JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION
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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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- Translator
- ZAIHON, Inc. (日本財務翻訳株式会社), Tokyo
- Salary: ¥6.0M / Year Negotiable
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hokkaidoguy
"Smith stopped short of replying to the request, only saying Australia wants to resolve the dispute through dialogue to avoid straining relations."
Hang on...
He refused to enter into dialogue on the grounds that he wants to resolve the dispute through dialogue - am I reading that right?
That's just nutty.
Posted in: Okada asks Australia to help stop attacks by anti-whalers
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hokkaidoguy
“You can’t trespass in almost any other national park in the world that’s made for people,...
Every national, provincial, and state park in Canada and the USA requires that you get a permit to film for commercial purposes. If you don't have a permit, you will be charged with trespassing (among other things).
Posted in: 'The Cove' director risks arrest to come to Tokyo
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hokkaidoguy
The Prado is sold as the Lexus GX in the US, and has been since 2002.
Posted in: Toyota launches redesigned Land Cruiser Prado
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hokkaidoguy
RockBalls -
I couldn't agree more.
It's funny. I hear the same talk from foreigners out here from time to time - they seem to think that every 4x4 is a street queen. What they don't realize is just how many of the drivers they're scoffing at are spending their weekends trials driving, fly-fishing, snowboarding, skiing, surfing, climbing, and on and on. Just because it's clean, doesn't mean it doesn't get used. And just because you've never been there, doesn't mean no one else has either.
Posted in: Toyota launches redesigned Land Cruiser Prado
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hokkaidoguy
hoserfella - if you've been watching TV lately, both TBS and NTV have given coverage to this press event on the nightly news. So, yes, I think they would touch this story with a 10 foot pole.
Posted in: Star of Taiji dolphin-hunt film wants to win over Japan
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hokkaidoguy
If he's really serious about "winning over Japan", he should do more to actually engage the Japanese media. Promote the film, as it were.
This latest trip has been almost exclusively for the benefit of the foreign media (note the AP copyright on this piece) - which promotes the movie everywhere but Japan. "Getting the word out", and making a handsome profit at the same time.
Recently he's been playing up the angle that it's about saving the children from mercury poisoned meat - yet his efforts to get this tidbit out have been aimed everywhere but at Japan. The Australian media, the British media, the American media... everywhere but Japan.
I guess he makes more money with an imagined conspiracy. "The film they won't show in Japan" kind of thing.
Posted in: Star of Taiji dolphin-hunt film wants to win over Japan
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hokkaidoguy
Mittsu - police should shut roads off late at night for them to do so.
Out here in the sticks, drifters tend to "shut down" the roads themselves for late night/early morning runs, usually long stretches of rural winding road. Cars are posted at either end of a stretch of good road, everyone makes sure that the road is clear, and a text is sent from either end to the drivers if a car is approaching the "closed" stretch. It works quite well in terms of avoiding both the cops and potential accidents with oncoming traffic. I've never heard of any accidents, and the only damage tends to be a lot of rubber left in the turns.
Or so I've heard. I certainly am not involved in such illegal activities. Man of my age powersliding around in the mountains at sunrise? Harumph. No, sir. Not me.
Posted in: Drift gang leader, 19 others arrested
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hokkaidoguy
I think it's a good idea - and hopefully they'll expand the program over time to include more everyday products.
Perhaps a few points for buying things grown or produced in a 50km radius of wherever you are living might be a good place to start.
Posted in: What do you think about the eco-point registration system, which starts July 1, in which consumers who purchase government-designated environmentally friendly refrigerators, television sets and air conditioners can apply for eco-points and later exchange them for other goods and services?
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hokkaidoguy
bamboohat-
What reasoning is that?
The WHO criteria for a pandemic: - A newly emergent disease - Causes serious illness - Easily transmitted between humans - Transmission levels are sustained.
Explain how the common cold fits those criteria.
Posted in: WHO raises new-flu alert to highest level, declares global pandemic
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hokkaidoguy
Here's a list of all the current territorial disputes in the world:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Listofterritorial_disputes
Feel free to do your own checking on all of them, if you're one of those people who doesn't trust wikipedia. But have a look anyways.
This issue between Japan and Russia is hardly unique in the world.
It's also got absolutely nothing to do with the UN - whose official position on territorial disputes is that it's between the nations involved to resolve the claims, unless both parties request international mediation or it's the cause of a shooting war (in which case mediation is backed with peacekeepers and so forth. See Cyprus.). Even if it was a UN issue in the terms you describe, the UN would have a hard time finding ANY nation to "look favourably" on, except perhaps the Vatican.
