JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION
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- Core Developer - コアディベロッパー
- Midokura Japan K.K. - ミドクラジャパン株式会社, Tokyo
- Salary: ¥4.0M ~ ¥10.0M / Year Negotiable
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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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Seiharinokaze
Japan's tariffs, even those on agricultural products are not high compared internationally. And the import dependancy of main crops is quite high (wheat 86%, soybeans 95%, corn 100%) which means that the food market of Japan is rather opened to the world already, though of course with some excepted items. But supply of main crops should not depend on import from the viewpoint of food security as their harvest is subject to climate and in case of a bad harvest the exporters may prioritize their domestic market and limit export. So the supply of main crops particularly rice for this country should not be considered only in terms of price and market mechanisms, though Japanese agriculture should unarguably be reformed.
Posted in: U.S. lawmakers wary of Japan joining TPP pact
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Seiharinokaze
The position the U.S. took in the War of 1812 against Britain was somewhat similar to the position of Japan in relation to the U.S. in the war with China in 1930's and WW2. And now China seems to take the position of the U.S. in the 1812 war. Time goes around as roles devolve and hegemony shifts.
BTW, the origin of the legacy that would lead Japan to World War II was such Brits as Harry Parkes, Ernest Satow and Thomas Glover rather than Commodore Perry. Britain pulled strings from behind in the closing days of the Tokugawa Shogunate. 'Revere the Emperor and expel the barbarians' seemed to be just an expedient to rally samurais to carry out a coup against the Shogunate which was baked up by France. But the awakened little beast would later overdo Britain's deliberate intention (to check Russia from coming south) and begin eroding her textile goods market in Chin until at last it ungratefully sank Prince of Wales and contributed to the downfall of the British Empire. It's true armed interventions can have unintended effects into the future.
Posted in: Commodore Perry & the legacy of American imperialism
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Seiharinokaze
Chinese people may consider themselves both Buddhist, Confucian and Taoists. The monsoon climate of Asia is perhaps congenial to polytheism and syncretism. Japan is part of such a cultural climate.
Japanese are not so much atheists as secular people. And the reason why Japanese are comparatively well-mannered and crime rate here is low has not so much to do with Shintoism, Buddhism or Confucianism as with secularity. South Korea is a thoroughgoing Confucian society with Christian population also incomparably higher than in Japan and yet you can find a gap in crime rates between the two neighboring countries. For any misfortune or circumstances beyond your control, Japanese don't blame on anyone particularly but rather tend to feel resigned and laugh it though perplexed and if anything blame it on the winds blowing from over the mountains. Secularity and nature in place of divinity and its law serve as a kind of mental hygiene.
Posted in: Why Japanese values and morality confound us so
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Seiharinokaze
This news is simply misreported. Maehara called those who oppose to the free trade agreement (TPP) "a monster-phobia" who are inordinately scared of TPP like a ghost or monster.
Posted in: Maehara, Kamei spar over TPP
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Seiharinokaze
In spite of China's manipulation of its currency, Japan's trade balance with China is almost leveled. And in spite of steep appreciation of the yen to the dollar (from 360 yen to 76 in forty years), America's trade "imbalance" with Japan has stayed leveled. So probably it's not about fairness as the U.S. claims but about what you provide to the market.
In contrast to America's focus on building some cross-Pacific ties, however, China does not want to meddle with TPP nor does Russia, India, Taiwan or Indonesia as they know that it does not benefit them. Rather China sets its mind to the future web of partnerships across the resourceful Asian continent such as between Shanghai Five plus India and the Middle East which will be inter-connected with highways, railroads and pipelines instead of sea lanes as the heartland of prosperity of the 21st century that may even have the South China Sea as its backyard while letting Japan languish in the northeast backwater under the yoke of TPP or in fetters of neoliberalism. Nervy unfettered China may outlive.
