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
It seems every company is trying to improve picture quality with some new slogan. Now, if someone could invent a method to improve the quality of the content, that would be progress.
I doubt Japanese TV will be any more interesting when it is broadcast digitally.
Posted in: New AQUOS D TV series
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gaijintraveller
We all know that the fuel surcharge has been a huge scam. Since pump prices for petrol are what they were back the the 1970s, I can only assume that other fractions of petroleum are also back to 70s prices. As JAL and ANA seem to have to ask the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) permission to drop the charge, is it fair to assume the ministry is working in collusion with the airlines in this scam?
I suppose those working at the ministry have to think about their future and prepare for retirement. No doubt some will get jobs JAL or ANA.
Posted in: JAL, ANA to scrap fuel surcharges on international flights from July
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gaijintraveller
What is the effect of this in Japan? Many people here use YahooBB as their ISP. Most ISPs provide free webspace. YahooBB's free webspace is on Geocities. It is no more than a Geocities premium account that accepts ftp transfers.
So what is going to happen to YahooBB customers who have spent hours building a website and uploading it to Geocities?
Posted in: Yahoo! abandoning GeoCities
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gaijintraveller
The city has a lot to learn from overseas destinations. There is no nightlife to talk about and in the summer lifeguards order people to stop swimming at 5pm. The city also orders the umi-no-ie, the places selling food and drink, by the sea to close at 5.
On the positive side the sand is good and tetrapods are only around the fishing ports at either end.
Posted in: Seaside getaway just 90 minutes from Tokyo
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gaijintraveller
Masaky Ogasawara,this really is a well-written and amusing article. I enjoyed reading it.
Posted in: J-pop industry taking the music out of music business
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gaijintraveller
Tonino, the pizza restaurant that can be seen as train pulls in to Shimo-Takaido, is one of, if not the, best pizza restaurants in Japan. It is the best I have been to anyway.
Posted in: Tram tours backstreets of Setagaya
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gaijintraveller
Some airlines no longer charge the fuel surcharge. We are waiting for them to fly to Japan.
Copied from AirAsia's site. 3.
When does "No Fuel Surcharge" come into effect? A: "No Fuel Surcharge" is applicable to AirAsia and AirAsia X seats purchased from 11 November 2008 onwards.
Posted in: British Airways, VisitBritain campaign offers Y35,000 return fare from Tokyo to London
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gaijintraveller
In Japan a lack of legislation against misleading advertising exacerbates the problem. Basically, though, this is just a rip-off. IATA should ban this rip-off by what amounts to a cartel.
Posted in: Why aren't fuel surcharges on airfares coming down?
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gaijintraveller
Why is there even a fuel tax now when petrol is down to the price it was in the mid 1970s? I am sure jet fuel is also down in price.
This is just a rip-off.
Why doesn't a journalist ever ask why they are still adding dubious charges?
Posted in: British Airways, VisitBritain campaign offers Y35,000 return fare from Tokyo to London
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gaijintraveller
Disgruntled beer lover, the same could be said about most beer produced by large companies.
Posted in: Asahi says cheers to cheap beer
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gaijintraveller
Apsara, take a holiday in Cambodia or Vietnam. There many do wear pyjamas all day.
Posted in: Yamamoto brings sleepwear onto the street
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gaijintraveller
This is PR, not news. Surely, if it were news, the reporter would ask the question, "How much does it really cost?"
If anyone from Viva Macau or their PR company reads this, perhaps they would like to comment.
Posted in: Viva Macau Airlines offering cheaper tickets
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gaijintraveller
4A4350 is so obviously American. Unfortunately, there are few Americans who can discuss communism logically and not emotionally. It appears that most are as brainwashed as North Koreans.
Communism should not be condemned out of hand because of the excesses of Stalinism, Maoism or Kimism. Similarly, capitalism should not be condemned out of hand because of the excesses of the Bush administration.
The danger of condemning all communism is the assumption that anyone who opposes communism, Park, Marcos, Diem, Pinochet, to name but a few, is good and justifies support.
Let's listen to the communists and hear what they have to say. A true democrat should think, to quote Evelyn Beatrice Hall, "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it."
In Japan the JCP provides a most useful function. They oppose the LDP and often they are the ones who uncover corruption.
"We're run by the Pentagon. We're run by Madison Avenue. We're run by television. And, as long as we accept those things and don't revolt, we'll have to go along with the stream to the eventual avalanche. "As long as we go out and buy stuff, we're at their mercy. We're at the mercy of the advertiser. And, of course, there are certain things we need, but a lot of the stuff that is bought is not needed. We all live in a little village. Your village may be different from other people's villages, but we are all prisoners." Patrick McGoohan R.I.P.
