JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION
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- Financial Advisor
- Select Asset Management KK, Tokyo
- Salary: ¥100,000 ~ ¥999,999 Paid Training Commission Based
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- Corporate Business English Trainers
- ACT Systems, Inc.（株式会社アクト・システムズ）, Tokyo
- Salary: ¥269,500 ~ ¥280,000 / Month
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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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Shumatsu_Samurai
How many random drunks do you know that carry knives and are in a fit state to drive taxi cabs?
It's much more likely that this was a planned attack.
Posted in: Passenger robs taxi driver, then steals cab in Ibaraki
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Shumatsu_Samurai
As an amendment to the above, if you can have an alarm linked to the police or a private security firm it's definitely worth it then. Assuming it's affordable.
Posted in: Jewelry worth Y7.5 mil stolen in Tochigi
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Shumatsu_Samurai
I don't know that it's like in Japan, but in a large number of countries worldwide, passers-by will ignore a house or shop alarm going off. I wonder if there's a point in having alarms, because 99.9% of the time people seem to believe it has gone off by accident.
Also, cameras again aren't much use if the thieves wear masks.
Posted in: Jewelry worth Y7.5 mil stolen in Tochigi
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Shumatsu_Samurai
When the Opposition can block the legislation, it is 100% necessary to get them on board!
Ah, but where is the bureaucratic waste? What departments, regulations and positions can be axed? You can slash jobs, but will it mean that tax collection will drop because a department becomes overstretched? You can slash budgets, but does that mean people in various parts of the country will lose jobs and face a harder way of life?
It's easy to shout "GET RID OF WASTE!" but it's something else to point to where it is. You might as well tell the Police to cut crime. Well, duh!
Posted in: Noda again urges opposition to join talks on tax, social security reform
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Shumatsu_Samurai
What is it with the Japan-haters on this website? These scammers are clever and do research before they call people. They don't dial random phone numbers, they target older people who may live by themselves. And for every time they're successful they fail many other times. There's no reason to think Japanese people are more gullible than anyone else.
Also, the Nigerian scams prove people living elsewhere in the world are probably more stupid. Everyone should know by now that if you get an email offering you something for nothing, it's a scam. Yet they go for it anyway. On the other hand you really might get a loved one calling you in an emergency asking for help.
Posted in: Woman conned out of nearly Y4.5 mil in bank transfer scam
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Shumatsu_Samurai
Some of the people who have posted the above messages should be ashamed of themselves. If they had read up on Hanako, they would know that she came to Japan in 1949. In 1949 few people in the world had a problem with keeping large animals in zoos. It's only relatively recently that more people have taken the view that it's wrong to keep large animals in zoos. When was the last time the people above told their parents and grandparents that they're cruel because their generations had no problem with large animals being kept in captivity?
So what would you do if you ran the zoo - stick her on a plane back to Thailand? She couldn't possibly survive in the wild. So, assuming she was fit enough to survive a plane journey, who would pay for her to go to and be kept in some reserve where she'd be guaranteed safety? Somehow I doubt the critics on Japantoday will be reaching for their credit cards...
There is no reason to believe that the zookeepers at Inokashira have done anything but give her all the love and attention she needs. Indeed, do you really think she'd live to 65 if she were miserable and poorly treated? I don't. The fact that she is still alive today and able to "greet" her well-wishers suggests that the staff that look after her are doing a bang-up job. Give credit where credit is due.
Posted in: Asia's oldest elephant
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Shumatsu_Samurai
Limited taxation is often possible when you're in boom years, have low debt and have a large number of workers supporting a modest number of retirees. When you've got a stagnant economy, a pile of debt and far fewer workers per retiree, you need extra taxation.
Posted in: IMF says Japan should raise consumption tax to 15%
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Shumatsu_Samurai
Complete nonsense. RAF Mount Pleasant can accept all sorts of military aircraft. The RAF could reinforce the base very quickly.
Posted in: British PM stokes war of words over Falklands
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Shumatsu_Samurai
And your evidence that the money has been diverted elsewhere is what, exactly?
Posted in: Gov't finalizes draft proposal for tax reform, but uphill battle looms
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Shumatsu_Samurai
I just hope that this reform is maintained in the face of the opposition to it. It's important that Japan increases its tax take. The Economist states it is only 17% of GDP, lower than the rest of the OECD.
