Saraba, Ai
January 21, 2009For those who had lived in Japan long enough to be accustomed to its peculiarities, it is common knowledge that porn is a multibillion yen industry. That’s right, porn.
Porn–which may range from gravure to AV (adult video), hyper risky mosaic to uncensored–seems to be part of a national economic industry and is so prevalent nobody bothers if you carry a girly magazine and scheme through its pages in public.
For many young Japanese women, porn can mean a lot of promising things, which partly explains why despite laws that supposedly regulate indecency in the country, pornography remains to be a thriving business. Porn can be one’s ticket to stardom, or at the very least, an attractive means to earn big bucks in a country that holds one of the world’s record for cost of living.
It was in this context that former porn actress turned TV talent Ai Iijima started her career.
Who is Ai Iijima? For those who are too young to remember, Ai may just be a fixture in many Japanese late night talk shows. I myself never learned of this boob tube beauty’s “complicated” past until a friend showed me a VHS of one of her early opus. But Ai is very vocal about her past life, what it entailed, the risks she took–she even became one of Japan’s most outspoken advocate for AIDS awareness and responsible sex. Unfortunately, however, she was the exact opposite when it came to her “personal” crisis.
Ai IIjima’s lifeless body was found by neighbors and rescue workers in her posh apartment on Christmas eve of 2008. The cause of death remains uncertain. She was found lying on the floor with books, bottles, cigarette packs and anti-depressants strewn all over. Close friends revealed that Ai had long been wanting to retire from the entertainment industry, partly because of recent setbacks in business (she was reportedly scammed of some 100 million yen worth of personal savings), personal crisis (her recent billionaire beau reportedly broke up with her), and health issues (she had been taking a lot of medications and had long been complaining of lingering depression).
Who would have thought that Ai’s sayonara party on the TV program Kin Suma where she has been a regular for five years was a premonition of things to come. The party has been described as ”a teary two-hour sayonara party complete with speeches, bouquets and lots of blubbering.” Backstage, however, a gloomy shadow hangs over, the likes that those who are familiar with the industry know too well.
I actually had wanted to write about Barack Obama and his inauguration but decided to change my topic in honor of who I consider to be among the icons of the Japanese entertainment industry. Ai Iijima may not have the cult following of director Ai Kurosawa or the teeny bopper popularity of Takeshi Kaneshiro but her life story is an example of the Japanese propensity to rise to the occasion.
Saraba, Ai. May your soul rest in peace.
haranbukumi (rough road ahead)
January 3, 2009
Japanese artist Hokusai’s (1760-1849) rendition of Chinese philosopher Lao-Tzu reading a scroll while riding on an ox.
波瀾に富んだ一年間
In most East Asian cultures, the ox is both symbol of prosperity and hard work–that is, while the year of the ox may spell good fortune, it is one that cannot be achieved without sweat and tears. This view was widely held across cultures since the ancient times; this probably explains why the clueless bovine earned the monicker beast of burden.
According to Chinese geomancers, 2009 means tough times ahead not just for business but for households. However, such forecast no longer took businesses and policymakers by surprise; with the global recession that hit 200, people were simply anticipating the worst.
As early as June 2008, for instance, many business leaders and corporate CEOs already portrayed a dismal forecast for the US, supposedly the world’s most robust economy. In a survey by Chief Executive Magazine An overwhelming majority of American CEOs said that in order to create jobs and maintain America’s economic competitiveness, the government needs to reduce taxes and regulation, privatize education and remove restrictions on trade.
Chief Executive magazine did another survey, sometime before the November US presidential elections, and found that CEOs preferred John McCain over President-elect Barack Obama, 4 to 1. Executives, at least as indicated by the survey, fear that an Obama presidency would be disastrous for the country, particularly in the areas of economic and fiscal policy. The result of the US presidential elections had been a highly anticipated event for the rest of the world due to the obvious impact of US economic policies to the global financial environment.
I think the Philippines is in a better position than both Japan and the US. This laughingstock economy in Southeast Asia appears to be the only country not (yet) hit by the global recession. The last time I checked, the Phisix is the only market still posting growth in recent months among the financial markets in Asia. Yet, this should be no reason for government and business decisionmakers to lax. The truth is, the world is facing a rough road ahead. There is no other way but brace ourselves for the bumpy journey.
