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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chardk1
Well, that's some consolation for John McCain. He may not have won the office of President, but at least he's the world's oldest man.
Posted in: World's oldest man dies at 113
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chardk1
You have to admit that considering he only has two means of persuasion, bribery and punishment, Kim Jong Il has managed to get his way for quite a long time. Now to see if Junior will be so lucky . . .
Posted in: North Korea's Kim using gifts to win support
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chardk1
Now if the Japanese could just combine this thing with Asimo and KOBIAN so we can have an 18 meter robot with seven emotions that can kick a soccer ball and carry trays of tea, that would be truly awesome. Weird, but awesome.
Posted in: Gundam
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chardk1
Haha, I bet Kyoko Kano would have to imbed some motors in her face to communicate emotions at this point.
Seven emotions, that's five and a half more than the average Japanese person can be bothered to express, so I guess they are building these robots to show schoolkids in 2020 what a full range of emotions looked like back in the olden days.
Posted in: Robot expresses human emotions
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chardk1
Eh, whatever her reasons if Chinatsu does something to generate enough funds to build a school in India she's accomplished more than any of her critics I wager. If I were poor, I'd take the person helping me out for their own selfish motives over the idealistic big talker who watches me starve while he pontificates on the true meaning of charity any day of the week and twice on Tuesday.
Posted in: Chinatsu Wakatsuki goes topless for charity
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chardk1
Everyone in Japan who can be bothered to check (admittedly not a lot of people) know Kano shimai are made-for-TV characters and not real people (they are two B-level "actresses" who knock off Dewi fujin) and that pretty much everything they say is a work in the same way that pro wrestling is a work. And yet the Japanese media reports the things they say with a completely straight face. I guess some would call it being "respectful" but others would just call it terrible journalism.
Posted in: Kyoko Kano says she refused marriage proposal from British guy
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chardk1
Lonely, middle-aged single OL's across this great nation must have been devastated at the news.
Posted in: Takarazuka star Hana Hizuki to retire
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chardk1
Ah, U2 wrote a song to perform at Obama's inauguration, Amuro had a song "created" (by whom she doesn't say) for a shampoo commercial. Says it all really about the self-proclaimed "Queen of Hip-Hop."
Posted in: Namie Amuro shines in the bathtub for new hair-care commercials
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chardk1
What I don't understand is how Japanese people divide females in the entertainment industry into actresses, CM spokepeople, fashion models, TV show hosts, announcers, etc. As with Kobayashi there really isn't any distinction between them in terms of qualifications and what they do (sit there, look pretty, read off some lines), and they will do any of the above if offered anyway. I guess she thinks it's more genteel to refer to herself as a joshiana but, she may as well call herself "gum hawker" or "comedy show judge" since she is just as likely to be doing those things as presenting the news.
Posted in: Maya Kobayashi turns freelance presenter
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chardk1
If you don't like an interviewee's response DON'T HIRE THEM. Don't whine and moan about how you didn't like their attitude or whatever. On the other hand, if so many interviewees have this "bad attitude" that you have to hire some of them, maybe, just maybe, society is changing and it's your inability to adapt that is the problem. This to me typifies one of the main problems of Japan today, people seem reluctant to deal with actual problems other than to insist "this is not the way it is supposed to be."
Posted in: Companies angry over thoughtless students amid economic downturn
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chardk1
When the PM is this out of touch is it any wonder there are problems? Setting aside how wrong Aso is on his characterizations of religious doctrine, IMO Japanese people under 30 are just as lazy if not lazier than people living in Judeo-Christian nations. In terms of NEETs, freeters and parasite singles who have mommy cooking and cleaning for them long past the point of shameful spongery, Japan doesn't compare all that favorably to a lot of other countries, and many of the slackers here don't even seem to be having that much fun, just gloomily apathetic.
Posted in: Aso says world religions can learn from Japan
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chardk1
Really depends where you live. If you live in central Tokyo you certainly don't need and may not even want a car unless you have a family to lug around on weekends. However, there are many areas in Japan where it would be pretty inconvenient or actively impractical not to have a car, so it seems fairly ludicrous to assert people in general should or should not need this that or the other thing.
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chardk1
The UAW should get the deal they negotiated with the Big Three? The government has no right to interfere with the existing labor agreement? The government is already interfering by bailing the companies out! This is not an issue of legal contractual fairness at all. You try going to court and saying "your Honor, the other party to my contract doesn't have money he owes me under our deal and if he goes bankrupt I'll have no claim against him, so please GIVE him money to pay to me. And mind you, make sure it is the full amount, don't cheat me out of my deal!" Utter nonsense, the judge would laugh you out of court.
