JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION
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- 秘書及び業務サポート
- 加治金属工業株式会社, Tokyo
- Salary: ¥4.0M / Year
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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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- ALT - Mie Prefecture - Yokkaichi City - June start
- NPO法人グローバル教育推進機構（GLAD), Mie
- Salary: ¥230,000 / Month For a full working month. Some months differ.
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TanakaTaro
Sorry to be pedantic but the Hobbit is not a prequel. A prequel is a work that is produced after but set before an existing work, for example Star Wars Episode I (1999) is the prequel to Star Wars Episode IV (1977). The Hobbit was written before Lord of the Rings so the correct term is "predecessor".
Posted in: 'Hobbit' films to be made in New Zealand as planned
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TanakaTaro
The menu doesn't say "Coke and Ice" though does it. It just says "coke". The shop will usually have some cups on display showing you the size of drink you will receive. I don't think it's unreasonable to expect that cup to be full of drink rather than half drink half and ice is it?
Asking for no ice is the same as asking for more olives at subway to get an acceptable amount instead of the "1 slice of olive per sub" the servers are told to give you in Japan.
Posted in: In Japan, the customer is not king
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TanakaTaro
British tourists on the beaches and around the night spots of Europe generally act terribly. The ones who travel further afield act with a little more civility.
Or maybe that's just my snobbish middle class bias?
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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TanakaTaro
They gave out free UniQlo x Hanshin tigers tumblers to the first 2,000 customers. Of course thousands more turned up.
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TanakaTaro
Are you sure that's right? I pay that much a month...
I think the health insurance system isn't too bad. Still having to pay 30% is a bit of a rip off but I feel much safer than if I had private insurance or no insurance at all.
Much better than the American system but not as good as the European systems.
Posted in: What do you think of the health insurance system in Japan?
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TanakaTaro
Yep, you're right.
Posted in: FIFA to study scrapping extra time at World Cup
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TanakaTaro
Unfortunately, Homeopathy seems to be becoming more popular in Japan:
http://www.japanprobe.com/2010/08/26/homeopathic-treatment-leads-to-infants-death/
Taking placebos for a cold is one thing, but giving them to a baby with a vitamin k deficiency is too stupid for words.
Posted in: What do you think of alternative health care methods such as homeopathy, indigenous medicine, acupuncture, mind-body medicine and so on?
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TanakaTaro
No it doesn't. Vaccinations work by building up a resilience to exactly what you want to protect yourself against. For example, a flu vaccine contains the flu virus. This is science.
Homoeopathy is totally different.
Here's an example: I have a rash caused by an allergic reaction to something I ate. Homoeopathy won't treat this by using the same substance that caused my rash, but by taking something that causes similar symptoms. I have a rash, so the homoeopathy remedy might start with poison ivy (sound crazy yet?).
Now, this poison ivy isn't strong enough to cure me. How does Homoeopathy make it stronger? By diluting it with water of course! (Just like adding water to whiskey makes it stronger right?)
Homoeopathic medicines are diluted so much that they contain no molecules of the original substance (they are just water). A Homoeopathic remedy that says "30C" means that you need to consume 10 billion times the volume of the Earth in water to consume a single molecule of the original substance.
Now if you understand that and still believe in Homoeopathy, then there's no help for you.
Posted in: What do you think of alternative health care methods such as homeopathy, indigenous medicine, acupuncture, mind-body medicine and so on?
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TanakaTaro
Homeopathy is great if you want a very expensive placebo.
I'm glad it's a load of rubbish though because if water has memory then we are all drinking crap.
Posted in: What do you think of alternative health care methods such as homeopathy, indigenous medicine, acupuncture, mind-body medicine and so on?
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TanakaTaro
@tahoochi
For more of the westerners misusing Japanese you should check out: http://www.superdry.com/
Random kanji all over the place.
Posted in: What are some of your favorite examples of the way English is misused in products, advertising and pop culture in Japan?
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TanakaTaro
A small boy at a Hanshin Tigers game with "I LOVE SEXY" on his t-shirt.
A mother with a t-shirt saying "Everyone must get stoned".
My personal favourite so far: A man having trouble deciding what to order from Nakau. His girlfriend comes over to help but he still can't decide. Then I noticed the back of his t-shirt said "What should I get? Nobody knows". Perfect!
Posted in: What are some of your favorite examples of the way English is misused in products, advertising and pop culture in Japan?
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TanakaTaro
Surely better than "delicious menus"?
Posted in: What are some of your favorite examples of the way English is misused in products, advertising and pop culture in Japan?
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TanakaTaro
It's not like they were gambling on sumo. Gambling on horses or boat races is fine but not baseball?
Probably should have just placed bets on line with foreign sites.
Posted in: What sort of a future do you think sumo has, in view of the latest scandal over illegal gambling?
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TanakaTaro
The red cards in the Greece Nigeria and Germany Serbia game were ridiculous.
Posted in: What do you think of the quality of refereeing so far in the World Cup?
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TanakaTaro
I wonder how much he had to shell out for that hat?
Posted in: Ready to roll
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TanakaTaro
There will be very few nil-nil games, especially with the new balls. I can't believe anyone would vote anything other than the Netherlands.
Posted in: Who will win Group E in the World Cup?
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TanakaTaro
South park is actually computer animated these days.
Couldn't agree more. Believe what you want by why just blindly follow everything written in an old book?
Posted in: Muslim group warns 'South Park' creators of death
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TanakaTaro
Urgh, I've noticed that too. How anyone could find looking like SpongeBob SquarePants attractive is beyond me. When your legs are straight they should touch, unless you have a case of rickets.
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TanakaTaro
Osaka has a lot more than the castle. Although the Tsutenkaku isn't worth going up the area it is in (shin-sekai) is well worth a visit.
The Dodonbori has the biggest neon signs I've seen in Japan. A lot of tourists come to Japan and expect lots of neon but this is the only area that I think lives up to expectations.
Mino is a great area for walking, especially in Spring and Autumn to see the waterfall and Katsuoji temple.
The sky building in Umeda gives great views of the city. On clear day you can see all the way to Akashi Kaikyo and Awaji shima right at the other end of Kobe. I've been to the Metropolitan building and Mori arts building but their sky decks just weren't as good.
Even if Osaka has the worst crime rate in Japan it is still very low compared to most other big cities in the world.
Posted in: Akihabara guide
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TanakaTaro
The kindle's grey and black screen is designed for reading. The iPad's glossy colour screen is good for seeing your own reflection and giving you eyestrain.
Posted in: IPad could be Kindle's first big threat in e-books