You're free to have a look at the list and decide which ones are valid and which ones aren't based on your own images of the parties involved, and whether or not they "need" the territory, in your opinion - but you're going to have to accept that your opinion is not worth a whole lot, given that you seem to have no grasp of the subject. Just a lot of strong opinions based on... what, exactly?
Posted in: Should Russia return the four disputed islands off Hokkaido to Japan?
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hokkaidoguy
BurakuminDes-
Japan isn't claiming Sakhalin. It claims the four islands directly to the east of Hokkaido, one of which is uninhabited. The total population of the other 3 islands is somewhere around 16,000. If you've managed to get the basics of the issue completely and utterly wrong, just imagine what else you're missing about the issue...
Posted in: Should Russia return the four disputed islands off Hokkaido to Japan?
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hokkaidoguy
Disillusioned-
Thunnus orientalis (pacific bluefin), thunnus thynnus (northern bluefin), thunnus maccoyii (southern bluefin). 3 species of bluefin tuna.
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hokkaidoguy
There's more than one species of bluefin.
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hokkaidoguy
Yes, in exchange for settling the peace treaty, some substantial trade agreements, tech transfer agreements and perhaps some guarantees of investment in oil and gas field development elsewhere in the east. And a clause that gets Russia out of any and all liability for environmental cleanup of the islands.
I'm pretty sure they'd go for a mutually beneficial deal like that - because the islands are pretty much worthless to Russia. They provide a minuscule percentage of Russia's annual fish catch, and a very small airbase that's no longer in use. That's about it. The population of the islands routinely relies on Hokkaido for basic services (shopping, auto and boat parts, fuel and so forth from Nemuro, and emergency health care from Kushiro) - because the islands are too far from the rest of Russia to be served properly. Oh, and the Northern islands are prone to very large quakes (M7+) once or twice a year.
If Japan wants them, and they're willing to reach a settlement, give 'em back. Nothing to lose and everything to gain. God only knows what Japan will do with them, though - probably be best to turn them into a park.
Posted in: Should Russia return the four disputed islands off Hokkaido to Japan?
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hokkaidoguy
A company gives away free diamonds, and JT posters still find a way to whine about it. Unbelievable.
Posted in: Ginza store gives away 5,000 diamonds for free
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hokkaidoguy
For what it is, and for what it does, 20man is a bargain. Priced a Hasselblad lately? That's the next step up - and you can expect to pay in the 2,000,000 yen range for those.
Posted in: Canon EOS 5D Mark II awarded top honors in Japan's premier photo industry awards
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hokkaidoguy
Why do articles about Duke always fail to mention that he is a former Louisiana State Representative (Republican)?
Seems an odd omission to me.
Posted in: Ex-Louisiana KKK chief David Duke arrested in Prague
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hokkaidoguy
Cleo -
Instead of waiting for the cops to sort everything else, perhaps you could go out and buy a lock. A good one, that can't be compromised by a pair of tin snips and a screwdriver. If you've had several bikes stolen, I think this might be something to consider.
How about taking a bit of responsibility for your own actions?
Posted in: Outing litter louts
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hokkaidoguy
"Politicians and bureaucrats doubtless fear a backlash that will hurt tax revenues, lose them votes and lead to shouts of human rights violations but smokers and cyclists need to be restrained. "
I got a laugh out of that. Three cheers for Fascism!
The police here go far above any other nation I've been to with regard to stolen bikes - they routinely set up random bike checks and ask people for their ID and so on. That's treated as perfectly normal behavior by the Japanese, but as a human rights violation on the order of a cross-burning by the expat press.
You think that smokers and cyclists need to be restrained. I think you need to wake up to the fact that your perceived rights in this country do not transcend the rights of others. Your "right" to not be offended by the sight of ditched stolen bikes does not trump my "right" to be able to ride home unmolested by the cops, or my "right" to buy a bike without paying for a mandatory tracking chip, or my "right" to not be subjected to a multi-million dollar anti-bike dumping media campaign. Get it?
What do you propose? Oh, right. NOTHING.
Next time, go to a non-smoking restaurant. And remember to be nice to the cop when he stops you on the way home from the station. "Yes sir" and so forth. Mind your manners. He's protecting you from the blight of abandoned bikes.
Posted in: Outing litter louts
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hokkaidoguy
"It seems bizarre that one curious neighbor could land us in jail, possibly for years. We’re criminals, every one of us — relaxed, giggling, happy criminals."
So, how long until the author of this story gets arrested? Any bets?
Posted in: Japan going to pot: Celebrity busts and student smokers have authorities in a tizz