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Good news: Japan's National Pension scheme lowers minimum qualification time from 25 years to 10!
Posted on August 2, 2017 August 2, 2017 by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.
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Hi Blog. Good news. Until now, if you wanted to qualify for any retirement payout under the Japanese National Pension System (Nenkin), you had to contribute 300 months, or 25 years, of your salary in Japan.
This was an enormously high hurdle for many NJ residents, who would pay in but not always elect to stay the bulk of their working life in Japan. That meant that aside from getting back a maximum of three years' worth of contributions upon request (see also here), you'd effectively lose your retirement investment as an enormous exit tax. (Incidentally, that was one of the quiet incentives for the racist Nikkei South American Returnee Worker "repatriation bribes" from the government back in 2009 — take the airplane fare home, leave behind your accrued pension. Big win for Japan's government coffers.)
It made it so that the longer you stayed in Japan, the more of a pension prisoner you became, since if you left the country to work elsewhere, you'd lose, because you hadn't paid into pension schemes in other countries and wouldn't qualify.
Totalization Agreements (where countries agree that years worked in Country B count towards working in Country A as well) have eased that burden somewhat. But now the threshold for qualifying at all in Japan has fortunately been reduced. From 25 to 10 years, as of August 2017. Hurrah.
Now still remaining is the issue that the number of Japanese pensioners is increasing due to Japan's demographically aging society, meaning that by the time you retire you'll be receiving a smaller piece of the overall pension pie (to the levels where pensioners will live in penury; Japan is already above the OECD average poverty rate (pg. 75). And the minimum retirement age will likely be further increased to make it harder to retire younger. But at least you don't have to invest most of your working life in Japan just to get something back. Thus, Japan is becoming more aligned with international norms. Good.
Much more information from the OECD on this issue at http://www.oecd.org/pensions/public-pensions/OECDPensionsAtAGlance2013.pdf. Dr. Debito Arudou
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"Embedded Racism", Good News, Japanese Government, Pension System, Practical advice, Unsustainable Japanese Society
37 comments on "Good news: Japan's National Pension scheme lowers minimum qualification time from 25 years to 10!"
Baud says:
This actually makes retiring in Japan from overseas a lot more attractive. Conversely, what if you pay in then leave? How much can you get back? Still only the first three years? (which triggered a lot of 3 year only NJ stays, so as not to waste money paying into something they would never collect from)
sendaiben says:
You can only ever get 3 years back (taxed at 20%), which means that if you pay in for ten or more years it's probably better to take the eventual pension.
It seems relatively straightforward to claim the pension from anywhere in the world.
Hurrah, now we can live the rich life and collect the grand sum of 15.000 JPY monthly, after paying a total of 2.000.000 JPY as 'pension tax' in 10 years, after reaching the age of 65 years. Not even enough to feed one person, not even talking about paying the rent. Of course, If it even exists by then.
Probably a good idea to make your own arrangements alongside nenkin 😉
Baudrillard says:
@Jason, Ah, that is less than we would pay in. OK, on second thoughts then lets not retire in Japan after all, it is a silly place. (Paraphrasing Monty Python and the Holy Grail).
James Annan says:
Thanks for that Debito, that's great news. I'd pretty much given up on this happening, but I still have my PR and 13 years of contributions so I'll have to fit in a visit to japan and make sure everything is in order before the PR and gaijin cards run out.
(I decided to take a punt and not take the refund when I left japan in 2013, as the 10 year vestment was already planned but not activated at that time. Since I've still kept my PR I haven't yet "left" officially, just taken a long overseas trip in their view. I did make sure to get a >1y re-entry permit.)
In theory, this is good news. As an NJ who has been paying in for six years, I can say that even 15,000 yen per month is way better than nothing, and that it would figure significantly into my retirement budget.
However, the pessimist in me says that after the 2014 ruling on welfare payments to NJ (basically, according to the ruling, NJ are not entitled to it even if they've lived in Japan since birth and are PR holders), I'm worried that this logic will eventually be applied to NJ pensioners, as well.
Very few Japanese would care. They'd just think "If the NJ don't like losing their pensions, they can just go back to their home countries." The LDP and other far-right-wing parties don't care what foreigners think or feel because NJ can't vote. The LDP can piss off 100% of NJ and still get elected virtually every election.
If NJ were suddenly stripped of their entitlement to pensions that they've earned, the UN and other countries would protest of course, but it would probably have no effect. UN pressure can't even stop North Korea from testing hydrogen bombs or ICBMs.
I hope that I'm wrong about this possibility. I really hope someone will say something to reassure me. Unfortunately, I doubt this will happen–I suspect that there is a strong possibility of what I pessimistically predict actually happening–that circa 2050, Japan will just say "money is tight, so NJ are no longer eligible for pension payments"–and that they'll stop paying NJ pension payments, and get away with it.
Hi Charles
I believe it is highly unlikely Japan would strip non-Japanese residents of their pensions (that they have paid into). Unlike welfare (http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/07/25/national/crime-legal/a-closer-look-at-the-supreme-courts-welfare-benefits-ruling/) pensions are specifically for all residents, not just citizens.
Hoofin says:
The other problem about that is, with totalization countries, there's a check being cut in favor of Japanese who didn't qualify. If some future J-government, say, in December 2041, decided to nix the payments, the other governments could just shut off the payments coming here.
The cross-coverage program is pretty substantial with America already. Canada is the #1 beneficiary of US totalization. Japan is #2.
This new system is a real disaster and I would like to know the benefits the Government gets out of this. Since you need 30 hours + a week to get enrolled in Shakai Hoken, my company decided to give me less work so they don't have to pay shakai hoken and I go back to kokumin hoken. This has a serious impact on my daily life. I feel ripped off because I won't even get any pension benefits since there is no agreement with my country. So, in the ned I see myself forced to leave. Result: Japan has one taxpayer less and I am sure many will follow soon.
tim2time says:
Yes, many are working P/T and have to pay their own pension
I thought the original scam? of paying a huge amount in, say 15 years, but exiting before the 25 year mark was a real blow to gaikokujin, some racist oyaji bureaucrats must of been ecstatic. I mean, working for 15 then getting a percent of a "lump" sum….wow the people that got screwed on that one. I think Debito posted on this years back (like back in the 90s?) then the totalization agreements came, if your country had one. So its progress, albeit snails pace progress. So if you
pay in for 10 years, at what age can you start receiving payments?
It's currently 65, but I would be surprised if they don't put it up in the future in line with many other countries.
You can also take a smaller pension earlier or a larger one later.
This is actually really good news, because it drastically reduces the need some people feel they have for "cashing in" their contributions to Japan, and only get back a fraction of what they had contributed through both shakai hoken (employer system) OR the kokumin nenkin system (public system that the consumption tax supports).
For years, the story that the anti-pension foreigners here have promoted is that the contributions were "wasted" (even if you came from a totalization country!) because vesting only happened after 25 years. Plus, WHO KNOWWWWWS what will happen in the future?????????
The Japanese government could continue to dangle the rebate over the heads of unsophisticated young people, and get them to cash out a benefit worth maybe 900,000 yen on finance measures for a mere 240,000 yen. If a private company were running a scam like that, they'd be getting sued.
Now it's a little different where an American can work here for 3 years, then go back home and work 7, and be covered by BOTH US social security (which credits the 3 years in Japan) and the Japanese Nenkin system (which credits the 7 years in America).
It also benefits those gaikokujin who are from non-totalization countries, since the vesting happens at 10 years, rather than 25.
Even the Brits, who have some alternative deal with the Japanese, benefit if they pay in for 10 years rather than opt out. They were the biggest trouble-makers about the old system, because they had the option to pay back home in England while working in Japan. So they always would make a lot of noise about any compulsory enrolling of foreigners in Japan. Pure self-interest, without disclosure.
With this change, Japan is finally being fair to its own itinerant workforce, and indirectly to the foreigner community as well.
A question about this quote Hoofin,
I'm guessing here that probably "covered by both" does NOT mean one would receive from age 65 full monthly pension income from BOTH countries, right? Thus, "covered by both, payable by either" would be clear.
Meaning, I'm currently assuming that it is both illegal and impossible to receive multiple governments' full pension bank transfers each month, for example 15,000 yen coming in from Japan pension PLUS for example $600 coming in from the US pension, BOTH at the same time, even though one never held 2 full time jobs concurrently. Double-payout for single pay-in is most likely impossible.
So yeah, I'm going to assume that "covered by both" has the qualification of, "but only can receive your loan-to-the-governments payback from just ONE government, of course."
So I guess (but would like confirmation) that at age 65 each person chooses which one government begrudgingly agrees to payback the loan (the $20K~$200K, 2M¥~20M¥loan, wow) which you gave to one or multiple governments, for 10 years or 47 years or whatever, total) thus only one government will pay you back your total payment (from age 65 until death, with thus the chance of losing, breaking even, or profiting VERY slightly at an unfair interest rate) or if both countries were to agree to simultaneously pay you back each month after 65, they would both cut the payments appropriately to about half each, since there's no way governments are so generous to decree that "anyone who paid a little in one country, and a little in another country, although never concurrently, magically get rewarded with double full monthly paybacks, twice as much payout as what merely-stay-in-one-country people receive"… there's no chance of "covered by both" meaning that, right?
Ha, and even if such an amazing double-payback system were to exist, which it doesn't and wouldn't, but even such a "doubled interest-rate" would STILL not be close to a fair interest-rate, considering the immorality of this forced-under-duress non-self-beneficial huge loan-to-the-governments.
These are the same governments who already illegally fraudulently "misappropriated" ALL of the money which all our ancestors' multiple-generations first had paid, and thus ever since the first generation of payees' money was stolen and used, every successive generation has been and is being guilt-tripped into feeling it is somehow "natural" for each successive generation to keep afloat this obviously impossible-to-end permanently-increasing-at-a-geometric-rate ponzi-scheme pyramid-loan, from we the people being passed to the protection-racket legitimized-mafia known as your local ruling government. And since these governments illegally spent all of our tax payments from the first citizens until present day, now we have to also pay back all the additional trillions beyond that which the governments borrowed from the world bank and various other banks using our names on our birth certificates as collateral and now we even have to pay the interest for all of these forced loans, and what's more we have to pay those banks in gold since these global loan sharks don't accept fiat payments, and not enough gold exists to ever pay it all back? Absurd.
So yeah, I think the revolutionary rebels who refuse-to-sign-any-pension-contract are right to refuse any such forced loan, if they would prefer to save for their own future.
Especially if Japan is refusing to give equal rights to ALL full-time workers of ALL races.
Meaning: Japan must begin forcing ALL Japanese companies to enroll ALL full-time workers into the company-matches-your-payments legally-mandated Shakai Hoken system.
Want happy tax-payers all paying equally? First the government workers must obey the laws, they must prosecute the law violators, they must guarantee equal protection for all tax-payers, regardless of race or nationality.
The solution is not "hey victims, just shut up and pay kokumin nenkin". The solution is: equal treatment for ALL residents. ALL citizens worldwide are being used as serfs, that's bad enough, let's stop the additional insult of Japan allowing Japanese companies to violate Japan's labor laws when it comes to "non-Japanese" workers.
end rant 🙂
You've got about fifteen different propositions in your writing, so don't mind me for not addressing them all, because a lot just go to the kinds of things that people say who are not in favor of government-sponsored old-age pension insurance. I will provide a link at the end to what I had written five years ago, when US social security was 77 years old. This week, it's 82.
Covered by both systems means what it says, but you have the wrong conclusion, and that's probably because you wanted to say other things. Someone who works in Japan for 3 years and pays either kokumin nenkin (public system) or kosei nenkin (employer system) will be covered under that system once they obtain (at least) seven years of coverage in a totalization partner system, like the US, Canada, Australia or over a dozen others.
Let's use kokumin: this means the person paid in a (tax deductible) 16,000 yen for 36 months, and would be entitled to that fraction of the full check (3/40ths), that I calculate to be about 4,860 yen a month in today's money. So, for a total of about 576,000 yen pretax, and more like 440,000 yen after tax (since you deduct these payments in the now), in about nine years of retirement they have recouped on a cash-flow basis. (You cannot buy a private life annuity that does that.)
On the US side, the seven years depends on wages. I'll use $30,000. Heavy math puts a full social security check on a lifetime at $30,000 to be about $1,322, and seven years' fraction of that is $264. The taxes to support that (which are not deductible) are 10.6% old-age/survivors (OAS) contribution, 1.8% disability (DI) contribution, and 2.9% Medicare tax. A total of 15.3%, and since you can't separate out the DI and the Medicare from the OAS, you pay the whole 15.3% to get the old age check.
Employers are required to "pay" half that 15.3%, but practically, this means they pay you 7.65% less so that they have the money for their half. Unless you work at minimum wage, where they can't squeeze out their half.
Self employed people in America have to pay the full 15.3% up to the earnings limit.
So for 10 years of work, you get $264 and also 4,860 yen in dollars. I'll say $44. Total $308 for 10 years, which seems about right for a 40-year earning career.
You are correct that many Japanese employers play a lot of tricks to prevent people from enrolling in employer insurance. The government does not collect it like a payroll tax, like they do in America. But they also have co-conspirators who are the people who don't enroll in kokumin nenkin anyway. Because then the game becomes, if ever the employer would be forced to make good, the employee who dodged pension has to come up with their half of the bill (which, no, they weren't saving in "me own private pension scheme!").
It wasn't that employer pension was going to be free to the employee. It was that half was paid by the employer and half by the employee. It's a cheap excuse if the employee can't come up with their half and expect to stick it back on the employer for not following the law.
There is also something called "kokumin nenkin kikin", which operates like a tax-deductible private annuity for people who are enrolled in kokumin nenkin.
I was happy to be in both programs here and there, and am confident the governments will pay out when the time comes where I would qualify. With all the nuttiness surrounding collapse-prone private investing, it is one of the more certain things out there.
It is "built to last": https://hoofin.wordpress.com/2012/08/15/
But remember, In Japan, when the full-time (over 30 hours per week) worker happens to be non-Japanese (nationality or race), most Japanese companies simply REFUSE to obey the law about signing up full-time workers for the company-pays-half Shakai Hoken (Health and Pension) system.
Meaning, full-time "Suzuki-san" only pays HALF of his monthly pension payments, and only pays HALF of his monthly health payments, plus he receives a bonus twice a year regardless of personal performance, wonderful…
…while full-time "Gaijin-san" is told to "just forget about the fact that the law require companies to pay half of ALL full-time workers' Health and Pension payments, instead simply go pay out of your own pocket 100% of Non-Shakai-Hoken Health (Kokumin Kenkō Hoken) and 100% of Non-Shakai-Hoken Pension (Kokumin Nenkin) all by yourself." Such "advice" is given to the "Gaijin-san" by the Japanese companies committing the above racially discriminatory illegal labor action, and even by the Japanese Labor Standards Bureau officers who refuse to penalize those companies' blatant violations of Labor Law.
The Japanese company presidents refuse to obey the Labor Law, and the Japanese Labor Law bureaucrats refuse to penalize the illegally acting Japanese presidents, but the VICTIMS of this illegal race-based-shakai-hoken-refusal are told the solution is that THE VICTIMS should go pay 100% Kokumin Kenkō Hoken and 100% Kokumin Nenkin: even though those two plans are legally NOT for full-time employees.
JAPANESE full-time employees are NOT refused Shakai Hoken by employers.
JAPANESE full-time employees are NOT told to "go join Kokumin Kenkō Hoken and Kokumin Nenkin."
Non-Japanese full-time employees ARE illegally refused Shakai Hoken by employers.
