JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION
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- Financial Advisor
- Select Asset Management KK, Tokyo
- Salary: ¥100,000 ~ ¥999,999 Paid Training Commission Based
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- Corporate Business English Trainers
- ACT Systems, Inc.（株式会社アクト・システムズ）, Tokyo
- Salary: ¥269,500 ~ ¥280,000 / Month
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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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gaijintraveller
A decline in the standard of maths and kanji is a direct result of the use of computers. Most people have little need for mental arithmetic. Even cashiers don't need it as they rely on the till to do the calculations.
It is also not so necessary to learn kanji if one uses a keyboard.
However, the real reason for the dumbing down is that as there are fewer students, educational establishments are dropping standards so that fill as many of the places they have on offer. Most of these establishments are primarily businesses selling qualifications. Education is taking second place to profit.
Posted in: The dumbing down of Japanese students
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gaijintraveller
Half the price of conventional products? As this is the sort of thing people get from 100 yen shops, half the conventional price would be 73 yen and that would include staples.
The interesting thing about the article is that it comes from Vietnam, which is starting to become the next Asian tiger. "Made in Vietnam" will soon be commonplace.
Posted in: Anyone need a stapler?
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gaijintraveller
Does this only happen in the US? No recall in Japan? Does this mean that floor mats were not a problem after all?
Posted in: Dealers swamped by worried Toyota drivers in U.S.
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gaijintraveller
The Prisoner, Patrick McGoohan's masterpiece. Set in a rural village in Wales surrounded by loudspeakers, I can't help wondering if it inspired Japan to copy the setup with endless advisory announcements, "Don't forget to take your umbrella, it will rain today."
A theme continued throughout the series was individualism against joining the group and acceptance of the behaviour expected by those in charge.
Anyone living in Japan should watch it.
Posted in: What are your most fondly remembered TV shows?
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gaijintraveller
Limbaugh makes a stupid comment and it is called news. That is strange. I suppose it is only news to Americans. The rest of the world would consider just about everything said by him to be stupid.
Posted in: Limbaugh's Haiti comments 'really stupid,' says White House
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gaijintraveller
"Fresh fish and meat are purchased directly from the region where the company headquarters are located."
So where are the company headquarters? Thailand, Australia, China? Fish and meat produced in Japan are expensive.
Posted in: 50-yen 'izakayas' emerge for cash-strapped workers
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gaijintraveller
The train is one of the few places that many men come into close contact with females and are not afraid to be near them. Most male university students are afraid to sit next to a girl in class. I know this sounds strange to foreigners, but perhaps it says something about the Japanese male.
Allowing schoolgirls to wear trousers would reduce schoolgirl molestation, but that might be considered too radical a change by the schools.
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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gaijintraveller
Maybe the Americans just don't understand that West Indians are not Americans but a people highly respected for the cricket skills.
Posted in: KFC pulls Australian ad over U.S. racism complaints
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gaijintraveller
If they were serious about security, they would fingerprint Japanese. After all terrorists in Japan historically always seem to be Japanese. That is especially true with attacks on Narita airport.
Posted in: What do you think of the level of security at airports you have been to recently?
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gaijintraveller
I have a Sony Ericsson phone. Its got "cutting edge" Japanese technology. Let me explain what that is.
It has an alarm that you cannot hear when you are asleep or in a noisy place.
It has a music player that won't play mp3 files.
It has email capability to receive an attached pdf file, but you cannot read it or forward it as an attachment to a computer that can.
It has text messaging. As it is an Au phone, it is only possible to send text messages to other Au phones. It is not standard SMS. When I am out of Japan, I have no trouble sending text messages to other countries, that is except Japan, of course. I have an Au because Docomo and Softbank connections are notoriously bad in the area I live in.
It works in other countries. I asked where I put the SIM card which I purchase in another country. "Eh, SIM card? Nan desu ka?" It may work in other countries, but only if the call is routed via Japan. In other countries I just buy a SIM card, which probably costs less than one call on my Japanese phone, and put it in my old Nokia.
It has 1 seg TV. I think that works, but it is not worth having.
It has predictive typing, but I wish its predictions were as good as my Nokia's, which is a really old model.
That is Japanese cutting edge phone technology.
Posted in: Free local TV soon to be available on cell phones
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gaijintraveller
"They said the company armed some of its workers in Afghanistan despite U.S. military documents that prohibited them from carrying guns."
It seems as if the company bears some responsibility, too.
Who was actually killed? People in the car? This seems important, but we are not given these details, but then, as they were not American, I suppose they were not considered that important, just more collateral damage as they say.
