JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION
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Why do Japanese change their attitude when they communicate with foreigners?
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Confrontation
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U.S. Navy investigating how parts fell off aircraft near Atsugi
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California court to decide if SeaWorld whales are illegal 'slaves'
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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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gonemad
Noda is moving himself into a defensive position without need. If he continues like this, he will be gone faster than his predecessors. He should aggressively push for what he thinks is correct (which is joining the TPP) while at the same time start to address the necessary agricultural reforms, which become necessary before Japan can join. His task is to show farmers how Japan can achieve that they won't suffer.
Posted in: Noda questioned in Diet over his vague statements on TPP
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gonemad
sfjp330, what you write about the keiretsu is correct, but what is the relation to foreign car imports? I have never seen any meaningful car maker in any developed country that doesn't use it's own distribution. Can you go to a GM dealer in the US and order a new Toyota? Certainly not. All new cars they will sell you are, guess what, GM brands. What do you expect for Japan?
Posted in: Last year, Japan exported 1.5 million vehicles to the United States, while U.S. automakers exported just 8,000. Why aren't U.S. makers selling more in Japan?
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gonemad
Japan has to consider two things: the Yen will continue to rise - dramatically - when the Euro crisis worsens. Backing the Euro is the most effective way for Japan to fight the rising Yen exchange rates. How come all the people who complained that Japan does nothing about the exchange rate start complaining again when it actually does something?
The other thing is that Japan will probably need help in a not so distant future when speculators put their focus on Japan's own debt. It's not good to alienate those who will have to help you...
Posted in: Japan to keep helping EU bailout: Noda
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gonemad
sfjp330, please tell us which inspections US or foreign cars in general have to perform which Japanese makers don't have to do? Please tell me by what law any maker is forced to set up a complicated distribution system? Where does taxation discriminate foreign makers? Please come up with facts.
Posted in: Last year, Japan exported 1.5 million vehicles to the United States, while U.S. automakers exported just 8,000. Why aren't U.S. makers selling more in Japan?
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gonemad
herefornow, I'm serious. The Japanese Eco Points program was specifically designed to promote fuel efficient cars. It was open to any foreign makers. When you want to define what fuel-efficiency means, you have to apply certain measurement criteria. Every country does so and it is not suprising that the criteria differ depending on the typical usage conditions in each country. But US car makers thought it too much of a burden to go through the measurement procedures (here we are again with fixed costs and low sales volumes) and instead opted to press Japan on the political level. Finally Japan granted an exemption for low-volume imports that those cars don't have to conform to Japanese measurement procedures and can instead use the relaxed(!) US procedures. So actually those US cars get an unfair advantage in the Japanese market. Nobody cared much, because it applies only to low-volume imports. Now when the Eco Point program started, Japan restricted it to cars which passed the Japanese fuel efficiency measurement procedures. It's perfectly reasonable to apply the same rules for everybody and since we are in Japan, that they are the Japanese ones. Again, the US car makers used political pressure to keep their unfair advantage. This is not a story of Japanese market protection, but of the incredible arrogance of the US to bend the rules when it is in their favor. Cars are not the only example.
Please show me exactly where the taxes penalize foreign cars.
This is much more a reflection of company strategies vs market demand than anything else. Or do you want to discuss why Japanese and Korean makers can achieve good sales in Europe while US-made, US-designed cars only achieve negligible market share? So please stay with what is verifyable: which rules, which taxes or whatever discriminate against foreign car makers in Japan.
Posted in: U.S. senator criticizes Japan on auto trade barriers
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gonemad
Good move. Adobe makes some good software in general, but they have consistently shown that they are incapable to program security-sensitive applications. For that reason, I'm glad to see Flash disappear from the mobile world and hope the rest of the web will follow suit quickly.
Posted in: Adobe pulls plug on Flash for mobile
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gonemad
Sure Sony has been hit hard this year. But would the company have been profitable without? I have doubts. Four consecutive years of losses in product areas with very short life cycles doesn't speak for the management. There's a strong smell of lame excuses.