Non-Japanese full-time employees ARE illegally told to "go join Kokumin Kenkō Hoken and Kokumin Nenkin."
Well, let's do the math of Kokumin Nenkin, as Jason rightly pointed out above:
One must pay 16,667 yen a month for 10 years (let's say, just for example, from age 55 to 65) in this forced savings system, for the CHANCE (depending largely on immigration officers feeling like continuing to renew one's visa) of possibly receiving 15,000 yen a month from age 65.
Thus, one would pay 2,000,000 yen of Kokumin Nenkin over 10 years
(IF immigration officers allow the foreigner to work in Japan from age 55 to 65)
for the chance of getting back just 1,800,000 yen over 10 years
(IF immigration officers allow the retired foreigner to live in Japan from age 65 to 75).
Lend the J-government 2 million yen
(starting from age 55, for easy math)
then: if they actually allow you (big if)
continued visa renewals for 20 years,
then from age 65 to 75, you still lose:
J-gov pays back only 1.8 million yen.
For the 10 years of forced-savings to even BEGIN to be profitable,
one would need to allowed continued visa renewals for 22 years,
(meaning 10 years working plus 12 years retired)
to begin get back your full 2 million yen investment,
and even at that stage: you only get 0.36% annual interest.
Start loaning the Japanese government 2M yen from age 55,
and maybe at age 77 you MIGHT get that 2M yen loan back,
with a "generous" non-compounded annual interest of 0.36%
If your company were paying half of all these payments
(through the Shakai Hoken system, as legally required)
one would possibly receive a slightly better return-on-investment interest rate,
and one would possibly begin to enjoy that "profit" before year 12 of retirement,
but Kokumin Nenkin payers LOSE money until year 12 of retirement as shown above.
And the above example was the "best case" of magically starting payments from age 55.
If you start paying Kokumin Nenkin in your 20s, 30s, or 40s,
calculate how many decades of retirement it would take to ever get back your decades of investment.
And even if you hope for a fair interest-rate through a very long retirement life (living well past 100) in Japan:
What happens to your money,
when after 9 years of payment…
Japan refuses to renew your visa?
when 9 months after turning 65…
Well, once you are vested you can receive the pension payments anywhere in the world, so if you had to leave Japan due to visa issues you'd continue to receive the payments wherever you ended up.
Ok, so this one is of a different type: the anecdotal story of the either rare or nonexistent person, who is caught by every technical glitch in the rules. Never mind that this person is highly unlikely to exist, we are going to base all our planning off this. After all, North Korea just might nuke Guam, so none of us should ever go there. And if Hawaii or California is threatened next, then cross those off the list, too. But Tokyo is safe–as long as you don't have to pay nenkin.
If someone came here from America at age 55, it is overwhelmingly likely that they'd have 10 years in US social security, or something close to 10. Remember, you just need $5,000 in annual earnings to get four credits ("four quarters" back in the day), which will count as one year of coverage in Japan totalization.
So the person above has their totalization-partner time, and the month that it combines to ten years, then a proportionate check will issue on retirement from the Japanese system. You work there, above, which such large numbers. Let's break it down: a 16,000 yen monthly payment will yield 135 yen of monthly pension benefit. Since the 16,000 is deductible on current taxes, the cash-flow recoup is still under 10 years, which is great for a life annuity.
I don't know if you mean to ignore the world we live in now, but it is exceedingly difficult to make even a safe 3% return in US dollar investments. Worse in Euro, and practically nonexistent for yen. So the idea that. like back in the 20th century, you can "invest" the money and get 6% a year on a government bond—that's just not happening.
Unfortunately, the only way to cover future pensions is to "lend" your money to current retirees and then get "repaid" when you retire. That is how social security has functioned in America since 1935, with only recent years (late 1980's on) being those where taxes were set higher to create a "surplus" so that Millennials wouldn't be stuck paying higher payroll taxes to support Boomer social security checks. (The surplus bonds get redeemed by progressive income tax–not payroll tax–or they get rolled over, since US debt is always highly in demand worldwide.)
So if Japan refused to renew a visa, the person is only left in the lurch where they didn't come from a totalization country, never got Eijuuken, or were actually forced to pay kokumin (I don't believe it the fictitious employer who tells the employee to go enroll in kokumin, since that would tip the ward office off to the illegality.) In short, Questions 1 and 2 are the least likely scenarios. Hopefully, they get out of Japan before the nuke.
There are a few misunderstandings in your posts about how the pension system works.
You don't recieve pensions from a government, and the pension system is not a loan, so you cannot expect any "paybacks".
Your 2 questions: Pension payments have nothing to do with your visa status or place of residence. Once you have fulfilled the requirements for recieving a pension, the pension will be sent to your bank account, whereever you are.
You wrote "I'm currently assuming that it is both illegal and impossible to receive multiple governments' full pension bank transfers each month, for example 15,000 yen coming in from Japan pension PLUS for example $600 coming in from the US pension". This system is legal and possible. You revieve a pension from both countries, and the amount of the pension is calculated according to the systems of both countries. You do not get twice as much from this system.
timtime2 says:
@hoofin,
I never understood how the old system worked, before the totalization agreements. so, if somebody worked for 5 years,paid into the kokumin or other pension system, then left at 5. did they cash out a percent of what they paid into or did they get that full 5 year sum back from what I read, it didnt count for anything back in their home country. so, if I understand correctly, they got a percent of the 5 year pay in, the rest the japanese gov kept? so there was like a cap at the 3 year marker? so if you worked for 10, cashed in at 10, you got like a 3 year pay out…as that was the cap amount? if that was the case, talk about getting screwed!
No, before totalization, if they paid five years in Japan, they were offered three as a refund (and that was since maybe 1994). The thinking of the J-government then was that most foreigners didn't stay here longer than three years, so they were being cashed out. What a favor! And maybe, yes, given everything a quarter century ago, that made sense.
My understanding is that kokumin got rebated in six-month brackets, but the employer system only rebated the employee portion (even though benefits are, as people point out, more generous because there is more money being paid in). So people "cashing in" an employer pension are being disproportionately screwed compared to those who contributed to kokumin.
And this also created the handy excuse for foreigners NOT to pay into kokumin, "since, after all, I'll just be asking a rebate in a couple years and look at all the paperwork this will save!!!"
What is a lot of times ignored about kokumin nenkin is that the government is the "other half" in a similar way that the employer is under kosei nenkin. An yen life annuity that is cash-flow positive after eight years can't be bought in the private market. The Japanese are using consumption tax money to cover the other piece of that annuity. So the foreign rebater forfeits their share of all the 8% shohi zei taxes they were paying at the convenience store, Aeon, rental company, etc.
I am surprised that the Japanese government still does the rebates for citizens of totalization countries. It is a total rip-off of the less financially sophisticated consumer—and a boon to the Japanese treasury, since it's "risk off" their pension fund and 8% kitty. The 1990s policy reason for the rebate has changed. It is a kind of "screw the gaikokujin" inertia that keeps it going. They are being much tougher about health insurance enrollment, and all enrollments are tracked on that sheet you get when you move municipalities, so it's not like these are any big secrets between the government and Zairyu card holder.
Rereading that, it should start "yes", they were getting screwed, because they were always limited to the three year maximum refund. August 2017 is the first month where the J-government is actually being fair to short-time workers here who have a totalization piece they can latch onto for the 10. And, of course, for regular Japanese who were stuck in irregular employment—that's actually a lot more people than the foreign community.
@Hoofin, aside from your unusal use of verbs which made your otherwise quite good points hard to follow ("cashing in" to Japan- you mean get a financial reward? "Vesting"-"an employee accrues non-forfeitable rights over employer-provided stock incentives"? IS that what you meant?)
this irks me: biggest trouble-makers about the old system, because they had the option to pay back home in England while working in Japan. So they always would make a lot of noise about any compulsory enrolling of foreigners in Japan. Pure self-interest, without disclosure."
Pure self-interest? Why the hell not? Blind loyalty to the Japanese empire?
And equating England with Britain is somewhat ignorant is this day and age. You mean the UK.
@ anonymous " assuming that it is both illegal and impossible to receive multiple governments' full pension bank transfers each month, for example 15,000 yen coming in from Japan pension PLUS for example $600 coming in from the US pension, double-payout for single pay-in is most likely impossible."
All the more so with this new "My number" card- laughably supposed to be to guarantee a "fairer society". I couldnt even receive a gift payment of 10 000 yen via western union from overseas. Ditto if you become a permanaent resident, this in theory gives the J Gov the right to monitor (you must declare) income from outside Japan.
These are all moves to levy more tax on the NJs.
I have to point out here that becoming a Permanent Resident (status of residence, like a visa) is not the same as becoming permanently resident for tax purposes.
Japan confusingly refers to both using similar English. PR is like a visa and does not change your taxes. Being permanently resident for tax purposes normally kicks in after 5 years and has all kinds of tax and legal effects.
Sendaiben, thanks for the clarification. When I looked into PR (for the visa) though, it did say that I would have to declare overseas income, and I was about to get state support from overseas for something, I declined.
Although frankly, I was losing interest in living in Japan in the future anyway so it was not the only reason, just the final straw.
Sometimes this is referred to as "permanent TAX resident". If you are from a tax treaty partner country, though, you are taxed under the rules of the treaty, NOT the same way a permanent resident (or citizen) of Japan is taxed. Be careful! There are Japanese tax preparers catering to foreigners who don't know this.
@ Hoofin, believe it. It is not fiction. It happened to me more than once and many people I knew- "I don't believe it the fictitious employer who tells the employee to go enroll in kokumin, since that would tip the ward office off to the illegality."
How would it tip off the ward office? They did ask me why I didn't get shakai hoken instead, and I just said "my employer doesnt want to pay it" and they gave me a look…but did nothing. Said employer was a big Eikaiwa in the 90s, and the president did end up doing jail time (no it wasnt Nova and Saruhashi) , but not for this minor NJ rights infringement. Of course the ward office didnt care about that. Why, they barely had time for my questions as Real Japanese seniors were waiting behind me! (I think it was for him being a bent lawyer for Ferdinand Marcos, but I digress. )
realitycheck says:
Just a couple of observations on Hoofin. Although he has made an effort to explain the Jp pension system, kudos to him, he clearly does not understand two of the things he was talking about here.
For a start, he knows nothing about the Australian system which is very different from the Jp system and the American system for starters.
If you work in Australia, your employer deducts an amount called 'Superannuation contribution' from your wage/salary and that is put into a fund which you can access at a certain age. It used to be below 60 yrs but will go higher.
As a non Australian I received a good rundown of this scheme from an Ozzie friend. There are no unfair forced contributions like monthly payments of a set fee, and in fact Australians who earn below 20,000 US dollars in salary per year pay just about no or little income tax. They get nearly all of it back.
Why? Because that is a low income. Note how Japan taxes low income earners including foreigners 'citizens' tax and again monthly payments of 10 percent of their low income.
Back to superannuation – Japanese people who work in Australia get treated more fairly. They receive their superannuation in a lump sum when they leave Australia and there is no screwing them through rules about they can only receive a set amount and not what they paid in.
They do have to pay taxes on the lump sum.
Australia also has a 'Pension' but it is a public one and is a welfare payment. It is for people who did not save their money or had no chance to save money or do not have enough money to live on.
It is non-contributory – yes, non contributory. It is funded by the government through taxpayer monies.
There is no harsh law forcing a compulsory payment each month on people who earn low incomes. Or any kind of incomes.
The Australian system is very different from the American system, too.
As for Permanent Residency in Japan as a taxation status – that exists, everybody. Nope, it's not for real Permanent Residents only, for example people with real legal status of PR.
The Japanese Government cynically puts us all in the category of PR for tax purposes if we have lived in Japan 5 years out of the last 10.
How convenient, don't the Japanese love to have their sushi and eat it too. Gaijin as soto but when it comes to taxes we are classified as 'citizens' and 'permanent residents'.
This in effect means if you get a family inheritance when you are living in Japan, then the tax authorities reserve the right to make a claim on it as they can tax your worldwide income.
Even if you don't import the money, they feel they have the right to know about it and to take a slice or more. You have to give them an accounting of all your worldwide money.
Dear Hoofin, hopefully these facts tell you why so many foreigners quite rightly oppose paying into nenkin in Japan.
Hello, on this site I don't think I went into the minutiae of the Australian system. I blogged about Australia and the "super" many years ago on my own site. There may be some details that I did not elaborate on, but I am sure that I prefaced my comments then and there.
I am aware that a basic pension is offered in Australia that is non-contributory, AND that is clawed-back in the presence of other resources available to the retiree there. Canada also has a basic pension that is publicly funded, separate from the CAP; and technically, America has the SSI program which is not a benefit based on the level of contributions.
If your comments were meaning to imply that I don't know anything, then I feel your comment was inappropriate. If your comments meant to say that I don't know EVERYthing, then, yes of course. Who does?
Some people make a lot of excuses for not paying a tax, or following a rule. This is age-old, and more knowledge is not going to fix that. Those kind of people will just move to yet another excuse.
I don't think there are many "rightly" posed justifications for dodging a tax or a contribution that functions as a tax. Thoreau had some, for example, yet he still ended up in the pokey. Capone thought he could write his own rules about taxes, too.
If people don't pay their nenkin, to me, it's not my dish of dog food as a retiree if they do or not. But the Japanese government moving to 10 year qualification ("vesting" of sorts) is a great move. It removes a lot of the uncertainty and speculation as to whether young people would ever meet the qualification test. It frees from a trap those people who, say, paid in 7 years and then somehow couldn't get the remaining 18 years. Now they'd just need three.
Just a note re my post – the 10 percent I referred to is the kokumin kenko hoken for health. Again much more than many Australians pay, and if they are low income earners they either don't have any obligation at tax time when the health levy is calculated or a small one.
So much for 'low taxing Japan'. That is a myth.
This is not 10% (or 9.69%) of every yen of income. In most prefectures that I know, it's a percentage of the taxable income. In Japan, there are significant exemptions, and the national rate is really very low compared to other countries.
Yes, the tax burden falls more at the local/prefectural level for modest earners, and you don't get freebie tax coverage at those levels, either.
I don't see where this is a social crisis, just another tricky day. One of the two of life's certainties . . .
Kirk Masden says:
Here's a comment I posted on a Facebook page I run for expats in the Kumamoto area:
"I looked for information on this issue on the internet but, aside from Debito's post, could not find a news article about this 25 to 10 year change for foreigners. Perhaps it's been covered but after numerous searches I was only able to come up with this article from February:
Japan's pension payments system set for overhaul
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2017/02/03/national/japans-pension-payments-system-set-overhaul/
I assume that this change is part of the overhaul referred to in the title but the article doesn't seem to mention it explicitly. So, kudos to Debito for getting the word out on an important change that other news outlets seem to have missed."
Has this really been missed by English-language media? If so, it strikes me as a major oversight.
https://www.facebook.com/Kumamotoi/photos/a.129499733790134.25925.123734781033296/1569024859837607/?type=3&theater
I wouldn't call us media, but I believe RetireJapan.info is the only website writing about saving, investing, and retirement in English for residents of Japan.
We wrote about the pension change in April.
I wrote about this several years ago, but I am in a far corner of the internet.
https://hoofin.wordpress.com/2013/03/05/japanese-pension-eligibility-to-go-to-10-years-from-25-depending-on-consumption-tax/
If you ever feel like writing for readers in Japan, I'd love to run a guest post from you. Drop me a line through the site if you are interested.
Leave a Reply to Baud Cancel reply


