Samurai Sword

A katana is a type of Japanese sword (,nihontō), and is often called a "samurai sword." The term katana may be applied to the standard size moderately curved Japanese sword with a blade length of greater than 60 cm (23.6 inches)

The katana is characterized by its distinctive appearance: a curved, slender, single edged blade, circular or squared guard, and long grip to accommodate two hands. It has historically been associated with the samurai of feudal Japan, and has become renowned for its sharpness and cutting ability, to the point that its purported cutting capabilities have reached mythical status.

The katana originated in the Muromachi period (1392–1573) as a result of changing battle conditions requiring faster response times. The katana facilitated this by being worn with the blade facing up, which allowed the samurai to draw and cut their enemy in a single motion. Previously, the curved sword of the samurai was worn with the blade facing down. The ability to draw and cut in one motion also became increasingly useful in the daily life of the samurai

The length of the katana's blade varied considerably during the course of its history. In the late 14th and early 15th centuries, katana blades tended to be between 70 and 73 cm (27.6 and 28.7 inches) in length. During the early 16th century, average length was much closer to 60 cm (23.6 inches), but late in the 16th century, it was again approximately 73 cm (28.7 in)

The authentic Japanese sword is made from a specialized Japanese steel called "Tamahagane". The katana gets its gentle curve from quenching during forging, as it is straight prior to quenching. A process of differential tempering causes martensite to form predominantly in the edge of the blade rather than the back; as the spine has lower retained lattice strain, it cools and contracts, and the blade takes on a gently curved shape.

A coating of clay mixed with ashes and a small portion of rust is applied to every surface but the edge of the blade during hardening. This provides heat insulation so that only the blade's edge will be hardened with quenching.

The hardening of steel involves altering the molecular structure of that material through quenching it from a heat above 1472 Fahrenheit (800 Celsius) (bright red glow), ideally no higher than yellow hot. If cooled slowly, the material will break back down into iron and carbon and the molecular structure will return to its previous state. However, if cooled quickly, the steel's molecular structure is permanently altered. The reason for the formation of the curve in a properly hardened Japanese blade is that iron carbide, formed during heating and retained through quenching, has a lesser density than its root materials have separately.

After the blade is forged it is then sent to be polished. The polish takes between one and three weeks. The polisher uses finer and finer grains of polishing stones until the blade is like glass. This makes the blade extremely sharp and reduces drag making it easier to cut with.

Japanese sword usually refers to the katana (or nihontō), a traditional Japanese sword.

The term may also refer to:
Chisakatana, a shortened katana
Chokutō, a type of straight and (usually) single-edged Japanese sword that dates back to pre-Heian times
Daikatana, a pseudo-Japanese term meaning "large sword"
Dōtanuki, a very thick, long handled sword resembling a katana
Hachiwara, a type of blunt, knife-shaped weapon resembling a jitte
Kodachi, a Japanese sword that is too short to be considered a long sword but too long to be a dagger
Nagamaki, a Japanese weapon popular between the 12th and 14th centuries
Ninjatō, the most common name for the reputed sword a ninja would have carried
Nodachi, a large two-handed Japanese sword
O-katana, a katana slightly longer than a regular katana
Ōdachi, a type of long Japanese sword
Shin gunto, a style of japanese katana designated as part of the uniform for officers of the Imperial Japanese Army from 1934 until the end of World War II
Shinken, a sharp Japanese style sword uses for high level iaido or tameshigiri (cutting) practice
Tachi, a Japanese sword, often said to be more curved and slightly longer than the katana
Tantō, a common Japanese single or, occasionally, double edged knife or dagger with a blade length between 15 and 30 cm
Tsurugi, a Japanese word used to refer to any type of broadsword, or various Chinese heroes' weapons or Chinese swords
Uchigatana, a Japanese blade and predecessor of the katana
Wakizashi, a traditional Japanese sword with a shōtō blade between 30 and 60 cm
Zanbatō, an especially large type of Japanese sword, the historical use of which is completely fictional

Prevent a cyber 26/11

Pic:Ankit Fadia, 23, is a cyber security expert. He helped police trace the email sent by terrorists soon after the 26/11 attacks on Mumbai.

Prevent a cyber 26/11
-by Ankit Fadia
The rising threat of terrorism has led to unprecedented levels of security at Indian airports, railway stations, hotels, ports etc. But the government does not seem to see the bigger threat, which will not come from AK-47s, bombs and rifles. The next big attack will be come from terrorists in the cyber world.

