as_the_crow_flies's past comments

  • 8

    as_the_crow_flies

    As a qualified language teacher, ex-JET and Japan taxpayer, I have to agree with most posters here, that this is a dumb move which will produce more of the same - a bunch of well-meaning genki graduates, with a puffed up sense of their own importance having a few cocoon years out in the sticks, spouting their grassroots cultural exchange number as still mouthed by the same tired old amukudari coots who run the programme and the Min of Education, while the English education machine in Japan still bumbles along incompetently, repeating the same errors as it has done for the past 25-odd years, and producing the same abysmal results. A Waste of My Taxpaying Money. Scrap the programme, create a system to second, say a couple of thousand Japanese Teachers of English, who have a few year's teaching experience, to work overseas in state schools around the world. If possible, they can teach Japanese, and also work as teaching assistants in EAL (English as an Additional Language) classes, or if they speak another foreign language like Chinese, in those classes, to see how modern language teaching works. They can then bring back best practice from all those different countries, from Sweden or Spain (places where state EFL programmes are really producing results), to the UK, Ireland, the US, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, ... Also, they are likely to develop a real feeling for English through these experiences.

    As for the old grassroots cultural exchange chestnut that some JETs like to bang on about like old records, Probie has said it. That old song about people who've never met a furriner out in the sticks - chances are that several kids with Japanese names are from bicultural homes, but the parents have relabelled them to avoid bullying. So actually do the exchange at the grassroots level, **NOT **through JET. There are sure to be Chinese, Filipinos, Burmese, Koreans, Indians, Nepalese, Brazilians, whatever - **they **are the ones that exchange should be going on with - after all, it's most likely their children in schools who are being bullied and ostracised, and their cultures denigrated. I speak here from several years experience of seeing dozens of children who the official narrative considers the wrong colour getting hell in schools.

    Some JETs also spout the official line about increasing understanding between countries. To which I say, frankly, B#ll#x. Nothing to do with English teaching, and I don't to be honest care what people might feel about Japan at the end of their experience. That's their own private business, but it's simply irrelevant. If anyone wants to do a Japan experience, then by all means come over and get a job in an eikaiwa, but taxpayer's money here should not be thrown at you.

    As for the JET programme's official line whining that it's not about language teaching, while on the other hand the government is once again claiming that it's going to improve English speaking in Japan by "exposing" Japanese youth to furriners through JET just seems to grind on, without anyone pointing out the total logical disconnect.

    And kharashima, I agree that Japan is wasting the opportunity to make the most of Japanese like yourself who have a very high level of fluency in English. For what it's worth, I had a similar experience in the UK with Spanish. Despite it being my home language, teacher training colleges wouldn't accept me for Spanish teaching courses because I hadn't studied it at university. Like someone else suggested, maybe you should train as a regular teacher, rather than going the JET route. But at the same time, your point about not understanding different native speakers is a bit bizarre. Maybe you need to get around a bit more until you're able to cope with all the varieties of English around, from Glasgow to Goa.

    Posted in: Gov't plans to increase number of foreign English teachers to 10,000

  • -3

    as_the_crow_flies

    President Park's a bit late to warn about the shift to the right. Personally I think it's more of lurch than a shift. Don't think a lot of people here are really aware of how strong and far-reaching the move is.

    Posted in: S Korean leader warns Japan against shift to right

  • 3

    as_the_crow_flies

    Hundreds of thousands of homeowners across Japan, who have bought land and built a house at the top of a cliff are probably at this moment quaking in their socks. I live in Yokohama, and the way they stick houses at the very edge of ridges like the one in Shizuoka is just A Seriously Bad Idea. If you walk along any of the few which haven't been built over, you can see straight away that the soil is basically mush, and as @nandaka pointed out, many ridges are probably running above fault lines. A few houses are sure to topple over in some places following heavy rain/high winds/quakes/floods or a combination. There's a real need for planning controls to stop this kind of building on the brink.

    Posted in: Shizuoka tea field landslides may not be over, warn officials

  • 6

    as_the_crow_flies

    Why stop at the mother? Go after his brother, his girlfriend, his father, his grandmother, all his neighbours, his friends and everyone who works with him, all his friends on Facebook for that matter ... Oh and every health worker at every hospital he's ever visited. Yeah, great logic there! What a moronic law. Of course his employer has a responsibility to check he's fit to operate any kind of heavy machinery. But he's an adult, FFS! That makes him legally responsible for his actions. And the man himself should be heavily penalised, because his actions have caused really terrible consequences for so many people. But anyone else? Gimme a break.

    Posted in: Mother, employer of epileptic crane driver ordered to pay compensation over fatal accident

  • -1

    as_the_crow_flies

    65 member task force? Umm, do I smell a whiff of amukudari here? Maybe they should kick off with a working group to decide whether to talk about setting up the task force to prepare for the talks on whether to join the talks on entry to the TPP. That would create work for more old codgers.

