Many Japanese have a special feeling about cherry tree, because they are closely linked to the memories of a meet and parting with intimate friends. In Japan, a graduation ceremony and an entrance ceremony is held in from the end of March to the beginning of April,which is just a season of cherry blossoms. I thought of my old friends beside the tree for a while.

My response as a Japanese is “why are American people willing to have such a troublesome system on their hand voluntarily?” Japan has maintained the universal health care system for many years. However, some problems in the system are pointed out recently.

 First, the system needs a lot of money. So, it can be fragile when the nation’s economy goes wrong. As a result of that Japan has experienced a sever economic recession, many health insurance institutes are on the verge of bankruptcy. Some companies have broken up its in-house insurance associations. The universal health care system requires the nation to keep a constant economic growth.

Secondly, there is a risk of malpractice that doctors claim an exceeded medical fee. Some doctors made false reports in order to get money from health care insurance. This is a criminal case, of course, but desperate doctors who have to run their own hospitals tread on thin ice. In Japan, you can see the news of doctor’s malpractice on TV almost every month.

Finally, the universal system may discourage people from being independent. Indeed, Japanese people depend on the government. They take a cheap medical care for granted. A lot of elderly people sit on the bench of hospital everyday. Some people enjoy a “doctor shopping.” It is difficult for the government to cut a medical cost.

The idea that people should help each other is beautiful. It is true that the health care bill will save the great number of uninsured American people. However, Japan’s experience teach us that it contains some inevitable problems.

 Checking the credit is so popular in US society. You may be required to provide a credit history when you want to lent apartment house, to make a new credit card, to make a loan, etc. Therefore, this issue concerns not on the applicant’s privacy right, but on their opportunity to be hired.

 Opposite to the Democrat’s expectation, I am afraid that employer hesitate to hire new worker whose creditability is unclear once such a regulation is enacted. The informational unbalance between employer and applicant should not be underestimated. Many employers have no method to know about an applicant’s creditability if they aren’t allowed to check a credit history. On the contrary, the applicant can easily know the employer’s trustworthy because a corporate employer is required to announce its financial statement to the public.

 Furthermore, the employer are likely to ask applicant to find guarantor. In Japan, for example, many employers usually don’t check a credit in order to see applicant’s creditability. Instead, as a way in common use, applicant’s guarantor take a responsibility in case the applicant does something wrong to the employer. I have seen a lot of people who had suffered serious economic loss because they had been forced to guaranty their acquaintance’s job. It is not fair that the guarantor take responsibility for the applicant , not for himself. I believe that the Japanese guarantor system doesn’t adjust to the modern society based on the individualism.

 Therefore, it can be said that the existing US system still has merit. States should consider better way to promote employment opportunity for US job seekers.

This picture was taken when I visited at the Georgia Aquarium last summer. It  is one of the largist Aquarium all over the world, and I enjoyed a lot of display there. Rays were sailing in a big water tank. I wondered if we watch them, or they watch us ?

I visted at Sabannah last week.  Just 4 hours drive from Atlanta. It was good weather. This is a picture of a charch whose name is unknown to me. But its shape impressed me. After all, I enjoyed a holiday.

There are four big beverage companies in Japan, Kilin, Asahi, Suntry, and Supporo. Supporo is the fourth in the market and has a famous beer brand. Although there seems to be a possibility of merging Asahi with Supporo, they can not find any merit in matching themselves because their main products are almost same. Both “Super-dry” and “Sapporo-Nama” are famous beer brands in Japan, so they don’t want to offset their merits each other.

On the other hand, Kilin and Suntry seem to be a best match as Suntry has a priority in whisky products. They can make profits from different fields of the beverage market. But they can not reach the agreement due to the difference of corporate culture. Kilin is a world wide company, while Suntry is a family-held company.

In Japan, the beer market reduces recently. People have changed their drink at dinner from beer to non-alcohol. I think this is because Japanese company men and women who suffer from economic recession began to go home straight after working.

Under those circumstances, brewery companies have to reclaim new land in another industry, not beer. This is the reason why Asahi is looking for a right partner who has attractive products so that it become a leader of the market. I wonder who drinks “Asahi Super Dry” next ?