Posted in: Red star rising: With global capitalism on ropes, communism gains in Japan
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gaijintraveller
If exchange rates were pegged, the result would be a certain amount of stability. The question we then need to ask is, "Can exchange rates be fixed?"
They can be fixed for a time but not for ever.
First we must consider what money is. On British notes there is a printed statement statement: "I promise to pay the bearer of this note the sum of ..." That tells us what money really is, just a promise. In effect, the value of that money is the value of the promise.
Fixing exchange rates is like fixing credit ratings. Just as the US car industry's credit rating has diminished, the US's credit rating has dropped. Just as you cannot expect your bank to finance your extravagant behaviour indefinitely, the rest of the world cannot be expected to finance the Bush government's wars and fiscal irresponsibility indefinitely.
The big question now is how much faith the rest of the world will have in the dollar under the Obama government.
The dollar is one of the most vulnerable currencies in the world as it is the most commonly used currency for international trade. So many dollars exist outside the US and so many of the dollars inside the US belong to people from other countries.
What would happen if China, for example, decided it no longer wanted to hold dollars?
A look back to the history of the pound during the years of the Harold Wilson government. The pound was pegged at $2.40 until 1967. The world did not believe it was worth that much. The government did everything in its power to maintain that value, but was unable to. Devaluation could not be staved off. The pound crashed.
That tells us what will happen if exchange rates are pegged. They will remain artificially stable for a time, only to be followed by a crash.
After saying that, we must consider the case for most of Europe where effectively exchange have been pegged. This is the effect of the Eurozone. The exchange rate between countries in the Eurozone is pegged at one Euro to one Euro.
Posted in: Would pegged exchange rates stabilize the global economy?
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gaijintraveller
There are many reasons. Too much reliance on a big budget, effects and stunts immediately comes to mind.
When they had to work with black and white, they really had to understand lighting to create mood and atmosphere. Most people in Hollywood now have never really worked with black and white. Look at a Hitchcock film, for example, to see how mood is created. Skills learnt using black and white were used in his colour films.
Nothing is left to the imagination any more. Effects and computer graphics are used to show monsters we used to have to imagine. We no longer have to imagine the actresses body as we are shown it. Hollywood no longer stimulates our imagination. Monsters in our minds are more frightening than any shown on screen.
Sometimes, I say most Hollywood movies would be better if they were five minutes shorter. The last five minutes are generally spent explaining everything so that there is nothing left to imagine. A notable exception to this was Basic Instinct. What made that a great film was that we were never told who the killer really was: we had to use our imagination and when we left the cinema we argued about it.
Finally, there is the trivialisation of dialogue. Hollywood aims at a world market. As a result, scripts are written so that it is not really necessary to understand the dialogue or even English for that matter to be able to appreciate the film. Thus, by aiming for the lowest common denominator Hollywood misses the mark.
Let's hope that with it now being possible to produce a film with a much smaller budget using digital video cameras and internet distribution, smaller companies will show the giants what can be done.
Perhaps, a true happy ending would be the end of the Hollywood stranglehold on the business.
Posted in: Why are Hollywood remakes of classic films, "The Day the Earth Stood Still" being a recent example, generally inferior to the originals?
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gaijintraveller
So when is the fuel surcharge ripoff going to stop and when are travel agents going to advertise real prices?
Posted in: 2009 will be the year of the travel deal
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gaijintraveller
If Osaka people love their food, why do they queue for an hour to eat American food?
Posted in: Hundreds line up for an hour at Osaka McDonald's for Quarter Pounder debut
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gaijintraveller
USARonin, the man is not a coward. It takes a brave man to hurl a shoe, which is unlikely to be fatal, at a man surrounded by armed heavies. What was he supposed to do to make his point? Challenge Bush to fisticuffs?
No doubt you consider people who drop bombs on civilians from planes or get others to do it for them are brave.
Regarding legality, I suppose nothing is illegal to a President who considers himself and his administration above the law and not restricted by international treaties such as the Geneva convention.
Posted in: Iraqi judge says shoe-throwing reporter was beaten
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gaijintraveller
Have any Japanese companies offered employees one or two months unpaid holiday?
The problem is some people are unemployed and others have too much work and not enough free time. Let every employee work less instead of firing.
Posted in: Japanese workers face horror of mass firing era
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gaijintraveller
What is the solar power used for? Daytime lighting? Maybe turning off unnecessary lights in the daytime saves as much.
Posted in: Japan launches first solar cargo ship