Although the President of the U.S.A. has changed, it seems little else has. It seems the Nobel peace prize winner still uses Blackwater mercenaries. Only the names have changed.
Posted in: 2 ex-Blackwater guards charged in Afghan killings
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gaijintraveller
Regardless of whether whaling is right or wrong, deliberatley ramming another boat is without a doubt wrong. Refusing to answer an SOS is also wrong. The captain of at least one ship should lose his Master's licence.
Posted in: Which side do you think looks more in the wrong following Wednesday's clash between Sea Shepherd and Japanese whalers?
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gaijintraveller
I agree with Smithinjapan. Just as prisons are a training ground for criminals, Guantanamo is a training ground for fighters against the U.S.A. Some might say they are joining a war against terror, the war of terror the U.S. is carrying out in support of a corrupt regime run by an oilman in their country in the hope the U.S. can get access to oil from F.S.U. republics.
Goddog comment "legitimately plug em" is interesting. If the Taliban and Al Qaeda, when they were supported by the CIA, legitimately plugged invading Russians , who is legitimately plugging who now?
Posted in: More terror suspects returning to fight after Guantanamo release
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gaijintraveller
Adaydream, those working for the CIA are hardly innocent. Who was it who encouraged the Taliban to get the Russians out of Afghanistan?
Which wars 50 years ago are you referring to? The innocent were targeted in the second world war, the Korean war, the Vietnam war and every other war you care to mention.
Posted in: 8 CIA employees, 5 Canadians killed in attacks in Afghanistan
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gaijintraveller
People assume that big hotels are safe places to eat at. They also assume that small family restaurants and yatai are less safe. If anything, the reverse is true. In the smaller places the cooking is done by the owners. They don't want their customers to get sick because they don't want to lose customers as lost customers equals lost income.
The kitchens in big hotels are staffed mainly by people on minimum wage. They don't care if customers get sick. Also, everything is portion controlled and carefully counted. If you simply throw away some food because it smells strange, you may have to pay for it out of your own pocket. Asking permission to throw something away is much more trouble than just serving it.
Not so long ago I read an interview with the TV celebrity chef, Anthony Bourdain. He was asked if he worried about getting sick when he ate street food. He said the he had no worries about street food, and added that when the camera crew got sick, it was usually after the buffet breakfast at a chain hotel.
"This food smells a bit off." "Don't worry, the wedding group will be too drunk to notice."
Posted in: 52 suffer food poisoning at Yokohama InterContinental Hotel
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gaijintraveller
It looks very traditional, but I can't help wondering why they didn't write Happy Christmas on top with mayonnaise.
Posted in: Sushi Christmas cake
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gaijintraveller
In Japan a trained dog is rare, a properly trained dog even rarer. Another rarity is Japan is properly trained children. This article does not tell us how the children behaved before they were bitten. Is it possible that one of them attacked a dog with a baseball bat? If so, the little monsters deserved to be bitten.
Most children, and adults for that matter, in Japan do not know how to treat or behave with animals. That is the problem.
Like the rest of nature, they believe animals should not be given any freedom. This belief can make dogs dangerous. A dog that is changed up most of its life or otherwise can become dangerous.
So who is to blame? The owner of the dog, the children or the dog itself? I have no idea and the article give us no idea of the true situation. It just gives us the standard Japanese response: you cannot blame the kid even if it is a monster or the owner as he is Japanese, so it must be the dogs that are bad.
Posted in: Seven dogs bite five students in Mie school grounds
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gaijintraveller
It is extraordinary how tasteless and tacky many products are. What an awful colour for a camera. Who are they targeting? Constructions workers?
Posted in: Leica Hermes edition camera
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gaijintraveller
Is it actually coffee? I cannot see the word "coffee" anywhere on the package. What language is caffe with that accent on the e?
My guess is that this was produced by chemists not underage,underpaid children.
I suspect it contains almond and coffee flavouring. At least, the company seems honest enough not to call it coffee although I doubt it earns the title Espresso.
Posted in: Cafe Latte Almond Mocha
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gaijintraveller
Smithinjapan, I disagree with you when you say, "There's a very rapid increase in these incidents." However, I do believe there is a rapid increase in these cases. The difference is that now girls are taking more action. They are less afraid to act, and they are more likely to find action taken.
Many years ago I dragged a salaryman who tried to molest my wife to a koban. The police were useless and would take no action. They explained to me that he was drunk so it was excusable. I asked them if they found me driving my car not dangerously but after I had had only a few drinks, would that be all right. They could not see my point.
I understand why, in the past anyway, women did not go to the police and report such cases.
Posted in: Cop arrested for molesting woman on train