le 1/3/2010 à 11h59  par Benjamin Gauducheau (Aujourd'hui le Japon)

Les autorités japonaises ont levé dans la nuit de dimanche à lundi l'alerte au tsunami après que des vagues de 1,20 mètre en moyenne aient atteint la côte japonaise, sans grands dégâts. Ce fût la plus importante alerte du genre depuis une quinzaine d’années.
Il était un peu plus de trois heures du matin lundi lorsque l'agence météorologique aponaise a levé la dernière alerte au tsunami, qui concernait la préfecture de Kochi, sur l'île de Shikoku. Aucun mort et aucun blessé n'ont été enregistrés après le déferlement de vagues qui avait amené les autorités à ordonner l'évacuation de 522.000 personnes.
Dimanche matin, l'agence météorologique Japonaise avait diffusé la première alerte « majeure » au tsunami depuis 1993, après le séisme de magnitude 8,8 qui avait frappé le Chili samedi soir. L'alerte concernait les préfectures d'Aomori, Iwate et de Miyagi, sur la côte pacifique du  pays. Des vagues pouvant aller jusqu'à trois mètres de haut étaient attendues.
Après être passé sans causer trop de dommages par diverses îles du pacifique, y compris Hawaï, le tsunami est arrivé au Japon en début d'après midi dimanche. Une vague de 145 centimètres de haut a d'abord frappé le port de pêche de Otsuchi, dans la préfecture de Iwate, vers 15h40. Tout au long de côte pacifique japonaise, des vagues d'environ 120 centimètres de hauts ont ensuite déferlé, ne faisant pas de dégâts majeurs.
En prévision de la déferlante, la circulation avait été interrompue sur des dizaines de lignes ferroviaires et sur certaines voies rapides, y compris l'« Aqualine », qui relie les préfectures de Kanagawa et de Chiba par la baie de Tokyo. Dans la préfecture d'Aomori, les élections locales ont été suspendues après la fermeture de trois bureaux de vote situés près de la côte.
Le Japon est particulièrement sensible à ce genre d'alertes.  En Juillet 1993, un tsunami déclenché  par un tremblement de terre important près d'Hokkaido avait causé  la mort de plus de 200 personnes sur la petite île d'Okushiri. Un autre tremblement de terre près du Chili avait provoqué des vagues meurtrières qui avaient tué près de 140 personnes au Japon.
Malgré la levée de l'alerte, les autorités conseillent aux personnes des zones concernées de rester prudentes. « Les tsunamis, ce n'est pas juste la première vague, a déclaré le premier ministre Yukio Hatoyama lors d'une conférence de presse. Nous ne pouvons pas nous permettre de penser que juste parce que la première vague a déferlé, nous sommes en sécurité. Les tsunamis, c'est quelque chose de terrifiant », a t-il conclu
Nos prévisions ont peut-être été excessives et nous souhaiterions nous excuser pour la gêne occasionnée avec l'alerte, qui a conduit les gens à rester éloignés (de chez eux) pour un assez long moment" a déclaré Yasuo Sekita, un haut responsable de l'agence météorologique, cité par l'agence Kyodo. M. Sekita a expliqué que l'alerte avait été déclarée en prévision du pire et en se basant sur l'analyse de précédents tsunamis. "Je ne pense pas qu'il y ait eu d'erreur dans notre jugement" s'est-il défendu.

OSAKA -- A man turned himself in to police Monday, claiming responsibility for a blaze at a pachinko parlor in Osaka that killed four people and telling police he wanted to kill "anyone."

The man, Sunao Takami, 41, turned himself in at Iwakuni Police Station in Yamaguchi Prefecture on Monday saying, "I did it." Police immediately arrested him on suspicion of arson of an inhabited structure, murder and attempted murder.

When questioned by police, Takami told them he was "sick of life" and that he owed some money to consumer finance organizations.

