JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION
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- 秘書及び業務サポート
- 加治金属工業株式会社, Tokyo
- Salary: ¥4.0M / Year
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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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- ALT - Mie Prefecture - Yokkaichi City - June start
- NPO法人グローバル教育推進機構（GLAD), Mie
- Salary: ¥230,000 / Month For a full working month. Some months differ.
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Robert Dykes -
I 100% disagree with your disagree of the the previous disagree.
Posted in: WHO releases mixed Fukushima radiation report
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It's not polite to talk behind someone's back.
Posted in: Japan, U.S., S Korea to discuss North Korea next week
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Half-handshake going on there. How many of those have I gotten here?
Posted in: Ready for lunch
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I have seen kindergartens (Yochien) in Japan that are totally top-notch and surpass anything I've seen in Canada. Both my children went to private ones in the city and I was extremely impressed. (Unfortunately, as they got older the quality of education slowly slid down in quality to reach the hell-pit of Jr. High.)
Daycare centers are another issue entirely. The focus is different, and from what I saw, the negative comments posted above are correct.
Posted in: What do you think of the quality of kindergartens and daycare centers in Japan?
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Yes. So it seems, then, that Japan as a whole has a 'small town mentality,' because people across the country act like that.
Posted in: Living in a country as a minority
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Scrote - There is no danger in using your overseas credit cards in Japan. Do you really think the auditor from the tax office has the time and resources to do the kind of search needed to discover your credit card purchases? From a foreign card? Don't make me laugh! Do you have any idea what a sophisticated investigation like that would entail? The tax officer would have to have some super-high credentials and a huge expense account to pull that off. Please don't be silly.
I was audited a few years back. The tax officer just went through my books and receipts and asked me a few questions. He eventually found a small mistake, charged me a few thousand yen, and was happy his audit was paid for by my small fine. Even a few of my receipts were obviously not proper expenses. But he let it go.
There was no cross-referencing with employers and there was certainly no closed-doors investigation to find any unaccounted income. How could they prove it, anyways?
Posted in: Don’t fall into Japan’s tax traps
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Nice walls of text, Subhashini and Shivaji. Are you guys doing a course and writing papers on Hashimoto, now?
Article Unavailable
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JesseBayBay - The credit card option is your best bet. Keep doing that - living on Aussie credit cards. You can live on credit cards here, and none of it is going to be detected by the tax office. Just keep your receipts hidden in a drawer someplace (or burn them once a month.) I've been audited, and I can say you have nothing to worry about.
When you file your return, just use the normal, "white form" for filing: you're not required to show receipts for anything that way.
Posted in: Don’t fall into Japan’s tax traps
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Hashimoto:
Isn't this the clown who ignored voter's feelings about burning debris in Osaka?
Article Unavailable
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IT'sME:
Good for you. Count yourself fortunate, but like I said, it's not that way for everyone. In fact in October of 2010, the Oita District Court proclaimed foreigners DO NOT have the right to receive benefits:
"OITA - The Oita District Court ruled on Oct. 18 that foreigners with the right to permanent residence but without Japanese citizenship are not entitled to welfare benefits, rejecting the claims of a 78-year-old Chinese woman who sued after being denied benefits by the Oita city government.
In the ruling, Presiding Judge Yasuji Isshi said, 'The Livelihood Protection Law is intended for Japanese citizens only. Welfare payments to non-citizens would be a form of charity. Non-citizens do not hold a right to receive payments.'"
http://www.debito.org/?p=9991
Posted in: How do you feel about being a ‘gaijin’ in Japan?
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BurakuminDes -
Yes, that's true. But for us married guys, it's not really a huge plus (beyond a slight ego boost.) I'm happily married -- what do I need with a 20-year-old girl with an infatuation? That won't get me a promotion, or even a different type of job. That won't get me a voice in my neighbourhood community. It doesn't count for anything important in life once you're married.
Posted in: How do you feel about being a ‘gaijin’ in Japan?
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Gotta love the continued rhetoric: "If you don't like it, go home."
What if Japan is our home? My house is here. My home is here. I pay taxes and contribute to society. My children go to school here. So, if I don't like something, am I supposed to remain silent?
If I don't like being unfairly discriminated against, I'm supposed to pack up and leave? That is silly logic at best.