text:
\section{Introduction}
A groupoid is a small category in which every morphism (arrow) is invertible, see for example \cite{Brandt, Pysiak, Williams}
and references therein. To be more explicite, let $M$ be a set of objects and $G$ be a set of morphisms, usually called arrows. In such a case we speak of a groupoid $G$ over $M$. Each arrow has an associated source  object (domain) and an associated target object (range). For these associations we introduce two mappings
$d\colon G\rightarrow M$ and $r\colon G\rightarrow M$, the so-called {\em source} and  {\em target}
(or {\em domain} and  {\em range}), respectively.

For any nonempty subsets $P,Q\subset M$ we shall use the notation
 $G_P=d^{-1}(P)$ ($d$-inverse image of $P$), $G^Q=r^{-1}(Q)$ ($r$-inverse image of $Q$)
and $G_P^Q=G_p\cap G^Q$.
In particular we have the source-fiber $G_p=d^{-1}(\{p\})$ and the target-fiber $G^q=r^{-1}(\{q\})$.   We shall also use the notation $G_p^q=G_p\cap G^q$. One can notice that $G_P^P$ is a sub-groupoid of $G$ over the base $P\subset M$ and,
in particular, $G_p^p$ is a group, the so-called isotropy group of $G$ at $p\in M$, for any point $p\in M$.
\section{Affine congruence relation in a groupoid}
In this section we analyze an equivalence relation resembling the idea of parallel shift  of an element.
\begin{df}\label{relacja lambda}
An equivalence relation $\lambda\subset G\times G$ is called the affine congruence in $G$ if
\begin{enumerate}
\item (congruence)
\begin{equation}
[g_1\lambda g_2\wedge h_1\lambda h_2\wedge g_1h_1, g_2h_2\in G]\Rightarrow g_1h_1\lambda g_2h_2\; ,
\end{equation}
\item (parallelism)
\begin{equation}
[g_1\lambda g_2\wedge h_1\lambda h_2\wedge g_1h_2, h_1g_2\in G]\Rightarrow g_1h_2\lambda h_1g_2\; .
\label{rownoleglobok}
\end{equation}
\end{enumerate}
\end{df}
The equivalence class of $g\in G$ with respect to  $\lambda$ is denoted as $[g]$. For any $p\in M$ the notation is used $[g]_p=[g]\cap G_p\;$.
\begin{df}\label{lambda-effective}
An affine congruence $\lambda$ in a groupoid  $G$ is
\begin{enumerate}
\item  complete if
 $[g]_p\neq\emptyset$,
\item simple if $[g]_p$ consists of one element at most,
\end{enumerate}
for any $g\in G$, $p\in M$.
\end{df}
\begin{df}
An affine congruence $\lambda$ in $G$ is efficient, if it is complete and simple.
 A pair $(G, \lambda )$ is said to be a $\lambda$-affine groupoid, if
$\lambda$ is an efficient affine congruence in  $G$.
\end{df}
An interesting example of an affine congruence relation can be defined with the help of a groupoid homomorphism into a commutative group.
\begin{p}Let G - grupoid, $(\mathbb A, +)$ - a commutative group, $\theta\colon G\rightarrow\mathbb A$ - a homomorphism.
Then, the relation $\lambda\subset G\times G$, defined by
\begin{equation}\label{theta-paral}
g\lambda h\Longleftrightarrow \theta (g)=\theta (h),
\end{equation}
is an affine congruence in $G$.
\end{p}
\begin{proof}
Evidently, on the strength of (\ref{theta-paral}), $\lambda$ is a congruence relation in $G$.
Now we show that the condition (\ref{rownoleglobok}) is fulfilled.
Assume that
$g_1\lambda g_2$, $h_1\lambda h_2$ and $g_1h_2, h_1g_2\in G$. Hence we get $\theta (g_1)=\theta (g_2)$, $\theta (h_1)=\theta (h_2)$ and $\theta (g_1h_2)=\theta (g_1)+\theta (h_2)=\theta (g_2)+\theta (h_1)=\theta (h_1g_2)$.
\end{proof}
{\bf Example 1. }
 Assume $(M,V,l)$ to be an affine space, i.e. $M$ is a nonempty set (of points), $V$ is a linear space and $l\colon M\times V\rightarrow M$, $l(p,v)\equiv p+v$ is such that the affine space axioms are fulfilled. The Cartesian product $G=M\times V$ is a natural example of a groupoid in which, for any $g=(p,v)$, there is $d(g)=p$ and $r(g)=p+v$. For any $(p,v),(q,w)\in G$ such that $r(p,v)=d(q,w)$ there is $(p,v)+(q,w)=(p,v+w)$.
Since $(V,+)$ is a commutative (additive) group, we can define the groupoid homomorphism $\theta\colon G\rightarrow V$, $\theta (g)=v$. Now, the affine congruence relation $\lambda$ in $G$ we define as
$g\lambda h\Longleftrightarrow \theta (g)=\theta (h)$, for any $g,h\in G$. One can easily verify that $\lambda$ is efficient and consequently $(G,\lambda )$ is a $\lambda$-affine groupoid.
\vspace{2mm}

