Japanese Groupism

Groupism of Japanese people is generally regarded as a strength of Japanese.

I don't oppose to this positive view, however, I feel a negative aspect of the groupism should also be considered, as I think that the Japanese groupism sometimes require an individual member of the group for "unreasonable" pliability.

Such individual's sacrifices are often seen at work.  One typical example is overtime work.

As you may know, the Japanese companies' major traditions include life time employment, employee's loyalty to his/her employer, and seniority.  Although all of these are disappearing these days as the way of management in Japanese companies is changing, these traditions are still regarded as major features of Japanese companies, at least in comparison with Western countries companies.

Fundamental notion behind the above traditions is that the company is like family, and each employee is a family member there.  And this familism, or groupism, sometimes forces employees unreasonable commitment, which can be seen in overtime working, for example.

People sometimes remain at their offices after regular working hours even though they don't have any works to do.

Why do they do this silly thing?  Among a few possible reasons is their hesitation to leave the office while their colleagues, i.e. family members, are still working because they are implicitly required to help others when own works get done, or at least they have to show they are with their colleagues still working until their works are finished.

I understand it is difficult to understand this Japanese mentality in such a situation.  As you might feel, they waste their lives and should more respect their private lives.  It sounds true, however, this kind of unreasonable commitment under the groupism does not seem to disappear for a while.
Click here to find more Japanese stuff-->

Baseball Game Watching and Individual's Freedom

It is said that Japanese people have a custom to act as a group rather than individual.

I think it is generally true, and such a group action seems to also apply to the manner to watch professional baseball games.

As can be seen in the above picture, fans' cheers are organized and led by cheer men.  There are also a sort of pep bands, which at least I feel are very noisy.

Do you think Japanese are all enjoying the game as a group that way because of the Japanese' custom of group behavior?

Maybe many fans are in fond of the group style to watch the game, however, there has been a criticism towards the watching manner, saying, for example, that many people are forced to participate in the group cheering and can't concentrate on watching the game.

I think the criticism is very true.  Fans need to stand up, as in the above picture, make sound and rhythm with a bullhorn, and call out, all of which are led by cheer men.

Understanding that the group cheering is also fun, I still believe that not small number of fans would like to watch the game in their own ways.

However, most Japanese seem just to follow the way many others are doing without arguing.  I think those calm minority people regard this kind of thing as trivial and not worth arguing.  They might also think not complaining is a discreet adult's manner.

Would it be a great leap of discussion to connect the above baseball game watching matter to individual's freedom?
Click here to find more Japanese stuff-->

National Anthem

Around this time almost every year, some issues regarding the Japanese National Anthem come up in Japan, and this year it happened again.

Q: Who causes the problem?
A: Usually school teachers.

Q: Why around this time?
A: Because graduation ceremonies are taken place during March, which is the end of the Japanese schools' fiscal year, and the National Anthem is sung at the ceremony.

Q: So, what's the problem?
A: Some teachers refuse to stand up and sing the National Anthem at the ceremony although they are now required to do so by some regulation or law.

Reasons why those teachers refuse to sing the National Anthem may vary depending on each teacher, however, basic idea seems that those teachers believe that the Japanese National Anthem is a song to worship the Emperor.

Well, I don't know any further details for this issue.  I'm not either a extreme right or left person but maybe somewhere between.  Accordingly, I'm not in a position to explore the above issue, although I feel an ideology of each person should not be denied, to the extent that the ideology does not cause others troubles.

What I would like to point out here is that we Japanese need a national anthem which we can sing without being bothered by any complex issues.  I also hope such a national anthem have easy words and inspire citizens.

To be honest, I think the current Japanese National Anthem has too difficult words and does not inspire the people very much.  I don't know whether or not a national anthem should usually be expected to inspire the people of the nation, but my honest feeling is I would like to have such a national anthem, which the people can sing certain pride or happiness to be a citizen of the nation.

Knowing that there were discussions to make another national anthem in Japan before, I think it is worth resuming this kind of discussions.
Click here to find more Japanese stuff-->

Peace Sign

We, 7 billion of people, are living on this small planet all together and should be always conscious of "peace" among us.  I don't have any objections for that idea, however...

I still don't understand reasons and meaning of the sign for sure which many Japanese make when being taken pictures.  Yes, it is called in Japan a "peace sign" and is now spreading to other Asian countries as I heard.

