A few of you may be aware WaniKani and Tofugu communities banded together last summer and helped fundraise over $1,400 for the American Diabetes Association to support my participation in their cycling event, Tour de Cure. Before I continue any further, I like to thank again to those who have sent their support, both words and donations, for last year’s event.

For those who are unaware, the American Diabetes Association is the USA’s leading nonprofit charity fighting against diabetes and its deadly consequences. Tour de Cure is the ADA’s signature fundraising cycling event that occurs once a year in major communities across the US. Last year I participated in the Oregon State century ride event (100mi/161km).

I plan to do so again this year, though this time I want to crush last year’s amount raised. And get Team Tofugu (and Schrodinger, my compatriots) on the Top 10 donator list for our region.

Once again, I ask the community for their support in spreading diabetes (awareness). And if you’re charitable, donating to my goal for Tour de Cure.

Last year’s Tour de Cure we offered a small incentive to WaniKani users who donated. For this year’s event we are going to take it up a level.

Many of you have inquired when we will be adding Tofugu stickers back on the store or how one would obtain such stickers. I don’t have answers for either of those questions. But, I can at least offer you a limited time opportunity to obtain a set. The trifecta!

A donation of $20 towards my Tour de Cure goal will be gifted a Tofugu sticker set (shown above) as a thank you for your support and generosity. After the initial $20, every $10 interval will qualify for an additional set. All donations paid towards my goal is collected directly by the ADA and is eligible for tax deductions.

Alternatively, individuals who donate $10 will be gifted a Tofugu sticker + cycling sticker.

But wait. There is more. We have made a limited-run sticker to commemorate the fundraising. It will be included in the sticker set, bringing the total number of stickers to four (or two if you donated $10).

I am not done yet! In Tofugu fashion, we will also match the first $1,000 in donations until the day before the event, July 25, 2014. This means if the community raises $1,000, Tofugu will donate an additional $1,000 to the cause. Pretty sweet, huh?

Gift eligibility is open to any member of Planet Earth!

If you are interested in donating or would like to read more about the ADA and Tour de Cure, please visiting my fundraising page in the follow link:

http://lets.bike/tour-de-cure

If you have made it this far, thank you for taking the time out of your day to read an anomaly post on Tofugu. I encourage those who cycle to participate in your local Tour de Cure. If you are from the Portland, Oregon area, a cyclist, and want to go fast with the lone Tofugu cyclist, hit me up at viet@tofugu.com.

But has Japanese beer always been so light and easily drinkable? Nope.

Before the bubble, Japan’s beer market was populated by the more typical pale lager with the bitter note flavor profile. The similar flavors that the Japanese was introduced with when the Dutch opened beer halls in the 17th century to accommodate the sailors running the trade routes. Why the transition to a lighter tasting beer? It’s the result of one of the many beer wars among Japan’s four major breweries that began in the 1960s.

In order to understand the Dry War, some context is needed. So grab a Super Dry, or the equally appealing, a Kirin Ichiban and kick back.

Events leading up to the Dry War

Prior to the Dry Wars that began in 1985, Japan’s beer industry was made up of an oligopoly of beer brewers: Kirin, Asahi, Sapporo, and Suntory.

Kirin dominated the market after World War II and had a 61% share between the mid 70s and up until ’85. Sapporo was a distant second with its 20%-25% variable share, followed by Asahi’s 9%-13% and Suntory’s 5%-9%.

Asahi and Sapporo used to be one entity known as Dai Nippon Brewery. Due to postwar anti-monopoly laws set out to dissolve the zaibatsus, the clique was split into the two we are familiar with today: Asahi Brewery and Nippon Brewery (shortly renamed to Sapporo Brewery).

Because of the high entry barriers in advertising costs, distribution, and government regulations, the four breweries dominated the market. Prior to 1985 and after World War II, only two firms have attempted entry into the beer market. Takara, a distillery, entered in 1957, but shortly withdrew eleven years later. The other was Suntory, whom entered in 1963 and still remains despite having a weak presence in the beer market.

