I am amazed that almost no one appears to be hammering the politicians and the energy lobby on the real issue: What will we do with the nuclear waste once reactors are decommissioned?

The only country that is trying to solve this problem is Finland. The costs are staggering and make nuclear energy by far the most expensive source of energy.

If you think how governments will have to protect generations to come from that waste for more than 100,000 years, one can see how mind-bogglingly dangerous this is.

Japanese students, generally speaking, are not motivated to attend college abroad mainly because they are not motivated to study or encouraged to work toward higher goals.

I have worked in the Japanese public school system for almost a decade and have noticed a blatant lack of accountability or sense of responsibility from every aspect: the students, the parents and the school. I have seen students come to school and do absolutely nothing, yet graduate to the next grade. I have seen students miss most of the school year, without reason, and still graduate.

The dependence on juku (cram schools) to help them study is a deplorable system that undermines the public school system itself. So, why would a Japanese student leave this secure, welfare state to chance it abroad, where a person is supposed to be independent and self-motivated?

American universities are easy to get into. They are also very difficult to graduate from. What you do with the opportunity to get a proper education determines whether you will later succeed or not.

In the United States, attending university in itself is cause for motivation as a university education opens up doors and opportunities for achieving the American dream. To me, the opposite situation seems to apply in Japan.

I went to my coming-of-age ceremony (for 20-year-olds) Jan. 9. I enjoyed it, but I didn’t feel as if I’d become an adult. The ceremony seemed more like a serious alumni meeting.

What is it to be an adult? Many people tend to answer that it is to become independent from their parents. According to a Japanese dictionary, being an adult means to have prudence and discretion, and a willingness to take responsibility in society. There is no mention of the word “independent.”

So, I don’t think that many adults, including me, have become adults yet. I saw some hecklers during the greetings at the ceremony. If that continues, these ceremonies will be seen as nonsensical. In fact, I’m realizing that it is very difficult to be an adult, but I still want to try to be that person.

The Japan Times Weekly: February 4, 2012
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