Year End eh?

I've had a number of ideas on things to write about over the past few weeks but events got in the way.  So it more or less boils down to this....

Last might I met up with a drinking buddy for a round at a snack called "Nishiki".  It's a nice little place with interesting decor.  On one wall are a couple of plaques with the Chinese characters 福 and 發 written on them.  On the frames are the cardinal directions, again in Chinese characters, written in somewhat mixed up order.  I asked the proprietress what the meaning of that order was but she replied, "I don't.  I just like the look of the plaques.".  Okay.  So much for an attempt at enlightening conversation.

During the course of last night's drinking my buddy mentioned an example of an "Only in Japan" situation.  He had heard that there is a scissor maker, presumably down in Tokyo, who charges an exorbitant amount for a pair of scissors.  In addition, it takes about three years to make a pair.  Supposedly customers are willing to wait a year and a half to receive the scissors they've ordered.  The price of a pair?  三百四十万円..."three hundred and forty man yen"...¥3,400,000.  By my calculation that presently is over C$35,000.

He then went on to describe how the scissors are made.  First the handle is made.  Then the steel for the cutting edges is layered on to the ends using a technique similar to that employed by Japanese samurai sword makers.  The scissors are then hung outside to age for three years.  At the end of three years they are brought inside.  Since they were hanging outside for three years the scissors had of course rusted.  At that point the blades are sharpened and polished.  Then the scissors are shaped.  If I heard the story correctly, the scissor handles are polished to a bare metal finish and clean of hand oils.  They will be lubricated with the oil from the hands of their eventual purchasers.  And because of the aging process, the blades will be virtually rust free.

The justification for the high cost?  The scissors are indeed unique.  They're hand made with the finest of craftsmanship.  And for a traditional crafts person who uses them for a lifetime, the high cost of a single pair of these scissors offsets the cost of using lower quality pairs which will wear out and need to be replaced.  My friend's final thoughts were that "These aren't just scissors...they're heirloom pieces".  "Quite amazing" is about all I could add....

"Cop"

On Saturday morning I reached the bottom of the staircase at my apartment building which is closest to the parking lot.  I noticed a pair of scissors with a plastic cover over them and a strip of yellow tape next to it.  On the tape was the word "CAUTION".  I thought that was a bit odd.  Reminded me of the yellow tape that police forces back in North America use to cordon off a crime site.

As I walked to the drugstore next door I noticed a large number of police cars parked in the store's lot.  There obviously was something going on but I didn't stop to try and figure out what the fuss was all about.  I took the above photo and sent it by Line to our office manager.  She had taken the day off to attend a friend's wedding in Sendai so she wasn't around to see all the police cars.  I attached a teasing caption which read "They're looking for you".  She fired back a reply of shock and I added "....joke".  (I found out of Sunday from her that she had initially thought something had gone wrong with the heaters she had set to fire up by timers.  Oops!  Bad coincidence.)

Anyways, in one of my morning classes I mentioned the gathering of "cop cars".  The students may or may not have understood what I meant by that.  So I went into a short explanation of the origins of the word "cop" as it pertains to the police.  That was edifying for the students.  They seemed to appreciate it.

Later in the day my co-worker James mentioned that a police officer had visited the school asking to speak to me.  I had been teaching at the time so he advised the officer that I was busy.

When I got home that evening a couple of people were speaking to my neighbour.  They were just finishing up and they turned to me next.  They identified themselves as members of the Yonezawa police department.  There had been a robbery the previous night and they wanted to know of my whereabouts (I hadn't gone out the previous night and had gone to bed around midnight).  I mentioned I had heard people rushing about at some hour early in the morning but I hadn't checked on the time or things in general.

Last night I was called upon at home by two different police officers.  The first officer showed me his badge.  That was the first Japanese police badge I'd ever set eyes on.  They apologized for the inconvenience of calling at a late hour and asked if it was okay if they could ask a few questions.  In particular they wanted to know if I'd be willing to identify the shoes I usually wear.  I produced them and pointed out which pair I wear for work and which are my leisure wear pair.  The second officer took them aside to take prints of the bottoms of my shoes.  The first officer explained that they had found the suspects shoe prints and they wanted to ensure that they eliminated the shoes of the occupants of the building.  Once they took the prints they asked me to certify them.  That was done with a signature and a finger print (I had misplaced my registered name seal so a finger print was the acceptable substitute).