Posted in: Clinton: U.S. must demand fairness from China
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Seiharinokaze
Some company says that they gave Ozawa a slush fund amounting to 100 million yen. Prosecutors investigated it thoughrouly for one and half years and could not find any single evidence to prove it except what the bribers says verbally. So they gave up indicting Ozawa for a bribery case. Instead they tried to indict him for being a party to his secretaries' conspiracy of not reporting the land purchase at the time they bought it and postponing it for two months until the land was registered, with a full stretch of their prosecutorial imagination that they did it to conceal the fact that the money they used to buy the land included the slush fund. But it's a rather arbitrary guess isn't it. Heck, it's not rare for a retired white-collar from a large company or a government office to have 100 million in bank deposit or some financial instruments. Ozawa inherited from his father 300 million yen in 1968 which he kept as a deposit in trust, a high-return financial instrument called "BIG" quite popular in 1980's through 90's. He cancelled it in 1998 and got 360 million. All these things are perhaps grasped by prosecutors who investigated Ozawa in depth spending 3000 million yen of our tax money.
Posted in: Ozawa pleads not guilty as trial gets under way
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Seiharinokaze
Errr, this is a liberation war against the log-rolling among the great vested interest, that is, bureaucrats, big businesses, pork barrel politicians and of course the U.S. Ozawa advocated it and actually put an end to the 1955 regime. He may then have set about in real earnest to transfer the Futenma air base out of Okinawa and even Japan and reform the public servants system forbidding them such a corrupt practice as parachuting to private companies. He may also stopped tax concessions to big businesses while snatching ten to twenty trillion yen willy-nilly out of the special account or the buried money they keep mainly for their own good in Kasumigaseki 3-chome. Of course he will jib at tax increase and TPP too. Heck, a supreme directive had to be issued anyway to liquidate him without delay.
Posted in: Ozawa pleads not guilty as trial gets under way
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Seiharinokaze
The advertisements on the newspapers on the wikipedia clearly stated that the place of work was at the comfort station of such and such military unit, and that the ad on the right side showed that monthly income would be more than 300 yen. Seeing as in those days the starting salary for a Seoul University graduate was about 75 yen, I believe applicants knew what sort of work it was. Besides 慰安婦 "ianfu" or 위안부 (wianbu) was a generally used word already therefore not being a delusive name. But the wikipeda also carries news articles about an arrested Korean human traffic syndicate that kidnapped young girls and sold them to Chinese dealers and about Korean brokers who duped more than 100 young women in rural districts into brothels, not specifically comfort stations. Such cases, the news article said, were rampant in those days on the peninsula. And any evidence that showed the Japanese military involvement was directives that forbade such actions. If Koreans propose holding talks with Japan over comfort women and pursue the issue of responsibility, they might at least look at things in their whole perspective.
Posted in: S Korea calls for talks on sex slave issue
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Seiharinokaze
Korean language is full of consonants some of which have very strong aspirates as is called 거센소리. And the language hates continuity of vowels unlike Japanese which sounds rather plain and tame and calm. So Korean songs in American-pop music type of tunes sounds quite rhythmic with a powerful beat. This may appeal to the world audience, which J-pop cannot emulate. Something more ingenuous as well as ingenious might be what J-pop should find her way. Globalism in music or to replicate K-pop is not quite her, though I don't mean it should be a galapagos.
Posted in: Can J-Pop replicate success of K-Pop?
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Seiharinokaze
Err, just let the Bank of Japan buy another 18 trillion yen of government bonds, which they usually buy up to 30 trillion yen every year. So why not this year too? It increases the quantity of yen relative to the U.S. dollar and will help depreciate the strong yen these days. And sell off government assets and abolish quasi government corporate bodies aka Doppo that consumes 12 trillion yen of revenue annually without doing so meaningful and efficient job. Also they may use the foreign reserve which is a de fact tribute to the empire. Many ways to reconstruct Tohoku without raising taxes.
Posted in: Commission prepares two options for hiking taxes
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Seiharinokaze
Japan accepted the Potsdam Declaration on Aug. 14, 1945. The Soviets landed on Iturup on Aug. 28 and on Kunashir and Habomai on Sept. 1. And it's on Sept. 4, two days after Japan signed on the capitulation which the Soviets also signed on the same day on Missouri that they occupied Shikotan. I think it's extraordinary to invade and occupy foreign land after the capitulation was signed in a war which they started by breaking the neutral treaty whether or not as part of WWII. They may wel call for calm talks.