{\bf Example 2. }
Let $G$, $\theta $ and  $\lambda$ be defined as in Example 1. Assume $P\subset M$ be a  proper (i.e. $P\neq M$) nonempty subset and consider the subgroupoid $G_P^P$ of $G$. Suppose that $p, q\in P$, $p\neq q$, $v\in V$, $q=p+v\in P$ and $s=q+v\not\in P$. Then $g=(p,v)\in G_P^P$ and $h=(q,v)\not\in G_P^P$, i.e. $[g]_q=\emptyset$. Consequently, the relation $\lambda$     is not a complete affine congruence in $G_P^P$ and therefore the groupoid $(G_P^P, \lambda )$ is not a $\lambda$-affine groupoid.
\vspace{2mm}

{\bf Remark:}  A family of homomorphisms
$\theta_i\colon G\rightarrow{\mathbb A}_i$,  $({\mathbb A}_i, +)$ - a commutative group,  for $i\in I$, can be represented by a single homomorphism $\theta\colon G\rightarrow\mathbb A$, where ${\mathbb A}=\iloczyn\limits_{i\in I}{\mathbb A}_i$ is the Cartesian product of groups and
\begin{equation}
(\theta(g))_i=\theta_i(g)
\label{theta composed}
\end{equation}
\begin{df}
Suppose that $\theta\colon G\rightarrow\mathbb A$ is a homomorphism such that, for any $g\in G$, the condition $\theta (g)=0$ implies that there exists $p\in M$ such that $g=e_p$ (the neutral element of the group $G_p^p$). Then $\theta$ is said to be a monomorphism.
\label{mono}
\end{df}
\begin{p}Let $\theta\colon G\rightarrow\mathbb A$ be a monomorphism and $\lambda$ be an affine congruence in $G$ defined by (\ref{theta-paral}). Then  $\lambda$ is simple.
\end{p}
\begin{proof}
Suppose $g_1\lambda g_2$ and $g_1,g_2\in G_p$, for some $p\in M$. This means that $\theta (g_1)=\theta (g_2)$ and $\theta (g_1)-\theta (g_2)=\theta (g_1g_2^{-1})=0$. Since $\theta$ is a monomorphism, there is  $g_1g_2^{-1}=e_p$, for some $p\in M$, i.e. $g_1=g_2$.
\end{proof}
\section{Semi-inner product in a groupoid}
In this section we consider a groupoid scalar valued bihomomorphism resembling an inner or semi-inner product  for vector spaces. There are several proposals known as semi-inner products for vector space. In particular, there is a definition in which a semi-inner product does not need to be additive in the second argument. Then, such a semi-inner product, e.g. for an $L^p$-space, can be consistent with an $L^p$-norm which is not given by any inner product, if $p\neq 2$. In this approach we assume the conjugate symmetry property in order to enable the groupoid norm \cite{Buliga} to be defined  in terms of the bihomomorphism considered.
\begin{df}A function $B:G\times G\rightarrow\mathbb F$ is called the bihomomorphism of a  groupoid $G$ in an additive group $({\mathbb F}, +)$ (or  $\mathbb F$-bihomomorphism) if it is a homomorphism of $G$ in $\mathbb F$ with respect to each argument separately.
\end{df}

In further, we restrict ourselves to the cases ${\mathbb F}={\mathbb R}$ or ${\mathbb F}={\mathbb C}$.

\begin{df}Bihomomorphism $B:G\times G\rightarrow\mathbb F$ is said to be a  semi-inner product in $G$ if the following conditions are fulfilled:
\begin{enumerate}
\item (conjugate symmetry) $B(g,h)=\overline{B(h,g)}$, for any $g,h\in G$;
\item (positive definiteness) $B(g,g)> 0$, if $g\neq e_p$, for any $p\in M$ and $g\in G$;
\item (Cauchy-Schwarz inequality) $|B(g,h)|\leq B(g,g)^{1/2}B(h,h)^{1/2}$, for any $g,h\in G$.
\end{enumerate}
\label{ilocz_skalar}
\end{df}
In the case of $\mathbb{F} = \mathbb{R}$, conjugate symmetry of $B$ reduces to symmetry.
\begin{df}
A pair $(G,B)$ is said to be a semi-unitary groupoid if $G$ is a groupoid and $B$ is a semi-inner product in $G$.
\end{df}
\begin{p}Suppose $n\in\mathbb N$ and  $\{\theta_i\}_{i=1}^n$ is a family of groupoid homomorphisms $\theta_i\colon G\rightarrow\mathbb C$ such that, for any $g\in G$, the condition $\forall_{i=1}^n\theta_i (g)=0$ implies that $\exists_{p\in M} g=e_p$. Then the formula
\begin{equation}
B(g,h)=\sum_{i=1}^n\theta_i(g)\overline{\theta_i(h)},
\label{formula B by theta}
\end{equation}
defines a semi-inner product in $G$.
\label{B by theta}
\end{p}
\begin{proof}Conjugate symmetry and positive definteness are evident from definition of $B$. In turn, Cauchy-Schwarz inequality for $B$ is a direct consequence of the Cauchy-Schwarz inequality for the scalar product in ${\mathbb C}^n$.
\end{proof}
\begin{p} Suppose $G$ is a transitive groupoid and let $g\in G$, $p\in M$ be fixed elements. The following implication is true:
$$
\forall_{h\in G_p}B(g, h)=0\Rightarrow \forall_{k\in G}B(g, k)=0.
$$
\end{p}
\begin{proof}Let $h\in G_p^q$  and $k\in G_s$.
Since $G$ is transitive, there exists $l\in G_q^s$ and $hlk\in G_p$. Consequently, we get $B(g,hlk)=0$ and $B(g,hl)+B(g,k)=0$, which means that $B(g,k)=0$.
\end{proof}
In the case when $G$ is a transitive groupoid, the above statement allows us to weaken the condition 3 of Definition \ref{ilocz_skalar}, i.e. instead $h\in G$ we can take $h\in G_s$, for a fixed point $s\in M$.
\begin{df}
We say that $g_1, g_2\in G$ are $B$-congruent elements if
\begin{equation}
\forall_{h\in G}\; B(g_1,h)=B(g_2,h).
\label{B-congruence relation}
\end{equation}
In such a case we shall write $g_1\uparrow\uparrow g_2$.
\label{parallel}
\end{df}
Let $\{\theta_i\}_{i=1}^n$ be a family of groupoid homomorphisms which fulfills the assumptions of
Proposition \ref{B by theta} and suppose $B(g,h)$ is given by formula (\ref{formula B by theta}). Additionally, suppose that for any $j=1,...,n$ there exists $h_j\in G$ such that $\theta_i(h_j)=\delta_{ij}$ (the Kronecker delta). Then the $B$-congruence relation  $\uparrow\uparrow $, defined by formula (\ref{B-congruence relation}), can be equivalently characterized by formula (\ref{theta-paral}). Indeed, for $g_1\uparrow\uparrow g_2$, in the condition $\forall_{h\in G} B(g_1,h)=B(g_2,h)$ we can substitute $h=h_j$ and obtain
$\theta_j(g_1)=\theta_j(g_2)$, for any $j=1,...,n$.  Hence,  using the groupoid homomorphism $\theta$ given by formula
\ref{theta composed}, we can write equivalently $\theta (g_1)=\theta (g_2)$. On the other hand, if $\theta (g_1)=\theta (g_2)$, i.e. $\forall_{j=1,...,n}\theta_j(g_1)=\theta_j(g_2)$,
for any $h\in G$
there is
$B(g_1,h)=\sum_{i=1}^n\theta_i(g_1)\overline{\theta_i(h)}=
\sum_{i=1}^n\theta_i(g_2)\overline{\theta_i(h)}=B(g_2,h)$.
\begin{p} Suppose that $G$ is a transitive groupoid. Then, in Definition \ref{parallel} we can  replace $h\in G$ equivalently by $h\in G_s$, for some $s\in G$.
\end{p}
\begin{proof}Let $s\in M$ and suppose that the identity $B(g_1,h)=B(g_2,h)$ is true for some
elements $g_1,g_2\in G$ and $h\in G_s$. Now, by the tratsivity of $G$, for any $k\in G$, there exists $l$ such that $hl, lk\in G$.
Since $hl, hlk\in G_s$ we can write equalities $B(g_1,hl)=B(g_2,hl)$ and
$B(g_1,hlk)=B(g_2,hlk)$. Then, by the bihomomorphism properties we get the equivalent identity
$B(g_1,hl)+B(g_1,k)=B(g_2,hl)+B(g_2,k)$ and finally $B(g_1,k)=B(g_2,k)$.
\end{proof}
\begin{p} The relation $\uparrow\uparrow$ is an affine congruence  in $G$.
\end{p}
\begin{proof}First, let us notice that $\uparrow\uparrow$ is an equivalence relation in $G$. Indeed,
reflexivity and symmetry properties of this relation are evident. To show the transitivity, we can write the conditions
$g_1\uparrow\uparrow g_2$ and $g_2\uparrow\uparrow g_3$ as $B(g_1,h)=B(g_2,h)$ and $B(g_2,h)=B(g_3,h)$. Hence $B(g_1,h)=B(g_3,h)$, for any $h\in G$, which means that $g_1\uparrow\uparrow g_3$. Suppose now that $g_1\uparrow\uparrow g_2$, $h_1\uparrow\uparrow h_2$ and $g_1h_1, g_2h_2\in G$. Then, for any $k\in G$, we can write equivalently
$B(g_1,k)=B(g_2,k)$,  $B(h_1,k)=B(h_2,k)$ and
$B(g_1,k)+B(h_1,k)=B(g_2,k)+B(h_2,k)$. Since $B$ is a bihomomorphism, we obtain
$B(g_1h_1,k)=B(g_2h_2,k)$, i.e.   $g_1h_1\uparrow\uparrow g_2h_2$. In turn, if
$g_1\uparrow\uparrow g_2$, $h_1\uparrow\uparrow h_2$ and $g_1h_2, h_1g_2\in G$, we can write
$B(g_1,k)=B(g_2,k)$,  $B(h_1,k)=B(h_2,k)$ and $B(g_1,k)+B(h_2,k)=B(h_1,k)+B(g_2,k)$ or equivalently
$B(g_1h_2,k)=B(h_1g_2,k)$, i.e. $g_1h_2\uparrow\uparrow h_1g_2$.
\end{proof}
\begin{p}
Suppose $p\in M$ and $g_1,g_2\in G_p$. If  $g_1\uparrow\uparrow g_2$ then $g_1=g_2$, i.e.  the relation $\uparrow\uparrow $ is simple.
\label{g1g2-p-identy}
\end{p}
\begin{proof} On the strength of  $B$-congruence relation between elements $g_1, g_2$, for any $h\in G$ there is
$B(g_1,h)=B(g_2,h)$ and automatically $-B(g_1,h)+B(g_2,h)=0$, then $B(g_1^{-1},h)+B(g_2,h)=0$ and
$B(g_1^{-1}g_2,h)=0$, which means that  $g_1^{-1}g_2=e_q$ for  $q=r(g_1)\in M$. Finally, we get $g_1=g_2$.
\end{proof}

 In the sequel, we  shall write $[h]=\{g\in G: g\uparrow\uparrow h\}$ and $[h]_p=[h]\cap G_p$, for  $p\in M$.