I remember that the peace sign itself got widespread in Japan in 1970s as either a peace or V (as in victory) sign.  I know there are some discussions regarding the origin of the sign, one of which is that Winston Churchille began to use the sign.

But what I care is not its origin, but why so many Japanese continue to use the peace sign when they are taken pictures.

It is rather interesting that the peace sign seems to be used only when Japanese are taken their pictures, not in other situations.

My curiosity for the peace sign at photography comes from the fact that I am one of minority Japanese who don't use the gesture, although I might have done at much younger ages (hardly remember though).

My wife and daughter also use the sign almost always they are taken pictures.  So, I asked them why they used the sign but was told "Why do you care about it?" and our conversation was unilaterally ended by them...

• Why are Japanese fond of this sign for so long and seem to continue to use it in the future?
• Are they not tired of or even ashamed to keep using the same sign?
• Don't they want to try to make any other sign yourselves?

I know some foreigners assume the reason is due to the Japanese people's nature to follow what other people are doing.  Hmm, I don't feel that's a bingo.

What I'm currently guessing is those people need "something" at photography.

When taken pictures, there are always a few seconds that people need to keep smiling to be better taken.  Japanese generally look serious, which they don't want to be taken in a picture, and thus try to change their faces to smiling ones.  But keeping the smiling faces during a few seconds is a sort of self-torment for many Japanese, and they need "something" to make the torment easier.  Japanese must think the peace sign is the "something" and with the sign they must be psychologically feeling safe and be able to concentrate on their "smiling."

You might still ask, "Well, why does the gesture need to be the peace sign?"

I don't know the answer to your question!  But I can at least say that I once tried to spread the "hang-loose" sign at photography but unfortunately failed it and have never tried since then...

Can you guys keep a wonderful face without the peace sign?  If so, advise how.
Click here to find more Japanese stuff-->

Japanese and English are Completely Different Languages

Learning English is a huge headache for most of Japanese.

Many Japanese learn English for 10 years starting at junior high school through university.  During the period, most students have to spend their times much more for English than any other subjects.  Also, in many exams, including entrance exams, English is usually heavily weighted.

Unfortunately, the students' all these hard efforts are not necessarily rewarded.  English we learn at schools tends to focus more on grammatical things, which could be easily asked in paper exam.  Accordingly, many people, who had good scores or grades in English during their school days, are not necessarily good in practical English like English conversation, and need to start learning different kind of English, which is more practical, after school.

It is interesting that English education has been becoming a huge industry where many people are "wasting" money as good results are not guaranteed in most cases.

Based on my own experience, I strongly feel that Japanese and English are completely different languages, which causes Japanese disadvantages to learn English than many other peoples.

Japanese is not derived from the Latin unlike English.  Word orders, pronunciations, wordage, etc., etc. are also all different.  I can maybe write a book to excuse why most Japanese, including myself, are having difficulties to master English.  I sometimes feel it fun to learn this completely different language, but it is very unusual...

Understanding there could be grammatical errors above, I appreciate your patience to read through my excuse till the end.  Thanks a million!
Click here to find more Japanese stuff-->

Shortage of Lawyers?

There are much lower number of lawyers in the Japanese society, compared to Western countries, particularly the U.S.

The plan to increase the number of lawyers came up, as a part of the Japanese Legal System Reform, about a decade ago to better meet the Japanese society's requirements for accessability to legal system.  Many ideas in the plan came from the U.S., and law school system was started as a part of the plan, referring to the U.S. system.

The plan tried to educate legal candidates at law schools and to significantly improve a passing rate in the bar exam from the previous few percent to around 70 percent for law school grads.

With these new law school and bar exam systems the plan also expected to provide opportunities to people from various backgrounds to become lawyers, who would then work in the society as  legal professionals in various ways, rather than just working as lawyers at law firms.

In fact, I was also attracted by the plan and tried to become a lawyer.  In Japan, most of tax professionals are accountant (I am one of them), and there are just a very small number of tax lawyers.  I decided to become a tax lawyer to better protect my clients, i.e. taxpayers, from the tax authorities.

Unfortunately, however, the plan to increase the number of lawyers did not go well, mainly due to the existing lawyers who were very concerned to loose their jobs by such a significant increase in the number of lawyers.

