米国中枢の驚くべき保守層

 　トランプ大統領が保守派の高裁判事であるエイミー・コーニー・バレット氏を最高裁判事に指名すると発表した。就任には上院の承認が必要となるが、現在の上院は共和党が多数派を占める。このため最高裁判事の定員９人のうち、バレット氏を含む保守派が６人、リベラル派が３人となるだろう。最高裁判事は終身制のため、政権が交代しても米国の最高裁は保守派の支配が続くことになる。

　バレット判事の履歴をみると、永住権保持者への医療・福祉の制限や中絶の規制強化に賛成する一方、銃規制の強化に反対している。

　自由と民主主義を標榜する米国では、意外にも権力中枢に保守的な考えが根づいている。ヒラリー・ローダム・クリントン氏は自伝で、連邦政府が南部アーカンソー州よりもはるかに保守的で驚いたと書いている。

　私も同じような感想を持ったことがある。米国海洋大気庁の所属部署では、幹部が全員へのメールで部員の活躍ぶりをほめたたえる活動をはじめた。この一環として、コロナ感染が拡大するなかフィールドで活動する部下のために、ある地方事務所の女性所長が週末に手作りのマスクを縫って配ったと賞賛された。全米に数カ所ある地方事務所のうち、彼女以外の拠点では通常のマスクが配られたという。ちなみに女性所長は１人だけで、残りの所長は全員が白人男性である。

　いろんな意味で違和感を覚えるメールであった。通常のマスクが入手可能であったにもかかわらず、なぜ女性所長の職場だけが手作りマスクになり、しかも所長が自らサービス残業をしてまで縫ったのだろうか。おそらく彼女はそれが自分の上司へのアピールになると考え、結果として全員へのメールで賞賛されたのだから成功したのだろう。

　その上司は60代の白人男性で、海洋大気庁50周年の職員インタビューで紹介されている。家庭環境などプライベートな内容が詳細に語られ、自分の妹とうまく行かなくなった経緯として、働いていた母親の代わりに妹が作った食事がひどかったと話している。この発言から、食事を作るのは女の役目だと考えていることがわかる。文句があるなら、自分で作ればよいのではないかと思うが。。おそらく女性所長はこうした上司のメンタリティーを理解していたのかもしれない。

　手作りマスクのエピソードは、秋篠宮妃が同志の職員に呼びかけて医療従事者向けの防護服を縫った話とも似ている。米国の連邦政府は日本の皇室を思わせるほど、保守的な発想をするのだ。

健康的なライフスタイル

　無職であることの最大の利点は、健康的な生活を送れることだろう。

「まだ若いんだから働かないともったいないし、ヒマになるよ」と言われたが、ヒマというのは素晴らしい。ドイツの童話「モモ」で言えば、労働は人間から時間と生気を奪い、たっぷりと時間があることが人間性と幸福を取り戻す。

　いつ終わるかわからないコロナ禍、季節の変わり目、台風による低気圧で、なんとなく調子が悪いということは多くの人が経験する。そんな時でもヒマであればダラダラと休養でき、夕方か翌日には回復している。眠ければいつでも寝られるので、絶対に睡眠不足にならない。当然ながら仕事によるストレスはゼロ。最近は白髪が減った感じもする。

　こういった生活では大きな病気になりようがない。

　組織の方針というものがないので、完全に自由な脳の状態になり、時間をたっぷりとかけて分厚い本を読むことができる。仕事の疲れを癒すために酒を飲む必要もなく、いつでも冷静な思考ができる。

　この状態をキープして好きな仕事だけできれば、メチャクチャ生産性が上がると思う。将来的にはそうした方向に向かって準備していこう。

Review: Phenomenal Performance of Chopin's Heroic Polonaise

This is what phenomenal is all about. 

The first prize winner of the 18th International Chopin Piano Competition in 2015, Seong-Jin Cho gave an phenomenal performance of Heroic Polonaise. He eloquently expressed the powerful essence that penetrates the entire piece in exceptional sophistication. Twenty years old at that time, the South Korean pianist did this excellent job by giving each note a full life but without being garrulous at all. 

