JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION
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- Assistant Language Teacher (ALT) in Kanto region
- RCS (RCSコーポレーション), Kanto
- Salary: ¥180,000 ~ ¥250,000 / Month includes performance bonus
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- Assistant Language Teacher - TOKYO - late-March start
- Interac, Tokyo
- Salary: ¥230,000 ~ ¥255,000 / Month
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- Assistant Language Teacher - Kanagawa Prefecture - late-March start
- Interac, Kanagawa
- Salary: ¥230,000 ~ ¥255,000 / Month
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Ah_so
Relax - 2 people died out of how many elderly? I think there are 20m over the age of 70 in Japan. I suspect a majority eat mochi at New Year. 2 died. A one in 10m chance of dying if elderly. It's hardly juggling with chainsaws.
Yes, a few people die each year, but they have to go in one way or another.
Posted in: 13 elderly people taken to hospital after choking on 'mochi;' 2 die
0
Ah_so
Why would you want to avoid getting drunk at a Christmas party. That's the point of it!
Posted in: What are some tips to avoid getting bloated or too drunk during the Christmas-New Year party season?
0
Ah_so
This question is a joke. Why would Japan? How could Japan?
This is a man who helped arrange the kidnap of Japanese citizens and yet some people post on here that Japan should send condolences. A phony, tick-box condolence will only send the message that N. Korea can do what it wants and Japan will still roll over like a puppy.
some14some - you state that Japan should if it thinks it lives in a civilised world. A world with a monster like Kim Jong-Il is not civilised. It is perhaps now a little more civilised now that he is dead.
Posted in: Should allies like Japan, South Korea and the U.S. send condolences to North Korea over the death of Kim Jong-Il whose funeral will be held Wednesday?
0
Ah_so
How could she tell when the 9 year old and spent the past four years in Japan? The USA would be a very distant memory and her English language almost all forgotten. The kid is probably happy in Japan, but that is because she has been there for so long illegally.
Posted in: Girl reunited with father in U.S. 4 years after being taken to Japan by mother
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Ah_so
This is the most laughable argument used by the gun lobby. I am surprised it still gets used. It goes hand in hand with the argument that the crazed psycho would get himself a knife, as though Virginia Tech could have happened with a knife.
Posted in: Police oppose proposals to liberalize Japan's gun laws
1
Ah_so
During the first Iraq war ('91), I seem to remember that Britain interred Iraqi nationals for the duration. Perhaps not all of them, but certainly those on student visas and without good family reasons for being in the UK.
Subsequent to the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq, a number of British nationals of foreign extraction have attacked their own country (7/7) etc.
In the first case, probably most agree that it was for the best to take them off the street. In the second, nobody ever proposed to lock up every 2nd generation Pakistani, but you can see the consequences of not doing so.
I am leading to the point that looking back, it is easy to wring your hand about your shameful history. In reality, we have not idea how many of those interred Japanese might have potentially been treasonous and got involved in espionage or sabotage. Personally I think it was an overreaction and misguided, but I have hindsight on my side. However, it was a decision that someone made at the time, weighing up these issues.
Just as an aside, a friend of mine's father was an interred 2nd generation Japanese during the 2nd world war. At a certain point, the military turned up and offered the young men the chance to join the military. The theatre of war was to be the European front. He joined up and fought. Obviously the military preferred them to be send to Europe rather than fight against their parents' birth place.
Posted in: Japanese return to Canada's WWII internment camps
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Ah_so
Now there's a surprise!
Not if it has been translated properly it doesn't!
Note the "so far". Not an outright denial, but a lack of confirmation...so far.
Posted in: Olympus scandal indirectly linked to yakuza: report
0
Ah_so
Netninja - sarcasm does not always come across clearly on the web!
Posted in: Last year, Japan exported 1.5 million vehicles to the United States, while U.S. automakers exported just 8,000. Why aren't U.S. makers selling more in Japan?
0
Ah_so
The existing board is so tainted by this that the only way that the company can be saved is to re-appoint him and get rid of the old board. They may be experienced, but they have also been exposed as corrupt.
Posted in: Should Olympus rehire its ousted British CEO Michael Woodford?
1
Ah_so
This is basically the wrong question. American cars do not sell anywhere else in the world except in the USA and in some parts, parely (I noticed that Japanese cars seemed to predominate in San Francisco). The only American brand that has an international presence is Ford. American cars are dogged by size, reliability problems, fuel efficiency and the fact that the companies have no interest in making right-hand drive vehicles. And most of them are bankrupt.