In general, the relation $\uparrow\uparrow$ may not be complete, i.e.
there might  be points $p\in M$ where $[h]_p=\emptyset$. For example, let
$\Gamma ={\mathbb R}^2$ be the groupoid (over the base $\mathbb R$) of pairs, $(x,y)\circ (y,z)=(x,z)$, for any
$(x,y),(y,z)\in \Gamma$. Define the groupoid homomorphism $\theta\colon \Gamma\rightarrow{\mathbb R}$, by formula $\theta ((x,y))=x-y$, for any $(x,y)\in\Gamma$, and the bihomomorphism
$B\colon \Gamma\times\Gamma\rightarrow{\mathbb R}$ defined by
$B((x_1,y_1),(x_2,y_2))=\theta ((x_1,y_1))\theta ((x_2,y_2))$, for any $(x_1,y_1),(x_2,y_2)\in\Gamma$. In fact, the bihomomorphism $B$ is a semi-inner product in $\Gamma$. Choose
$G\subset\Gamma$   to be a square-shaped subgroupoid, e.g.
$G=\{(x,y)\in{\mathbb R}^2\colon  0\leq x\leq 1, 0\leq y\leq 1\}$ over the base
$M=\{x\in{\mathbb R}\colon 0\leq x\leq 1\}$. One can easily check that for the element  $(1,0)\in G$ and any $x\in M$, $x\neq 1$, there is $[(1,0)]_x=\emptyset$.
This example motivates the following definition.
\begin{df} $(G,B)$ is said to be a  $B$-affine groupoid if it is a semi-unitary groupoid and the relation $\uparrow\uparrow$ is complete, i.e. for any  $h\in G$ and $p\in M$, there is $[h]_p\neq\emptyset$.
\label{G-afiniczny}
\end{df}
As a consequence of  Proposition \ref{g1g2-p-identy}, in the case of a $B$-affine groupoid $G$, all classes $[h]_p$ are singletons, for any $h\in G$, $p\in M$.
\begin{df}
If $B(g_1,h)=-B(g_2,h)$ for certain $g_1, g_2\in G$ and any $h\in G$, we say that $g_1, g_2$ are $B$-opposite. For $B$-opposite elements $g_1, g_2\in G$ we shall write $g_1\uparrow\downarrow g_2$.
\label{antyparallel}
\end{df}
{\bf Remark:} Evidently, if $g_1\uparrow\downarrow g_2$ and $g_2\uparrow\downarrow g_3$ then $g_1\uparrow\uparrow g_2$, for any $g_1,g_2,g_3\in G$.
\begin{df}
If $g,h\in G$ and $B(g,h)=0$, we say that $g$ and $h$ are $B$-orthogonal and we write $g\bot h$.
\label{orto}
\end{df}
\begin{df}For any element $g\in G$ and $c\in\mathbb C$,
we define the subset
\begin{equation}
G(c,g)\equiv c\bullet g=\{k\in G\colon B(k,h)=c\cdot B(g,h),\; h\in G\}\subset G.
\end{equation}
Additionally, for $p\in M$ we define $G_p(c,g)=(c\bullet g)_p=G(c,g)\cap G_p$.
\end{df}
If $c=0$, we get $G(0,g)=\{e_p\in G\colon p\in M\}$.
\begin{p}For any $c\in\mathbb C$, $g\in G$ and $k_1,k_2\in G(c,g)$, there is $k_1\uparrow\uparrow k_2$.
\end{p}
\begin{proof}
Let  $h\in G$ be an arbitrary element. Then, by definition we obtain $B(k_1,h)=cB(g,h)=B(k_2,h)$, i.e. $B(k_1,h)=B(k_2,h)$.
\end{proof}
It is possible that the set $G(c,h)\subset G$ is empty, e.g. when $B$ is a real valued bihomomorphism then $G(i,h)=\emptyset$.
\begin{p}
For any $p\in M$, $c\in\mathbb C$ and $g\in G$ the set $G_p(c,g)$ has at most one element.
\end{p}
\begin{proof}
For any two elements $k_1,k_2\in G(c,g)$ there is $k_1\uparrow\uparrow k_2$. Then, on the strength of
Proposition \ref{g1g2-p-identy}, we have $k_1=k_2$.
\end{proof}
\begin{p}
For any $c\in\mathbb C$, $g,h\in G$ and $k\in G(c,h)$, there is
\begin{equation}
B(g,k)=\overline{c}\cdot B(g,h)\; .
\end{equation}
\end{p}
\begin{proof}
Let $c\in\mathbb C$, $g,h\in G$ and $k\in G(c,h)$. Then we get
$$
B(g,k)=\overline{B(k,g)}=\overline{c\cdot B(h,g)}=\overline{c }\cdot {B(g,h)}\; .
$$
\end{proof}
\section{Norm structure in a grupoid}

The concept of a norm defined in a groupoid is studied by M. Buliga in \cite{Buliga}.
\begin{df} By a normed groupoid we understand a pair $(G,||\cdot ||)$, where $G$ is a groupoid and the function $||\cdot ||:G\rightarrow [0,+\infty )$, the so-called groupoid norm in $G$, fulfills the conditions:
\begin{enumerate}
\item $||g||=0$ iff there exists $p\in M$ such that $g=e_p\,$,
\item for any $g,h\in G$, such that $gh\in G$,  there is $||gh||\leq ||g||+||h||$,
\item for any $g\in G$ there is $||g^{-1}||=||g||\,$.
\end{enumerate}
\label{normabuliga}
\end{df}
Condition 2 in the above definiotion is called the triangle inequality. One can show that also the reverse triangle inequality holds for $||\cdot ||$, i.e.
\begin{equation}
|\; ||h||-||g||\; |\leq ||g^{-1}h||\; ,
\label{reversetriangle}
\end{equation}
for any $g,h\in G$, such that $g^{-1}h\in G$. Indeed, $||h||=||gg^{-1}h||\leq ||g||+||g^{-1}h||$, which gives us $||h||-||g||\leq ||g^{-1}h||$. Analogously, $||g||=||hh^{-1}g||\leq ||h||+||h^{-1}g||$, which implies $||g||-||h||\leq ||h^{-1}g||$. Since $||g^{-1}h||=||h^{-1}g||$, there is $|\; ||h||-||g||\; |\leq ||g^{-1}h||$.

\begin{p} Let $B$ be a semi-inner product in $G$. Then the mapping $||\cdot ||\colon G\rightarrow [0, +\infty )$, defined by
$||g||=B(g,g)^{1/2}$, for any $g\in G$, is a groupoid norm in $G$.
\end{p}
\begin{proof}
Suppose $||g||=0$, for some $g\in G$. By definition it means that $B(g,g)=0$ and positive definiteness of $B$ implies that $g=e_p$, for some $p\in M$.

In turn, we can calculate
$||gh||^2=B(gh,gh)=B(g,g)+B(g,h)+B(h,g)+B(h,h)=B(g,g)+B(g,h)+\overline{B(g,h)}+B(h,h)\leq ||g||^2+2|B(g,h)|+||h||^2\leq ||g||^2+2||g||\cdot ||h||+||h||^2=(||g||+||h||)^2$, hence $||gh||\leq ||g||+||h||$.
Finally, $||g^{-1}||=B(g^{-1},g^{-1})=B(g,g)=||g||$.
\end{proof}
\begin{p}Let $|| \cdot ||$ be the groupoid norm defined by a semi-inner product $B$ in a groupoid $G$. Then, for any $c\in\mathbb C$, $g\in G$ and $h\in c\bullet g$, there is
\begin{equation}
||h||=|c|\cdot ||g||\; .
\end{equation}
\end{p}
\begin{proof}If $h\in c\bullet g$, we can write
$$||h||=B(h,h)^{1/2}=B(cg,cg)^{1/2}=|c|\cdot B(g,g)^{1/2}=|c|\cdot ||g||\; .$$
\end{proof}
\begin{df} Suppose that  $(G,||\cdot ||)$ is a normed groupoid and $\lambda$ is an affine congruence relation in $G$.
We say that $||\cdot||$ is  $\lambda$-consistent if, for any $g_1,g_2\in G$, the following conditions are fulfilled:
\begin{enumerate}
\item $g_1\lambda g_2 \Rightarrow ||g_1||=||g_2||$,
\item {[$g_1\lambda g_2\wedge g_1g_2\in G$]  $\Rightarrow  ||g_1g_2||=2||g_1||$.}
\end{enumerate}
\end{df}
\begin{p}
Assume $B$ to be a semi-inner product in $G$ and  $\uparrow\uparrow$   be the affine congruence relation in $G$  given by Definition \ref{parallel}. Then  the groupoid norm $||\cdot ||$,  defined by $||g||=B(g,g)^{1/2}$, for $g\in G$, is $\uparrow\uparrow$-consistent.
\end{p}
\begin{proof}
Let $g_1, g_2\in G$ and suppose that $g_1\uparrow\uparrow g_2$. Then $B(g_1,h)=B(g_2,h)$, for any $h\in G$. In particular, we obtain
$B(g_1,g_1)=B(g_2,g_1)$ and $B(g_1,g_2)=B(g_2,g_2)$, i.e. $B(g_1,g_2), B(g_2,g_1)\in\mathbb R$, which implies
the identity $||g_1||=||g_2||$. If $g_1\uparrow\uparrow g_2$ and $g_1g_2\in G$, we obtain
$||g_1g_2||^2=B(g_1g_2,g_1g_2)=B(g_1,g_1)+B(g_1,g_2)+B(g_2,g_1)+B(g_2,g_2)=4||g_1||^2$. Thus we get
$||g_1g_2||=2||g_1||$.
\end{proof}
\begin{df}\label{parallelogram identiy}Suppose $\lambda$ is an affine congruence relation  and  $||\cdot ||$ is a $\lambda$-consistent groupoid norm in $G$. We say that $||\cdot ||$ fulfills the parallelogram identity with some elements $g,h\in G$, if there exist $g_1,g_2, h_1,h_2\in G$ such that $g_1h_1, g_2^{-1}h_2\in G$,
$g\lambda g_1\lambda g_2$, $h\lambda h_1\lambda h_2$
 and
\begin{equation}
||g_1h_1||^2+||g_2^{-1}h_2||^2=2||g||^2+2||h||^2.
\label{parallelogram identiy}
\end{equation}
If the identity (\ref{parallelogram identiy}) is fulffiled with any elements $g,h\in G$, we say that $||\cdot ||$ fulfills the parallelogram identity in $G$.
\end{df}
\begin{p}The groupoid norm $||\cdot ||$ defined by a semi-inner product $B$ in $G$ fulfills the parallelogram identity with all elements $g,h\in G$, for which there exist $g_1, g_2, h_1,h_2\in G$ such that $g_1h_1, g_2^{-1}h_2\in G$
and $g\lambda g_1\lambda g_2$, $h\lambda h_1\lambda h_2$.
\end{p}
\begin{proof} Let $\uparrow\uparrow$ be the affine congruence relation in $G$ given by  Definition \ref{parallel} and assume $g,g_1,g_2, h,h_1,h_2\in G$ be elements such that $g_1h_1, g_2^{-1}h_2\in G$,  $g\uparrow\uparrow g_1\uparrow\uparrow g_2$,  $h\uparrow\uparrow h_1\uparrow\uparrow h_2$.
Then, by definition we obtain two identities
$$||g_1h_1||^2=B(g_1h_1,g_1h_1)=||g||^2+B(g,h)+B(h,g)+||h||^2\; ,$$
$$||g_2^{-1}h_2||^2=B(g_2^{-1}h_2,g_2^{-1}h_2)=||g^{-1}||^2+B(g^{-1},h)+B(h,g^{-1})+||h||^2\; ,$$
from which we get
$$||g_1h_1||^2+||g_2^{-1}h_2||^2=$$
$$=||g||^2+B(g^{-1},h)+B(h,g^{-1})+||h||^2+||g||^2+B(g,h)+B(h,g)+||h||^2=$$
$$=2||g||^2+2||h||^2\; .$$
\end{proof}
\begin{p}
Suppose $\lambda$ is an affine congruence relation in G and $||\cdot ||$ is a $\lambda$ -consistent groupoid norm which fulfills the parallelogram identity (\ref{parallelogram identiy}) in $G$. Then the polarization formula
\begin{equation}
B(g,h)=\frac{1}{4}(||g_1h_1||^2-||g_2^{-1}h_2||^2),
\label{polarization-real}
\end{equation}
for $g,g_1,g_2,h, h_1,h_2\in G$ such that
$g\lambda g_1\lambda g_2$,
 $h\lambda h_1\lambda h_2$ and
$g_1h_1, g_2^{-1}h_2\in G$, defines the real-valued semi-inner product in $G$.
\end{p}
\begin{proof}
The proof we start with the observation, that $B(g,h)$ is well defined for any elements $g,h\in G$. Indeed, by the assumption there exist elements
$g_1,g_2, h_1,h_2\in G$ such that
$g\lambda g_1\lambda g_2$,
 $h\lambda h_1\lambda h_2$ and
$g_1h_1, g_2^{-1}h_2\in G$, which is enough to define $B(g,h)$ by formula (\ref{polarization-real}). This definition is correct, since $||\cdot ||$ is $\lambda$-consistent.

