JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION
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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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- 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
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- Assistant Language Teacher - TOKYO - late-March start
- Interac, Tokyo
- Salary: ¥230,000 ~ ¥255,000 / Month
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jonobugs
Oh...I want to see this movie! I love animation and I love martial art movies :-)
Posted in: Kung fu fightin'
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jonobugs
kakigore...I just bought one of those cheap ice shaving machines, bought some syrup and I'm loving it. Great way to cool down. Course, the ice is kind of hard to eat sometimes.
Posted in: What drink do you recommend to help cope with hot, humid days?
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jonobugs
Timborder: well said.
Posted in: Forbes magazine says that golfer Tiger Woods is on track to become the world's first billionaire athlete by 2010. What do you think of the astronomical sums of money that sports stars are paid?
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jonobugs
I believe that as usual, JT has not really given us the full story. I really doubt that the police would take time out of their schedule to arrest someone for following behind a girl with a skirt. We've all been there and whether or not this guy was looking it would be an impossible case to prove that unless he was deliberately craning his neck or something else obvious.
To have complaints, there was probably some sort of intent shown. Blaming the 'vicims' is such an old and invalid argument. I'm sure that those girls that dress provocatively welcome looks (maybe not oggling) otherwise they would probably stop dressing in such a manner. For school girls, almost all the regular uniforms that I have seen have been quite long, well past the knees. The uniforms that are quite short, have been shortened temporarily by the girls who roll up the band at the top. Whether they do this for fashion, for attention or simply because it's too hot is unknown, but the owners themselves change the uniform. Therefore, I suggest that to blame the dress code is a bad argument as well.
I think the reason why the Japanese school girls' outfit has become such an iconic feature is simply that it represents youth. Take that for what you will.
Is this story news worthy? I really doubt it. The only reason it's probably in the news is because the pervert is a school teacher which makes his crimes more heinous.
Posted in: School teacher arrested for peeping up student's skirt in Oita
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jonobugs
Bicycles follow the same rules of the road as cars. As far as I know, it's not required for a car owner to get out and cross the road by foot.
There are still no details as to what occurred and it's a bit presumptuous, not to mention ageist, to presume that because the man was 82 that he did not have full facilities of his mind and body.
I have met many older people in Japan and after talking with them learned that they were into their late 70s and seemed very lively.
I do feel badly for the car driver as well, since he obviously didn't intend to hit anyone. It's one of the dangers and pitfalls to driving a car.
Posted in: Man arrested over hit-and-run death of 82-year-old cyclist in Funabashi
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jonobugs
Yup, Speed beat me to the punch. Ditto...what he said.
Posted in: Man arrested over hit-and-run death of 82-year-old cyclist in Funabashi
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jonobugs
For those people that don't think graffiti is a big deal, how would you like it if you just bought a shiny new car and someone did the same thing to your car? Perhaps some wouldn't care (as long as the graffiti was 'cool', but you have no CHOICE as to what they will write or paint).
What if it just random lines and badly done? It pretty much sucks because your nice new car is no longer nice and shiny. It costs money to fix this.
I don't see where in the article it even remotely suggests that the train was painted by foreigners. Please show me where it says that? The only thing it says is English Graffiti. To me, that's pretty descriptive as the word is written in English. I'm sure that graffiti may has sufficed. If it were in any other language other than Japanese, I'm sure that the word would have changed.
Posted in: English graffiti 'Hack' grounds bullet train
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jonobugs
Huh? Do they have ice packs inserted into them or something? How do they work? More importantly, DO they work. Lastly, IF they do work, where the heck can I get a pair if I live in Southern Japan far far away from Tokyo!
Posted in: Cold feet
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jonobugs
What? Filipinos can't sing? I thought Karaoke was more popular in the Philippines than in Japan!
Posted in: Ex-Filipino hostesses become caregivers
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jonobugs
Well aren't you just a bowl full of sunshine.
Posted in: International Tokyo Toy Show 2008
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jonobugs
Everyone seems to be assuming that she dialed before the attacker reached her. Maybe he stabbed her first. She may have had several seconds of life in her to try and phone or reach someone even after she was stabbed. In any case, it's really impossible to say what would have happened as none of us were there. Hindsight is always 20/20. If he stabbed that many people that quickly, he was probably running from person to person and I doubt she would have even seen him coming and been able to avoid his attack even if she hadn't been dialing.
For those of you who think that they would have stepped up and played hero or had the presence of mind to escape...do you really think you would have even known what was going on? Usually it takes some time to figure out what's happening. Remember, it was a crowded place! People wouldn't have been able to see what was going on until the last second. By that time, it may have been too late to avoid him.
Posted in: Akihabara victim was dialling 110 when she was attacked
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jonobugs
It's really interesting how some of the posters here fill in the blanks. First of all, there is no allegation of rape. A few of you have agreed with that statement. There is no indication that the women was a suspect of a crime, just that she was being interviewed during a crime investigation. She could have just been a witness. Unless anyone has further information about this case you can't really assume she was a suspect.
It seems to me that the officer was arrested for having a sexual relationship with someone he interviewed which is a breach of his authority. Had it been anyone else, nothing would have been done since consensual sex between adults isn't a crime. There is no indication that the sex was forced and no information whether or not the woman was charging him. It just says that she reported the case.
I believe Romulus stated it best as to not pee in your own living room.
Final assessment; the cop's an idiot.
