JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION
-
- English Instructor (Osaka, Kyoto, Kobe)
- Berlitz Japan, Inc. (ベルリッツ・ジャパン株式会社), Kansai
- Salary: ¥125,000 ~ ¥250,000 / Month
-
- FT English Teachers for Kids - Osaka
- Kohgakusha Co., Ltd. （株式会社興学社）, Osaka
- Salary: ¥255,000 ~ ¥275,000 / Month Travel Expenses, Encouragement of Japanese learning*
-
- Translator
- ZAIHON, Inc. (日本財務翻訳株式会社), Tokyo
- Salary: ¥6.0M / Year Negotiable
1
Fadamor
There is a container of mineral oil connected to the engine exhaust manifold and an electrically operated valve opens when smoke is desired, and closes when smoke is not desired. The oil burns when it enters the hot exhaust manifold, creating the white smoke.
Posted in: 'Always' team impressed by Y30 mil vapor trail in sky
0
Fadamor
For those who aren't familiar with bail bonds:
If a court plans to release a suspect until trial, but they're not sure the person will return, they'll assign a "bail bond" value that must be paid before the suspect is released. The bail bond varies with the severity of the crime and how likely it is the suspect will flee. The suspect's lawyer or relatives will contract a bail bondsman to guarantee the full amount to the court after paying the bail bondsman a percentage of the amount (the percentage varies). Once the suspect does return to court, the bail bondsman is off the hook for the full amount of the bond, but keeps the amount paid to them by the lawyer/family.
Some states have outlawed bail bonds and replaced them with an outright (lower than bail) fee imposed by the court, with the entire fee refunded if the suspect shows up as instructed. This is better for the family as they do not lose any of the money as long as the suspect appears in court when they're supposed to.
In regards to Mr. Yamanouchi, the court assigned a $10,000 bond, of which $1,000 or so was paid to a bail bondsman who guaranteed the full $10,000 to the court. Once Mr. Yamanouchi returned to court, the bail bondsman no longer owed the court $10,000 and he/she kept the $1,000 or so that was paid to him/her.
When you include the fine, Mr. Yamanouchi spent around $3,500 (plus lawyer's fees) for four servings of wine and a glass of champagne. Truly an unintelligent choice.
Posted in: Japanese man fined $2,500 for assaulting Delta flight attendant
0
Fadamor
The problem they are having now is that everybody knows they're on the ropes, and nobody wants to be the fool who pays full-price for a patent when they can be had a bargain basement prices once bankruptcy kicks in. So everybody (including Fujifilm) is sitting like vultures in a tree waiting for Kodak to finally give up the ghost. Fujifilm is betting Kodak will expire before their patent dispute gets settled. THEN watch the feeding frenzy start!
Posted in: Kodak sues Fujifilm as stock slumps
0
Fadamor
@Cleo,
The SM2 was shadowing the Bob Barker and reporting its position to the fleet. You already know this. There's a big difference between that and deliberately attempting to interfere with a vessel's right of way. One is passive while the other is aggressive. The Bob Barker's resonse to the passive action of the SM2 was to launch a covert boarding party. Again, aggressive. 'Nuff said.
Posted in: Activists hurl stink bombs, paint at Japanese whalers
0
Fadamor
@NetNinja,
Was that BEFORE or AFTER they found out last year that a large number of supposed centegenarians had actually been dead for a while? ;-) If you keep dead people on the books as "living", OF COURSE the population's longevity is going to seem better. I wonder what the ACTUAL numbers are?
Maybe you remember Jim Fixx, author of "The Complete Book of Running" back in the 70's? He's the one who popularized running and jogging as a good aerobic exercise. Fixx died at the age of 52 of a fulminant heart attack. The autopsy revealed that atherosclerosis had blocked one coronary artery 95%, a second 85%, and a third 70%.
This is not a guy who is likely to be feasting on Whoppers, and was in excellent physical shape, yet died in his early 50's (not 60's) of a heart attack. Turns out he was genetically predisposed to atherosclerosis. Diet is only PART of the risk grid.
Posted in: Fourth worker at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant dies
1
Fadamor
Google probably won't complain too much. The apps that are not free are still going to have to be purchased through Google's Android Market. Google still gets their pint of blood and apps developers don't have to learn a THIRD OS to program for.
