JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION
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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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- Full-time English Teacher - Osaka
- Epion English Language Schools, Osaka
- Salary: ¥200,000 ~ ¥250,000 / Month Depending on your ability and experience
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- Part-time English Teacher - Osaka
- Epion English Language Schools, Osaka
- Salary: ¥10,000 ~ ¥15,000 / Day Depending on how many days a week are worked
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gaijintraveller
How about warnings over public speaker systems?
"Be careful if you go out today. It is hot (in case you didn't notice)."
Seriously, I think the heat problem in Japan is air conditioning. Should you dress for the inside or our outside temperature? Dress appropriately for the outside temperature and you will freeze indoors and on the train.
Also, water consumption is a problem. Some people, especially old people with no income, may not want to pay 100 yen or more for water, a drink which always used to be free. Free water fountains in buildings and at stations are no longer commonplace as selling water has become such a profitable scam.
How many of these deaths were really caused by heatstroke? Many were probably caused heart attacks or just age.
Personally, I don't like air conditioning. In this weather fans and open windows are sufficient, but then I live in the countryside and not in a noisy city, so I can open the windows.
Perspective, I use little salt and drink lots of liquids such as water or fruit juice. I agree with your opinion.
Posted in: What can be done to lower the number of deaths from heatstroke?
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gaijintraveller
How can you possibly bake half a loaf? For it to be half a loaf, you have to bake a full one first and then cut it in half.
My cheap Chinese breadmaker can make half sized loaves and loaves with 50% rye with no problem. Klein2 is right.
One of the defining characteristics of what we call French bread is the shape. I am sure the breadmaker does not produce a baguette-shaped loaf.
Foxie, this is for the Japanese market. It will therefore not produce a Paris-style crust, but instead the crust that Japanese people expect, and if the French bread from a bakery is packed in plastic as it so often is in Japan, that means leathery not crisp.
Posted in: Home bakery
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gaijintraveller
Wada may not welcome foreigners, especially those with video cameras. It is a whaling town.
Onjuku's white sand is only white in comparison with most of the other beaches. It is much darker than the sand you find on many beaches in S.E. Asia. Still, it is not bad for a Japanese beach. The crowded parts are around the beach restaurants. Other parts never get crowded.
Onjuku hits tourists for 1,000 yen to park during the peak season.
Posted in: Awa Kamogawa: One of Chiba’s new surfing hotspots
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gaijintraveller
I don't like people shouting at me. Why do Japanese waiters and waitresses have to shout at me when they are standing less than a metre away from me?
I agree with those who complain about a lack of flexibility. One day I was refused iced coffee in a coffee shop one hot day.
"Do you have coffee?"
"Yes."
"Do you have ice?"
"Yes."
"So can I have iced coffee, please?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"It's October."
"So can I have a cup of coffee and a glass with some ice in it."
"No."
Posted in: What are some differences you have observed between waiters and waitresses in restaurants and cafes in Japan and other countries and also the way in which customers treat them?
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gaijintraveller
Perhaps the instigators of JR's endless advisory messages could offer some suggestions.
Why having whirring noises? Wouldn't it be so much more Japanese to have "Be careful, there is a hybrid or electric car in the area. Do not walk in the road. It is dangerous as you could be hit by a car or other moving vehicle" repeated ad nauseum through speakers mounted in the car. Coming to think of it, the same message could be repeated through speakers mounted on every utility pole in the country.
Posted in: Quiet hybrids: An end to their sounds of silence?
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gaijintraveller
Zenny11, if you want good Italian pizza made with Italian flour, try Tonino's at Shimotakaido. Tony, who comes from Ischia, insists on fine ingredients. http://www.pizzeriatonino.it
Posted in: A taste of Italy
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gaijintraveller
A friend told me that his contract specifically forbad yakuza, prostitutes and foreigners from staying in his apartment. It seems there was some flexibility (case by case)in this rule as he was a foreigner.
Posted in: Why Japanese property managers are so strict on renting apartments
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gaijintraveller
I completely agree with those who say cost is the problem. As TheQuestion says, it is just not cost-effective. Spending money on insulation you will recover your costs in a year or two. It will take about ten years to recover the cost of a solar unit and then it will need replacing. For many people painting walls white and not using lights in the daytime is a much better solution than expensive solar panels which will only power a couple of light bulbs.
The white paint idea will not work for Japanese people as they seem unhappy with natural light and insist on turning lights on in the daytime, even going to the extreme of shutting out natural light with blinds on sunny days.
TheFu says Panasonic are addressing the problem of cost. I think it is the Chinese who will do that.