Posted in: Russia seeks 'calm' talks with Japan over disputed islands
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Seiharinokaze
Kan was the head of the emergency task force. The crisis was more than what TEPCO could cope with alone. Nuclear power generation has been promoted as a basic national policy and part of the responsibility rests with the government. If so, he should first let the fact-finding committee investigate the nuclear crisis in depth and impartially. And we have yet to hear what Mr. Yoshida, head of the power plant has to say about it. He said to the power plant workers that whoever wanted to leave the power plant might leave and that they would not be held responsible for it. As it's a kind of "tokkotai" operation jeopardizing their life, he raised volunteers. As a result 70 people remained. Yoshida had no intention to abandon the plant. Whether the headquarters ordered him to stop pumping sea water into the reactors or abandon the plant, he knew what had to be done and he just did it. People on the spot (gemba) are generally brave and trustable. Kan having three major newspapers interview him as soon as he left office and telling how irresponsible and inept TEPCO and bureaucrats were and how he tried to do his best doesn't seem to be a so commendable behavior at this point.
Posted in: Kan forced older nuclear plant workers to stay on duty after tsunami: report
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Seiharinokaze
The foreign minister of Japan might keep it in mind that Shanghai Bang and Chinese Navy don't necessarily have a conflict of interest with the U.S. military-industrial complex. As tension rises, they may be smirking. Double-digit increase in China's military expenditure therefore is a double-edged concern. While showing a firm resolution to defend our country is important, the foreign minister should be wary of cheap nationalism growing on both sides edging us to a point where we think we can't turn back. That kind of folly is what Japan should have learned from history.
Posted in: China sea power concerns new Japan foreign minister
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Seiharinokaze
I didn't know that Noda is so good at speech and has an ability to appeal and agitate. He might be in office for two years until the next election for the House of Representatives. Bureaucrats in Kasumigaseki may be relieved. But sales tax hike will not be implemented since the premise for it to be realized is the upturn in the economy which won't come around anyway. With his agitation ability, however, he may make a bid to join TPP as Koizumi made a go of the Postal privatization, both of which are urged by the U.S. And Ozawa seemingly a lost cause will perhaps at least stand in the way of it unless burned out already. But the LDP won't take back power since Noda's agenda is no different from the LDP's (he's also against the foreigners' rights to vote and OK's premiers' visit to Yasukuni). No reason for sweeping none the better old one back into office.
Posted in: Noda to become Japan's next prime minister
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Seiharinokaze
The only evidence on which the inquest panel decided to indict Ozawa is his secretaries' confessions that prosecutors put on record (actually what they themselves imagined and wrote). But in the pretrial proceedings for the secretaries many of those confessions were rejected by the court as inappropriate or more bluntly as fake. I wonder how they proceed with Ozawa's trial.
Maehara may pursue TPP which deprives the country of customs duties (basic rights of a sovereign state) and food self-sufficiency. His hawkishness can be utilized for building tension which makes Japan swallow a deal as a kind of protection fees. He is a bit headlong type, too impetuous for crafty and often devilish China. I think Ozawa is more cautious about China and about any other deal like TPP.
Posted in: Ozawa decides to back Kaieda for PM
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Seiharinokaze
K-pop is not only about how they move their exposed legs (though you may become "kuseninaruwa") but how they sing. Their strong and emotive vocalism and the way they sing Japanese lyrics on K-pop music (esp. ballads) are refreshing. Utada or Fujiwara Motoo (Bump of Chicken) don't sing that way.
Posted in: K-POP
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Seiharinokaze
I though Haraguchi Kazuhiro would come out. Haraguchi or Hosono Goshi would do better with Ozawa.
Posted in: Noda seen as frontrunner to replace Kan as PM
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Seiharinokaze
OK, K-pop is great. But I like listening to SNSD sing Genie in Japanese than Korean. And if possible, I hope BEAST will sing "On Rainy Days" in Japanese too. "jogeumsshik geuchyeogagettji" sounds a bit harsh to my ear.
Posted in: K-POP
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Seiharinokaze
The writer governor may suggest reading Antigone by Sophocles, referring to Eto Jun, Ishihara's good friend and junior in high school. And perhaps he thinks that the emperor is an epigone after his father.
Posted in: Ishihara calls Kan, cabinet 'not Japanese' for not visiting Yasukuni Shrine
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Seiharinokaze
Anyone would care to check with Hemisynk or something where the soul of Tojo Hideki now resides in the spiritual realm?
Posted in: LDP leader Tanigaki, former PM Abe among 50 politicians to visit Yasukuni Shrine