No doubt a phenomenon, he reminded me that whether it is music, writing or movies, exceptional work has something in common -- they have seamless transition. 

At a deeper level, I imagined that the similar background of Poland and Korea -- both countries have a history of being invaded and divided -- might have driven Chopin's innermost feelings home to Cho. 

On the other side of the Sea of Japan, a street pianist also gave a compelling performance of Chopin's Heroic Polonaise. Playing the upright piano in front of Shin Yurigaoka train station, about 20 km (12 miles) from Shinjuku, he stopped passersby, drew a crowd of the audience and received standing ovation. He has a unique power to drive them and myself to listen until the end. 

The Japanese performer named Hibiki appears as young as Cho. While they have different backgrounds, they are both very musical.

Explore the world of "Lost in Translation"

I have been to the bar and restaurant at Park Hyatt Tokyo a number of times, but had never stayed in the hotel. Known as the location used the movie "Lost in Translation," it offers spectacular views and I was always curious about the experience of staying there.

As they recently offered a 30% discount for World of Hyatt members, I decided to treat myself. The experience exceeded my high expectations and I thoroughly enjoyed a fantastic staycation.

On weekdays, check-in is at 13:00, and check-out is at noon, so you can enjoy staying there for almost 24 hours. On weekends, check-in is at 15:00, so I recommend going there on weekdays if possible. 

As business was slow before the government subsidy program "Go To Travel" begins on October 1, they assigned me to an upgraded room with no extra charge. Facing east, it was on the 49th floor and its views were absolutely beautiful.

The sunrise was particularly stunning.

I wish my camera worked better -- the real night view was far better than this and just breathtaking.

The swimming pool and gym, which occupies the entire 47th floor, provided a 360 degree view. It was as if it were floating in the sky or sitting on the clouds. It was magical at night. To help prevent COVID-19 infection, they limit the number of users of the swimming pool to only one person per lane. In fact, I was able to have the entire place to myself. 

Well-coordinated in bluish green, the interior of the hotel was charming.

There was a DVD player in the room, and I asked the front desk what DVDs they have. In fact, the movie "Lost in Translation" was the only one they have (!)  Although I had seen it many times, I borrowed it and confirmed specific places that I had just seen. The rooms in which Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson stayed were both Diplomat Suite, according to the hotel.

Murray found a present to Johansson to console her as he took her to the hospital to treat her broken foot finger. It is a stuffed owl and caught my eye. 

It was the same one that I had bought for myself long before the movie was released. Interestingly, I got it on my way back from the hospital where I received treatment for serious acne in my twenties. The bottom of the cutie is nice and fluffy and it does have a comforting effect.

Park Hyatt Tokyo is located in Nishi Shinjuku where skyscrapers started to be built in Japan. You can stroll and see around high-rise buildings there.

Keio Plaza Hotel was the first skyscraper in the area. At Japanese elementary school, fourth graders learn about their prefecture in social science class. For us living in Tokyo, the textbook was entitled "Our Tokyo" and its cover photo represented the trend of each era. In 1972 when my sister was a forth grader, Keio Plaza Hotel was the cover photo. 

In 1976 when I was a fourth grader, the cover photo was of Keio Plaza Hotel, the Sumitomo triangle building (below gray one), the Mitsui building (blue one) and a few others.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government's headquarters was originally located in Marunouchi, but it moved to Nishi Shinjuku in 1990. It was illuminated in blue to express gratitude to medical professionals at the forefront of the fight against the coronavirus.

Similar to the characters in the movie, I also went for karaoke. I sang "Honesty" while seeing the real singer Billy Joel and reflecting on some scenes in Lost in Translation or my own life. Then I realized that life may not be so bad.

Pursue a perfect toothbrush

I don't think I've ever been perfectly satisfied with a toothbrush. I examine the package and description of each toothbrush at a drugstore and choose what seems to be good quality. But it's always a gamble if the one I choose might actually meet or exceed my expectations.

In relative terms, I feel the Gum series is the best. They have a new product called Procare, which was about a dollar more expensive than normal ones. The brush's distal ends are extremely fine so that they enter the gap between the teeth and the gums, and thereby removes tartar, the package says. I decided to try this one and bought two different types as well for comparison.