We live in a technologically interconnected world. Most of us cannot imagine even a single day without our cell phones, internet and ATMs. There is hardly any distinction between where our bodies end and technology begins. Would it be surprising then, if terrorists choose to attack India via the internet?

Let me share some facts about how real and damaging that threat can be If a terrorist group were to attack our stock market and financial infrastructure, it would cause widespread panic and losses to millions of people and organizations. Imagine yourself running helplessly from one ATM to another, trying to withdraw money from your account, only to find that the attack has forced banks to suspend online transactions.

Likewise, our telecom infrastructure. If it were flooded with malicious data, business and personal life would grind to a standstill. Terrorists could also target India's top businesses, hacking into their systems, stealing valuable intellectual property, sensitive information and company secrets. Even military networks can be targeted.

These scenarios are not from a Bollywood flick, but tangible threats that loom large. In May 2007, Estonia — a small but technologically sophisticated Baltic country — fell victim to a cyber attack. The unidentified terrorists bombarded the country's network with data traffic, clogging it and rendering major services unusable. People were not able to access financial utilities, communications and data services for several hours and some, for days together. What stops cyber terrorists from launching similar attacks in India?

Very little because, despite being an infotech power, India lags on cyber security. Neither the government, nor the private sector is adequately prepared to face a cyber attack. We have the necessary laws in place, but they are futile in the absence of trained security experts and police officials to enforce them. Recently, I was at a conference in the Capital, attended by numerous Delhi Police officials. During the question-answer session, one police official asked me: "All this is fine Mr Ankit, but yeh internet ki building kidhar hai?" According to him, the internet was a huge building and, in order to protect it from cyber terrorists, the police had simply to stand all around it, holding rifles and lathis to fight off viruses, worms and criminals! If this is the state of affairs in the police department of the national capital, one can't even begin to imagine the way it is in other cities.

The fact that few engineering colleges in India offer courses on cyber security is a major reason for the lack of cyber experts. The result is that when a private company website gets hacked, the incident is brushed under the carpet lest its brand image is tarnished. Worse, it's considered normal for most Indian government websites to get hacked regularly.

But the lack of trained professionals and a lax attitude are the least of India's concerns. The internet has no boundaries and allows cyber terrorists to hide behind geographic, political and diplomatic clouds. It is easy for a criminal to hide behind proxy servers and bounce off systems in unfriendly countries to stop security agencies from tracing the culprits. The dynamic nature of cyber security, coupled with the obsolete techniques used by the Indian forces, means it is a losing battle for India.

Let's not wait for a cyber 26/11 to happen. A willingness to make changes, a proactive approach with some nimble execution can fix the chinks in India's cyber security and drastically improve our preparedness to fight a cyber war.

Real-life spy thriller in cyberspace

Real-life spy thriller in cyberspace

By: Eric Auchard, a Reuters columnist. The opinions expressed are his own –

Once in a while a good computer security scare comes along that has all the makings of a taut Cold War spy thriller and the latest news of a global computer espionage ring is one such story.

A new report entitled “Tracking GhostNet: Investigating a Cyber Espionage Network,” argues that poorly defended computers used by government and private organizations in 103 nations may have been violated. The study has attracted widespread media attention after a New York Times story about it at the weekend.

The study by a group of activist researchers based in Toronto called “Information Warfare Monitor” says computers in various foreign ministries, embassies and Taiwanese trade groups have been pilfered by computers located at a Chinese government intelligence center on the island of Hainan. A computer in the private offices of the Dalai Lama was infected and e-mail lists and negotiating documents were stolen using a virus that “phoned home” to its controller, it alleges.

Data retrieved in the attacks appears to have been used to rein in Tibetan critics of China. But the report has trouble pinning the theft of computer secrets back to the Chinese government. It is also unclear how much information of value was gathered, outside a handful of instances. It conflates evidence of sniffing with acts of actual snooping.

A spokesman for China’s Foreign Ministry has dismissed the report’s claims as rumor and said his government was committed to protecting Internet security. “There’s a ghost abroad called the Cold War and a virus called the China threat,” ministry spokesman Qin Gang told a news conference.

