JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION

gyouza's past comments

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  gyouzaFeb. 13, 2012 - 10:02PM JST

  @torafusutorasan Thats pretty cool! I think if the point is that if the core music is strong enough, you don't need expensive studio time to get your talent heard.

  Posted in: Adele dominates Grammy ceremony, clouded by Houston's death

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  gyouzaFeb. 13, 2012 - 03:12PM JST

  Foo Fighters album recorded in the garage - way to go!!

  Posted in: Adele dominates Grammy ceremony, clouded by Houston's death

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  gyouzaFeb. 13, 2012 - 09:13AM JST

  The European debt crisis has helped Japanese banks rise in international credit standings as they remain relatively stable compared with their U.S. and European peers, according to a press report.

  So did Japanese institutions actually rise, or did all the others just fall?

  As measured by credit default swaps, the three domestic megabanks—Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, SMBC and Mizuho Corporate Bank—rank third, fourth and fifth in credit standings among Japanese, U.S. and European banks, the daily said. Since the Lehman crisis was fuelled by CDS', is being high in CDS rankings actually a good thing?

  Posted in: Japanese megabanks rise in credit standings

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  gyouzaFeb. 13, 2012 - 09:05AM JST

  Tokyo police have also announced that they intend to enforce the rules during high traffic density periods in the morning and evening of the 10th day of every month

  What an odd thing to "announce".

  Posted in: Police caution more than 10,000 in Tokyo for breaking new bicycle rules

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  gyouzaFeb. 11, 2012 - 10:23PM JST

  Carp!

  Some other oldies-but-goodies that I remember: refusal to import foreign-made skis because they are not made for the unique Japanese snow;

  I have only skied on Salomon and Atomic here over 18 years.

  I would love to buy a Ford S-Max, but they don't import them, why? Ford chooses to import US made cars that are not a patch on the European designed models. Only recently did they start importing the Kuga, but rather than take advantage of high yen and price competitively, Ford thought it could make inroads just by name alone. Another example of a huge opportunity just wasted because of short term greed.

  Japanese will choose cars that suit their market, not the US, they WILL buy foreign products if it suits them, just don't expect that it suits them because your standards are lower!

  Gambatte US car makers - there is an opportunity for you if you care!

  Posted in: U.S. cars do not fit Japan's market or Japanese consumers' requirements because of size, high fuel consumption and higher prices. They need to have a line-up that suits Japanese consumers' preferences.

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  gyouzaFeb. 11, 2012 - 09:02PM JST

  What has happened since 3.11? Lets not devalue the enormous efforts of the government and volunteers who have tried to return the communities destroyed by the tsunami to something close to a building site, ready for rebuilding. Didn't happen overnight, but the scale of the disaster dictated that it was always going to take some time. Read this, then state that nothing has been done, and that no one cares.

  http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/02/09/see-how-japan-has-rebuilt-in-the-11-months-since-the-earthquake-and-tsunami/

  My heart reaches out to all who have suffered - I can't imagine the sense of loss for many.

  Posted in: Tokyo activists demand nuclear power referendum

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  gyouzaFeb. 11, 2012 - 04:33PM JST

  No mention of the BMW recall announced recently i see and the US car makers recalls never get reported here either.

  Noted, but as a Japan interest site, German and US manufacturers may not qualify! Balance is good though!

  Posted in: U.S. safety regulators investigate Toyota cars over door fires

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  gyouzaFeb. 11, 2012 - 01:32PM JST

  I think I hear that based on this event, Mitsubishi are now reconsidering not ending production there.

  Posted in: Dutch workers down tools at Mitsubishi plant

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  gyouzaFeb. 10, 2012 - 10:37PM JST

  For this year, or previous years? Hopefully the latter, as you would hope that young couples are not planning what songs to sing on Feb 14 in a Karaoke box, there HAS to be better things to do right now! ;)

  Posted in: Songs by Namie Amuro, EXILE most popular for Valentine's Day

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  gyouzaFeb. 10, 2012 - 01:28PM JST

  Hmmm, "second floor" and "third floor" would have worked for me!

  Hope they don't drop the Oshiage name (i.e. "Oshiage - Sky Tree Mae" as it is nice to know where it is. Pity for a town to become anonymous!