Procare was not too bad and I felt particularly good after brushing my teeth. Interestingly, the feeling has been growing better day by day around my gums. That is a unique development I come to really like. Meanwhile, I don't think this new toothbrush is particularly effective to brush off stains on the surface of teeth because its fine distal ends would not be hard enough. As such, Procare has its own strength, but it is not perfect because of that ironically.

A long time ago, another unique toothbrush immediately caught my attention at CVS in the U.S. -- a Barbie doll constitutes its handle. I got it simply because it was funny.

But somehow I am too scared to use it. Why? Hard to explain, but I cannot come up with a more accurate adjective than scary to describe this toothbrush. Maybe because Japanese companies would never design a toothbrush looking like this and therefore it appears a bit too foreign to me. 

Indeed, that might be the very reason why I'm scared about this toothbrush, because this feeling makes me wonder I might be slightly xenophobic somewhere deep inside. As such, this funny toothbrush makes me amused and uneasy at the same time and evokes an inner conflict. That would probably be the source of scariness.

On a totally separate note, she looks like the typical type that Donald Trump would like.

Go To トラベルをめぐる攻防

 　来月からGo Toトラベルが東京にも適用になる予定だが、感染状況によっては中止もありうる。待ってられるかとばかりに、都内の有名ホテルはすでに数々の特典キャンペーンに乗り出している。

　ペニンシュラ東京は東京駅か羽田空港からの片道送迎、5000円分のレストラン利用券、5000円分のスパ利用券、さらには1934年製ロールスロイスでの周辺ドライブを含む８つのプランから１つ選択、マンゴープリンの土産など数え切れないほどの特典をつけている。ポール・マッカートニーが東京公演の際に泊まったホテルで以前から興味があり、ロールスロイスに魅かれて思わず電話で詳細を問い合わせた。私が聞いた時点では、このキャンペーンにGo To割引が適用されるかは未定だという。

　一方でハイアット系はWorld of Hyattの会員であれば宿泊料が30％引きになるキャンペーンを９月17日に開始する。10月1日以降はGo To割引もダブルで適用される。だが需要が高まれば元々の宿泊料が上がるため、結果として今よりも得になるのかはわからない。しかも感染対策でレストラン、プール、ジムなどの利用者数や営業時間を制限しているため、せっかく行っても宿泊者数が多ければ目的の施設を利用できない可能性もある。

　いろいろと考えた結果、レジャー施設が空いているうちに今月から遊びに行くことにした。自由と時間のある人生は素晴らしい。

米国の地政学的リスク

 　米国西海岸の山火事が住宅地にも広がり、過去最大の規模でカリフォルニアからオレゴン、ワシントン州にまで拡大している。サンフランシスコではゴールデンゲートブリッジの向こう側、高級住宅街で知られるマリン郡にも火の手が及び、街全体が赤く染まった映像がニュースで流れている。

　地球温暖化による酷暑で樹木の水分が不足していることが、大きな要因だという。その一方で米国はパリ協定からの離脱を宣言し、オバマ政権で推進した石炭火力の抑制策も廃止してしまった。

　米国はコロナ感染者・死者数で世界トップだが、トランプ大統領は「感染をコントロールしている」とウソをついた。マスク着用を拒否する人々が数多く存在して裁判沙汰にまで発展し、若者はコロナ感染者を招いたコロナパーティーを開いて死者を出している。 

　もはや米国には近寄らないほうがいい。米国はかつての輝きを失い、国民は知識層と底辺層にぱっかり分かれ、一般常識や教養のない指導者に振り回されている。現地在住の友人は大丈夫だろうか。

　コロナや山火事以前から銃乱射事件も多発していた。最近では都市から地方へ人口が流出し、ニューヨークでは犯罪率が高まっている。

　米国の大学の授業料は世界で最も高く、私立では年間約600万円、州立でも約400万円。卒業後は学生ビザ延長の形（OPT)で１年間働けるが、その後に必要となる労働ビザ（H1B)は全体で2.5倍程度の抽選となる。いくら優秀でも抽選に通らなければ正式なビザ申請ができないため、企業側も外国人雇用を敬遠する傾向にあるという。

　米国留学する日本人の数はピーク時だった1997年の４万7073人と比べて、2018年は１万8105人と62％も減少した。コロナや気候リスク、オンライン授業の導入で今後ますます減少に拍車がかかるだろう。

　米政府の対中感情が悪化する中、ぱっと見ただけでは中国人と区別がつかないアジア人としてのリスクもあるかもしれない。

"Go To Travel"....where?