The whole situation surrounding the Japanese legal infrastructure seems going back to the past, i.e. very low passing rate in the bar exam and lack of lawyers in the Japanese society.

I was accepted by a law school, however, decided not to go, taking into account the above disappointing situations among other reasons.

I now think, however, whether or not the Japanese society really needs that many of lawyers as the reform plan originally expected.

It is obvious that we have shortage of lawyers, and such a situation should be improved somehow.

However, as I mentioned earlier, what the reform plan aimed seems to be the U.S. model, which there are many lawyers, and people can easily access to any legal supports, and as a result, the number of law suits are significantly high.

The Japanese society is much different from the U.S. society.  We Japanese are basically mono-cultural and have been mutually trusting.  Even though some problems come out, people try to resolve those problems themselves in many cases by discussion but without involving lawyers.

Apparently, the Japanese society is changing to western style, however, our traditional model as discussed above is still working, and the current number of lawyers should become at sustainable level if being a bit improved.

I am looking at the plan's failure in a positive way that the failure stopped our society to go far away.
Click here to find more Japanese stuff-->

Blood Type

When you first meet Japanese, it would be highly likely that you are asked your age (see Age Conscious Society) and graduating (or current) school.  But above all, you would be asked your blood type, maybe at first.

I have ever heard from my American friend that horoscopes are so believed by American people and might be equivalent to blood type in Japan.  Horoscopes are not so believed in Japan, at least not as much as blood type is, although some morning TV programs provide horoscopes for the day every morning.

I will tell you that if you and your first meeting Japanese friend (particularly girl) come up to a moment of silence without any subjects to talk, the Japanese girl would ask your blood type.  I'm more than 90% sure about this.

With the three questions, i.e. age, school, and blood type, many Japanese try to assume yourself.  Yes, it's "Wow, scary" thing!

It should not sound right that many Japanese try to assume others with such surrounding things (i.e. age, school, blood type, and maybe a family lineage), rather than substance of the person (e.g. personality).  But it is current reality to the best of my knowledge.

Going back to the blood type thing, I confess that I am also a strong believer of the blood type analysis.

I will discuss about human's characters assumed from each blood type category below.  You feel free to leave now if you are not interested in (I know you will stay, please.).

A type: organized, meticulous, punctuate, sensitive
B type: unique, not care much about established rules
O type: easy-going, ambitious, realistic
AB type: artistic, not care much about others

Don't over trust the above as these are just my personal views, which are not necessarily apply to others.

I remember that around 60% of Japanese people are A type, while more than 80% of American are O type.  I think my images of Japanese and American seem match to general characteristics in the blood type categories, respectively (i.e. Japanese are generally serious and American are open-minded.).  Again, this is simply my own observation based on my experience, so do not over rely on.  But I just want to point out the fact that many Japanese people try to know the other's blood type since they believe the blood type should be one of important factors to understand the other.

Believe or not, when I was working at a public accounting firm, I heard that a head of the department, which I belonged to, tried to recruit a B blood type person, as many of people in the department at the time were A blood type (yes, meticulous!), and different type of members were necessary from a management' point of view.  Well, I did not directly ask him whether or not this was true, however, I think it could happen (Of course, the blood type should have been merely one factor to be taken into account by him, even though the above was true).

I will tell you that I hardly tell my blood type when asked, as I do not feel it comfortable that I am assumed in that simply way.  Accordingly, I am not telling you my blood type here, either ☺
Click here to find more Japanese stuff ---> 

Age Conscious Society

I believe that Japanese are very conscious of other's age.

Age would determine many things, including relationship with others.

Even just one year of difference in age from the other usually results in seniority with that person.

Here the age is measured by a Japanese fiscal year which starts on April 1 and ends on March 31, because it is more important for us to see if the other is in the same grade under the current school system, which follows the Japanese fiscal year, I believe.

Accordingly, you and I should be equal (at least age-wise!) if we were both born in the same fiscal year, even though there is one year old difference between us.

Younger person would use respect language called "keigo" to the older counterpart.  The older person would have an option of whether or not to use the keigo to the younger, under a pure private situation, although many older would also use the keigo to the younger, particularly in the adult relationship, at least in the beginning of the relationship.

Not only language.  People's mindset would also be influenced by the other's age.

