JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION
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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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- FT English Teachers for Kids - Osaka
- Kohgakusha Co., Ltd. （株式会社興学社）, Osaka
- Salary: ¥255,000 ~ ¥275,000 / Month Travel Expenses, Encouragement of Japanese learning*
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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
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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
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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
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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
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herefornow
Yup, I'm sure looking forward to celebrating "Kurisumasu" again this year. In fact I spent the last two days putting up all my Kurisumasu decorations. But I'll pass on the KFC, thanks.
Posted in: The KFC-Christmas connection in Japan
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herefornow
Captures the essence of much more of Japan than just rice farming. Hope it is not too late for Japan to make the needed changes and become truly competitive again on a global basis.
Posted in: Some rice farmers see TPP as window of opportunity
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herefornow
Shame that this woman, who has been working for over 30 years for gender equality, is still less than 1% of the executives in Japan. One-tenth the level of other major economies. She will never see something even close to her goal of some reasonable level of gender equality in mangement ranks in Japan in her lifetime. Things truly do move awfully slowly in Japan. And don't think executives from major multi-national companies, especially female ones, don't notice the almost complete lack of women in management in Japan. It sends an immediate signal to those folks that Japan is still a dinasaur in many ways.
Posted in: Shiseido exec fights for gender equality in Japan
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herefornow
SamuraiBlue -- really. Well go ahead and pick just one part of my post and refute it. Betta don't.
Posted in: Mudslinging battle raging at top of Yomiuri Giants baseball club
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herefornow
The fact that the same company, run by the same man, owns both the team and the country's largest paper creates an obvious conflict of interest. Of course the team, and both its successes and failures are going to be covered in adoring terms. This insular environment, so very typical of many Japanese entities, only allows for positive feedback and a perception that everything is great, and why much needed changes are never made. And, as always, the public suffers because they are served up a mediocre product at a ridiculously high price.
Posted in: Mudslinging battle raging at top of Yomiuri Giants baseball club
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herefornow
And the reality of being an "international" company is finally going to hit Olympus and lots of other Japanese board rooms. Real shareholders with legal rights, and the FBI and UK authorities probing their businesses. Japan Inc. is either going to have to make radical changes, or die an ugly death. They have ignored corporate governance/fiduciary responsibility as long as they can.
Posted in: Olympus investor files suit in U.S. court
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herefornow
The first post, and IMO, the only one needed.
And, timtak, your usual sematics to try to defend a indefensible activity is more than just annoying in this case. It is downright insulting. This is not a movie "about" a murderer. It is a movie written BY a murderer. And, as a result, in some manner, will make him more sympathetic and human than he deserves. Anyone who supports this movie by helping to produce it, distribute it, or go see it, needs to check their moral compass -- big time. My only hope is that women's rights groups will organize and have mass picketing at any theatre that chooses to show it, like the right-wing groups do when a movie is produced that they don't like. But, we are talking about Japan here, so that will never happen as this was a foreign woman who was the vistim, and all the Japanese women are too busy shopping for the latest LV bag to be concerned about movies that makes a "hero" out of a killer and rapist.
Posted in: Book by killer of British woman to become film
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herefornow
888 -- LOL. You said he should go because he is "not clean". So who is prejudging??? And, apparently that is strictly based on "reports" of him being not "the most liked person". That means he's not clean? Please, stop clutching at straws and throwing unsubstantiated dirt on him simply because he exposed decades of Japanese management-led fraud. If you go back to when this situation broke, everything he has said has proven to be correct, while the Olympus management has done nothing but lie and attempt to hide the extent of the crimes. As I said, I doubt he is the best guy to run Olympus going forward, since the rank-and-file employees, whom he would need to rally, have been poisoned by the internal PR machine to believe he is the traitor, rather than the board. But don't stoop to creating falsehoods to defend your position.
And anglootaku and T-rex, your posts leave me completely speachless -- "regardless of shady dealings" and "Japan needs to be Japanese". Unbelievable. With that kind of thinking, Japan's slide into mediocrity and irrelevance, which is clearly underway, will only accelerate. Enjoy the ride down while you steadfastly defend fraud and xenophobia.
Posted in: Woodford tells entire Olympus board to quit; says he's open to returning
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herefornow
888naff -- What do you mean?. Woodford should possibly go, because his exposing the problems has made him a devisive figure and might make it impossible fo him to to lead the company effectively -- especially since he is a foreigner. But there is no evidence supporting a claim that he is not "clean". He's he one who brought in the outside auditors in the first place, because he smelled something was wrong.
Posted in: Woodford tells entire Olympus board to quit; says he's open to returning
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herefornow
No news here. Posters have been saying this for years here on JT but the Japanophiles keep saying we're crazy. Shame that this issue isn't more of a focus of Japanese politics. The U.S. debt reduction talks may have ended in failure, but at least they focused attention on the issue. Japan needs to do the same, rather than have some silly made-for-TV hearings headed by Renho to try to make the public believe the issue is being taken seriously. All the while issuing more bonds to cover the re-building.
Posted in: Japan risks slow slide toward debt-funding strains: Fitch
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herefornow
Depends on how the culture, and even the couple, define "healthy". Personally I think it is very important because I feel physical intimacy is critical to a strong relationship. But much of Asia, which has almost 1/2 the word's population does not feel that way. Nor does the Muslim faith. So, there is no "right" answer.
Posted in: How important to a healthy relationship are overt displays of affection such as hugging, kissing and holding hands?
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herefornow
Smartacus -- not really. Since there are no outside directors and no requirements in Japan to prepare minutes for publication to share holders, it is likely they will adjorn the meeting very quickly and Woodford will never even speak. And the company probably already has a statement drafted to release saying that because of the on-going investigations, both internal and the ones by various authorities, they could not discuss it at the meeting. We're talking about Japan and the same guys who canned him a month ago.
Posted in: Fired CEO wants Olympus to come clean; plans to attend board meeting
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herefornow
For the years I raised my son as a single parent, I gave him a big hug and kiss on the cheek first thing every morning and one before heading off to bed. And even though he is now 24, I do the same thing when I see him once or twice a week, even at his place of work, in front of his colleagues. I thank God every day that we have that kind of relationship and that he is comfortable with expressing his emotions with me. It may be the best thing I did for him as a parent. As Makoto says, every culture and every relationship is different, and there is no right or wrong way to display affection, but the Japanese lack of physical closeness was never something I could adjust to.
Posted in: Love without words
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herefornow
The story of Japan and why justice is rarely, truly served in there. Too many inter-connections between companies, banks, politicians, bureaucrats and even the yakuza. And the public always gets the short-stick because all these other interests justify their crimes as being for the public's good.
Posted in: Ousted Olympus CEO Woodford arrives in Japan to meet investigators
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herefornow
SK would be nuts to do this deal, since they know both China and Japan would cheat like crazy on it anyway. Neither one has any real intention of truly opening their markets. And they'd always be the third-wheel in it. Besides, SK just approved an FTA with the U.S., so they need to absorb the impact of that first.
Posted in: China presses for FTA with S Korea, Japan
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herefornow
Elbuda -- huh? All timtak is saying, in his usual eloquent way, is that it is OK for a publicly traded company to use the yakuza to steal from their own share holders and deceive them and the authorities for two decades because it was convenient. And the yaks are good at that kind of thing. That is the most pathetic attempt to defend a criminal activity I've ever seen -- even for Japan.
Posted in: Olympus scandal indirectly linked to yakuza: report