The Chunichi Shimbun Morning Edition – June 16, 2006 Following last week’s feature on “sleeping sickness,” this week let’s talk about the “can’t sleep sickness”—insomnia. “Into the Night”  (1985, USA) is a suspense film centered on Ed, a man suffering from insomnia. Once an ordinary office worker, Ed becomes plagued by sleepless nights. As his concentration deteriorates during the day, he hits a wall at work. On top of that, he catches his wife cheating on him, leaving him em

Chunichi Shimbun Morning Edition, June 9, 2006 Have you ever heard of a disease called narcolepsy ? It causes sudden sleep attacks that lead to deep sleep, regardless of time or place. Because people with this condition may fall asleep in the middle of work or daily life, they are often misunderstood as being lazy or unmotivated. The incidence is about one in 2,000 people, but in Japan, it’s estimated to affect one in 600 — the highest rate in the world. In the film My Own Pr

Chunichi Shimbun Morning Edition, June 2, 2006 Some people, after becoming doctors or lawyers, fall into the trap of believing they have become superior as human beings. The protagonist Henry, in the 1991 American film Regarding Henry  starring Harrison Ford, is one such conceited and highly successful elite lawyer. One day, however, Henry is caught in a robbery at a convenience store and is shot in the head, damaging his frontal lobe. He loses his memory and cannot even reca

The Chūnichi Shimbun Morning Edition – May 26, 2006 A workaholic husband who neglects his family, and a wife who dreams of independence and decides to divorce him... The film Kramer vs. Kramer , released 27 years ago in the United States, is rich in insight and seems to have foretold issues facing modern Japan. In the movie, Dustin Hoffman's character returns home elated after closing a major deal at work, only to find his wife packing her belongings. Despite his desperate at

The Chunichi Shimbun Morning Edition, May 19, 2006 The Dream Jumbo Lottery is now on sale. Many people dream, “If I win first prize, I’ll build a house and travel the world.” For habitual gamblers, such fantasies of striking it rich are part of everyday life. The 1989 American film Let It Ride , starring Oscar-winning actor Richard Dreyfuss, portrays the true essence of gambling. The protagonist is a taxi driver who loves horse racing. Though he has been losing money chasing

Chunichi Shimbun Morning Edition – May 12, 2006 When people hear “diabetes,” they often imagine an adult lifestyle disease caused by obesity. But this refers to type 2  diabetes. There are also people who suffer from type 1  juvenile diabetes, a condition in which the body is born with an insufficient amount of insulin—the hormone that regulates blood sugar. Most patients must draw blood from their fingertips four times a day to monitor their blood sugar levels and administer