Wednesday February 15, 2012

Piglet's past comments

  • 0

    Piglet

    If my understanding is correct, the taxation for bonus and normal salary are different, so it might be more advantageous to have a higher bonus than a slightly increased salary (correct me if I am wrong).

    Posted in: Gov't, DPJ settle on tax increase plan

  • 0

    Piglet

    My company allows employees to leave early when there is a typhoon/disaster (they provide a special paid leave to everybody for "exceptional circumstances"). Most of the employees left around 3 pm. It was obvious trains would be stopped from 6 pm. Unfortunately, many companies do not have such a system.

    There is a very common misconception in this country that economic success is directly proportional to the number of working hours for the staff (which leads to situations where people have to keep "working" even though there is a typhoon). It couldn't be further from the truth. It is all a matter of organization, good planning and good management. With some organizational thinking, it is feasible to significantly decrease the amount of overtime for staff (especially for basic staff, for executives this is of course another story). Unless you have some administrative work to do, it doesn't make sense anyway to work during a typhoon, while the whole city is paralyzed anyway (clients could not be reached, business meetings could not be held, so why bother?).

    I was a manager for a previous (crappy) company in Tokyo for a short time (I left after a few months), and I could not believe how bad organized they were, which led the company to ask for unpaid overtime for staff and rely on contract secretaries (no paid vacation, no insurance, cash payment). They did not have a proper client database (everything on various papers, e-mails and doc files), and accounting was done manually. With a few tricks (client database, online HR system for employees), we started to significantly decrease the amount of basic administrative work (to focus on the core business and marketing). The owners were morons though and I don't believe they implemented the necessary measures after I left.

    Posted in: Typhoon strands several thousand commuters in Tokyo

  • 2

    Piglet

    I might be stupid, but if groundwater can flow into the reactor buildings, doesn't it mean that water (including contaminated water) can also escape from these buildings?

    Posted in: TEPCO says up to 500 tons of groundwater flowing into Fukushima nuclear plant

  • 2

    Piglet

    You don't a young child without supervision even for a minute. Period. The mother bears some responsibility and could be charged for child neglect.

    As a father of a toddler, I never leave my child in the car alone (or anywhere else for instance). Anything could happen while you're out of sight (medical condition, accident or stolen car, kidnapping, etc...). I don't have any stats here but I would guess that the child abduction rate in Japan is not statistically different from many other developed countries: this is a rare occurrence, but you nevertheless don't want to give any opportunities to kidnappers.

    On a side note, if you leave your car unattended without locking it and it is stolen, you are not covered by your insurance (because they consider it is your fault).

    Posted in: Police continue search for baby girl feared abducted from car in Oita

  • 0

    Piglet

    @Asagao The Channel and North Sea between UK and France/Netherlands is VERY busy too (probably more than between Japan and Korea/China). Fishing nets is not a problem (there is a lot of fishing too there). Technically there is nothing preventing a power cable being installed between Japan and South Korea or Russia (except the insular culture of Japanese power companies that has so far prevented the creation of a national grid).

    Posted in: Kansai Electric warns of power shortages this winter

  • 2

    Piglet

    Concerning the international links, I heard some Japanese saying it is "not possible" to connect the Japanese power grids to SK and Russia because "Japan is an island". Wrong! It is technically possible (the shortest distance between SK and Japan is about 200 km at the Korea strait, with Tsushima island in the middle, while the shortest distance between Russia and Japan is 40 km between Hokkaido and Sakhalin).

    Most power grids are now interconnected, Japan should more than ever think connecting its power grid to the continental Asian power grid. UK is connected to the mainland European power grid to France (HVDC Cross-Channel, 70 km long) and the Netherlands (BritNed, 260 km long).

    Posted in: Kansai Electric warns of power shortages this winter

  • 2

    Piglet

    Only one solution to the electricity shortage problem: unifying the domestic power grid and connecting it to other power grids (South Korea / Russia) through marine cables. I was shocked to read that there are two power grids in Japan and that the country is not connected to neighboring countries. What were they thinking of?

    Posted in: Kansai Electric warns of power shortages this winter

  • 2

    Piglet

    It is stupid and almost criminal to rebuild cities in the same location.

    Posted in: Only 4 of 31 tsunami-hit sites have finalized reconstruction plans

  • 0

    Piglet

    Rebuilding on exactly the same locations is a recipe for disaster, unless they build huge tsunami walls (which would be prohibitively expensive and not even completely safe). These cities have seen tsunami very regularly along their history and had to be rebuild constantly.

    Some portions of the Pacific coast should be declared hazardous (like they do in many places abroad) and infrastructure should not be build in these areas. People building houses in these areas should do this at their own risk and without beneficing full insurance and public infrastructure.

    New infrastructure should be build more inland in a rational way (evacuation routes, etc...).

    Posted in: Only 4 of 31 tsunami-hit sites have finalized reconstruction plans

  • 1

    Piglet

    I was expecting something more original and unconventional, but I fail to see any irony or subversive message... Typical JP synth-pop with childish melodies. The imagery might be exuberant, but I don't see any self reflection or subversion.

    Posted in: Kyarypamyupamyu a big hit on YouTube

  • 0

    Piglet

    @oberst

    Some politicians might take you at your word!

    Posted in: Where should the massive amount of radioactive debris, soil and nuclear waste from the area around the Fushuma Daiichi nuclear power plant be stored?

