Proportion of Japanese Men That Are Lifelong Bachelors Breaks 20% for First Time; Rate has Octupled in Last 30 Years

Proportion of Japanese Men That Are Lifelong Bachelors Breaks 20% for First Time; Rate has Octupled in Last 30 Years
Yomiuri Shimbun: 生涯未婚の男性、２割を突破…３０年で８倍
May 1, 2012

As of 2010, the proportions of Japanese men and women who had never been married at age 50 were 20.1% and 10.6%, respectively, it was announced today. This is the first time that the 20% and 10% barriers have been broken.

This information is to be included in “Children and Child-Rearing” white paper which will be confirmed by the Cabinet in the beginning of June.

In 1980, the proportions of the single-for-life were 2.6% for men and 4.5% for women. Now, more than 8 times more men are lifelong bachelors, and more than twice as many women are lifelong bachelorettes. The numbers of the unmarried have surged since the 1990s.

By age group: 71.8% of men and 60.3% of women age 25-29 have never been married. 47.3% of men and 34.5% of women age 30-34 have never been married. And 35.6% of men and 23.1% of women age 35-39 have never been married.

The Silent Triumph of Linux

The Linux Penguin

The Silent Triumph of Linux
Cell phones, businesses, critical environments, and the infrastructure of the Web all function with this system
El País: Linux, el triunfo silencioso
Laia Reventós reporting from Barcelona April 22, 2012

When you navigate the Internet, you use Linux. When you search on Google, gossip on Facebook, or play with your Android phone (850,000 of those are activated each day), you also use this operating system. When you see a movie on an airplane, take money from a teller, or make a long-distance phone call…yes, Linux is at the heart of multiple daily activities, even though you aren’t conscious of it.

The most installed open source operating system in the world and the motor of free software still is not massively installed in desktop computers, where Windows reigns with 92% of the market. That is the same share it had in the 90s, when Linus Torvalds (born in Helsinki in 1969) developed Linux. On Friday, Technology Academy Finland recognized its compatriot for creating a system which has had “a great impact on the development of open source programs, work on the Internet, and the opening of the Web to make it accessible to millions of people.”

Torvalds was a 21-year old student of computer engineering at the University of Helsinki in 1991. In his room, he began “a small project. It was something fun to help my learning, but it ended up having everything an operating system is supposed to have.”

The youth released the first version of Linux on the Internet, and word of mouth did the rest for a system protected by the General Public License (GPL), which permits its use, copying, modification, and free distribution. As opposed to other systems, Linux has improved thanks to collaboration. Close to 8000 developers and 800 companies have contributed to its 15 million lines of code since 2005. The Iliad had 15,000 lines. Every three months, a new version of the core system is released under Torvalds’s supervision.

“Linux was the first modifiable operating system that could be installed and used by anyone,” explains Miguel Jaque, director of Spain’s National Open Source Technology Center (CENATIC). “You could find out how its code worked. The secret was out. And that allowed the peak of free software to begin.”

Twenty years later, the system still has not gatecrashed domestic computing (it has a 0.98% worldwide market share according to Netmarketshare), but it rules mobile phones, businesses, data centers, critical environments, and the infrastructure of the web. 80% of stock transactions have the penguin symbol beneath them. Even televisions and cars use it. 25% of their costs are for software, and in four years the proportion will be 75%. For that reason, giants like General Motors, BMW, Hyundai, PSA Peugeot Citroën, and Renault-Nissan have constructed an open platform for entertainment and information systems (the GENIVI Alliance).

In Spain, the management and education communities have led Linux’s advance. 83% of public organizations have some kind of open software installed for them. Don’t forget that Extremadura took the lead in providing computers for its students with its Linex system in 2003; it just don’t preach about it much. This tide has swept to seven other Autonomous Communities, including Andalusia and Catalonia (Lincat). The Andalusian system Guadalinex now serves 1.8 million students in 5882 schools with a network of 640,000 PCs and 4200 servers.

What are the advantages? “It reduces costs because the license is free; you can change providers without problems, and you can personalize all the components,” says Jaque. Munich City Hall has saved a third of its technological budget (€4 million) thanks to Linux, and now, in a time of crisis, it could save more if its civil services “save and reuse their computing resources.” In 2011, according to CENATIC, 46% of civil services created their own programs, but only 18% set them free.

