The Yayoi presumably brought rice from the Asian mainland, probably from what is today southern Korea. But the Japanese islands were not uninhabited before this period. Japan was home to the Jomon culture, which has a rather storied history in the annals of archaeology. The Jomon seem to have been a predominantly hunter-gatherer population which was also sedentary, and engaged in the production of objects such as pottery which are normally associated with more advanced farming societies. I have a difficult time crediting the ~13,000 year period of continuous development which is attributed to the Jomon, but, it does seem likely that the period between 2,000 and 2,500 years before the present did mark a sharp cultural discontinuity in the Japanese islands, as Jomon gave way to Yayoi.
A related issue to this indisputable cultural shift is the question of whether it was accompanied by a demographic transition. This particular debate is fraught with politics, but we have enough genetic information that we can hazard a tentative guess. It does look like the Jomon-Yayoi cultural shift was accompanied by a significant demographic transition. In particular, the Ainu of the north and the inhabitants of the Ryukyu islands in the south seem distinctive from the majority of Japanese who inhabit the core islands. The hypothesis that these peoples are more related to the Jomon, or directly descended from them. One must distinguish these two groups though; the Ainu remained culturally distinctive from the Japanese, in lifestyle and language before their de facto absorption into the Japanese of late. In contrast, the people of the Ryukyus today seem to be clearly related to the southern Japanese in both language and lifestyle. If the Ryukyu islanders preserve more of the Jomon ancestral heritage, it may simply be due to the dilution of the signal of the original Yayoi pioneers as they moved south.
[. . .]
First, the Okinawan sample, from the Ryukyu islands, is clearly more distant from all the main island samples. This is what we’d expect. But second, notice that the highest value of genetic distance is between Tokai-Hokuriku and Tohoku.
Tokai-Hokuriku and Tohoku are both on Honshu, the former in the center of the island, between Tokyo and Osaka, and the latter to the far north. Tohoku then is coterminous with the former Emishi region. Some of the patterns here are made clear by the recent history of migration within the Japanese islands. Tokyo is in Kanto-Koshinstsu, and is naturally a magnet for individuals from all over the country. Hokkaido was settled by Japanese only within the last 200 years, and not through gradual expansion from Tohoku to the south.
The second minority government of Stephen Harper has fallen.
Early Friday afternoon, 156 opposition MPs – all of the Liberals, New Democrats and Bloquistes present in the House of Commons – rose to support a motion of no-confidence.
It was also a motion that declared the government to be in contempt of Parliament for its refusal to share information that opposition members said they needed to properly assess legislation put before them.
When the cameras were trained elsewhere, several members crossed the green carpet that divides one side of the House from the other to embrace those in the parties opposite – political rivals who will spend the next six weeks of an election campaign castigating and belittling each other.
In the final moments of the Conservative government, there were many kind words of praise offered to Peter Milliken who, after a decade in the Speaker’s chair, was presiding over his last session before retirement.
But the debate that was heard across the country during the morning was as rancorous and vitriolic as Canadians have heard from the 40th Parliament, a session of government marked by the animosity expressed on all sides.
Shortly after 10 a.m., Mr. Ignatieff rose to “inform the House that the official opposition has lost confidence in the government.”
For the first time in Canadian history, he said, a committee of Parliament has found a government to be in contempt.
“We are the people’s representatives,” Mr. Ignatieff said. “When the government spends money, the people have a right to know what it is to be spent on. Parliament does not issue blank cheques.”
This week, the opposition-dominated procedure and House affairs committee found the government to be in contempt for failing to release information related to the costs of crime legislation and the purchase of stealth fighter jets.
“For four months, this House and the Canadian people were being stonewalled by this government and they are being stonewalled still,” Mr. Ignatieff said.
In response, Government Whip Gordon O’Connor was blunt in his assessment of the opposition. “When, during the election, a matter of ethics comes up, I would expect Liberal candidates to put bags on their heads.”
Of the Bloc, he said, it “basically has no function. They have no purpose. They are nothing.”
And with the NDP, Mr. O’Connor said, “there is drama, screaming, yelling, outrage. It voted against seniors. ... All I ever hear from its members is talk, talk, talk.”
Here in Toronto we've witnessed Rob Ford proclaim that streets are for cars, trucks, and buses, while Don Cherry gleefully gave the verbal middle-finger to all those bike riding pinkos. In Vancouver, the construction of the Hornby Street separated bike lane in October 2010 prompted a flurry of media that opined the beleaguered driver, which continues even as the City releases information stating that traffic remains unchanged along Hornby except for a one-minute delay during rush hour. In New York, the bike lane debate has even concerned the courts.
The rhetoric around the bike has reached untenable heights. Not only is it completely unproductive, but it works to make both motorists and bicyclists unsafe by stoking anger and fear. By positioning it as a war between two clear sides, we reduce our ability to compromise, to work together. Spittle flies from both sides of the debate, as cyclists rush to label car drivers as gas-guzzling, suburban, earth-pigs and motorists respond by calling cyclists pretentious, militant, holier-than-thous (albeit with great calf muscles). Just reading the comments on blog posts and newspaper articles on the subject is enough to turn my hair white.