Posted in: LG TV named best gadget; Microsoft bows out in style
1
Fadamor
Your concern for the shop workers in Japan is duly noted, but the plain truth is that laws passed regarding banking activities in the United States had little to no impact on a ramen shop worker in Shibuya, Japan. Please illuminate me on how restricting banks in the U.S. from "trading in financial instruments on their own account" is going to hurt the cashier at your local デパート. The U.S. can't pass laws that are binding in other countries. Some people here apparently haven't learned that.
I would hope the Bank of Japan isn't going to go bankrupt if they have to change their practices at their American branches, or even shut their American branches. I would think they would continue as usual once they found another country to do these risky transactions in. These transactions were identified as one of the reasons the global economy hit this rough spot. That the Bank of Japan is screaming so loudly about this new restriction speaks volumes as to who one of the major contributors to the crisis was.
Posted in: Japan says U.S. reforms could force its banks out of Wall Street
1
Fadamor
So to all the haters, I have this question: If they're supposed to be celebrating turning 20, why is it so awful that they appear to be enjoying themselves up on stage? Oh wait. I forgot. Enjoying yourself in public is not the "Japanese Way". Shitsurei shimasu.
Posted in: Coming of age
1
Fadamor
@MackUtsunomiya,
If you work at a bank (no matter WHAT its nationality is) you're not an "innocent working-class" person. Your wages stem from your bank's ability to get AS MUCH from their customers as they can without getting prosecuted. What the Bank of Japan (with the "wink, wink, nudge, nudge" of Japan's Financial Regulator) basically stated in this letter is that the fleecing of their customers would be unacceptably curtailed if the new law applied to their... er..., "operations" in the United States.
Posted in: Japan says U.S. reforms could force its banks out of Wall Street
4
Fadamor
That a guy in his 60's had a heart attack and died? Sure, because it happens all the time. It's amazing how some people will take conspiracy theories to such an extreme that they ignore basic biology. Guess what? People in Fukushima still die of causes unrelated to radiation sickness. TEPCO might still have some blame if they overworked the guy, but I have no problem believing an elderly man died of a heart attack.
Posted in: Fourth worker at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant dies
4
Fadamor
Interesting. "Anybody who doesn't agree with me must be getting paid by the people I don't agree with." As if it were entirely inconceivable that someone might side with your opposition without some sort of bribe. What's it like to never have an incorrect opinion? On second thought, don't answer that. What you've already posted speaks volumes about you.
As for the "illegal" whaling:
In 1946, the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling codified the set of rules that the signatories were going to abide by. Australia's representative was Francis F. Anderson and he/she signed it along with all the others. One of the articles Mr./Ms. Anderson signed-off on was Article VIII - and item 1 in that article states:
Rather than hurling stink bombs and putting their people at risk, here's a novel idea... Change the rules in the Whaling Commission so lethal research is outlawed. I guess that doesn't get enough headlines for the Sea Schlepers, though, so they'd never go for that.
Posted in: Activists hurl stink bombs, paint at Japanese whalers
2
Fadamor
Am I going insane or wasn't this article first posted about a week ago? Is this ANOTHER baby cop?
Posted in: 20-year-old cop arrested for allegedly molesting girl in Yokohama
-1
Fadamor
Probably not. "Duty free" means there's no sales tax or other tariff on the item. If the customer is charged a sales tax on the purchase, then the 5% mentioned in this article is coming out of the store's profits. Also, there are restrictions in most places as to when a duty free item can be used by the customer. In the case of consumable products (alcohol, etc) most countries prohibit the consumption of a duty-free item while you are still in the country of purchase. If I wen't to one of these department stores offering the discount and it actually was a duty-free purchase, they wouldn't let me buy something like a box of chocolates and then hand it to me. They'd have to ship it directly to the airport and put it on my flight out of the country (which is why REAL duty-free shops are located at international points of departure).
Posted in: Japanese stores offering foreigner-only discounts
0
Fadamor
@Denominator,
If they were, then they were just reminiscing on a parody song from the late 70's (during the American Embassy Hostage situation).
Probably never will, either. There apparently was fear back then that the communist party was making gains in Iranian elections and that the Prime Minister was leaning towards aligning with the Soviet Union, so the U.S. and Britain backed a coup d'état that made the EXISTING Shah an actual monarch rather than a ceremonial monarch. Don't know whether the fear was justified, but the fear was documented. On a more believable note, others have pointed out that the Iranian Prime Minister's plan to nationalize the oil fields would have effectively shut down the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company, a British corporation. The U.S. had to choose between supporting Britain, or supporting democracy in Iran. They chose supporting Britain. So I guess you could say that Iran needs the apology from Britain more than it needs it from the U.S.