Nun Accused of Stealing Babies Declines to Testify in Court

Sister María Gómez Valbuena leaving Madrid Trial Court 47 after declining to testify. Photo by Cristóbal Manuel.

Those affected by the theft of children spent the night in front of the Sisters of Charity’s school where the accused nun lives holding yellow candles and cards with their petitions.

Nun Accused of Stealing Babies Declines to Testify in Court
Sister María Gómez Valbuena is still charged with illegal custody
Tomorrow, the judge will call for testimony from the adoptive parents of the daughter who was supposedly robbed
El País: La monja acusada del robo de bebés se niega a declarar ante el juez
Natalia Junquera reporting from Madrid April 12, 2012

Sister María Gómez Valbuena declined to testify before a judge about her supposed involvement in a case of baby theft.  She is still charged with illegal custody, the charge about which she was called to testify today. Judge Adolfo Carretero said he will call the adoptive parents to testify tomorrow about their supposedly stolen daughter. The nun is the first person to be directly accused after 1500 denouncements were made all around Spain by mothers who believe their children were stolen after birth.

Gómez Valbuena, wearing the habit of the Daughters of Charity, arrived at Madrid Trial Court 47 a little after eight, an hour and a half before her appointed time, accompanied by another religious from her congregation. She attempted – successfully, when she entered – to avoid the multitude of media members waiting for her, many of them from abroad. After availing her right to not testify before the judge, she left through a side entrance, the one used for night court, escorted by several members of the municipal police, but she could not avoid the media then.

Nor could she avoid the other mothers accusing her of robbing their babies; when they saw her, they shouted, “Shameless!” and “We want to see your face!” while Sister María entered a black all-terrain Mercedes Benz with tinted windows in order to depart the judicial premises.

The nun, who is 80 years old, has contracted the services of José María Calero Martínez, the lawyer for the parents of murdered minor Marta del Castillo. The Madrid District Attorney’s Office called her to testify after she was accused, and she declined to speak then, as well. Dozens of mothers who are seeking their children and who have seen their cases put in the archives of DA’s Offices around the country for lack of evidence have put all their hopes on Sister María telling the judge what she did and what she knows.

The case for which the judge called the nun forward as defendant is that of María Luisa Torres, who gave birth to a daughter, Pilar, in the Saint Cristina of Madrid clinic in 1982. She claimed that Sister María seized the child and threatened she would take the mother’s other daughter, as well, “because of your adultery”. Thanks to the help of Pilar’s adoptive father, the mother and daughter were able to reunite last year, 29 years after the birth. Last week, both testified to the same judge that interrogated Sister María today. “If she doesn’t pay in this life, she will pay in the next one,” Pilar said about the religious before she entered the court. “She deserves the highest punishment,” Pilar’s mother added.

Urdangarin’s Ex-Business Partner Implicates the King of Negotiating in Favor of his Son-in-Law

Jorge Forteza and Pedro Perelló in 2007. Photo by Tōru Shimada.

Urdangarin’s Ex-Business Partner Implicates the King of Negotiating in Favor of his Son-in-Law
Diego Torres remitted three emails with documents to the court
The Duke says, “He has told Cristina that in principle, there won’t be any problems.”

Duke Iñaki Urdangarin affirmed in three 2007 emails that the king acted as a mediator so his son-in-law could participate in a new yachting team for the 33rd America’s Cup. The documents were remitted by Urdangarin’s ex-business partner, Diego Torres, to the Palma court which is investigating the activities of Instituto Nóos. The Ayre Project, which still has not found prosperity after that fiasco of a sporting event, was managed by Pedro Perelló and Jorge Forteza – regattists, businessmen, and friends of the princes and princesses – with the support of the Duke of Palma.

In one of these communications, dated September 30, 2007, Torres asks the duke about his “experience” in seminars about urban planning in Philadelphia and informs him that Perelló has spent “a good while on the telephone every day” to intensify his contacts with the public administrations of the Valencian Community. The following day, Urdangarin answered him form Washington, “I bring a message on behalf of the king, and it is that he has commented to Cristina, so that she could pass the message on to me, that he will get [Francisco] Camps in touch with Pedro in order to tell him about the theme of the base of the Prada. And that in principle, there will not be any problems, and they will help us get it,” said Urdangarin in allusion to the necessary installations in the port of Valencia to hold Project Ayre’s future boat.

