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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amerijap
Manufacturing consent=J-media's cover-up of J-government's embarrassment=restriction of access to foreign correspondents=justification for racial discrimination/police brutality against non-Japanese(and Japanese eventually)
The cycle of Order in J-land: "sacrifice but no guilt, no redemption."
Posted in: The case of Abubakar Awudu Suraj: A PR nightmare of Japan’s own making
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amerijap
Becky who? Wonder how she sings 'Ecky Brecky Heart'' -♪ ♪ ♪
Posted in: Becky wins Kodansha's 'Best Character Award'
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amerijap
"Government approves Y900 bil aid to TEPCO"
The title is misleading. This is a bail-out plan for disaster recovery--not for economic recovery of a corrupted company. There is every reason to suspect TEPCO's motives for inappropriate use of funds regarding that they have a history of repetitive failure to maintain the ethics of corporate governance.
Posted in: Government approves Y900 bil aid to TEPCO
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amerijap
Wonder when the J-media would ever stop making this sort of third-rate political satire. Never. Because that's their job, unfortunately. Just like US, UK, and many countries in the west, media is functioning as a political machine of manufacturing consent.
Regarding the issue, the problem is not politician's inability to understand the law against political donations. It is the law itself! Noda is not the first person who falls into the cracks due to the systematic deficiency within legal frameworks--ambiguous language on the classification of contributors ("foreign," "fund-raisers," "lobbyists," etc. ). Moreover, media framing of political scandal tweaks anti-foreign sentiment-- which is groundless and doesn't do justice to other means of contributions deemed illegal--i.e., corporations. Saying political donation is bad in a way to instigate people for the stigmatization of particular donators --foreign residents, and framing those who question the powers-that-be as a part of the problem-- and hence, subject to accusation of J-bashing--is simply, disingenuous.
Posted in: Noda apologizes for receiving donations from foreign nationals
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amerijap
Why do they need such a big chunk of manual to fill out the form? This is no less different than the registration scheme to weed out unwanted voters--i.e., black, Latino in lower class-- from the election. TEPCO is indeed a 'blackout' company. Their chief aim is centered to confuse and distract the public through partial information and an archaic documentation to find the loopholes for minimizing excessive financial debts from numerous compensations.
Posted in: TEPCO compensation hotline overwhelmed by 3,000 complaints per day
1
amerijap
No it's not. The issue was not included not because Japan or South Korea (or both) kept the treaty under the hat until 20 years ago, but because neither country was capable of addressing it at that time. It's a gender issue. Japan and Korea were male-dominated society at that time--and they are still holding a patriarchal ideology today.
The problem is that many critics--including this article-- tend to frame this historical dispute as a typical Japan v. Korea power struggle, rather than the tension between the state government and citizens over the needs that have been neglected for a long time. Both Japan and South Korea need to review the previous agreement and work on the issue.
Posted in: S Korea to propose sex slave talks with Japan
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amerijap
I can’t believe that shrine owner was totally unaware that he tarnished the arc of Yasukuni by ignoring Hiroito’s wish not to add the names of those war crime leaders to honor them under the Shinto. These war criminals were indeed trouble-makers not just for the Allied Powers, but for the Japanese government and the imperial family as well. They refused to budge an inch on Japan‘s surrender by chanting the emperor’s name for their wish of retaining power.
Noda may be right in calling for the reconsideration of these former sinners/criminals because 1) it was their sacrifice that Japan turned the page after WWII; and 2) it makes little sense to spell out the criminal verdict -- in present tense, repetitively-- to those who were already executed 66 years ago. Yet, he needs to be more careful in addressing this culturally sensitive issue in a way to separate his religious view from his position on Japan’s responsibility for war crime.
Posted in: Noda's election sparks wariness in China
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amerijap
Indeed this is looting. You should expect to see the bugs, termites, roaches, and rats sneaking upon the house while you're away.
Posted in: 2 men arrested for stealing from Fukushima exclusion zone
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amerijap
This is nothing more than an insult. There is an apparent mistake in currency (yes, it should be dollar, instead of yen). And it needs to add at least two more digits!!