Posted in: Cop arrested over sex with woman involved in crime investigation
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jonobugs
That's what I thought too, but there is no mention in the article what makes this hotel special. If it's just a luxury hotel...who the heck cares?
Posted in: World's 1st aloft hotel opens in Montreal
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jonobugs
I agree with most people on this site that regardless of the age of the girl, her threat must be taken seriously even if she was telling the truth that it was just a joke.
However, to follow some of the suggestions of incarceration or worse seems a bit like a mob mentality. I'm sure that we all have our own theories about why she wrote what she did, but no one here really knows what she was thinking.
If cooler heads prevail, her case will be looked at carefully to determine what, if any, her motivations were. Should someone determines that she was indeed serious I can't imagine that her punishment would be all that severe since all she did was utter threats. With that in mind, I'm pretty certain that all she'll really get is a slap on the wrist. Of course I'm not really knowledgeable on Japanese laws and any subsequent penalties for death threats.
So far, she hasn't even been arrested yet, unless I am misunderstanding the word "held". If the police do believe her story that it was all a joke, I wonder what they might do, or what they are even allowed to do.
Posted in: 17-yr-old girl held for threatening massacre in Internet message
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jonobugs
Is it really illegal to carry a small pocket knife? I had no idea. I carry a leatherman, which is similar to a swiss army knife but with pliers as well. I'm not an engineer, but I use to as a bike tool occasionally. It's also very handy for other things, but I've never considered it as a weapon.
Also, a quick question for White Rabbit. You wrote a long message about how it's illegal for policemen to detain anyone without arresting them and then also wrote how you were detained on more than one occasion for hours. Did you not know that law at the time, or did you voluntarily go with the policemen to avoid a confrontation. It just seems that you are informing everyone of their rights, but then chose not to use your own. Just curious.
Posted in: Police search
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jonobugs
Obviously, it's a case of cyber bullying and she couldn't handle the pressure. It's not a case of blindly following orders. Come on people.
Posted in: 16-year-old girl hangs herself after message on blog tells her to die
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jonobugs
There seems to be quite a few good answers to the posted question, but there is probably at least one more option that no one has mentioned.
It seems that English has become an international language whether you like it or not. So, there is a need for many non-English companies to learn English. I feel that in Japan, the need isn't as great, but there is still a demand. So why not combine learning with pleasure? If you're watching an English film in it's original format, you'll get a chance to hear how English is spoken.
In English speaking countries, that just simply isn't the case with the majority of movie goers. Of course there are small pockets of the population who might be interested in watching a foreign film to help with their language studies, but by far this is uncommon.
Of course this is just one reason. Many others have pointed out that many English speaking movie goers don't want the hassle of reading sub-titles, which I have to agree with. I've heard many people use that very reason. Also, as one other person mentioned, foreign films tend to have an 'artsy' feel to them. The reason for that is that it's usually only the better foreign films that make it over to be distributed on a wider release. Of course there are many poorer movies that make it over, but usually only on DVD. There is a demand for foreign films, and they are usually released in their original language in theatres with subtitles (at least in Vancouver, Canada). However, the market is pretty small in comparison with the Hollywood movies. Some people have used the argument that if there were more releases, etc, then people would go but I tend to believe that if the DEMAND were greater, then the theatres would oblige and release more foreign films.
Posted in: Why do moviegoers in English-speaking countries tend to avoid foreign movies with subtitles, while in Japan, for example, it's just the opposite?
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jonobugs
I think that the only consistent part of JT is that the stories here are normally bereft of any details. A lot of people here are making a lot of assumptions. Unless you have another source of information, no one here knows how attentive or inattentive the mother truly was.
As all you parents out there know, it doesn't take 5 minutes for a child to choke to death. It can happen in the span of 30 seconds depending on the circumstances. A 2 year old does not have full control of his body and even if his feet could easily reach the ground he may not have been able to extricate himself from is situation.
I'm definitely not trying to defend his parents, but just to point out that there is a serious lack of information for anyone to start pointing fingers.
About the only thing that can truly be said is of the dark and sad irony. It's truly a shame. I feel sorry for him as well as his parents.
Posted in: 2-yr-old boy who survived 9th floor fall in March dies after choking himself with backpack strap
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jonobugs
It's interesting that a claim was made that Russia has already made the smallest helicopter but no link or name could be found. Hmm...well, I did find a link for a small Russian helicopter called the "Wasp"
http://englishrussia.com/?p=1695
And while it looks quite impressive, especially for 35 year old technology, I was unable to find any specifications for the aircraft at all. Another interesting note is that although they stated it was fully functional, I was unable to find anything that backed this claim. I did find a site which claims that it was not a stable craft which is why it was never fully pursued.
Assuming that it was stable it's difficult to know whether or not the Japanese helicopter is smaller or not since the Russian helicopter's specifications are still unknown. Just by looking at the pictures, I would have to give the prize to the Japanese model. It does look much smaller as well as lighter.
So, in light of further proof, I believe the Japanese claim that it is currently the smallest helicopter in the world. Mm, actually, on the site they say that it's the world's smallest co-axial helicopter...if that makes a difference. Perhaps they should say 'passenger' as well, since there are model helicopters that are incredibly small.
Posted in: World's smallest helicopter to fly at da Vinci's birthplace
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jonobugs
Oops...I meant to say that "...be pushed around by "kids" is #not# better." in the last sentence.
Posted in: Being surrounded by angry junior high school students after warning them for hanging around convenience stores late at night, and that sort of thing, has become just a regular day-to-day occurrence.