"I had no job or money, and I was sick of life. I thought I wanted to kill anyone, like a random killer, and I set fire to a place where there were a lot of people," police quoted him as saying. Investigators are continuing to question Takami over the detailed motives for starting the deadly blaze.

Takami is accused of entering the pachinko parlor in Osaka's Konohana Ward through the parlor's southeast entrance at about 4:10 p.m. on Sunday, and splashing a bucket of gasoline across the floor and setting it alight before escaping through the southwest entrance.

"I put some gasoline in a portable can and took it into the store, then poured it into a bucket and set it alight with a match," Takami was quoted as telling police.

The store's security camera showed a man splashing about a liquid, and police had been searching for the perpetrator. After the arson attack, Takami returned to his home in Konohana Ward and then took a JR train to Okayama, and stayed overnight at a business hotel near Okayama Station. On Monday morning he headed to Iwakuni, Yamaguchi Prefecture. He turned himself in to police at about 12:40 p.m.

Takami told police that he had parked his bicycle behind the pachinko parlor. They found his bicycle there, and because his clothing matched that of the perpetrator in the video, they arrested him.

Takami had lived alone, and at the time of his arrest he was carrying around 60,000 yen. He said he had not played pachinko on the day of the fire, but told police that he had been to the establishment several times in the past.

Le Monde.fr / 20 mai 2009

Les internautes du Monde.fr qui résident au Japon témoignent des mesures mises en place par les autorités pour faire face à l'augmentation du nombre de cas de grippe H1N1. La plupart tient néanmoins à signaler qu'aucune psychose n'est encore palpable dans la société japonaise.

* A Kyoto: la multiplication des masques par Pierre-Alain Szigeti

Ici, à Kyoto Kobe, nous nous sentons cernés. La ville est située entre Kobe, où ce foyer est apparu, Osaka, où il s'est propagé, et Shiga, où un cas vient d'être signalé. Les écoles sont ouvertes, mais l'école française a fermé ses portes lundi soir par précaution. La différence notable est la pénurie de masques dans les magasins le week-end dernier (ils ont été réapprovisionnés depuis), et par conséquent la multiplication des personnes portant un masque, que ce soit dans la rue, dans les magasins – employés en tête – et dans les transports en commun, où quasiment tous les voyageurs s'en affublent.

L'école reprendra vendredi si tout est calme, d'ici là nous sortons le moins souvent possible, jamais dans les lieux surpeuplés, et suivons les consignes d'hygiène simples et assez logiques (se laver les mains !).

* Quelques mesures par Gilles Nokeo

Les écoles où des élèves ont contracté la maladie ferment leurs portes temporairement. Des crèches ferment également, obligeant les mères à prendre des jours de congés afin de s'occuper des enfants de bas âges. Dans certaines zones, on déconseille même à la population de sortir de son domicile étant donné que les écoles locales ont fermé. Certaines entreprises rendent obligatoire le port du masque par leurs employés, et instaurent un système de rotation dans les réfectoires.

* A l'université par Arnaud Dauendorffer

Bien que situé hors de la région d'apparition du virus, la crainte de voir se propager la maladie se fait tout doucement sentir. Les ventes de masques explosent, les cours commencent par des mises en garde sur le virus, des flacons de gel désinfectant pour les mains ont été placés un peu partout dans l'université... Cependant, la population reste calme et les gens n'ont globalement pas changé leurs habitudes.

* Certaines écoles sont sur le qui-vive par Quynh Anh Trinh Xuan

Vu de l'extérieur, rien ne change... et pourtant, une inquiétude latente se fait ressentir. Aucun cas n'a encore été declaré à Tokyo mais certaines écoles sont sur le qui-vive, prêtes à fermer. Contrôle de température de tous les élèves, interdiction d'entrer dans les bâtiments si l'on a voyagé récemment ou si l'on a un visiteur-voyageur chez soi.

* Un masque pour tous par Carraz R.

