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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kirakira25
I can`t understand how it is even legal to treat employees like this? No lunch break? No paid overtime? All those working hours for criminally low wages? Is it legal? Or is it just that no-one complains because they know there are a dozen others willing to step into their shoes?
Posted in: What it's like for department store staff in a recession
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kirakira25
I`m glad they at least named and shamed him. Although, within Japanese culture, is this really a cause of shame? So many people seem to think and comment that this is a normal part of Japanese culture - are there any native Japanese on here who would agree/disagree with that? I would like to hear a native Japanese opinion on this? My husband is Japanese and he seemed to be horrified and disgusted.
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kirakira25
Great idea, but hardly original. Any sports bra or non-underwired bra prevents sagging of breasts while sleeping and most people have known that for years.
I
m more interested in the one thats just come on the market to keep breasts separated during sleep to prevent lines and crepe-skin effects forming on your chest.Posted in: Wonder Bomb bra
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kirakira25
Actually (based on the limited facts in the article) I agree ThonTaddeo. If the mother needs help, she can focus on getting the help she needs, while the father cares for the child, and hopefully they can work something out between them so the child suffers as little as possible and can see both parents.
In the long run, getting help will benefit both her and the child. Let
s hope she is actually able to take those steps to get the help she needs for her own and the childs sake. (And by that I dont mean flaunting herself on any more TV shows as a "modern celibate woman"!)Posted in: Ex-soccer player Honda, wife divorce after 6 years of sexless marriage
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kirakira25
If the comments here are accurate then it is not even about a sexless marriage, she just can
t bear anyone coming near her/holding her hand/hugging her period. That suggests to me there is definitely some kind of trauma there. She needs help, and better more professional help than from a bunch of tarentos by the sound of it.And what kind of person goes public in this kind of way with these kinds of problems? Someone whos` star is well on the wane, perchance....?
Posted in: Ex-soccer player Honda, wife divorce after 6 years of sexless marriage
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kirakira25
This is SO true, one of the best Japanese meals I ever had was in a makeshift restaurant under a tarpaulin down a tiny side street somewhere in Naka Meguro. It obviously had a reputation as there was a huge queue to get in.
My brother in law is a trainee Japanese chef, and believe me they suffer for their art. It is going to take him over 20 years to train up, through many layers of hierarchy (even washing pots is around level 4!) he makes 180k/mth after 10 years of this so far, and he works 2-3 weeks straight before finally getting 2-3 days off, often putting in 16-18 hour days.
Personally I think he`s mad, but the guy obviously REALLY likes cooking!
Posted in: Tokyo crowned new gourmet capital by Michelin
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kirakira25
I agree that childhood depression CAN be a sign of something way off kilter within the family, or at the very least a significant contributory factor.
But to say that is the only reason WAY simplifies this complex condition. A child who is loved may be less likely to become depressed, but if this psychologist simplifies it only in those terms then we have every reason to be fearful for Japan`s mental health - what about genetics? Hormonal imbalances? Traumatic experiences? Personal disposition to just name a few.
I agree however, raising my own kids in Japan alongside other Japanese friends with kids the same age, that generally speaking there does seem to be less emotional contact in Japanese culture. For example, I see obaasan giving their grandchildren ombu on their backs, but there is no eye contact or interaction. I have sat in breastfeeding rooms many times and watched Japanese women barely look at their babies while they read magazines, email on their cellphones, etc etc.
I am NOT saying for a second that all Japanese are like this, or that it is good or bad, or that western culture is somehow better, it is just a trend I have observed over the years in how different things seem to be here compared to home. I was even scolded by a woman once for kissing my children - she said it would give them bacteria and make them ill! I have also heard that kissing children on their mouth causes tooth decay! I don
t know if that is true or not, but I couldnt care less either way - they are getting kissed a thousand times a day teeth or no teeth!Posted in: Children's depression and suicide a worsening problem
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kirakira25
I think this is a combination of what 30061015 says - that Japan is wound up too tightly, but also my own theory I have been considering for a while now:
I think with the advent of the internet, global communications and so forth, the Japanese, previously isolated, have particularly in recent years had the opportunity to be exposed more and more to what is going on outside Japan`s borders - and it must be pretty galling to see happy, free people around the developed world while their own economy tanks and they have all the social and corporate, not to mention financial pressures on them.
Not putting this very well (brain not working well right now!) but it is just a theory I am thinking about....
Posted in: More Tokyo train stations start using lights to stem suicides
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kirakira25
Well, the best we can say about this is that it`s not Saitama...
DC2020 - my husband reads the newspaper every day, and when I tell him about the J-cop news reports, he has never heard of any of them.
Well, I suppose either that or he is in denial! (He`s not a cop, by the way!)