Government regulations at the time favored nonprice competition in the beer industry, meaning a stable and reliable source of taxes for the government. With no option of competing in price, the available points of engagement for the breweries to compete with their competitors were product quality, advertising, and control & development of distribution channels. This favored heavily with Kirin since it had the resources to invest heavy-handily into the three groups. Kirin also established a strong reputation among the consumer, having it’s name synonymous with beer.

The bottom trifecta’s best chance of gaining any marketshare was to invest in product development and innovation. This led to many mini wars.

Up until 1964, Japanese canned and bottled beer went through a heat pasteurization process. Interest in draft beers grew in the nation, which led to R&D investments into bottling “draft” beers. What is known as the draft wars came into fruition. Suntory marketed the first pure draft beer in 1967, which utilized a microfilter developed by NASA. Asahi followed with their pure draft variant in 1968, followed by Sapporo in 1977, and Kirin in 1981. Shortly after its introduction, draft beers accounted for 41% of the market share in 1985. However, the total marketshare in the beer industry between the four groups have not change significantly.

The next notable war was dubbed the container wars in the late 1970s. Each company attempted to differentiate themselves by coming up with various bottle and can designs. Asahi and Suntory started the fight, then Sapporo and Kirin joined soon after. Just like the draft wars, the war fizzled out in the early 1980s with no change in marketshare.

From these two wars, a certain pattern became clear. Whenever one of the lesser breweries introduce a new innovation into the market, it was quickly imitated. If the trend was any threat to Kirin, the brewery would use its overwhelming resources to suppress their competitors growth and the market would be back to its original balance.

Why didn’t Kirin just come out and crush the competition with their own innovations? Why were they so slow to react when a new innovation into the market comes along? Anti-monopoly laws. Already a dominant force in the market, Kirin tried not to be heavy-handed in their reactions to avoid being in the spotlight of anti-monopoly whistle blowers. The bottom three also learned that any form of aggression must be handled carefully, otherwise Kirin will step in and subdue any of their attempts.

Then came the mid-1980s, the decade where the Japanese economy was at the top of the world and the center of attention.

Wave of new beer products

The 1980s brought about a new wave of changes in the Japanese consumer and the market environment.

• Changes in competition
  Foreign brands of beer had entered the market at full force and marketed at well below cost when compared to the domestic brands (due to the favorable exchange rate at the time).
• Changes in distribution
  Due to more singles and younger couples living in small urban apartments, the option of buying larges cases of beer was forgone for buying individual cans from vending machines, convenient stores, and the market. This opened up the option for the consumer to explore different brands and types of beers.
• Demographic trends
  The dominate consumer of beers has now transitioned to those born postwar, a generation that has acquired more modern tastes and are looking to distinguish themselves from the older generation
• Dietary changes
  Japanese diet had grown more richer. To complement the richer diet, a lighter-tasting beer is more suited. Oil and fats purchased per household nearly doubled, while sugar and salt consumption drop by half between 1965 and 1985.
• Social change
  More and more females, especially the younger trend setters, began drinking beers. Their taste was found to be more towards the lighter spectrum.
• Economic change
  Income for the typical Japanese has rised dramatically. With the increased income, self-expression replaced homogeny. Beer became less of a commodity.

From the list of changes, it became clear that the consumers were demanding for new tastes and variety.

Three out of the four breweries took note of these changes and started introducing a variety of niche beer products produced in low volumes.

Producing niche products in small volumes didn’t affect the marketshare landscape. And one of the breweries recognized this.

Asahi in the 1980s had fallen in a rough patch. Due to poor profit performances, decreasing marketshare, and forcing early retirements for senior employees, the company was forced to come up with a new bold product strategy.

Instead of making niche products that would offer small marginal returns, Asahi’s product researchers knew they needed to create a new flagship product. Analyzing the environmental changes, it was hypothesized that beer taste preferences were related to dietary makeup. Before the changes, Kirin’s flagship lager dominated the market due to it’s bitterness complementing well with the lighter Japanese diet. Since the Japanese diet has shifted, the consumer taste in beers was ready for a shift as well.