Ask Americans who used to be in the steel, textile or electronics manufacturing industries how much their labor contracts with favorable terms kept them warm at night and put food on the table once the companies went bankrupt or moved all production overseas. I want the US auto industry to prosper and the workers to get a fair wage but the UAW has no leg to stand on from a negotiating standpoint, and that isn't being anti-union it's just a fact.
Posted in: Bush gives $17 bil loan lifeline to GM, Chrysler
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chardk1
Is he providing the mask for Kamen Rider as well, i.e. his face?
Posted in: Gackt to perform theme song for new 'Kamen Rider' show
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chardk1
I tend to agree with Tatsumaru in the medium to long run, but IMO issuing an ultimatum for the UAW to agree to slash pay and benefits of its hundreds of thousands of members within a few days is unrealistic. The original plan was for the $14 billion to be an emergency bailout until the Big 3 presented a more comprehensive recovery plan in March. I don't really see why Congress couldn't impose the same deadline on the UAW and let the plan move forward for now, unless this really is just about union-busting.
Both sides have it wrong, the anti-UAW politicians shouldn't hit the kill switch on the US auto industry just to stick to unions, and the UAW should not get all of their members permanently laid off as a matter of abstract labor organization principles. Both sides are showing a remarkable lack of vision.
I do have to say that the union-friendly liberal media (and it pains me to say that as I am a liberal and generally wince at liberal media-bashing) who decry how Congress bails out Wall Street but not Detroit are off base. For the past two decades GM and Ford have been consistently losing money on the auto side, but have kept afloat by issuing debt and selling auto leases, loans and other credit transactions and by selling cars to rental car agencies which they also happen to own. Chrysler is owned by Cerberus, which is just a giant hedge fund. The Big 3 have been nothing more than unprofitable storefronts for credit transactions which means Wall Street has been subsidizing auto workers for years, not the other way around. If anything the Big Three have been playing this shell game in order to deal with the high overhead presented by unionized labor, and that has contributed to making them the unwieldy, unhealthy businesses that they are today.
Anyway, it doesn't matter if the UAW is right or wrong as a matter of principle, current economic conditions simply will not sustain its demands.
Posted in: U.S. auto industry problems spell trouble for Japan as well
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chardk1
I've been living in Japan for a few years, at any given time there are half a dozen "red hot" young stars of either sex who are entirely indistinguishable from each other, their predecessors or successors. It seems to me that you can walk into any popular cafe in Shibuya on a Saturday afternoon, grab a cute girl and plug her into the spot of Aragaki Yui or Toda Erika and no one would notice or care after a few weeks. AKB48 seems to be almost a kind of postmodern take on the dime a dozen nature of female idols, but before you scoff you know a couple of them will break out as stars in their own right.
I mean, I'm glad these girls have honest work in a down economy but who are these people who can be bothered to join their fan clubs and buy their calendars and albums? You may as well be a fan of blank sheets of paper.
Posted in: Erika Toda says she will spend Christmas working in Italy
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chardk1
Interesting how Mr. Welch is so hostile toward not foreign carmakers in general, but only Japanese carmakers. I suppose it is just a coincidence that BMW builds cars in his home state of South Carolina.
For a people who supposedly value their freedom, independence and Christian virtue, Americans sure complain a lot about how there isn't enough external pressure on them to do the right thing. If Americans think it is important to support the Big Three, nothing keeps them from buying domestic cars. But hey, it's always easier to bash other people than take a good hard look in the mirror (made in China).
Posted in: Angry Ford dealer in South Carolina blasts Japanese imports in ads
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chardk1
So the women who aren't sisters and not really rich and not really attractive (and in Kyoko's case, hard to tell if really a woman) are NOW presenting us with their alter egos?
Posted in: Kano sisters release animation DVD starring their alter-egos
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chardk1
They didn't "open a store" in Tokyo Midtown, they're holding a four-day event selling band memorabilia at the Tsutaya.
Posted in: Pop group Exile opens outlet for 4 days in Tokyo Midtown
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chardk1
aedfed, I ride a Trek 7.3FX in Japan which I presume would qualify as the kind of bike you say normal people should ride here instead of electric bikes. I like it fine but it tends to make me realize why it is not what many people want or need.
I agree for students and many young professionals without kids, an EAB is overkill. But if you rode in Japan for 15 years you know most people here, and just about all adult women and older people, ride "mama-charis." What they want is a big sturdy bike with lights, built-in lock, grocery basket, metal fenders, rear rack for child seat and very importantly, a centerstand so they can get kids and groceries on and off without the bike falling over. Speed and distance are not significant concerns, the bike will be used for puttering down to the train station and the shotengai. For these people EAB's make a lot more sense, basically it's a gentsuki you can ride on the sidewalk without a license, not a bike replacement.
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