Jake Adelstein's Blog, page 86

The worst of times can bring out the best in everyone, even the yakuza.

I wrote this piece for the Daily Beast and supplied them with confidential materials to vet the article as well. I'd like to say that I'm not an advocate of the yakuza; I don't consider them generally a force for social good or social welfare.There will certainly be yakuza who take advantage of the crisis to rake in ill-gotten gains; they aren't boy scouts. There will also be ordinary people doing the same thing.

However, even yakuza are capable of doing heroic acts. There are members of the Inagawa-kai driving trucks of supplies to areas in Tohoku as far as they can get on vehicle and then hiking eight hours, carrying backpacks full of supplies to those in need, even in areas where radiation levels are high. Each individual doing it has their own motives; I can't read their minds. I think some of them are doing it simply because they want to help their fellow citizens.

It would be an easier world if everything was black and white but often it's a world in shades of grey.  Sometimes, even "bad guys" can do good things, and ordinary citizens in times of crisis can do awful things. It works both ways.

As far as I'm concerned, everyone risking their life to help the victims of this tragedy, the police, the fire-fighters, the self-sacrificing staff at the nuclear reactor staying on the job, the Japan Self-Defense Forces, the US military, the good  journalists covering the earthquake and nuclear disaster in great detail–they are all heroes.  I'm not counting myself amongst them.

Even Japan's infamous mafia groups are helping out with the relief efforts and showing a strain of civic duty. Jake Adelstein reports on why the police don't want you to know about it. Plus, more coverage of Japan's crisis.

The worst of times sometimes brings out the best in people, even in Japan's "losers" a.k.a. the Japanese mafia, the yakuza. Hours after the first shock waves hit, two of the largest crime groups went into action, opening their offices to those stranded in Tokyo, and shipping food, water, and blankets to the devastated areas in two-ton trucks and whatever vehicles they could get moving. The day after the earthquake the Inagawa-kai-稲川会- (the third largest organized crime group in Japan which was founded in 1948) sent twenty-five four-ton trucks filled with paper diapers, instant ramen, batteries, flashlights, drinks, and the essentials of daily life to the Tohoku region. An executive in Sumiyoshi-kai, the second-largest crime group, even offered refuge to members of the foreign community—something unheard of in a still slightly xenophobic nation, especially amongst the right-wing yakuza. The Yamaguchi-gumi, Japan's largest crime group, under the leadership of Tadashi Irie, has also opened its offices across the country to the public and been sending truckloads of supplies, but very quietly and without any fanfare.

for the whole article

Please no stealing! (please!)

"If your home was hit by a 9.0-magnitude earthquake, a tsunami, and radiation from a nuclear power plant, you'd be forgiven for not remaining calm", speculates Christopher Beam in a recent Slate article. "Yet that's what many Japanese quake victims appear to be doing. People are forming lines outside supermarkets. Life is "particularly orderly," according to PBS. "Japanese discipline rules despite disaster," says a columnist for The Philippine Star."

Nick Kristof of the NYTimes also observed the same phenomenon during a similiar tragedy in Japan's history: "Japan's orderliness and civility often impressed me during my years living in Japan, but never more so than after the Kobe quake. Pretty much the entire port of Kobe was destroyed, with shop windows broken all across the city. I looked all over for a case of looting, or violent jostling over rescue supplies. Finally, I was delighted to find a store owner who told me that he'd been robbed by two men. Somewhat melodramatically, I asked him something like: And were you surprised that fellow Japanese would take advantage of a natural disaster and turn to crime? He looked surprised and responded, as I recall: Who said anything about Japanese. They were foreigners."

Slate's Beam goes on to speculate that the reasons for this uniquely Japanese phenomenon run deeper than the oft-invoked 'culture' argument (which, he also mentions, is at any rate fallacious for employing circular reasoning). 'Structural' differences, such as the long-standing reward system for honesty, a ubiquitous police presence, and the ironically crime-reducing organized crime groups, may help to reinforce the cultural expectation of group over individual.

Jake also contributed information about how the yakuza are keeping looting down and even assisting, on a fairly large scale, in the tsunami relief efforts; "The Sumiyoshi-kai claims to have shipped over 40 tons of [humanitarian aid] supplies nationwide and I believe that's a conservative estimate."

