JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION
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Why do Japanese change their attitude when they communicate with foreigners?
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2
U.S. Navy investigating how parts fell off aircraft near Atsugi
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Confrontation
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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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Really? First I've heard of this. The Japanese people I come across are more than happy to enjoy all these Chinese style stir-fries any time and rarely eat sushi. Tempura healthy? No more healthy than British fried fish in equal proportions. The batter gets most of the grease, so if you can remove the batter more easily from the British fried fish then theoretically you can make it far more healthy than tempura.
Anyway, when my Japanese hubby makes tempura it certainly doesn't qualify as light-as-air. He makes the batter far too thick and it really sits heavy in the belly. And this is the same man who told me almost 20 years ago that good tempura had to have very light, thin batter, in a very thin, crispy layer on the food. Now he claims it needs to be as thick as his skin and very difficult to enjoy. Pain in the neck. ;)
Posted in: How well founded is Japan's gastronomic pride?
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I don't agree with masterkun05.
Why bring your personal version of a god into this? Whoever killed this child, mother or not, she or he sure as hell doesn't believe in your god. So why do you think your god is so important?
Everybody, this is about the tragic and unnecessary death of a newborn baby. Probably it was the mother who killed him, but not necessarily. Stop ranting at the mother and try hating the killer instead, whoever it was, then you cover all eventualities. Otherwise you're wasting your hate and being judge, jury and executioner without any evidence.
Feel sorrow for the loss of an innocent life. Feel hatred and anger towards the person who killed him. Don't assume things, or people like Fritzl around the world will be able to get away with their evil behavior forever.
Hopefully they'll be able to find a potential for the abandonment charge by viewing the cctv tapes. If the child was born in the toilets, as some seem to believe, it will be obvious who it was. She would have been in there for a long time. If the baby was taken there and abandoned then it will be the time on the clock that gets them. But surely if the woman spent hours in the loos someone would have noticed? It's not easy to give birth silently for a start.
Posted in: Newborn baby found dead in Fukuoka supermarket toilet
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No it's not a ploy. But it wouldn't be natural if the American car makers didn't try to take advantage of Toyota's self-inflicted mess.
Let's not beat about the bush here, Toyota had plenty of warning about this, and plenty of opportunity to alter things before it got to such an immense scale. The main problem with people's trust of Toyota isn't that they made a mistake over a minor part, causing a major problem. It's that they tried to hush it up, tried to persuade people that it was only a small-scale problem. People hate companies that lie to them far more than companies that admit the problem at the beginning and then fix it. I think it'll take a few years for Toyota to get back it's sales, which is a terrible shame for all the people in various countries around the world making the damned things.
Posted in: Japanese ask: Is U.S. backlash on Toyota a ploy to boost American auto producers?
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What can you expect when you reduce the amount of education given to kids? Of course they'll learn less, it's those responsible for reducing the amount of education who are the stupid ones, more than the unfortunate students.
That's no surprise is it? They've barely learned anything, of course they feel overwhelmed, they don't understand what they're supposed to be doing!
One of our neighbours teaches maths at one of those cram school places, and he said all the teachers agree that the main problem with most of the poor students isn't necessarily the subject being taught, maths, English etc, but it's their limited grasp of kanji which literally makes it so they don't understand the question. How can they possibly give the correct answer if they don't even understand the question? It's a tragic waste of young minds to give them such an inferior education that they genuinely can't read their own language without a computer so they can paste things into the dictionary and find out what they mean. It's a fiasco. And to think ABC still imagines that Japanese students spend huge numbers of hours at school when actually they spend about the same number of hours at school as their American counterparts. Silly ABC. (I'm talking about an article a few months ago by the way. They gave figures for the number of hours they claimed kids spent at school in various countries.)
As for the copy and paste society, I'm afraid it's not just in Japan. It's a shame, but there you have it, make their life easier and they want it made easier still. I was bad enough when I was at school, but now they want the work done for them too! Incredible.
Posted in: The dumbing down of Japanese students
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Patriotism is a positive thing. A fondness or affection for your country, complete with a desire to improve things in that country that need improving and a common sense of inherited shame for the wrongs committed in the name of your country by people in the past. This sense of shame should not be overwhelming though, and you certainly shouldn't be expected to bow and scrape and apologise your entire life for things done before you were born, but you should be aware of them and feel strongly that such things were wrong, and brought shame on your country. That way you can help make sure they never happen again.
Nationalism is a negative thing, an unreasonable belief that your country is always right and therefore anyone who tries to change it must automatically be some sort of enemy, even if they're just the opposition leader. The wrongs committed in the name of your country by people in the past are something to be proud of, and certainly never apologised for. Anyone who suggests that these acts were anything other than great is obviously the enemy and violence is automatically the best way of dealing with them, whether it's the man next door, the leader of the opposition, or a foreigner who says it was bad. And if it's a foreign leader in a foreign country then he or she is obviously a terrorist. That's nationalism, a twisted form of patriotism for the nut-jobs of this world.