Je suis actuellement au Japon pour séjour de recherche au sein de l'université de Tohoku (Sendai). L'université ne nous laisse plus nous déplacer à l'étranger pour des raisons professionnelles dans les pays suivants: USA,Canada, Mexique, Royaume-Uni et Espagne. Pour tout autre voyage à l'étranger, il est dorénavant obligatoire de prendre sa température durant tout son séjour, et ceci jusqu'à 7 jours après son retour. En cas de fièvre suspecte, il est recommandé de rester à la maison.

Plus annecdoctiquement, tous les spectateurs du tournoi de Sumo se déroulant a Tokyo en ce moment doivent se désinfecter les mains avant de rentrer dans le stade.

* Une discipline bien japonaise par Olivier Romang

La grippe porcine fait la une de tous les journaux. Avec une efficacité toute japonaise, des mesures ont été prises, au niveau national d'abord : quarantaine sévère a l'aéroport, fermeture d'écoles à Osaka et Kobe. C'est maintenant au tour des entreprises de sensibiliser leurs employés. Dans la mienne par exemple, nous avons été briefés sur les numéros à appeler en cas de symptômes et des distributeurs de savon anti-bactériens ont été placés dans les toilettes pour montrer que l'employeur s'inquiète de la santé de ses employés...

* Rien à signaler par Jean-Loup Petrequin

Je vis à Hamamatsu à 100 kilomètres après Nagoya en allant sur Tokyo. Dans ma ville et région, je n'ai remarqué aucun changement d'habitude chez les Japonais, presque aucune allusion, seulement en famille, et encore... Il paraît que les masques se sont mieux vendus que d'habitude. Mais comme les Japonais en mettent souvent, je n'ai rien remarqué. En tous cas, je n'ai vu aucune psychose.

* Pénurie de masque un peu partout dans le pays par Olivier

Vivant à Tokyo, la "psychose" ne s'est pas encore emparée des Tokyoïtes, mais on sent la population vigilante. Des mesures de précautions sont prises dans tous les bâtiments publics, comme la mise à disposition de désinfectant pour les mains. Mais une rapide caméra cachée a montré que 2 personnes sur 3 ne s'en servaient pas. Dans mon entreprise, on a reçu de la part des ressources humaines 2 ou 3 messages de prévention, nous rappelant les gestes minimums à faire pour éviter la contamination (port du masque, hygiène de vie et même une notice illustrée pour apprendre à bien se laver les mains).

* A Tokyo, rien n'a changé par Marc

Les gens ne sont pas inquiets. Ce n'est absolument pas la psychose comme certains journalistes le prétendent. Ce n'est même pas un sujet de discussion pendant la pause déjeuner. Les Japonais mettent des masques dès qu'ils ont un rhume pour ne pas contaminer les voisins, tous les jours des millions de personnes en mettent. La vue de ceux-ci n'est donc pas du tout étrange ou sujette à un changement de comportement.

Some of you may be feeling that there's something different about the flu this year. In January, there was an influenza outbreak at a hospital in Machida, Tokyo, where the virus claimed the lives of three elderly patients. It was also found that a strain of influenza resistant to Tamiflu, a drug commonly used to prevent and treat the flu, has been spreading throughout Japan.

The situation should not be taken lightly. However, neither the deaths nor the Tamiflu-resistance were unexpected.

Seasonal influenza, which runs rampant every year, should never be underestimated. It is important that we use the lessons learned from seasonal influenza in preparing for a new type of influenza that may appear in the near future. People die from influenza every year in this country; some years we see few deaths, but estimates put the number of deaths at over 10,000 in one season in a bad year. The elderly and the very young are at the highest risk for death.

The average age of the nearly 450 inpatients at the Machida hospital where the recent outbreak occurred was reportedly 83. Hospitals and social service facilities whose users and occupants are primarily comprised of seniors clearly require extreme vigilance.

