JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION

borscht's past comments

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  borschtAug. 11, 2011 - 09:10PM JST

  South Sudan chose to secede from the rest of the country,

  After 17 years of war, yes, they voted not to be on the losing end of genocide. And the Japanese SDF is NOT helping rebuild Tohoku - that should be left to the Tohoku people. After all, charity starts at home.

  Posted in: Ban asks Japan to help in South Sudan

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  borschtAug. 10, 2011 - 07:03PM JST

  "None of us knew."

  I believe this is the same phrase Germans used when the Nazi concentration camps were "discovered".

  I can imagine a low-level government employee getting the info from SPEEDI, hanko-ing it, and sending it off to the next person for their hanko without anyone actually reading it or, if they read it, consider its importance. People are the key to any 'system' and if they are poorly educated in the THINKING department, the system, like SPEEDI, will fail.

  Posted in: Japan ignored own radiation forecasts from very beginning

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  borschtAug. 10, 2011 - 11:47AM JST

  spahnmatthew,

  When's the last time a consumer purchased a car from an automaker just because it was the biggest?

  In Japan? Probably 20 minutes ago.

  I think Toyota should come out with a hybrid or all-electric Toyota AA (from 1936) or AB (the convertible). As for spahnmatthew's other comment about innovation and driving experience, yes, they should.

  The Toyota AB:

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:1936_Toyota_Model_AB_Phaeton_01.jpg

  Posted in: Toyota hopes for revival after sinking to No. 3

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  borschtAug. 10, 2011 - 11:38AM JST

  > JT junior site for putting AKB48 and similar low level stuff

  They have it already. They call it "Entertainment" and it is where your comment is posted.

  Posted in: AKB48's Tomomi Kasai takes part in wedding dress fashion show

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  borschtAug. 10, 2011 - 11:34AM JST

  From another site and well within the memories of some people who read the news:

  The Self-Defense Forces were winding down their activities in the region during our visit. Their initial search and rescue phase and the recovery of the dead ended July 1st when the tri-service taskforce headed by Lt. Gen. Eiji Kimizuka was disbanded. During our visit, the SDF's key role at that time was providing relief to the most isolated and needy of areas, as well as bathing facilities. From today, the start of August 2011, the individual units are wrapping up their work as evacuees move into pre-fabricated housing and become more able to take care of themselves.

  So the SDF military engineers have made the pre-fab houses and baths. And are free to do humanitarian work elsewhere. Despite what Kitazawa said. Also, most reconstruction in Tohoku is going to go to the highest bribe, er, bid by private construction companies, not free SDF labor.

  Posted in: Ban asks Japan to help in South Sudan

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  borschtAug. 08, 2011 - 09:02AM JST

  releadsed ?

  The pose with her clutching her partied-out liver really sums it up, right?

  You went to a different medical school than me. ;)

  Posted in: Kumi Koda to sing theme song for 'Second Virgin'

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  borschtAug. 06, 2011 - 11:53PM JST

  I hope the image is invigorating and stimulating.....

  It's at minimum stimulating.

  Strangest thing at work: all the women wearing blankets on their laps. All of them. I'm sweating and they're curling up with blankets.

  Posted in: What are some of the weirdest clothes or accessories you have seen staff wear to your workplace?

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  borschtAug. 06, 2011 - 11:48PM JST

  20 years ago I was asked by a filmmaker to find him a Japanese actress who wanted to be in a 'Hollywood' movie. Why did the filmmaker want a Japanese actress? So he could make money in the Japanese market. Same now with music videos, I feel.

  Posted in: Japan and the international music industry

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  borschtAug. 06, 2011 - 11:02AM JST

  In case other countries wish to utilize our country’s nuclear power technology, we should provide it by ensuring that its safety is of the highest global standards.

  Doesn't the government read its own statements? Or do they write them hoping no one will notice the radioactive waste in a plastic bucket and four nuclear meltdowns?

  Posted in: Japan to continue nuclear plant exports

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  borschtAug. 06, 2011 - 10:56AM JST

  Cleo

  My workplace is my study at home. I have been known to work wrapped in a bath towel.

  Thanks, Cleo, but how are we supposed to concentrate on work with that image in our heads?

  Posted in: What are some of the weirdest clothes or accessories you have seen staff wear to your workplace?

