JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION
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Official defends secrecy over worst-case nuclear disaster scenario
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Firms plan to build floating wind farm off Fukushima coast
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Remembering
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Apple dethrones Google as company with most respected image in eyes of consumers
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Why do Japanese change their attitude when they communicate with foreigners?
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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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mnemosyne23
Perhaps he's watched too much TV and wanted to commit suicide by cop? It happens in the West on occasion. A suicidal individual will deliberately provoke the police to get them to use lethal force, which contrary to popular belief is NOT the first course of action for police agencies. If that's the case in this situation I pity the poor man for thinking the cops would do anything more than stumble around and slap him in cuffs.
Posted in: Car crashes into police station in Gifu; driver says he wanted to die
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mnemosyne23
Good for them!
Posted in: Pregnant pix
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mnemosyne23
How do you "accidentally" light a firework? You either flip open the lighter or you don't. You either strike the match or you don't. I know teenagers are generally stupid when it comes to matters of personal safety and property damage, but come on -- this takes the cake.
Can the police arrest him on unlawful obstruction of business, ala the JR employee who pushed the emergency button on his train to have a legitimate excuse for being late to work? Book him, or make him pay a hefty fine. His parents will NOT be happy having to shell out a substantial amount of cash for something this foolish. You want a deterrent? Furious parents, that's a darn good deterrent.
Posted in: Student accidentally sets off fireworks on train
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mnemosyne23
WTH? Again, may we PLEASE see a re-evaluation of the Japanese laws that prohibit bystanders from intervening when they see a crime in progress? I should hope that SOMEONE would have jumped on this looney tune after he assaulted the first girl, if only they didn't have to worry about being prosecuted!
I can only begin to imagine what kind of pathetic excuse this man must have for his behavior. Let me guess, something like: "There's a woman I work with who's married and has kids, and she wont' go out with me because she thinks it would be bad for her children. I got angry and wanted to beat up kids, so I did. I couldn't resist."
I'm only being half-facetious, too.
Posted in: Two young girls punched by stranger on street in Hyogo
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mnemosyne23
So ridiculous. I believe in freedom of speech -- anyone is welcome to say and believe whatever they want. But I also believe that people have freedom of LISTENING, too, and are not required to pay attention to or agree with the idiotic things some people believe. Media organizations are not required to accept any and all advertisements sent their way; they are perfectly within their rights to refuse to print something they deem offensive. Advertisements for books like this should be relegated to tacky tabloids. An organization as powerful as the Nihon Keizai should be DOUBLY cautious about the ad revenue it chooses to take in.
I'm ashamed that a publication as reputable as the Nikkei would print an advertisement for something so utterly ridiculous. The ethnic stereotype that "THE JEWS" are in control of the world's governments and economic structures is based in centuries of bigotry directed against the Jewish community. Honestly, how can they do such things when (depending on which kook you talk to) the Illuminati, Freemasons, and alien invaders are already controlling these things? Getting a bit crowded at the top, ne? To imply that the current economic climate is due to the machinations of a secret cabbal of Jewish muckity-mucks is not only a pathetic attempt to push a racist agenda, but also a distraction that diverts attention from the real causes and effects of the global recession, delaying any genuine solutions. That a financial authority like the Nikkei would publish an advertisement for this garbage only succeeds in giving it a veneer of legitimacy: "Ah, if the Nikkei thinks it's okay then there must be some truth to it."
Shame on you, Nikkei. Next time, read the ad copy before putting it in the paper. And if you DID read it, and STILL went ahead and published it, then double the shame and triple the blame on your shoulders.
Posted in: Jewish human rights group protests 'anti-Semitic' ad in Nihon Keizai Shimbun
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mnemosyne23
Razor blades, pesticides, broken windows... I certainly hope the police are going to seek an indictment for a heck of a lot more than just property damage! How about conduct with intent to harm? Or even attempted murder? You go to squeeze your bicycle brake and end up cutting into your fingers, how are you supposed to control your bike? ZOOM! Off into traffic, and probably the path of an oncoming bus.
Throw the book at him!
Posted in: Public servant arrested for stalking woman in Tokushima
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mnemosyne23
Poor guy! Who wants to take bets that the conductor wasn't chasing after the train to catch up to it, but to escape the legions of angry commuters left behind on the platform? I'd like to know what the driver was thinking, personally. I hope JR goes easy on this conductor, though I doubt it -- SOMEONE has to be the scapegoat, ne? Poor fellow.
Posted in: JR conductor chases runaway train
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mnemosyne23
The first and foremost law that has to be re-evaluated is the ridiculous law that prevents bystanders from interfering when they see a potential crime in progress. Revocation or re-structuring of that particular law (or laws) would mean that good samaritans wouldn't be hamstrung by fear of unreasonable imprisonment. Would it have helped in this case? Who knows. I like to hope so, but if wishes were horses...
Next comes the issue of anti-stalking laws. Stalkers live in a strange kind of gray zone in the legal world, in that they aren't actively inflicting physical injury or property damage. As long as they don't violate a restraining order there's not much the police can do. And even if they DO violate a restraining order, be it in person, over the phone, or via email, the police response time isn't going to be fast enough to catch him or her. An email shot from a 'net cafe or a text sent from a cell phone -- they allow stalkers to continue to harass their victims without much fear of arrest. And if the physical boundary of a restraining order is breached, well... By the time anyone knows, the damage has usually already been done.