Many of the staff and patients at the hospital had reportedly received flu vaccines, so they weren't completely defenseless. But doubts remain as to whether preventative measures such as the wearing of masks and careful hand-washing were being thoroughly implemented. In reviewing their approach to the virus, such institutions also need to assess the value of administering anti-flu prophylaxis, and consider how they will monitor the coming and going of people.

If this had been a new type of flu, the damage would have been more widespread. It is important to keep this in mind when analyzing the case, and make use of any lessons learned in preparation for the possible emergence of a new strain.

What was also predictable to a certain extent was the development of drug-resistance. In a sense, we are fated to see the emergence of pathogens resistant to antiviral and antibiotic drugs. Tamiflu-resistance was frequently detected in Russian Flu A found in Europe last year. This season in Japan, the majority of Russia Flu A has been found to be Tamiflu-resistant. The anti-viral medication Relenza is effective against Russian Flu A at the moment, but there is the risk that resistance to it will evolve.

While many recent cases of the flu have been Tamiflu-resistant, it does not necessarily mean that a new influenza strain will be resistant to the drug as well. New anti-flu drugs are presently undergoing clinical trials; it is important to be armed with a wide range of anti-flu medications.

Still, it is dangerous to rely entirely on anti-flu drugs. Dependence on limited methods of prevention and treatment means that we lose all options once those drugs and measures prove ineffective. Especially when it comes to new types of influenza -- to which humans have not built up immunity -- limiting the risks via a variety of countermeasures is crucial.

Work is a way to earn a living and add meaning to one's life. But too much work is unhealthy for the body and soul and is a factor in many problems, including that of the declining birthrate, and achieving a good balance between work and life is a giant task. Here, the Mainichi looks at some of the common questions about long working hours in Japan and their adverse effects.

Q: What exactly does "Work-Life Balance" mean?

A: Literally, it means striking a good balance between working and living. Japanese workers are working shorter hours than they were in the high-speed economic growth years from the mid-1950s to early 1970s, but are still working longer than their counterparts in other developed nations, and this has led to various problems. This, in turn, has led people to think that we need to balance work and life in a better way.

Q: How long do Japanese people work?

A: The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) conducted a survey of working hours in Japan, the U.S., Britain, France and Germany, and found that Japanese work an average of 1,784 hours per year. This is 13 hours less than the Americans, who work the longest, but 348 hours longer than the Germans, who work only 1,436 hours. Another survey of 18 developed nations indicates that 28.1 percent of Japanese workers work more than 50 hours a week, the highest percentage among the surveyed nations.

Q: Do the Japanese have fewer holidays?

A: In western nations, it's normal for workers to take two to four weeks of vacation in summertime or at Christmas. In contrast, while Japanese workers are entitled to an average of 17.7 days of paid vacation every year, in 2006 they actually took only 8.3 of those days off, only about 46 percent of their entitlement. In addition, although the Child Care and Family Care Leave Law allows both men and women to take parental leave, only 0.5 percent of men took the leave in 2005. The law has become a mere facade.

Q: Aren't the long hours simply an expression of Japanese diligence?

A: That may be one aspect of the matter, but there is also the problem of productivity -- in other words, how effectively people work. The Japan Productivity Center for Socio-economic Development conducted a comparative study of productivity in 30 OECD nations for the year 2005, and Japan ranked 20th. It ranked lowest of the seven major nations of Japan, the U.S., Britain, France Germany, Italy and Canada. So the Japanese are working for long hours at a low rate of productivity, which means they are working inefficiently.

Q: What are the problems of long working hours?

A: Working too long is bad for your health. The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare reported that 268 people claimed worker's compensation for work-related mental health problems in fiscal 2007. Eighty-one of these cases involved suicide or attempted suicide. Both figures are double those for fiscal 2005, and are the worst on record. Heart and brain disorders were also at an all-time high, with 392 cases recognized as being work-related. A total of 142 of these ended in death. If we include those still trying to claim compensation, there are clearly many, many more who have damaged their health through overwork.