So many neighbors?
Iran's neighbors WITHOUT a nuclear program (clockwise from the South): Oman, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, and Afghanistan. Total: 10 countries
Iran's neighbor WITH a nuclear program: Pakistan. Total: 1 country.
Last time I checked, "so many" means a lot more than "one".
No, it's still there, it's just that it's been vacant since the Islamic leaders of Iran encouraged the public to invade the embassy and take 52 Americans hostage for over a year. Yeah, the blood is bad between the U.S. and the Iranians.
Posted in: Iran welcomes U.S. rescue of nationals from pirates
3
Fadamor
@YYJ72,
There's a reason for that. Japan offered to do exactly what you point out wasn't done, and the South Korean government forbid it. (The following is from the Wikipedia entry for "Treaty on Basic Relations between Japan and the Republic of Korea") http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_on_Basic_Relations_between_Japan_and_the_Republic_of_Korea
Posted in: Chinese man held after petrol bomb attack on Japan's Seoul embassy
-1
Fadamor
I note that while you're not shy about spouting this vague statement, you're coming up very short on specifics that would apply to professional mariners (or anyone, for that matter). Just another one of those "whine about the problem but offer no solutions" people, I guess.
If I were to guess, it would be because the ship was shadowing the Bob Barker and transmitting its location to the rest of the Japanese fleet. This would allow the rest of the fleet to stay away from the Sea Schleper's mother ship. Once the Schlepers figured that out, they tried to make the shadow leave by sacrificing three pawns in the hopes that it would force the SM2 to return to port with them. If successful the Barker could then close on the fleet without a shadow.
Posted in: 3 Sea Shepherd activists detained aboard Japanese whaling vessel
1
Fadamor
I can remember back in the '60's when "Made in Japan" was equated to cheaply constructed items using cheap labor. Then in the 70's the small Japanese cars were just the ticket following the Arab Oil Embargo which made the American "Gas Guzzlers" so expensive to operate. By the 80's Japan's way of doing business was being studied at the same time that Japan's standard of living started approaching America's. Now Japan is the one bemoaning cheaply constructed items using cheap labor in South Korea.
As the standard of living rises in each country, there will always be another country ready to pick up the slack for cheap labor costs. I've seen that locally. In the 15 years I've been working in this school division, the monitors made by Dell have gone from "Made in America" to "Made in Mexico", "Made in Malaysia", and currently "Made in China".
Posted in: Sony's Stringer reportedly to step down as president
-1
Fadamor
The article veers off-course at this point. The man is CHINESE. What Japan says was settled four decades ago is the issue of SOUTH KOREAN compensation. I have no idea whether CHINESE "comfort women" have ever been addressed by Japan.
Posted in: Chinese man held after petrol bomb attack on Japan's Seoul embassy
5
Fadamor
Actually, no. It's not piracy unless they tried to commandeer the vessel. Based on the article, the only thing I see them guilty of is trespassing. By having the Coast Guard personnel on-board, the whaling fleet even gets around the whole "civilians detaining civilians against their will" issue. As soon as the trespassers were caught, they were turned over to the Coast Guard personnel. I GUARANTEE those Coast Guard personnel were well instructed on what can and cannot be done in trespassing cases. No need risking a legal mistake once trespassers were taken into custody.
Posted in: 3 Sea Shepherd activists detained aboard Japanese whaling vessel
6
Fadamor
Meh. As long as they're hunting non-endangered whales (and yes, PETA, there IS such a thing), then I don't see how this is any different than any other fisheries operation. The laws as written allow certain species to be taken in certain areas of the world. As long as they're in those areas and taking those species, it's not "poaching" no matter how hard the Sea Schlepers and Forest Rescue Australia (FRA) drones want to believe so.
These three suckers from FRA were conned into doing the trespassing this year because none of the Sea Schlepers wanted to go through what Bethune did previously. How very brave of the Sea Schlepers. I wonder which group they will dupe into being their patsies next season?
Posted in: 3 Sea Shepherd activists detained aboard Japanese whaling vessel