Posted in: Sony chief to fight on after 'annus horribilis'
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gonemad
ExportExpert, don't underestimate the problem. When the power steering fails in the moment you are slowly turning around a corner many people won't be able to handle the car properly. It takes a surprising amount of force to steer the car without the assistance of the power steering. I can tell you from first hand experience because I had a similar problem on my car (not a Toyota).
Posted in: Toyota recalls 550,000 cars worldwide over steering problem
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gonemad
I have asked the same question many times, in many places, to many different people. I never got an answer. What exactly are those non-tariff barriers? Isn't it strange that all the world talks about supposed non-tariff barriers but isn't even capable of naming them? Can somebody finally give some flesh to the bone?
To those quoting the price of US-made cars in Japan, please remember two things: price is determined by supply and demand and is not necessarily related to cost. Many companies selling goods in Japan rather like to keep sales prices higher in order to create a luxury image. And when you import cars, you have some fixed costs which you have to spread over the sales price of all the cars you sell. When you only sell a few cars, the fixed costs add up significantly to the total cost of the car.
Posted in: U.S. senator criticizes Japan on auto trade barriers
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gonemad
Can we really believe that they were 'just' trying to conceal losses which they made in the 90s? What kind of investments were that? Was it really investments or something else? Why did they wait so long to cover the losses?
Posted in: Olympus delays results amid probe; faces delisting
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gonemad
All these companies track users through their advertisement networks. Cooperation makes the situation worse. More and more users become aware of the tracking and block the advertisement pest. Unfortunately this goes at the expense of web site operators who offer useful services for free.
Posted in: Microsoft, Yahoo, AOL team up to sell Internet ads
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gonemad
Let's see which country grants him asylum when he flees his "crap country" (his own words)...
Posted in: Defiant Italian PM Berlusconi taken down by markets
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gonemad
In general, the system is not too bad in that it provides insights into the controversies inside each party as opposed to the solid blocks which have been formed by closed door negotiations in other countries. In practice it has developed into a huge mud slinging party, though the latter may be more attributed to the general decline of political culture in the US.
Posted in: What do you think of the drawn-out U.S. presidential election system whereby electoral votes determine who wins one year from now?
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gonemad
It is very difficult to compare the costs between different countries, because there are many differences in how the tax and insurance is calculated for each car or driver. From my own limited experience I would say the overall cost, means shaken + tax + insurance is cheaper in Japan than in my home country. I can't believe the numbers quoted in the article.
Posted in: Auto company execs, unions, dealers demand lower taxes
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gonemad
This statement makes only sense when you want to keep tensions high.
Posted in: Group of lawmakers calls off visit to N Korea
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gonemad
Doing a bit of extrapolation, it means we will see the next PM in April.
Posted in: Support rate for Noda cabinet drops to 47.1%
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gonemad
Reckless, thanks for the hint. I was not aware of the amendments of 2003 and later. This is important to know.
I wonder whether the term 'trade secret' as defined by the law would apply to the kind of information provided by Woodford?
Posted in: I think there are security issues in relation to Japan
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gonemad
Reckless, you cannot be arrested for breach of contract. It's not a criminal offence.
Posted in: I think there are security issues in relation to Japan
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gonemad
No. The currency is not the cause of the crisis. A pull-out of the Euro would probably not only mean bankruptcy for the country itself, but also the complete banking sector of that country as well as large parts of the industry. Due to the devaluation of the new currency all debts in external currencies will skyrocket. No new credits will make the necessary adjustments even more painful.
Posted in: Do you think countries on the verge of bankruptcy, such as Greece, should pull out of the eurozone?
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gonemad
What use is that money if they can't buy anything with it? What benefit should the own currency bring them? What Greece has to do in order to solve the debt crisis is to adjust the salaries to the (low) productivity. Whether it is done directly by reducing the amount paid in Euro or indirectly through the devaluation of the Drachma, the result is the same. What other benefit do you expect from a new currency?
Yes, they would deserve it. But practically, they will be bailed out by their respective governments.
It's rare, but once in a while we can agree on something...
Posted in: EU holds Greece crisis talks on eve of G20 meet