JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION
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Why do Japanese change their attitude when they communicate with foreigners?
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U.S. Navy investigating how parts fell off aircraft near Atsugi
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Confrontation
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California court to decide if SeaWorld whales are illegal 'slaves'
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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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JeffLee
But the vast, vast majority are not. People in the private sector tend to be uprooted and bounced around more than those in the public sector. If fees to agencies ("yakuza") are to be paid, then let the workers themselves paid it out of their own pockets. That's what I've had to do throughout my working life.
Posted in: Noda orders freeze on Saitama housing facility for public servants
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JeffLee
That doesn't make much sense -- Kindle's dominance is as strong as ever.
Posted in: Sony unveils new, lighter e-readers
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JeffLee
is this unprecedented? Have there been other cases where civil airliners with passengers on board have flown UPSIDE DOWN?!?
Posted in: Co-pilot error almost caused ANA plane to turn upside down
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JeffLee
The Brazilians in Aichi who made Toyotas and then were told to get lost during a downturn certainly weren't shown much of a "corporate sense of responsibilty" by Japan's biggest manufacturer.
What really keeps Japanese manufacturing alive is cheap, subcontracted labor.
Posted in: Manufacturing often means making things in one place for a long period of time, developing technology, having a lot of employees, and employee loyalty is also a necessity. It's not like finance, where you just look at a screen and push buttons.
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JeffLee
Remember Tokaimura? Japanese nuclear workers were killed while mixing radioactive substances in buckets! Duh! Also, an astonished French plant supplier told me he spotted holes in the overalls of the workers at Fukushima.
Foreign workers (with the possible exception of the Ukrainians) tend to take proper safeguards.
Posted in: Hydrogen buildup detected in No. 1 reactor at Fukushima plant
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JeffLee
"Faded charm," "if you don't mind the chinpura," "hidden charms," etc. Gotta love all the euphemisms on this page, and it's pretty easy to read between the lines: this place is a dump but at least it's close to Tokyo so maybe it's worth checking out if you've got nothing else better to do.
Posted in: Atami: Sun, sand, sea, sex and gardens in a day
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JeffLee
Jeffrey Duelley: "Manufacturing creates wealth, not consumerism."
The Soviet Union was a manufacturing giant, but a consumer basket-case. Think about it.Or enroll in Econ 101 if you can't figure it out.
Posted in: Gov't unveils series of measures to deal with strong yen
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JeffLee
Subsidies, subsidies, subsidies. That's right - throw taxpayer money at the problem, especially when the country is already the world's most indebted.
The only viable measure is to stimulate domestic demand, like making the housing market more competitive and attractive to consumers, etc.
Japan already runs huge trade and current-account surpluses, and so it's time to end its export obsession. This isn't the 1960s anymore and exporting more TV sets isn't going to solve Japan's problems.
Posted in: Gov't unveils series of measures to deal with strong yen
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JeffLee
That's standard Japanese workplace practice, duh. If emerging economies want to welcome Japanese FDI, then they need to get used to such strict and freedom-sucking working conditions. If you can't stand the heat.....
Posted in: Maruti Suzuki lock-out highlights India's labor unease
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JeffLee
"featuring her likeness" -- What does that mean? Featuring women who look like her?
Posted in: Yuko Ogura loses legal fight to block publication of photobook
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JeffLee
Why is NHK, a broadcaster, involved in "extensive" camera development? That should be the job of Panasonic, Sony, etc. TV viewers and taxpayers should be obliged to fund such research on hardware, a job the private sector can do much better.
Posted in: NHK to broadcast live programs shot with an ultra high sensitivity camera for first time in TV history
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JeffLee
Uniglo has been selling wool sweaters, scarves and coats for the past couple of weeks. But it happens every year. September is tropical until the very last week. This year isn't unusual. I'll be wearing my t-shirts til November. Let the fashion victims be, well, victims.
Posted in: Heat wave continues across Japan
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JeffLee
And it defintiely was cococted by a native,
I suspect it was "checked" by a native English speaker, and the people who actually decided on it lacked the ability to judge its effectiveness. Yet another reason why Japan is losing traction on the world stage.
Posted in: 'Cool Japan'
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JeffLee
I think the teamwork thing, the Japanese "all pulling together," is really overstated, if not a canard. The Kobe quake, for instance, never created much national solidarity or "selflessness," while now Japanese consumers/tourists are generally avoiding the Fukushima region and its products. The most energized volunteers and cheerleaders, from what I can see, are disproportionately members of the gaijin community.
Not saying that Japan is bad in this respect; just that it's not special.
(BTW, businesses love the 28-degree rule and shutting down elevators. It allows them to cut costs at a critical time of time of year when their energy costs soar. Still, if the private sector en-mass refunds these savings to relief activities, then I'll be impressed.)
Posted in: Sacrifice, teamwork & optimism - Japan on road to recovery
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JeffLee
The English words don't resonate nor make much sense. But if it was concocted by non-native English speakers, as is usual in Japan, then the decision-makers got what they deserved - a muddled and mediocre result.
Posted in: 'Cool Japan'
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JeffLee
Recalcitrant Japanese versus overbearing Germans. It seems VW had grand amibtions to create a global automaker, while Suzuki really only wanted better access to German technology.
Posted in: Suzuki ends Volkswagen partnership
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JeffLee
"Reaching out" is not the best way to approach a supremacist ideology (Islam).
Posted in: The main issue in Japan is not necessarily a conflict between Muslims and non-Muslims, but the fact that both sides find it difficult to reach out to each other.
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JeffLee
So everyone outside of Japan gets their handsets' firmware and other updates by...how exactly? Not wirelessly? Gimme a break. This is another smoke and mirrors story about how great japanese technology is, when actually it's nothing to write home about.
Posted in: Japan leads mobile industry in providing software updates over the air
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JeffLee
If power generating companies in a country like Japan, are willing to cut safety corners for the sake of costs and profits, what's happening in other countries?
Japan is unique, uniquely irresponsible. Before Fukushima, there was Monju, Tokaimura, MOX and a host of other fiascos. No other country has such a sorry record on nuke safety as Japan.
Zichi: Also, Japan's low energy use has been cost-driven, and has little to do with awareness, discipline, etc. Japan's consumers and industries have long paid among the world's highest energy prices. That tends to enforce conservation. And American's ARE doing likewise. Americans are increasingly driving smaller, more fuel efficient cars in line the rising price of gas. So in answer to your questions "would americans do the same?" Well, they are doing the same.
Posted in: Post-tsunami Japan sticking with nuclear power
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JeffLee
substances are probably speed. I'm going to guess that they had typically bad Japanese sleep habits. Getting 8 uniterrupted hours sleep a day and having proper bedrooms at home would solve such problems. The guy at my subway station was always asleep on the job when I used to pass thru around 6:30 a.m. Mon-Fri.
Posted in: Two Osaka subway drivers test positive for illegal substances