TokyoVP comments

Should read: Radioactive Iodine 131 is also an indicator of fission.

Radioactive Iodine 131 is also an indicator of fusion. The CTBTO monitoring site in Japan (Takasaki, near Maebashi) has detected RISING and FALLING and RISING levels of Iodine 131 in the air from March until June. Here is the graph:

http://www.bfs.de/de/ion/imis/ctbto_aktivitaetskonzentrationen_jod.gif

The CTBTO also shows a rather consistent level of cesium in the air from March until June as well, based on the monitor in Japan. Here is the graph:

http://www.bfs.de/de/ion/imis/ctbto_aktivitaetskonzentrationen_caesium.gif

It sure does look like re-criticality at Fukushima is not a new phenomenon...only the reporting by TEPCO is new. Any ideas why CTBTO is NOT reporting any data from the monitoring station in Japan after June?

It is 10 am in Tokyo and we have yet to have any official press conference from the government or TEPCO on the status of Fukushima and other nuclear facilities (Onagawa) today. Where is the government?

Galapagos translation: Cartels

Cartel translation: Control domestic market by limiting foreign products

Japan's Dichotomy:

World's leading creditor nation for 17 consecutive years, i.e., Japan owns more assets overseas than any nation...yet Japan has the largest national debt of any OECD nation.

Layman's explanation:

Somebody is very rich, and many are going to be very poor in Japan.

tmarie said:

"My husband is always home at a decent hour - and that can't be said for many others who work for other companies..."

Well said for Americans who work for Toyota in the USA. Workers for Toyota in Japan, which sets the national wage increase standard each year during negotiations with organized labor (Shunto), have received an average $10 a month pay increase for the past several years--while Toyota was reaping $Billions in profit before the Great Recession. There have been several cases of Kuroshi, death from over-work, in Japan that have gone to trial against Toyota.

The unreported potion of the speech from Mr. Toyota to his workers:

Toyota: And remember, the harder you work, the safer our cars will be!

Toyota: Finally, let me remind you that Toyota workers have received an average pay raise of $10 a month for each of the past four years!

Toyota: It has come to my attention that Toyota workers drive Suzuki mini-cars...

LDP, DPJ, Socialists, and Communists...all Japanese politicians make the same childish position of one arm on hip, one arm in air, while yelping "gambare" to the crowd. Does any other country in the world have such a similarity of political "style" among all parties across the political spectrum?? This picture codifies the facade of Japanese politics.

What was on the Monarch's (sorry, Emperors are only for Empires) mind during Obama's bow?

Akihito: Hmmm...if only Roosevelt had bowed to Hirohito!

Obama Lectures Aso:

Obama: Hello, Taro, how are you?

Aso: Fine, Obama-san, thank you for calling.

Aso: There is a city in Japan called Obama, and the people there dance...

Obama: Listen Taro, this call is important, the world economy is in trouble.

Aso: Huh...the economy is in trouble??

Obama: Hell yes it is...have you been drinking again?

Aso: Well, only at the hotel...it is safe and inexpensive, you know.

Obama: Listen, Taro...we need to talk about "imbalances" as the cause of the world-wide recession. You see, Japan had a trade surplus with the US for 27 straight years, leading to an excessive imbalance of treasury bills owned by Japan which kept US interest rates artificially low...and that started the sub-prime fiasco, leading to the fiscal mess we are in.

Aso: Ah soo desu ka. When will the American economy be fixed so Japan can export again??

Obama: Taro, let me try to explain it another way. My Grandmother once told me a story about a golden goose that laid golden eggs...

Question: What is Japan's market share of automobiles in Italy?

Answer: Low enough for Fiat to buy Chrysler...

Japan at the UN Headquarters:

Japan Diplomat: North Korea has fired a missile! Japan demands the UN convene an emergency meeting of the Security Council at once!!!

Two hours later, after the UN Security Council convenes for Japan:

Japan Diplomat: Eeetooo....There actually wasn't a missile launch...the Japanese government was mistaken...

Click you heels three times and repeat:

Japan is cash rich!

Japan is cash rich!

