JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION
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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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- Part Time Assistant Language Teacher - Kanagawa Prefecture - late-March start
- Interac, Kanagawa
- Salary: ¥9,000 / Day per 4 class shift
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JeffLee
“Rather than the actual temperature rising, we believe there is high possibility that the thermometer concerned is experiencing display error,” he said.
Um, right. Now now Tepco has lost the ability to monitor the basic situation inside the reactor. How reassuring.
Posted in: Fukushima's No. 2 reactor may be reheating
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JeffLee
@nigelboy Hello? I JUST gave you a very specific example of an NTB. Read and learn. And check out the ACCJ's automotive committee. There is not a NTB, there's a long list of many documented NTBs.
And no (sigh), it's not the case of foreign manufacturers seeking to violate Japan's regulations. It's a case of Japanese regulators prohibiting advanced technologies, simply because they don't know about them.
Posted in: U.S. cars do not fit Japan's market or Japanese consumers' requirements because of size, high fuel consumption and higher prices. They need to have a line-up that suits Japanese consumers' preferences.
2
JeffLee
@nigelboy Check out the automotive committee of the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan. They have a raft of very specific and technical NTBs.
To cite just one of many examples, GM had a program, Project Driveway, to promote and test fuel-cell vehicles to a large number of customers around the world. Not in Japan. The vehicle has a hydrogen tank whose steel specifications don't exist in Japan, therefore Japanese bureaucrats simply banned the project outright, and GM cannot test its fuel cell vehicles on public roads in Japan to adapt them to the market.
Many of the NTBs cited by the Americans are based on the mindset of Japanese bureaucrats that "if we aren't familiar with it, then it must be banned." Regulators in other countries will prohibit products only if they are in violation of specific regulations. In Japan, foreign products are often banned by default, and gaining approval requires a lot of lobbying.
Posted in: U.S. cars do not fit Japan's market or Japanese consumers' requirements because of size, high fuel consumption and higher prices. They need to have a line-up that suits Japanese consumers' preferences.
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JeffLee
"Most places have gone long long past trying to maintain any sense of place, chaos rains!"
It sounds like you haven't been to Vancouver, Singapore, Berlin, Hoi An, Amsterdam, Sydney, etc., etc., etc.
Posted in: Views of valuable cultural assets threatened
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JeffLee
In this era of shared platforms, that way of thinking is just plain wrong. Ford and Mazda, GM and Suzuki, etc. have popular whose core mechanical structures are nearly the same.
GM, meanwhile, is steaming ahead in China, where their cars' compact size and efficiency are highly appreciated, and where GM is leaving its Japanese rivals in the dust.
Posted in: U.S. cars do not fit Japan's market or Japanese consumers' requirements because of size, high fuel consumption and higher prices. They need to have a line-up that suits Japanese consumers' preferences.
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JeffLee
I'm watching NHK World now, and it's really just radio news with pictures running. Would be nice if they improved the quality of their programming, using real journalists, airing tough interviews, etc.
Posted in: NHK WORLD to expand Internet services
4
JeffLee
YuriOtani, Yubaru: Your opinion ignores one thing: the Japanese government is rabidly keen to have US military forces in a geographic position where they can rapidly help defend Japan, should China or N. Korea become aggressive.
Japan's two-faced stance on this issue is largely why it has dragged on for so long. Washington's dealings on bases proceed much more smoothly with Germany, the Philippines, etc., which are more honest and realistic on the issue.
BTW, if US bases on Japanese soil weren't deemed necessary, Japan could do what the Philippines did in the 90s - order them to leave thru a parliamentary resolution. Ironic now that PI seems to want the US soldiers to return.
Posted in: U.S., Japan begin talks on sending 4,700 Marines to Guam
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JeffLee
"It's not really that the yen is strong, but that the USD and Euro are so weak"
I dunno about that. I've been getting great deals in Singapore, Cambodia, Thailand, Canada, Vietnam, etc. etc. If you're earning yen, the world's your oyster.
Posted in: Gov't confirms 'stealth' intervention in currency market
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JeffLee
That's what happens when you outsource all the little bits and pieces to factories scattered around the world. The parts don't fit snugly because they've been made by such a diverse range of suppliers.
