JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION
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Why do Japanese change their attitude when they communicate with foreigners?
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Confrontation
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U.S. Navy investigating how parts fell off aircraft near Atsugi
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California court to decide if SeaWorld whales are illegal 'slaves'
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Kuroki reported pregnant 2 weeks after denying relationship with Akanishi
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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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- Assistant Language Teacher - Kanagawa Prefecture - late-March start
- Interac, Kanagawa
- Salary: ¥230,000 ~ ¥255,000 / Month
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jonobugs
how come people complain about having their comments removed for being off topic yet XIAOMVVV can SPAM this forum?
IN any case, I think that Samsung, Sony are pretty much the same thing so unless there is a big price difference, just go with local suppliers. Support your own!
Posted in: Sony seeks to pull out of Samsung LCD venture
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jonobugs
er...actually...Most employers are not allowed to ask your age during the interview process. Should they find that you are suitable for the job, of course all that information is handed over. If you've been asked, then neither you nor the prospective employer knew the law.
Posted in: Actors blast U.S. film website for revealing ages
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jonobugs
I came very close to buying a new iPhone from Softbank. It seems that they are subsidizing the cost by giving a 2000 yen rebate to the purchase per month. The cost per month of the phone is about 2500 yen, so you're basically paying 500 yen a month for 2 years for the phone. That works out to around 12000 yen for the phone. They are obviously making their money on the connection fee which is about 4500 (unlimited internet) + 1050 yen (white plan) + 315 yen (??S! something?).
That was in my area (Fukuoka), so I'm not sure what it costs in other areas. I do want it, but I definitely don't need it as I already have a working phone. I really only wanted to have the SIRI function.
Posted in: Softbank profit surges on iPhone sales
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jonobugs
As far as I can tell, no one has made any conclusions about the study, only that there is a correlation. The reasons or causes are still unknown. It appears as though the researchers themselves were surprised at the findings as well.
Posted in: Teen violence linked to heavy soda diet: study
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jonobugs
I have no idea what kind of problems they are having in The Philippines with these MILF fighters, but to suggest that the answer is just more brute force is a mistake in my opinion. This conflict appears to have been going on for some time but I wonder what measures have been taken to facilitate a more peaceful resolution?
Posted in: 10,000 flee fighting in southern Philippines
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jonobugs
They've been having these races for how long? Many years, right? Although it's encouraging, it feels that solar power really hasn't progressed as far as it should. I really can't wait until its truly viable and not some expensive daydream.
Posted in: Japanese team wins 3,000-km Australian solar race
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jonobugs
The bike is not for sale (Smithinjapan). It's for show. At least that's what it seems to say in the article. I believe it's basically an advertising gimmick to show that our waste can go towards creating bio-fuel (or rather biogas).
Posted in: Toilet bike rolls out biogas-powered environmental message
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jonobugs
If only 1% of Japanese people are Christian, why have I been subjected to JW's coming to my door about once a month on average? I always politely but firmly decline their offers. It's rather annoying as they only come when I happen to be busy with something or on my way out. Actually, I have a feeling they come more often when I'm NOT at home as well.
No other religious group tries to contact me, just that group. Annoying group they are.
Posted in: Why Japanese values and morality confound us so
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jonobugs
I think we're obviously not getting the complete story here. There are too many unanswered questions. For example, if the woman had WANTED the man to kill her why did she not at least leave a note? Who would stab someone you love in the stomach? That seems cruel. Why not aim for the heart at least and make it quicker. Death by knife seems pretty cruel, why not some other way? It doesn't seem to be on the spur of the moment, though, since it's in a park and they brought some sort of kitchen knife (I'm assuming by the size). It doesn't seem to be in anger as she was stabbed once. If the woman cared at all for her lover, she would never have asked him to stab her in any case as he is literally left holding the weapon. Why not go up to a tall bridge somewhere, or jump off a tall building?
Posted in: 19-year-old man stabs 44-year-old lover in 'mercy killing'
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jonobugs
Before the incident, the woman deserved everyone's sympathy, but by taking her revenge, everyone now feels sorry for this Peterless Pan fellow who seems like a piece of work. I wonder if the authorities will take his actions into consideration or not? I'm guessing not.
Posted in: Vietnamese woman cuts off husband's penis
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jonobugs
I can understand being upset with noise, but whatever happened to giving the person a chance by asking him/her to keep the noise down? If they ignore you, or whatever, then involve the police. If, as one poster says, they won't respond to noise complaints, (a bit strange in my opinion) then you could claim that you heard a woman screaming or something.