Japan is cash rich!

Now close your eyes, tap your heels together, and repeat three times:

"No worry, Japan is cash-rich!"

No worry...Japan is "cash rich" and we hear that mantra every day.

Senator Shelby, looking for a buck, stabs Detroit in the back:

Hyundai factory finds sweet home in Alabama - 5/16/05 Detroit News

Isuzu buys Alabama land for possible factory - Autos- msnbc.com

Honda Plans to Build Plant in Alabama for Larger Vehicles - New York Times

No worry...Japan is "cash rich" and we hear that mantra every day.

Japan hosted the G8 Summit in Hokkaido in July.

Where was the leadership of Japan to stem the market meltdown BEFORE it happened and create a new global financial order??

Oh, Fukuda was Prime Minister in July...sorry.

True colors fly in the fierce wind:

"World economic crisis also a moral problem, says Nakasone...The 90-year-old made the point in a recent article published in Japanese daily Asahi Shimbun. Former Japanese prime minister talks about the risks the crisis poses to humankind, points finger at the United States. He proposes US hegemony be replaced by G20 with Japan playing role of mediator between Asia and the West."

Aso, after Ginza martinis, grooves with Freeters:

Aso: "And I called Obama last night from the phone over there..."

Meanwhile, back at the Prime Minister's Residence:

"Where the heck is he, it is already past 10pm??"

"This is the third Cabinet meeting this week he is late for..."

Aso, eager to garner political points, calls Obama:

Aso: Hello, Mr. Obama, this is the Prime Minister of Japan.

Obama: Yes, Prime Minister Aso, how are you?

Aso: I want to talk about our common values between Japan and America.

Obama: ...ehh, excuse me, Mr. Aso, I believe the connection is bad...

Aso: Moshi, moshi...

Domestic car sales in Japan have declined 13 consecutive years.

While Japan may take pride in becoming the world's biggest producer of automobiles, the people of Japan can not afford to buy the cars they produce.

This is a case study of both capitalism gone wrong in Japan and the impotence of Japanese politics....neither serve the people of Japan.

Yes, way to go...now only 30,000 points remaining to reach the 1989 high.

Here is another option Japan should consider: Accept the unacceptable and bear the unbearable as all of those foreign reserves ($950 BILLION in US T-Bills) disappear when the US defaults on repayment. Aso can then claim Japan bailed out the US and saved global capitalism!

Who is reporting the level of household savings? Banks?

Who can trust information from Japanese banks that denied bad loans for years?

My point was that most Japanese have no faith in the pension system, nor the companies, government or unions. If you can not trust the government to keep your pension from corruption, then why should you trust banks to keep household savings safe and sound? Japanese banks were near collapse only seven years ago. If you believe "rich Japan" is a myth, then why do you believe reports on massive household savings??

And Japanese banks are sitting on a "mountain of cash" from household savings. So says CNN and the New York Times...but they only report what "Japanese in the know" tell them. There seems to be a huge disconnect from this story and what you read about Japan's banks.

News flash: The US has defaulted on foreign owned T-bills and is offering repayment in the form of exports.

I see...Japanese workers do not need a pay raise since they are sitting on "huge amount of savings" in banks. They are working their collective asses off for the good of the country, sitting on a mountain of cash and do not need to be paid for over-time work. And the Japanese pension system is a safe as the trust you have in the government...and in bank statements.

The myth of rich Japanese/Japanese banks is just as bad as the myth of Wall Street arbitrage as a sound investment.

Huge level of domestic savings is the source of cash in Japan's banks?? Go figure. Wages in Japan have been stagnant for ten years, pensions are not sound, and consumers will not spend. How did domestic savings fill bank coffers in Japan??

There is a great myth floating throughout the financial world now: Japan is sitting on a mountain of cash. Horse hockey! The source of this myth is probably the same people who blew off the pension mess and tainted rice scandal. They now are saying the Yamato insurance bankruptcy is unique.

As Japan's export driven economy tanks, let's see just how strong those Japanese banks really are.

When will Uncle Sam drop the other foot by defaulting on all of those foreign owned T-Bills?