Article Unavailable
1
amerijap
Japan's unemployment rate is not as bad as the US counterpart, if you solely focus on the statistics for each country. However, that does not necessarily lead us to the conclusion that Japan's job market is much better than the US, due to fundamental differences in the size of domestic labor force and job creation. It's quite hard to tell which one is ahead of the other. In the US, labor force is much bigger than in Japan, but it far exceeds the number of job availability to workers. That’s why their unemployment rate is relatively high (9.0+). In contrast, Japan has a decent ratio of job availability to workers, but its labor force is shrinking every year--due to aging and low birth rate. And there are lots of Japanese companies that are on the same boat with corporate America in terms of fiscal stability and labor condition. Many Japanese companies are having a hard time to make their ends meet since most of them rely on the exports to foreign market. Too bad a high yen rate does little to serve for domestic labor/job market.
I've been living in a small town in the South of US for 3 years. I pay $495/month for my apartment rent, plus $15-20/month for water bills, $45/month for electricity, $45-50/month for phone bills, and $112/month for the Suddenlink Cable TV. I see food prices soaring every year, and that forces me to spend at least $12-14 per day. But, come to think of it, that's what I usually pay for the meal I have at a cafe or restaurant in the downtown Tokyo. Some people will pay more than that.
I try not to think it too hard about the consumer price, but it really makes me hard to spend my life in Japan--especially in the center of Tokyo, where my parents have been living for many years.
Posted in: Japan's jobless rate climbs to 4.7% in July
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amerijap
@Patrick Smash
You're off the track by mentioning 'taxpayers’ money.' It's about the law regulating fund contributions to politicians--not about fund misappropriation. But, hey, there's a point. History of bribe scandals proves that the Political Funds Control Law has too many loopholes, and no one in the Diet is willing to hammer out a strong resolution on it.
Posted in: Maehara says he got Y590,000 from foreigners in 2005-2010
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amerijap
6th prime minister since 2006-- Does anyone know how many rooms are left in a revolving door to the PM office?
Posted in: Noda to become Japan's next prime minister
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amerijap
I think you mean "plutocracy" instead of democracy. And the Japanese law prohibits anyone--regardless of nationality or ethnicity--from passing the 'buck' to politicians.
Posted in: Maehara says he got Y590,000 from foreigners in 2005-2010
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amerijap
The title should be "Kan visits Fukushima to apologize over the failure to mobilize disaster and evacuation instructions to Fukushima residents."
Posted in: Kan visits Fukushima to apologize over no-go zones
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amerijap
Um, the fact of the matter is that the Japanese imperial government decided to strip them of Japanese citizenship after the war, while allowing them to stay indefinitely. It's the matter of political convenience. What makes the issue complicating is that many of those zainichi residents are getting into third generation or later--which means that they were born and raised in Japan, speak Japanese as first language, and educated in Japanese K-12 school (just like native born Japanese). Yet, they are still subjected to foreigner, and hence they need to go to a ward office to obtain ARC (Alien Registration Card) due to their family's background.
Posted in: Maehara says he got Y590,000 from foreigners in 2005-2010
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amerijap
Didn't they check her criminal records at the time of job interview?? This is so lame.
Posted in: Assistant nurse arrested for tearing off patient's nails in repeat offense
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amerijap
The grass is always greener on the other side of Uncle Kan’s Cabin.
The strawberries taken from the field are named KAN-cle berry. It was popular once before, but many people began to lose the interest in it, and eventually threw them away to the contaminated soil. Why? Is it because *KAN-cle berry *generally tastes sour, but people believed it would work well to reduce the cesium level?
Posted in: Kan says he plans to work toward making Japan less reliant on nuclear power
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amerijap
Banri-Ozawa tie makes my spine so chilling. It just reminds me of Ragan-Bush, Bush-Cheney, or McCain-Palin.
Posted in: Ozawa decides to back Kaieda for PM
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amerijap
OK. I'm confused what the heck is going on with the situation out there. This news apparently conflicts with the news we received on Thursday (See "Beef containing radioactive cesium served to elementary school children in Kanagawa"-- National Aug. 25, 2011 - 05:30PM JST) and the one we received a couple of hours later (See "Fukushima cesium leaks 'equal 168 Hiroshima bombs,' says report"—National Aug. 26, 2011 - 10:45AM JST).
This seems to be the matter of convenience. I wonder the persons in charge of government's critical decision fully comprehend what is really going on with radioactive contamination.
Posted in: Japan lifts ban on beef from Iwate, Fukushima and Tochigi
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amerijap
So, should we expect the release of his autobiography—“The Adventure of Uncle KAN-cle berry Finn”?
Posted in: Kan resigns; says he did all he could, given difficulties he faced