JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION
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Why do Japanese change their attitude when they communicate with foreigners?
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Confrontation
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U.S. Navy investigating how parts fell off aircraft near Atsugi
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4
California court to decide if SeaWorld whales are illegal 'slaves'
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5
Kuroki reported pregnant 2 weeks after denying relationship with Akanishi
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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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Hotbox08
smithinjapan: Agreed. The media puts way too much pressure on Mao Asada. I also feel the coach does this too. After all a good coach instills confidence; not fear. Her coach always looks scary and mean.
In any case, congratulations should go out to not only Yu Na Kim for her skills, but also to her coach Brian Orser for recognizing the type of coaching she needed and utilizing her talents to their fullest. The figure skating routines perfectly matched her personality and abilities. Excellent teamwork!
Love USA: I have to agree with you on that one. Mao Asada should have a coach that would actually be able to instruct her "on the ice" with her. And Mao has to do more lighthearted and upbeat numbers, rather than the dark tragedy pieces she does. This is obviously a case where Mao's talents are being underutilized.
Posted in: Kim Yu-na wins figure skating gold with record score; Asada 2nd
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Hotbox08
Congratulations to all! Great routines all around and a great finish by Kim Yu Na, Mao Asada, and Joannie Rochette. Kim Yu Na is the talk of the town now and I see on Nippon Tele that they are showing her whole life story. I didn't know that Kim Yu Na has an older sister who also used to skate, but since it costs a lot of money and they found out that Kim Yu Na is the better skater, they ended up investing all of their time and money into her (feel sorry for the older sister though). Kim Yu Na's father ended up quitting his job and doing the housework. Very devoted family.
Posted in: Kim Yu-na wins figure skating gold with record score; Asada 2nd
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Hotbox08
Yes, three different and interesting expressions. Kim Yu Na looks pleasantly happy, Mao Asada looks like she is fighting back tears, and Joannie Rochette looks like she could care less. In any case, great finish and congrats to all competitors! Japan having all three women finish in the top eight (and actually the same for the men for that matter), is nothing to sneeze at. Mao, keep your chin up; you'll be back in 2014! Word of advice though, Mao, you really should either fire your coach, or get a better choice of music (or better choreographer). The music you dance to are really depressing and doesn't match your image.
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Hotbox08
kavikahi, Excellent post and interesting take. I also have to admit that watching Kim Yu Na and Mao Asada skate, and comparing them is comparable to watching as if Beyonce and a younger Audrey Hepburn performed on ice. One would be doing the more sexier number (sleek, revved up going 100 mph like a big budget Hollywood action flick), while the other would be a daintier number (like a timeless black and white movie circa 1955). Mao Asada kind of reminds me of Dorothy Hamill (yes, I'm old enough to remember her).
Posted in: Inside the Rings: Kim Yu-na, licensed to thrill
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Hotbox08
That is true, smithinjapan. Then why on the official Vancouver Olympic website, does the headline read, "Figure Skating: 'Bond girl' Kim ahead, Rochette third". Where is Mao Asada's name? It's as if there is no second place to them.
http://www.vancouver2010.com/olympic-news/n/news/afp-news/figure-skating--bond-girl-kim-ahead--rochette-third_291260NE.html
Posted in: Inside the Rings: Kim Yu-na, licensed to thrill
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Hotbox08
Uh, no. The Japanese media kept pointing out from the start of the Olympics that the Canadian women were favored, with China also possible medal takers. After all, I'm not a follower of curling, but somehow I knew that the Japanese women were ranked 9th in the world; not 1st, 2nd, or 3rd ... but 9th! The Japanese media at best, had the Japanese women besting their 7th place finish in the last Olympics. Alas, they did worse; hence the tears.
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Hotbox08
Good effort by Japan. Congrats to Sweden, Canada, China, and Switzerland for making the semis. I guess Canada can get another medal and move closer to their promise of 30 medals or more. I personally believe they won't reach their prediction, but hey, I guess they can try.
Posted in: Japan's women curlers eliminated in round-robin stage
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Hotbox08
I heard about that too, Sarge. Those loud Canadians. I guess they are trying desperately to "help" their athletes get any medal they can to meet their 30-40 medal prediction. To me, curling is a sport like tennis or golf. They should have PA announcements like they have in those sports announcing to the fans to quiet down before a stone is thrown. It's the gentlemanly thing to do.
