JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION
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In an OECD survey of 36 nations on people's perceptions of their living conditions, Japan ranked 21st in terms of quality of life; Australia, Norway and the U.S. were the top 3. What do you think of that?
( 12 )
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The Fukuoka mayor is banning public servants from drinking alcohol for a month; the Osaka mayor has declared war on tattoos on civil servants. What do you think of all this?
( 21 )
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Why do you think Facebook's stock failed to live up to the hype in its trading debut?
( 13 )
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Which sport, when played well, do you think is the most exciting to watch?
( 62 )
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What's the difference between an average burger and a great one?
( 12 )
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- Business Teaching Positions - Part-time - Kanto Region
- Interac, Tokyo
- Salary: ¥3,000 ~ ¥5,000 / Hour
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- National Relief/Substitute Teacher - summer start
- Interac, Tokyo
- Salary: ¥275,000 ~ ¥300,000 / Month
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- 営業パーソン
- 加治金属工業株式会社, Tochigi
- Salary: ¥240,000 ~ ¥350,000 / Month Negotiable
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36 Comments
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GENIUS
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hellhound
They are #1 stupid!!! That 'pajero' means somebody who wanks a lot in spanish. Moco means snot, then you have familia, montero.... Bunch of DUMB names
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Triple888
Used to sound distinctly Japanese (which I prefer), nowadays they sound like European names.
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blvtzpk
'The Nissan Cedric' - wonderful.
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jonswan
I especially like the Daihatsu Naked. Then there's the NIssan Fuga. I think they were meant to build a 4-wheel-drive off-road one and call it the Dirty Fuga but that's apocryphal.
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DXXJP
Remember the Carol YEah someone's girlfriend, then there was the sylphy, was that supposed to mean carol wasnt um healthy. I have to say they started to just go chassis numbers so thats a big improvement.
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smartacus
What gets me is that Nissan, Toyota and Honda all have foreigners working in their PR departments. Why don't they ask their foreign staff if a certain name has a vulgar or stupid meaning in English? But then, most of the weird names are for cars marketed in Japan only, where the English name doesn't matter.
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stirfry
the Cedric and the Sylvia were amusing
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memyselfI
It's funny and strange.
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the_sicilian
Well, some of the "made up words" they use are common names in the US:
Camry Corolla Civic
But I think the only criteria that Japanese use is this: If they can take a bunch of roman letters, and make it sound like something they can pronounce, then it becomes a car name. Then add to it the jumble of stuff they add to the back trunk lid to distinguish it. Here's an example:
Toyota Vista D4 Ardeo. I understand if you're trying to use the engine displace,emt, but this: Toyota Progres, ai250?
Nuts I say.
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seeker1
Yeah, remember the Chevy Nova? Sold great in Mexico... All countries' car names are a little goofy sometimes. Advertising execs think they find the perfect combination of sounds and sell it to the car makers. Don't forget the Gloria, Sylvia and the great Fairlady Z.
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Foxie
Whilst i was a bit shocked for Daihatsu naming its new car Cocoa after my pet's name, I must say that the guy who gives out all the names to Toyota cars is in my opinion not Japanese. The double meanings make me laugh so much and it is so sarcastic. IQ or does it mean I queue? Isis - Egyptian mythology also means friend of sinners, do they mean this is the ideal car for robbers? Vitz - almost same pronounciation as Witz in German and it means joke. Sai, a dragger shaped truncheon from Okinawa or does it mean you are in Italian? Passo - does it mean that I have to pass that car because it is too slow? Windom like kingdom? Sienta, what did he feel? Kijang - deer in Indonesian, so I can hit deers with it? Allion, do they mean we went in French or doesn't it resemble the word alien? Picnic, how romantic! Estima , do I have to estimate my time of arrival? Ipsum, for narcists only, means self in Latin. Ist, it is in German...it is what? Raum - means space in German. Kluger - means more clever in German. Porte - means door in French. Sera- means will be in French. Wish, yeah I wish I had a better car. Echo, what? Echo, speak louder, the engine is too noisy. So, next time you go out on the road, remember to tell a joke whenever you see a Vitz; have fun and accelerate whenever you see a Passo; make a wish whenever you see a Wish and do something unselfish whenever you see an Ipsum. No other company makes foreigners so happy here on a daily basis. Kudos to Toyota!