The more realistic question would be why are more European cars not sold in Japan? The answer would be cost (German especially) and reliablity (French especially). Although even the relatively poor reliability of French cars should not be a problem in Japan where people seem to change their car every four years or so.
Posted in: Last year, Japan exported 1.5 million vehicles to the United States, while U.S. automakers exported just 8,000. Why aren't U.S. makers selling more in Japan?
1
Ah_so
Herefornow - great post and completely agree. Shareholders i.e. the owners, are of secondary interest to Japanese companies. The level of complicity among the board is disgraceful and its reputation is in ruins. I suspect that the only for the company to recover is to get Woodford back with a mandate to take a broom to the boardroom.
Now that the company has admitted to false accounting (presumably a criminal offence in Japan, as elsewhere), I am waiting for the authorities to raid Olympus HQ - so far nothing, which makes you wonder how deep this scandal goes.
Posted in: Olympus shares dive 20% as investors fear delisting
0
Ah_so
I think he still works for Olympus - he was fired as CEO but is still a director of the firm. Perhaps he will be the only clean enough to take the position.
Posted in: Olympus admits hiding losses dating back to 1990s
0
Ah_so
I have heard the name of the cmpany based in the Caymans or wherever that received these massive payments, but does anyone know who the key individuals are behind this company? Or is that all still shrouded in mystery?
Posted in: Olympus delays earnings report
1
Ah_so
Japanese TV is very, very cheap to make. Food, or food related shows must make up a good 50% of content and getting a low-budget tarento to declare that whatever she puts in her mouth is "oishii" cost little to make and fills the airtime easily. However, it is only wallpaper TV, and no one will switch on specifically to see a show that is like almost all the others being shown.
There is not enough serious drama or documentaries and without them, television will become irrelevant in Japan.
Posted in: Japanese viewers tuning out, turning off their TVs
7
Ah_so
It may be fast, but like all computers, it would be reduced to a crawl by installing McAfee Security Center.
Posted in: 'K Computer' smashes speed record
2
Ah_so
A policeman stopped me once for cycling on the road and told me to use the pavement. He clearly did not have a clue.
Posted in: Police to get tough on sidewalk cyclists
2
Ah_so
WillieB - agree with you that the euro was economic nonsense, but a breakup would be pretty disastrous. Say you are a Spanish company that owes euros to a German bank, in what currency do you owe money when the euro breaks up? A new peseta, a new DEM or an old euro? I doubt the Germans would be very happy to receive the new peseta, but the Spaniards would not be able to afford the repayments in new DEMs.
Another example - if you are a Spaniard with savings in a Spanish bank, would you open up an account with a German bank and transfer all your savings to it as soon as a euro break up is agreed? Logically yes. The Spanish banking system would collapse for want of deposits. Repeat in Italy, Greece, Ireland and Belgian and you have a disaster on your hand.
Posted in: British PM cancels Japan visit as tempers fray over eurozone debt
5
Ah_so
JapanGal - not sure why you presume that there are "a lot of losers" there (apart from the obvious fact that they do not seem to be gainfully employed during the working week). The high school drop outs amd those who were pregnant at 15, would probably not make up the population of protesters - they will by and large lack the motivation to be there or to have made any attempt to grasp the issues.
I am not sticking up for the protesters, but will not condemn them. While I work in the financial sector. I accept that something pretty bad went on in Wall St for which the world will be paying for a long time. I doubt many of the protesters really understand the exact reasons, but they realise that a lot of people became very very rich at the expense of the wider economy.
Posted in: Protesters in Tokyo join 24-hour global 'Occupy Wall Street' movement
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Ah_so
Not just British companies - almost all attempts to access the mass market by foreign firms fail, but that does not stop some CEO every few years thinking they will have a crack at the Japanese market and totally failing.
In much the same way, I would never advise anyone to work for a Japanese company - Sony is the exceptional example of a foreigner prospering in a Japanese company.
Posted in: Olympus ousts British CEO after 6 months due to conflicts
2
Ah_so
Can't agree with you Elbuda. Why do women plaster themselves with smelly liquids. Like shoes, they are far the woman's own benefit - I do not care either way but they make her feel good, I suppose. I think scents are generally weird and unnatural.
People tend to stay clean these days and do not need to mask their own smell. The only other function is for a musky scent to work as an aphrodisiac, which probably does work, but not as well as the historical method - application of the female body's own "musk" behind the ears to drive the men wild!
Posted in: Love potion