JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION
-
- Translator
- ZAIHON, Inc. (日本財務翻訳株式会社), Tokyo
- Salary: ¥6.0M / Year Negotiable
-
- 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
-
- Assistant Language Teacher - TOKYO - late-March start
- Interac, Tokyo
- Salary: ¥230,000 ~ ¥255,000 / Month
0
herefornow
What was the first clue? Thank goodness the brain-trust behind this report are likely also the ones still running the clean-up operations at Fukushima. Otherwise Japan might be in real trouble.
Posted in: TEPCO internal report says quake caused little damage to Fukushima nuclear plant
-2
herefornow
Wow, a super-sized Maytag is going to solve all the contamination problems for Fukushima. How wonderful.
Posted in: Japan looks to giant washer to clean Fukushima debris
1
herefornow
nigelboy -- thanks for the laugh. But if you understood the difference between corporate governance and corporate greed, you really would agree with me. And it is too bad that Edano does not understand the difference either. Corporate governance has to do with the laws and procedures the country has in place to protect the rights of the share holders -- like the Sarbanes-Oxley law. Japan's are a joke. But, as you correctly point out, even good governance cannot stop outright greed. Respectfully, Japanese financial regulators feel it is their jobs to protect the banks and corporations, even if it means letting companies get away with shady practices. That is what gives Japan Inc. stability. Japan's most prized trait. Where U.S. regulators are charged with protecting the stock holders, even at the risk of bringing a company down. to set an example. Two totally different philosophies and Edano shows his ignorence by even putting the two in the same sentence.
Posted in: Edano says Japan's corporate governance on par with U.S.
0
herefornow
Pitttown Man -- great post. I'd add share holders and directors to the elements you listed for successful governance. But identifying the elements and getting Japan Inc. to change enough to allow any of them to function productively to establish true corporate governance are two vastly different things.
Posted in: Edano says Japan's corporate governance on par with U.S.
-3
herefornow
Fair enough, Japanese have every right to have a day to eat cake, go out to dinner, exchange gifts, and have sex. But why "Christmas"? Could just as easily be Halloween, Ground Hog Day or July 4th. In ten years in Japan, no one, and this article certainly does not, have an explanation for that.
Posted in: Christmas minus Christianity
2
herefornow
The man is clearly delusional. So long as most boards are made up almost excusively of insiders, Japan will never attain a reasonable level of corporate governance. It is an oxymoron.
Posted in: Edano says Japan's corporate governance on par with U.S.
0
herefornow
My birthday wish to her is that she accomplish just one meaningful thing in her life. Other royals round the world are doing great things for charity and humanitarian causes. Just look at Kate. Let's hope she comes out from behind all the walls and moats asshe grows older and actually does something meaningful.
Posted in: Princess Aiko marks her 10th birthday
-2
herefornow
Antonios -- nonsense. That is simply rationailzing the government knowingly endangering the lives/health of hundreds of thousands of people because they feared "choas". What would have happened if it had melted down all the way through and there had been mass radioactive contamination? Would 20% honest still been good enough for you? The bottom line if the government and the agency had developed any kind of a crisis management plan beforehand, then releasing all the facts could have been handled properly. And people would have responded ratioanally. And, "choosing to leave" at this point is moot, since the truth is now eight months too late.
Posted in: Study shows deeper meltdown than thought at Fukushima nuclear reactor
0
herefornow
Sorry, tmarie, my comment should have been directed at Antonio. Got confused because you used "bold" and not "quote".
Posted in: Study shows deeper meltdown than thought at Fukushima nuclear reactor
1
herefornow
timtak -- huh? This has nothing to do with a hostile takeover. This is about getting the current shareholders voting out the current board of directors. Ownership does not change.
"Proxy battles—in which like-minded shareholders join forces to remove the board—are rare in Japan, where big institutional investors typically have cosy relations with management."
And "cosy" is an understatement and is why this situation went on for over two decades. The Japan Inc. model is fatally flawed, and Woodford is making sure the whole world knows it.
Posted in: Woodford ramps up campaign to oust Olympus board
0
herefornow
Good. Time for the international community to call Iran's bluff. A line in the sand must be drawn.