In this same email, Urdangarin informed Torres that “there could be a little something for the foundation” and lamented that the entity’s website was not in English. “It would give a more international touch,” the Duke said, and he added that Agustín Zulueta, leader of the Desafío Español (Spanish Challenge) crew – the team that participated in the 2007 America’s Cup – “had asked Cristina to coffee to talk about something that couldn’t be discussed over the phone.” “It was mysterious, but it seemed serious and important,” he averred.

The messages about the ambitious sailing project which Torres’s lawyer, Manuel González Peeters, handed to the judge, piled up on August 9, 2007. Urdangarin then revealed a supposed encounter between King Juan Carlos and Perelló. “We arranged a meeting between the king and Pedro in order to present the project. It went very well, and apart from seeming very well put together, the king has offered all his help in finding financial assistance,” he said to Torres, to whom he added, “Enjoy the cruise.”

Later, on September 10, the husband of Princess Cristina wrote a message to Perelló which again lead with the supposed actions the king had taken to make sure the project arrived safely in harbor. “The king commented to me that one of his friends had done the negotiating we requested with Miguel Fluxa,” in allusion to the owner and president of the Iberostar group, Miguel Fluxá. “From my end, I’ve given [Fluxá] the ear of BBVA so he can give a push to Paco González,” Urdangarin explained to Perelló.

The messages also reveal certain differences over the (failed) presence of a second Spanish team at the America’s Cup. Zulueta affirmed in an October 2007 conversation that he felt “more peaceful” after speaking with “Cristina” and that he believed Perelló “will not continue sending surprising documents to our sponsors.” The tone, despite it all, is conciliatory, and he informed Urdangarin that “the Desafío Español has nothing against another Spanish team taking part, and if course, it has not acquired any right to be the only team.” This relieved “a worry on our end.”

The message sent by another of those implicated in the Nóos case, Antonio Ballabriga, chief of the corporate affairs of BBVA and friend of the Duke, confirms that Urdangarin went forward with his activity in Nóos and his business with public entities. This, despite his formal renunciation in March 2006 and after the king’s emissary, José Manuel Romero Moreno, advised him that spring to disassociate himself with the business. “As we’ve established, we’ll meet at 10 in Nóos to talk about meetings for the European Games project.”

After the 2009 America’s Cup
J.G. reporting from Barcelona and A.M. reporting from Palma

The Mallorcan regattists Pedro Perelló and Jorge Forteza conceived of a project to give Spain a second representative in the 2009 America’s Cup in Valencia. They wanted a team capable of competing to win, and for that they needed to raise at least 100 million euros. Despite their efforts, and despite the Ayre project being enrolled as a challenger by America’s Cup Management (ACM), the project did not prosper.

In 2007, Perelló won the King’s Cup for sailing with a boat named Siemens in which Prince Elena was a navegator. It was then that the regattist and shipowner tried to put together a great team in order to participate in the America’s Cup. Perelló never hid who the project’s godparents were, and he affirmed that the project counted on the active participation of Urdangarin (who was to take charge of the “social and cultural” area of the project) and the blessing of the king, as well. Duke Urdangarin retired after the project. Three years later, one of his businesses dedicated to “sports patronage” (Promorace, FL) was condemned to pay 34,000 euros for abandoning a sailing ship in the installations of the Royal Nautical Club of Palma. The judge obligated the business to “vacate the installations.”

Perelló paired up with a person who could provide more economic muscle for the project, businessman Jorge Forteza, duke of the real estate company Nova. Forteza was tthe “fourth player” that participated in the table tennis game in the palace of Marivent Urdangarin, along with regattist and ex-Director General of Sports Pepote Ballester and ex-President of the Balearic Islands Jaume Matas, who were also imputed in the Nóos case. There, Urdangarin confirmed his patronage of the Illes Balears cycling team. Nóos bought to apartments in Novaen Palma. In addition, Forteza was an intermediary for buying and selling terrain for Mallorca’s territorial program, which was investigated by the attorney general. The BMW Oracle team took the plan for the 33rd America’s Cup to court, where the project was paralyzed more than a year and a half before it was finally cleared.

Saudi Businessman Paid for Spanish King’s Hunting Trip in Botswana

The King. Date undetermined. Photo by Rann Safaris.