To test this hypothesis, a survey was conducted in 1984 and it was found that Japanese beer drinkers were looking for two qualities: 濃こく koku (rich taste) and 切きれ kire (sharp and refreshing). Conventional wisdom at the time suggested that you can have one or the other, but not both.

That didn’t stop Asahi, though.

Asahi R&D was tasked to create a beer that was both more koku in taste than the Kirin Lager and more kire than the most kire beer out the in the market, Sapporo’s Black Label.

And they delivered. The introduction of the new koku-kire beer in 1986 helped increased Asahi’s sales by 12%.

With the newfound success, Asahi knew they were on the right track. Asahi researchers then hypothesized that the market was moving further and further away from koku and more towards kire. This hypothesis resulted in the birth of Asahi’s Super Dry.

On the date of its release in 1987, the dry lager immediately became the company’s top seller. It was so popular that Asahi prohibited its employees from purchasing the product in order to save it for the customers. Kirin, Sapporo, and Suntory brushed it off as a fad and thusly didn’t immediately produce a rival product.

This was a big mistake.

13.5 million cases of Super Dry was sold in 1987, which led to a 33% jump in sales. By 1989, Asahi’s marketshare increased to 25%, overtaking the second marketshare leader, Sapporo. The dry brew cannibalized into Kirin’s market share, which dropped by 11%. By the end of 1989, Super Dry accounted for 20% of all beers consumed in Japan. This success allowed Asahi establish important new distribution channels and sales outlets.

By the time the other breweries wisened up, Asahi solidified itself as the king of dry beers.

Aftermath

How did it play out for Asahi and the others since the introduction of Super Dry? Many attempts of introducing the next beer or imitating the dry taste fell flat. By 1993, all attempts of copying the dry beer was abandoned, conceding the dry beer segment entirely to Asahi. As of 2010, Asahi held the number one marketshare spot with 38%, while the runner-up, Kirin, is not far behind with 37% [2].

All thanks to the watery light, cool, sharp, refreshing taste of Super Dry.

[Header Source] Tofugu

[1] Craig, T., (1996). The Japanese Beer Wars: Initiating and Responding to Hypercompetition in New Product Development. Organization Science, Vol. 7, No. 3. Retrieved January 5, 2012.
[2] Fujimura, N., (January 16, 2011). Asahi Reclaims Lead in Japan’s Beer Sales Over Kirin as Market Declines. Bloomberg, http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-01-17/asahi-reclaims-lead-in-japan-s-beer-sales-over-kirin-as-market-declines.html. Retrieved May 1, 2012.

Unfortunately, I’m not here to talk about yaeba. That is a future topic to be covered by one of our esteemed authors. What I’ll be covering today is another trait that many Western cultures would not consider an attractive quality: lucky ears or 福耳ふくみみ fukumimi (very straight forward translation!).

Just by reading the term, lucky ears, one might ask oneself how is lucky a physical description for ears. It’s actually what the person is blessed with if they carried the defining feature. A person with large earlobes is considered to be blessed with luck and wealth in his or her life. If you are fortunate enough to be adorned with large ear lobes, you may have received compliments for them by your Japanese friend or an Asian acquaintance. Why is that?

Origins of the Ear Phenomenon

The origins of this wealth-earlobe relationship seems to be a bit of a fuzz, but the common origin story is the OG Buddhist man himself, Siddhartha.

Before situating himself to a frugal lifestyle, Siddhartha was born and raised in a royal and subsequently wealthy family. As part of the wealthy wardrobe, heavy earrings were worn. You may have guessed, wearing heavy accessories on the ears takes a toll on fatty tissue and stretches out the lobe. Being quite the celebrity in Asia, everyone thought if they had earlobes like him they would run into some wealth. Nevermind the qualities needed to achieve nirvana, it’s all about achieving wealth!

I digress.

It is also said in Buddism that having large ear lobes is the required vessel to hear the voice of god as well as natural revelations. Due to the developed relationship between having big ear lobes and wealth/luck, the imagery is prevalent in many Buddhist statues and Asian literature & art.

One specific example of big ear lobes found in Japanese mythology is the Seven Gods of Fortune or 七福神しちふくじん shichifukujin. You can find representations of the auspicious gods throughout a Japanese city in forms of carvings. Each god has their own special fortune attribute.