Posted in: Boeing finds problem in tail section of 787 Dreamliners
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JeffLee
ANA is a great airline, service-wise. But these incidents are worrying.
Posted in: ANA plane has mishap upon landing at Sendai airport
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JeffLee
"Thousands of Japanese staged rallies to protest against the Fuji TV network for allegedly “forcing” South Korean programs on its audiences."
I don't recall the Japanese media reporting that. Odd, because I follow the domestic news every day. Anyone else?
Posted in: Asia's K-Pop clones dance to South Korean beat
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JeffLee
80,000 yen to Phuket. That's a discount fare?!? I was just quoted that from Air Asia for March. It's a 13-hour connection flight departing midnight on a Sunday. Yuck. I hope this new venture will actually offer discount fares. Otherwise, what's the point?
Posted in: AirAsia-ANA win approval for budget carrier in Japan
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JeffLee
@wipeout Yes, I once spoke with an executive for a foreign maker of insulation, who was trying to market his products in Japan --and having great problems doing so. Most Japanese customers don't investigate the grading of insulation, he said, so they're stuck with thin insulation. But, sure, insist on high rated insulation and make sure they do the ceiling, not just the walls.
"Are you just sick of this place?" Thanks for that comment, as it signals you've lost the argument on the issues. In fact, if I didn't care, I wouldn't bother commenting -- or thinking -- about ways of improving our situation here. I would also ask the moderator to delete your comments, since they're directed at my character and aren't relevant to the issues under discussion.
Posted in: Heavy snow continues in northern Japan
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JeffLee
@wipeout: yes there is a technical grading system for insulation, and new Japanese housing uses materials with among the lowest grading around. Old Japanese houses use no insulation at all.
What's more, there are no mandatory standards in the housing building code to maintain energy efficiency. Japanese developers install the lightest (and cheapest) insulation and then in their marketing state the house is "insulated."
Posted in: Heavy snow continues in northern Japan
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JeffLee
Sounds like an interesting idea, although the Dotonburi seems really dirty. My worry is that it will like other Japanese pools -- no deep end, open only 6 or 8 weeks out of the year, plagued by a long list of stupid rules, and insanely crowded.
Posted in: I am aware that the river's management right stays with the city of Osaka, not the prefecture, but nevertheless, I wish we could run the pool.
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JeffLee
There are lots of besso (cottages) in Niigata, Nakano, etc, which are uninhabited much of the time and they accumulate huge piles on their roofs. They tend to be lightly constructed. Are their roofs caving in? Not from what I've ever seen during my numerous ski trips to such places.
If "snow collapse" were a real threat, it would be a documented issue in the construction industry, etc. There would be "snow collapse prevention" businesses, etc., and not just in Japan but in other snowy regions of the world. But no.....
Blame Japanese aesthetics. Houses must look "clean," ie, devoid of nature. It's the same impulse that in summer prunes all the branches off trees, cuts hedges down to an inch high, strips away vines and grass and favors the free use of smooth, bare and "clean" concrete.
Posted in: Heavy snow continues in northern Japan
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JeffLee
"Wooden thatched houses can be very precarious indeed."
I saw this on NHK last night, and the house being demonstrated was modern, with a hard roof.
Posted in: Heavy snow continues in northern Japan
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JeffLee
As for advice, here's mine: "Stay off your effing roof in the first place, you idiots!!!" I lived in the Canadian prairies, and going on the roof in winter would be considered psychotic behavior there. How many houses in Japan collapse from snow on the roof every year? It's crazy that authorities are condoning this dangerous and unnecessary practice by giving on advice on how it should be done.
Posted in: Heavy snow continues in northern Japan
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JeffLee
Japan's greenhouse gas emissions had been steadily rising throughout the 2000s anyway. Business interests like the Nikkei are looking for excuses to reboot the nuke plants, which are built and maintained by powerful corporate entities.
For a real solution, thickly insulate the country's millions of buildings, install thermal glass and introduce proper heating systems (in the floor, not the goddamn ceiling). Oh, and get rid of the electric sliding doors at nearly every retail shop in the country.
Posted in: Japan's emissions rising after nuclear crisis
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JeffLee
Those are 10-inch models. Better to get a 7 inch model, which is lighter and can be held up like a book or magazine.
Posted in: Can tablet computers give you a pain in the neck?