Posted in: Britain orders all Iranian diplomats to leave UK
0
herefornow
From my years in Japan and dealing with major companies there, I concluded that there is "the truth" and then their is the Japanese version of the truth, since due to language barriers and cultural issues, Japanese businessmen tend only to hear what they want to, and ignore anything that runs counter to their wishes. Even written agreements, especially the Japanese versions, are vaguely worded to allow for wiggle room for them to get what they want. I think this guy will get chewed up and spit out by VW's lawyers if it gets to that point. Just look at how bad Toyoda-san did last year in front of the U.S. Congress.
Posted in: Suzuki chief promises 'truth' in Volkswagen dispute
1
herefornow
tmarie -- huh? It would appear that the international press was not producing "sensationalized articles" at all. In fact, the meltdown was as bad as some outside experts speculated it was, and shows how close TEPCO's/the government's delay in dumping water on the reactors -- you do remember that, right? -- came to causing a complete catastrophe. It would actually appear that the folks following the international press, and not the Japanese one being spoon-fed by Edano, had more accurate information on which to make decisions. And all those "flyjin" made potentially smart decisons and did not over-react to "sensational" coverage as many here on JT said.
Posted in: Study shows deeper meltdown than thought at Fukushima nuclear reactor
-2
herefornow
Really, what "exploring" is going on? All I see is the IHA fighting each and every suggestion of change, no matter how small.
Posted in: Prince Akishino says there needs to be discussion on retirement age for emperor
-2
herefornow
And the hallowing out of Japan continues. The inevitable result of relying too heavily on exports for too many years, and refusing to make the structural changes needed to make the Japanese domestic economy more efficient and competitive.
Posted in: Toshiba to close 3 semiconductor plants in Japan
-2
herefornow
So sad, on so many levels. Just proves once again that many elements of Japan society simply cannot grow up and leave the past and their seemingly ingrained xenophobia behind. Besides, if these folks would rather watch more horrible, cheaply produced Japanese variety shows, or yet another drama about the samurai, than some well-produced Korean shows, then you really must question their taste levels.
Posted in: Korean drama backlash
-2
herefornow
Stick a fork in him, he's done. Just the latest in the line of under-qualified, over-hyped wanna-bees that the Republican Party is trotting out. Palin, Buchmann, Perry, etc. Now it looks like old Newt may slip in by default. And he's got lots of skeletons in his closet -- including the over $1.5 million he got in consulting fees from Fannie Mae. Unbelievable.
Posted in: Woman alleges affair with presidential hopeful Cain
-1
herefornow
A perfect example of why the Japan Inc. model of inter-holdings is broken and will keep companies there from being competitive going forward -- on several levels. First off, Tepco should have invested that $2.0 billion in its own business, like in additional safety measures for plants like Fukushima, instead of KDDI stock. And because it didn't, the country is now in the midst of the world's second worst-ever nuclear disaster. (Kind of makes Tepco's argument that it could not afford those measures moot.) Second, investors don't buy shares of Tepco because they want to invest in KDDI. If they wanted KDDI stock they'd buy it, or a mutual fund that holds it. These inter-holdings mask the true perfomances of Japanese companies in regards return on capital, and will limit the country's ability to attract foreign investors as a result. Finally, when these investments go south, as happened with Olympus, the earnings of the company are hurt dramatically. Which, again, makes investing in Japanese companies much riskier due to this lack of transparency.
Posted in: TEPCO to sell KDDI stake to raise funds for compensation
0
herefornow
Wishful thinking. Hasn't happened in 20 years, so not likely to magically happen now. Especially since there is no strategy in place other than raising about every tax possible.
And, tranel, if you allow your economy to continue to be too dependent on exports for growth, then the problem is really created by Japan. You have to assume at some point conditions will change, and be prepared for that. Never happened.
Posted in: Japan economy faces 'severe situation,' warns BOJ chief
-1
herefornow
AKB48 is number 5, up 18 places. And supposedly its because of how they "lifted a weary nation's spirit". Yeh, right. Sorry, but that is pure nonsense. IMO it is because all those downloads by otaku men aimed at lifting something other than their spirit -- in the privacy of a local Internet cafe.
Posted in: Dentsu announces hit products in Japan in 2011