• Benzaiten, goddess of knowledge, art, and beauty.
• Bishamonten, god of warriors.
• Daikokuten, god of wealth, commerce, and trade.
• Ebisu, god of fishers and merchants. Said to be often depicted as a sea bream, but also has been sighted as a beer brand produced by Sapporo Brewery.
• Fukurokuju, god of happiness, wealth, and longevity.
• Hotei, god of abundance and good health
• Jurōjin, god of longevity

Can you point out each god in the image above? One common feature that is shared among these gods are each possess large ear lobes. Popular folklore, like the one above, reinforces the idea that individuals with large ears will be favored by luck and fortune.

The importance of the ear can also be seen in a few favorable kanji where the ear radical can be spotted.

As you can see, the ear radical can be found in words that closely relate to luck and wealth. Wealth in itself isn’t necessarily restricted to monetary and materialistic value, but also pertains to knowledge. Although, there is also the strong belief in Asian culture that knowledge is proportional to monetary wealth and power. Hence, the earned stereotype of Asians having their noses in books all the time.

Ok, I’ll be honest. The sole reason of the generalization is because we are just scared of our tiger moms.

This is probably more than what you were expecting to read about on the topic of ears, but there you have it. Are you a carrier of the lucky ears? Have you run into some wealth and luck recently?

And no, ear gauging doesn’t count. That’s cheating!

Have you ever given thought about the names given to the days of the week? The naming scheme comes from the combination of the Chinese philosophies of yin-yang and the five Taoist elements.

Very algebraic, eh? Now you can go around and impress your peers with this newfound knowledge.

But wait! Did you know that alongside the seven-day calendar systems used in the last 1400 years, there was another system used by the Japanese (and other parts of Asia)?

This secondary calendar system has a profound impact in many Japanese lives. If you have seen an Asian calendar, you may have noticed kanji under the numerals. These are the names of the days under the six-day calendar system known as the Rokuyō (六曜, literal translation roku = six and yo = weekday. The kanji combination makes sense!).

So, what is the the Rokuyō and how does it impact Japanese lives?

Want to learn about Rokuyo? Today is your lucky day!

The Rokuyō is a variation of the original that came from China around the 14th century. As mentioned earlier, Rokuyō comprised six cycling days that are based on astrology. Each day determines the level of auspiciousness. In other words, it’s a fortune telling calendar system. Oh, Japanese, you are so superstitious (If you haven’t yet, check out the superstition article I wrote a while back!).

The following are the six Rokuyō days in cycling order.

These days cycle in order through each Gregorian month. For example, January 1st starts out as Senshō, January 2nd is Tomobiki, January 3rd is Senbu, and etcetera.

One variation of the Rokuyō has the first day of each month starting on a certain day depending on the month. January 1 starts out as Senshō, February 1 starts out as Tomobiki. March 1 starts out as Senbu. Are you starting to see the pattern? On the 7th month, the first day resets back to Senshō. Another version has Senshō  starting on January 1st and cycle through the six days until a new year begins.

How serious do some of the Japanese take into account the Rokuyō in their daily lives? Although the newer generation seem indifferent about it, the more mature group take the system into heavy consideration.

For example, about three times as many weddings are held on Taian than on Butsumetsu. Due to this huge difference in planning, rates for weddings held on Butsumetsu days are discounted heavily. Many major events other than weddings favor Taian over Butsumetsu.

Child birth on a Taian day is highly desirable. With the advances in modern medicine, many parents opt to induce labor if a desirable day is near or to delay the birth if the day falls under Butsumetsu. I’ll let you decide if this is a healthy, sane decision. I couldn’t find numbers relating to the Japanese, but in 2003 a study done in Taiwan saw a significant increased in scheduled births on auspicious days versus non-auspicious days¹.

Just from glancing at the list, one would deduce that you wouldn’t want to plan anything important on Butsumetsu. That’s not always the case.

