Inakamono

Management, Japanese Style

I spent the afternoon editing some video footage shot by the group of teachers and students who went to New Zealand last November. The rough cuts were done - it was time for tweaking and adding titles. My co-worker Asuka had been on the trip so she was working with me, feeding me the place names and dates of each scene, and asking me to edit out instances of her squealing in delight or surprise. At about 5.30 my boss looked over and asked me if he could interrupt for a minute. He normally smiles all the time but there was no hint of a smile now. He didn't want me, he wanted Asuka. What followed was a telling off. The kind you would give a teenager who had come in an hour after curfew. Asuka left her desk in tears and hadn't returned when I went home 20 minutes later. The other staff asked what happened and I told them.

"It's good to do that occasionally" said one women.

I felt sorry for Asuka and was surprised at the coldness of the attitudes of the others. Welcome to people management in Japan.

North Korean High Tech

The Korean culture boom cannot held be held back by something as flimsy as totalitarianism - North Koreans are getting their dose of Winter Sonata (and other Korean dramas) via VCDs brought in by those with rellies in China. The current affairs show I was watching showed that 30 yen a pop gets you an hour of hot, platonic Korean love story. The programme didn't show how people got the VCD players but if you have access to China....... Some North Koreans even have mobile phones. They work in certain coverage areas near the Chinese border and Chinese relatives foot the bill. The catch is that because of surveilance conversations have to be kept to a minimum. Good news for the bill-paying Chinese rellies.