JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION
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1
Why do Japanese change their attitude when they communicate with foreigners?
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2
Confrontation
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3
U.S. Navy investigating how parts fell off aircraft near Atsugi
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4
California court to decide if SeaWorld whales are illegal 'slaves'
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5
Kuroki reported pregnant 2 weeks after denying relationship with Akanishi
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- Assistant Language Teacher (ALT) in Kanto region
- RCS (RCSコーポレーション), Kanto
- Salary: ¥180,000 ~ ¥250,000 / Month includes performance bonus
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- Assistant Language Teacher - TOKYO - late-March start
- Interac, Tokyo
- Salary: ¥230,000 ~ ¥255,000 / Month
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- Assistant Language Teacher - Kanagawa Prefecture - late-March start
- Interac, Kanagawa
- Salary: ¥230,000 ~ ¥255,000 / Month
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chardk1
Hard to justify getting the XBox 360 over the PS3 if you can have both, if only because the PS3 is a fully functional Blu-Ray player at a killer price. Microsoft blew it by going with HD-DVD.
Posted in: Sony unveils improved PlayStation Portable
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chardk1
I think the problem is not weight or fairness to fat people or whatever, it is whether said fat person making other passengers suffer. I think the word "overweight" is misleading, we're not talking about people with BMI's of 25.5 here. I think we mean (and we've all seen) the passengers who weigh over 150 kilos and invade the space of people around them. To me, it's not about the fat person's comfort or the airline's fuel costs, it is whether other people's rights are being encroached, literally.
Posted in: Should overweight people be required to pay for an extra seat on planes?
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chardk1
And if there is something the Japanese are famous for, it is volunteerism, public interest work and sympathy for the marginalized members of their society.
Posted in: The agriculture ministry estimates 22 million tons of food get thrown out by consumers, restaurants and supermarkets each year in Japan. What are your thoughts on this?
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chardk1
I think the point is not so much that it is insane to think Kim Jong Il might have died and was replaced by a fake, but that the "evidence" given is so laughable.
The people who say "lots of dictators use doubles" yes, to avoid assassinations and the like. Generally less of a concern once you are dead. Also, Kim Jong Il has numerous sons and they're still kicking around in places like Paris and Tokyo, wouldn't their behavior reflect some change if their father the dictator had died and power seized by a fake?
Posted in: N Korea's Kim died in 2003; replaced by lookalike, says Waseda professor
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chardk1
It costs money to send things places, exactly who will pay for that? Yes, in the abstract it is sad that food is being wasted but burning fossil fuel to collect and send leftover bentos or cabbages to some other neighborhood, let alone continent, doesn't alleviate waste, it compounds it. Also, there is no way to know from this stat how much of the waste is leftover perishables which one really can't do much with other than throw away. Reality can be harsh but that's not always someone's fault.
Posted in: The agriculture ministry estimates 22 million tons of food get thrown out by consumers, restaurants and supermarkets each year in Japan. What are your thoughts on this?
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chardk1
Unless there is more of an explanation this statistic doesn't really give you any insight. It's like saying hundreds of thousands of Japanese people die every year. Yes, AND . . .?
Posted in: The agriculture ministry estimates 22 million tons of food get thrown out by consumers, restaurants and supermarkets each year in Japan. What are your thoughts on this?
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chardk1
We can argue about who is the "true" world champion under we're blue in the face but right now the Korean team has a lot to be proud of and the Japanese team not so much. Any time you field the best team on paper and finish out of the money, that is disappointing, and to the credit of the Japanese team and the TV commentators, they have been mostly honest about the fact that Japan just didn't get it done and the Koreans drank their milkshakes. Congratulations Korea!
Posted in: South Korea wins gold in baseball
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chardk1
The people who say that the age limit of 16 is unfair anyway are totally missing the point. That is the thing about rules. Some are good, some are bad, but the fairest thing is for everyone to abide by them as long as the rule stands. How is fair to those who played by the rules, or to the international sports community, that underaged Chinese girls get to compete because as their country creates forged passports for them in violation of international law?
Posted in: IOC asks for investigation of China's gymnasts
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chardk1
It is a problem because even though other athletes cheat, usually the government doesn't aid and abet the cheating.
China is "outraged" that people question the authenticity of the girls' passports even though the state-run news agency has been reporting them as being 13 and 14 as recently as last year? They can deny the reports but seriously, the fuss exists because there is plenty of grounds for suspicion.
Posted in: IOC asks for investigation of China's gymnasts
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chardk1
Uh, but wouldn't the Korean and American officials (like Chris Hill) who have seen and talked with him over the past eight years be able to tell it's not the same guy? Just because the Japanese haven't been dealing with him on a regular basis doesn't mean NOBODY has.
Also, supposedly the evidence is that North Korea became suddenly belligerent and uncooperative after 2003. But then how does one explain its current, more concilatory behavior? Did Kim Jong Il come back to life?
Spy satellites can tell Kim Jong Il has dimensionally grown one inch and is not just wearing elevator shoes (which he has done for years) but they can't find Osama?