Q: Are there other problems as well?

A: In Britain, men participate in childcare for an average of 90 minutes per day. In Sweden, the figure is 70 minutes, and in Germany, 59 minutes. In Japan, it is a mere 25 minutes. Men are so busy working that they are leaving their children entirely to their mothers. Long working hours are taking time away from families and are said to be a factor behind the declining birthrate.

Q: Why has there been no improvement of the problem?

A: There are many complex and interrelated factors. Many firms stopped hiring after the collapse of the economic bubble, and the shortage of mid-level employees has led to an excessive workload. Another possibility is that the escalating competition brought about by the global economy has made it hard for the employees of many small and middle-sized enterprises to make ends meet without working overtime.

There is also the problem of temporary staff, who face unstable job situations and are thus forced into working long hours. "National character" may also be a factor: the long working hours of the Japanese have been famous since the economic boom years.

Q: What about the issue of national character?

A: A 2007 opinion survey conducted by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare shows that 25.2 percent of respondents report "hesitation" about taking a paid holiday, with another 42.5 percent reporting "some hesitation." The reason given by 66.2 percent of these respondents was that they feel they are "causing trouble for co-workers." The ministry asked women why they didn't take childcare leave, and more than 40 percent cited "the atmosphere of the workplace" as their reason. This seems to indicate that the Japanese feel guilty about taking time off while others are working.

Q: Are the government and businesses taking steps to do something about this?

A: Last December, representatives from the government, business and labor sectors established a Work-Life Balance Charter and certain Guidelines for Action. The Guidelines are directed towards: 1) economic independence through work, 2) ensuring enough time for a healthy and bountiful lifestyle, and 3) having a choice between various ways of working and living. To realize these goals, 14 specific numerical targets were also established, such as increasing the utilization of paid holidays from the present figure of about 46 percent to 100 percent by 2017, and raising the percentage of women who keep working after the birth of their first child from 38 percent to 55 percent by the same year.

Q: Is working too long a problem for society as a whole?

A: Japan is becoming an increasingly aged society, with a declining birthrate. If we don't create an environment where everyone can work efficiently and easily, industries are in danger of stagnating. Companies are beginning to see the danger, and some are making efforts to cut overtime and to get more people to take childcare leave. The only way to succeed is for both management and labor to change the way they think.

--

The Mainichi also discussed the balance between home and work life with novelist Kaoru Takamura. Takamura shares her thoughts below:

--

I was a company employee before becoming a writer, and I shared the vague belief that "Japan is a land of third-class politics and a first-class economy."

This belief was overturned entirely with the bad loan debacle of the 1990s. A legitimate businessperson offers a loan after taking a good look at the borrower, and he or she takes the responsibility for mistakes in judgment. Apparently, such commonsense rules were not being followed. Since those years, I have given up the idea that Japan's economy is first-class.

What we learned from the bad loan problem was that although Japanese companies have a command structure, there is no clear system that distributes "authority and responsibility" within a company. The lines demarcating an individual's authority are unclear, which means that the limits of responsibility are also unclear. Employees are never clearly instructed about their own authority and responsibility.

It seems to me that the root of the problem of excessive work habits in Japan lies here. In an organization where the authority-responsibility structure is unclear, employees are unable to make their own decisions and must constantly refer to their superiors. But because these superiors are also unclear about their own authority, they can't make responsible decisions. Problems just get shuffled around and everyone ends up working longer hours.

Because individual authority and responsibility are left unclear, the criteria for evaluating an employee's work performance are also unclear. In a situation where it's unclear what you need to merit praise, it's impossible for employees to work efficiently. An "all for one and one for all" mentality becomes the focus.

With such ambiguous criteria, I don't think it's enough to do things like creating a men's childcare leave system in order to achieve a work-life balance.

Employees are bound to think: "I'm worried about taking leave when others don't. I'd rather not behave differently from other people."