For the full Slate article, please go here

For the Nick Kristof blog, go here

There are 22 organized crime groups in Japan. The top three groups and others are distributing humanitarian aid all over Japan, partly for PR, partly as part of living up to their self-professed codes of 任侠道 (ninkyodo). (List taken from National Police Agency Report 2010)

Updated list: How to donate to relief efforts in Japan

Note: This is an updated list from the previous entry. If you have anything to add, please let us know in the comments.

For those who are interested in contributing to relief and recovery efforts, below are some of the organisations that are taking donations:

Japan Society has created a disaster relief fund to aid victims. 100 percent of contributions will go to organizations that directly help victims recover from the devastating effects of the earthquake and tsunamis.

PayPal is giving you the option to donate to several different charities through their website.

Washington DC-based Convoy of Hope is accepting donations. They're providing food and supplies by working with local organisations inside Japan.

A group called Give 2 Asia is accepting donations to support immediate relief and short-term to long-term recovery projects. According to Reuters, they are currently "working with local advisors based in Tokyo to assess the current situation and to obtain more information on the needs of survivors."

Donate directly to the Japan Red Cross here, even if you're abroad.

The American Red Cross is accepting a minimum of $10 to support disaster relief efforts by the group in Japan and affected areas of the Pacific. The Canadian Red Cross also has a special site set up. The British Red Cross and Australian Red Cross are taking donations as well. You can also donate money to the American Red Cross through iTunes.

Global Giving will let you donate on the website or send them a text to contribute funds towards their earthquake and tsunami relief fund.

The Salvation Army are reportedly asking for financial donations and have sent teams from the US to join those already in Japan.

Save the Children has dispatched an international support team to help staff in Japan, and say donations will go to relief efforts.

International Medical Corps has put together teams and supplies to work with partner groups in Japan, and is asking for donations to help throughout the region. They're also accepting donations through Groupon.

Operation USA is looking for financial donations, "bulk quantities of disaster-appropriate supplies", and air mile donations through United Airlines Charity Miles program at www.united.com.

Shelter Box is accepting donations to send relief supplies in to affected areas.

Charity Navigator gives ratings to these organisations and more. Make sure your money goes where it counts!

Within Japan:

Time Out Tokyo, which has been providing fantastic updated via both their website and Twitter throughout the disaster, has the most comprehensive information on how to help from within Japan, including information on donating blood in Tokyo.

Google also has some great information on the disaster at their Crisis Response project page. For some of the best updates, check out Gakuranman's page.

"If the cooling system stops, we could be facing a catastrophe" Nuclear Engineer at FCCJ

Anti-nuclear group, the CNIC (Citizen's Nuclear Information Center) held a press conference on March 13th, at the Foreign Correspondents Press Club (FCCJ) with Masashi Goto, a former Toshiba engineer who designed containment facilities for nuclear reactors. The following piece was contributed to JSRC by a journalist in attendance. The information is provided as background and her conclusions are based on her knowledge and years spent as a reporter in Japan. (In the last decade there have been several incidents of malfeasance and serious problems at nuclear reactors in Japan that were not earthquake related, though most of you already know this.)

The take-away:

"At present, there's not an immediate danger of catastrophe. But if the cooling system stops, we could be facing one."

So the question is, how long before we reach cold shut down?

"It's hard to say for certain…We don't know what is going on inside the plant. No one knows…We cannot know in detail what is happening inside the reactor core.

Asking him after the conference, he said the situation changes day by day, but we could know in a week or so, maybe longer, maybe shorter. Readers, please keep in mind this coming from one source. Granted, he's a very knowledgeable engineer, but he's one source…

BACKGROUND:

Mr. Goto pointed out the main issue of concern is Fukushima Daiichi. There are two sites, with 10 nuclear generators, 7 of which have the risk of nuclear core meltdown. We move closer to that situation with each day, he says, and not enough has been done to prevent these potential risks.

There are two reactors that pose the highest risk right now, Daiichi unit 1 and unit 3. The control rods to stop the sustained fission reaction worked. But in normal circumstances, it takes days to let those isotopes decay and water needs to circulate as normal to cool the system gradually.

