JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION
-
- Translator
- ZAIHON, Inc. (日本財務翻訳株式会社), Tokyo
- Salary: ¥6.0M / Year Negotiable
-
- Full-time English Teacher - Osaka
- Epion English Language Schools, Osaka
- Salary: ¥200,000 ~ ¥250,000 / Month Depending on your ability and experience
-
- Part-time English Teacher - Osaka
- Epion English Language Schools, Osaka
- Salary: ¥10,000 ~ ¥15,000 / Day Depending on how many days a week are worked
0
as_the_crow_flies
Different strokes for different folks, eh? I'm sure hikikomori/and/or/otaku will go for it. Its main appeal is to avoid the tiresome/frightening/sheer nastiness of having to communicate with a furriner in order to speak a foreign language. I think some Korean firm introduced something similar in young learner classrooms, where some robot waddles round the room with an Aryan girlie face on the screen, while back in the Philippines, a qualified and horribly underpaid Filipina teacher does the voice.
I think the same principles apply as with the 'Bot, i.e. where do you go when you can't undercut the eikawa pay rate any further, except offshore it, or go robot?, as well as taking the unpleasant foreign interface out of the equation.
Posted in: Chatbots teach English conversation
1
as_the_crow_flies
Yeah right. I found the way TEPCO tried to run away from Fukushima Daichi and leave it melting down (until, apparently, turned back by Kan) soooo dignified.
Read: we're going to pay the victims peanuts. Meantime TEPCO will up electricity prices and come whining to the government to pay all their side of the deal.
Posted in: Noda says Japan will restart nuclear reactors, but review energy policy
0
as_the_crow_flies
Mm, I thought that was the situation under international law, but maybe this is one of those cases where Japan joins an international treaty on condition that it can ignore or change any clauses that it takes objection to. Considering in this case the N Koreans probably fancy their chances more in S Korea, and that S Korea is probably willing to take them in, that will mesh nicely with Japan's wish to get rid of them, pronto.
And yes, some countries welcome them, Japan rejects most of the tiny number who are desperate enough to try their chances here. It prefers to refuse them asylum but allow them to stay as a special case, in order to wriggle out of its treaty obligations to "bona fide" asylum seekers.
Posted in: Nine N Korean boat people reach Japan
1
as_the_crow_flies
Yea, in a perfect world. But down here on earth, regular, clean, consistent service, (with added toilets and running water) is better than nothing. I agree that a lot people can't afford to shop there, and I hadn't been in one for months except to take out money, until I went up to Ishinomaki, but having something normal like a conbini just helps to bring ghost neighbourhoods back to life.
Probably not a problem in Minamisanriku. You can see clear for three minutes walk in any direction from the only conbini, and anything still left standing is a landmark. A gutted landmark. Also, if they're giving employment to local people, that's got to be good.
Posted in: FamilyMart unveils mobile convenience store
0
as_the_crow_flies
It's tragic. You go there and see the scale of the destruction, hard to know where to even start. My heart goes out to everyone struggling to get back on their feet with so little government help, and my respect to all the amazing people I met up there.
Talk about failing future generations.
Posted in: We're giving priority to the construction of temporary housing units rather than schools.
3
as_the_crow_flies
What a lot of interesting experiences! And it just shows that it's a mistake to generalise. I think the role of the parents is key to how successfully children handle the education system they find themselves in, and everyone's comments show this. Personally I thought the article was a load of tosh, with a load of blanket statements and a complete misunderstanding of the place of international schools in international education. Not one mention of the IB! How can you discuss students' options without this?
Sure this is Japan and we all know change is at a snails pace here, but I truly think higher education here has its back to the wall because of the ageing population and falling school rolls, so they're going to have to change fast or go belly up. Unfortunately, I think the mindset and the post-university Japanese job market awaiting graduates is the real nightmare scenario.
Posted in: Salarymen families assess pros and cons of international schooling
0
as_the_crow_flies
Sick of Noda? Hes only been in for about 2 weeks!!!