On the surface, it may seem like businesses have survived the bubble crisis by laying off older workers and introducing temporary staff, but the real problem -- that of "authority and responsibility" -- has been left to stand.

The solution is not the creation of more systems, and industry leaders need to make a basic reassessment of their organizations.

Profile:

Takamura, 55, received the Naoki Prize for her novel "Marks' Mountain" and the Mainichi Publishing Culture Award for "Lady Joker." Her other works include "New King Lear."

(By Keiichi Shirato, Mainichi Shimbun)

Mainichi Japan, 31 aout 2008

Tsugumasa Muraoka is 35 years old and works in Kasumigaseki, Tokyo, for the Local Public Finance Bureau of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. Sometime after midnight, he leaves the brightly lit government office where he works and rushes to catch the last subway train. It is past one by the time he arrives at his home in Tokyo. His day begins early, so he gets about three and a half hours of sleep. He works more than 100 hours overtime every month.

Muraoka entered the ministry after graduating from Tokyo University in 1996. The focus of his job is to coordinate policies with the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. He is sometimes asked to the Diet Members' Building to hear what politicians have to say about "local interests."

He married in 1999 but has rarely been able to dine with his wife, who is a year younger than himself. Working on weekends and staying overnight at the ministry are normal occurrences.

Three years ago, his 1-year-old daughter took to crying when he tried to pick her up. He made more of an effort to spend time with her on weekends, and eventually she began to smile at him from time to time. On weekdays, though, father and daughter see each other for only a quarter of an hour at breakfast time.

Muraoka's daughter has been attending kindergarten since spring, but her father could not take part in Parents' Visiting Day. Autumn is a busy time at the ministry, with preparations for next fiscal year's budget well underway, so there is a good chance that he will miss the New Year's holiday. Muraoka says he wants to be actively engaged in childcare, but his wife is realistic. "I tell myself that it can't be helped that he's so busy, but I wonder if our daughter will see it the same way," she says. Muraoka himself has even more misgivings about his relationship with his child.

Late last year, the government established a "Work-Life Balance Charter," the aim of which is to help people achieve a good balance between work and personal life, and to set specific goals that will eventually lead to shorter working hours. But the workaday reality for Kasumigaseki bureaucrats, right at the center of government, is light years away from the charter's ideals.

A survey conducted by the Government Personnel Joint Labor Union Council of Kasumigaseki shows that government employees at Kasumigaseki worked a monthly average of 37.7 hours' overtime last year. Officials at the old Ministry of Health and Welfare worked longest, clocking in at an average of 75.8 hours a month overtime.

-- 3 times more overtime than the British

British government officials purportedly work for the same type of parliamentary democracy, but seem to work under different conditions. "Working overtime means working until about eight in the evening. Government officials have 40 days of paid vacation per year, and most take advantage of more than 30 of those days. We don't have a salaryman ethic that calls for excessive hard work." So says David Cope, 62, director of the British Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology, who has visited Japan many times and is knowledgeable about the Japanese bureaucracy.

The British government reports the average working hours of management-level officials to be 37.5 hours per week, with an average of 12 hours overtime per month.

When the "izakaya taxi" scandal erupted a while ago, Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura spoke at a press conference and lamented the long working hours of government officials, sympathizing with the necessity of "going home by taxi two out of three days." Machimura suggested that one reason for the excessive overtime is that Diet members have a habit of sending over the questions to be posed at the next day's session late at night, so that ministry officials are obliged to prepare their answers until the early hours of the morning. British members of parliament send their questions to the government two weeks in advance, giving bureaucrats plenty of time to prepare their statements.