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  borschtAug. 05, 2011 - 05:41PM JST

  Papigiulio,

  Because it took them nearly 40 years for the Japanese government to even acknowledge that non-Japanese died in Hiroshima. I'm not sure but if I recall, this cenotaph isn't IN the park; it's NEAR the park.

  Posted in: Remembering

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  borschtAug. 05, 2011 - 08:37AM JST

  bass4funk,

  I think we can ascribe incompetence to this rather than bribery.

  Posted in: 4 wanted criminals escape Japan; Justice Ministry blames Immigration Bureau

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  borschtAug. 02, 2011 - 01:49PM JST

  rice with radioactive cesium exceeding 500 becquerels, which is the provisional national standard, will be banned from shipment.

  And before the TEPCO meltdown the limit was 50 bequerels, if I recall. Or was it 250? In either case, the government immediately upped the limit to limit 'confusion.'

  Posted in: Gov't to test rice crop in 19 prefectures for contamination

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  borschtAug. 02, 2011 - 07:44AM JST

  He may or may not be right but just yesterday I had one restaurant and one small bookstore use the iPad as a cash register. I've also seen two or three salespeople using an IPad as their visual display/catalog. I'm also old enough to remember when Japanese workers were not embracing desktop computers because they were not.... Something enough.

  Posted in: In Japan, iPads fail to distinguish themselves as a business tool from lightweight laptops.

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  borschtAug. 01, 2011 - 12:08PM JST

  An Internet "journalist” who doesn't have a camera and just uses the one on his lop-top.

  If he's uploading to the intertubes, using a laptop is as efficient as a 'camera.' And the maids are waving at themsleves: wow, live TV!

  Posted in: Temperatures rising

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  borschtAug. 01, 2011 - 09:32AM JST

  I thought major Japanese companies were mainly export-oriented since the 1950s. I think the main problem is that in the 50s, 60s, 70s, companies worked hard to meet consumer demands but in the 80s and 90s they had the attitude of "It's Japanese, therefore, it's good and you will buy it." For example, the Walkman in the 70s met a need; but the Walkman didn't evolve fast enough when the iPod appeared and is no longer made.

  if Japan's expressway tolls were lifted, shaken abolished, more free parking spaces made available, taxes lowered, etc. then the profits would come rolling in.

  The profits would probably come rolling in for Toyota, Honda, and Nissan with Suzuki and Isuzu tussling over the scraps.

  Posted in: Japanese companies need aggressive global strategies

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  borschtJul. 29, 2011 - 08:57AM JST

  Japan has no centralized system to test for food safety from radiation

  They have one for imported mad cows. And they insist every piece is checked, if it's from a foreign country, that is. I think the centralized system exists. They just don't want to use it on themselves.

  Posted in: Japan widens ban on radioactive beef to Miyagi Prefecture

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  borschtJul. 27, 2011 - 09:29AM JST

  11,000 becquerels of radioactive cesium per kilogram were detected

  However, the government said the level of cesium does not pose a health risk.

  Experiments with dogs showed that a single dose of 3800 uCi/kg (140 MBq/kg, or approximately 44 uCg/kg) is lethal within three weeks (http://www.jstor.org/pss/3573559)

  Shouldn't it be:

  "the Japanese government, with their head in the (radioactive) sand, said the level of cesium does not pose a health risk (for today.)" ?

  Or can somebody explain the difference between becquerels and uCi/kg? Thanks

  Posted in: Radioactive cesium found in compost in Akita

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  borschtJul. 26, 2011 - 08:52AM JST

  By saying he's a nutcase, weirdo, sicko, whack job, and moon bat, aren't we distancing ourselves from the fact that he has beliefs held by many people in many countries? He doesn't like or want foreigners in his country. He took it a step further and killed a bunch of non-foreigners but his idea of 'No Foreigners' is not a marginally held thought. That he praised Japan should make Japanese think about their ideas of 'Wareware Nihonjin' vs "The rest of the world. Should, but won't. People who believe multi-culturalism and foreigners are bad will continue to do so. But they will call Breivik a weirdo and a sicko. i.e. Not like us, not one of us.

  Posted in: Norway killer's manifesto praises Japan for not adopting multiculturalism

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  borschtJul. 22, 2011 - 09:20AM JST

  Will this system also shut down the driver's TV so he or she can watch the accident?

  Posted in: Toyota's pre-crash technology takes control of steering

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