In fairness, the researchers acknowledge up front that its findings raise more questions than answers and that it is “not clear whether the attacker(s) really knew what they had penetrated, or if the information was ever exploited for commercial or intelligence value.” It says that proving who is responsible for cyber attacks remains a major challenge — what experts refer to as the “attribution problem.”

The report was conducted at the request of the office of the Dalai Lama and Tibetan exile organizations, who have long accused the Chinese government of using cyber war to disrupt their activities. It describes the sophisticated techniques used to infiltrate the computers of the offices of the Tibetan government-in-exile. But the connections it draws to a wider global spy ring are sketchy. Some of the break-ins may be explained by shoddy computer maintenance.

In cyberliterature, the bad guys, typically unknown, break into vital government, military, banking or political organizations and cause immeasurable damage or steal uncounted billions of dollars. Throw in contemporary geopolitical rivalries and references to the latest techno-jargon and the formula is more or less complete.

To be sure, international computer security experts have seen the hand of Chinese hackers in growing number of computer intrusions around the world in recent years. The global scale combined with the sophisticated targeting of specific computers by GhostNet make most efforts at wiretapping government opponents scrawny by comparison.

But China is not alone among major world governments in viewing cyber warfare as a tenet of national security. To an unknown degree, for example, the United States, Israel and Britain snoop not just on their enemies but also their critics.

The problem with much of the writing about computer security is that it conflates basic issues of computer hygiene with diabolical threats to society or the economy. In the virtual world, teenage vandalism of web sites blurs into acts of terror. Police and government officials don’t help by painting the Internet’s inherent tension between openness and security as a danger to public safety.

15 Things NOT to Say to Your Boss

15 Things NOT to Say to Your Boss
-By Craig Segal


Are you professional and work-savvy in the office?

Do you know how to work effectively with your superiors?If you’re not sure how to answer, here are 15 tips on what NOT to say to your boss.


Inadvertently, or within a heated conversation, we often say things to the boss that we know we will have second thoughts about on that long walk back to our cubicle.


Maybe we forget that it's the boss we're even talking to, or that bosses have strong powers of recall and that small words can leave lasting impressions. Below we offer sage advice from
Ken Scott, an executive coach with Axmith, a Canadian career-development firm, and Karen Coe of TMP Worldwide Executive Search on what NOT to say to the boss if you want to be around for the company picnic next summer.

It's not my problem.
When a problem in the business or within the team is identified that is not in your direct area but does concern your boss, bring your ideas and capacity to contribute when you can.

Silence.
Saying nothing to the boss is just not helpful. Bosses expect input,information and ideas.

It can't be done or It's always been done this way.
Make an effort to find out how it could be done. Help your boss to better define what he or she is looking for.

Want to know what my boss just did…?
Saying something behind your boss's back that you have not already said to his face invites future trouble should the grapevine make it to his ears.

I'm happy where I am or I'm comfortable.
Often such statements come from folks who are not willing to try a new assignment or in response to, "If you could, what would you change about your job?"

I'm too busy to take new training.
Anyone who wants to succeed needs to continually balance the urgent (what's needed today)with the less urgent (what will be needed in the future).

I need a bigger title.
In today's organizations, contribution and value to the business is not a direct reflection of title. Produce results first. Seek status last.

I don't do overtime.
Professionals who are managing their careers do not count hours but invest in themselves and in training by learning more about the business and the customers. It’s often in the unofficial hours that conversations and information essential to relationships and planning occur.

I only know the people in my department.
No man is an island. It’s essential to know who the key leaders are in the enterprise, their driving philosophies and key measures, and how your team links to them. Everyone has a customer or is serving the customer.

It’s my turn for a promotion.
Entitlement is antique in corporate life. What you contribute, your unique skills and your ability to work with the business at all levels earn advancement.Time in the chair or waiting in line does not count.

Ask someone else.
When you are approached for an opportunity or request, pull together ideas even if you cannot come up with them yourself; be a bridge to the solution, not a stop sign.

I booked my vacation
for those days and cannot change it. Most bosses want to accommodate subordinates with
time off, since fresh and recharged employees do their best work. However the reality today is that companies need flexibility to meet circumstances that do not always fit a personal calendar of preferences, such as mergers, new product releases, etc.

I've got nothing new to report.
Staying too quiet about what you are working on can signal your boss that you are not engaged. Employers appreciate innovation and improvements in efficiency.