"The matter of ministerial statements is just one problem, however. Japan's excessively long working hours are not just a problem for the bureaucracy. It's hard to know what to do," Machimura lamented. The Minister himself enjoyed just three days of summer vacation. (By Takanori Ishikawa and Yukihiko Machida, Mainichi Shimbun)

Mainichi Japan, 31 aout 2008

le 20/8/2008 à 12h25 par Harold Thibault (ALJ)
Ceux des habitants d'Hokkaido qui viennent au travail une heure plus tôt l'été sont déçus d'être contraints de rester aussi tard que les autres...Mais leur expérience pourrait se révéler bénéfique si elle était appliquée au pays tout entier.

L'archipel japonais s'étire sur 3000 kilomètres d'Ouest en Est, mais tous ses habitants vivent au rythme du même fuseau horaire. Pour les habitants d'Hokkaido, la plus à l'est des quatre grandes îles du pays, cela pose un problème, notamment en été. En vivant aux mêmes heures de travail que Tokyo, il leur est difficile de profiter des journées plus longues et des soirées de l'été.

Depuis 5 ans, la Chambre de Commerce et d'Industrie de Sapporo, la plus grande ville de l'île a mis en place une expérience : permettre aux employés de venir une heure plus tôt, pour pouvoir profiter plus de leurs familles le soir.

Mais beaucoup de ceux qui ont tenté l'expérience ont été déçus. Car même s'il leur a été permis de commencer plus tôt, les managers leur ont également demandé de maintenir les horaires normaux de fermeture pour les usagers, ce qui les a obligés à rester l'après-midi jusqu'aux mêmes heures qu'avant. "Tous nos usagers ne sont pas passés à ce système" explique-t-on à la Banque Hokuyo "alors on doit s'adapter à leurs besoins".

Dans un pays connu pour sa rigidité sur les horaires de travail, essayer de s'adapter à l'envie des travailleurs se révèle être un vrai casse-tête pour les services des ressources humaines.

La solution pourrait être d'introduire le passage à l'heure d'été dans tout le pays, avec tous les avantages que cela représente en termes d'économie d'énergie.

Au Japon, le système heure d'hiver / heure d'été avait été brièvement mis en place par les Américains après la Seconde Guerre Mondiale, avant d'être abandonné au début des années 50.

Le 27 mai dernier, le Premier ministre Yasuo Fukuda s'est prononcé en faveur du passage à l'heure d'été, notamment par souci environnemental. En effet, si les Japonais passent leurs soirées alors qu'il fait encore jour, ils utiliseront moins d'électricité.

L'expérience qu'ont fait certains travailleurs d'Hokkaido pourrait donc se montrer utile à l'échelle nationale. Mais il est nécessaire pour cela que commencer à travailler une heure plus tôt ne signifie pas travailler encore une heure de plus pour les employés.

Un rapport du Ministère de la Santé japonais a récemment montré que le grand nombre d'heures supplémentaires au bureau était un facteur important expliquant la hausse du nombre de suicides liés au travail ces cinq dernières années.

Si le Japon passe à l'heure d'été, il faut qu'il le fasse au bénéfice des travailleurs, et non à leurs dépens.

A female college student apparently committed suicide by walking in front of a train at JR Ikebukuro Station early Friday morning, police said.

According to police, the 22-year-old woman walked onto the outbound train tracks at the station at around 4:50 a.m. on Friday, where she was hit by an oncoming train.

The accident delayed inbound train services on the JR Yamanote Line for about 30 minutes, while outbound train services were resumed as late as about four hours and 20 minutes later, at 9:13 a.m. Around 105,000 rush hour commuters were affected.

(Mainichi - August 8th 2008)

Buyers snapped up Apple Inc.'s iPhone after it went on sale at Softbank Mobile Corp.'s flagship store in Tokyo's Shibuya district on Friday, with some 800 people -- some who'd been camping out since Tuesday -- lining up to make their purchase.

Softbank President Masayoshi Son, who'd made a surprise appearance the evening before, was there for the countdown ceremony 15 minutes before sales began at the Softbank Omotesando store at 7 a.m.

