Acts by Concordia's cowardly captain may sink the entire cruise industry

 

Cowardly act by Costa Concordia's captain
threatens to sink the entire cruise industry.

Shock and awe and a horrible sick feeling in the pit of my stomach is what I feel as I watch events unfold in the sinking of the Costa Concordia.

Has there ever been a more cowardly act than the one committed by the Concordia's captain, Francesco Schettino?

Hanging is too good for this bastard!

Just a few weeks ago, I was on a cruise ship in the Caribbean and now I wonder: What would my captain have done had his ship run aground and capsized?

The Concordia's cowardly captain has now cast doubt on all his colleagues.

And the immediate aftermath is not good for the cruise industry.

According to a poll conducted by SodaHead.com in the days right after the Concordia sinking, 26 per cent of the 1,000 people polled say they are now "less likely" to take a cruise in light of the Costa incident.

To put that in perspective, SodaHead.com says the 26 per cent negative response (based on the 18.8 million people who took a cruise in 2011) represents 4.9 million of last year's cruisers who may not take a cruise this year.

This kind of negative publicity and doubt now cast over the competence of captains and crew could sink the cruise industry, which contributes $18 billion (U.S.) and accounts for 176,000 jobs annually in south Florida alone.

Carnival, which owns the Costa cruise line, has watched helplessly this week as its stock dropped to record lows. And the free fall is not over - estimates of legal damage alone is nearing the $1 billion mark and confidence in Carnival's product line will be suspect for a long time to come.

The cruise industry, because of its emphasis on safety and security, was able to ride out the fallout of 9/11 and other terrorist events. But the Concordia sinking may change all that. The industry, as a whole, must weed out cowards like Captain Schettino - forever known as Captain Coward - and persuade people that when accidents happen - as they always will - that competent, trustworthy people are looking after their best interests.

How the cruise industry rides this storm out depends on how well Carnival handles the Concordia incident.

Tokyo subway is a cheap thrill ride

Tokyo's Metro makes it easy to get around this amazing city.

TOKYO – Like most Asian subway systems, Tokyo’s Metro is clean, safe, inexpensive to use and very efficient.

Known here as the “Wonderground”, Tokyo’s underground network whisks you to the city’s iconic landmarks and tourist attractions in just a few minutes.

Getting a ticket to ride the Metro is easy enough – the ticket machine switches to English at the push of a button and the step-by-step instructions are the easiest this long-time traveller has ever seen. Once on the subway, station calls are given in both Japanese and English.

The distance you travel determines the fare – the major lines within the city centre cost about $2 Cdn. for a one-way ride and the most I paid during my visit this week was about $4 to go from one end of this sprawling city to another.

When exiting the stations, it’s important to take note of where you want to go – sign posts at every station indicate the exit that’s closest to the tourist attraction, hotel or neighbourhood you want to visit.

One car on every subway train is for “women only” – Japanese men are notorious gropers and city authorities decided to give females a place where they can feel safe and secure.

On a recent visit to Taiwan, I was amazed at how courteous Taipei subway passengers are to each other – waiting passengers form a line to the left of the door and wait for every passenger to exit the subway car before entering. Tokyo commuters are not so polite and it takes a few days to get the hang of their routine. However, trains pause for a long time at each station, so there’s no need to rush the entrance.

Overall;, considering the cost of taxis and the traffic congestion in Tokyo, taking the subway is the only way to get around this amazing, fast-paced city.

Japan's population is shrinking

Japanese are having fewer children
and with the population aging, the
country's population is dropping rapidly.

TOKYO - One interesting trend I'm hearing and reading about while travelling through Japan this week is that the country's population is dropping drastically because of the its rapidly aging population and decreasing birthrate.

Japan's current population of 120 million is expected to drop to 100 million in the next few years because of the higher death rates due to aging - Japan has one of the oldest populations on Earth - and a birthrate that now stands at 0.8 per cent - one of the lowest in the world.

According to the people I've been speaking to, women are waiting longer before having children thanks to new opportunities being offered in the workplace to females in this still male-dominated society, and when couples do have families, most limit it to one child due to the rising cost of education and housing here.