The government will include Tokyo in its domestic tourism subsidy program called "Go To Travel" from October 1, Minister for Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Kazuyoshi Akaba revealed today.

This program started on July 22 to boost the tourism industry, which has been heavily hit by the coronavirus. Still, it has excluded residents and hotels in Tokyo due to a high level of infection there. As the infection has been recently stable in the capital, the local ban of the program will be lifted next month.

Under the "Go To Travel" campaign, you can purchase a travel package up to JPY40,000 ($376) per night at a 35% discount from an agent registered in the program. Additionally, you can receive a coupon of 15% of the original package price that you can use for dining and souvenirs in the destination. If the package exceeds JPY40,000 ($376) per night, the discount is a flat rate at JPY14,000 ($131) and the coupon is set at JPY6,000 ($56). This campaign will continue until the end of January 2021 or anytime the allocated budget (JPY1.1 trillion=$10 billion) runs out.

While I'm concerned about COVID-19, this program sounds attractive. As I can travel anytime including weekdays, I would like to take advantage of it.

One idea is to stay at a luxury hotel with a swimming pool in downtown and enjoy a "staycation."

It would also be exciting to eat delectable seafood from the Sea of Japan, on the coast. 

Or it might be safe to rent a car and drive around a remote area.

In fact, I can do all of them. It's going to be a busy autumn...!

サラリーマンの感覚からズレてくる

 　約１カ月ぶりの都会である。千代田区は東京23区随一の都心だが、飯田橋となると用事がなければ来ない。とは言いながら、私の出生地はこのエリアにある東京逓信病院なのだが。。

　江戸時代には外堀の内側は侍、外側は庶民が住んでいた。飯田橋には瓦版を配る人々がいて、お堀の内側の〇〇家で子供が生まれた、といったニュースを流していたという。このため今でも印刷業者は飯田橋付近に集中し、大日本印刷本社も市ヶ谷にある。

　こうした歴史的背景のため、都内各地にある職業訓練センターのうち印刷・メディア関係のコースは飯田橋校に集約されている。メディアプロモーション学科も同校で開講されるため、授業見学に訪れた。

　今回は私を含めて５人の見学者が集まり、同科のほかDTPオペレーターや印刷工を養成するコースも一通り案内された。本格的な２億5000万円のドイツ製オフセット印刷機もある。世界で最も美しいとされる印刷物、例えば風景の写真集や化粧品のカタログの印刷にはオフセット印刷機が使われている。

　こうしたハイテク装置を含む職業訓練センターの費用は東京都の税金で賄われ、印刷業界の献金を受けていないという。だが印刷会社が受講生の採用を積極的に行い、同センターは印刷業界に労働力を提供する役割を担っている。

　メディアプロモーション科は印刷会社の多角化に対応した人材育成といった意味合いのようだ。「学んだことを生かして起業するとか、個人事業主になりたいという志望動機はありですか？」と質問したら、かなりイヤな顔をされてしまった。

　月～金、朝９時～夕方５時という設定もサラリーマンの生活に慣れてもらわないと困る、ということなのかもしれない。いずれにせよ、かなりの時間とエネルギーを要する。受講中の半年間は別のことは全くできないだろう。

　しかも通学に片道２時間かかる。学生時代も同じように、郊外の自宅から当時北区にあった東京外国語大学に片道２時間以上かけて４年間通学したが、若かった当時でもかなりきつかった。今となっては、もう通勤自体が無理という気もする。

　面白そうなコースなので週２～３日で半日程度なら受講してみたいのだが。。こういう発想がすでに勤め人の感覚からズレているのだろうか。

ハローワークを使い倒す

　ようやく一回目の「失業認定」を終え、めでたく失業給付が振り込まれることになった。

　ハローワークに指定された時刻に行ったがものすごく待たされ、40分経過した時点で不安になってきた。「私の書類は処理されていますか？　あとどのくらいかかりますか？」と聞くと、ようやく順番が来たところだった。