The kanji for Tomobiki literally translates to “pulling a friend.” Due to it’s name, it is considered bad luck to schedule any funerals on these days. What kind of dead friend would pull you to the death realm, anyway? Crematoriums are typically closed on this day. Good to know.

Also another good thing to know: some Shinto shrines close on Butsumetsu. If you ever plan on visiting one, be sure they are open on the day you are visiting!

Before the next time you decide to munch on some of that delicious mochi or perhaps a quick bite of eel and watermelon (great pairing of food items, I’m told), take a quick glance at this version of the Rokuyō calendar to make sure the day and time of day is aligned in your favor. According to this, yesterday was 4-4 and butsumetsu. How bad was your day, yesterday?

Why should you check this, though? Because Tofugu cares about each and every one of you!

…

Ahhhhhh ♥

[1] “Patients’ attitudes vs. physicians’ determination: implications for cesarean sections.” Soc Sci Med. 2003 Jul;57(1):91-6.

For example, when the man who was revered as a divine being by his people, Emperor Hirohito, was showing deteriorating health and unexplained vomitting, his doctor knew what was causing it, but withheld the diagnostic from him.

“I don’t regret that I didn’t tell him about his cancer”
– Akira Takagi, Emperor’s Chief Doctor

According to a survey conducted in the mid-1990s, only one out of five cancer patients were honestly told of their diagnosis. [1]

A New York Times article cites a cancer diagnostic experience of 50-year-old Kazuku Makino. Her doctor diagnosed her with gallstones and suggested surgery to remove them. Makino, being a former nurse, sniffed out, for the lack of better but no truer words, the bullshit, and opted out of having unnecessary surgery.

Makino’s doctor suspected she had gallbladder cancer. The diagnostic proved to be correct. The cancer spread to her system and Makino died shortly after.

Her family sued the hospital for malpractice, but the courts rejected their claim. What resulted was a 1989 landmark case won by the medical industry in which doctors weren’t obligated to inform their cancer patients their true condition.

Some doctors argue that informing the patient of a terminally ailing disease would cause unhealthy psychological stress to the patient. As far as I know, no reputable journal or study has supported this claim.

Photo Source: pezheadsthemovie

Japanese doctors also have a reputation in prescribing medicine for every symptom or even non-symptom the patient may have. Oftentimes, the medicines are overprescribed. Some prescriptions aren’t even labeled for user readability, but with a hidden code for those only in the medical field can understand. So who knows what kind of medicine you are ingesting (or if you are unlucky, putting medicine into that backdoor of yours).

What is up with all the sketchiness? Doctor’s make a commission off of the medicine.

Why can Japanese doctors get away with this?

How Doctors Are Viewed

Photo Source: cathywagnerblog

To understand why Japanese doctors operate the way they do, one must understand how the Japanese view their relationship between themselves and their doctor.

In the United States, medical care is viewed as a service. The doctors and medical staff provide the skilled services, while the patients are the paying customers. The customers expect to get what they are paying for. The Japanese society on the other hand generally view doctors as their masters and the patients as the subordinates who are indebted to the master for his or her services.

As such, it is extremely rude and looked down upon to question their doctors, in addition to go around consulting other doctors for second opinions. The doctors tend to not go into a detailed explanation of the diagnostic and treatment being administered.

Again, to contrast this to U.S. doctors, the patient is informed of the specifics of the treatment, such as what and why it is being conducted, and the possible outcomes, good and bad, that may result. A big reason behind informing the patient is legal protection for the doctor and the medical practice.

Unfortunately, the Japanese tend to dislike causing drama. If any hint of malpractice was involved, it is very rare for them to take legal action against their doctors. And if no legal action is taken against the doctors, then they are left unchecked to do whatever they want.

What the Japanese expect from their doctors in regards to full disclosure has been changing the past few decades. In a survey conducted in the 1990s, 60% of the people surveyed would want to be told by their doctor if they were diagnosed with cancer. In a research that was conducted in 2004, 86% surveyed wanted full immediate disclosure. [2]

Not all doctors aren’t forthcoming with the results. Those who have studied or done work overseas, especially in Western countries, tend to bring back with them the practice of being forthright. How do your country’s doctors operate? Koichi has also written an similar article on Japanese doctors. Check it out!

