[TODAY'S TOP STORIES] from [The Japan Times]
[NATIONAL NEWS]
Saturday, Aug. 15, 2009
Overboard? Have PET bottle
KAGOSHIMA (Kyodo) A Japanese man who fell off a freighter clung to an empty 2-liter PET bottle until he was rescued by a ship off Kagoshima Prefecture's Yoron Island, Coast Guard officials said Friday, noting that was all he had to keep him afloat.
The 24-old-year man fell off the deck of an Okinawa-bound tanker Thursday morning. The crew of a Liberian-registered freighter found him about two hours later, according to the JCG officials.
They said there were several fortunate factors for the man, who was rescued about 25 km east of Yoron Island.
"He might have become much weaker without the plastic bottle and may not have stayed alive," one official said. "The freighter happened to pass nearby and it's likely the crew only spotted him because of the fine weather and clear visibility. The sea was tranquil and apparently the water temperature out there was quite high. It seems that everything worked in his favor."
[NATIONAL NEWS]
Saturday, Aug. 15, 2009
Higashikokubaru rues ultimatum
By MASAMI ITO
Staff writer
Miyazaki Gov. Hideo Higashikokubaru said Friday he regretted the political turmoil that resulted from his wavering over whether to accept the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's offer to put his name on its ticket for the Aug. 30 Lower House election.
Speaking at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward, Higashikokubaru recounted the uproar that resulted when he told the LDP he would run only on condition that the party consider him a candidate for the next prime minister, if it won the poll.
Higashikokubaru's response drew harsh criticism from within the LDP as well as from the public, eventually prompting him to announce he would not run for a Diet seat, at least for now.
"I believe life is about recovering from setbacks and failure," Higashikokubaru said, vowing to learn from the episode and turn it into an opportunity.
The Aug. 30 election is going to be a tough battle for the ruling LDP, which opinion polls indicate will lose its majority in the Lower House to the Democratic Party of Japan, the largest opposition force. The LDP had been hoping to attract voters by having the popular Miyazaki governor run on its ticket.
Even though he had been considering running from the LDP, Higashikokubaru said a two-party system is necessary.
"The LDP has effectively ruled Japan for (almost) 60 years, but no government can stay in power forever," he said.
"Learning from European countries and the United States, I think it is ideal for Japan to shift to a two-party system for a mature democracy."
In the presence of many foreign reporters, Higashikokubaru began his talk in English before quickly switching to Japanese. When asked if he would like to run for the prime ministership in the future, the comedian-turned-governor said he needed to study more English first.
"I didn't want to become prime minister this time — I just wanted to advance decentralization," Higashikokubaru said. "And I also realized that I need to study more English to become prime minister. I think it is a bit too soon for me."
[BUSINESS NEWS]
Saturday, Aug. 15, 2009
Former AIG manager cooks up new career as chef
Financial meltdown prompts insurance expert to act on his passion for pastries
By HIROKO NAKATA
Staff writer
The collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and other U.S. financial giants changed people's lives around the world, and David Cisan, a former manager at American International Group in Japan, is one of them.
In the global financial meltdown last year, Washington bailed out AIG and a small number of other institutions, but Lehman and some others went under.
Amid the financial turmoil, the 40-year-old Hawaii-born insurance expert decided to leave the industry after almost 20 years and take his life in a different direction by becoming a professional pastry chef.
Now he runs classes in English teaching how to bake muffins and brownies at Notting Hill Cakes & Gifts, a British-style cafe in Nishi-Azabu in Tokyo's Minato Ward owned by British baker Mark Peterson.
"The whole financial crisis made this decision much easier," Cisan told The Japan Times in a recent interview.
"The timing was good to make a change," he continued. "It was a difficult decision to make, after long years in the financial industry. But then, looking at the whole industry and the way things are going, I thought maybe now is the right time."
Cisan is one of thousands who left foreign financial institutions in Japan in recent months.
Many got new jobs in the same financial services industry, according to job consulting experts. But others have opted for entirely different career paths.
"After a while in any industry, people get tired — people want to change. And that's what happened to me," Cisan said. "It's very common in the U.S. that people do that kind of thing. That's a midlife career change."
But such changes may not be so familiar in this country, where the job market generally lacks flexibility.
"There were two big trends in their job hunting," said Yuichi Misato, a career consultant at Intelligence Ltd., which helps people find new jobs, referring to businessmen who left foreign financial firms in Japan during the financial crisis in 2008.
One trend is to work for small consulting companies specializing in certain areas, such as mergers and acquisitions. Another trend is to get jobs as financial experts at corporations, Misato said.
Others sought jobs as bureaucrats.
Many applied for several openings at the Financial Services Agency, a financial watchdog. When the agency posted job listings on March 13, the first such advertisement after the financial industry's meltdown last year, 120 people, including many who had worked for foreign financial firms, applied. Only four were hired, the agency said.