Posted in: What is the difference between patriotism and nationalism? Can they or should they be taught in the classroom?
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I'm not surprised those Americans didn't keep up with the news while they were in Haiti. But as their friends and relatives claim they kept in touch I can't imagine why they didn't point out the dangers.
I can't believe that, it's a really high number. Imagine if the children of New Orleans had been "saved" by a religious or any other group from another country in this way. Imagine the uproar! Yet there must have been at least a couple of children in New Orleans after the flooding in a similar predicament to the Haitian children for a limited timespan. And do you really think these Haitian kids will have a good life in America? Their plight might get public sympathy now, complete with donations and a few placings for select orphans, but after the next world disaster these kids would just be forgotten, left to rot in American orphanages and hating their so-called rescuers who actually just left them in another kind of limbo.
Imbeciles. Imagine if someone tried to take an American orphan out of America, with only the permission of the destination country, not permission from America, or from the child's remaining relatives, and no passport. These people have no brains I'm afraid.
Just watched the limited BBC news on it on NHK. It's plain they didn't really even try to get permission to rescue those kids. It's their ambition, as stated on their website, to snatch 100 kids off Haiti's streets in one day and take them out of the country the same day. There's no way they'd get permission in one day, so obviously they don't feel they need permission. Apparently they feel they're above the laws of Haiti. It's no wonder that people get angry at such groups, and although I personally believe they had genuinely good motives at heart I'm angry too, it's just totally irresponsible and if they'd succeeded they'd probably have ended up playing into the hands of criminals unintentionally. How convenient it would be for child traffickers if a charitable group brought 33 children from a quake hit area. Very convenient indeed. Those people are naive at best. They should have tried helping the kids IN Haiti, and going over the borders without the kids to bring in supplies.
Posted in: Haiti detains 10 U.S. Baptists for taking 33 kids across border
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Will he? He damn well ought to, it would be totally in order for the US to not only pay for his entire renovation but to also give various gifts to show their regret for not only almost killing those 3 people but also for almost giving them a heart attack through the shock. (When I say gifts I don't mean cars and suchlike. I just mean small gifts given with thoughtfulness and consideration. For example, if a vase was broken, find out what it was and buy a better one for them, and fill it with lovely flowers. Just an example of thoughtful gift giving to someone whose house you've almost trashed.)
But why do I suspect that these people will be lucky if they receive the cost of the glass?
Posted in: Minister cautions U.S. military after part falls from U.S. Navy jet, hitting house
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If this was really about concealing identities they'd have no chance.
If a Muslim woman went out wearing fairly ordinary men's clothes, say a calf-length coat and fuddy-duddy boots that went up to her knees, wearing a wig complete with attached beard and mustache, she wouldn't even need the optional surgical mask to make her indistinguishable and totally unrecognisable. It would be extremely easy for them to do that, and to take the p they could do it in womens' clothes instead of mens' and there'd surely be nothing the authorities could do about it. Short of banning Muslims, which is probably what they're hoping to eventually achieve anyway.
Still, as they claim it's because of keeping religion out of public spaces, the women can still disguise themselves with beards and wigs and hopefully give those bureaucrats the finger in the process. Nothing religious about wearing a false wig, is there.
This is what happens when discrimination is so absolute, demeaning, degrading, and insulting. If Japan banned non-black hair you'd soon have people on here whining and moaning. In the case of these women, their religion and their cultural identity is intertwined. You insult and decry their religion, and you insult and decry them, their culture, their parents, their ancestors, you name it. It's outright discrimination, not simply against one religion, but also against one gender. Whichever way you look at it, and whatever side of the fence you sit, it's blatantly obvious that it doesn't sit comfortably with all those guarantees of human rights and equality that come with the European bits 'n' bobs.
Posted in: France moving toward partial ban on full Islamic veils in some public locations
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Someone up the top of the thread insists he or she has never seen or heard of the beef labeling mentioned in the article. Well, perhaps he or she should actually look at a packet of Japanese beef next time he or she goes to the supermarket. I looked yesterday, because I'd never known of it either, and sure enough there's the number on the packet. As to whether or not the shop can access the info for you would probably depend on the shop, but the info is certainly on the pack so if that part's true I guess the rest probably is too.
You people are right that Japan is a bit of a dodgy example to hold up though, but Japanese beef is the exception to the rule it would seem. With prices that high it damned well ought to be.
Posted in: Tracing meat - Japan has the right idea
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dammit
You asked this a while ago. My answer is still no chance.
Posted in: Would you be willing to pay for access to newspapers' online content?
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dammit
There's more info on the French objections here http://uk.news.yahoo.com/5/20100120/twl-us-accused-of-delaying-haiti-relief-3fd0ae9.html
including this
Not quite as unnecessary as many people would like to paint it when you have the reasons instead of just being told that msf moaned and letting all the Americans shout about it.
Posted in: Why is there so much criticism of the quake relief effort in Haiti, whether it is of the U.S., Japan, China or others?