Hopefully that will mark the end of my participation in the police investigation.  As for the actual crime, I only have heard the following: the victim works in a bar, she only had ¥3000 in her wallet that night, and the incident happened around 1AM.  In addition the victim had feared for her life at the time of the incident.  So I presume she was assaulted.  The scissors I had seen on Saturday morning likely might of been her assailant's weapon.

Someone else I know had been the intended victim of an attempted purse snatching a number of years ago.  Like the incident at my apartment, it had happened as she got home to her apartment after a night's work.  In her case the want-to-be robber was wearing a tiger mask much like one worn by a character from a popular wrestling manga.  She had hung onto her purse for dear life and managed to beat off her assailant.  When we talked about the incident at my place, she reflected on the outcome of her case.  "They still haven't caught the guy", she said.  Hopefully the outcome in this case will be different.

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Post script:  A news story, in Japanese, describing the incident can be read here:
http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20151215-00000286-yamagata-l06. The article mentions additional details such as the victim works at a nearby eatery, she had an inkling she was being followed, and the assailant had said "I'm going to kill you".  All in all, a very traumatic incident.

Further on the previous post...

Supposedly the story I read online was missing a few details:
- I heard from one person that the child died about six months ago.  That would explain the mention of "six months" the first time I heard the story.
- I also heard that the story came to light after the mother came forward to the police to file a domestic violence complaint.
- Furthermore, the death of the baby didn't take place in Yonezawa.  It took place in another city whose name I can't recall right now.  The couple moved to Yonezawa to live with the husband's grandparents after the child's death.

Of course, all of the above is what I've heard second-hand. 

-*-

I believe I've finished all my X'mas shopping.  Now it's a matter of getting everything wrapped up and shipped off.  Interestingly, last time I sent a parcel to Canada I discovered that the cost of sending it by EMS (Express Mail Service) parcel mail was lower than that for sending it by parcel airmail.  I wasn't quite expecting that.  I thought the opposite would be the case.

I've found that parcels sent by EMS get to North America quite quickly.  I think the record had to be for one I sent to a friend in New Jersey.  It got there in about two days.  The last one I sent to Canada got there in 4 days.  I paid around ¥1600 for postage on the second one.  I'm quite sure I wouldn't get that kind of service from Canada Post....

Stunned....

I went out on Monday night for a nightcap at a snack (i.e.: a type of bar, typically run by a woman, where patrons are served Japanese appetizer dishes along with their drinks).  That may sound like an expensive proposition to anyone who is aware of the going rates at snacks but the place in question is a bit different.  The base rate is ¥2100.  A new bottle of what I usually have on keep there is about ¥2500.  Not too bad since the other two places I go to charge ¥3000 for the same stuff.  The "mama" is a young woman in her early thirties who once worked at another snack I occasionally go to.

I had been settled into my seat for at least an hour (and after an old acquaintance had come in...whereupon neither of us could remember the others name) when the mama started off a "Did you hear the news..." story.  She mentioned "chissoku".  I asked what that meant.  She explained it to me.  Suffocation.  "Wait a second", I said to myself, "She's talking about an infant".  I managed to piece the picture together.  The father is 23 and the mother 17 years old.  The child literally was a new born.  Only 16 days old.  The parents let the baby suffocate because they were more interested in playing a video game.  It goes without saying I was stunned.

When I got home the first thing I did was look for an article online covering the story.  Found it in no time.  Yes, the horrible event had taken place in Yonezawa.  I browsed the comments below the story.  Nothing there helped me come to grips with the tragedy.

I brought up the story in a couple of my classes the next day.  One student mentioned that a friend of one of her co-workers was a relative of the deceased baby's father.  Somehow I was expecting something like that to come up somewhere along the line.

I don't have anything more to report on this story.  Perhaps somewhere down the line I'll hear more from someone else.  This a small city and the rumour mill runs fairly well....

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Here's the URL to the story I found online: http://www.japantoday.com/category/crime/view/16-day-old-girl-dies-after-being-put-in-trash-can-by-parents