Saudi Businessman Paid for Spanish King’s Hunting Trip in Botswana
Mohamed Eyad Kayali resides in Spain, where he represents the Royal House of Saud
El País: Un empresario saudí pagó la cacería del Rey en Botsuana
Mábel Galaz reporting from Madrid April 18, 2012

The King went on his controversial hunting trip to Botswana on invitation from Saudi businessman Mohamed Eyad Kayali, who has lived in Spain for years, as reported by El Mundo and confirmed by sources with knowledge of the expedition. Kayali, who has properties in Madrid and Marbella, usually acts as a representative of the Royal House of Saud in Spain, defending and driving their business. This lobbyist of Syrian origin was one of the people who accompanied the king on his safari.

In other news, whether it is coincidence or not, Queen Sofía decided to spend two anda half hours in the Hospital USP San José yesterday, where Don Juan Carlos is recuperating from a hip operation which began at dawn Saturday. This long visit was ten times longer than her first, on Monday, which was reduced to 15 minutes.

The royal family knows that its place in the public square is important and should be untainted by personal problems, which are private business. So the king and his children have decided to close ranks. All have gathered around Don Juan Carlos, the visible head of the Crown, who has never been in the eye of such a hurricane.

Doña Sofía arrived at the hospital at 1:30 PM. The Royal Family reported that the two had decided to have lunch together. They even gave details abot the menu. They both had greens for their first course. After that, the king requested a sirloin steak and the queen a hake; she no longer eats meat. Their private date was different from the visit on the first day, when they were surrounded for those few minutes by doctors and retainers.

The queen left the lunch smiling and relaxed and approached the press to inform them her spouse is “phenomenal”, “has an appetite”, and “is doing very well”. She only added, “I’ll say nothing more because there is nothing more to say.” As Doña Sofía approached her automobile, she heard a voice asking, “What’s your opinion of the trip to Botswana?” She did not respond. No one really expected her to.

The stage of closing the family ranks was completed yesterday with the visit of the Prince of Asturias, who has continued representing his father at public functions, yesterday in Valencia and today in Murcia. And with the presence of Doña Elena, who left her convalescing son for a while in order to be with her father, with whom she is especially close. She said about criticism of the king, “I haven’t heard anything; I’ve been working.”

Everything indicates that the king will be able to leave today. The director of USP San José, Javier de Joz, read the new medical report at noon on Tuesday and assured that the king is “showing great progress”. He explained that they had practiced new remedies and had intensified his rehabilitation, with several sessions per day.

Female Taiwanese Official Stabbed to Death in Dominican Republic

Female Taiwanese Official Stabbed to Death in Dominican Republic
United Daily News: 駐多明尼加僑務秘書 遭刺殺身亡
Lei Guang-han reporting from Taipei April 19, 2012

Overseas Compatriot Affairs Commission Dominican Republic Secretary Ou Zhen-mei was found stabbed to death in her home Tuesday. She is the second Taiwanese OCAC Secretary stationed overseas to be murdered. The ROC’s Embassy in the Dominican Republic has requested that the Dominican government use its full power to find the culprit.

The first Taiwanese OCAC Secretary to be murdered was Liao Jun-ming, who was shot while standing at the doorway to his home in Brazil in 1984.

Local media says that there was evidence of beating and gouging on Ou’s body, and the knife wounds were concentrated around her head and neck. There is no sign that her home was brken into. It is suspected that the killer followed her when she returned home late at night, entered her home behind her (she lived alone), and then killed her.

Yesterday, her brother Ou Ming-de, with the help of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, received a new passport and the American visa which is necessary to enter the Dominican Republic. He is expected to set out from Taiwan tonight.

Dominican television and newspapers displayed several bloodstains on the white walls of Ou’s apartment elevator. According to reports, the cleaning staff found these bloodstains when they began work at 9 AM and told their manager. It appears the attack on Ou Mei-zhen began before she arrived in her room.

In addition, another resident of the building reported hearing the loud sound of a door slamming shut that night.

Hou Ping-fu, Taiwanese ambassador to the Dominican Republic, noticed at 10 AM that Ou Mei-zhen had not yet arrived for work. He called her home and cell phone, but no one answered, so he went to her residence himself to check. When he arrived, he found her door shut and there were bloodstains around it. He knew something was wrong and called the police.

Hou Ping-fu said, “The emergency staircase in the back seems to have been used.” It could have been the murderer’s escape route. OCAC Chief Wu Ying-yi said that Ou’s apartment was a mess, but he doesn’t know if anything was stolen. That night, Ou Mei-zhen worked overtime until 10 PM, then told Hou Ping-fu she had to return home.

