Blog
11.November 2008 - 04:58
Small rooms in Tokyo
I visited Tokyo last week. I was invited by METI, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, to familiarise myself with the climate and energy policy of the country. Japan’s model really deserves a closer look, as it is an exemplary country in respect of energy efficiency. Japan has successfully and consistently reduced its carbon intensity. Some of the achievements are quite obvious – and these are easily perceived in Tokyo. It is a city of 36 million inhabitants and the world’s largest city, but its air is surprisingly fresh and its intersections are quiet, due to the numerous electric and hybrid vehicles.
For me personally, it was an experience to meet the leading architects of Japan’s climate policy, as I was happy to discover that my ideas, which I’ve now long been pondering, struck a chord there. My model for EU emissions trading, which I have presented , corresponds quite significantly with the so-called Japanese sectoral approach, where emission reduction targets are defined sectorally. They also have a very similar view on the inefficiency of EU climate policy and on the problematic black spots of the Kyoto Protocol. Our opinions concerning the future of US climate policy were coherent too: Toyonda-san and Arimo-san, my interlocutors, are going to visit Washington DC. this week, in order to find out the priorities of Obama’s camp, although they already have an advance piece of information that the camp has already kept itself aloof from the European auction model.
In other words; if my model of distributing emission allowances, and not the auction model, ends up as the model to be applied for the climate package, it would be a far better starting point, in comparison to auctioning, for the agreement at the Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen. It may be impudent to say this myself but I cannot come to any better conclusion. Paradoxical though it may be, Doyle, the rapporteur, appeals constantly to the emerging international agreement to defend his own view.
The remainder of this blog concerns solely civilian matters.
This was my first trip to Japan. The country is beautiful, in particular the women. To my untrained eyes all Asians look alike, but now I’ve begun to see the differences. And because the women were so absolutely gorgeous looking, surely the men must also have that little something. It just takes a little more time to perceive it. The Sararīmen (Salarymen) all looked alike to me.
I used Tapani Jussila’s Tokio Passi (Tokyo Pass) as my guidebook; it has been praised as legendary. I can really recommend it to everybody – it was a remarkably interesting description of Japan. It provides answers to almost all possible questions arising from observing all such matters that make a tourist stare in wide-eyed wonder. The book also beautifully presents groupwork/collaboration the Finnish way, as readers have complemented it with their own additional observations.
Jussila doesn’t write anything about the lavatories, the smallest rooms in a house, however. At least according to what I’ve read (I may be wrong here as I only read some 90% of the book). Anyway, the Japanese lavatory is a facility which deserves to be commented on. In each and every toilet bowl, which I came to know, two showers were integrated; one which was more vagina-oriented, the other more rectal-oriented. In addition to this, the loo had sound effects, which created an additional flushing noise – the story about how the Japanese fear getting involved in embarrassing situations and losing face does not seem to be just a legend. Not to mention the odoriser effects of some Lexus models.
One more thing about the lavatories. When I was a mother of small children, it was difficult to visit downtown for the simple reason of not knowing what to do when nature cals. Baby buggies don’t fit into any lavatory and it is hard to hold a wriggling baby in your lap, if one wants to come out of the situation honourably. In Tokyo the department stores provided so-called mother-child lavatories, where secure baby seats, fixed on the wall, were provided for the little ones. I can warmly recommend the adoption of this innovation in Finland; it’s simply genius.
I took my dear family along on this trip. During our last evening, we went to a so-called karaoke box and spent an absolutely hilarious evening there, each one of us singing our favourite songs and others in turn. The system is fun: you may rent a karaoke room for just a small group at a very advantageous price – and the service is also great. If you would like to, you could sing there all night through, just as you wish. We did so too, at least until two in the morning, until our eyes fell shut
I visited Tokyo last week. I was invited by METI, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, to familiarise myself with the climate and energy policy of the country. Japan’s model really deserves a closer look, as it is an exemplary country in respect of energy efficiency. Japan has successfully and consistently reduced its carbon intensity. Some of the achievements are quite obvious – and these are easily perceived in Tokyo. It is a city of 36 million inhabitants and the world’s largest city, but its air is surprisingly fresh and its intersections are quiet, due to the numerous electric and hybrid vehicles.
For me personally, it was an experience to meet the leading architects of Japan’s climate policy, as I was happy to discover that my ideas, which I’ve now long been pondering, struck a chord there. My model for EU emissions trading, which I have presented , corresponds quite significantly with the so-called Japanese sectoral approach, where emission reduction targets are defined sectorally. They also have a very similar view on the inefficiency of EU climate policy and on the problematic black spots of the Kyoto Protocol. Our opinions concerning the future of US climate policy were coherent too: Toyonda-san and Arimo-san, my interlocutors, are going to visit Washington DC. this week, in order to find out the priorities of Obama’s camp, although they already have an advance piece of information that the camp has already kept itself aloof from the European auction model.
In other words; if my model of distributing emission allowances, and not the auction model, ends up as the model to be applied for the climate package, it would be a far better starting point, in comparison to auctioning, for the agreement at the Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen. It may be impudent to say this myself but I cannot come to any better conclusion. Paradoxical though it may be, Doyle, the rapporteur, appeals constantly to the emerging international agreement to defend his own view.
The remainder of this blog concerns solely civilian matters.
This was my first trip to Japan. The country is beautiful, in particular the women. To my untrained eyes all Asians look alike, but now I’ve begun to see the differences. And because the women were so absolutely gorgeous looking, surely the men must also have that little something. It just takes a little more time to perceive it. The Sararīmen (Salarymen) all looked alike to me.
I used Tapani Jussila’s Tokio Passi (Tokyo Pass) as my guidebook; it has been praised as legendary. I can really recommend it to everybody – it was a remarkably interesting description of Japan. It provides answers to almost all possible questions arising from observing all such matters that make a tourist stare in wide-eyed wonder. The book also beautifully presents groupwork/collaboration the Finnish way, as readers have complemented it with their own additional observations.
Jussila doesn’t write anything about the lavatories, the smallest rooms in a house, however. At least according to what I’ve read (I may be wrong here as I only read some 90% of the book). Anyway, the Japanese lavatory is a facility which deserves to be commented on. In each and every toilet bowl, which I came to know, two showers were integrated; one which was more vagina-oriented, the other more rectal-oriented. In addition to this, the loo had sound effects, which created an additional flushing noise – the story about how the Japanese fear getting involved in embarrassing situations and losing face does not seem to be just a legend. Not to mention the odoriser effects of some Lexus models.
One more thing about the lavatories. When I was a mother of small children, it was difficult to visit downtown for the simple reason of not knowing what to do when nature cals. Baby buggies don’t fit into any lavatory and it is hard to hold a wriggling baby in your lap, if one wants to come out of the situation honourably. In Tokyo the department stores provided so-called mother-child lavatories, where secure baby seats, fixed on the wall, were provided for the little ones. I can warmly recommend the adoption of this innovation in Finland; it’s simply genius.
I took my dear family along on this trip. During our last evening, we went to a so-called karaoke box and spent an absolutely hilarious evening there, each one of us singing our favourite songs and others in turn. The system is fun: you may rent a karaoke room for just a small group at a very advantageous price – and the service is also great. If you would like to, you could sing there all night through, just as you wish. We did so too, at least until two in the morning, until our eyes fell shut