[1] Japanese Journal of Clinical Oncology Volume 24, Issue 5, October 1994.

[2] Kai, I., Miyako, T., Miyata, H., Saito, T, Tachimori, H., (2004). Disclosure of cancer diagnosis and prognosis: a survey of the general public’s attitudes toward doctors and family holding discretionary powers. BMC Medical Ethics, 5:7. Retrieved June 17, 2004.

One controversy you may not be fully aware of is Japanese history textbooks used in their compulsory schools and how history is being told to students.

Fudging history through education is nothing new. Still, some of the drama is instigated by these books. What exactly is the problem?

The Narrative Issue

The issue with these textbooks are the narratives, especially when retelling the recently historic event’s of Japan’s colonialism and imperialism. Outlook of the narratives have been of debate among Japanese politicians and scholars, liberals and conservatives. Many progressive & left-leaning Japanese academics and the international community believe the victimization of the people of Asia are whitewashed, understated, and/or not recognized in these textbooks. On the opposite camp, conservative Japanese nationals believe the textbooks lack the tone of victimhood for the Japanese people.

Getting a textbook into the hands of Japanese children is a fairly simple process when observed from the outside. Textbook makers send drafts of their product to Japan’s Ministry of Education, where government officials review the material and ensures the material follows the curriculum. Corrections are noted on the drafts, which are sent back to the textbook company. If the Ministry likes you enough (interpret this as you will), they’ll add your book to the very short list of textbooks allowed in Japanese public schools. As you can imagine, the Japanese school textbook industry is cutthroat. And it is a very cash lucrative business. Depending on the age groups, the list of allowed textbooks can range from only 1-2 to the low 10s. These are options for every school in the entire nation.

Controversial Textbook

In 2001 and again in 2006, the Ministry of Education approved a more controversial-than-usual textbook that could be used to instruct students aged between 13 and 15. It was one out of eight available options for the schools. The book created an uproar with China and South Korea. Written by a group of nationalists called the Atarashii Kyokasho o Tsukuru Kai (Tsukuru Kai for short), the book whitewashed Japan’s militaristic past and glossed over many of the atrocities conducted.

What historic events were whitewashed and glossed over? Here a few examples.

• In reference to the 1937 Nanjing Massacre (dubbed as Nanjing Incident in Japanese textbooks), where 300,000 Chinese civilians were slaughtered, the atrocity was written as an “incident” in which “many” Chinese were killed.
• The use of the word “invasion” when referring to Japan’s military occupation of Asian countries was avoided.
• In regards to the occupation of Korea, the book original stated, “The US and European military powers approved Japan’s annexation of Korea in return for Japan’s approval of their colonial rule elsewhere.” This is in reference to the 1905 secret meeting by the U.S. Secretary of War William Taft and Japan’s Prime Minister Katsura called the Taft-Katsura Agreement. Although, not  a signed agreement as the title suggests, it was a set of notes consisting of private conversation of opinions by the two politicians. Taft recognized Japan’s interests in Korea, and Katsura recognized the U.S. interest in the Philippines.
• In regards to territorial disputes between Japan-Korea and Japan-Chinese, descriptions such as illegal occupation and invasion of sovereign land were used throughout the text.

Aside from this particular book, out of the eight books for the age bracket, only one mentions “comfort women,” the couple hundred thousands of sex slaves from invaded Asian countries that were forced to service the Japanese military during the war.

Former education minister Nariaki Nakayama said he was proud that Japan succeeded in getting rid of the term “wartime sex slaves.” He later openly agreed to an e-mail sent to him that the “victimized women in Asia should be proud of being comfort women.”

The Tsukuru Kai textbook, although an option to compulsory schools, is not exactly taking Japanese schools by storm. In the year of its release in 2001,  the book was used by 0.0039% of the junior high school population. In 2005, the number rose to 0.4%.

Is it proper to word history in a way that it reduces the severity of the country’s actions? Is this problem really unique to Japan? I, for one, can think of many history lessons from my U.S. compulsory school attendance, where the historic accounts told were very questionable.