mark_in_japan said...

mark_in_japan at 01:17 PM JST - 19th March

TPOJ, I am as shocked as you are but I have to admit he got it right this time (not that the entrance exam driven system is going to change anytime soon).

Posted in Reading, writing, math and English conversation are important. Note I said English conversation, not English. at 01:17 PM JST - 19th March
mark_in_japan at 11:23 AM JST - 16th March

Chronological ages: 24 and 25; Mental ages: around 12.

Posted in Two men arrested for pouring water from apartment balcony onto people below at 11:23 AM JST - 16th March
mark_in_japan at 12:03 PM JST - 13th March

In any other country the headline would read "illegal immigrants" and not "foreigners". This tells you a lot about Japanese attitudes towards non-Japanese (this is nothing new, I know).

Posted in Forging false IDs for foreigners a flourishing trade at 12:03 PM JST - 13th March
mark_in_japan at 06:36 PM JST - 10th March

First, they aren't health care workers in the sense most people would think of. They are nursing home helpers, basically: helping bathe bedridden people, emptying bed pans, etc. Second, it's a very bad idea because it allows the operators of nursing homes to continue to underpay these positions. These kind…

Posted in The government is encouraging unemployed people to become health care workers because there is a chronic shortage in the nursing care business. Do you think that is a good idea? at 06:36 PM JST - 10th March
mark_in_japan at 10:36 AM JST - 27th February

Bad news for Ishihara and the NPA scare-mongerers but I'm sure they will find a way to put a negative spin on it.

Posted in Number of crimes by foreign visitors down for 3rd year at 10:36 AM JST - 27th February
mark_in_japan at 11:50 AM JST - 23rd February

The real source of the problem is Imperial Household Agency. They need to stop controlling every single move by every single member of the Imperial family and to move out of the Meiji era and into the 21st century while hey are at it.

Posted in Crown prince turns 49; pledges efforts to lighten emperor's burden at 11:50 AM JST - 23rd February
mark_in_japan at 10:32 AM JST - 6th February

"Former Defense Department official" that's almost enough of a credibility killer to stop right there but giving him the benefit of the doubt I continued until "former CIA official". What the h**l does someone from the two departments most responsible for the debacles in Iraq and Afghanistan think he is…

Posted in Ex-Pentagon official warns of Japan's decline at 10:32 AM JST - 6th February
mark_in_japan at 10:43 AM JST - 2nd February

I wonder what the h**l he is thinking pledging that kind of money when the Japanese economy is in the state it is and Japan already has a higher proportion of debt to GDP than any other advanced nation.

Posted in Media criticize Aso for mistakes during Davos speech at 10:43 AM JST - 2nd February
mark_in_japan at 10:25 AM JST - 30th January

@spidey: because that would be even crasser, in the traditional view.

But otherwise I agree with your general point. The Sumo Kyokai just don't want to admit that sumo has to move out of the past and make some concessions reflecting the modern sports environment if sumo is to survive.…

Posted in JSA reprimands Asashoryu's stablemaster for yokozuna's 'crass' behavior at 10:25 AM JST - 30th January
mark_in_japan at 11:04 AM JST - 26th January

If Japan, a country with the second largest economy in the world, would start building proper apartment buildings instead of tissue paper and tinketoy boxes, people wouldn't have to put up with their neighbor's noise as much as they do.

Posted in 69-year-old man stabs noisy neighbor in Nagoya at 11:04 AM JST - 26th January