I had to fly over to Shanghai for business at the end of March. It was since last June. It is very convenient for me to go to Shanghai at Haneda Airport because I live in Yokohama. However, it is not easy to reserve the cheap round trip ticket from Haneda to Shanghai in short notice. Therefore, the ticket was irregular to leave at Haneda and to return to Narita. I arrived at Hongqiao Airport early afternoon and went to the office in downtown. The highway was a traffic jam even at 2 pm. The cars tried to cut into the line to strive to be first for going than others. There seems the delicate anticipation of the other car’s move in cutting into the line. The other car seems to be allowed to drive before them if the car would intercept quickly dozens of centimeters before them. They are not like Japanese drivers. In Japan cutting into the line as a crime of conscience is not acceptable but they don’t warn the other driver to stop cutting into the line with many horns. Some drivers seem to drive first like a water strider by changing the line quickly. They could easily make the line of 5th or 6th on the 4 lane road. The merging section on the highway is always thrilling. Cars try to cut into the line if there is a space. Some of them drive over the two lanes so that they could easily change the lane but it has caused congestion. However, most drivers seem to be patient for congestion. They would not get mad for such lane cutters in the highway like Japanese who easily get mad for a bad manner driver. They are quite cool. It would be surprising to see no accidents. As a result, it took one and half hours for usually taking30 minutes distance by car. The traffic congestion in the highway seems to be worse and worse every year. As far as driver’s manner is concerned the drivers on the ordinary street would be worse. They would drive on the opposite lane without showing embarrassment. There were many cars to use the lay by of the bus stop to pass other cars. Horns is to terrify the walkers to give them way. The wail of the siren of an ambulance and patrol car were heard all day long. I am afraid that the city of Shanghai will get stuck with the full of cars in the near future. I was often scared stiff by the walkers’ manner. There were a few walkers who neglect the traffic signal. The drivers could not feel at rest at the intersection even with the signal. There were roads with a batch of bicycles and a few cars early 1990s and I experienced to cross the road timidly but steadily with closing my eyes as suggested at that time. Incredibly bicycles and cars stopped to the very limit. However, I could not recommend doing so now. To my impression China seems to have jumped into the motorization era without experiencing the enough motorcycle era after bicycle era. My friend who lives in Shanghai more than 5 years said that China has been progressing gradually. I also realize that China has been changing in a good sense. It will be the matter of time that Chinese people would be more progressive and they would acquire good sense and manners in due course.
The number of the car production in China is 18.5 million cars in 2011 which has been recorded No. 1 in the world for 3 years on end. 4.75 million cars for Japan and 12.77 million cars for USA. China has been in the midst of motorization. It is said that China would record more than 20 million cars in 2012. The streets in China would be just like the trade fair site of cars exhibited by the car makers in the world. I am convinced that Japan would be more prosperous with China if we should support China to grow.
Container makers in China have been growing lively these days. Their production has been occupied till June. Container price has been raised to $2,500 level per 20f. However, container makers seem to be cautious in increasing the production capacity. Their main orders have been made by the leasing companies. Not many shipping lines could afford to acquire containers by themselves. Therefore, they try to manage the demand in summer season by long terms lease. Therefore, the long term rate seems to have increased by 25% in the past one month. Container price has been in uptrend due to increasing oil, material, labor cost and so on plus adjustment of production by makers. Shipping lines have been successful in raising the freight rate because of restructuring the alliances, reducing the slot space and supported by recovery of cargo movement. So March slot consumption ratio exceeded over 95% in the trade of Europe as well as USWC and USEC. The raise of the freight rate will be carried on in May. As a result, Japanese lines will aim at making profit for the current term under the recovery of 2nd half of the year.
There was a sequel to my business trip to Shanghai. My flight was planned to leave at 5 pm from Shanghai Pudong Airport on March 31 (Sat) and to arrive at Narita at 8:55 pm. But the airplane was delayed almost 2 hours due to the spring storm attacked Narita/Tokyo area at the first time this year so that my flight was postponed at 7:20 pm. I had been consequently kept waited more than 4 hours at the airport. However, the airplane actually left Pudong Airport near at 8 pm. The airplane was considered to change the destination to Haneda because Narita is prohibited at leaving and arriving after 11 pm but it safely arrived at 11:04 at Narita Airport. According to in-flight announcements the airline will pay all passengers JPY10,000 per person as the trouble fee to take care of ourselves because there was no traffic such as train, bus service except taxi after 11 pm in Narita Airport. It took half an hour to get JPY10,000 after immigration. United Airline seemed to be delayed at the same time so that there were many passengers(almost all were foreigners) at the lobby wearing the sleeping bag supplied free of charge by Narita Airport. I thought it was not bad idea to available at that time. Therefore, I decided to go home by taxi by spending the trouble fee of JPY10,000 plus big additional taxi fee to Yokohama. But I had to give up such idea because there was long queue of people like 100 m long waiting for taxies and there are not many taxies allowed for business in Narita Airport. There was Japanese who was asking them how to come here. His friend seemed to pick him up by car and has come to a standstill because most of the checkpoint gates were closed. There was the foreigner who looked like acting as the TV reporter to report live over the Skype from Narita to his friends in his home country and a young man seemed to have been making a complaint to his sweetheart over the phone about how he was unreasonably treated in the New Tokyo Airport (Narita). This was first time for me to encounter this so I was puzzled what to do. I decided to wait for the first departure of a train sitting in the seat with pulling up the collar of my coat. The land crew lady who replied no vacant room near Narita started taking with several people that the bus was ready to go to Yokohama station via Tokyo station. They guided them to the bus. I shouted in my mind “Why not me?” I started to run after them when I thought that I should not miss this chance. “This bus goes to Yokohama?”. I forcibly confirmed to the lady whose eyes refused me that you were not qualified but she only nodded overwhelmed by my ardor. The bus was not full but most of seats were occupied by the people. This bus must have been set up for the special member of the passengers but I could not overlook it under the state of emergency. I could manage to come home in Yokohama by 3 am early morning. This has come to unexpectedly disclose imbalance in globalization of Japan and Japan is fundamentally introverted so that the word of globalization would remain in vain with me. In addition this trip was to confirm how to get through a crisis.