Let $g\lambda g_i$ and $h\lambda h_i$, for some $g,g_i,h,h_i\in G$, $i=1,2,3,4$,  such that $g_1h_1,g_2^{-1}h_2, h_3g_3, h_4^{-1}g_4\in G$. Since $\lambda$ is an affine congruence relation in $G$, we have $g_1h_1\lambda h_3g_3$ and $g_2^{-1}h_2\lambda h_4^{-1}g_4$. On the other hand,
since $||\cdot ||$ is $\lambda$-consistent, there is $||g_1h_1||=||h_3g_3||$ and
 $||g_2^{-1}h_2||=||h_4^{-1}g_4||$.
Hence, we obtain the (conjugate) symmetry property
$$B(g,h)=\frac{1}{4}(||g_1h_1||^2-||g_2^{-1}h_2||^2)=
\frac{1}{4}(||h_3g_3||^2-||h_4^{-1}g_4||^2)=B(h,g).$$

Let $k_1, k_2\in G$ be elements such that $g\lambda k_1\lambda k_2$ and $k_1k_2\in G$. Then,
the positive definitness property of $B$ is clear from $$B(g,g)=\frac{1}{4}(||k_1k_2||^2-||g^{-1}g||^2)=\frac{1}{4}(2||g||)^2=||g||^2.$$

To prove the Cauchy-Schwarz inequality for $B$, we shall use the parallelogram identity (\ref{parallelogram identiy}) assumed
for $||\cdot ||$.
From the reverse triangle inequality (\ref{reversetriangle}) we obtain
$$(\; ||g||-||h||\; )^2=||g||^2-2||g||\cdot ||h||+||h||^2\leq ||g_2^{-1}h_2||^2\; , $$
$$2||g||^2+2||h||^2-||g_2^{-1}h_2||^2-||g_2^{-1}h_2||^2\leq 4||g||\cdot ||h||\; .$$
Now, on the strength of the parallelogram identity (\ref{parallelogram identiy}), from the last inequality we obtain
$$||g_1h_1||^2-||g_2^{-1}h_2||^2\leq 4||g||\cdot ||h||\; ,$$
which means that
$$
B(g,h)=\frac{1}{4}(||g_1h_1||^2-||g_2^{-1}h_2||^2)\leq ||g||\cdot ||h||\; .
$$

In order to complete this proof, one needs to show that $B(g,h)$ defined by the polarization identity is a bihomomorphism. Since the (conjugate) symmetry of $B(g,h)$ has been already proved, it is enough to show that $B(gh,k)=B(g,k)+B(h,k)$.

Directly from the polarization identity (\ref{polarization-real}) one can notice that
$$B(g,e_p)=\frac{1}{4}(||ge_{r(g)}||^2-||g^{-1}e_{d(g)}||^2)=
\frac{1}{4}(||g||^2-||g^{-1}||^2)=0,$$ for any $g\in G$ and $p\in M$.

Choose elements $u,v,x,y,u_i,v_i,x_i,y_i\in G$,  such that $u\lambda u_i$, $v\lambda v_i$,$x\lambda x_i$,$y\lambda y_i$, for
$i=1,2,...$, and assume the composability of elements in all cases that appear in formulae below, in particular
$u_1v_1, u_2^{-1}v_2, x_1y_1, x_2^{-1}y_2\in G$.

Then,  using the polarization  identity (\ref{polarization-real}), we can write
$$B(u,v)=\frac{1}{4}(||u_1v_1||^2-||u_2^{-1}v_2||^2)\; \und\; B(x,y)=\frac{1}{4}(||x_1y_1||^2-||x_2^{-1}y_2||^2).$$
Now, we apply the parallelogram identity (\ref{parallelogram identiy}) and calculate the sum
$$B(u,v)+B(x,y)=\frac{1}{4}(||u_1v_1||^2+||x_1y_1||^2)-\frac{1}{4}(||u_2^{-1}v_2||^2+||x_2^{-1}y_2||^2)=$$

$$=\frac{1}{4}\cdot\frac{1}{2}(||(u_3v_3)(x_3y_3)||^2+||(u_4v_4)^{-1}(x_4y_4)||^2)-$$
$$-\frac{1}{4}\cdot\frac{1}{2}(||(u_5^{-1}v_5)(x_5^{-1}y_5)||^2+||(u_6^{-1}v_6)^{-1}(x_6^{-1}y_6)||^2)=$$

$$=\frac{1}{4}\cdot\frac{1}{2}(||(u_3v_3)(x_3y_3)||^2-||(u_5^{-1}v_5)(x_5^{-1}y_5)||^2)+$$
$$+\frac{1}{4}\cdot\frac{1}{2}(||(u_4v_4)^{-1}(x_4y_4)||^2-||(u_6^{-1}v_6)^{-1}(x_6^{-1}y_6)||^2)=$$

$$=\frac{1}{2}\cdot\frac{1}{4}(||(u_7x_7)(v_7y_7)||^2-||(u_8x_8)^{-1}(v_8y_8)||^2)+$$
$$+\frac{1}{2}\cdot\frac{1}{4}(||(u_9^{-1}x_9)(v_9^{-1}y_9)||^2-||(u_{10}^{-1}x_{10})^{-1}(v_{10}^{-1}y_{10})||^2)=$$

$$=\frac{1}{2}B(u_8x_8,v_8y_8)+\frac{1}{2}B(u_9^{-1}x_9,v_9^{-1}y_9).$$

Since $B(u,e_p)=0$, from the above result we obtain
$B(u,v)=B(u,v)+B(u,e_p)=
\frac{1}{2}B(u_1u_2,ve_{r(v)})+\frac{1}{2}B(u^{-1}u,v^{-1}e_{d(v)})=\frac{1}{2}B(u_1u_2,v)$.

Let us make the substitutions  $u=g, x=h, v=y=k$ and assume that $gh\in G$. Then we get
$$B(g,k)+B(h,k)=\frac{1}{2}B(gh,k_1k_2)+\frac{1}{2}B(g^{-1}h_1,k^{-1}k)=B(gh,k).$$
\end{proof}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaArXiv


MAJOR is excited to have been part of the 2018 Institution of Quarrying South Africa conference and exhibition. John Pelser, Business Development and Dealer Management in Africa, is a member of the IQSA and was a speaker at this year's conference in Durban presenting about optimizing screening performance with High Vibration screen media. We would like to thank Sydney Rees "National Sales Manager" and Alexi Mavrikis "Department Manager" from ELB Equipment, our local Dealer for their support at the booth.


text:
Colombian man charged for assassination of Haitian Prez
USA January 5, 2022 January 6, 2022
According to the Justice Department, Palacios, 43, was involved in the plot that initially sought to kidnap and arrest Jovenal but ended up with the intention and plan to kill him, according to the release….reports Asian Lite News
The US charged Colombian national Mario Palacios with conspiracy to commit murder or kidnapping in connection with the assassination, the Justice Department said on Tuesday.
"As alleged in the complaint, which was unsealed today, these charges relate to the July 7, 2021, assassination of the former President of Haiti, Jovenel Moise, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti," the department said in a statement. "As alleged, the defendant and others, including a group of approximately 20 other Colombian citizens and a group of Haiti-based dual Haitian-American citizens, participated in a plot to kidnap or kill the Haitian President."
According to the Justice Department, Palacios, 43, was involved in the plot that initially sought to kidnap and arrest Jovenal but ended up with the intention and plan to kill him, according to the release.
Ukraine talks hit impasse
Iran blasts US failure to shut down Guantanamo Bay camp
"Palacios, 43, is charged with conspiracy to commit murder or kidnapping outside the United States and providing material support resulting in death, knowing or intending that such material support would be used to prepare for or carry out the conspiracy to kill or kidnap," the release said.
He allegedly travelled with a co-conspirator to the United States on June 28, 2021, to solicit help to pull off the assassination, according to the Justice Department.
The person Palacios travelled with, a Haitian-American citizen, was arrested by Haitian authorities and remains in custody in that island nation. US officials said Palacios eluded arrest and travelled to Jamaica. After being deported from Jamaica, and during a layover in Panama, he agreed to travel to the United States.
He is currently in custody and is set to have his initial appearance in court later today.
Palacios, who was handed over to the US officials on Tuesday, was detained on Monday night at the Tocumen International Airport in Panama City, after his deportation flight from Jamaica to Colombia made a stopover. His arrest obeyed an Interpol warrant apparently requested by the US.
Sources said that upon arriving in Panama, the suspect indicated his willingness to surrender to the authorities to be sent to the US, Xinhua news agency reported.
Palacios was arrested in October in Jamaica, where he reportedly entered illegally from the Dominican Republic.
Palacios faces up to life imprisonment if he is convicted. (ANI/Sputnik)
ALSO READ: Biden, Trump to address nation separately on Capitol riot anniversary
Tagged: USA
Blinken discusses Afghanistan situation with UN, Red Cross
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Russia gives out mixed signal on talks
North Korea vows 'stronger' action to sanctions
Capitol assault probe subpoenas social media sites in US
Showdown looms in Senate as House passes voting rights package

