JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION
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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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- 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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Richard_III
I have often stood on the balcony and considered throwing an egg or cabbage at these vans, especially the electrical appliance van which does two or three laps each weekend and is extremely loud.
However, it is futile to try and change anything in this country. I can only imagine the blank expressionless face of the driver as you protested.
My other half can't understand my frustration either. They're "only doing their jobs" according to her. This blind acceptance of everything is actually even more infuriating.
Posted in: It’s time to get rid of sound trucks
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Richard_III
ANA Mastercard and Saison. No problems in getting a CC in Japan.
I like the system here whereby you pay the balance off every month, and I think it's a bit embarrassimg asking to pay things off in installments in the shop. Cumulative purchases and interest payments can get you in trouble if you don't clear the balance every month. I had this in the UK.
Posted in: Which credit card company do you recommend? Have you had any trouble with any credit card company either in Japan or abroad?
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Richard_III
rough
Posted in: Jolie good time
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Richard_III
Even though Japanese generally don't have very good manners anymore, many of them are aware that this is the case. Just look at the posters that the Tokyo Metro have put up telling people to be more polite and considerate to others. This is a telling campaign.
That said, I think manners have gone through an irreversible decline - I can see little chance that these posters will make any improvement.
Posted in: Do you think a man holding a door open for a woman, holding her chair for her when she sits down, or giving up his seat for her are outmoded gestures of politeness or do they still have their place in today's society?
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Richard_III
For those of us brought up to believe in the importance of good manners as a mark of civilisation and good up-bringing, living in Japan is a daily challenge.
More often than not, my manners are increasingly slipping as I am barged, ignored or treated as if I didn't exist. This leads me to deliberately take on the manners of the natives, otherwise you begin to feel like a doormat. Even though I sometimes try to make an example to show my superior manners, I'm sometimes left with no alterntive but to give a good barge or shunt, be it with a salaryman, a zombie with their ipod on, or some walking-dead lass who'll be texting as she walks. It's a sorry situation.
If I ever have kids here, they will be brought up to have good manners and consideration for others. I imagine that they will have to spend a substantial portion of their childhood in Europe or America to avoid catching any of the bad practices of the natives.
Posted in: Do you think a man holding a door open for a woman, holding her chair for her when she sits down, or giving up his seat for her are outmoded gestures of politeness or do they still have their place in today's society?
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Richard_III
Crocs are simply hideous shoes and should never be worn in a city environment.
Salaryman suits are for the most part simply awful. Ill fittingly baggy or overly tight. They look cheap and show an inherent lack of dignity.
Short sleeve shirts. Shirt sleeves should always be long, and if you're hot then you should simply roll the sleeves up.
Two tone shirts with different coloured thread on the collar and cuff. Many Japanese salary men are now wearing such shirts where the collar and cuff colour are different from the body of the shirt, the thread on the collar or cuff is exposed and a different colour to the collar. These shirts look incredibly cheap and tasteless.
Sock tights. I've noticed many ladies wearing such tights that are sock length. They are particularly unattractive.
Many have mentioned them before, but pointy shoes are simply dreadful.
Brown shoe, dark suit combo. This has slacked off over the past year, but many continue the trend. Many of the brown shoes are pointy to boot, topped off with a cheap looking suit and poorly cut white shirt. Simply awful.
Ostentatious label displays. This includes bags with LV or Gucci plastered all over them. There is a real lack of class amongst people with these bags, especially if they are wearing awfully cheap or tasteless clothes. An expensive bag in no way compensates for this.
Sports shoes & clothing. Many people think that it is ok to wear sports shoes in a casual setting. They are wrong. Sports shoes are for sporting occasions only. This is perhaps one of the most henious crimes I have seen. In addition, some people think that it's ok to wear sport shirts like football shirts, or basketball shirts (often with baggy pants). This is also particularly distressing.
Posted in: Which fashion trend do you most wish would die?
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Richard_III
Kamei is a dinosaur of Japanese politics with way too much influence.
For me, he represents in many ways all that is wrong with this country: his opinions on everything seem to be set in stone, with a strong sense of paternalism.
Posted in: Japan split over maiden names, foreign suffrage
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Richard_III
Interesting perspective, at stark odds to an ongoing discussion on the Business in Japan group on Linked-In regarding the so-called Galapagos effect. The Linked In group are mostly old Japan hands with business experience and have been here longer than three weeks. There is a sense of exasperation amongst a lot of the comments there.
Posted in: Why Japan matters: iPad mania, cloud computing and social intelligence
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Richard_III
I regularly have to sit in meetings that were initially scheduled for only one hour but drag on for two hours. In most cases at the end of two hours there have still been no conclusions or outlines to direct future activities.
You have to ask what the point of the meeting was, and other commentators are right. You waste two hours in such a meeting and it means you're behind on your proper work. Some of my meeting colleauges have it worse though, they go from one departmental meeting to another, consecutively, all day, every day of the week. One can only wonder at what that does to the human soul.
Posted in: Japanese company meetings: Getting by at the table
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Richard_III
Has been my airline of choice for the past few years, but I'd be reluctant to use them again until they get rid of the unionised staff or break the union.
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Richard_III
And there I was thinking Japanese weddings couldn't get any more robotic or pre-programmed. Innovation in action.
Posted in: I-Fairy
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Richard_III
I think these photos are staged. Not one person is playing on their keitai.
Posted in: Rush hour
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Richard_III
This photo clearly represents the hell of cherry blossom viewing:
The little man with the tannoy shouting at people, the eager looking crowd who look like they'll run with a frenzy towards the blossoms.
Pure awful hell.
Posted in: Hanami rush hour
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Richard_III
Japanese department stores are not too bad. Although they tend to all sell the same brands they do have slightly different stock between stores. Paul Smith in Isetan in Shinjuku is slightly different from the Paul Smith in Mitsukoshi in Ginza.
Sometimes I wish there was more diversity in their stock however. For instance, at the moment it is virtually impossible to get a classic collar double cuff white shirt - and that's across the whole of Tokyo. They all stock the rather natty variety preferred by the natives. Naturally, it's very depressing.
Posted in: What do you think of Japanese department stores?
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Richard_III
The two on the left and right are way too thin. Look at their arms. That level of thinness is not beautiful in my opinion.
Posted in: Final 11 Miss Universe Japan contestants begin beauty camp
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Richard_III
Wonder if all that crap about his uniform made him lose his concentration? I know i'd be pretty peed off with the powers that be for making a mountain out of a molehill.
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Richard_III
I wonder how show thanked him? Was it the Tokyo custom of nodding the head a little bit and saying "sumimasen"?
Posted in: Man saves woman from train after she falls onto tracks
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Richard_III
Marunouchi is increasingly better than Ginza for buying clothes. If I can't find anything there, then I will sometimes head to Ginza but it is rather uninspiring, perhaps with the exception of Barney's and Mitsukoshi.
One thing that always irritates me about Ginza is the lack of cafes.
Posted in: Once-glamorous Ginza going from Park Avenue to Penny Lane
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Richard_III
Tokudane probably dedicated about 40 minutes coverage to this story.
I hate that show.
Posted in: Hideaki Ito spotted with heavily intoxicated woman
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Richard_III
They've really wheeled out the big guns for this event.
Posted in: Uehara, Shiratori promote 'Prison Break' DVD release