But due to the earthquake's magnitude and the tsunami, the cooling systems for the reactors failed. So did the back-up diesel generators that would usually generate enough power to keep the cooling system running.

Faced with this emergency, the government employed an adhoc extreme measure of filling the entire containment vessel with sea water to keep the reactor cool. These containment vessels are already at 1.5x the pressure they are designed to withstand because of the temperature and steam. They can withstand 2x to 5x the amount of pressure they're designed for (depending on the ground conditions on which they are built, etc.).

If the reactors can cool to cold shutdown by continuing this measure of circulating sea water, then we can avert meltdown. (A meltdown is the physical reaction that occurs when the rods get so hot that they melt and that radioactive material mixes with water inside the container causing a 'steam explosion' of radioactive particles.) He said that this is something akin to what happened at Chernobyl. Remember that the explosion we had the other day at Daiichi was a hydrogen explosion, not a steam explosion. Also, steam that is vented is a controlled method of releasing pressure from the container.

The problem we face now is that there has already been some melting of the rods, but they don't know how much. We have already had radioactive material released into the air and more could be released if the cooling down doesn't happen quickly enough (since more contaminated steam will have to be vented) or if other factors complicate the cooling.

I asked him afterward what would be a good time-frame for knowing whether the government's cooling system (using sea water) is a success. Success, remember, is cold shutdown. He said it's hard to tell, perhaps a week, maybe longer.>The situation changes day by day.

EDITOR'S NOTE (JAKE): There is another expert in the field who believes that Japan is in little danger, Dr. Josef Oehmen, a research scientist at MIT in Boston. What he says makes sense to me but on a purely gut level I tend to give Masashi Goto's views on the situation a little more credence, simply because of his actual working experience in Japan.

"If the cooling system stops, we could be facing a catastrophe." Nuclear Engineer at FCCJ on March 13th

The CNIC (Citizen's Nuclear Information Center) held a press conference on March 13th, 7:30 pm at the Foreign Correspondents Press Club (FCCJ) with Masashi Goto, a former Toshiba engineer who designed containment facilities for nuclear reactors. The following piece was contributed to JSRC by a journalist in attendance. The information is provided as background and her conclusions are based on her knowledge and years spent as a reporter in Japan. (In the last decade there have been several incidents of malfeasance and serious problems at nuclear reactors in Japan that were not earthquake related, though most of you already know this.)

The take-away:

"At present, there's not an immediate danger of catastrophe. But if the cooling system stops, we could be facing one."

So the question is, how long before we reach cold shut down?

"It's hard to say for certain…We don't know what is going on inside the plant. No one knows…We cannot know in detail what is happening inside the reactor core.

Asking him after the conference, he said the situation changes day by day, but we could know in a week or so, maybe longer, maybe shorter. Readers, please keep in mind this coming from one source. Granted, he's a very knowledgeable engineer, but he's one source…

BACKGROUND:

Mr. Goto pointed out the main issue of concern is Fukushima Daiichi. There are two sites, with 10 nuclear generators, 7 of which have the risk of nuclear core meltdown. We move closer to that situation with each day, he says, and not enough has been done to prevent these potential risks.

There are two reactors that pose the highest risk right now, Daiichi unit 1 and unit 3. The control rods to stop the sustained fission reaction worked. But in normal circumstances, it takes days to let those isotopes decay and water needs to circulate as normal to cool the system gradually.

But due to the earthquake's magnitude and the tsunami, the cooling systems for the reactors failed. So did the back-up diesel generators that would usually generate enough power to keep the cooling system running.

Faced with this emergency, the government employed an adhoc extreme measure of filling the entire containment vessel with sea water to keep the reactor cool. These containment vessels are already at 1.5x the pressure they are designed to withstand because of the temperature and steam. They can withstand 2x to 5x the amount of pressure they're designed for (depending on the ground conditions on which they are built, etc.).

If the reactors can cool to cold shutdown by continuing this measure of circulating sea water, then we can avert meltdown. (A meltdown is the physical reaction that occurs when the rods get so hot that they melt and that radioactive material mixes with water inside the container causing a 'steam explosion' of radioactive particles.) He said that this is something akin to what happened at Chernobyl. Remember that the explosion we had the other day at Daiichi was a hydrogen explosion, not a steam explosion. Also, steam that is vented is a controlled method of releasing pressure from the container.