Blue Witch - I think the clinical name is for this problem is attention deficit hyperactive disorder. This might explain the opposition and the media's inability to submit to a more normal political time-frame. Two weeks is putting their attention span under severe stress.
Posted in: Industry minister resigns after 8 days over 'town of death' comment
1
as_the_crow_flies
Read "particularly outrageous because particularly true." And who are those who saw it as so outrageous?
Though his comment about being infected with radiation sounds totally ignorant for a minister and he deserves to get mud slung at him for that. But resign? Grow a pair and tell the opposition to go jump in a Fukushima sludge tank.
Posted in: Industry minister resigns after 8 days over 'town of death' comment
0
as_the_crow_flies
Who's spreading harmful rumours now! I hope the internet truth corps they've hired to counteract harmful rumours will take down any reference to price increases across the net.
Posted in: Gemba expresses reservations over rumored electricity price hike
0
as_the_crow_flies
Personally I don't know much about Renho and her politics, and I couldn't give a toss about her choice of jackets or hairstyle, but I agree totally with her question. Glad someone was just down to earth enough to point out the obvious. Except I must have got mixed up somewhere because I could have sworn Japan was now supposed to be number 3.
Anyway, why indeed sink billions into a mine's bigger than yours project? Wearers of darker, sweatier, less distinctive or stylish jackets might blench at the impertinence of this question. Perhaps they don't know some of Japan's other rankings in the world. I don't know much about baseball or football, but I think on academic standards in maths and science tests Yamato is something like tenth or fifteenth, livable cities, don't think there are many in the top twenty; university rankings? ... well down the list, not sure where exactly, and on women's rights it's somewhere between Sudan and Myanmar or somewhere at about the 100 out of 140 mark. Please correct me if I'm wrong, I don't have the exact figures with me right now. But heck, even on suicides, it's only something like fifth or sixth highest in the world. So boys PLEASE be dissatisfied! Let's get up to first on all fronts!!!!
Posted in: Dissatisfaction will pave way for Japan's future
2
as_the_crow_flies
Excellent and comprehensive article, thanks for the useful links, and enough information from each group to know about their approach and learn from their experience. I hope all of us go or keeping going up or volunteering in every way we can, because the government (the central government and sadly some local governments) are badly failing people. It's a massive disgrace that the Japan Red Cross has received so much, and that so little has been handed out to victims and survivors yet, even more that local governments are now trying to strong arm access to funds which were donated because people thought it would go direct to the victims themselves. Paternalistic or corrupt government is rearing its head.
The only severly dysfunctional thing I see is the stubborn insistence on everyone having to have the same or noone gets anything. Okay, in normal times, fine. But when distribution networks are totally shot and things are donated so by definition there won't be total uniformity, refusing things because it's not the right number is just bonkers. Some value systems work in some situations, but this is a blaring example where a custom needs to be tossed, and pussyfooting around it is really not helping a lot. It might have worked in a very small, pre-industrial community, but Hello! Things have moved on. Time to adjust! There's a serious need for some straight talkers in the NGO's to face this issue head-on and stop pandering to some supposedly culturally unique ways of doing things. It's like when no-one can go home until the boss packs up, or when a school tells a foreign parent to tell their child to bring Japanese food to school in their bento because it's got to be the same as all the other childrens'. This would be "third world" food that teachers have judged upsetting to "the rest of the students' " sensibilities.
Posted in: NPOs on the ground in Tohoku - 6 months after March 11
4
as_the_crow_flies
I've never been a big fan of conbinis, but they are a lifeline in destroyed communities. In one area of Ishinomaki I saw, the only shops for a huge distance are a Family Mart and a Seven Eleven. They give people with limited local transport, power and water a local, reliable supply of things they need, and no the prices were just the same as anywhere else. The only quibble - they ought also to donate chemical toilets and portable washbasins, and have one on every site where they are allowed to stop. That's a really important service conbinis need to offer in the worst hit places. If they'd finance that, they'd really have my respect. The queue at the seven eleven toilets was huge!!! And those washlets were a big hit! A lot of money don't have money, so conbinis can be costly for them, but people who are working use them a lot. In Ishinomaki, everyone in the area was dressed in overalls, I didn't see more than one suit in a whole week.