  • -1

    Piglet

    Some additional interesting results from this survey (which can be downloaded on the above website) (there are two versions, because the results are not all released at the time time):

    FIRST RELEASE:

    • The respondents are relatively pessimistic concerning the economic situation of the country (yet they are opposed to increased immigration).

    • The aging population is seen as a problem by a strong majority.

    • The respondents did not believe that in case of disaster the government could help them and they believed the leaders were not telling the truth about what happened.

    • Most people believed that the government should give more information to the public.

    SECOND RELEASE:

    • Israel has the lowest support among all countries (even less than China). It seems that the Japanese population is strongly anti-Israel.

    • The respondents overwhelmingly support private ownership of companies and competition.

    • There is a large support for death penalty (unfortunately).

    • The number of people supporting no political party significantly increased, while the number of people supporting the main political parties decreased (both LDP and DPJ).

    Posted in: Japanese support for U.S. bases grows: poll

  • 11

    Piglet

    I have been both to Disneyland and DisneySea in Tokyo and both are perfectly fine for a nice family day. My son is still very young but he had a lot of fun there (even in DisneySea there are some attractions for young kids at the Mermaid Lagoon). Since we avoided the main attractions for young adults, there was not much line (you need to be organized though to avoid lines). My advice: come early before opening, leave at closing (9 or 10pm). During the rush hours (early afternoon), just relax in quiet areas and avoid popular rides. Most people leave after 6/7pm, so you can still do a lot between 7 and closing time.

    As long as you keep a healthy balance between cultural/fun activities (museum, art, amusement parks, zoos, visiting farms and countryside, hikes in the mountain, opera, traditional/classical music concerts, etc...), there is nothing wrong with enjoying Disney parks. It is obviously not the most cultural or classy places (it is often corny and tasteless), but it makes for a good day with kids (in a clean, safe environment), once in a while. I am not sure though I would enjoy as much without my kid (except maybe some parts in DisneySea).

    Congrats to Oriental Land and Walt Disney Company for a very professional entertainment resort, very well managed.

    Posted in: 10 happy years

  • 0

    Piglet

    With ANA, if you use mobile check in, you don't need to print anything as you just need to show your mobile phone at each checkpoint / boarding.

    Posted in: AirAsia to charge for counter check-in service

  • 0

    Piglet

    You can do this for trains in some countries too, but I don't know in Japan (I usually print my own train tickets when traveling to France for example). I haven't found out yet whether you can do it with JR (buy online and print your ticket at home). Anybody knows?

    Posted in: AirAsia to charge for counter check-in service

  • 0

    Piglet

    I already thought most people check in online nowadays. I haven't done "manual" check in for years. I usually print my own boarding pass, but last time I just showed the barcode on my iphone to the machine (with ANA) and everything worked perfectly both ways (you can provide your passport information beforehand so that they just need to do a quick check and you drop off your luggage, everything takes 30 sec at the airport).

    Posted in: AirAsia to charge for counter check-in service

  • 0

    Piglet

    We use AC and an electric oil-filled radiator (best electric radiator type because it keeps warm for a while even after shutting down power), it is more than enough in our apartment and we don't spend that much compared to some other people we know. I often see people using heaters but keeping doors open or not protecting well enough their houses, so they end up having freezing houses with one over heated area. Not the best for health and energy spending.

    Posted in: Freezing winter looms for Tokyo post-Fukushima

  • 3

    Piglet

    Most of Japan (except for mountainous areas and Tohoku/Hokkaido) is warm in winter (it almost never freezes in Kanto), so it shouldn't be a problem. If the appartments had better insulation, we would need less heating, but even without, we can manage quite OK (close each door of the appartment, let the sun in during day time and use curtains at night, don't keep ventilation on at night during the coldest days in January, keep sweaters on). Keep your AC at 17°C and no more when you use it, it is perfect (actually 17-18ºC is often recommended by doctors as the best indoor temperature especially for kids).

    Posted in: Freezing winter looms for Tokyo post-Fukushima

  • 0

    Piglet

    @JesusLovesJapan Are you saying that the only way is government intervention? We should not deviate from THE truth: even though the Japanese government paid billions and billions in stimulus package for 20 years without any success, we should go further and pay even more? This is ideology.

    What about trying something new and experiment with a different way? After all, the economic policies of Japan since 1990 were a complete failure, so we should be pragmatic and at least try giving more freedom to people (abolish the dangerous protectionist policies, curve the bureaucracy, deregulate the economy).

    Posted in: Moody's cuts Japan debt rating by one notch to Aa3

  • 0

    Piglet

    Governments have shown again and again their inefficiencies. The role of the government is not to be involved in economic life, as suggested by JesusLovesJapan, but to protect the natural rights of the residents (safety, property, protection from exploitation).

    Let the private sector find innovative solutions. 5-year soviet-style planning won't be efficient because there is no way a group of bureaucrats now better (and in advance) what to do than the natural self-organization through the market.

    Many of the destroyed cities were already in economic trouble before the disaster. Rebuilding infrastructures without even being sure people and business will come back is a waste of money. The government should instead provide a good framework for businesses to come and generate local life (maybe through free market "special economic zones" with low taxes and flexible laws, like Shenzhen in China for example, as suggested recently).

    Posted in: Moody's cuts Japan debt rating by one notch to Aa3

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