The problem we face now is that there has already been some melting of the rods, but they don't know how much. We have already had radioactive material released into the air and more could be released if the cooling down doesn't happen quickly enough (since more contaminated steam will have to be vented) or if other factors complicate the cooling.

I asked him afterward what would be a good time-frame for knowing whether the government's cooling system (using sea water) is a success. Success, remember, is cold shutdown. He said it's hard to tell, perhaps a week, maybe longer. The situation changes day by day.

EDITOR'S NOTE (JAKE): There is another expert in the field who believes that Japan is in little danger, Dr. Josef Oehmen, a research scientist at MIT in Boston. What he says makes sense to me but on a purely gut level I tend to give Masashi Goto's views on the situation a little more credence, simply because of his actual working experience in Japan.

For those in Japan: Protecting yourself from nuclear radiation. What you can do.

It's been reported that Fukushima Daiichi nuclear reactor (福島第一原発)in Fukushima Prefecture has seriously malfunctioned. There are credible Japanese government agency sources saying that there are measurable levels of radioactive particles showing up in Tokyo. Whether that's within a safe range or not, I don't know. It may simply be a very small increase in the risk of cancer, as one person asserts, like smoking a cigarette. The U.S. Seventh Fleet has moved its ships and aircraft away from the quake-stricken Japanese nuclear power plant after discovering low-level radioactive contamination.

Japanese television is reporting that at least three residents among 90 tested showed excess exposure to radiation. If you are in Japan, and the situation worsens, there are some things you can do protect yourself from nuclear radiation. The Centers For Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has a a useful posting here, if the link won't open for you. http://www.bt.cdc.gov/radiation/emerg...

This is the CDC's guide to the use of iodine tablets, which are difficult to find in Japan but they are sold in some stores. Supposedly they are available around many military bases.  In Japanese it's ヨウ化カリウム (potassium iodide). The Japanese government is planning to distribute them close to the reactor area.

If you cannot speak or read Japanese, please show the following photo to the pharmacy close to you and try to find something containing iodine. Use the pills with caution, and only if it appears that you are at risk to exposure. You should take them proactively. I'm not an expert on nuclear radiation, so please read the CDC faq on radiation emergencies before ingesting. It is one of the worst times in Japan and it is bringing out the best in people. Even the yakuza are chipping in, with the Sumiyoshi-kai and Inagawa-kai opening their offices as shelters and sending supplies to the reactor site.

Many stores in Japan also sell emergency supply kits (防災キット）which may or may not contain tablets to deal with radiation poisoning.　Update: This was just posted in the comments but from my limited knowledge of the problem, it's accurate. "It should also be noted that while flooding your system with iodine will minimize absorption of radioactive iodine – which will otherwise be absorbed into your system, emitting radiation that may kill you – this will not prevent you from absorbing radiation in other ways. The CDC page does mention this, but I think it is very important to emphasize it in case people who do not recall their science classes develop the mistaken belief that as long as they take the pill everything is OK."

There is a link to an amateur geiger counter in Tokyo in Koto-ward available here. It was made by a science geek with a kit so its reliability is questionable but it's better than nothing. The normal levels for radiation in Tokyo should be between 10 to 20cpm according to the poster. I think that is the case. As you can see, it's hovering over 12 cpm at the moment. Due to the rolling black-outs in Tokyo the counter may freeze or be inaccessible at some hours. If anyone knows a link to an official geiger counter in Tokyo please post. Thanks to C.Rowan for the link.

Good luck and our best wishes to every one in Japan from all of us at the JSRC. For making donations please see previous post.



iodine tablets for prevention of radiation poisoning. stocked in some pharmacies in Kanagawa Prefecture.

For Those In Japan. Protecting Yourself From Nuclear Radiation. What you can do.