[. . .]
First, let's ditch the war metaphors. Between Cassidy’s bike lane “battles” and the omnipresent “war on the car”, I feel like we might have lost some important perspective. A recent letter sent by Councillor Adam Vaughan to BIAs and resident associations in his ward, used the word “barricaded” in place of “curbed” to describe Denzil Minnan-Wong’s separated bike lane proposal, going on to say a bike path would “carve” through Grange Park. While respecting Councillor Vaughan’s work to increase bicycle infrastructure in the city, it’s this kind of unnecessarily value-laden language that contributes to an antagonistic atmosphere through positioning the cyclist as the urban warrior vs. the rest of the city. We would hardly refer to the curb on the sidewalk as a barricade for pedestrians.
And let’s also remember that if we insist on calling this a war, then most of us are constantly switching sides. An interesting thing happens when we walk, bike, or drive around the city. We seem to forget that we ever use any other form of transportation other than the one we are currently using. I've been in cars with people who impatiently drum their fingers at pedestrians taking too long to cross the street, while witnessing those same people deplore the lack of patience drivers have while they are crossing the street themselves. Drivers are bikers are pedestrians are transit users. We do not exist in easily separated categories, pitted against each other in travel statistics. Most of us use at least more than one way to get around, even if it’s just walking from the car to the restaurant. Splitting the debate into an Us vs. Them dichotomy is too coarse, a point which Dave Meslin picks up on in his recent Toronto Star editorial where he argues that Rob Ford may not be the be the harbinger of the bicyclepocalypse as originally thought.
Cyclists, let’s tone down the environmental angle. Arguments about the environmental and economic benefits of cycling are all well and good, but by over-focusing on these elements we run the risk of alienating a lot of people while missing out on the greater point. Increased bicycle infrastructure should ultimately be about safety and allowing everyone to feel comfortable riding their bike, including the timid. This is, after all, mostly who bike lanes are for. There are plenty of us out there now, with the bicycle network as pitiful as it is, pedaling away everyday. While I would love to ride in a bike lane along Spadina, the absence of one is not enough to keep me off the street. As do many others in this city, I feel confident enough to — as Rob Ford says — swim with the sharks. The important point, however, is that you shouldn’t have to possess nerves of steel just to get to work. Cassidy writes about how in the 1980s when he biked around New York he would frequently arrive shaking with fear — if that’s not a good argument for increased bicycle infrastructure, I’m not sure what is.
Let’s stop demonizing everyone based on the actions of a few. There are certainly bad cyclists out there, and I’ve almost been hit on the sidewalk several times by a few of them. But I’ve also almost been hit crossing the street by terrible drivers talking on cell phones and running stop signs. This doesn’t mean that every motorist is a negligent jerk, just as every cyclist isn’t a law-breaking hooligan. Taking every opportunity to point an indignant finger and proclaim “Aha! See?” gets us nowhere fast.
There is certainly no shortage of places to get fresh flowers in Toronto, but one of the most concentrated blocks is at Avenue and Davenport, where a quartet of florists operates pretty much side by side. South on Avenue from Davenport, the first one is Kay & Young's, followed by Yang's Flower & Fruit Market, then Jong Young, and lastly, Grower's Flower Market & Gift. I've known the florists to be on the street for years, but little about how they came to settle into their spots, and why, for that matter, they've chosen to operate so close to their competition.
Is it just me, or is there something about a Mark's Work Wearhouse that doesn't scream "authentically Greek?" Yet right in the middle of Greektown Toronto, at the corner of Danforth and Gough, the Canadian Tire sister chain has set up camp, giving its automatic doors a hefty workout in the few years since its inception.
It's less busy across the street, particularly on the strip of the Danforth between Gough and Carlaw, where four storefronts are now for lease, while another advertises a closing sale. As I continue walking west, I discover more; Athenian Originals Children's Wear has closed up, same with Iliada Cafe and Pikilia Mediterranean Grill. And who's moving in? Well, all sorts of different places.
Greektown TorontoSome sushi restaurants have sprouted up, a Kernel's a couple of years ago, there's Ardene, a Legs Beautiful, Tsaa Tea Shop, Aravind, Pizzeria Libretto and a new Dolce Gelato slated close to Chester station. And while the incoming businesses are all of varied mold, most share one distinct characteristic; that is, they're not Greek. So while Mark's may have once seemed the odd man out, if Greektown keeps heading in this direction, it may soon be less the anomaly than the trend.
The businesses that are closing down are disproportionately the Greek ones, many of which were independent and family-owned. As I went to talk to business owners on the Danforth to find out why, I kept hearing the same thing over and over: the rent is just too high.
Greektown Toronto"I use to work in real estate," a woman behind the counter at Athena Bakery tells me. "And I know that these rates are just astronomical. Then, when you factor in property taxes, which sometimes the business owners have to pay part of, it becomes too much."
"In the '80s, my father had a store here," she continues. "But when his lease was up, and the landlord wanted to raise it to $5,000 a month, he said, 'Enough!' and packed up and moved off the Danforth. I think the same thing is happening now."
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