JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION
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- 秘書及び業務サポート
- 加治金属工業株式会社, Tokyo
- Salary: ¥4.0M / Year
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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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- ALT - Mie Prefecture - Yokkaichi City - June start
- NPO法人グローバル教育推進機構（GLAD), Mie
- Salary: ¥230,000 / Month For a full working month. Some months differ.
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gaijinfo
What was it Obama said before he was elected? Something about being a one term president if the economy didn't pick up? He's still trying to blame the economy on his predecessor.
Posted in: Around world, Obama's presidency a disappointment
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gaijinfo
This can also apply to TV when it first came out, or PCs when they first came out, etc. etc. Technology is always improving, and there's always going to be people who claim it's somehow bad for society. If you think it's bad for you, don't do it. But don't expect some society wide soul searching because you aren't comfortable with something.
Posted in: We need to look at impact of new technology on our brains
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gaijinfo
No, they like to appear to have a sensitive palette.
Posted in: Japanese beer heads cause Westerners to froth at the mouth
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gaijinfo
I disagree. Japanese put a very high value on the appearance of freshness.
Posted in: Japanese beer heads cause Westerners to froth at the mouth
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gaijinfo
Japanese society is quickly turning into a contest to see who can become the biggest and most celebrated victim.
Posted in: Parents awarded Y12 mil after child injured smashing milk bottles together at school
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gaijinfo
Fantastic news! The world needs more free trade.
Posted in: S Korea, China to start free trade talks next week
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gaijinfo
The government is always the problem. Free, uncontrolled markets with protection of private property, and the absolute elimination of fractional reserve lending would solve all the problems. This author is right that big businesses bribe government. Government shouldn't exist. Government sponsored counterfeiters shouldn't exist. Government laws created by bribed politicians to protect big companies from competition shouldn't exist. Government is a cancer on society. It starts out small, then gets bigger and bigger until it's tentacles are in every part of society, thereby killing the host. The world is quickly on the way. Dark ages are coming.
The only thing that can save us is a revolution, a removal of government save that which protects private property, and a return to a worldwide gold standard.
That is all.
Posted in: Congratulations to the voters in France and Greece
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gaijinfo
I feel the same way about pachinko parlors. Fantastic toilets.
Posted in: You’ll want to visit Shibuya Hikarie just to use ladies’ room
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gaijinfo
This pretty much blows Sony's excuses out of the water.
Posted in: Nissan posts record sales despite disasters, high yen
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gaijinfo
Obviously, if there's not enough electricity to go around, then that can possibly lead to shortages. On the other hand, if there is more energy than people can use, most people will find enough electricity when they turn on their power at home. Of course, this can be impacted by things such as sun spots and other transient events like national pachinko tournaments.
Posted in: Nobody seems to be able to agree on whether or not there will be a power shortage this summer. What do you think?
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gaijinfo
This guy's also a hero. Without forward looking entrepreneurs, none of this would be possible. While it may be expensive now, imagine ten or twenty years in the future when they are cheap enough for all disabled people to afford.
Also, one aspect of Ms. Lomas' Hero-ness is that she didn't waste any time switching professions. Despite being paralyzed, she took it upon herself to learn another trade and still be a productive member of society. She easily could have gone on disability, and none of this would have happened.
Posted in: British woman makes marathon history in bionic suit
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gaijinfo
Quite.
Posted in: Japanese diplomat charged with domestic abuse in San Francisco
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gaijinfo
Despite the continual and loud whining about austerity in the EU, it never happened. The majority of EU countries have INCREASED their budgets year after year. The whole idea of austerity was a myth. What this clown wants to do is to spend money even faster, and make it even harder on businesses.
All because lazy voters have been promised for years that they can have whatever they want without working and their problems are not their fault.
The world is at a horrible tipping point because the vast majority of voters in democratic countries truly believe that they can get something for nothing, and that their problems are due to somebody else making money.
We are doomed. Load up on gold, guns and canned goods. It's gonna get ugly.
Posted in: Can Hollande save Europe?
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gaijinfo
@Dog
3.2 of the world's GDP in 2005 was due to agriculture. Does that mean all Japanese should learn how to become farmers?
A small percentage of Japanese need English. That is all I was getting at. Most Japanese can live their whole lives without needing to know any English. It's not required by everybody, just like knowing computer programming is not required by everybody. Only those that want to use it to work.
Teaching something to everybody so that only a small percentage can use it is a huge waste of resources.
Posted in: Why are Japanese so bad at English?
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gaijinfo
@Neko Nebula
Valid point. Folks are generally motivated by fear, and short term, more imminent fear is more persuasive than longer termed fear that isn't so painful.
But let the danger of radiation and earthquakes slip into people's memory, coupled with increased energy bills and headlines screaming of Japan's upside down trade balance, and they may change their minds.
As others have pointed out, this is a very complicated issue, and there is no clear and easy solution. Everything has it's consequences.
The good news is that the government is currently listening to people's fears, or at least they appear to be, and responding appropriately. Let's hope the average person on the street gets a taste of this and it becomes more of a habit in the future.
Posted in: Japan switches off final nuclear reactor
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gaijinfo
How to fight climate change:
Move to higher ground.
Posted in: Japan holds development conference in Africa
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gaijinfo
Japanese can't speak English because they don't practice speaking English. There's no other reason. Reading and writing English doesn't count as practicing speaking English. The same reason why most people in Croatia can't play golf. They don't make it a habit of playing golf.
Why they don't practice is another reason altogether. Maybe they don't want to? Maybe they don't enjoy it?
The idea that Japanese need English is the biggest myth of all. Maybe two percent will need it during their work, but that's about it. The rest of the citizens shouldn't be forced to practice something only a few percentage of the people actually need.
Posted in: Why are Japanese so bad at English?
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gaijinfo
The only real test would be to remove all tariffs, in all countries. Then let the people with the cash in their pockets decides which cars they want to buy, ford, toyota, bmw, or whatever.
Posted in: Ford asks steep price for Japan to join TPP talks
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gaijinfo
Nobody anywhere ever said otherwise. But there are ramifications to everything. Shutting down all nuclear power, might make people feel better, but it will drastically increase Japan's dependency on imports (something that anti TPP crowd is strongly against) and pretty much throws any promises of a "Green Japan" out the window.
If the anti-nuke crowd is OK with increasing Japan's dependence on foreign oil and coal, fine. If the anti-nuke crowd is OK with the economic ramifications of inefficient government spending on "green" energy projects, fine. If the anti-nuke crowd is OK with more expensive energy costs, as the price of coal and oil continue to go up due to the weakening dollar, fine.
Just don't get upset when Japan's economy is further weakened because of it. You can't have your cake and eat it too.
Posted in: Japan switches off final nuclear reactor
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gaijinfo
That's one of the biggest myths around. There's enough KNOWN reserves under the United States alone to last a couple hundred years. And every year, the KNOWN reserves increase, because technology makes finding more oil easier.
End of the world doom and gloomers have been around forever. And they always seem to think that "This time it's different!"
Posted in: Scientists call for rethink on consumption, population