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Katsuro1000
I like em all, since it's japanese companies making em it doesn't matters what it means in other countries. And i don't think the companies care if any countries hate the names or a person hates the name, Just don't buy one if you don't like the name lol.
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2020hindsight
Remember the Mitsubishi Starion. Haha, they meant Stallion.
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KallyPygous
No more ridiculous than other car-makers - think of the Ford Probe.
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seeker1
Ouch! I'd rather not think of the Ford Probe....
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the_sicilian
The only car aptly named is the Daihatsu Move...
Because when you are in traffic, all you yell is MOVE..!
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josesensei
A korean friend told me once thaat "Homy" means the "F" word in Korean
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WilliB
Toyota "Vitz" is a "Joke" in German
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bushlover
Try names like "jiz" "fukt" etc to keep up the quality names.
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lolkittykitty
...........Nissan Gloria............
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lolkittykitty
Nissan, Gloria is hot and sexy.
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lolkittykitty
Mostly pathetic... but Gloria, Nissan is kinda hot and sexy.
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Sarge
How about the Ford Aspire? Did it aspire to be a good car?
I liked the Suzuki Naked.
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CoolCali
Most of the names wouldn't, and don't fly in the states. Can you imagine rockin' up to the bar and telling your drinking buddies, "Hey guys, check out my new Fairlady!" It's called the "Z" for a reason.
And as for the whole Chevy thing...well since no va means "it doesn't go" in Spanish, the oft-repeated story goes, Latin American car buyers shunned the car, forcing Chevrolet to embarrassingly pull the car out of the market.
Chevrolet's woes are often cited as an example of how good intentions can go wrong when it comes to translation. There are literally thousands of references to the incident on the Internet, and the Nova example has been mentioned in textbooks and often comes up during presentations on cultural differences and advertising.
But there's one major problem with the story: it never happened. As a matter of fact, Chevrolet did reasonably well with the Nova in Latin America, even exceeding its sales projections in Venezuela. The story of the Chevy Nova is a classic example of an urban legend, a story that is told and retold so often that it is believed to be true even though it isn't. Like most other urban legends, there is some element of truth in the story (no va indeed means "it doesn't go"), enough truth to keep the story alive. And, like many urban legends, the story has the appeal of showing how the high and mighty can by humiliated by stupid mistakes.
Even if you couldn't confirm or reject the story by looking into history, you might notice some problems with it if you understand Spanish better than those who spread the story. For starters, nova and no va don't sound alike and are unlikely to be confused, just as "carpet" and "car pet" are unlikely to be confused in English. Additionally, no va would be an awkward way in Spanish to describe a non-functioning car (no funciona, among others, would do better), just as in English we'd be more likely to say "it doesn't run" than "it doesn't go."
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Osakadaz
The Mitsubishi Pajero was a classic example. http://dictionary.reverso.net/spanish-english/pajero
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paolo27th
I couldn`t care less.
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DXXJP
The best one that gets me is the unic trucks. Does this mean the crane on the back has no balls??.
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alexandre5023
"Pajero" in Spanish means something probably you want to know, a very bad meaning.
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nandakandamanda
The name Lexus hit the button all right. When Japanese carmakers try for the world market, and when they do their homework, the results can be good.
Then there are domestic names like "Blit" and "Platz" which don't light my firecracker.
Some are pronounced in a way that works in Japanese, but not in English. Levin was supposed to come from revvin', and Trueno sounds like Torayno in J, supposedly connected with Torino, or Turin. As one poster commented above, the one thing that Daigatsu MOVE drivers are irritatingly guaranteed not to do is move.
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nandakandamanda
Ooops, Daihatsu. Forgot to use the Preview button, again.
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DeepSpace
Fairlady first I thought was dumb, but Now , great name for a sleeper
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DeepSpace
Volkswagon is the one with the car name problems
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