G30

”Yokohama G30” is the slogan for the action plans of waste reduction launched by the municipal government five years ago. You probably have seen “G30” or this mascot called “Mee-Oh” on the right somewhere at least once.
What it stands for;
G : the first letter from Gomi =(garbage, trash) and Genryo (=reduction in volume)

30 : the target set for waste reduction by 30%

How you read it;

G (gee as you read the alphabet) 30 (san-ju)

Or go mi-zero (= waste-zero)

Just recently one of my acquaintances, an American guy who has been living in Yokohama with his Japanese girlfriend for 5 years, received a warning from the waste management bureau in mail. They obviously ignored the garbage collection rules, and did not separate trash properly. Now, how did they find out his name and address? Perhaps there was a direct ad mail in his garbage bag. So, you really have to be careful what you throw in your trash bin.

For details on the waste disposal rules, click here. It’s available in 9 languages.

Which came first – the sharp pencil or the Sharp company?

Here is a post from my forum which I thought some people might find interesting. It’s not a random post. I actually wrote it.

What I heard first about the origin of the “sharp” pencil I now believe to be a myth. I heard that the name came about because they were first manufactured or at least made famous by Sharp Corporation.

The reality seems to be a little different. The mechanical pencil was invented by Sharp company but at the time the company was called Hayakawa Sougyousha and the pencil was given the rather long title of Hayakawa-shiki Kuridashi Enpitsu (早川繰り出し鉛筆) which roughly translates as Hayakawa-style push out pencil.

The pencil became popular throughout the world and in order to get patents in other countries it was renamed “sharp” pencil, indeed because it was sharp. And I suspect that because of the popularity of and the financial success generated by the sharp pencil the company was renamed – Sharp.

(Disclaimer: research done on internet so I can’t guarantee the validity of these statements)