JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION
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- Corporate Business English Trainers
- ACT Systems, Inc.（株式会社アクト・システムズ）, Tokyo
- Salary: ¥269,500 ~ ¥280,000 / Month
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- 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
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- 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*
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Heda_Madness
Kaku claimed on CNN that there wasn't a single textbook in the world that said you should pump sea water into a nuclear reactor to prevent a catastrophe. He laughed when he said it.
And that was the point he lost all credibility in my eyes. Being wrong is one thing. Being so very badly wrong is another.
Posted in: TEPCO says temperature of No. 2 reactor has dropped below 100 degrees C
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Heda_Madness
The only reason that England are hosting the next world cup is because it will make money. And the New Zealand and the Japan one won't. The financial impact of New Zealand not taking part in the World Cup in Japan would be massive but it would have a much less severe impact in England.
It would be bad for the sport if ANY of the major teams weren't at a World Cup but it would survive.
Posted in: Stage set for 'killer weekend' at Rugby World Cup
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Heda_Madness
@horrified, I can appreciate your point. However I would say that there's enough anecdotal evidence to suggest that my assessment is correct.
As I touched on before, there was a fire at nuclear power station in the UK. The hill farmers walked across fields that were covered in ash. The lamb was sold until they tested after the Chernobyl incident which they discovered it was too radoiactive. A coincidence?
The point I'm trying to make (albeit very badly) is that all food we eat is contaminated. Pesticides cause cancer. Additives in your food cause cancer etc etc etc. For me, these current levels in Japan are manageable. For them to be dangerous you'd need them to be higher and you'd need to consume A LOT of it to really affect your health. We had the water scare in March/April where for one day the drinking water in Tokyo was unfit for infants. This caused uproar on here, yet those figures were below the European levels which in turn are based on 40 continuous days of drinking water. Would I have drunk that water - absolutely. Would I have given it to an infant? No. But then again, I wouldn't have served any water from March to June to an infant - because of what I know from Chernobyl and I was advising that to my friends with infants. I've been to Fukushima numerous times. I've been rained on, I've been sunburnt but I've felt that it was safe for me to be there. Would I have taken a young child with me? No. But as I said it's risk assesment. I've assessed the risk to be safe. Just as I do every time I turn the microwave on, have an X-ray and use my mobile phone etc.
That, that disagrees with the majority of people on here is fine.
Posted in: Radiation found in rice from Fukushima Pref; more tests planned
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Heda_Madness
England and New Zealand both put triple figures past Romania and Japan in the past and this time the results have been much improved. The difference between the top and the bottom is much closer than it was and if you start playing with only the top teams then you may as well just call it the 10 nations and be done with the 'World' cup.
Posted in: Wales crush Namibia 81-7 at Rugby World Cup
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Heda_Madness
Netninja. Please do. People seem caught up on the fact it's radiation and all radiation is bad. I don't think I'd drink a gallon of pesticides but I'm pretty sure that the food I eat has low level contamination. Even though it's a known fact that it can cause cancer. I don't smoke, but I've been in enough crowded bars in Roppongi with poor ventillation to increase the risk of cancer through second hand smoke. I cycle to the station every day and choose the quickest route as opposed to the one where I would avoid most traffic, again increasing my risk against illness further in life.
But that's what it is. It's basic risk assessment. As I said before, nothing you eat has zero contaminants (unless you survive purely on organic produce and even then man has added enough to the atmosphere to enable us to argue that even organic food is contaminated). This rice is contaminated at a level which the Japanese government regard as being safe, and well within the levels that Europe regards as safe. And therefore I regard it as being safe. If the Japanese were claiming that something was safe and their figures were way out there compared to other countries then we wouldn't even be having this discussion. But as it stands the radiation level is within acceptable levels. And that's acceptable to me. It's fine for you and everyone else on this board to say they don't want to eat it. I certainly don't want to force you or anyone to eat it but my point stands that this rice is within internationally accepted levels.
And as I've said before and despite accusations of following the government line I think that ALL food from the area should be tested on a regular basis. And this should continue for a very long time.
Posted in: Radiation found in rice from Fukushima Pref; more tests planned
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Heda_Madness
So in other words you don't know. Fair enough, but at least have the decency to admit it.
Posted in: Radiation found in rice from Fukushima Pref; more tests planned
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Heda_Madness
@lordmanji
That's one way of looking at it. Of course the other would be that I studied about the effects of Chernobyl and so have more than a passing interest in the subject. I've also read up on recent events and based on my knowledge I've been able to draw my conclusions. If I felt there was any danger to myself I wouldn't have made the trips that I have to the area but given that our geiger counters have shown nothing untoward I think it further supports my position on this. I don't need to listen to the Japanese government to understand that this is basic risk assessment, nor do I need to listen to people on JT who say it's wrong because erm it is.
So perhaps you could be kind enough to explain why I'm so wrong. I would expect some scientific findings in your response as opposed to unsubstantiated 'propaganda'.