The most cost-effective way to utilise solar energy at the moment is for water heating, and the Chinese are leading in this market, too.
Chinese solar water heaters are much cheaper than Japanese models and many manufacturers are willing to ship just one. I wonder if any readers have imported one. I have been considering doing so.
Posted in: Solar power
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gaijintraveller
Compare this action with that of North Korea. Which is the rogue nation? It seems hard to that North Korea is, but Israel isn't.
Article Unavailable
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gaijintraveller
Let's not forget that Americans used to be upset by straight sexuality not so long ago. Elvis Presley was shown on television from the waist up because his hips were considered too sexy. Jimi Hendrix was knocked off a Monkey's tour because his act was considered obscene.
Christians can be just as prudish and narrow-minded as Muslims. Don't blame Islam.
Posted in: Elton John performance in Morocco raises outcry
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gaijintraveller
Unless I am mistaken while your engine is running and you are in the car, legally you are not parked. Turning the engine off can make you legally parked and therefore liable for a ticket. Somebody told me that is why taxi drivers leave their engines running when they sleep in their cab.
Also, regarding Mercedes-Benz, these are the cars of choice for yakuza, which could explain why the owner thought nobody would steal it. Who would dare steal a yakuza car? Sometimes the police are even afraid to ticket them.
Posted in: It’s time to penalize drivers who leave their motors running
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gaijintraveller
Can someone be fined for smoking when there is no smoke? I suspect its relation to the real thing will be similar to the relation between zero alcohol beer and real beer.
This could be something like nicotine gum or nicotine patches that has been repackaged so that it looks and feels more like a cigarette. Will it result in mouth cancer?
Posted in: Smokeless tobacco product goes on sale
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gaijintraveller
Students have been led to believe that if they pay enough money, they will learn to speak English. However, to achieve the results that they require, they must work hard as well, and most are not prepared to do this.
Simply handing 500,000 yen to a business that claims to be a school will not miraculously provide fluency. If it did, I would happily part with 5,000,000 and become fluent in ten languages.
The teachers should not be maligned for the shortcomings of the schools like Nova that spend money on advertising and location instead of providing quality education.
The students themselves and the Japanese education system also deserve some blame. Students have been taught not to make mistakes with the result they are afraid to even try. If the Japanese education system taught them to learn from mistakes, they would not be afraid to make an effort to speak.
Posted in: Why is teaching at English conversation schools in Japan such a maligned profession by some people?
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gaijintraveller
"Along with room and board, the interns receive a monthly stipend of 110,000 yen." Is this really training or just a way to get cheap labour from other countries? "We’re happy to have them as long as they work hard."
Posted in: Tottori struggles to keep population from shrinking further
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gaijintraveller
If the watch will receive standard SMS text messages, that would be an innovation in Japan. My au telephone won't. It only receives au's non-standard cmail, which means it only receives text messages from au phones.
Posted in: Text message watch
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gaijintraveller
This will be a great help to criminals such a pickpockets.
Posted in: Pocket balance
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gaijintraveller
The problem with Lonely Planet is that it has become too popular. It recommends quiet and remote places, but as soon as they are recommended by Lonely Planet, they become crowded and noisy. Lonely Planet tells you where you should have gone five years ago. Many of the recommended places also feel that they no longer have to care about customers because they will get the business anyway.
Lonely Planet is good for background information, but not up-to-date information.
Posted in: Which is more useful, a guidebook or a travel app?
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gaijintraveller
Why was the man's name omitted in the Japanese media? Certainly, it was not because he was underage.
Posted in: Sleazy English sensei avoided suspicion for years
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gaijintraveller
Interesting article. It coincides with my ideas.
I have just returned from an overseas trip. I saw some bamboo flooring which looks very nice and I hope to sell it over here. I should have my samples soon.
Posted in: Go green and switch to bamboo
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gaijintraveller
In fact there is very little fresh fish in Japan: it is nearly all frozen. If you want fresh fish, go to South East Asia and visit the fish restaurants where the fish swim in tanks. For crab go to Kep in Cambodia where it goes straight from the sea to your plate via a wok or grill.
Most tempura is oily. Most soba is factory made. There are a few exceptions. Where I live, most restaurant food is so salty that I cannot eat it. In a few I can get them to reduce the salt content so that the food becomes edible.
Good food is a rarity here and it is becoming rarer as small family-run restaurants are being replaced by chains and family restaurants which produce standardised food which is substandard.
Also, the "fresh" vegetables are usually either imported or grown in greenhouses. Use of agricultural chemicals here is generous, too.
There are too many myths about Japan.
Posted in: How well founded is Japan's gastronomic pride?