I know some people, particularly younger generation, "try" not to follow the age rule.  Note here, however, that these people are already following the age rule, otherwise, they should not be conscious not to follow...

The above is a general (unspoken) rule under a private situation, which would possibly change in the other situation, such as a business situation.

Also, most Japanese would not try to use the above rule in a relationship with non-Japanese people.

The age rule seems to me applying in the Japanese public.  For example, when people come to known to the public for any reasons, media report what those people did, with the age of the persons.

My thought is that Japanese are trying to measure where they are, by knowing the age of the known people and what they are doing.  If we see, for example, younger actor becomes famous and wealthy, we might become jealous, or even disappointed in some cases.  The opposite situation (yes, we are younger than others and become successful!) would also be true.

I guess the Japanese media know such needs of their viewers or readers and thus report the age.  In contrast, media in most of other countries, particularly Western countries, do not report the age as much as the Japanese media do as far as I know.

I think our age consciousness is influenced by Confucianism, which teaches to respect older people.

Reviewing the fact that we, consciously or unconsciously, follow the age rule, it seems interesting and somehow unreasonable to me to determine the relationship with others mostly by ages without much focusing on other factors of the others, such as personality.

On the other hand, the age rule might be a convenient means to make a relationship with others, although such relationships would possibly become surface and shallow.

In any cases, the Japanese society looks to keep certain harmony this way...
Click here to find more Japanese stuff ---> 

Eye Contact

University of Tokyo recently announced the result of their research regarding "eye contact."

The result is very interesting to me and I guess points out what I was feeling.

Main points of the research results are as follows.

Japanese are not good at eye contact.  This is true for other Eastern Asian peoples, however, Japanese become nervous during eye contact, which is different from other Eastern Asian peoples.

When Japanese have constant eye contact from other, many of them (having eye contact) tend to have some negative impression that the person (sending eye contact) is difficult to approach or is even displeased.

As a result, Japanese generally hesitate to maintain eye contact because the eye contact makes the other unpleasant as the above and is taken as an impolite manner.

This Japanese people's idea that the eye contact would become impolite to the other is completely opposite to Western people's, as Western people think that breaking or avoiding eye contact would result in impoliteness (Western people, true?).

The above observation on the difference in eye contact between Japanese and Western people seems to be supported by some painted portraits.

The above two are famous Japanese portraits (left one is ukiyoe), both of which do not look at front.

By contrast...

Mona Lisa and Napoleon are both staring at us (Interestingly, even the horse in the Napoleon's drawing is looking at front!).

Well, the above comparison might be over simplified and be leading to a different conclusion from yours, which I believe would pick up samples more carefully...
Click here to find more Japanese stuff ---> 

Fighting Sports Well Respected in Japan

Many Japanese people, mostly men, yearn for being strong.  I think this is the same in many of other countries, however, the degree of such a desire seems to be higher among Japanese than most of other peoples.

Let me show you a picture of Japan in early 1950s.

These people gathered in a public square in front of a station.  Guess what they were doing there.

Answer is...

These people came here to watch the small TV (circled in red), which was showing a professional wrestling match of very famous wrestler called "Rikidozan."

Rikidozan became a national hero in Japan after the World War II, and many people tried to watch him on TV.  But TV sets were not widespread yet at the time in Japan, and thus people came together to the public place for the TV broadcast.

Professional wrestling has been so popular in Japan since the Rikidozan's days.  For example, I remember even prestigious class of people in Japan, including some Prime Minister and corporate executives, did not hesitate to say in public they were a big fan of professional wrestling.  This is interesting to me that this kind of fighting sports are so respected in the Japan society, regardless of the fact that the professional wrestling matches were generally regarded as a "show", not serious.

In fact, I was told by my American friend during my living in the U.S. that the professional wrestling was not widely accepted in the U.S. and many people, particularly high class people, should be careful to say they are a fan of this fighting sports even though they actually are.

Anyways, I think that not only a professional wrestling but other fighting sports as well are very popular and respected in Japan.

I think this phenomenon is somehow related to the Japanese people's tendency to fulfill their desires to become strong through watching games or matches, rather than taking more physical actions, like learning some martial arts.

Sounds very realistic and smart decision to me...
Click here to find more Japanese stuff ---> 

Used Cars in Japan

As discussed in the last blog (Private Room - Car), car seems to be more than transportation means for many Japanese.