　コロナの影響で失業者が増加したうえ、感染予防のため全体説明会が中止になり、ビニールシート越しに窓口で個別対応をしている。このため相当な時間がかかっているという。 

　失業給付の条件となる失業認定を受けるには、４週間で２回以上の求職活動をする必要がある。こうした活動にはハローワークでの職業相談、職業訓練への問い合わせや申し込み、求人への履歴書送付のほか、国家資格や検定の受験がある。ただし求職内容と全く関係のない分野の受験では認定が下りない。例えば、建築士の仕事を探している人が栄養士の試験を受けても認められない。

　とりあえず時間があるうちに語学関連の資格を取っておこうかと思い、通訳・翻訳も求職条件に加えた。NHKやCNNなどのテレビ局や国際会議で長年通訳を務めるベテランの友人、ハロワの職業相談員の方とも口を揃えて、現在の英語力の指標はどこでもTOEIC一択だと言う。

　離職理由が会社都合か自己都合かによって、失業給付額のみならず退職金や国民健康保険の支払額にも大きな差が出る。自己都合の場合と比べて、合計の差額を計算すると生活費の５～６年分ほど多くもらえることになった。経済面のメリットを考えれば、会社都合の離職者はVIP待遇なのだ。

　失業給付の期間が長くなるため、職業訓練を受講できる期間も長くなる。職業訓練とは、失業給付の受給中に無料で受講できて交通費も支給される教育プログラムである。経歴や志望動機を記入した応募書類を提出し、筆記試験（国語・数学）と面接に合格すれば受講できる。人気のプログラムは３倍近い競争率だ。

パソコン、IT、経営管理、経理、ネイリスト、観光ガイドなど幅広い分野がある。住宅リフォーム、グリーンエクステリア、庭園施工管理といったコースもあり、自宅のメインテナンスに役立つかも。。と思ったりするが、今後も仕事としたいかは別問題である。

メディアプロモーションという新しいコースはかなり面白そうだ。多様なメディアの特徴を分析し、顧客のニーズにマッチした企画・提案をできる人材を育成する。デザイン概論、プロモーション、マーケティング、情報分析の講義のほか、動画編集やグラフィックソフトなどの実習もある。月～金、朝９時～夕方５時の半年コースで、大学の１限～５限に毎日通うようなものだ。とりあえず授業の見学を申し込んだ。

ハロワークはどの窓口の方もていねいな対応で、失業という心の痛手を負った人への思いやりに満ちている。このため新たな人生を切り開くやる気も出てきた。せっかくの機会なのでメリットを最大限に活用したい。

Placebo effect of big purchase

I saw an interesting post on Facebook -- an invoice for the largest amount that the poster has ever received. 

It was for a million dollar house. The person emphasized how excited she really was about the amount, not necessarily about the quality of the property. Not many people can afford to buy a house at that price, so the poster would have wanted to brag about it.

That's quite intriguing. The last thing I want to receive is an invoice; the more expensive, the less welcome. But some people appear to be willing to pay high prices for the sake of them.

That reminded me of the placebo effect. Quite a few patients do feel better after taking a sugar or flour pill which they believe to be real medicine. 

A one million dollar house should be good quality, but if its price had been half that, the poster might not have been as enthusiastic. Similarly, shoppers value a Chanel jacket because it costs $10,000; If the price were $100 for the same jacket, they may not even take a second glance.

This phenomenon is prevalent among other products. My hairdryer recently broke, so I looked around for a new one. The most expensive hairdryer was $540 -- this high-tech product was developed using quantum mechanics and reviewers claim it is amazingly effective at straightening curly hair. 

Beginning with a 2D model, this dryer has been upgraded to 4D plus so far. My hairdresser used this series, but admitted that there was almost no difference between 2D and 3D. He even advised that my hairdryer at that time, the first model of Panasonic's nanocare series, should be sufficient. It was about $130, half the price of 2D ($260).