Posted in: Tax hike plan gets provisional OK
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Shumatsu_Samurai
Heda_Madness has knocked the nail on the head. Just because the Tsunami didn't hit the Kanto or Kansai doesn't mean that there wasn't a lot of damage. There was an awful lot of damage, and it will take many years to undo - and that's simply in the areas that were doing well. Some settements were already struggling to survive because of a declining population and/or declining job opportunities. The tragedy may well have pushed some of these places over the edge. The authorities have a lot on their hands.
But more importantly, we don't know that 20,000 are being left to fend for themselves. I'm sure that those who need help are getting it in some form. Indeed the article fails to quote a single person who thinks they'll be going hungry or will freeze during the colder weather.
Posted in: Tsunami refugees dig in for harsh winter
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Shumatsu_Samurai
bajhista65, that's an incredibly mean-spirited comment. How do you know this person hasn't already made a donation to the tsunami fund? And even if he hasn't, so what? Why are Japanese people forbidden from spending money overseas?
Posted in: Japanese investor to restore ancient Roman pyramid
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Shumatsu_Samurai
Kakarot9
Wrong, according to the Economist:
Japan has the lowest tax take of any country in the OECD, at just 17% of GDP
http://www.economist.com/node/21538745
Taxes can and must go up.
Posted in: Noda proposes putting off planned consumption tax hike by six months
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Shumatsu_Samurai
This is a welcome decision. I hope that Japan can cooperate fully on defence related issues with its allies.
shinhiyata, you are entitled to your views, but pointing your finger at Japan is unfair given that it has no choice but to produce and maintain armed forces given it has hostile neighbours and more generally the threat of conflict is always there. If Japan disarmed tomorrow it would just make its situation in Asia more vulnerable and do nothing to achieve global disarmament.
It's very easy to be a pacifist as you can maintain the moral high ground whilst others guarantee your security. I mean that. You may say that war begats war, but if one has no weapons then when the other party wants to declare war you have to do what they say. Just because you think passive resistance is the only way forward doesn't mean you're right. Humans have violent tendancies and there will always be those who try to use violence to get what they want.
I wonder, what's your view on the police force? Do you think they shouldn't be issued with guns, truncheons or have the right to use force on people who break the law? Should they simply shout from the sidelines and say "I say, you over there with the shotgun! Stop raiding that bank, it's against the law! Now don't make me walk over there and wave my finger at you!" Surely when the police use force it just encourages criminals to use force.
Posted in: Japan set to ease arms export ban
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Shumatsu_Samurai
Not really, it seems to have happened in undisputed Japanese waters. China isn't so stupid to insist Chinese fishermen can illegally trawl in Japanese waters.
Posted in: Japan's coast guard arrests Chinese fishing boat captain
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Shumatsu_Samurai
Why stop there? Why not sell the entire military for scrap and save $40 billion a year? Oh wait, there's Russia, China and North Korea to worry about.....
Posted in: Japan formally selects F-35 as new fighter jet
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Shumatsu_Samurai
The reason the Japanese government sees the issue as settled is that money was paid over - to a previous Korean government. If individual Koreans are annoyed they didn't see that money, they should get it from their own government.
LFRAgain makes a fair point. If Japan starts paying individual Koreans over this issue, where will it stop? There will be pressure from China to pay its citizens as well, despite the fact a settlement was made with the Chinese government decades ago.
Sometimes you just have to draw a line under these things and move on.
Posted in: Lee urges compensation for sex slaves; Noda says issue is settled
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Shumatsu_Samurai
These are very necessary steps. Given that workers will be in short supply in the future, it will be very necessary to have people working longer. The country can't also support so many people living in retirement for so long - Japanese remain some of the longest lived people in the world (by some measures the most long lived as an average of both men and women).
Posted in: Gov't, business groups discuss raising retirement age to 65
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Shumatsu_Samurai
Wrong. At every stage the UK courts have said he can be sent to Sweden. All that happens is that he gets allowed to make an appeal - and then told he has to be extradited anyway.
Posted in: Assange request for appeal granted; hearing set for Feb 1
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Shumatsu_Samurai
Only if Japan bought the F-35B or F-35B. Chances are they'll go with the cheaper F-35A, which is not capable of flying off carriers.
I would have preferred the Typhoon as a cheaper but proven and capable aircraft. But if Japan gets the F-35 that's good too. I always expected it to buy some to replace the F-15s. The question is, will the F-35s be delivered in time to replace the F-4Js? I'm not sure that they will be, in which case Japan will have a big hole in its airforce for years.
Posted in: Japan likely to buy Lockheed Martin's F-35 fighters: media