Posted in: Radiation found in rice from Fukushima Pref; more tests planned
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Heda_Madness
@Konsta http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/may/12/farmers-restricted-chernobyl-disaster
That's an article that shows that as of 2009 there were 360 farms in the UK that couldn't be farmed because of Chernobyl. But if anyone bothered to read up on Chernobyl they would see that there was a massive explosion which caused high levels of radiation to go high into the atmosphere. This cloud then went over Western Europe and it rained. And certain areas are still negatively effected by this. However in the case of the Lake District in the UK it could (and has) be argued that the reasons that you can't farm there is as a result of the windscale (now Sellafield) fire of the 1950's.
Posted in: Radiation found in rice from Fukushima Pref; more tests planned
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Heda_Madness
@Smith
The Fukushima and Chernobyl disasters were completely different hence the reason there were massively higl levels of radiation across Europe compared to more localised issues with this one. The rice fields in the general area of Dai Ichi have all been left fallow. I've not seen any that are close and certain villages have been totally abandoned. It's my personal belief that farming should be allowed to continue in areas that are not in the immediate vicinity. And ALL of the produce from this area should be tested. Constantly.
I don't see the need to ban all of it and I think if it's all tested it will help the consumers. I also believe that anyone who buys food from Fukushima just because are as clueless as those who say you can't buy anything from Fukushima.
Posted in: Radiation found in rice from Fukushima Pref; more tests planned
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Heda_Madness
First of all the vast majority of food in Europe is below the 600 level however that doesn't take anything away from the fact that a level of 500 is regarded as being safe. Secondly these levels are based on you consuming a large amount of contaminated food. Finally, those levels have previously been reached across Europe hence the reason there are still close to 400 farms in the Uk that can't be farmed because of Chernobyl.
Posted in: Radiation found in rice from Fukushima Pref; more tests planned
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Heda_Madness
600 is what is regarded as the legal safe limit in Europe so assuming this rice is at 500 then it's well within European levels and just within the Japanese ones. Google Europe 600 becquerel and you'll see it. There have been reports that this has been increased by a ridiculous level but I go as 600 as the guideline. Anything below that is safe. So anything that is acceptable in Japan (has been tested and is below the level) is therefore safe. I think that farmers should be allowed to farm wherever they want. But I think that ALL food from the area should be stringently tested. It's obvious that the vast majority of readers of JT expect to have zero contamination in their food. But what food has zero contaminants?
Posted in: Radiation found in rice from Fukushima Pref; more tests planned
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Heda_Madness
Oh and there are a lot of areas in Fukushima where the fields have been left fallow and nothing is growing there excePt weeds. No one is farming there and I doubt they ever will again.
Posted in: Radiation found in rice from Fukushima Pref; more tests planned
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Heda_Madness
Smithinjapan
Swear all you like but in Europe the level is 600.
Posted in: Radiation found in rice from Fukushima Pref; more tests planned
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Heda_Madness
I'd agree with Zichi when he says that all food from Fukushima should be tested (as well as food from coastal areas of Miyagi etc). However this is still within Japanese acceptable levels (and substantially lower than Europe's) so as consumers you have the choice to avoid all food from the region or buy food that's within acceptable levels.
Personally, I don't see a story here. Rice in Fukushima has radiation within acceptable levels is not a story.
Posted in: Radiation found in rice from Fukushima Pref; more tests planned
1
Heda_Madness
There's a huge difference between the Haka and the bagpipes.
One lasts a minute and is done by one of the teams and the other affects the enjoyment of the people watching.
There is nothing worse than being next to a scotsman who is making a dreadful noise and annoying the hell out of everyone around. And then when he picks up the bagpipes...
Posted in: Boks thrash Namibia 87-0; key matches and royalty at World Cup
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Heda_Madness
The British media are suggesting that the French wanted to have their best backs on the field hence the reason Parra is playing at fly half. He has played there but not for a couple of years. There's nothing to suggest that they're trying to throw this game because if he were they'd be protecting their better players.
Posted in: Boks thrash Namibia 87-0; key matches and royalty at World Cup
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Heda_Madness
I'd be interested in your opinions after the world cup...
Posted in: Kirwan eyes All Blacks' coaching role
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Heda_Madness
From what I understand, nobody wants to be leader of the opposition because they know that they will lose the next general election which is strange considering Key has been accused of doing such a terrible job.
Posted in: New Zealand PM sorry for World Cup chaos
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Heda_Madness
If you enjoyed the book Shogun, you should check out the book on William Adams (can't remember the name). He was who the character Anjin-san was based on.
Posted in: Henry Black (1859-1923): Japan’s first gaijin talent
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Heda_Madness
Thnaks for the compliments, but I'm not doing anything special - many people contribute to the trucks I drive up and that's all I do. Drive a truck and deliver some food to people who have suffered so much.
If you're saying that your friends got high readings in the rivers then they're using their geiger counters incorrectly. I've seen people get excited over high readings on the ground but the readings mean nothing as the geiger counters aren't designed to test for that. And that came from someone who built them.
2.0 is high, but as you probably remember that was during a very bad storm and as such rain will seriously affect the readings so unless they go back and get a second, identical result the figures mean nothing. And I seriously doubt that they will given the readings that I, and others have had in Iwate.
I've said on more than one occasion that this is a very serious localised issue and the fact that you live in Osaka and have such low readings would show just how localised it is.
I've also stated on a number of occasions that Iitate is a ghost town. No body is living there from what I've seen so I'm not sure why you keep questioning whether it's safe to live there.
Posted in: Silence as Japan marks six months after tsunami