Amid such job-hunting, Cisan's drastic career change may be unique. But he said he had been preparing for it for a long time.
Passionate about baking sweets since he was a teenager in Hawaii, Cisan attended a professional pastry program on weekends at Le Cordon Bleu in Tokyo while he was working as a manager at AIG. A year and a half later he received his diploma in pastry-making from the famed French cooking school.
Before he resigned from AIG in November, he had already offered baking classes at home to friends and colleagues on weekends.
Later, he relocated classes to his community center's kitchen in Tokyo's Ota Ward, which was larger and better equipped for classes. After he met Peterson earlier this year, he started to teach at Notting Hill.
The classes at the cafe have so far proved increasingly popular.
In July, Cisan and a couple of other instructors had six classes, each with eight students. In August, they expanded to 16 to 20 classes, and hope to have 26 to 30 classes by September, Cisan said.
But business in Japan is not always so easy, he said.
"Japanese consumers are very brand-conscious, quality-conscious and price sensitive," he said, adding that presentation, packaging and wrapping are also very important to customers.
"Japan is one of the most difficult consumer markets in the world. But if you can crack it, it's the most lucrative," he said.
Cisan said he is happy he has a challenge.
"Because if I don't try now, and I do something else or get involved in something else, and then, 20 to 30 years from now and in the back of my mind, like 'Oh, you never did try baking and now I'm too old.' I don't want to have these regrets later," he said.
"If I do this and fail, so what? At least I know I tried," Cisan said.
[NATIONAL NEWS]
Saturday, Aug. 15, 2009
Games drop baseball, softball
BERLIN (Kyodo) Baseball and softball failed Thursday in their comeback bids for the 2016 Summer Games, as the International Olympic Committee executive board here decided to recommend golf and rugby sevens for inclusion for the games.
The decision is sure to disappoint Japanese sports fans and players, as Japan's national baseball and softball teams have won a number of medals in past world competitions. The two have been dropped from the Olympic program for the 2012 London Games.
Karate, squash and roller sports also missed the cut Thursday.
Golf and rugby will be added upon the IOC assembly's OK in Copenhagen on Oct. 9.
"All seven sports made a strong case for inclusion, and the executive board carefully evaluated them in a transparent and fair process. In the end, the decision came down to which two would add the most value," IOC President Jacques Rogge said.
"Golf and rugby scored high on all the criteria. They have global appeal, a geographically diverse lineup of top iconic athletes and an ethic that stresses fair play."
[NATIONAL NEWS]
Saturday, Aug. 15, 2009
Overboard? Have PET bottle
KAGOSHIMA (Kyodo) A Japanese man who fell off a freighter clung to an empty 2-liter PET bottle until he was rescued by a ship off Kagoshima Prefecture's Yoron Island, Coast Guard officials said Friday, noting that was all he had to keep him afloat.
The 24-old-year man fell off the deck of an Okinawa-bound tanker Thursday morning. The crew of a Liberian-registered freighter found him about two hours later, according to the JCG officials.
They said there were several fortunate factors for the man, who was rescued about 25 km east of Yoron Island.
"He might have become much weaker without the plastic bottle and may not have stayed alive," one official said. "The freighter happened to pass nearby and it's likely the crew only spotted him because of the fine weather and clear visibility. The sea was tranquil and apparently the water temperature out there was quite high. It seems that everything worked in his favor."
[NATIONAL NEWS]
Saturday, Aug. 15, 2009
Higashikokubaru rues ultimatum
By MASAMI ITO
Staff writer
Miyazaki Gov. Hideo Higashikokubaru said Friday he regretted the political turmoil that resulted from his wavering over whether to accept the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's offer to put his name on its ticket for the Aug. 30 Lower House election.
Speaking at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward, Higashikokubaru recounted the uproar that resulted when he told the LDP he would run only on condition that the party consider him a candidate for the next prime minister, if it won the poll.
Higashikokubaru's response drew harsh criticism from within the LDP as well as from the public, eventually prompting him to announce he would not run for a Diet seat, at least for now.
"I believe life is about recovering from setbacks and failure," Higashikokubaru said, vowing to learn from the episode and turn it into an opportunity.
The Aug. 30 election is going to be a tough battle for the ruling LDP, which opinion polls indicate will lose its majority in the Lower House to the Democratic Party of Japan, the largest opposition force. The LDP had been hoping to attract voters by having the popular Miyazaki governor run on its ticket.
Even though he had been considering running from the LDP, Higashikokubaru said a two-party system is necessary.
"The LDP has effectively ruled Japan for (almost) 60 years, but no government can stay in power forever," he said.
"Learning from European countries and the United States, I think it is ideal for Japan to shift to a two-party system for a mature democracy."
In the presence of many foreign reporters, Higashikokubaru began his talk in English before quickly switching to Japanese. When asked if he would like to run for the prime ministership in the future, the comedian-turned-governor said he needed to study more English first.