"This is the first year of an era when mobile phones become Internet machines," he said. "An age is coming when Internet access will become easier than on computers, and I'm happy to be able to share this day with everyone."

The store's usual 50 counters were doubled to cope with the demand, and the first person to complete a contract and get his hands on the iPhone was a man who said he had been fourth in line.

"The first thing I did was phone my girlfriend," he said, smiling, before shaking hands with Son.

The iPhone went on sale in the United States and other countries in June last year, with about 6 million units sold worldwide by the end of May this year.

(Mainichi - July 11th 2008)

Reportage photographique publie sur le meme site

Apple fan Koichi Funyu uses his mobile phone as he lines up to buy an iPhone in front of the Softbank Corp flagship store in Tokyo July 9, 2008, two days ahead of the mobile phone's July 11 launch. Seeking to be one of the first to grab the new-generation iPhone, fanatical Apple fans around Asia are lining up two days ahead of its July 11 launch while inquiries and early orders are swamping related Websites. (Reuters)

An Apple fan holds a sign as he lines up to buy an iPhone in front of the Softbank Corp flagship store in Tokyo July 9, 2008, two days ahead of the mobile phone's July 11 launch.

College student Tetsuya Umeda, reading a book by Apple Corporation Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs, rests as he lines up to buy an iPhone in front of the Softbank Corp flagship store in Tokyo July 9, 2008, two days ahead of the mobile phone's July 11 launch.

Hiroyuki Sano, a graduate student who turns 25 on Thursday, sits in a camping chair as he takes the front position in line outside Japanese mobile carrier Softbank's flagship store in Tokyo's Omotesando shopping district Wednesday, July 9, 2008, before the first sales of Apple's iPhone in Japan Friday. Softbank Corp., Japan's No. 3 mobile phone company, won the coveted right to sell the new iPhone 3G and will launch nationwide sales at noon Friday. Its store in Omotesando will open five hours earlier and sell only the iPhone 3G on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, said company spokesman Naoki Nakayama. (AP)

Enthusiasts sit and wait in line outside Japanese mobile carrier Softbank's flagship store in Tokyo's Omotesando shopping district Wednesday, July 9, 2008, before the first sales of Apple's iPhone in Japan on Friday.

"Butch" carries a bag and a plastic sheet to take up a position in line outside Japanese mobile carrier Softbank's flagship store in Tokyo's Omotesando shopping district Wednesday, July 9, 2008, before the first sales of Apple's iPhone in Japan Friday.

College student Tetsuya Umeda, reading a book by Apple Corporation Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs, rests as he lines up to buy an iPhone in front of the Softbank Corp flagship store in Tokyo July 9, 2008, two days ahead of the mobile phone's July 11 launch. Seeking to be one of the first to grab the new-generation iPhone, fanatical Apple fans around Asia are lining up two days ahead of its July 11 launch while inquiries and early orders are swamping related Websites. (Reuters)

A sign made by an Apple fan lining up to buy an iPhone, is seen in front of the Softbank Corp flagship store in Tokyo July 9, 2008, two days ahead of the mobile phone's July 11 launch.

Gas stations started boosting petrol prices on Tuesday after petroleum distributors increased wholesale prices for July, increasing the cost of regular gas to over 180 yen per liter at some stations in Tokyo.
The increase, sparked by surging crude oil prices, has raised the possibility that the national average for gasoline prices will break past 180 yen per liter for the first time since 1987.
At one Idemitsu Kosan-managed gas station in Tokyo's Ota-ku, the price of regular gasoline was raised to 182 yen per liter shortly after 9 a.m. on Tuesday. The station's move came after the wholesale price increased by about 9 yen in the space of a month.
"The 180 yen mark is one passing point, and we are eying a price of 200 yen per liter this year. The money-saving desire among customers is getting stronger each day," a station official said.
Japan's Oil Information Center said that that the national average retail price of regular gasoline stood at 172 yen per liter as of June 23.
(Mainichi - July 1st 2008)