Posted in: Cop arrested for breaking into female cop’s apartment in Chiba
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kirakira25
This is absolutely true. I see it every single day, and in fact I was honked at just last week for NOT running a red light when the guy behind me wanted to!!! There don`t seem to be any cameras on lights here, and what a great source of income it would be for the government - maybe help fix their child allowance problem??!
mindovermatter - I agree with you in theory IF they let her ride the moped - but I
m wondering if they even knew? Im thinking a 15 year old girl and her 17 year old boyfriend which she may well have kept from her parents. My parents were excellent, but I remember being 15 and keeping a lot of stuff from them!Posted in: 15-year-old girl killed after moped collides with truck
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kirakira25
They don
t take it seriously, and that is partly why it does keep on happening, and why I didnt report my experience. Horrible enough to have it happen, let alone then being laughed off by the police.kyolicious - you have put it into words perfectly exactly how it feels.
Posted in: Cop arrested for molesting woman on train
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kirakira25
numbskull: and my answer was based on your supposition that it must be a scary world to me.
But yeah, lets stop - this is getting kinda boring now anyway!
Posted in: Cop arrested for molesting woman on train
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kirakira25
@smithinjapan - VERY well said.
Posted in: Cop arrested for molesting woman on train
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kirakira25
Yep, it sure is, when I am pregnant and molested by a drunken guy on a train who is a lot bigger than I am even heavily pregnant.
Posted in: Cop arrested for molesting woman on train
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kirakira25
Thank you flatearther et al - I am SICK of reading that it is somehow the victims fault, or that she probably wasn`t dressed appropriately, that she probably enjoyed it, or was asking for it.
I wasn`t asking for it when I was 9 months pregnant, wearing maternity clothes, sitting quietly on a train and a drunken guy decided I was "fair game". And yes, I froze. And no, I am WAY over 21 (unfortunately!). I was TERRIFIED the guy would hurt me or my baby. Thank god my friend I was sitting with grabbed my arm, pulled me to my feet and marched me to the other end of the carriage. Thank god the guy who was obviously drunk and aggressive decided against following us.
Before that happened I would absolutely have sat here and said "why didn
t she...." - now I know different. If I hadnt been so pregnant, and felt a bit more able to defend myself, maybe it would have been a different story, but that was the first time in my life I can think of that I ahve known and understood what it feels like to feel totally helpless. I sincerely hope it will be the last time becasuse it was horrible. And it went against all my culture, upbringing and instinct to just freeze, but my first, last and only fear was for my baby and what this nutcase was potentially capable of doing.Posted in: Cop arrested for molesting woman on train
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kirakira25
We know nothing about the circumstances. Did his hand brush her thigh in a way that could have been accidental? Or did he grab and grope?
Lets look at her options:
Wearing slacks? How do you know she wasn
t? Stood up and moved? Good idea, and with hindsight I am sure she is thinking the same thing. Women only car? Is there one, on that line? I dont think there is one on any line at 9pm at night. Complained to him? And run the risk of him belting her? Complained to another passenger? Yeah, right. How many people openly admit they look the other way and don`t want to get involved. Stabbed him with a hairpin? What century is this?You don
t need to mindread, and you dont need a kit. It really is incredibly simple - don`t grope complete strangers on a train.We don
t expect men to be perfect gentlemen. Hell, we certainly dont expect women to be perfect...er...gentlewomen(!) But is it so unbelievably unreasonable to expect to be able to sit on a train and not have a drunken guy over 30 years older than you come up to you and start groping you? Honestly??!I agree entirely that a small minority of women will take any opportunity to make money/cause trouble and accuse men of touching them without any foundation whatsoever. They make me equally as sick as the men who are not innocent because they are as disrespectful to the genuine victims of this problem as the perpetrators themselves.
Posted in: Cop arrested for molesting woman on train
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kirakira25
Can you point me to the bit where it says she was wearing a short skirt? Ditto the bit where it says she plonked herself down right next to him?
Given that it DOES actually say he was touching her thighs on the OUTSIDE of her clothes, dos this not suggest that maybe she WASN`T wearing a short skirt?
And even if she was, does this make it alright?
Posted in: Cop arrested for molesting woman on train
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kirakira25
Was about to come back with the "WHAT???!!! How DARE you!!! Who do you think you are???!!!" etc etc....but actually, truth be told, you have a point! (And this from a western girl and former model!)
Posted in: Swimsuit campaign girl
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kirakira25
dbung10 - obviously you are lucky enough to have never had it happen to you. Good for you, but I wasn`t referring in any way to the fact that she is Japanese. 21 is young, fact, this situation is incredibly scary for any girl but especially a young one, fact, and it is very easy to sit here comfortably at a PC and say "I would do..." or "she should have..." but when you are faced with the reality of this situation you can and often do freeze - fact.
So don`t sit in judgement on a girl you know nothing about, and instead try a little empathy.
Posted in: Cop arrested for molesting woman on train
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kirakira25
I would guess it was because she was scared. No matter how strong you might be it is pretty scary when stuff like this happens to you, and she was only 21.
Posted in: Cop arrested for molesting woman on train