Posted in: N Korea's Kim died in 2003; replaced by lookalike, says Waseda professor
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chardk1
Wow, weirdest discussion ever. Japan is the reigning WBC champ, but it has never won gold in the Olympics. It also has never won the Baseball World Cup, which has been held since 1938. WBC stands for "World Baseball CLASSIC" not "World Baseball CHAMPIONSHIP" as some people seem to believe, and if you read the MLB baseball site the WBC is described as the world's premier "exhibition tournament." When the people running the show don't call it a legit world championship, it ain't a legit world championship. It's not that complicated.
Clearly, MLB is the premier baseball league in the world. Which is why Olympic baseball is mostly a sham, since most of the best players in the world from around the world are playing in the U.S. If you put that aside and just look at actual results in international competition, it's hard to argue that Cuba is not the best year in and year out. Japan always fields a good team and has a lot of good players, but undisputed world champion? I don't think there is factual or anecdotal evidence to support that assertion.
Ironically, the people who insist that Japanese baseball is the best and that the WBC is proof of that -- the only difference between the WBC and the Baseball World Cup is that the WBC is supported by Major League Baseball. So apparently even though you think America sucks and American baseball sucks, your definition of the only meaningful tournament is one organized by the Americans. How pathetic is that.
Posted in: South Koreans reach gold-medal game
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chardk1
I thought it was funny that in the Japanese news, it was reported that Irabu was "mushoku" (unemployed). He's not unemployed you idiots, he's rich biyatch!
Posted in: Ex-Yankees, Marines Irabu arrested for alleged assault
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chardk1
From another JT article today:
The monkey eluded the police, by the way. But heaven forbid people should bother the police with their petty problems, clearly they have enough to do.
Posted in: Police suffer from inappropriate emergency calls
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chardk1
From the article about the arrested Russian sumo wrestler:
Yeah, when they have to figure out extremely complicated and pressing issues like why a young man would smoke pot (not even relevant to his prosecution), clearly the Japanese public shouldn't be bothering them with their trivial problems.
Posted in: Police suffer from inappropriate emergency calls
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chardk1
It's interesting how anti-Obama right wingers claim Jerome Corsi's book on Obama has to be taken as fact, while completely ignoring that the SAME FRICKING NUTCASE published statements that John McCain:
1) is rich on mob money. According to Corsi, Cindy McCain's father has close ties to organized crime and his beer distribution business is backed by the mob. Corsi also alleges that McCain is tight with Russian mobster Oleg Deripaska.
2) is a fake, corrupt Republican in the pocket of rich liberals George Soros and Ariana Huffington.
3) is supported by al-Qaida. A direct quote: “Presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain has enjoyed strong support from a lobbyist group that backs the Kosovo Liberation Army despite allegations the KLA is a Muslim terrorist group with ties to criminal drug networks and al-Qaida.”
4) has attacked McCain's relatively liberal attitude toward immigration, calling him "anti-Conservative (therefore anti-American)"
You don't like Obama that is fine, but how can anybody with any intellectual honesty explain how they can choose to believe only Corsi's attacks on Obama? Just shameful.
Posted in: Anti-Obama books are best-sellers
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chardk1
Interestingly, a lot of people accuse Koreans of whining about Japanese mistreatment but you have to admit the mean-spirited among the Japanese really know how to make people miserable when they think they can get away with it, even when it is one of their own. It does make one wonder about the standard Japanese explanation/excuse that "we were no worse than any strong country ruling the weak back then." Looking at Japanese bullies even today you have to wonder that maybe, just maybe, at least some of them were . . .
Posted in: What is the best way to eradicate bullying from schools?
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chardk1
The percentage of Americans who ACT like not merely atheists, but flat out blasphemers -- i.e., don't read the Bible, don't regularly attend church, never think hard about morals or ethics, lie, cheat, steal, don't say grace, don't know or care what your religion specifically says you should or should not do, take the Lord's name in vain, commit adultery, act selfish, mean, violent, burn resources like there's no tomorrow, put money before God, family, friends and country etc. etc. probably isn't different from most other countries. Which is why it's flat-out irresponsible to have a religion where all you have to do is self-identify. All the self-righteousness without any of the work, man it must be great to be a so-called God-fearing American in the 21st Century.
Posted in: Obama, McCain reach out to Christian voters
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chardk1
The irony is that one's piety wasn't such a big deal until the religious right started freaking out about losing power, so we are actually more obsessed with the religiosity of the American President than Americans were 100 years ago. That's progress for you, fundamentalist-style.
Posted in: Obama, McCain reach out to Christian voters
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chardk1
If they did product placement in the movie with everything she hawks, the budget would be just the salaries of the actors and production crew.
Posted in: Actress Masami Nagasawa in new film
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chardk1
Hilarious. The word is a kanji cognate and it means infidelity in Korean and Chinese as well, and probably has for two thousand years. It does not and has not meant simply "immoral." I guess next you will be arguing that the word "sushi" is derived from "fishy" and Japanese learned it from American soldiers after WWII.
Posted in: The do's and don'ts of having an affair