It's been reported that Fukushima Daiichi nuclear reactor (福島第一原発)in Fukushima Prefecture has seriously malfunctioned. Japanese television is reporting that at least three residents among 90 tested showed excess exposure to radiation. If you are in Japan, and the situation worsens, there are some things you can do protect yourself from nuclear radiation. The Centers For Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has a a useful posting here, if the link won't open for you. http://www.bt.cdc.gov/radiation/emerg...
This is the CDC's guide to the use of iodine tablets, which are difficult to find in Japan but they are sold in some stores. If you cannot speak or read Japanese, please show the following photo to the pharmacy close to you and try to find something containing iodine. Use the pills with caution, and only if it appears that you are at risk to exposure. You should take them proactively. I'm not an expert on nuclear radiation, so please read the CDC faq on radiation emergencies before ingesting. It is one of the worst times in Japan and it is bringing out the best in people. Even the yakuza are chipping in, with the Sumiyoshi-kai and Inagawa-kai opening their offices as shelters and sending supplies to the reactor site.
Many stores in Japan also sell emergency supply kits (防災キット）which may or may not contain tablets to deal with radiation poisoning.　Update: This was just posted in the comments but from my limited knowledge of the problem, it's accurate. "It should also be noted that while flooding your system with iodine will minimize absorption of radioactive iodine – which will otherwise be absorbed into your system, emitting radiation that may kill you – this will not prevent you from absorbing radiation in other ways. The CDC page does mention this, but I think it is very important to emphasize it in case people who do not recall their science classes develop the mistaken belief that as long as they take the pill everything is OK."
Good luck and our best wishes to every one in Japan from all of us at the JSRC. For making donations please see previous post.



iodine tablets for prevention of radiation poisoning. stocked in some pharmacies in Kanagawa Prefecture.

Tohoku disaster: How to help

As I'm sure everyone is aware, Japan was hit by a massive M8.8 earthquake off the coast of Sendai on March 11. As aftershocks still rock most of Honshu, the resulting tsunami, fires and explosions have already entrenched many northern prefectures in death and destruction. There are also food, water and electricity shortages throughout many areas in Iwate, Fukushima and Miyagi prefectures.

For those who are interested in contributing to relief and recovery efforts, below are some of the organisations that are taking donations:

The American Red Cross is accepting a minimum of $10 to support disaster relief efforts by the group in Japan and affected areas of the Pacific.

Global Giving will let you donate on the website or send them a text to contribute funds towards their earthquake and tsunami relief fund.

The Salvation Army are reportedly asking for financial donations and have sent teams from the US to join those already in Japan.

Save the Children has dispatched an international support team to help staff in Japan, and say donations will go to relief efforts.

International Medical Corps has put together teams and supplies to work with partner groups in Japan, and is asking for donations to help throughout the region.

Operation USA is looking for financial donations, "bulk quantities of disaster-appropriate supplies", and air mile donations through United Airlines Charity Miles program at www.united.com.

Shelter Box is accepting donations, but I'm not sure if you can donate specifically to relief efforts in Japan or not.

Charity Navigator gives ratings to these organisations and more. Make sure your money goes where it counts!

The Hardest Men In Town: Yakuza Chronicles of Sin, Sex and Violence (Japan Society Yakuza Film Festival Day One): The Yakuza

Today, March 9th, began the first day of the Globus Film Series, Hardest Men in Town: Yakuza Chronicles of Sin, Sex and Violence presented by the Japan Society New York.

Hardest Men In Town: Yakuza Chronicles of Sin, Sex and Violence March 9th-19th, 2001 Japan Society New York

The film festival opened with a bang or rather the swoosh of a 刀(katana/Japanese sword) slashing through the air with the showing of Sydney Pollack's overlooked 1975 classic gangster film, The Yakuza, which starred Toei Yakuza film regular Takakura Ken and film noire/hardboiled action star, Robert Mitchum. "Mitchum, in one of his best roles of the 1970s, is drawn to the Orient by an army buddy (Brian Keith), whose daughter has been kidnapped. But when he gets to Japan, Mitchum finds that her kidnappers are the shadowy Yakuza, the Japanese Mafia–an organization that is as vicious as it is tradition-bound. He must call on friends he made after World War II for favors and finds himself unintentionally trampling on issues of honor, even as he battles for his life and that of the girl he is seeking." (from Amazon.com)

The script was written by Paul Schrader, better known  for writing such classics as Taxi Driver and  Raging Bull. It is probably one of the most unique yakuza films ever made, in which an American and an ex-yakuza form an uneasy alliance. Takakura Ken would later go on to play the stiff, rule-bound but honorable organized crime control division detective in Ridley Scott's Black Rain. In the genre, the only thing that comes close to having the same components is Kitano Takeshi's Brother. (PS. If you can find a copy of the Japanese original version which is 40 minutes longer than the cut released in the west, watch it instead of the US version. It makes it a much better film.)