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For all of you who still think the only help Haitians are getting is the feeble efforts of the US-led crowd of foreigners, please read this; http://uk.news.yahoo.com/5/20100120/twl-there-will-be-food-riots-in-haiti-by-3fd0ae9.html
People who have nothing to do with the US but who've been feeding hundreds of thousands of people since the quake, and with the notable absence of western assistance.
Posted in: Why is there so much criticism of the quake relief effort in Haiti, whether it is of the U.S., Japan, China or others?
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Obviously, it's because not enough help was getting to the people of Haiti, despite plenty of supplies and equipment, not to mention workers, being available and in the airport buildings twiddling their thumbs.
What use is an aid effort that does nothing for days?
Now America has started aid drops to various places. Why not immediately? Surely it could have been started a bit sooner? Normally aid drops are the first thing they do in hard to reach areas, here it was practically the last thing they did.
That's why people criticise it. Even the people doing the work over there are critical because they were unable to do what they went there for at first.
Things are getting somewhat better now, but it's too late for many of the Haitians.
Posted in: Why is there so much criticism of the quake relief effort in Haiti, whether it is of the U.S., Japan, China or others?
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Typical. They cause havoc, then they start expressing hopes, which will turn to wants, which will turn into demands, then demanding money with menaces.
Typical. Bullies are always like that.
Posted in: There is a real hope that Japan will come in with perhaps as much as, well, several hundred million dollars, to help with the reconciliation and reintegration effort.
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It's a fiasco.
What they needed were a few dozen helicopters along with all those people and the equipment and supplies. Then they'd have been able to actually deliver the stuff where it was needed, and get help to people. Landing a copter might not be easy, but being stuck in an airport unable to get out there and rescue people is obscene. Heartbreaking too.
So far all some people seem to care about is the amount of money each country has said it will donate. But that's ridiculous as while they're sitting around bragging about how much money their country has donated, from the government and private donations, plus lots from various millionaires and rich organisations, they're missing the point that if all those people in Haiti are allowed to die then no amount of cash can ever fix it. (Did I mention which country's people are doing all the bragging? No. I don't think I need to.)
Posted in: What do you think of the international response so far to the Haiti earthquake?
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I think that it's mostly because of the opportunity arising so easily in those rush-hour trains. They're a total nightmare, and all those hot, sweaty bodies all pressed against each other is surely going to cause arousal in some of them. No question. But some can't control their urges and can't resist the temptation and so they squeeze, or pinch, or generally do an obvious feel-up. I surely can't blame them for being tempted, or for being sexually aroused by being pressed against a hot, sweaty female (along with several grotty salarymen,) and some people are just too impulsive to resist that temptation. Those people are total losers, and most of them will feel guilt about their surreptitious feel-ups, which in turn will make them uncomfortable getting into a real relationship with a girl. So they take advantage of the next opportunity and the circle goes on.
Of course that doesn't apply to all of them. Some people are perverts, we all know that, and race has no bearing. But the crowded trains here are a wonderful playground for men who really are pervs, as they can feel-up lots of women and maybe choose one to follow. Hoping that they'll get a chance to drag the poor woman down a dark alley or something. Scary.
Posted in: Why is groping so prevalent on trains in Japan? Anyone care to hazard a guess as to the psychological reasons on why men grope?
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Since when have earthquakes, floods, and erupting volcanoes been climatic anomalies? Seems to me they're not anomalies at all, but perfectly natural, and although they can't be predicted to a precise timescale it's reasonable to say that there WILL be earthquakes, places WILL flood, and volcanoes WILL erupt (that's what volcanoes do, you know.)
It's normal. It's the way of the world. Climate changes might exacerbate it, but nothing's ever going to stop it, so why act like it's unnatural?
Now talking about preparing for it, that's good. Very good. I'll have to get myself one of those kits that michaelgtodd has got, if it's any use in an emergency that is. I'll also have to figure out how I'll carry my 2 year old down 4 flights of stairs and also carry several bottles of water (which I don't yet have,) and emergency food supplies.
And if it's night and the lights all go off, I'll try not to fall down those stairs.
Posted in: Experts predict more earthquakes, floods this year
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Not another beeping product! I'm sick of being beeped at all the damn time.
0.8 litres? Piffle. Why bother? What's wrong with making a kettle that boils enough water for more than 2 or 3 cups ffs?
Posted in: Electric kettle that beeps when water boils
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I was returning from Heathrow last August, they were really hostile, and shoe-removal was obligatory with a very spiteful glance from the woman giving the orders. But then, when I went to take off the shoes of my almost 2 year old, she said it wasn't necessary.
I find that worrying, as obviously people will know that small children are the only ones exempt from various screening procedures. And now they're saying children can't be screened with these new machines that give an almost naked image of the body because of child protection laws. I have no problem with protecting kids, including my own, but surely all the psychos need to do now is find a child to sacrifice? Bang.
Posted in: What do you think of the level of security at airports you have been to recently?
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Good grief. And I'm pretty sure they don't mean karaoke.
Posted in: Junior high school girls arrested for marijuana possession in Kobe