  Posted in: Tokyo Sky Tree's two observation decks named

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  gyouzaFeb. 09, 2012 - 08:57AM JST

  Maybe this plant could benefit from a Bain Capital type to step up. At least the plant would stay open and the workers would have someplace to report to for work.

  How about US Government buying it? Look what they did for GM, turned that place around! ;)

  Posted in: Mitsubishi willing to sell Dutch plant for 1 euro if buyer keeps workers

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  gyouzaFeb. 08, 2012 - 10:12AM JST

  @ebisen

  At the first sign of trouble they are doing this

  This plant has failed under original owner (DAF), then under Volvo, then under a JV between Volvo and Mitsubishi, and now wholly owned by Mitsubishi. Not exactly the first sign of trouble is it? It seems to have been plagued by labour disputes, and on top of that, is making cars that aren't selling very well.

  Posted in: Mitsubishi willing to sell Dutch plant for 1 euro if buyer keeps workers

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  gyouzaFeb. 07, 2012 - 02:06PM JST

  And however lame the slogan is, this has probably raised more awareness than a "serious" campaign. People in Japan need to talk more about the issue of suicide, period.

  You might be right!

  Posted in: GKB47 suicide prevention slogan inspired by AKB48 criticized

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  gyouzaFeb. 07, 2012 - 01:59PM JST

  It was a krap attempt but the theory is not completely off - the campaign needs a "hook" in order to make people sit up and pay attention. Some people point to organisations like TELL and others as if they are the "official" sites for people who want to commit suicide. By that time it may be too late and in many cases, a colleague, friend, or family member can help IF they know what to look for and IF they actually look.

  Hope they come back with somethnig quick, and bear in mind the opposition are going pour cold water on anything.

  Posted in: GKB47 suicide prevention slogan inspired by AKB48 criticized

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  gyouzaFeb. 07, 2012 - 12:47PM JST

  DAF -> Volvo -> Mitsubishi

  Looks like no one could make money there, and also looks like a long history of bad union/management relations. Sad, but keeping it open would only seem to drain resource.

  Posted in: Mitsubishi Motors plan to end European production a blow to Netherlands

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  gyouzaFeb. 07, 2012 - 11:06AM JST

  In terms of his legal defense, he is lucky she was hit by 2 other cars. He can at least argue there is insufficient proof that he delivered the fatal hit; it could have been the subsequent cars.

  But if he hadn't hit her and knocked her down, would she have been lying in the road ready to be hit by the others?

  Posted in: Woman killed in hit-and-run involving three cars

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  gyouzaFeb. 07, 2012 - 10:38AM JST

  If you look at the map it connects nothing with nothing, and clearly created a bottleneck between Kasai and Kiba areas.

  Amongst others, it connects Narita directly with seaport cargo terminals. It should actually relieve the Kasai bottleneck. I hope so anyway.

  Article Unavailable

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  gyouzaFeb. 07, 2012 - 10:23AM JST

  Cool! Some moer detail on this would be great. Is there a press release or official name of an organisation involved available? This will be one of the biggest tragedies of 3.11, so many kids who had whole families taken away from them. Heartbreaking.

  Posted in: Tokyo community organizations build children's care facility in Iwate town

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  gyouzaFeb. 07, 2012 - 10:13AM JST

  If three cars hit her at such speed you can be pretty sure nobody even saw her approaching the street. You can also be sure that the victim was not exercising caution.

  I believe Japanese law states that if a person is on a crossing, or waiting to cross, then cars must stop. It really is that simple, and hence drivers should anticipate the need to stop when approaching any crossing. As inconvenient for drivers as that may seem, thats how it is. The article doesn't mention (yet) red lights - so that law -may- not have been relevant here.

  @Nicky - those zigzag lines are helpful, I agree. Japan has a similar 15m law where you shouldn't stop/park before any crossing but doesn't seem to be enforced too often. UK went silly to try to enforce rules 20 years back - double yellow line means "no parking" but a double red line means "absolutely no parking". The latter gets enforced every 15 minutes!

  Posted in: Woman killed in hit-and-run involving three cars

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  gyouzaFeb. 07, 2012 - 10:01AM JST

  i wonder if this bridge was really needed...

  Ever sat in endless traffic jams on Wangan expressway? Should take a lot of trucks off the intersection before Rainbow bridge. Fingers crossed they did the maths right!

  I think it is free by the way, it isn't part of expressway system and haven't heard of any toll to be applied.

  Article Unavailable

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