JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION
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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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- FT English Teachers for Kids - Osaka
- Kohgakusha Co., Ltd. （株式会社興学社）, Osaka
- Salary: ¥255,000 ~ ¥275,000 / Month Travel Expenses, Encouragement of Japanese learning*
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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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barfly08
Japanese children just love Halloween ! And how about the Halloween parades in Tokyo last week that garnered up more than 3,000 costumed participants ? This has to be one of the largest Halloween parades in the world I do believe !
Posted in: Tokyo police, rail authorities hope to scare Halloween pranksters
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barfly08
Um Sarge, She's 17 ! Is that even considered an adult by Japan's fluctuating morals ?
Posted in: Toray swimsuit girl
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barfly08
To sum up:
Ichiro: Fails to lead the Mariners out of the cellar and misses out on another world series.
Dice K: as an awful season where all he really does is ride the coattails of his fellow teammates.
Iwamura: Makes it to the big series and falls apart under the pressure.
Taguchi: Rides the pines and watches his teammates secure another world series for him. As any real athlete will tell you... disappointing !
In short, all is right with the world.
Posted in: Phillies finish off Rays to win World Series
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barfly08
Finally a story that tells it like it is ! Most recent OECD rankings places Japan at a solid #4 in terms of poverty levels by member nations (the worlds wealthiest 30). I tend to believe that the Japan is actually closer to #1 as the data focuses on "households" and not "adults". The number of people over 18, working, and still living at home is much higher here in Japan than any other country in the world. As this article states, the Japanese can't afford to leave home, can't get married, can't afford kids, and are slowly but surely destroying their nation from the inside out.
Posted in: Japan's burgeoning class: Working poor
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barfly08
So where are the final series stats for Iwamura ??? JT, lets be fair. When the guy plays well you boldly plaster his name all over the headlines. But when he stinks up the joint, not one freekin mention ! Losin some respect from the fly. In any case, anyone know how Iwamura finally faired ?
Posted in: Phillies finish off Rays to win World Series
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barfly08
"Wow, nice one Sony. Blame it all on the strong yen wink wink"
Hey at least they didn't do what the rest of Japan is doing, blame it on "sub-prime" loans ! What's odd though is that SONY has offshored so many of its factories to other parts of Asia, that they would even consider reaching for the yen/dollar exchange rate card... how stupid !
Posted in: Sony profit plunges 72% on strong yen
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barfly08
Whats all this chatter about Toyota at number 1. Toyota never got close to number one as only a Japanese firm. It has taken the efforts of "Toyota USA" to push the company to the top... lets not forget that !
Posted in: GM's global sales drop 11%; trails Toyota
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barfly08
Betcha the vast majority of foreigners living in Tochigi can honsetly say this has never happened to them in their home country before ! 2 cars, one poor slob ! Speaks volumes about the unsafe driving conditions in rural Japan. Narrow roads, high speeds, negligent drivers ! A hit and run, wonder how the local J police will doctor this story... file it under "accident" ?
Posted in: Woman runs over man who was apparently victim of earlier hit-and-run
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barfly08
"The strong yen is good only for travelers going overseas."
Wrong ! It should be a boom time for any J entrepenuer that has the no-how to market quality American products. From GE to Proctor and Gamble, the shelves here should be flooded with stuff we Americans have grown to know and love !
Posted in: Foreign laborers hit hard by downturn in Japanese economy
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barfly08
Bikini contests for 17 year old high school girls ??? A new low for Japan, the undisputed king of kiddie porn, enjo kosai, and male chauvenist attitudes... The editors of Japantoday should be ashamed of this large scale photo and photo !
Posted in: Toray swimsuit girl
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barfly08
"Major Japanese retailers Aeon Co and Ito-Yokado Co will offer additional discounts to pass on benefits from the yen’s advance to consumers."
Really ? Just what American products do these supermarkets sell ? This is gonna be one skimpy discount promo ! Lemme see, Campbells soup, Skippy peanut butter, and... er, um, ahem ???
Posted in: Aeon, Ito-Yokado to offer additional discounts
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barfly08
More huh ?
"To say that these small companies would prefer to hire a 3,000 yen/hr Japanese over a 1,500 yen/hr foreigners is ridiculous beyond hope. Your example is just the opposite. What they are doing is hiring foreigners over Japanese because of the lower wages (Yoshinoya). You're all over the place."
Seems to me that Boobugs point is that thousands of corporate bankruptcies and a falling nursing supply are both examples of how Japan refuses to hire cheaper foreign labor, to the point of economic and industrial suicide... I'd have to agree ! It seems that only recently Japan has made efforts to hire foreigners directly. I say dump all dispatch agencies and let the Japanese learn more about open and free competition in the job market, trust me taking out the middle man will be a boom for everyone, except the dispatch agency of course.
Posted in: Foreign laborers hit hard by downturn in Japanese economy
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barfly08
Nigelboy, Huh ?
"The demand for Hakken/Day Jobs are result of companies cutting down personnel costs for jobs that require no certification/qualifications and little educational background."
Surely you jest ! The largest form of dispatched worker in Japan are language teachers... who must have university degrees !
Posted in: Foreign laborers hit hard by downturn in Japanese economy
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barfly08
Cabdriver:
"it looks like Obama will be Prez & we'll be talkin' to Cuba in the first time in what 40 years?"
No chance ! There is a reason "every" president since Kennedy has refused to talk to Cuba. Gee, wonder what the reason might be ?