Yes, but I was having a bad day.
Making excuses when you're confronted about a mistake only makes you look like a whiner.Own up to a mistake and reassure your boss it won't happen again.

Technology is not my thing.
The world of technological tools and processes that enable us to become more efficient will continue to change the way we all work. Be a willing and proactive learner and be prepared to show others.

Kwangmyongsong(Bright Star)

Kwangmyŏngsŏng (meaning "Bright Star" in Korean) is a class of experimental satellite developed by North Korea and named after a Chinese-language poemby Kim Il-sung. It is the first class of satellite built by this country and the program started in the 1980s.


PIC:Kim Il-sung

According to North Korea Academy of Science's Academician Kwon Tong-hwa,the SLV was developed in the 1980s when the late leader Kim Il-sung decided to launch a Korean satellite. At the beginning of the 1990s, the capacity to achieve this goal was already reached.

On occasion of Kim Jong-il's 50th birthday, on February 16, 1992, his father Kim Il-sung presented him with a Chinese calligraphed poem he had written.Referring to his son's birth, an event that was reportedly marked by a doublerainbow and a bright star in the sky, the future Korean SLV and satellite wouldbe named after it:

From the eternal snowy summit of our sacred Paektusan Mountain,A Bright Star shall rise.—DPRK President Kim Il-sung

PIC:Kim Jong-il

The decision to send a North Korean satellite was precipitated by the successfullaunch of South Korea's first satellite, Uribyol 1 aka Kitsat 1 aka Oscar 23 aka KO 23, on August 10, 1992[3] and its second satellite, Uribyol 2 aka Kitsat 2 akaOscar 25 aka KO 25, on September 26, 1993[4], both by an European Ariane 4 SLV.In a late-1993 meeting of the Korean Workers' Party Central Committee, Kim Il-sung expressed his desire to quickly place a satellite into orbit, leading to the expansionof North Korea's nascent space program and the requirement for a space launch vehicle

In designing the Kwangmyŏngsŏng-1, North Korea received considerable assistance from the China's Academy of Launch Technology. This assistance has continued with the developmentof the Kwangmyŏngsŏng-2 satellite project. It may also extend to additional satellites,including a crude reconnaissance satellite.

Only five years later, preparations for the first satellite launch began at the Musudan-ri Launch Facility on August 7, 1998. Two weeks later, Korean People's Navy vessels proceeded to their mission area into the Sea of Japan (East Sea of Korea). By that time, South Korea had already placed two other satellites into space with Delta-7925 SLVs, Koreasat 1 aka Mugunghwa 1 aka Europe Star B, on August 5, 1995, and Koreasat 2 aka Mugunghwa 2 on January 14, 1996.

The mission was planned with an initial evening launch window that was favorable for observation. After a weather forecast predicted heavy winds and rain on the evening of the first launch window in question, the decision was then taken to delay the launch until 12:07 when the weather had cleared.

Liftoff occurred at 12:07 hours local time on August 31. The first stage was separated from the rocket 95 seconds after the launch. The fairing shroud separated at the 144th second, then the second stage separated itself from the rocket at the 266th second. North Korea claimed that the third stage put the satellite into orbit 27 seconds after the separation of the second stage.

Kwangmyŏngsŏng-2 is a planned North Korean satellite. According to the North Korean government,it is scheduled for launch between 4 and 8 April 2009, on an Unha-2 carrier rocket. If it reaches orbit, North Korea will become the tenth country to successfully launch a satellite. South Korea,Japan and the U.S. suspect the launch will be used for tests of the delivery technology for a long-range missile Taepodong-2

The launch was first publicly announced on 24 February 2009, when the Korean Central News Agency reported that they had been informed by the Korean Committee of Space Technology that preparations for a satellite launch were underway, and that the satellite would be launched from the Tonghae Satellite Launching Ground in Hwadae. At about the same time, Kim Jong-il visited the province where the launch site is located, as he had immediately prior to the previous launch on 4 July 2006.

North Korea designated the waters off Japan's Akita and Iwate prefectures as a risk zone for falling debris. Most of a designated zone in the Sea of Japan lies within Japan's exclusive economic zone and outside its territorial waters.