Posted in: FamilyMart unveils mobile convenience store
1
as_the_crow_flies
Why are these so-called prosecutors not in the dock? How can they have the monopoly over evidence that would indicate someone is not guilty of a crime, and not be guilty of perverting the course of justice? This is so beyond me! Personally, the character and habits of the murdered woman, and of the accused man are neither here nor there. Would I want to be close buddies with either of them? No, but the accused deserves a fair trial, and the dead victim, and those close to her, as well as "the public" deserve a trial that brings out the truth, not distorts and hides it. That's justice.
Posted in: 1997 murder case retrial involving Nepali requested after new evidence found
0
as_the_crow_flies
Shouldn't that read "Police urge the public to stand up to yakuza threats and extortion to get kickbacks from organizers of local festivals" (but give them no backup if the local gang get upset about this?) Seems the idea of making submitting to extortion a crime is okay in principal, but puts business owners, or this case festival organisers, between a rock and a hard place. As long as they stick to indirect threats and insinuation to intimidate, most people will cave in and pay out of fear of the consequences of saying no. I'm sure the yakuza are canny enough at this to get people one to one and then twist their arms, or pleasantly suggest what they would like, and let the badge do the rest.
Posted in: Police urge citizens to decline offers of help from yakuza at festivals
0
as_the_crow_flies
This is totally a## backwards. If you:re going to have ads on TV at a time like the disasters, I can't think of a more appropriate one. One of Bach's great, uplifting pieces, and a beautiful idea, a beautiful piece of filming. Instead we got those awful irritating AC ads for nothing in particular, and some bloke who had a stroke telling us some enigmatic message in a language 99.9999% of viewers wouldn't understand. And now we're back to cr#p so awful people are turning off in droves all over Japan, spurred on no doubt by all that's happened over the last few months and making the most of the switch to digital to kick the habit and do something better with their lives.
I also don't understand why they didn't start using this ad again after a couple of months. It must have cost a fortune to make, and surely the message, whatever the ad people may think the message actually is, must still be relevant. No?
Posted in: DoCoMo ad aired once only but impressed many
1
as_the_crow_flies
I'm a big fan of this festival. Some great films, and a huge variety. Just curious about that Yokohama Bulk, though. Is there seriously a cinema called Bulk? Weird!
Posted in: Tokyo, Yokohama to host Latin Beat Film Festival
1
as_the_crow_flies
You can understand the significance of the gesture of people in Rikuzen takata, including their wish to reduce the environmental impact of debris disposal, and what the pine trees meant to them, but someone in the local government needed to think with their heads not their hearts before setting themselves up for this situation. Haven't they heard of nemawashi? Sound people in Kyoto out before everybody in Rikuzentakata got the idea that the wood was going to Kytoto, get expert advice, do all the groundwork first. And have a backup plan!
And anyway, I know this is Japan, but since when was accepting a gift an obligation? Sure, they can think about it, but if there's any doubt say sorry, but no thanks, and express their solidarity for people in the area some other way. Preferably a practical way, but that's up to the people of Kyoto to decide themselves. Public health is supposed to bow out to irrational feelings of hurt on the supposed "refusal" of a gift? When there's a public health risk on the scale of this nuclear crisis, public officials have a DUTY to act on the basis of protecting public health. Enough of the emotional blackmail! I often bash Japanese bureaucrats for their caution, because it seems based on avoiding risk at all costs, but this is one case where they're absolutely right.
The howls against Kyoto are totally misdirected - people should point it at TEPCO who have created this situation in the first place, rather than setting one town against another.