OCAC has already sent an email reminding overseas officials to look out for the safety of themselves and their homes and recommended that female officials who have to return home late go there accompanied by a coworker.

Ou Mei-zhen graduated from Chinese Culture University’s Philosophy Department. After passing the Overseas Affairs Administration test, she joined OCAC in 1987; she was sent to Guatemala in 2000.

One OCAC member said that the 55-year old Ou Mei-zhen was very experienced; many of her peers had already retired. He also said she was very diligent, responsible, open, cheerful, and polite, and she volunteered for the Buddhist international relief foundation Tzu Chi.

Her tour in the Dominican Republic had already lasted a year and three months. Hou Ping-fu said “she was very diligent and often worked overtime”.

Japanese Population Declined 259,000 Last Year, Biggest Drop in Over 60 Years, as Falling Fertility and Aging Population Trends Gained Speed

Japanese Population Trends Since 1990
Left Vertical Axis and Blue Bars: Year-By-Year Population Increase/Decrease in Tens of Thousands
Horizontal Axis: Year
Right Vertical Axis and Black Line: Total Population of Japan in Hundreds of Millions (1.28 = 128 Million)

Japanese Population Declined 259,000 Last Year, Biggest Drop in Over 60 Years, as Falling Fertility and Aging Population Trends Gained Speed
Yomiuri Shimbun: 総人口、最大の２５万人減…少子高齢化が加速
April 17, 2012

The Japanese population declined 259,000 last year to 127,799,000, a decline of 0.2%, according to an estimate the Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications made on October 1, 2011 and released this April 17.

This is the largest decline since comparable statistics began to be kept in 1950. The proportion of the population between ages 0-14 declined to a new low of 13.1% while the number of Japanese 65 and over increased to a new high of 23.3%, which shows that falling fertility and aging population trends are advancing.

One substatistic of the study is the “natural movement” of the population, calculated by subtracting the number of deaths from the number of births (and thus excluding immigration and emigration). This year, deaths outnumbered births by 180,000. This is the fifth consecutive year the population naturally decreased. The level of this natural decrease widens year after year, leading the Ministry to comment that the decrease in the nation’s fertility rate and the increase in its citizens’ average age are picking up speed.

Original/原稿:

Kirchner Extends Nationalization Threat to Other Groups like “Telecommunications Companies and Banks”

Kirchner Extends Nationalization Threat to Other Groups like “Telecommunications Companies and Banks”
Spanish firms are engaged in a wide array of enterprises in Argentina
El País: Kirchner extiende su amenaza a otros grupos como “telefónicas o bancos”
David Fernández reporting from Madrid April 16, 2012

The expropriation of YPF could be only the beginning of a nightmare for Spanish businesses. During her announcement of the nationalization, Argentinean President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner threw down the gauntlet before other foreign business interests in the country, like “telecommunications companies and banks”, about the “necessity” of reinvesting their earnings in Argentina.

After speaking about Argentina Airlines and its disappearance, the president moved on to comment on other sectors in which Spain has investments in Argentina. “We’ve made it clear that the businesses that are here, even if their stockholders are abroad, are Argentinean businesses,” she began. She referred to “telecommunications companies, some of which are Spanish and which have recently submitted us to blackouts. I hope that the Ministry will promptly respond to this,” she charged, clearly referring to Movistar. “And the foreign banks, as well…in sum, we don’t have a problem with profitability, but these profits must be reinvested in the country in order to help the country grow,” Fernández resolved.

The internationalization of Spanish businesses began in Latin America, and Buenos Aires was one of the first ports of call for these then-incipient multinational corporations. In recent years, the importance of Argentina on the bottom lines of these sought-after businesses has decreased in favor of other economies in the region (principally Brazil, Mexico, and Chile), but the Argentinean market continues to be a net contributor. This is the exposure that the principal Spanish companies have to Argentina, according to fiscal 2011 data.

Repsol: YPF provided 17.42% of operating revenues (~€11,105,000,000) and 25.61% of gross profit (~€1,231,000,000). Last year, Argentina received more of Repsol’s investment money than any other country (€2,182,000,000, 33% of the total). There are 15,119 Argentineans on Repsol’s payroll, 32% of the total, making them the second most numerous nationality on their staff after Spaniards.