    Posted in: Abe launches TPP task force

  • -3

    as_the_crow_flies

    Agreed, very 1950's. Maybe that's why they sell so well in Japan.

    As others have said, if they're dangerous to health, why not ban them?

    Posted in: Fabric fresheners potentially harmful to health, warns consumer center

  • 0

    as_the_crow_flies

    There are already loads of people (mostly women) qualified as care assistants who refuse to do it because it's a demanding job and the pay is crap. The suggestions of reducing minimum wage taxes, increasing pay and improving the working hours so people can easily do it part-time are the way to go.

    Posted in: We need to increase the number of care workers by a million...by 2025, for which we have to consider strategies.

  • 2

    as_the_crow_flies

    My verdict, after using it daily to transfer from Toyoko to Yamanote for three years is, it's a godawful mess! They put in this supposedly amazing connection, (like everyone in Kanagawa has soo been gagging to have a direct ride to deepest Saitama), but they overlooked the minor detailette of how to change trains. Just went through it today and found the Shonan-shinjuku to Yamanote line transfer equally messy. and that's all within JR land. Designed by the village idiot indeed. I think I'm going to reroute my commute to avoid Shibuya altogether, even if it costs me more. I mean, didn't anybody even stop to think about how they would make the transfers worse? And who cares if it's more "popular" or not, FFS? We just want the frickin station to work as a station! Apparently, if we can hang on for four more years, it's all going to be sorted. What kind of A$$ backwards planning is that?

    Posted in: Shibuya's new underground station garners negative reviews

  • 2

    as_the_crow_flies

    I had an iphone for a while and was paying around 7000 a month for it, including the service and the actual phone. I've downsized back to a common and garden clamshell phone for email and calls, and it sets me back around 2000. Does the job, costs very little. Can't understand the poster who said a basic phone costs them more than a smartphone. If someone can tell me which provider will rent me a smartphone for 2000 a month I'd love to know about it!

    Posted in: Japan’s 'Galapagos phones' strive to survive in a smartphone world

  • 0

    as_the_crow_flies

    "The old Kabukiza building was demolished in 2010 due to worries over its ability to withstand earthquakes." (sic) Truth: "The old Kabukiza building was demoloshed to make way for a 195 meter skyscraper.".

    The previous story they used to justify it was that the toilets were outdated. As you say realist, it's all about money.

    Posted in: Renewed kabuki theater lights up

  • 0

    as_the_crow_flies

    Or: maybe we should measure internationalisation against Japan's medical culture.

    With such muddled brains, no wonder the place is heading up the creek without a paddle. And who thinks about internationalisation in Japan these days? Didn't it go out with the Bubble?

    Posted in: To make the accreditation system work, ministries, medical officials and the whole of society need to better understand how such internationalization should reflect Japan's medical service systems and culture.

  • 0

    as_the_crow_flies

    >

    I really do not know and I doubt anyone else does either.

    Pork and ultranationalism are about all Abe and the LDP can offer.

    Well said!

    And all I have to add in response to this piece is: Oink Oink.

    Posted in: Shunning Japan gets riskier

  • 3

    as_the_crow_flies

    Is Japan set to lead after 20 years of torpor?

    No.

    Posted in: Is Japan set to lead after 20 years of torpor?

  • 0

    as_the_crow_flies

    @donkusai

    everyone has a bad day sometimes

    That really cracked me up. So every time "someone has a bad day", a few dozen people will die, but well, the benefits to the community outweigh that, to be sure.

    Anyway the solution is at hand (@edbardoe) All you need to do is arm the teachers, and they can quickly take out a student who's having a bad day, before he/she gives his classmates a bad day. Simple, and a true, patriotic, American solution!

    Posted in: NRA calls for armed police officer in every school

  • 1

    as_the_crow_flies

    “The Marugoku Series was not something subcontracted from an outside company but originated as our own in-house brand,” an official at the Bureau of Corrections told the magazine. “This has helped to raise the prisoners’ morale, and has done a good job of boosting the prison labor force.”

    By generating “hit” products, the prisoners can take pride in their work, and in themselves, and hopefully avoid recidivism.

    So what do the prisoners themselves say about their morale? As far as I understand, this is forced labour, aword which this article conveniently sidesteps. And anyway, what is

    "boosting the prison labour force"?

    I agree that if there is to be forced labour, the best way would be to work on things of social benefit. Low cost geiger counters or dosometers? Tyvek suits? Stuff the cleanup workers need at Fukushima Daichi, perhaps?

    Posted in: Prison-made goods struggle to find consumer niche

  • 0

    as_the_crow_flies

    Tohoku Electric engineering and construction chief Akira Chigama said his company stands by its view that the faults are inactive. He said the operator’s data have been accepted in past government inspections under the NRA’s predecessor.

    You could rephrase this as: Whassamatter? Don't you like the colour of my envelopes?