While the Japanese remain the healthiest population on the planet, many elderly are now well into their 80s and the natural dying process is occurring at a faster rate among that group.

Population growth has always been a concern in land challenged Japan and while the decrease in population may relieve overcrowding in cities like Tokyo, the concern is that Japan, because of its tight immigration laws, won't have enough skilled labourers in the future to keep up the country's economic engine running smoothly.

The things you learn when you talk to people in a sushi restaurant!

Turning 20 in Japan is kids play

Young women celebrate their advancement into
adulthood by dressing in traditional kimonos.

KYOTO, JAPAN – I was looking to snap a picture of someone wearing a traditional Japanese kimono when I turned a corner and spotted literally thousands of kimono-clad girls walking towards me.

I’ve hit pay dirt, I thought, as the army of kimono girls eagerly posed for the stranger; some pushing others out of the way to get their chance to be photographed.

It was one of the most unusual sights I’ve ever seen but it’s an annual event every January in Japan – all part of Adult Day ceremonies when the country’s 20 year olds celebrate their passing into adulthood and become of legal voting and drinking age.

Adult Day actually kicks off a five-day festival throughout the country and this ancient city’s neighbourhoods hold street parties, highlighted by food fairs, to help celebrate the event.

For their part, the 20 year olds dress up in colourful kimonos and parade around the streets; creating traffic jams when people stop and wish them well or ask them to pose for pictures.

No expense is spared on Adult Day – parents fork over large sums of yen to buy or rent the traditional kimonos and beauty salons fill up early as the young men and women get their hair arranged for the big day; which usually stretches well into the night with the “legal drinkers’ stumbling out of the bars in the city’s renowned Gion (Geisha) District in the wee hours of the morning.

Turning 20 in Japan looks like child’s play to me.

Kids get kicks at karate ceremony

Boys and girls stand in bone-chilling Kyoto river as part of Karate training.

KYOTO, JAPAN – You see the strangest things while walking around the streets of this imperial city with the 1,400 year history.

Kids very young take part in event.

For instance, while strolling around Kyoto’s Arashiyama District – a tourist area located 25 minutes by cab from the city centre which once served as cottage country for royal courts when Kyoto was Japan’s national capital – I was distracted by the sight of dozens of youngsters clad only in white pajamas standing in the frigid waters of the Oigawa River.

Intrigued, I ventured over and discovered the pajamas were actually karate uniforms and the kids were being baptized, so to speak, as part of their training regime.

The “baptismal” ceremony is carried out every January and those who can last one hour in the ice-cold river, which is fed by the snow capped mountains which ring this beautiful area, you get a passing grade.

While standing in the water, the kids carry out exercises like kicking and punching and most of them seemed to be having a good time.

Kids as young as 4 years old were being persuaded by their parents and coaches to enter the frigid water but some were having reservations and expressed their displeasure with some loud cries.

Smiles greet visitors coming to Japan

The Japanese finally have reason to smile again.

KYOTO, JAPAN – Smiles - lots of smiles.

That’s what I’m seeing on the faces of the lovely people as I tour this resilient country that is finally recovering from the 1-2 punch Mother Nature delivered last year - first an earthquake and then a devastating tsunami.

After a year of staggering from the physical and mental scars left from those overwhelming events, the Japanese are beginning to smile again.

They smile at the tourists like me who are finally returning to this sacred land of temples and traditions – foreigners are actually coming back much faster than anyone expected, according to data released by world tourism bodies.

They smile because their officials are again providing the necessities of life after a year of rationing electricity.

They smile at the outpouring of concern and love nations like Canada provided after so many lives were swept away in an instant.

“No pay – I thank you,” says the server in a Kyoto restaurant who refuses to take payment for the coffee I order – she spots the Canadian Maple Leaf on my jacket and wants to repay Canada’s kindness it showed this country last March when the tragic events took place.

It’s never easy to get tourists to return to countries where political upheaval or natural disasters occur. But Japan appears to bucking that trend because foreign tourists are eager to show their support to this nation, which has suffered so much in the last 100 years.

I know I haven’t stopped smiling at the wonders I’ve seen since arriving here.