities have any kind of presence here.

People always say that giving money to beggars only leads to, or deepens, dependence of some kind or other.  To be honest, if you're in this situation then an alcohol dependence would be the least of your worries, I'd have thought.

I didn't go down and take any closeups or individuals - this article is exploitative enough as it is.

So what can you do?  I have no idea.  I know everything you can't do, but nothing that you can.  I guess the first step is to understand the flaws that exist within your society, so here you are Japan, this is a flaw; the next step is up to you.