Where’s the Buzz :G8 Summit -What bothered Japanese Most?

July 9th, 2008 by Apurba Sen

Filed under behavior, global warming, Japan, search, where's the buzz

Image Source :BBC UK

The curtain came down on G8 summit in the picturesque Lake Toya, Japan. Global Warming was the most contentious topic at the summit – on which the 8 global leaders pledged to halve greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.This surprisingly lacks targeted promise for action to evaluate the progress in the medium term. 2050 – A time frame by then all the current leaders will be long gone & the current generation will probably be gone. Is that what bothered Japanese most??

Yahoo ! Japan search log reports the surge in “Summit Lake Toya” query & reveals the Top 10 most searched keyword related to G8.

“Summit Lake Toya,” the second word Rankings:

1.Schedule (opening day, period) / ??????????
2.Traffic regulation / ????
3.Subject (theme) / ???????
4.Participating countries / ???
5.Hotel / ???
6.Patrol / ??
7.Pachinko / ????
8.wiki
9.Commemorative coin / ????
10.Meeting place / ??

Tokyo traffic can be crazy & frustrating as well. Search for possible traffic congestation areas seems much like a local ramification of a global meet.

Whats surprising here is “Pachinko” , a Japanese pin ball gaming device ,commanding around 40 % of Japan’s leisure industry. However the unexpected connection of “Patrol” & “Pachinko” is -whenever new machines are installed at a pachinko parlor in exchange for old, the police inspect them one by one to ensure they meet regulations. Due to shortage of police officers who were diverted to security assignments for the G8 Summit, pachinko parlor operators decided to “refrain” from installing new gaming machines.

Meanwhile 9th place “Commemorative Coins” are ¥500 and ¥1,000 commemorative coins to be minted over the next eight years.The pure-silver ¥1,000 coin shows Lake Toya and Japanese cranes, the symbolic bird of Hokkaido, in connection with G8 Hokkaido Toyako Summit. A total of 100,000 coins will be put on the market from July at ¥6,000 each. The ¥500 coin features Lake Toya and the former Hokkaido Government Office Building.

The first set of coins were presented to G8 delegates to raise their awareness about environmental problems.Some breath of relief – may be thats Japanese way of reminding our Global leaders on Global warming!

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