Posted in: Japan dealt severe blow in bid for last 4 in curling
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Hotbox08
smithinjapan: I don't know about you, but a prediction of 10 medals as a goal by Japan is quite modest if you ask me. Did you know that Canada (the host country) had several predictions? One of which was 30 medals. Far from their current 10. Some media outlets in Canada even predicted that Canada would win 12 gold, eight silver, and 11 bronze! 41 medals?! WOW! Way off!
http://www.kelowna.com/2010/02/10/canwests-olympic-medal-predictions/
They even had an "Own the Podium" campaign where they proclaimed that they would "Own the world"! Yeah, right.
Then there are the Russian media who proclaimed that they would top the medals table. HA!
Give the U.S. credit for at least meeting their prediction of 25 overall medals.
I also see now that the Korean media has already proclaimed Kim YuNa as the gold medal winner! Well, she is the favorite, but they haven't skated yet!
Posted in: Japan dealt severe blow in bid for last 4 in curling
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Hotbox08
Yup. Many countries are finding out that they are not going to meet their expected goal of medals. Russia's goal was 40 medals overall, and it won't meet that. Canada had a lofty goal itself of 30 medals. They even had an "Own the Podium" program to promote this goal.
http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/news;_ylt=AgIOCikEPpsVp33LbA60FKc5nYcB?slug=dw-canadapodium022210&prov=yhoo&type=lgns
"The Canadian Olympic team stepped out and spent big, talked bigger, and dreamed biggest. Its members said they were going to win the Games, defeat the world, and Own the Podium."
Yeah, right.
Posted in: Japan dealt severe blow in bid for last 4 in curling
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Hotbox08
My bad, Branded. I made the mistake of thinking that you are bashing the Japanese media, when all along you actually admire the coverage in Japan of the Olympics. Sorry about that.
I also agree with you that the coverage has been pretty good in Japan. I've gotten to know more about the nonmedalists like the speedskater Okazaki, who got married to a nonskater and had their wedding on the ice, even though he couldn't skate. Then there was the story about the 45 year-old skeleton athlete who does an awesome prerun routine before his run (making his final appearance in the Olympics). Then there were the several reports of non medalists in other countries. For example, the Ethiopian cross country skier Robel, who placed 93rd out of 95 competitors. He had very little time to train for these Olympics, but gave it his best shot. He was proud to carry the Ethiopian flag in the opening ceremonies. Then there is the story that was aired on Fuji about the Nepalese sherpa who was competing in cross-country skiing. He looked so thrilled just to be competing in these Olympics and wanted just to cross the finish line, much like the 15 year-old Japanese speedskater, Miho Takagi.
Yes, these games have been enjoyable to watch.
Posted in: Tuitert wins gold in 1,500 speedskating; Ohno skates into history
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Hotbox08
Oh for crying out loud, will you stop with the racial bashing already. So it's alright when Americans place second or third, but not Japanese? We get it already, you hate Japan and anything Japanese and will twist it around in anyway to get your point across. I agree that the media coverage of the Olympics in the past had been shit in Japan. But so far in these Olympics, they have been much better. I've learned a lot more about sports like the biathlon, cross country pursuit, and curling due to their coverage of these games. I especially liked the piece they had on the Ethiopian cross-country skier who finished 93rd out of 95 participants. People and organizations (of all nationalities; not only people you like) should be given another chance. There was an article about Tiger Woods on this site that is along those similar lines. People from all walks of life have made mistakes (even horrible ones, like crimes) but people have forgiven them.
Posted in: Tuitert wins gold in 1,500 speedskating; Ohno skates into history
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Hotbox08
Huh? I've heard many an athlete from a number of countries say similar things, but you go and "judge" Miki Ando as making an "excuse" based on her ethnic background? What these skaters are simply saying is that they know Kim Yu-Na is favored and they respect her ability. However, they know that they can't let it intimidate the way they do their performance. They realize that they have to just go out there and perform to the best of their abilities. In the end, favorites don't ALWAYS win. Cause if that were the case, then there would be no need for others to compete in the first place. To me, it would be an excuse if they said something like "Oh, she will probably win because she has more money" or something like that.
Where in this article did any of them mention this? Are you speculating?
Posted in: Ando cautions favorites don't always win Olympic gold
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Hotbox08
But you have to remember that behavior is a part of a person. So if you are judging someone's behavior, you are in turn, making a judgement about that person. Without behavior, you can't be a person.