Posted in: Carpenter attacks neighbor with hatchet over noise
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jonobugs
I bought a 2nd generation iPod touch when they first came out and that peaked my interest in the cell phones they were offering, but since I had a decent working cell phone already I saw no need to change. Also, as one poster already pointed out the cost of owning a smartphone is considerably higher. Difficult to justify paying 8000 yen per month when I'm currently happy with the white plan.
After seeing the ads for the iPhone 4s, however, I really want to take a look at it! Particularly for the Siri feature. I'm most interested in hearing reviews from owners who have already given it a test drive though. The concept has been around for awhile, but the implementation has always been poor at best. If Siri works as advertised, it will be a pretty big breakthrough with cell phones.
Posted in: Review: It's not an iPhone 5, but so what?
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jonobugs
I don't completely agree with you jforce. Just because it's digital doesn't mean there is nothing there. Are you trying to say that reading a book from your iPad/Kindle or what have you means it doesn't exist? That's just plain silly.
However, I do agree that the cost of producing those books is considerably lower than creating an actual physical book, not to mention saving the savings on transportation costs. So, WHY would I pay the same or in some cases MORE for a digital book? That's just insane.
I bought a book from Amazon and waited a day or two for the delivery because the digital version was actually more expensive!! How insane is that.
I think that there would be a lot less piracy if the prices were lower. I buy apps all the time from Apple because it's A) super easy B) lots of reviews from others C) CHEAP. I won't buy books from them, though. It's insane that I would pay 1000 yen or more for a novel, especially when the printed version is almost the same cost. I would prefer reading an actual physical book to one on e-reader (but I love e-readers....kind of ironic)
Posted in: Digital piracy casts shadow over ebook world
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jonobugs
This is a serious issue as Thailand seems to be a country that has quite a few natural disasters. Hopefully they can learn from past mistakes and create a better warning system. Although I do agree with other posters that the Japanese government isn't much better off when it comes to these types of events.
Posted in: JETRO criticizes Thai gov't for lack of info over floods
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jonobugs
Interesting video. I believe I saw this a long time before but it was in Japanese. As for it having 8000 or so hits, it now has 10,000+ hits. However, that's not the "official" account, just someone who has put it there I believe. There are many other sites with the same video, so it's a bit hard to know how many people have seen it officially.
Posted in: Quirky video shows the 'real Japan'
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jonobugs
This article seems to be a thinly veiled cry of support for his friend who was caught transporting illegal items.
That said, I think that the fellow in the article seems to have been caught in a situation that is somewhat strange. Canada is fairly lenient on many things so I can't imagine that he will lose his court case unless his computer was loaded with this material. More than likely, a search of his computer was probably in search of pirated material as Canada is now trying to crack down on this stuff.
I think his best defense might be to argue on whether manga is considered to be art or pornography. It sounds like it's a pretty thin line, and as it seems that the characters are obviously minors (I saw one of these books--there is no wondering if they are minors or not), that's not going to help his case as that's the least tolerated type of pornography.
To be honest, however, I would much rather the officials concentrate on more violent and dangerous activity as it's not obvious that this person is a pedophile or just some sort of manga otaku. It could be argued either way I think. However, someone transporting dangerous materials or drugs would be a more obvious criminal.
Posted in: How Japanese manga can land international travelers in jail
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jonobugs
Perhaps you should read the article before throwing around accusations. I'm not in favour of huge profit centered pharmaceutical companies either, but in this case, the study was endorsed by national NPOs along with Alternative Medicine. The hypothesis was that vitamin E would REDUCE the chances of cancer. Why in heavens name would a company fund that hypothesis if they don't want people to take those supplements?
I believe that taking fat-soluble vitamins is a risky bit of business to begin with and there are suggested daily recommendations for a reason. Too much of even a "good" thing can be bad.
There was another article on JT that basically said that people don't need to take extra vitamins if they eat a properly balanced diet.
It would be interesting if they were able to find out the cause of the increase in prostrate cancer though. I mean, specifically WHY those substances caused a near significant increase.
Posted in: Vitamin E boosts prostate cancer risk: study
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jonobugs
@illsayit...
according to the article, she has daughters so it's unclear to me who you're talking about.
As for the article itself, I would have to agree that some Asian families tend to go too far with academia while some American families tend to be too lax.
Posted in: 'Tiger mom' Chua urges Asian parents to go easy on their kids
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jonobugs
I'm living in Fukuoka and have been to a few bars. Not once have I noticed those "rules". Maybe it's a Tokyo thing?
Posted in: The definitive Japanese bar code of conduct
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jonobugs
Whenever I talk to my Japanese friends about these cases, their reactions are exactly what you would expect. Outrage, shock, and a demand for more information. I don't know who you are talking with, but perhaps it's just the company you are keeping if you find that there is a general sense of apathy.
Posted in: Woman prostitutes daughter to 72-year-old man for years before discovery