April 4. 2009 Juche 98--KOREAN NEWS

DPRK(Democratic People's Republic of Korea) to launch Its Satellite Soon
Pyongyang, April 4 (KCNA) -- Preparations for launching "Kwangmyongsong-2," an experimental communications satellite, by carrier rocket "Unha-2" have been completed at the satellite launching ground in the east coastal area of the DPRK, according to the information available from the Korean Committee of Space Technology.

The satellite will be launched soon.There is no change in the technological indexes necessary for the safe navigation of airliners and ships provided to the international organizations and the countries concerned in advance.

Young people see future in farming in Japan

Pic:Masachika Ogihara, who works the land in Nagano Prefecture, is starting up
a magazine to spread the word about young farmers

Enthusiasm growing for a career commonly seen as a dead end
Masachika Ogihara once dreamed of becoming an engineer, but now he's convinced he made the right choice to be a farmer — a career the 29-year-old sees as having a huge potential for growth contrary to the common notions

"Farming is exciting and cool. A lot of money can be made if you are creative enough," said Ogihara, who manages about 65 hectares of paddies and fields in Nagano Prefecture. "But not many people know this."

That may be so, but there are signs of budding interest in farming, especially among young people. And it isn't necessarily because a long economic winter appears to have set in.
Farming has suffered from a negative image over much of the past half century, a period in which the economy grew mainly on the back of a successful manufacturing sector.

Farming has often been portrayed as ailing, unprofitable and wearisome, among other things.
It is nothing out of the ordinary for lawmakers and government officials to lament the aging workforce, noting that about 60 percent of the nation's commercial farmers are over 65.
But what shouldn't be overlooked is that the percentage includes the people who farm as a side business.

When it comes to the 1 million so-called business farmers, who draw more than 50 percent of their income from crops, about 70 percent are under age 65, according to the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry.

A ministry study found that nearly 10,000 people 29 and younger started farming careers in 2007, of which about 2,200 were women.

Whether these numbers are large enough or too small remains to be seen, but the future of farming does not appear to be all doom and gloom.

Although the number of commercial farmers has fallen to about 3 million from a peak of about 15 million in 1960, the supply of domestic agricultural and livestock products hasn't changed much. This means per capita productivity is five times better.

It is also becoming more common for people who used to work in different industries to enter agriculture as a career, even before the financial crisis swept the globe last year.

Susumu Tanaka, 37, who used to make a fortune in the financial sector, is one of many who believe farming has good prospects.

After working at a Japanese bank and a foreign insurance company for 10 years, Tanaka turned to farming and set up his own company, Salad Bowl, in Chuo, Yamanashi Prefecture, in 2004.
"Like any other industry, farmers who use their brains and have the ability to supply good products are capable of rapidly expanding their operations," Tanaka said. "It's as simple as that."
Protection in the agriculture sector from stiff market competition means there is room for growth for him and other entrepreneurial-minded farmers, he said.

Salad Bowl's farmland has increased from 0.6 hectare to 9 hectares in the last five years, with eight people between the ages of 19 and 32 currently working there to grow about 30 kinds of vegetables.

Tanaka also formed a nonprofit organization in 2005 to run an agriculture school on the farm.
"Until I started my business, I was not aware so many young people were hoping to engage in agriculture," he said. "A weak point of the sector is a lack of practical training programs for those wishing to be farmers."

The school has been teaching the basics to about 100 students a year.

Nahoko Takahashi, 27, who grows rice and vegetables in Murayama, Yamagata Prefecture, has been training female university students for two years.Giving them the opportunity to experience the pleasure of farming has reinforced her belief that women can play a big role in changing the industry's image.
This spring, Takahashi will launch a "young women's only farm."

"Women are sensitive to the latest trends. I think we can breathe new life into agriculture," said Takahashi, who will run the new farm with "nice-looking girls" and take advantage of this branding strategy when selling their products in Tokyo.

To start with, she has secured a hectare of land to grow sweet tomatoes in five different colors — orange, yellow, red, green and black — and rice. She plans to use herbal medicines as fertilizer, the latest thing in farming.

As part of efforts to give added impetus to the changing environment, Ogihara, the young farmer in Nagano who also serves as head of the National Liaison Council of Rural Youth Clubs, is getting ready to publish a stylish farming magazine targeting readers under 35.

Japan gives cash to jobless foreigners to go home

Japan is offering $3,000 for a plane ticket home to some foreigners who have lost their jobs, a sign of just how bad the economic slump has gotten.