Telefónica: Kirchner, without referring explicitly to the Spanish operator, has sent a message to Telefónica in reminding them of the “blackout” that some enterprises “have submitted us to recently”. This April 2, a breakdown in Telefónica’s Argentinean affiliate’s mobile phone service affected 16 million users and a smaller number of landline users. After the blackout, the Argentinean government signaled that it would study how to impose the “maximum” fine possible on Movistar, which indicated its intention to compensate its clients in the country for the blackout.

Telefónica of Argentina has licenses which permit it to provide landline, cellular, and Internet telephone services. These licenses will not expire, but as the operator recognizes in its annual report, “they can be cancelled by SECOM (the Secretary of Communications) for failure to complete the terms of the license”.

Telefónica has 21.9 million clients in Argentina, principally for its mobile phones (15.9 million users); it enjoys a 29.8% market share in the cellular market. The net total of the bills for this division in that country last year was ~€3,174,000,000, while its Operating Income Before Depreciation And Amortization (OIBDA) reached ~€1,085,000,000. Telefónica’s Capital Expenditure (CAPEX) in Argentina in 2011 was €449 million.

Banco Santander: Santander Río is the country’s principal private bank, with 358 offices, 2.5 million individual clients, and 6,777 employees. In 2011, the affiliate had gross earnings of €926 million, net earnings of €472 million, and €287 million in profits. Argentina contributes 3% of the Santander Group’s profits.

BBVA: The entity controls 76% of the capital of BBVA Banco Francés. In 2011, the Argentinean division earned a net profit of €315 million and an attributed profit of €157 million, a quantity which represents 5.2% of the group’s total profits. BBVA has 4,844 employees in Argentina, 4.4% of its total employees.

Endesa: The services of the generation and transportation of electricity provided by Endesa’s Argentinean affiliate netted Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization (EBITDA) of €118 million in 2011. In addition, since the beginning of April last year, two interconnecting lines between Brazil and Argentina have begun to receive regulated remuneration, producing an EBIDTA of €127 million. The distribution business, for its part, had operating losses of €23 million, as greater fixed costs as a consequence of inflationary recovery in the country could not be recuperated by the bills charged to clients.

Gas Natural: The distribution of gas in Latin America earned the company an EBITDA of €621 million in 2011. Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico are Gas Natural’s principal markets; Argentina only contributed €27 million of its EBITDA.

Mapfre: Argentina is the insurer’s fourth most important market in Latin America. In 2011, it contributed €457 million in premiums (2.33% of the insurer’s total) and €18 million to Mapfre’s bottom line.

DIA: The distributor sold a total of €11,123,000,000 in products last year. Its principal markets are Spain, Portugal, and Brazil. Argentina is fourth, although it was the fastest-growing market in 2011, contributing 7.8% of the chain’s sales (€868 million). DIA opened 47 new stores last year for a total of 495 there.

Prosegur: The security company grossed some €500 million in the Argentinean Area, which also includes Paraguay and Uruguay, in 2011.

Codere: Codere Argentina is the principal operator of bingo sales in the province of Buenos Aires, with a total of 14 functioning rooms and more than 5000 recreational machines installed. This South American country contributes more to the group’s revenue and EBITDA than any other, €553 million and €165 million respectively.

NH Hoteles: On December 31, the group had 13 hotels open in Argentina (11 owned and 2 others under management) with a total of 2049 rooms.

Governor Ishihara: “Tokyo is Going To Protect the Senkaku Islands. Any Complaints?”

Left: Governor Ishihara at the speech. Photo by Kentarō Nakashima.
Right: The Senkaku Islands, which are north of Ishigaki, Okinawa and northeast of Taiwan.

Governor Ishihara: “Tokyo is Going To Protect the Senkaku Islands. Any Complaints?”
Yomiuri Shimbun: 石原知事「東京が尖閣守る、文句ありますか」
Kentarō Nakashima reporting from Washington, DC April 17, 2012

During a speech on the afternoon of the 16th in Washington, DC (before dawn on the 17th in Tokyo), Tokyo Governor Ishihara expressed his intention to purchase a part of the Senkaku Islands, which are held by Japan (and administered by Ishigaki, Okinawa) despite competing territorial claims by China and Taiwan [who call them the Diaoyu Islands].

He has received the consent of a man in Saitama who already possesses the islands and would like to complete the acquisition this year.

The Tokyo government is looking into purchasing three of the four islands – Uotsuri Jima, Kita Kojima, and Minami Kojima – first, and buying a fourth, Kuba Jima, which belongs to the man’s relatives, in the future.