If you examine many consumer reviews, you will find some make a similar point. They regret buying an upgraded model which was almost the same as a previous one. At the same time, many other people rave about the latest and most expensive one and stress what they purchased was the best. 

Probably people may want to believe that they made the right choice, whatever it was, and therefore are happy. Otherwise, they might have made a wrong decision, and for that reason they might be miserable. 

All things considered, best cost performance does exist. But it takes most careful and cool-headed consideration to discover such a product. 

Pursue a perfect English garden

One of the projects I plan to take on is to reorganize my garden. 

There are so many trees like plum, persimmon, maple, crape myrtle, etc. that my family had planted. They make a nice green oasis, but unfortunately it attracts the wasps, too.

My English teacher living in a cottage in Europe advised me that naturally-repellent plants do exist. They include mint, wormwood, lemongrass, citronella, clove, penny royal, sage, rosemary, geranium, chamomile, thyme, fennel, wintergreen and sweet marjoram. 

Time to create an English garden -- in fact, the architect of my house renovation told me that her colleague, the president of a company that collaborated on the renovation, had an authentic English garden. It uses tasteful bricks, grows nice herbs and even sets up a pizza kiln...wow! He kindly passed a message that I can visit and have a look anytime. 

For reference I've also seen many pictures of charming gardens and purchased a book on the Highgrove Royal Gardens. Prince Charles spends private times and enjoys gardening there. 

Come to think of it, I need to answer a fundamental question: Will I enjoy gardening? To be honest, I don't like to weed or sweep fallen leaves. I am not even particularly fond of watering plants, so I always had artificial ones in my apartment. I should take into consideration that it is too hot to garden in the height of summer due to increasingly intense global warming. 

In short, I enjoy seeing a beautiful garden, but I don't really want to take care of it. As such, I'm in pursuit of a challenging project to meet both requirements. 

ドライヤー選びに悩む

 　10年ほど使ったドライヤーがついに壊れてしまった。湿度に合わせて髪への水分量を調節するパナソニックのナノケアという製品で、買った当時は最先端だった。今は元からあった別のドライヤーを使っているが、性能の差を感じる。

　最近流行っているドライヤーを調べてみると、まさにピンキリで驚くばかりだ。日本で販売中のドライヤーで最高値はレプロナイザー 4D Plusというモデルのようで57,200円（税込）。リュミエリーナという日本企業の製品で2Dから徐々にバージョンアップしていき、今年の12月には最上位モデル7D Plus（税込79,200円）の販売を予定している。 

　量子力学をもとに考案されたハイテク製品で、レビューを読むと髪のツヤやサラサラ感が半端ないらしい。顔に風を当てるとリフトアップもするという。かなりの縮毛や剛毛など深刻な髪の悩みを持つ人からも絶賛のレビューが寄せられている。

　私の美容師さんもこのシリーズを使っていたが、「２Dと３Dの差はあまりないので、コスパを考えれば２Dでいい」と言っていた。ナノケアを使っているならそれで十分、もし壊れたらその時に検討すればいい、と。ペニンシュラでは３Dを置いているようで、それに感動して4D Plusはもっといいだろうと期待して買った人が、あまり差を感じなかったというレビューもある。ということは２Dも4D Plusも変わらないのだろうか？

　レプトナイザーに次ぐ高級ドライヤーはダイソン（税込49,500円）のようだ。ダイソンと言えば掃除機だと思っていたが、ドライヤーもすごいパワーらしい。熱風ではなく髪を傷めない温度で一気に乾かすため、サラサラになってうねりが取れるとか。

　どのドライヤーでも10年は持つのではないかと考えると、満足できる品を選びたい。だがレビューを書く人の髪質も千差万別で、もとの髪がよければ最先端のハイテク製品でなくても十分かもしれない。

Lessons from inter-species turf wars

Living in a rich natural environment has its tolls -- turf wars with other species than humans.  Even though you can keep a safe distance from other people, insects and animals invade your territory and may even attack you.

As an environmentalist, I value biodiversity. But there are some species I find it too difficult to live with.

Bees, wasps and hornets fall into this category. They are clever and create nests in the most hidden and comfortable place in your property. If you try to get rid of them, they could kill you.