The program, which began Wednesday, applies only to several hundred thousand South Americans of Japanese descent on special visas for factory work. The government's motivation appears to be three-fold: help the workers get home, ease pressure on the domestic labor market and potentially get thousands of people off the unemployment rolls.

"The program is to respond to a growing social problem," said Hiroshi Yamashita, an official at the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, referring to joblessness, which has climbed to a three-year high of 4.4 percent.

But there may not be too many takers for the 300,000 yen ($3,000) handout, plus 200,000 yen ($2,000) for each family member. The money comes with strings attached: The workers cannot return to Japan on the same kind of visa.

Given Japan's strict immigration laws, that means most won't be able to come back to work in Japan, where wages are higher than in Latin America.

"It is not necessarily a totally welcome deal," said Iwao Nishiyama, of the Association of Nikkei & Japanese Abroad, a government-backed organization that connects people of Japanese ancestry.
The government's offer -- as well as the backdrop of history that has given birth to a vibrant community of South Americans of Japanese ancestry here -- highlight this nation's complex views on foreigners and cultural identity.

Many Japanese consider their culture homogenous, even though there are sizeable minorities of Koreans and Chinese, as well as Ainu, the indigenous people of northern Japan.

In the early 1990s, Tokyo relaxed its relatively tight immigration laws to allow special entry permits for foreigners of Japanese ancestry in South America to make up for a labor shortage at this nation's then-booming factories.

They took the so-called "three-K" jobs, standing for "kitsui, kitanai, kiken" -- meaning "hard, dirty, dangerous" -- jobs Japanese had previously shunned.

Before their arrival, many such jobs had gone to Iranians and Chinese. But the government saw their influx -- much of it illegal -- as a problem and was eager to find a labor pool it felt would more easily adapt to Japanese society, said Nishiyama of Japanese Abroad association.
So by virtue of their background, these foreigners of Japanese descent -- called "Nikkei" in Japanese -- were offered special visa status.

"They may speak some Japanese, and have a Japanese way of thinking," Nishiyama said. "They have Japanese blood, and they work hard."

The workers are mainly descendants of Japanese who began emigrating to Latin America around the turn of the last century.

Brazil has the biggest population of ethnic Japanese outside Japan, numbering about 1.5 million. Last year marked the 100th year of Japanese immigration to Brazil. Initially many ventured to toil in coffee plantations and other farms.

Brazilians are the most numerous of such foreigners in Japan, totaling about 310,000 overall in 2007, the latest tally available. Peruvians are next at 59,000. Those from other South American nations were fewer at 6,500 Bolivians, 3,800 Argentineans and 2,800 Colombians.

Nearly all work manufacturing jobs, many through job referral agencies. Major companies, like Toyota Motor Corp., have relied on contract employees to keep a flexible plant work force.
Foreign workers in Japan are entitled to the basic unemployment and other benefits that Japanese workers get. Though rates vary, Japan provides about 7,000 yen ($70) a day in unemployment -- which would equal about $2,100 per month.

Still, Nikkei are sometimes victims of discrimination in Japan, as they are culturally different and aren't always fluent in Japanese. As a result, many have had a hard time blending into Japanese society.Now, as the economy worsens, many find themselves out of jobs.

The government doesn't track the number of jobless foreigners, but the number of foreigners showing up at government-run centers for job referral has climbed in recent months to 11 times the previous year at more than 9,000 people, according to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.

Overall, the government estimates that some 192,000 temporary workers who had jobs in October, including Japanese, are expected to be jobless by June. Experts fear such numbers are growing.

In addition to the handout offer the government is also helping Nikkei find jobs in Japan.
"These are like two sides of the same effort to assist people of Japanese ancestry," said Yamashita of the labor ministry.

Tokyo has already allocated 1.08 billion yen ($10.9 million) for training, including Japanese language lessons, for 5,000 foreign workers.

Fausto Kishinami, 32, manager at a Brazilian restaurant in Oizumimachi, a city with a large Japanese-Brazilian population, said none of his friends are applying for the government money because of the no-return condition.

"I don't think people should take that money," he said, adding that he hasn't gone home in eight years, and is focused on his work in Japan.

Some 20 percent to 30 percent of the South American foreigners of Japanese ancestry are estimated to have already returned home, said Nishiyama. They have paid their own way back and may return, once a recovery brings fresh opportunities, he said.