Posted in: Japan auto output down on weak U.S. demand
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barfly08
Otaru, if I may,
"The US just happens to be the largest market for autos"
Sorry. The US auto market has been saturated for years. I feel boobugs pain. Back around 2001 Japan was consistently advised not to depend so much on the US consumer for it's economic engine. Japan ignored the advice, as did dozens of other nations including Korea, China, Mexico etc. In the meantime American factories were being offshored overseas and Americans were losing their jobs. To make matters worse many nations, especially Japan, refused market access to American business. It's common knowledge that Japan's international competitive level has plummeted over the past 10 years. The US has regained and remained #1 for quit a while now. The evidence is clear, US business is competitive, American markets are open, but foreign countries have continued to raise barriers to protect theirs. Like Japan and that phony beef ban. I basically have no sympathy for those nations out there that are getting hammered by the economic crisis. The solution is simple, open your markets, buy American, and get the US back out shopping. Japan has floundered with its domestic markets, even now with the yen at 90 to the dollar, I doubt Japan will do the necessary thing. They seem paralyzed by a lack of political leadership. I see gruesome times ahead for Japan, the sun has all but set !
Posted in: Japan auto output down on weak U.S. demand
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barfly08
Boy what a bust Matsuzaka turned out to be ! His pay package included a variety of incentives and bonuses, yet as far as I can tell, he was a wash in all of them ! Failed to win 20 games ! No complete games ! Barely lasted 5 innings in most cases ! Once again tired as the season moved ahead ! No All-Star appearance ! But worst of all, he let his team down in his last pitching appearance... getting bombed and then bailed out by the bullpen when they needed the rest for any possible further games. Some of you may argue that he had an excellent won loss record. True... but that was because of excellent run support and solid defense by his teammates. However when it came crunch time, Matsuzaka folded his tent like a boy scout ! No surprise if Matsuzaka becomes trade bait during the off season. I see no reason to keep him around.
Posted in: Rays beat Boston to advance to World Series
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barfly08
"Nothing surprising knowing the health of Japanese Economy, but now some comapnies have plus point for declaring bankruptcy by blaming everything on U.S.- "origin" of financial crisis."
Japan has no one to blame but themselves. All the data indicated that exports from Japan were doing fine, it was domestic spending that has been hurting the economy for a good 5-6 years now. Japan could have done itself a huge favor by importing many more goods from the US, thus addressing two issues, domestic spending and keeping American factories running with lots of job orders. Japan didn't do that ! And neither did much of the world ! So as Americans started losing jobs, or they moved overseas, the rest of the world payed no attention. Well we got yer attention now ! My suggestion, buy American ! Get them back to work... and just watch as they start buying "your" products again ! You want to blame someone, I blame all those countries that took American jobs, protected their own markets, and shamelessly bad mouthed the American worker and citizen over their life style choices. Japanese companies going bust ? So what ! You were warned ! Open your markets to US goods and reap the benefits. But nooo, Japan chose to bad mouth its most important trading partner and close its markets to US goods. This wave of economic devastation is not over ! Japan is looking down the barrel of a cannon right now ! Exports are in serious danger of going flat. Add the lack of domestic spending, increase in fuel prices... I see a deadly winter ahead ! Time to get out !
Posted in: Mid-sized insurer Yamato Life goes bust, affecting 1,000 employees
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barfly08
"Myth 4: Contract employment means lower salary:
Yes. In comparing my salary to that of non-contract faculty I am paid between 30 and 40 percent less. Again, my boss admits that biggest benefit for the university of hiring me on contract is saving money."
Really ? Companies using dispatch agencies have to pay for the services of the dispatching company as well as your salary. The mark-up is usually double and includes a variety of fees for transportation, equipment, or even special material. I for one have seen some of the contracts handed over to companys wishing to use a dispatched worker, trust me, hiring the person direct would be much cheaper ! But as you said before, by doing this many of Japans largest companies would have to do something they don't want to, hire a foreigner. And that is the truth of the matter. Major companies in Japan would still rather pay more for just the ability to get rid of any foreign worker they deem to have "worn out his/her welcome". It happens all the time and I see it everyday. Mcuh like those thousands of Japanese inns that don't want foreigners, neither does Japan's business industry. To that I say fine ! With the understanding that all nations around the world will stop doing business with such a backwards nation. Time to seriously consider boycottingb Jaspanese goods till they deal with the nations rampant racist attitudes. Haken kaishas do nothing more than encourage this shameful behaviour. I say shut em down and go to direct contracts !
Posted in: Top 5 contract employment myths
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barfly08
"And no, the U.S. will not survive. It is crumbling."
Suuure it is ! Wishful thinking on your part perhaps ? Might I suggest you stop worrying about the demise of the USA and learn to take advantage of these "once in a lifetime" opportunities. I for one made two simple investments and turned 20k into 400k in less than 3 years. Just look at ol Warren Buffet ! Snatching up GE stock like there was no tomorrow. There are winners and there are losers in the world chouwa, lemme guess which one you are ? Ha-ha !
Posted in: Skylark to close 200 restaurants
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barfly08
"Cleo, than you need to look toward your own government and figure out why you feel they're not lookin' after your best interests.Don't fawn this off on the US when the problem lies in your own backyard."
USARonin, I totally agree. Too many nations out there were more than eager to jump on the "sell it to the Americans" band wagon for dozens of years ! They shut down their markets to US products and sold-sold-sold to the US. Then they turned around to double dip by investing in the Americans banks and stock markets. Well, when American factories started to shut down and move overseas, not much squakin there. But then oil pricesd went through the roof and factories really started to close down. All those home mortgage payments went bust and viola ! A world-wide credit crunch with everyone pointing the finger at Uncle Sam. Listen up worlds, do yerself some good... buy American ! Get them US factories up and runnin ! Put more money back in the pocket of "your" consumers and watch the benefits come back to you.
Posted in: Dow plunges after Congress rejects bailout bill