On a sunny day for the first time in a long time in July, I went out on the balcony to hang out and dry bedding. All the sudden, many wasps flew out of nowhere and one stung my left foot..."Ouch!!"

I didn't know what happened, but thought they would have hidden somewhere in the balcony. After cooling the sting, I googled and found a company that gets rid of bees, wasps and hornets and their nests. I called them, and a young gentleman came in one and half hours.

He found a grotesque wasp nest beneath the rail of the sliding shutter. It was about ten centimeters (four inches) long. It was unbelievable as I open and close the shutter every day. 

Wearing a protective suit like an astronaut's, he removed the nest, confirmed there were no other nests and applied pesticide on the entire surface of the balcony to ward off wasps. The pesticide should be effective for one month, he said.

The total cost was JPY44,000 ($414) -- a painful expense, literally. It included a substantial amount of his company's margin fee. He gave me his private business card so that I can contact him directly if there is a nest again. That way, he can do the work with no margin fee next time.

Six weeks later, yesterday morning when I opened the shutter, there was a different type of wasp or hornet hovering around the balcony. I sprayed pesticide through the screen door repeatedly and it finally flew away. In the afternoon, however, it came back. I thought there might be a nest again, but I was too scared to check.

This morning, there were no wasps. I carefully went out on the balcony and took a picture of the location close to where the nest had existed. Turns out there was a new nest, although it looked much smaller. This time it was not beneath the rail, but beneath the outer wall between the shutters. This place should be safer for the wasps.

It's amazing this enemy is so intelligent. I was wondering if I can remove the nest by myself. But experts say that if you are stung by a wasp twice, that could be fatal due to an anaphylaxis shock. 

Wasps in the autumn tend to be particularly cranky because their prey, insects in general, has decreased. Furthermore, fruits they eat get rotten and include alcohol. In short, they are grumpy drunks. I should certainly stay away from them.

I called the wasp terminator and asked him to come again. He found and eradicated a total of three small nests and made sure there were no other nests within my property. This time, the cost was JPY22,000 ($207) with the guarantee that if a new nest is created until the end of this year, he will remove it for free.

While housing in a suburb is less expensive than one in downtown, it incurs hidden costs like this.

Lessons learnt: Similar to some humans, wasps are desperate to do anything for survival. They have no concept of trespass. You need to watch out and stop them while their invasion is minimal. If they are too incorrigible, you should consult with an expert who knows the tactics to deal with them and possesses appropriate equipment.  

Pandemic is accelerating the drain of human resources and wealth from big cities

Since March, upper-class residents in New York have moved to their villas to keep a "safe distance" -- more than just a social distance -- from the epidemic.

On the other side of the Atlantic, Queen Elizabeth has now lived in Scotland for the same reason. It is rumored that she may never come back to London.

In July 2020, Tokyo's population outflow exceeded inflow for the first time since 2013.

Big cities were the center of business and entertainment. That is why many people lived there despite high living costs. That is changing due to COVID-19.

Now that telework has become the standard at many companies, they started to recruit with no specific duty stations. Prospective employees can apply from any place on the planet and will not need to relocate or commute, while staying at home wherever they choose to live.

Meanwhile, New York has been draining the workforce and wealth and has become a hotbed for crime. Due to increasingly squalid conditions on the Upper West Side, including two new homeless shelters packed with drug addicts and registered sex offenders, longtime dwellers are departing the Big Apple with no plans to ever return, the New York Post reported. Compared with a year ago, murders increased 29 percent; and shootings are up 79 percent in NYC.

As a result, the number of new contracts for rent in the city has decreased by 23.5 percent since pre-COVID-19  times. Rent has lowered by 10 percent. Similar market declines happened after the 9-11 terror attack in New York or the 3-11 earthquake in Tokyo, but they bounced back. The current situation is different, though -- there is no clear roadmap in sight to get back to normal, and the world is now moving into a new life bearing the brunt of the coronavirus.

Since last month, I have also been living such a new life in a Tokyo suburb. Similar to New Yorkers I feel comfortable by keeping a safe distance from others and appreciate the affordable living environment. At the same time, I miss "the good old days" of in-person communication -- only until six months ago -- in vibrant cities.