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
What Everyone's Thinking About EPCOT's Food and Wine Festival (But No One Will Say)
By Matt Kirouac 14 Comments
No offense to the holidays, but EPCOT Food and Wine Festival might be the REAL "most wonderful time of year!" The festival has been underway for a few weeks now, and we've been eating and sipping our way through it!
EPCOT Food and Wine
Along the way, we've been met with all kinds of surprises…some good, and some…not so much. You know the feeling. When it comes to a colossal food fest like this one, there are just some things that pretty much EVERYONE is thinking but no one will say.
There's a LOT to eat, drink, see, and do at EPCOT right now, from scavenger hunts to beer flights and everything in between. But through it all, we've noticed some details that shouldn't be overlooked. Some details that we'd venture to guess most people are in agreement about.
Booze = $$$
Perhaps the LEAST surprising thing that we're all thinking is how EXPENSIVE the alcohol is at Food and Wine! Granted, alcohol is pretty much ALWAYS expensive in Disney World, but it feels especially blatant during a festival like this when many drink portions are much smaller than you'd get outside of a festival.
Cheers to spending money!
Seriously, the Martini Slushies cost almost TWICE as much as Coq au Vin?! Most wine pours are relatively accessible (as they should be, considering the portions are thimble-sized), but it's kinda hard to stomach paying $11 for tea with whiskey.
You can find some bargains on beer and wine, but if you want liquor, get ready to budget! Because it'll REALLY amp up your overall costs if you're planning on grazing all day.
Table Service Restaurants Must Be Jealous
EPCOT's permanent Table Service restaurants are real gems. From Rose & Crown's EPIC Fish & Chips to the fragrant foodie treasures at Spice Road Table, these are worthwhile dining destinations year-round! Well, except right now.
One of our top tips for tackling Food and Wine is to skip the Table Service restaurants so that you can focus on the special booths that are here specifically for the festival. Makes sense, right? Rose & Crown isn't going anywhere, and they're certainly not hurting for business.
We still love you, Spice Road Table
But we still can't help but feel a little bad that they're constantly overlooked in favor of things like Spanakopita or Cheddar Cheese Soup. We'll always have a place in our hearts for Fish & Chips, Tangines, and all the other nummy foods at the permanent spots in World Showcase!
Some of This Year's Menu Items Are Pretty…Basic
While MANY of EPCOT's Food and Wine menu items this year are stunning, impressive, and delicious (looking at YOU, Chilaquiles con Chorizo!), we can't help but notice that other dishes are really…kind of…phoning it in.
Chilaquiles con Chorizo
Like, what's going on with these wings and flatbreads? Are we in Disney World or a mall food court, circa 2001? (So the wings were actually pretty tasty, but still. That's not what most think of as "foodie" foods!)
Most things being served this year look great, but others — like this "Traditional" (aka kinda basic) Poutine — just look like chain restaurant food with Disney prices… .
Disney Is REALLY Trying to Make Donut Sandwiches Happen
Well, it's official. After eating cheesy bacon donut sandwiches at Everglazed Donuts & Cold Brew and a pulled pork donut in Animal Kingdom, Disney is at it again with ANOTHER Donut Sandwich at EPCOT Food and Wine. It's officially a trend!
Donut sandwich!
Not that we're mad about it! Especially when said sammie is as good as the Sriracha Chicken Donut creation at The Donut Box, which is easily one of our favorite snacks in the festival right now.
A chicken sandwich on a sriracha donut because why not?
But yeah, if Disney thinks we haven't noticed their aggressive push to normalize Donut Sandwiches, they're wrong. This is one trend we're totally ok with them pushing though!
Italy Is (Still) The Most Skippable Booth
As lovers of pasta and fried cheesy things, it pains us to say that the Italy booth is kind of a dud. Womp womp!
Kinda sad
Between everything being way too expensive and most of the items looking totally meh (like a sad-looking trio of Bomboloni and rubbery Grilled Chicken Ravioli), not to mention when they flat-out run out of food! We wish we could say this is a first for this booth but many festivals now, Italy has just underwhelmed. We'd rather spend a few bucks more on good Italian food at the restaurants in the Pavilion. We're gonna pass on Italy and use our valuable cravings elsewhere.
Disney Is Ready To Take Some RISKS!
Major food festivals like this one, which has to appeal to a HUGE population of people with all kinds of taste preferences, usually play it relatively safe with their menu items…save for the occasional snail snack.
Feuilleté d'Escargot à la Crème d'Ail et Persil: Escargot in Puff Pastry with Garlic and Parsley Cream Sauce
But this year, it looks like Disney is stepping up their game and embracing their inner Top Chef a bit! After all, it's not often you see things like pig ear on a Disney menu!
Crispy Pig Ear Salad
The Swanky Saucy Swine, a rather bold newcomer this year, is leading the way in terms of envelope-pushing food, featuring some off-cuts and whole-hog ingredients, like pig ear salads, pork rinds, and pork-fat roasted potatoes!
Why is Appleseed Orchard Lacking Actual Food?
With a fruitful name like Appleseed Orchard, you'd expect some actual food items, no?
Appleseed Orchard
But this tucked-away booth is honestly kind of a foodie wasteland, with literally just ONE prepared dish. There are technically two food items, but one of them is a sad pre-packaged bag of apple chips, which we choose to pretend doesn't exist.
Seriously, there are SO MANY apple items that could be served here! Has Disney never heard of apple pie? Candy apples? Apple strudel? Waldorf salad? Being one of the most versatile ingredients, it's just odd that Disney chooses to ONLY focus on drinks! And considering that Fall is apple harvesting season… shouldn't we be basking in the glow of apple-themed cuisine?
While We're On The Subject Of Appleseed Orchard…
Not to pile on, but it also needs to be said that garnishing cocktails with things like streusel crumbs and mini marshmallows will never not be weird.
Apple Blossom Sky at Appleseed Orchard
Just…why?
We Need To Have A Talk About Soup
Listen, soup is delicious, and Disney is VERY good at making soup! But we prefer our hot broth inside an air-conditioned dining room, not outside in the scorching Florida sun.
Strawberry Soup — available in the AIR- CONDITIONED Grand Floridian Cafe!
We get that soup recipes lend themselves well to certain regional cuisines, and TBH the Cheddar and Bacon Soup from the Canada booth is legit yummy. But does Disney really think serving hot, creamy soup at an outdoor festival at the height of summer in Florida is an appetizing idea?
Canadian Cheddar Cheese Soup with a Pretzel Roll
Sure, SOME folks really crave spicy beef pho when the heat index is in the triple digits. But most guests that are already sweating through every piece of clothing on their body will reach for a cold beer or ice cream instead of hot beefy broth!
The Festival Should Be Renamed EPCOT Food and Beer
There's certainly no lack of good wine at EPCOT Food and Wine, but there's no denying that beer gets most of the creative attention and spotlight here.
Even though most of the booths offer some wine pours, the offerings all tend to blend together with not a lot of distinction. Meanwhile, the emphasis tends to be more on the craft beer side, with so many unique and delicious options to sample!
Beer Flight
Considering the boom in craft breweries across the country, and the uptick in interesting beers in Disney World in general, it's obvious who the favorite booze child is here…and it isn't wine.
Is EPCOT Turning Into One Giant Endless Festival?
From EPCOT Food and Wine to EPCOT International Flower and Garden and beyond, there's almost ALWAYS some kind of festival taking place in EPCOT these days, and it's time that Disney just acknowledges the obvious: EPCOT is one big endless festival park now.
It's an endless festival!
Not only that, but all the festivals kinda blur together, with only subtle design and aesthetic differences. In fact, some booths even repeat menu items from different festivals, like the Dragonfly drink from the China booth, which has done double duty at Festival of the Holidays AND Food and Wine.
This Dragonfly drink looks familiar
This certainly isn't a BAD thing, because we're obsessed with EPCOT's festivals, but it's becoming more and more obvious with each year and each event that this is THE festival park, with a LOT of familiar flavors.
Give it a week between fests or so and that Mexico booth will magically transform…into the same Mexico booth with slightly different foods and a slightly different name but still…totally…basically…the same. Put an artsy spin on the name and some extra garnishes, you get Festival of the Arts. Throw something floral in the mix, you got Flower and Garden, etc. Rinse and repeat for most of the other booths that repeat each fest. That said, there are some unique standouts of each festival that make visiting each special and worthwhile. But by and large, they're essentially very similar year-round.
Between the Italy disappointments, the pricey booze, and the Donut Sandwiches, these are just a few of the not-so-subtle things we've noticed at EPCOT Food and Wine this year. What stood out to you this year? Anything you think deserves some extra attention?
Our TOP Tips For Budgeting For The EPCOT Food and Wine Festival
It's still easy to have a FANTASTIC trip to the EPCOT Food and Wine Festival, especially when you make your basic plan of attack in advance. That's why we publish an annual DFB Guide to the festival that includes detailed photos and information about every festival booth, a complete festival events calendar, and dozens upon dozens of tips we've gathered over many years of attending every EPCOT Food and Wine Festival!
Our eBook is easy to take along with you on your smartphone or your tablet, and it comes with fun bonuses, including:
Themed Booth Crawls — a great activity for a group of any size or a solo adventurer! These booth crawls group together similar items so that you can hone in on what you'll enjoy the most! We even have one for the kids!
Customized Touring Strategies — We've prepared customized touring strategies to make sure you get the most out of your visit. At the Food and Wine Festival for just a half-day? Two full days? With kids? On a budget? We've got suggestions and recommendations about how to make the most of your time.
A Printable World Showcase Booth Menu Checklist — Stay ahead of the game and strategize what you'll be eating at the festival with this handy, printable checklist!
And we're offering a special discount to DFB Readers! Use code CHEFS at checkout to get the DFB Guide to the EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival for 20% off!
Grab Your Food & Wine Festival Guide Here!!
Join the DFB Newsletter to get all the breaking news right in your inbox! Click here to Subscribe!
What's something you want to get off your chest about EPCOT Food and Wine? Let us know in the comments!
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Filed Under: disney parks, Epcot, Featured, Food and Wine Festival, Snacks, Walt Disney World Tagged With: beer, Canadian Cheddar Cheese Soup, cocktails, Craft Beer, disney festival, Disney World, donut sandwich, donuts, Epcot, epcot food and wine, Epcot Food and Wine Festival, festival, flatbread, Italy, overpriced, pizza, sandwiches, Snack, soup, Table-Service, wine
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DJ Moves says
That they price lobster as only slightly more expensive than run-of-the-mill pasta. This is turning into a joke and a conspiracy we're chasing in my household.
Ken says
The food is always diverse and interesting and always pricy. Ticket, food, wine adds up to a $200 day
Dorothy Karpinski says
I think for those of us who only get to WDW once a year and therefore attend only one Festival, this doesn't get old. We enjoy sampling the foods and don't notice that the booths don' t change much. I do agree that the alcohol is way overpriced, so we usually settle for a beer flight to share. This year we went in March and really enjoyed the beautiful gardens and the booths. Next year we will most likely go in late November and enjoy Food and Wine and the Christmas decorations. (Although we are thinking of skipping 2022 and seeing if Disney will back off on some of these "out of this world" prices. )
Kim S. says
I've only been twice so far this festival. The alcohol IS very expensive. I LOVE the fact that the festivals are running together because I LOVE the food booths. I will eat the cheese soup at Canada at the gates to Hades, but the Pho? That's going to be a newp for me going forward … it was BOILING hot on a 100 degree day. India so far is taking my favorite vote, but I watch all of your videos and read all blog entries. Will try the donut shop and the lobster dip. But to your main point? Prices have gone up alot in the past 3 years for the same food. It's a shame that Disney is going the way of the world.
Todd says
The festivals have continued to get longer and with the addition of Festival of the Arts, it is rare to visit during a non-festival time. Considering that Epcot is hardly the Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow as originally intended, they could actually rename the park as The Park of Festivals. As the park became dated and in need of updates and new things, the festivals became an easy fix for Disney. After all, people buy the park ticket, then continue to buy food and beverage all day long most likely resulting in a higher average spend per guest than during non-festival times. I'd like to think that with many new attractions looming in the near future that they would back off a bit from festivals and make them shorter, but sadly I doubt this will happen.
D. Brock says
Seems like a lot of comments lately, across many subject, that Disney is becoming less and less of a value (dollars vs. experience) to many previously loyal "guests".
Wendy says
As much as I love the food and wine fest, if Disney wants to charge this much they really need to step it up in creativity and push the boundaries in flavor. A food festival should be an opportunity to try things that you normally wouldn't be able to but it feels like Disney is more concerned with crowd pleasers which is why we see the same pretzel buns and fondues every year. Keep those dishes for the every day offerings and surprise us with something I can't get at the grocery store or make myself at home. Crispy pig ears were a nice effort to bring something unique into the mix but definitely couldn't even taste the pig ears…could've been anything crispy in there. There's other food fests that offer much more exciting food and drinks for way less money and it's getting pretty disappointing year after year.
A Jones says
I have been attending the Food and Wine festival annually since it's inception, and prices have risen while portion sizes have shrunk. No longer can you get free recipe cards, now you have to purchase a cookbook. Also, instead of it being a festival about all things food and wine, it has morphed into mostly booths to get appetizer sized portions of food and pay full plate prices. You can't purchase cookware or kitchen tools anymore, (sorry kitchenaid) and I still remember the days when there was an entire section devoted to bottles of wine or specialty beers you could purchase rather than just the limited selection in the Festival Center. I attended those grand tastings in the hotels that they no longer have, and fondly remember discovering different cheeses at a cheese marketplace, and visiting the gourmet food areas . My family and I may be odd in wishing for a return the more "total culinary experience" of the early festivals, but at least they didn't have the same problem with people getting drunk every weekend.
Ro says
My son and I are foodies and we absolutely loved the food offerings. My husband and other son found it a waste of money to go there even. We paid full price for a park ticket, and then after a few hours you've done everything and only thing left to do is spend more money on food and drinks. You need to eat a few of the offerings to fill up, and the drinks are down in a few sips… they complained about spending as much as we did but I enjoyed my day.
DFB Sarah says
A Jones, hopefully EPCOT can bring back the demonstrations and seminars and specialty events like they had in the past. For 2020 and 2021, they suspended them, of course.
Linda Stoddard says
I actually love the thought of EPCOT being a "festival park" and have begun timing my trips around the festivals. The food assortment is varied enough to please everyone rather than a specific type of "foodie". Since I abhor the entire concept of "drinking your way around the world", I'd support making the drinks even more expensive if it cuts down on the obnoxious drunks that security seems unable to deal with. One of the best parts of the festivals for me is that I can avoid dealing with the almost-mandatory mobile ordering and eat what I want, when I want, and where I want.
Patty mazon says
Love your reviews. When will the low cost food & beverages seminars return plus how about the special lunch and dinner events?(ie, Parisian breakfast or the Italian Wine luncheon? 0
Ian Troy says
The festivals only serve to create bottlenecks , and traffic flow problems. Long lines to little booths incapable of pumping out anything in a reasonable time frame, so you wait in line like it's an e-ticket. For my precious vacation time I'd rather make a reservation or even order online at a quick service and save my "line patience" for the actual rides. At least flower and garden has cool topiaries anyone can enjoy.
Barry says
While I'm not expecting a full pre-pandemic level at the festival when I arrive in late August, I have to admit that at this point I'm thoroughly underwhelmed. From 2001 to 2018 I only missed the Epcot Food and Wine Festival once, but now it seems like a sad shell of it's former self. I'm hoping that I'm being too pessimistic and there will be some additional events like Party for the Senses, but right now Epcot F&W seems no longer worth a special trip. Food and Wine festivals across the country are making a post-pandemic come back (I went to the Vancouver International Wine Festival in May and while it's not back to 2019 levels, it was still pretty great) but it seems like Disney is just phoning it in right now.