The tag-line for The Yakuza when released on DVD is an eloquent summary of the yakuza code. "A man never forgets. A man pays his debts."  While the movie is not as close to approaching the realism of 鬼火 (Onibi: The Fire Within) which has its US debut tomorrow (March 10th), it is an amazing film and the sword fighting scenes at the climax are breathtakingly done and some of the tensest action scenes you'll ever see in any film.

After Paul Schrader did the introductions, I was lucky enough to have dinner with him, and Stephen E. Globus who made the event possible. During his prefatory remarks, and before and after dinner, Mr. Schrader shared the story of how he became interested in the yakuza and the background to the film and his other still-banned-in-Japan masterpiece, Mishima, which depicted the life of famous Japanese novelist and late-blooming right-wing idol Mishima Yukio. Mishima committed seppuku aka hara-kiri (ritual self-embowlment) at Japan's Self-Defense base in Ichigaya as his final literary statement. According to Mr. Schrader, he intended to write a final poem with a brush-pen dipped in the blood flowing from his guts. Unfortunately, his subordinate botched the job of lobbing off Mishima's head and other things left that final poem unwritten.

When I was a student at Sophia University in the 90′s, I taught English to one of the doctor's who performed the autopsy of Mishima. He told me that his shoulders had three or four deep cuts where his disciple had clearly missed the target: Mishima's neck. This evening while drinking 男山(Otokoyama/Man-Mountain), my favorite sake, with the screenwriter, Mr. Globus and members of the Japan society, was the first time I ever knew that there was more botched in that final act than just the decapitation. In his closing remarks, Mr. Schrader also noted that originally Takakura Ken had been offered the role of Mishima but politely bowed out later saying obliquely and apologetically, "There are certain forces that do not want me to do this film and as part of that subculture, I must decline."

Schrader's original reason for being interested in the yakuza and film about them came from his brother, who was living in Japan, and wrote him of those amazing Toei studio yakuza films, and the splendor of Japanese life. Schrader expressed his fondness for the rigid rules and politeness of Japanese society, noting, "If I had grown up under those rules, I would have probably hated them. But as a foreigner, I benefit from them but yet am not expected to obey them."  His own daughter was born in Japan in the 80′s on a particularly auspicious day. He hopes someday to be invited to the Tokyo Film Festival but as of yet, since the making of the controversial Mishima and the refusal once of the film festival to show it, he hasn't been invited to Japan as a speaker for any film festival. The reality of the yakuza (and their hold on Japan's film industry) are not the only taboo subjects in Japan.

The Yakuza. Poster for the release in Japan.

Tomorrow, March 10th, I will be lecturing on Yakuza In Popular Media & Real LIfe: Cracks and Chasms from 6:30 pm. This will be followed by the U.S. premiere of the fantastic and very realistic yakuza film, 鬼火 (Onibi: The Fire Within). It was an honor and a pleasure to meet Mr. Schrader who was funny, humble, and even accommodated my request for the obligatory commemorative photo.

Jake Adelstein (Tokyo Vice), Paul Schrader (The Yakuza, Mishima, Taxi Driver), and Motoatsu Sakurai, president of the Japan Society.

(Please notice, that in a bow of respect to Sandra Barron's amazing article on the history of the peace sign in Japan, that I'm making the mandatory V-sign and/or peace gesture.)

Origin of the peace-ies: The history of peace sign/V-sign in Japan

By Sandra Barron for JSRC

It was one of those nightmare commutes. A crowded train finally pulled up to a rush-hour platform, dense with people who'd already been delayed, who were already running late, and were spending this purgatorial time pushed up against piles of equally inconvenienced fellow commuters. The doors opened and more people crushed in, but the train didn't move. After a few agonizing minutes, his stoicism no match for the commuters around him, a JSRC writer gave up on riding this train and decided to document it instead. From the platform, he lifted his camera, bracing for glares from the trapped commuters. Indeed, snapping pictures of people in this state would be a good way to get a face full of one-fingered salutes from the poor saps stuck on the train. He got fingers in his shot – but not the ones he expected: Even under such duress, a bunch of strangers saw a camera pointed at them, and they flashed the peace sign.