"I didn't want to become prime minister this time — I just wanted to advance decentralization," Higashikokubaru said. "And I also realized that I need to study more English to become prime minister. I think it is a bit too soon for me."
[BUSINESS NEWS]
Saturday, Aug. 15, 2009
Former AIG manager cooks up new career as chef
Financial meltdown prompts insurance expert to act on his passion for pastries
By HIROKO NAKATA
Staff writer
The collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and other U.S. financial giants changed people's lives around the world, and David Cisan, a former manager at American International Group in Japan, is one of them.
In the global financial meltdown last year, Washington bailed out AIG and a small number of other institutions, but Lehman and some others went under.
Amid the financial turmoil, the 40-year-old Hawaii-born insurance expert decided to leave the industry after almost 20 years and take his life in a different direction by becoming a professional pastry chef.
Now he runs classes in English teaching how to bake muffins and brownies at Notting Hill Cakes & Gifts, a British-style cafe in Nishi-Azabu in Tokyo's Minato Ward owned by British baker Mark Peterson.
"The whole financial crisis made this decision much easier," Cisan told The Japan Times in a recent interview.
"The timing was good to make a change," he continued. "It was a difficult decision to make, after long years in the financial industry. But then, looking at the whole industry and the way things are going, I thought maybe now is the right time."
Cisan is one of thousands who left foreign financial institutions in Japan in recent months.
Many got new jobs in the same financial services industry, according to job consulting experts. But others have opted for entirely different career paths.
"After a while in any industry, people get tired — people want to change. And that's what happened to me," Cisan said. "It's very common in the U.S. that people do that kind of thing. That's a midlife career change."
But such changes may not be so familiar in this country, where the job market generally lacks flexibility.
"There were two big trends in their job hunting," said Yuichi Misato, a career consultant at Intelligence Ltd., which helps people find new jobs, referring to businessmen who left foreign financial firms in Japan during the financial crisis in 2008.
One trend is to work for small consulting companies specializing in certain areas, such as mergers and acquisitions. Another trend is to get jobs as financial experts at corporations, Misato said.
Others sought jobs as bureaucrats.
Many applied for several openings at the Financial Services Agency, a financial watchdog. When the agency posted job listings on March 13, the first such advertisement after the financial industry's meltdown last year, 120 people, including many who had worked for foreign financial firms, applied. Only four were hired, the agency said.
Amid such job-hunting, Cisan's drastic career change may be unique. But he said he had been preparing for it for a long time.
Passionate about baking sweets since he was a teenager in Hawaii, Cisan attended a professional pastry program on weekends at Le Cordon Bleu in Tokyo while he was working as a manager at AIG. A year and a half later he received his diploma in pastry-making from the famed French cooking school.
Before he resigned from AIG in November, he had already offered baking classes at home to friends and colleagues on weekends.
Later, he relocated classes to his community center's kitchen in Tokyo's Ota Ward, which was larger and better equipped for classes. After he met Peterson earlier this year, he started to teach at Notting Hill.
The classes at the cafe have so far proved increasingly popular.
In July, Cisan and a couple of other instructors had six classes, each with eight students. In August, they expanded to 16 to 20 classes, and hope to have 26 to 30 classes by September, Cisan said.
But business in Japan is not always so easy, he said.
"Japanese consumers are very brand-conscious, quality-conscious and price sensitive," he said, adding that presentation, packaging and wrapping are also very important to customers.
"Japan is one of the most difficult consumer markets in the world. But if you can crack it, it's the most lucrative," he said.
Cisan said he is happy he has a challenge.
"Because if I don't try now, and I do something else or get involved in something else, and then, 20 to 30 years from now and in the back of my mind, like 'Oh, you never did try baking and now I'm too old.' I don't want to have these regrets later," he said.
"If I do this and fail, so what? At least I know I tried," Cisan said.
[NATIONAL NEWS]
Saturday, Aug. 15, 2009
Games drop baseball, softball
BERLIN (Kyodo) Baseball and softball failed Thursday in their comeback bids for the 2016 Summer Games, as the International Olympic Committee executive board here decided to recommend golf and rugby sevens for inclusion for the games.
The decision is sure to disappoint Japanese sports fans and players, as Japan's national baseball and softball teams have won a number of medals in past world competitions. The two have been dropped from the Olympic program for the 2012 London Games.
Karate, squash and roller sports also missed the cut Thursday.
Golf and rugby will be added upon the IOC assembly's OK in Copenhagen on Oct. 9.
"All seven sports made a strong case for inclusion, and the executive board carefully evaluated them in a transparent and fair process. In the end, the decision came down to which two would add the most value," IOC President Jacques Rogge said.
"Golf and rugby scored high on all the criteria. They have global appeal, a geographically diverse lineup of top iconic athletes and an ethic that stresses fair play."
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