Posted in: Tiger Woods apologizes for behavior; unsure of return
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Hotbox08
Really smithinjapan? Which program were you watching? I was watching this one program on channel 5 (or 10, depending on where you live), and the news commentators had a fair take on it (it was only that annoying Shuzo Matsuoka who was going about it the wrong way). The news commentators were saying how they were hoping that Kasai would place, but they spotlighted the fact that the medalists in the normal hill event were favored and kept saying things like "subarashii" after Ammann's and Malysz's jumps. Yet, that annoying Shuzo kept going on and on ... Kasai looked very happy in the interview that he was able to place a respectable 8th in the event. Not down at all. Daiki Ito said that he was happy to make the finals and that he will be back (after all he is still young).
Posted in: Ammann sweeps ski jumps with victory in large hill event; Kasai 8th
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Hotbox08
I think you've described many immigrants in English-speaking countries. Many of them don't "look" it, don't act it, and barely speak English.
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Hotbox08
Exactly. If adultery is good enough for Tiger Woods or these other people, it's good enough for me, and everyone else in the world. Not that I would commit adultery, but now I feel a certain comfort knowing that if I ever stray, all is okay, since everyone else is doing it.
I hope this message gets through the JT public, because there are several posters out there who continue to feel it is there right to "judge people" whether it be athletes, politicians, Japanese, etc. and continue to bash them for things that they do in their personal life. I also hate it when people take this little things and make it a forum for bashing. It shouldn't be so. You go BurakuminDes!
As for me, I may feel less of Tiger as a person, but I still think of him as a tremendous golfer. He'll be back.
Posted in: Tiger Woods apologizes for behavior; unsure of return
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Hotbox08
I agree. Many of us forget that often times the reason we are in Japan is because the job and money situation back home was and is worse than the situation we are in now. Coming to Japan was a good way for us to pay off our student loans while exploring a culture that is different than ours. Some of us end up going back home finding the situation better; others do not (and end up coming back to Japan). In any case, we all are lucky to know that if it gets to the point where all we can say about living in Japan is negative, then we can use that passport we have and go back home. I guess Mr. Cleese thought so too and has found a niche in this corner of the world. Good for him.
Posted in: Foreign-born politicians put new face on Japanese officialdom
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Hotbox08
flavorflav, messageboards are some of the best sources of what fans really think. That is why I posted them. If anything, they know a lot more about baseball than so-called fans like eresay and you (who by the way, I've never seen posting to sports articles until now).
Posted in: Matsui, Angels reportedly reach agreement
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Hotbox08
eresay, thank you for providing proof for RogueFive's fabrication. If what you say is true, that 39 players played for the Yanks last year, then his/her claim of only 20 having played then is false. Heck, I'm not a Yankee fan and can name 20 players who played for the Yankees last year. In fact, (as most true baseball fans know) in addition to the 39 players you mentioned who are on the active roster on any given day, there are several players (e.g. Kei Igawa) who was called up from minor league affiliates every now and then.
In any case, RogueFive is trying use a poll which he says measures THE PLAYERS THAT FANS WOULD LIKE TO SEE REACQUIRED IN 2010. This was in response to my statement that most fans LOVE MATSUI and consider him to be THEIR FAVORITE YANKEE. Do you see the difference? Wanting to have a player be resigned is a business decision with no personal attachments involved. Fans don't really like ARod, but understand he has talent and will show it at times, so would like to see him continue to be a Yank. It was a similar case with Ken Griffey Jr, when fans in Cincinnati loved him, but realized that he just couldn't play like he used to (hitting only 18 HRs in 2008). Thus he was traded to the White Sox for two little known players. Even then, fans loved him, but knew he couldn't play like he used to. Even in Seattle now, he is loved, but fans are iffy when it comes to him playing or not.
The bottom line is, why is RogueFive trying to use a poll which has nothing to do with the popularity of Hideki Matsui. Fact is, Matsui has done nothing scandulous, has endeared himself to the public, has donated his time and money to worthy causes, always did his job when it came to baseball, and has always been a monster in the clutch; and thus the fans love him for it. Casual baseball observers will say "But he didn't drive in 90 runs this year", while true baseball fans will realize that many of Matsui's hits came in clutch situations. Often times it is not how many hits you get, but when those hits are gotten, which is why I can't see how everyone loves Ichiro. After all, Matsui has a higher RISP and Clutch rating.
As a side note, RogueFive, pop quiz, name the TV station which showed the program with the poll you mentioned?
Posted in: Matsui, Angels reportedly reach agreement