March 2006 should be eternally entombed as the most ridiculously typical Japanese farce in history which fizzled out this month. The epitaph should clearly say: "Here sleeps the PSE, loved by none, scorned by all."

Actually, the thing started five years ago. Around March of that year, the diet (not to be confused with the activity women sometimes do when they feel they have eaten a bit too much) quietly passed a piece of obscure law, hidden behind a dozen more prominent laws: The Electrical Appliance and Material Safety Act.

The hated PSE marks. Left: For household appliances. Right: For industrial and special gears.

The law regulates unsafe electrical applicances (including, of course, computers), tests them, and issues a label to the approved appliances--a seemingly harmless-looking PSE mark (standing for Product Safety of Electrical Appliance and Material).

Henceforth, all electric gadgets without this PSE mark will not be allowed to come to the market. The PSE act was given a five-year grace period before it came into effect. Anyway, everybody promptly forgot this law, including METI (Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry), the jurisdiction authority.

Five years passed quietly. The grace period finished. Absolutely nothing had been done during this time. Then, suddenly, METI bureaucrats realized that the sleeping law woud be in effect on the 1st of April.

They also found that, starting from April Fool's day, every single trader in secondhand or recycled gadgets would become a criminal, since none of their trade goods would have the PSE mark. Yes, all the new gadgets are PSE approved, but secondhand gear has nothing stamped on it.

Horrified and panicked, bureaucrats ran to the police and urged them to give a warning cry to all the secondhand trade folks. Police, of course, hated this dirty chore, but they had no choice. "You lowly used appliance dealers, come April, you are strictly prohibited to ply your dirty trade!"

The collective uproar from merchants was a magnitude 8 size. METI was instantly bombarded by angry dealers who would have to starve to death after a month or so! And people are firmly behind them.

Then, something unthinkable happened. Maybe the noise was too much, or bugs got into their brains. Bureaucrats admitted they had made a mistake, and actually apologized. This was totally unthinkabe!

Because Japanese bureaucrats had been famous for their unerringness. They were even more unerring than Stalin whom, it was rumored, had never made a single mistake in his long life. Also, it is said that if a monkey falls from a tree, it still remains a monkey; but if a Japanese mandarin admits a mistake, he ceases to be a human. He becomes just another commoner!

Anyway, just four days before the deadline, METI allowed used electrical appliances to be traded as a rental goods instead of as a straight sale transaction. After the rental period finishes, the goods will have to go through a PSE test, theoretically. But, METI admitted they had no guts to enforce it. Incredible humiliation. Promptly, the 100dB noise died down, and used appliance dealers rushed back to their shops to prepare the rental contract forms.

You know what? METI candidly confessed when it drafted the PSE law five years ago that it completely forgotten the existence of secondhand appliances! It imagined the industry produced only shining, bright brand-new electrical goods.

Well, this is Japan. And those splendid and clever bureaucrats are at her helm. Oh, how safe and secure I feel.

 

cheewee
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kaisei1
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