Many car owners maintain their cars with special cares.  Any scratch or dent on the cars would make them very nervous, even thought they are very tiny ones.

Although the car owners treasure their cars like their babies, they tend to abandon those their "babies" once the babies become old (maybe 3 to 5 years old!) or get tired (i.e. around 40,000 to 50,000km of driving mileage), and get brand new ones.  These definitions of "old" and "get tired" by Japanese car owners might surprise many car owners in other countries...

Regulations also require car owners to carefully maintain their cars by forcing  them a regular inspection of their cars every two or three years.  The cost of this regular inspection is usually more than US$1,000-1,500.  Yes, it's expensive!

As a result of the car owners' high consciousness toward their cars and the regular inspection requirement, used cars in the Japan market are generally in good conditions.  These used cars attract many people in other countries and are exported overseas.  In fact, I also have many requests from my business partners in foreign countries to export used cars in Japan.

Interesting thing is that their requests include not only Japanese cars, but non-Japanese cars like Mercedes, BMW, etc. as well.  These my partners say they would like to buy non-Japanese cars from the Japan market as the cars are generally carefully maintained.

Other interesting thing is any cars, which are regarded as "scrap" in Japan, just because of its mileage of nearly 100,000 km or age of maybe 10 years or so, are still demanded by people in other countries, since those cars still run great!  These demands make sense to me, and I think Japanese might need to realize "high value" of the used cars in the Japan market.
Click here to find more Japanese stuff ---> 

Private Room - Car

I am living in Tokyo.  I do not currently own a car as I do not think it necessary.

Tokyo is a very convenient city where transportation infrastructure is very well established and organized (although very complicated even for me!).  The public transportation system, particularly trains, is punctually operated and usually takes people as scheduled.

Train Route Map in Tokyo and its Suburbs (Easy to follow, hah)

On the other hand, most roads in Tokyo are usually very clouded and frustrate car drivers.  Such a busy traffic causes delay.  Also, exhaust fumes are environmentally unfriendly.

Maintenance costs for owning car in Tokyo, including parking, regular inspection, insurance, fuel, etc., are crazily high.  My very rough estimation for these costs of more than 20 years ago was at least US$500 a month, and I think the current situation is worse.

So, taking all the above into consideration, I do not think owning car in Tokyo is a decent idea.  Regardless, many people own cars in Tokyo, which makes me guess why and assume the following.

I think many people regard their cars like their private rooms. As I mentioned in my last blog (Private Room), the Tokyo's living condition is generally poor and each family member does not necessarily have enough private space there.  Thus, I guess some people are trying to expand their living area into their cars to keep their own space.

Several things to support the above my thought as below.

Some drivers, particularly among young generation, decorate car interior.

Oops, the above might be an extreme case.  However, the above picture shows what I am saying below.

Believe or not, some car drivers put their shoes off when getting on their cars, and annoyingly, they ask a front-seat passenger to do the same!!! (Of course, a pair of slippers are provided as in the above picture, don't worry!)  Well, I have to confess that I was one of such annoying car owners when I owned a car many years ago...

No question that many car owners clean their cars weekends as one of their weekends routines.  To make sure, the cleaning tasks include not only washing (by hands, not a washing machine, being afraid of having scratches), but waxing as well.

I used to live in the U.S. (Boston, Iowa, Denver, NY, Chicago) for more than ten years and never saw any of the above.  I assume in the U.S., particularly in cities where cars are absolutely necessary for their livings, cars are just transportation means and are not more than that.  I think American people's this sort of mindset on cars is more natural, and Japanese' is some extreme, although this Japanese' gentle treatment of their cars result in good quality of used cars and should be appreciated.
Click here to find more Japanese stuff ---> 

Private Room

Continuing from the last blog in yesterday, I would like to talk about other toilet machine in the below picture today.

Not sure if you have ever seen and used this machine.  This is a toilet seat with water spray feature for washing.  The seat can be also warmed, which is very comfortable during winter.

I love this comfortable device and wonder why I do not see this in other countries.  The cities where I did not see this toilet seat include London, Chicago, NY, Athens, Shanghai, Seoul, and possibly others, although most of hotels I stayed there were a sort of high class ones.

I have been wondering why this comfortable toilet seats are not widely used in other countries and have come up to a certain idea that we Japanese might be unique to value a toilet time and would like to spend comfortable time there.