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Pediatric Medical Devices: Interview With Dr. Zeeshan Syedain
by Sandy Williams | Oct 1, 2021 | Uncategorized | 0 comments
Interested in pediatric medical devices? Learn how the U of Minnesota is making strides with cardiovascular device development for children.
Zeeshan Syedain received his PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of Minnesota in 2009. Dr. Syedain is currently a senior research associate in the laboratory of Professor Robert Tranquillo in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Minnesota. He has worked as senior R&D engineer in the medical device industry with his work leading to multiple patents filed and two funded Small-Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I awards from NIH. His current research focuses on cardiovascular tissue engineering with emphasis on vascular grafts and valves. Dr. Syedain is one of the recipients of 2016 Regenerative Medicine Minnesota Bio-Business Award.
Q: What are the main commercialization challenges in the development of pediatric medical devices?
A: Two main barriers to new pediatric medical devices are smaller market size and regulations approval cost. To date most pediatric devices in use were initially approved for adult population, and then data from the adult clinical trials was used to support approval for the pediatric devices.
Q: What's unique and different about pediatric medical devices compared to devices for the adult population?
A: Traditionally, it is assumed that size is the main factor and smaller size would solve the issue, however that is just one factor. A simple example is the IV catheter. Most adults get an IV catheter when in the hospital, and it works well; however, adult IV catheter diameter is too large for pediatric patients, and the smaller version doesn't work well and often gets clotted. That's an example where scale-down just doesn't work.
Besides the smaller size, the device must accommodate for different physiology. For example, cardiovascular device not only has to be smaller, it should also function for different hemodynamics if in contract with blood, different immunology if that's an issue, and most importantly, a device that can last 15 years is a perfectly good option for a 70-year-old patient, but less than ideal for a 5-year-old.
Q: What resources are you aware of that are available for startups focused on pediatric medical devices?
A: At this point, there are several device consortiums focused on pediatric needs around the country. Many have healthy competition for monetary awards. NIH has also focused on pediatric-specific grant programs for academic institutes. There has been at least one SBIR program for pediatric devices but more of these programs are needed to further develop pediatric-specific devices.
Q: What type of products are you developing for the pediatric population and how far along are you on the commercialization path?
A: We are developing vascular conduits and heart valves for pediatric patients that could provide better hemodynamics and long-term outcome. We are in pre-clinical validation phase on the project.
Q: How do you see the field evolving over the next 5 years and what changes do you anticipate?
A: I think there is a stronger recognition that pediatric patients are not smaller adults and need more specific devices. This requires a clear regulatory guideline that factors unique situations like smaller patient population to accelerate regulatory approval process for new pediatric-specific devices.
Resources are increasingly becoming available for the development of pediatric medical devices. The FDA has launched a site with useful links to guidance documents and pediatric consortia around the US that offer many resources, some of which are free, to companies developing medical devices for the pediatric population.
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You are here: Home1 / According to a Delta man, his mother informed him He is the biological son of Sanwo-Olu.2 / Premier3 / According to a Delta man, his mother informed him He is the biological...
According to a Delta man, his mother informed him He is the biological son of Sanwo-Olu.
The governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, is allegedly the biological father of a 27-year-old man who lives in Delta State.
The man who identified himself as Emmanuel Sanwo-Olu told reporters at the High Court 2's facilities in Effurun, Uvwie Local Government Area of Delta, that his mother, who is from the Oleri community in the Udu Local Government Area, told him that she had only Sanwo-Olu for Sanwo-Olu before she wed another man for whom she had other children, had only him
He said: "I am 100 per cent sure that I am the son of Governor Sanwo-Olu. I just want to see the man, Sir, as my father."
Emmanuel, who told newsmen that he does "casual jobs" to survive with his wife and three kids, stated that for the past 27 years, he has not seen his father.
Counsel for Emmanuel, John Aikpokpo-Martins, also told journalists that the claimant was his client in a case in which the Lagos State governor is a defendant, which came up for hearing before the court earlier on Tuesday, Dec. 6.
In the Suit No: EHC/148/2022 between Emmanuel Moses Sanwo-Olu and Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the claimant averred that he was the conjugal product of a congenial relationship that existed between his mother, Grace Moses, and the defendant in 1994/95.
Also in his writ of summons issued by J. O. Aikpokpo-Martins, Esq., the claimant is praying the court for the following:
"A declaration that the defendant is the biological father of the claimant begotten from Madam Grace Moses of Oleri, Delta State.
"An order directing and compelling the defendant to acknowledge and accord the claimant all the rights of a son in accordance to all the laws applicable whether customarily, statutorily, or constitutionally.
"An order of perpetual injunction restraining the defendant from further denying the parenthood of the claimant."
The claimant, in the 19-paragraph statement of claim attached to the writ, claimed that Governor Sanwo-Olu was a staff of a private company operating in Warri and its environs in Delta State from 1994 to 1995, and in the course of working and living in Warri that period, he had an amorous relationship with a girl known as Grace Moses from Oleri village near Warri metropolis, Delta State from between 1994 and 1995.
He said, "The lawyers to Sanwo-Olu, Templas law firm, had earlier filed a motion to strike out the matter on the grounds that the governor was not ready to wave his immunity."
Aikpokpo-Martins said he had also filed an application seeking an order for the governor to wave his immunity to come for a DNA test.
He alleged that the said Grace Moses eventually became pregnant for Sanwo-Olu in 1994 to the defendant's knowledge and without any form of recriminations from him, adding that shortly after, the defendant left Warri and Grace Moses eventually lost contact with him till date.
Aikpokpo-Martins disclosed that he had earlier filed a motion to strike out the matter on the grounds that the governor was not ready to wave his immunity but quickly added that he had also filed an application seeking an order for the governor to wave his immunity to come for a DNA test.
The legal practitioner said: "We are expecting that he will do that if indeed, he is sure that he is not the father of the claimant. But unfortunately, he invoked his immunity to say he is immune against law suits and he is not ready to wave it.
"Upon that, they brought the application that the Court should not hear the matter. The Court should strike out the matter."
While pointing out that the matter was for hearing, Aikpokpo-Martins said, "We ourselves, we are not ready. I pleaded with the other side to give us time to see if this matter can be resolved. Resolved in the essence that if the governor will just wave his immunity and come for a DNA test.
"If he is sure that he is not the father of the boy, why should he be afraid of submitting himself to a DNA?
"We have situation where somebody that's the claimant who wants to be aware of who he is but he has stated clearly in the case that, he has no family. His mother's family is just half a family. They all know that he is the child of a woman and we know culturally, the child of a woman does not belong to that family. His rights are curtailed and things like that. And he is already having children. They need to know who they are."
Aikpokpo-Martins urged the Lagos State Governor to validate the paternity of his client.
He said: "From now till the next adjourned date which is January 17th, let's see whether morally his conscience can be appealed to or bring himself forward for a DNA text with Emmanuel. It does not need to be in the press. It can be done quietly. Nobody wants to actually make noise with him but he has actually extremely proven very difficult to scientific verification with the claimant.
"If it happens that Emmanuel is not his son, he goes home. It's a very simple thing. But if it's his own, then the young man will be happy that at least, he knows wherw he comes from. By then, he now has the power and authority to go into the Sanwo-Olu family as a member of the family."
December 8, 2022 /0 Comments/by premiers
http://premiersonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/delta.webp 480 455 premiers http://premiersonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Premiers-Logo-300x91.png premiers2022-12-08 13:07:452022-12-08 13:07:45According to a Delta man, his mother informed him He is the biological son of Sanwo-Olu.
FG recovers over N120bn from proceeds of crimes Yaw Dabo, a diminutive actor, criticizes those who make fun of his height, saying...


Chin Yoon Khen studied information technology at Kolej Damansara Utama (KDU), Penang before working as a systems analyst at Intel. In 2011, he founded a small start-up, Cekap Media, to develop a content-rich local business website enhanced by crowd-sourced reviews and social networking. He became passionate about documenting and highlighting the people, processes and products associated with the traditional trades of Penang. While pursuing this passion, he supported himself by free-lancing as a photographer and website developer for two years before going back to a regular salaried job. He is currently a project management advisor at Dell. He continues to develop innovative approaches to presenting Penang's traditional trades to the world, such as through e-books and websites.


New dates have just been added for Untapped Cities' Tour of the Remnants of the World's Fairs at Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, starting with the end of August. The World's Fairs of 1939 and 1964 were monumental events that brought visitors from around the world to New York City. Discover what was left behind and how these events left a lasting mark on Queens. This tour is only offered once a month, so grab your tickets while they last!
What to know: The tour is all outdoors. If you choose to drive, free parking is available. The tour is 2 hours long. Please consult with the MTA for weekend subway schedules and routing changes. Please note that this tour will not enter inside the New York State Pavilion. No cancellations or refunds.