It’s been on TV the past few days. The same scene, again and again. The same news, again and again. I’ve finally understood why Japanese news can span so long while we only get 30 minutes each slot.
Back home, when we get a big news, we see it reported today, and tomorrow. The end. In Japan, when they get a big news, they report it today, tomorrow, day after tomorrow, day after that, and after. Then, they spend the rest of the month analyzing, speculating, sharing opinions, and sometimes creating hypothetical situations and then discussing them.
So what am I referring to? The 2020 Tokyo Olympics, of course. Japan is so thrilled they finally get to host the Olympics again after failing their bid for the past few applications. I don’t know if it’s a good thing because I may very well die of asphyxiation in the already crowded Tokyo. But again, that depends on whether I’m still in Japan by then.
Yes, no more dates along Odaiba because, guess what? The Olympians are going to have a romp in the Olympics Village that you would do better to catch with your buddy. Perfectly sculpted bodies coming together in celebration of life and original sin ｰ something you don’t necessarily can see in Japanese adult movies.
But due to the potential 3 trillion yen growth, guess what again? Mr. Abe has decided to go with increasing the GST from 5 to 8% starting April 2014. Now who’s celebrating? So, 3% isn’t such a big deal. But when you purchase a house, that could mean an increase of 700,000 yen, or almost SGD10,000. Even if not, the 3% increase would be significant in a year. It’s such a pain, I need to go get painkillers. And before next April at that.