Many of Japanese houses are relatively small compared to ones in other countries, particularly Western countries, and accordingly, in many cases family members do not have their own private room in the houses.  Under such an environment, a bathroom becomes a private area and provides very relaxed time.  Many Japanese, including myself, read books, newspapers, or magazines in the bathroom, for example.  Thinking this way, I could explain why a toilet room in Japan is closed while one in other country is open as I mentioned in the last blog ("Shame Culture").

I therefore think any comfortable toilet device like the toilet seat above gets more popular in Japan than other countries.

Your thoughts?
Click here to find more Japanese stuff ---> 

Shame Culture

It is said that Japanese culture is a "shame culture" (whereas Western cultures are "guilt cultures"), which seems to me very true.

Having said that, I would like you to guess what the machine in the below  picture is for.

OK, time is up.

This is a silencer which is set in a toilet room and covers up our own sounds during "doing our business."  Let's watch how this actually works.

toilet silencer

This is popular particularly among Japanese women.

Before this came out, many people, mostly women, flushed the toilet to deaden bathroom noises. As you might be thinking, yes, it was waste of water and was eco "un"friendly.

I heard that the silencer is Japan's unique and is not used in other countries.

Speaking of bathroom, other thing which I think is coming from our shame culture is the fact that the toilet room in Japan is very closed.

I still remember my shocking experience when I first traveled to the U.S. and used a bathroom in the San Francisco airport as the room was too open for me to concentrate on "big business"!

Japanese very nervous about others' eyes?
Click here to find more Japanese stuff ---> 

Japanese Tax Authorities...Smart

I think this Monday April 15 was a due date of Individual tax return in the U.S. and now that it's finally over and many people are finally relieved.  Congrats!

Japan's Individual tax return is due March 15.  Our situation is a bit different from the U.S.' and is much easier, which is not necessarily good to most of us.

For most of employed people in Japan, the year's tax matters are closed by "year end adjustment," which is an adjustment between final tax amount and what have been withheld in the year.  The year end adjustment is done by their employers, and those employed people do not have to file tax returns, unless they have some reasons, such as claiming some tax deductions, earning high income, etc.

Sounds good?  Well, there have been some arguments for this current tax filing system.

One of those arguments is that the current system intends to take away from the employed people, who are majority of our society, any opportunities to learn about the tax laws and leave them as "tax idiots."  This situation is favorable for the tax authorities as many of those employed people do not realize that they have tax refunds or do not claim the refunds, even though they realize the rights since the refund claim requires them to file tax returns, however, those people are not acｃustomed to tax return filing and just give up the opportunities.

The current tax filing system also helps the tax authorities stay with lower number of headcounts.

Some analyzes that changing the current "year-end adjustment" system to tax return filing system like the U.S. model would possibly cost the Japanese government huge amount of money mainly due to increases of tax refunds and tax authorities' costs.

So, under the current system, the Japanese government is very happy and would like to stay at, and citizens are also happy without knowing their losing opportunities...
Click here to find more Japanese stuff ---> 

Eat Lunch in a Public Bathroom

Some Japanese people, particularly younger female generation including students, eat their lunch in a public bathroom.

Reason?

Some reports say that those people do not have anyone to eat lunch with and cannot help eating alone, however, they do not want to be seen by others, "Oh, s/he does not have any friend..."

The reports comment that the sole people obsess about this kind of the other's view because such a view might lead to a reputation that "S/he is alone without any friend because s/he has some personality problem."

The reports further provide that the eating lunch alone situation sometimes result in the people leaving her or his school or company.

Well, sorry to those people...  And I think this is very "Japanese."

The Japan society tends to respect group rather than individual.  We need to always obsess about the other's view toward ourselves.

Japanese are agricultural people, who are required to act as a group most of the time and to be not different from other members of the group.  This is not a matter of good or bad, but is just a fact that the rule helps harmonize our society, and not following this unspoken rules might result in that person's unhappy situation.

I guess particularly western people feel, like I do, that this kind of rule restricts each individual's freedom and thus does not have to be followed.  Unfortunately, the realty is not that easy and this unspoken rule of this society causes some problems, such as harassment.

The eating lunch in the public bathroom matter seems to have the above cause.

All above are just my thoughts, which are not necessarily agreed.
Click here to find more Japanese stuff --->