    Posted in: Panel contradicts Tohoku Electric on whether faultine is active

  • 2

    as_the_crow_flies

    Yes, we have issues with the neighbours, so let's do something really constructive - bully some teachers we don't like. We have a complex about our Dad's roots, so let's browbeat public servants into telling us whether they have tattoos. We have elections to win, so let's flip flop on minor details like nuclear policy to try and mop up as many votes as possible. Let's call it change.

    Posted in: The case for Toru Hashimoto

  • 0

    as_the_crow_flies

    It would be great to have a follow-up article to this, JT. Maybe one that analyses in more depth the possibility of addressing the manpower shortage, or on the possibility of farming more efficiently, while maintaining the craft aspect that the article touches on, or, the agricultural sector and the TPP.

    Posted in: Despairing correctly about Japanese agriculture

  • 3

    as_the_crow_flies

    Thanks for a great, informative, analytic article. Very rare on this site. It explained so many points I've often wondered about, specially the role of JA. I was particularly interested as yesterday I watched an NHK video about refugees in Fukushima - http://enenews.com/nhk-fukushima-documentary-like-being-jail-like-wrong-locked-video and in this was the case of a young, entrepreneurial dairy farmer from Iitate who has lost everything and is clearly suffering from depression. Also his mother, who has grown vegetables on a small plot in the village, starting from zero after settling the plot at the end of the war. The farmer has been pushed into limbo as his land is too contaminated to farm, while the mother has kept sane since family members rented her a new vegetable plot near her temporary housing, where she spends all her days tending the vegetables, which she then apparently gives away to other refugees in temporary housing. It's clear that the young farmer, who should be the future of agriculture in Japan, and probably a rarity as he's in his thirties, can only visit Hello Work every day and spend the rest of the time sitting around getting depressed. He can't get even a job of any kind in his area. My first thought was that there are so many places in Japan where they're crying out for people to farm, and that it's criminal that this guy's skills have been thrown on the scrapheap. The article has answered that - it seems some farmers would rather noone farm the land if it's not themselves or their own family. Surely JA could work as an intermediary to match this farmer with places elsewhere in Japan that are crying out for help? Perhaps if he went to work as a dekasegui for a few months elsewhere, he would manage to overcome his sense of hopelessness and envision a future for him beyond Fukushima.

    The strangehold of old, vested interests on agriculture in Japan are clearly going to choke it to death, if the aftermath of Fukushima is anything to go by - try to foist dodgy produce on the consumer, and guilt-trip them into eating it "to support the farmers", not taking an active and transparent role in checking and guaranteeing the safety of all produce on the market, and clearly, unable to think of new ways to support farmers in the most contaminated areas like Iitate to make a fresh start. The sight of the agricultural lobby in rising sun headbands at a mass anti-TPP rally earlier this year, just bears this out. All they can do is react, not act.

    Posted in: Despairing correctly about Japanese agriculture

  • 4

    as_the_crow_flies

    Commuters can be uncaring soulless wretches while commuting. They walk through the ticket gates at the station and transform from humans to commuters and then back again at the end.

    Well I'm not sure about whether they become human at the gates or not, but the first part is definitely true. I had a neck hernia and had to wear a neck collar for a few weeks in the rush hour. In all that time, one nice older lady offered her my seat, and a junior high school student in a priority seat silently sweated for several stops till her eyes crossed mine and the person to person shame overtook the internal shame of "if I offer her my seat, everyone will look at me" and she gave me her seat. I was in pain, but I swear she suffered more.

    About the idea of going back a few stops to get on the train at a place where there are still free seats, this is actually forbidden! It's one of those pieces of Japanese non-logic that you can beat your head against the wall and still not understand. You may think that your fare should depend on the distance between the place you get on and get off, but to these train companies, if you "trespass" outside the route, you should pay a higher fare. From the same companies that refuse to do the logical step of offering a cheap unlimited all-day ticket valid across different lines for big cities like Tokyo or Yokohama.

    As far as improved design goes, it seems the resolute Galapagosness of Japan means they refuse to incorporate half of the things that would make standing in overcrowded trains more comfortable and less dangerous in an emergency stop, like eliminating sharp angles and sticking out bits, and incorporating "bum shelves" on bits of wall people can lean against. Oh and while they're at it, I wish the designers are at it, I wish they'd ride in one of their trains at rush hour, and they'd find that the height of the hanging straps is all wrong, and often the low hanging ones hit me in the face. Or I can't use them because if I do, my crooked elbow will jook someone in the eye.

    Back on topic, I think the bench seats are designed to squash in a larger number of people than most transport systems cater for. I don't remember sitting anywhere else and finding my shoulders have to curve forward because I'm so squashed against my neighbours. Having Tube-style armrests would reduce the number of seats, and they've got people trained to suffer being more compacted.

    Posted in: 8 tips for getting a seat on Japan’s crowded trains

View all