No flaming, please.

I would rather stay away from categorical characterization of particular ethnic groups. I also strongly refuse to subscribe to any bigotry. It will only contribute to destroying, not building, intercultural understanding.

I have had the good fortune to meet many a respectable Korean in Japan as well as in the United States. Many of my friends are ethnic Koreans living in Japan, very nice people working as medical doctors, professors, or other professionals. The most humble and respectable person I met when I lived in the United States was a Chinese classmate, now a professor at the university I received a doctorate from.

Different ethnic groups have different cultural backgrounds. Some from a crime-prone society or a violence-tolerant cultural tradition may indeed cause more trouble than relatively disciplined Japanese people--we have yet to produce definite proof, though, before making any serious accusations.

To maintain a safe Japanese society, we should do absolutely everything we can, certainly improving our law enforcement system and criminal code. Such efforts, however, should not target any ethnic group. We should rather do more to integrate different ethnic members into our society, learning to accept Japanese of non-Japanese ethnicity--Asian Japanese, Caucasian Japanese, African Japanese, and so on. Given the declining birthrate, that's the only way Japan can survive into the next century.

A tragic murder that shouldn't happen

A young British woman was murdered in Japan. Her name is Lindsay Ann Hawker. She was a 22-year old English teacher. She came to Japan with high hopes for a new life in a far-away country and passion for teaching English to non-English-speaking people. As her father told in a very emotional news conference today, she decided to come to Japan after she and her family had agreed that Japan was a safe and good society. But our society failed to provide security and protection to such a wonderful visitor who placed her trust in the Japanese society. I feel extremely sad. My heart goes out to Lindsay's family.

This was a gruesome crime and the 28-year-old creepy-looking suspect is still at large. This man must be caught and punished. Miss Hawker's was not the first murder case involving a young British woman. Seven years ago another young British woman Lucy Blackman was murdered in a similarly gruesome case near Tokyo.

Not long ago Japan was widely believed to be the safest society in the world, allowing people to walk home at a late hour on a dimly-lit street from a bus stop or a train station. Japan used to boast crime rates a couple orders of magnitude lower than those in the United States. Not any more. With the loosening of society's moral code and an increasing influx of foreign-born criminals, heinous crimes seem to be on the rise. The Japanese society is not a safe society the way it used be. Any foreign visitor considering Japan as their destination should bear in mind that they have to take the same precautionary and protective measures against crimes as they would when visiting any other Asian country or a country in the Americas.

Let's get rolling

So, this is going to be the medium for sharing my musings in English. I may be a tad slow, but if you bear with me, you will find a lot of interesting stories and some food for thought. Stay tuned.