Posted in: Kyoto rejects ceremonial bonfire wood from Iwate over radiation fears
7
as_the_crow_flies
Basically, there is a lawsuit, because overstaying your visa is not at this time a capital offence. You're contradicting yourself saying in one breath that he didn't deserve to die and in the next it was his own fault. Detainees do not lose all their human rights, including the right to life. They have a right to a legal process and any punishment should be carried out following this process. There is also a widely accepted concept called separation of powers. An extrajudicial killing (outside the process of the law) is should be subject to a criminal investigation. Because there apparently hasn't been, the family are bringing a lawsuit. Not to uphold the law in these cases is opening the door to arbitrary and indiscriminate abuse of power, because a culture of impunity brings further abuse - those who abuse know that they can get away with it. It's worth remembering why respecting the spirit and the letter of the law is important. If you look the other way while others are suffering abuse, then perhaps one day when you are minding your own business taking the train home, you will be arbitrarily detained and possibly accused of something you didn't do, and perhaps noone will stand up for you either.
Posted in: Family files suit over death of Ghanian who died during forced deportation
0
as_the_crow_flies
Did anyone investigate whether it would be easier to just stop using futons on the floor and put patients in hospital beds?
This is another of those 'only in Japan' issues. When it is glaringly obvious that a particular custom is counterproductive, it's time for it to go. Great, if you can get up under your own steam, sleep on a futon. I can understand why you might want to continue to do that if you've done so for the past 70 or 80 years. But once you need lifting into a wheelchair, sorry, but it's time to use a bed, for the health and safety of the caregivers and care assistants who are looking after you. A quick look at healthcare staff in a hospital will show you why hospital beds are the height they are. How much more is this a no-brainer in a situation where everyone in a care home needs this doing dozens of times a day. But why they need a robot, rather than a mechanical lifting machine is beyond me. anyway, they'll spend millions developing a robot with a stupid expression, but a bed is too much of a technological development over the futon, apparently. Madness! It's like the way they get kids to polish floors in schools sometimes, instead of using an electrical polisher.
And I agree with other posters, it's just an attempt to sidestep the issue of decent working conditions for healthcare staff, and recruiting more foreign labour to do the job. Of course lifting equipment can be an important part of any care home, allowing the staff to do their job without an unecessary risk of permanent injury every day.
Posted in: New robot promises brighter future for Japan's elderly
4
as_the_crow_flies
Agreed, Spidapig. They are two sides of the same coin. First - limit timely information. What were the estimated radiation total releases into the air in the first week of the crisis? The second? The third? What was the composition of those releases (which isotopes and how much of each?) Curiously, SPEEDI readings were not available for key times and dates. Same for the sea. Same for the ground water. Same for tapwater. Same for beef, milk, eggs, each kind of food, veg ... Where has the government clearly presented this data in an easy to understand source, regularly updated, covering all prefectures? It's not. It's been deliberately delayed, presented with multple units and measurements, irrelevant comparisons made (e.g internal radiation from ingested food compared with dental x-rays). And where are the independent international bodies to monitor and release the information? Are they being allowed access to the relevant places e.g. within 20 or 30 km of the plant on land, sea or in the air? Hmm ...
In this way the government hopes to delay and muddy any discussion with confusion, incomplete information, and reduce anyone who criticises to the status of rumour-monger. If you have a monopoly on the truth, then anyone who argues anything different is a rumour monger.
The other side of this coin is therefore managing people's perceptions by trying to discredit anyone who doesn't spout the official, "no long term risk to health" line. Many Japanese scientists, including former nuclear engineers who've spoken out against TEPCO's appalling practices in the past, have been subject to exactly this kind of discrediting for years. This move to scour Twitter and blogs is just an extension of that. It's just a lot bigger and a lot messier now, just like the radiation spewing steadily into the environment, so TEPCO's in full damage control mode. To TEPCO, their public image has higher priority than public health, so they wish to present the issue as one of fears and rumours, rather than address it as a public health and environmental health issue.
Posted in: Gov't denies online, Twitter censorship over nuclear crisis