Crowded, yay! Sardine-can commuters flash the V-sign.

This was an extreme situation, but not totally surprising. The spontaneous V-sign is as natural to many Japanese people as it is puzzling to visitors. Children seem to start do it as soon as they can control their hands – as evidenced by photos of crying toddlers who find the wherewithal through their tears to raise two little fingers. Kids are the most reliable peace-signers. While many (though certainly not all) adults outgrow the practice, get a bunch of school kids together and you're guaranteed at least as many peace signs as there are uniforms.

A version of the Asahi Shimbun printed for kids, the Asahi Shogakusei Shimbun, went straight to the source and asked elementary school students why they did it. Three of the girls said they did it without thinking. "It's like my hand just moves into that position by itself," one fourth grader said. A sixth-grade girl interviewed said, "If I don't do something with my hands, it's like I'm just standing there."

The legions of kids I used to teach, at least the girls, said they made the sign "kawaiku miseru tame"–to look cute. What about the other gestures the V-sign has morphed into and been accompanied by in snapshots – the double peace sign and the L near the mouth and the twisty sort-of-sideways thumbs up? "To look cute." Okay, then. One of the kids' mothers surveyed said "I do it less as I get older." But people certainly don't stop completely. Photos from Japanese girls' nights out give US gangs a run for their money in number of hand signals raised, and, some men agree that it makes them look cuter. Entrepreneur and Japanese pop-culture purveyor Danny Choo wrote on his site, "I especially like it when the cute girls do a horizontal version of the V-sign next to their eye – kawaii [cute]!"

Winston Churchill wasn't trying to look cute when he made the V for military victory during World War II. In occupied Europe, the V was a symbol of defiance against the occupying forces, and it was chalked on walls flashed as the now-famous hand signal as a show of resistance. It was even played by BBC radio in the form of the letter's Morse code version, dot-dot-dot-dash, followed and echoed by the opening notes of Beethoven's Fifth. Two decades later in America, the V-sign became the counter-culture's well-known anti-war gesture.

How the gesture got so big in Japan remains a bit unclear. It has been variously attributed to post-war GIs in Japan, peaceniks Yoko Ono and John Lennon, an American figure skater, a camera commercial, and 1969 Woodstock festival footage. Jun Inoue, the lead singer in the Beatles-esque group The Spiders is said to have added the V-sign spontaneously during the filming of a Konica TV commercial in 1972. He may have been influenced by seeing American or British youth making the gesture on his previous trips abroad.

Even infamous yakuza hitman, Kunihiro, flashes the peace sign when the cameras flashes. (From Onibi: The Fire WIthin, 1996-Gaga Films). ★Jake will be lecturing on this and other Yakuza films March 10th at the Japan Society New York.

Another theory is that it was American figure skater and anti-war activist Janet Lynn who won over the hearts, minds and fingers of the photographed masses. In the 1972 Sapporo Olympics, she became beloved in Japan both for her artistic performance and for staying upbeat even after she fell on the ice. The theory goes that her frequent showing of the peace sign in subsequent print and TV media coverage in Japan won imitators.

It may not be possible to know which of these was the defining moment that set the template for the innumerable photos that would follow. The most likely answer is that there was no single moment when the official V-sign memo went around Japan. Whichever person or combination of images sparked it, the gesture, now far removed from its original meanings, entered the collective unconscious and there it has stayed. It gives people a way to stand out in photos or to increase group identity by all doing the same thing, suggests anthropologist Masaichi Nomura, quoted in the AsaSho.

It could happen like this. Consider an infant, waving its fingers and accidentally finding the V shape. The parents get excited, grab a camera. One says to the other, "He's making the peace sign!" and they coo and clap and snap away. "Camera plus hand like this equals attention," goes some series of synaptic connections in the infant brain. And thus, perhaps, a new generation of V-signers is born.