And yes, the more integrated into Japanese society you become, the more you realize how limited your rights are. If you can live in a happy bubble, then good for you. If you need some kind of cooperation from the business, political or administrative world, good luck getting treated fairly. Not saying you won't, but the odds are against you.
Posted in: How do you feel about being a ‘gaijin’ in Japan?
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Yeah, me and my hdmi cable from the computer have been doing this for the last 4 years. And the shows I get don't have commercials.
Posted in: Sony's new TVs allow users to download videos, music from Internet
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Fascism in Germany? How about fascism in Japan? Short memory.
Posted in: Osaka mayor, Yomiuri boss trade dictator insults
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The book was amazing. Highly recommend it for non-fans as well. Just hearing these guys are mending their ways gives me hope and puts a lift in my day.
Posted in: Jagger-Richards spat: It's all over now
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Not weird. They are Christians. The Christian Koreans and Japanese are pretty close/friendly to each other.
Posted in: Fukushima residents seek immigration to South Korea
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Nicky - I get that all the time. I have to walk on eggshells when asking about where some food item is from. People who grew up in this school system seem to mix their personal identity in with unrelated social issues. It's the way they're taught to take social responsibility. Unfortunately, it makes them extremely defensive to general social criticism.
But we all need to be diligent when it comes to sourcing our food. "Kokusan'' is not nearly enough information. They need stricter labelling/sourcing laws!
Posted in: Radiation fears haunt food shoppers in Japan
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Article rings true and clear after going through several secretaries who played all of the above cards. So frustrating - makes you wonder what they teach them in the schools here, because it sure isn't how to think on their own.
Posted in: Understanding 'I don’t understand'
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Nicky -- Please take care and get well soon! Try to think of pleasant memories while you heal. I totally agree with your assessments 100%. I've been here for over 15 years and what most have said here rings totally true for me.
To those who can't understand why we just don't "pack up and leave" if we don't like it here: you will only understand if you give it a good 10years yourself.
I almost wish I could go back to the mindset I had when I first got off the plane. Those first few honeymoon years in Japan were great! Everything looked new and interesting. So many people I meet even casually looked to be interested in me and so friendly and inviting. Back then, work was bountiful - job offers kept flowing in weekly. Most people had extra cash, and we never gave a second thought to going out and dropping a quick 10,000yen on drinks and food on even a Tuesday. Even the cab drivers looked happy. All of the negative/racist rhetoric was a distant echo -- a mere faded backdrop against the positive chorus of new, smiling faces welcoming me.
Then, slowly, my premium guest status began to wane. I seemed to be wearing out my welcome. Those warm, welcoming faces brought out the bill for their past efforts -- "You didn't think you were really one of us, did you?" Our friendship reached a point where we should be taking it to the next level -- a step deeper.
No go. This introductory welcome was the maximum. Oh no! What did I say wrong? What did I do to offend them? I thought we had more between us? No. I did nothing wrong -- as more years passed, I saw they have never experienced that kind of depth with someone outside their clique. They haven't been given a script on how to behave in a new type of friendship. No one taught them how, so they are afraid to proceed.
Some people posted above about this fear. It's annoying, but there is a reason for it. Way back when these adults were still schoolchildren, perhaps in elementary grade 4, they were psychologically beaten down by their friends for daring to do something different than the group. I see it happen all the time among my students. Fourth graders trembling for fear of ostracism. Repeat that over and over throughout a sensitive adolescence, and voila! You have timid adults.
This timidity creates ridiculous cultural oddities like people write about in this thread. The face of the TV talent in the corner of the screen, watching what the people at home watch -- affirming that, "Yes, you are allowed to be sad about this. Yes, you have permission to be outraged at this segment." People need that social affirmation/permission, otherwise those traumatic feelings of ostracism will come welling up once again.
I find TV in Japan to be highly annoying. I find the shallowness of business and social relationships -- again, based on fear -- to be aggravating.
Translate THAT, you sad, sorry bloggers, and give me all the thumbs-down you want!
Posted in: Things that foreigners find annoying about life in Japan
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Daichi power plant is still putting out radioactive water into the ocean and land on a daily basis. Does anyone have a link to show how much?
Posted in: Radiation from disaster detected 643 kms off Japan's coast