JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION
-
- Full-time English Teacher - Osaka
- Epion English Language Schools, Osaka
- Salary: ¥200,000 ~ ¥250,000 / Month Depending on your ability and experience
-
- Part-time English Teacher - Osaka
- Epion English Language Schools, Osaka
- Salary: ¥10,000 ~ ¥15,000 / Day Depending on how many days a week are worked
-
- Core Developer - コアディベロッパー
- Midokura Japan K.K. - ミドクラジャパン株式会社, Tokyo
- Salary: ¥4.0M ~ ¥10.0M / Year Negotiable
0
mnemosyne23
Okay, I definitely think the driver should have asked for some kind of down payment before starting off on the trek, but hindsight is 20/20. But as soon as the guy BORROWED THE DRIVER'S PHONE and started phoning his family to LEND HIM MONEY to PAY THE FARE, the driver should have pulled over and dumped him. Especially when the first call didn't net him the cash and he had to call additional relatives. The driver certainly shouldn't have loaned him money for snacks! I wasn't there, so I can't account for the situation -- maybe the guy gave the driver a really heartwrenching sob story. But it sure feels WEIRD.
Posted in: Man arrested after taking taxi from Tokyo to Fukuoka and refusing to pay Y359,230 fare
0
mnemosyne23
Absolutely crazy. My heart goes out to the victim's family.
Posted in: Man beats pedestrian to death in Kanagawa; says it didn't matter who
0
mnemosyne23
Regards the non-smoking policy being a rule versus a law: very true. But rules are in place for a reason, as they are intended to benefit the greater good for the majority of people. It's the same reason there are prohibitions against drinking in the workplace: drinking is legal, but it's inappropriate to do it at work, so rules are put in place to curtail that behavior. Smoking is banned in hospitals, but it's not ILLEGAL to smoke in a hospital or on a hospital campus. Does that mean people shouldn't be held accountable for their actions if they light up in the waiting room of the Pediatric Unit? The conductor was totally justified in telling this young man to smoke in the appropriate area.
I think the more pressing issue is that this 23 year-old hoodlum, who claims to have been drunk, was able to beat up the conductor, then GET ON THE TRAIN, then get OFF the train and HIT THE CONDUCTOR AGAIN. Where is the police presence? Where is station security? This type of behavior on a plane would have gotten the passenger kicked off the plane and taken into custody. A train and a plane are different vehicles with different safety concerns, but a passenger who is disruptive to the point of abuse should have some kind of sanction placed on him or her immediately. Take him to the little corner police station and let him sleep it off if he's really that drunk. But don't let him just carry on like nothing's wrong.
Posted in: Saitama train conductor assaulted after asking man to smoke in designated area
0
mnemosyne23
A lot of the comments I've been reading seem to be ignoring this passage. It's bad enough to try and justify the idiot's actions in the first place, but to do so in light of the fact that he punched her again WHILE IN POLICE PRESENCE just goes to show what a complete lunatic he is. Clearly this guy has never heard of anger management.
Though what does it say about the competency of the constabulary when such an incident is even allowed to happen while they're standing right there?
Wow, that is... SO not the point. There's this little thing called "common courtesy," which dictates that, when your behavior is interfering with or annoying people in your vicinty, you correct that behavior. It's why you turn down your radio late at night to keep from waking your neighbors, and why you get out of the way when you're having a conversation with someone in the supermarket and another shopper needs to get around you. Common courtesy would say when you're on a crowded train, you should wait to play the cellphone game until you're not in such close quarters. You certainly don't PUNCH someone for asking you to do something that anyone with even an ounce of decency would understand instinctively.
Posted in: Man held for punching 50-yr-old woman on Saitama train over playing games on cell phone
0
mnemosyne23
What is with the "Realistically speaking" preface to that question? The answer is, "Everything that can be done." Isn't the Japanese government trying to promote tourism to bring much needed revenue into the country? Do they really think they're going to draw in a lot of foreign tourists when the police force is such a joke that they let a murder suspect literally RUN PAST THEM? I'd feel safer with the Keystone Cops watching my back, personally. Lindsay Ann Hawker's family deserves to see her killer brought to justice, and Japan needs to realize that, just because a couple of years have passed, a woman is still dead. You can't just sweep it under the rug and pretend like it doesn't matter anymore.
Posted in: Realistically speaking, what do you think the police should be doing to catch Tatsuya Ichihashi, the suspect in the 2007 murder of Lindsay Ann Hawker?
0
mnemosyne23
A point I haven't seen addressed yet in these comments is the following quote:
"Komuro tries to convince companies that it is more cost effective to implement a work-life balance than lay off employees amid the current economic downturn. “As companies fire employees or reduce salaries, the remaining employees, especially talented ones, start losing their motivation to work and consider finding new jobs. If companies hire new staff, they have to invest time and money in the newcomers. Therefore, downsizing does not always lead to effective cost reduction.”"
I've seen several mentions in these comments about how the article is out of step with the current economic climate, but if you pay attention to this particular passage, you'll see that the article itself couldn't be more timely. QUALITY of hours spent during the regular workday is what should matter. If your workforce is able to accomplish a solid day's work within regular working hours, then that negates the need to pay for overtime. This lifts that financial burden off the shoulders of management, and it allows the regular worker the opportunity to go HOME at the end of the day, spend time with the family, and get a decent night's sleep.
If men would rather stay at work half the night or go out drinking till the early morning hours than go home to their wives and children, that tells me it's time for some major social restructuring. Human companionship and gentleness is so much more vital to mental and physical well-being than a 13-hour workday capped off by a night of drunken karaoke.
A little overtime isn't a bad thing, and anyone who's ever held any kind of office job has probably had their fair share of it regardless of what country you're from. If it's the difference between putting the perfect finishing touches on a presentation for the next morning or leaving those finishing touches till the last minute, overtime is the way to go. But if your workforce is dependent on overtime just because "that's how it is," then the corporate structure needs to re-evaluate its priorities.
Posted in: Work-life balance more important than ever
0
mnemosyne23
SkyGuy: Amen!
Posted in: Jury system poster
0
mnemosyne23
"Kaoru worked part-time at a supermarket but quit her job in May due to an unspecified but apparently worsening illness that left her weak and, at times, scarcely able to move. She reportedly told police: 'I was pessimistic about the future.'"
That sounds like severe chronic depression to me. If Kaoru had somewhere to turn, someone to talk to, this might not have happened. We'll never know now, and that poor child died as a result. I can't justify the mother's actions at all and wouldn't even try, but I hope that this tragedy will help raise awareness of mental health concerns in Japan and lead to some social reforms. It might be a pipe dream, but we can still hope.
Posted in: Despair led Fukuoka mom to kill 6-year-old son