JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION
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To be healthy, live in the big city
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Japan's nuclear safety standards flawed, says commission chief
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3
Teacher nabbed for using miror to peek up girl's skirt
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4
From carnivores to herbivores: how men are defined in Japan
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Why do Japanese change their attitude when they communicate with foreigners?
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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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- Translator
- ZAIHON, Inc. (日本財務翻訳株式会社), Tokyo
- Salary: ¥6.0M / Year Negotiable
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Kronos
@nisegaijin
So by that logic everyone should arm themselves, is that it? Whether they like it or not.
Sounds logical. We can cut back on the police force since who would need them when everyone start carrying guns. If I can protect myself, I do not need to pay the police any tax dollars. It would also boost the arms industry and provide people with jobs. That is another plus. Would also help boost forensics personnel to keep up with the dead bodies in the morgue.
Guess there is no downside.
Posted in: Mother killed, 5 hurt in gunbattle at California mall
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Kronos
Japan is not a good place to but a house/mansion to flip it as an investment. Buy real estate if you are prepared to live in it. The way Westerners and Japanese approach real estate is different. People think for much longer terms here. To me that makes much more sense but your mileage may vary.
Actually it is really difficult to profit from real estate if you are talking about big cities. Most people think of the price they paid when they bought the place and the price they got when they sold it and look at the difference. Few people consider the renovation costs, maintenance costs, taxes, interest, etc... the costs that one would NOT have paid if they had not bougt the real estate. If you consider all in, you will be needing quite an increase in market price to make a profit when you sell your real estate. Many places in big cities - land or building - do not appreciate that quickly. Maybe places around Roppongi or Otemachi will but then those are out-of-reach for many people in Japan anyway.
Regarding the market, you have to look around really. I can speak for Tokyo only but old mansions do sell as well. It completely depends on the location and usability. I have seen 35 year old mansions bought for JPY 70 million Azabu-jyuban and other central places (not mine :-) ). Of course such places will be out of reach for many people including Japanese. As you move outside the center towards outskirts of Tokyo, it will make more sense to own a house rather than a mansion. If you have lots of money, yeah, then you can play around with real estate as investment, but I guess that goes on without saying.
Me and my wife just bought a used mansion and hopefully will be using it for a long time. Neither of us was much interested in a house and my wife was not crazy about land or anything new. Actually she suggested that we look at used places since new ones have "newness premium" charges on top of them. I do have lots of friends who are not interested in buying a land but see pressure from their J-spouses who believe that land is the only way to go. Real Estate agents know this very well and use it.
Posted in: Real estate in Japan: A good time to buy or not?
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Kronos
Found it. WSJ article.
Cannot post the link JT regards it as spam but if you are interested google "Michelin Stars Draw Shots" article in Wall Street Journal.
I also have to correct what I said. Apparently the restaurant mentioned is next to a subway enterance where one cannot sit down properly.
Posted in: Tokyo remains top gourmet city in Michelin Guide
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Kronos
Regarding the restaurants being expensive, I do not remember where I read it but some of the restaurants that received high ratings were said to be like those salarymen ramen shops under the train rails. There was some critism and inquiry as to how Michelin was rating the Japanese restaurants.
Posted in: Tokyo remains top gourmet city in Michelin Guide
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Kronos
Sounds familiar. And here is one from the article
I do not expect much to change in the short run in Japan.
Posted in: What's happening in Japan is a shocking phenomenon. You hear doctors yelling at expectant mothers and telling them to transfer to another hospital if they can't manage their weight.
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Kronos
I would encourage everyone to read the original article in Bloomberg before discussing in detail. It came about two weeks ago and is very interesting. Also gives more detail information and background of the topic.
I cannot somehow post the link since it is considered "offensive" by posting standards - go figure. However you can find it by going to bloomberg.com and typing "Diets by Pregnant Women Spur More Underweight Babies in Japan " in the search page. That is the title of the article.
Posted in: What's happening in Japan is a shocking phenomenon. You hear doctors yelling at expectant mothers and telling them to transfer to another hospital if they can't manage their weight.
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Kronos
No smoking in the office. There is a smoking room on B1. But people usually do not use that and prefer to smoke outdoors on 1F.
Posted in: How does your workplace deal with the issue of passive smoking?
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Kronos
Republic? Or a true democracy?
Posted in: Do you think democracy is the best form of government?
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Kronos
Increase more.
Posted in: Japan hikes taxes on cigarettes by 40% to curb smoking
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Kronos
The ones I had bad experience with were
Arabs & Israelis - they both travel in packs, speak very loudly and are very, very dirty Brits - I definitely met some nice Brits but there are some who were just plain arrogant, especially those middle class or lower-middle class ones who (used to) take those cheap package tours across Europe. American soldiers - all the ones I have met were soldiers on leave and drunk. they were just plain terrible. period. seeing them, one would underestand why people have negative views of Americans. Chinese - as stated no manners. But if someone cuts the line in front of me, he will have my undivided attention so I am not too bothered with them :-)
I cannot generalize and say all the people from these countries are like that but the ones I had trouble with were from these countries.
Posted in: In your experience, which country's tourists are the least well-behaved whenever you have seen them out and about?
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Kronos
To add to the Incheon / Narita / Haneda debate. This was in Yomiuri a while back.
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/business/T100822001711.htm
Posted in: U.S. airlines squeezed as Haneda goes international
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Kronos
Get set. Ready. Panic!!
Posted in: Japan confirms its first case of new superbug gene
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Kronos
I am expecting to see an increase in rabies shots in Shizuoka prefecture once the citizens start hunting those monkeys.
Posted in: Marauding monkeys have Y200,000 bounty on their heads
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Kronos
Do not open the door to those who you do not know.
Also do not answer if you are not expecting anyone. Most probably it is some salesman, bill collector or some nutcase waiting to slash your throat.
Posted in: Man's throat slashed at front door in possible case of mistaken identity
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Kronos
Another one will take his place.
Posted in: Mexico captures reported drug lord 'The Barbie'
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Kronos
How about a bar code on the wrist? No risk of dropping it or losing it like a card.
Just approach the bar code reader - beeeeeep - and you are done.
:-)
Posted in: As the elderly population increases, we believe this kind of technology has great potential.
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Kronos
The government is keeping interest rates super low and pumping money to the financial institutions but these companies are not passing it to the industries or individuals ti kick start the economy.
Let's do something unpredictable. Since financial institutions are not passing the money on, they should return those funds and the BoJ should fund the real sector directly. Let's threaten those banks a bit.
Completely against the principles of a central bank. It won't happen. But what is there to lose really?
Posted in: BOJ eases monetary grip; gov't to use Y920 bil for stimulus measures
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Kronos
I somehow thought that they used lethal injections. Hanging seems painful.....
Posted in: Execution chamber at Tokyo Detention House opened to media
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Kronos
Umm... I do not think it is just Japanese companies. I mean, Western companies are going to India, Vietnam, China, etc... because of cheap labor, right? I think it is unfair to bash only Japan over this.
Posted in: Wen says Japanese companies' wages too low in China
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Kronos
Nothing went wrong. Hopes were set up too high.
Posted in: When the Democratic Party of Japan, led by Yukio Hatoyama, swept to power a year ago, there were high hopes that they would bring about positive change in Japan. What do you think went wrong?