A Fukuokan's Notes from Sapporo

On windy days, kite-surfers appear in my nearby beach.

When I noticed them, as a law-abiding citizen, I thought I had to report them to the police in order to get them arrested for being a public nuisance. In fact, it seems OK to do some marine activities in this area unless you annoy other people (to be honest, I couldn’t find where I could ask about this issue, the bureaucratic system is too-complicated-to-explain). If my observation (you might say just a guess) is true, the system is very rare to this area where everything has to be under control. Of course I prefer this ‘use-your-commonsense’ way.

Actually, there is a private rocker room for a local government-approved NPO that offers wind surfing classes to young people.

This (allowing someone to set a private rocker room in public spaces, and probably giving some more help that I don't know to those NPOs) is called ‘Get Young People Ambitious’ scheme founded by the prefectural government.

I wish there were a scheme intended to get jobless 40-somethings ambitious, which might be called 'Get Housewives Spoilt'. No thanks to marine sports, though.

14^th of this month is the election day to chose new Mayor of Fukuoka.

This time we have eight candidates. Each of them is promising something hopeful—regardless of whether their pledges are achievable.

As door-to-door electioneering is not permitted in this country (but it seems entirely OK to call and stop a passerby),

they run around on their campaign cars instead, screaming their appeals, which make quite a noise.

This morning, the noise (eh, appeal—I must be polite) started at eight in the morning. As I live in a rather populous area, they might think here is a fertile ground, but waking the innocent residents up in Suturday morning by screaming through loudspeakers doesn’t seem to be a good idea to get voted, does it? (I don’t mean that the candidate in the picture did so.)

By the way, I think recently candidates for any election, whether they stand for local or general one, have become far better-looking than before.

I remember ten years ago, or five years ago even, politicians or would-be politicians looked somewhat scruffy; untidy grey hair, creased suits, and hairy nose or ear were quite common.  Politicians looked like old students in some ways. But now men are neatly (sometimes effeminate to my eyes because of their tight-fitted jacket and pointed toe shoes) dressed and extremely well-groomed (I’m quite sure they spend much more for grooming than I do). Women are also immaculately well-dressed and have no grey hair, even if they are much older than me. They look like having been Photoshopped.

… Is it only me who feels something fishy from unnecessarily good-looking politicians?