The Governor pushed back against Chinese territorial claims in his speech, saying “the Senkaku Islands are part of Japan, and they were returned to the country at the same time as Okinawa. Now [China] is saying the islands are theirs. That’s outrageous.”

He added “it would be best if the national government bought the islands, but it’s not because it’s timid,” and “Tokyo will defend the Senkaku Islands. It may upset other countries, but can anyone complain about Japanese people making this acquisition in order to protect Japanese territory?”

After his speech, Governor Ishihara said to the press that he was considering sending a proposal to Ishigaki, Okinawa to jointly administer the islands. Regarding their price tag, he only said “I can’t say. They’re not that expensive.” The Governor is visiting the United States on invitation from the hosts of Washington’s National Cherry Blossom Festival.

Original/原稿:
石原知事「東京が尖閣守る、文句ありますか」

　【ワシントン＝中島健太郎】東京都の石原慎太郎知事は１６日午後（日本時間１７日未明）、米ワシントンで講演し、日本の固有の領土で中国や台湾が領有権を主張する尖閣諸島（沖縄県石垣市）の一部を都が買い取る意向を表明した。

　すでに島を所有する埼玉県の男性の同意を得ており、今年中の取得を目指すという。

　都が買い取りを検討しているのは、尖閣諸島で最大の魚釣島と北小島、南小島の３島で、将来的には男性の親族が所有する久場(くば)島の取得も目指す。

　知事は講演で、「尖閣諸島は日本の固有の領土で、沖縄返還の時に帰ってきた。（中国が）俺たちのものだと言い出した。とんでもない話だ」と中国側の領有権主張をけん制した。

　その上で「本当は国が買い上げたらいいが、びくびくしてやらない」とし、「東京が尖閣諸島を守る。どこの国が嫌がろうと、日本人が日本の国土を守るため島を取得するのに何か文句がありますか」と語った。

　石原知事は講演後、報道陣に、沖縄県や石垣市に共同管理を提案する考えも示した。買い取り額については「言えない。そんなに高くはない」と述べるにとどめた。石原知事はワシントンで開かれている全米桜祭りの主催団体から招待を受け、訪米中。

（2012年4月17日14時34分 読売新聞）

What If The King Hadn’t Fallen?

Tintin picture courtesy of ADAGP, Paris, 2009

What If The King Hadn’t Fallen?
El País: ¿Y si no se hubiera caído?
Antoni Gutiérrez-Rubí blogging April 14, 2012

King Juan Carlos has lost contact with reality. At least, that’s how it seems. Only profound disorientation and disconnection with the society which he should serve would begin to explain why it would seem like a good idea for him to hunt elephants. The trip was absolutely untimely, uncalled for, and unwarranted.

Untimely, because the current moment is one of the most critical for Spain’s international reputation. The monarch’s trip, an inopportune caprice, does not contribute to the image of moderation, force, and sacrifice that we should give in our fight for our reputation in the markets and communal institutions.

Uncalled for, because the king cannot, and should not, ignore that hunting elephants for pleasure is obscene and profoundly offends millions of people’s sensibilities. It has all the elements of a despicable action. In addition, because he went to a hunting ground especially prepared for enjoyment, he fed all our mental images about the perversity of opulence and power.

Unwarranted, because there was no reason for him, at his age, with his physical condition, to make a hunting trip, and of elephants to boot. No explanation can make such a mountain of imprudent and unnecessary errors comprehensible.

But the key question is: what if he hadn’t fallen during the hunt? Then we still wouldn’t know about this trip because the Royal Family does not give information about the king’s private activities. It’s very debatable that in the 21st century, a trip of this kind can be considered private.

But what’s truly alarming is the discovery that no one tried to stop it. How is it possible that no one saw the physical, aesthetic, and ethical danger of this little adventure? The monarchy does not exist to satisfy the caprices of its members but rather to serve as Chief of State. It must always act in accordance with this high responsibility. Who else knew about this trip? The Prince? Did no one advise the king against this absurdity? What planet are they living on?

The accumulation of errors committed by the monarchy in recent years is proof of an institution that already does not understand its mission in society. It is difficult to serve a community with which you no longer identify, which you know longer comprehend, and to which you no longer pay attention. This insensitivity is the first step of a rupture. It is not that Spanish society is distancing itself from the monarchy; it is the opposite. And when it loses modesty, as it did in the case of this impudent hunt, it can no longer have dignity. Not even rouge can restore that.