This is a problem anywhere stalking is recognized as a crime, and there is no easy answer. Where do the rights of a potential victim override the basic civil rights of the potential attacker? In this particular case, the man's violent history should have made it clear that he was unstable and probably should have warranted an arrest. The fact that he was allowed to continue harrassing this poor young woman is, in my mind, a gross failure of the criminal justice system. However many other cases of stalking happen everyday, and they aren't always as clearcut as this one.
I don't know how to fix the problem, but I would hope that people with more clout and more legislative experience than me are looking at these laws and trying to discern how to make them more effective.
Posted in: Negligence and lousy anti-stalking law behind Chiba kidnapping/murder
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mnemosyne23
netrek: Then who the heck SHOULD be wearing miniskirts? 18 years old is not sixteen. If she wants to wear one, it's her prerogative. He might not have physically assaulted her, but he violated her privacy, committed an act of indecency, and broke the frelling LAW. All of that is bad enough as it is, but when such acts are committed by a POLICE OFFICER (even off-duty), a person of authority, it's even MORE disgusting. I wish I could have been there to give him a swift kick in the self-censored for decency's sake
This is the quote that bugs me the most:
That's probably the third nearly identical quote I've read in various "upskirt" and groping news stories in recent months. The perpetrator "gave in to temptation," or couldn't resist, or couldn't help himself. It's long past time for people to stop defending this kind of perverted behavior! We are HUMAN BEINGS, which means we have the ability to make rational, moral decisions; it's one of the things that separates us from the rest of the animal kingdom. A police officer -- even one who is off duty -- should ESPECIALLY be capable of maintaining proper boundaries and making morally appropriate decisions. That means that, when faced with GASP A WOMAN IN A MINISKIRT (evil temptress!!), the appropriate reaction is to silently applaud or decry her fashion sense (hey, not everyone looks good in a miniskirt) and keep your eyes (or cameras) trained somewhere more appropriate! The escalator's handrail, the panorama of the station below, the back of her head -- all of those would be perfectly reasonable places to look. Choosing to flip open your camera phone and film up her skirt for a vicarious thrill isn't just gross and creepy, but morally bankrupt and thoroughly reprehensible.
Posted in: Police sergeant arrested on suspicion of filming up-skirt videos
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mnemosyne23
So sad. The poor child. I'd like to know how old the "young woman" being questioned by police is (provided she is the mother in question). Is she a teenager? A twenty-something? Age would go a long way to explaining this young lady's mindset at the time that would lead her to leave her newborn child in the toilet. Again, we're faced with the question: was it fear? Or was it selfishness? I can't pass judgment until I know. Whatever the reasons, a baby is dead, and that justifies mourning. RIP, little one.
I don't think it's such a huge conclusion to jump to, though it wasn't explicity stated. Clearly the baby was gestated long enough to have been identifiable as a baby boy, which would lead me to believe it had at least reached the second trimester. This isn't to say the child was born alive and it may well have been too premature, especially if the mother was unaware she was pregnant and/or hadn't chosen to alter any habits that may be risky to an unborn child. But even if the child had NOT been born alive, there's still the matter of abandoning the baby's body in a toilet bowl. I think that is what gnaws at people, even more than the tragedy of abandonment alone. I can understand a young mother being terrified of this alien THING that she's suddenly given birth to and doesn't know what to do about, but leaving it behind in such a fashion is unforgivable to many people. Even if a coroner determines that the child was not born alive and therefore this isn't a case of fear-driven manslaughter, the mother could still be charged with abandoning a corpse. It's a crime either way, and a terrible end to one -- or two -- young lives.
Posted in: Newborn boy dies after being found in Tokyo Internet cafe toilet
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mnemosyne23
I can understand your point, WforW, but I'm afraid this would only make the matter worse, not better. As with any issue, large or small, ignoring it or trying to avoid it won't make it go away. The only way to overcome a problem is to face it head on and say, "This is a problem. We're going to fix it." The more women of both Japanese and foreign descent join in this debate, the better the chances of genuine change taking place. And let's not forget the men! Men have voices and a stake in this, just as much as women do. But nothing will happen if people don't organize and demand it happens.
Posted in: Western justice and Oriental order
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mnemosyne23
PS - I don't have a background in chemistry or industrial solvents, but what if someone washing windows with a squeegee and an ammonia-based cleaning solvent dumped the dirty water down the drain on one floor, then someone else dumped some bleach down a sink after using it to... oh, I don't know, sanitize a lab station. Perhaps there was a stopped up pipe somewhere, the two liquids came into contact with each other, and these two men just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time? Maybe there were some exposed pipes in the vicinity of the machinery where they were performing maintenance? This is all very off-the-cuff, but... seriously, what the heck could have happened?
Posted in: Two die after toxic gas leaks into Ishikawa school cafeteria
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mnemosyne23
Were these gentlemen in the cafeteria itself? Or were they in a smaller, more enclosed space adjoining the cafeteria? I can't speak for this cafeteria in particular, but most cafeterias I've been in are large, spacious areas, and it would take a lot of gas to not only fill the space but also to dissipate to safe levels. There's no mention of the employee who found these men suffering any gas-related impairment, so I'm assuming that the gas had had time to subside to tolerable levels. So, if they were found at 7:30am, how long were they there? Did they die the night before? Did they come in very early? What machinery were they working on? Too many questions and unfortunately no answers to be found. Hopefully the cause of this tragedy will be identified and fixed quickly so the families can have closure and parents can feel better about sending their children to this school.
Posted in: Two die after toxic gas leaks into Ishikawa school cafeteria
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mnemosyne23
sigh Another case of aged parents killing an abusive adult child. This is twice in as many weeks, am I correct? Tragic, tragic, tragic.
Hear, hear! Though I would argue the political reinvention should merely be a catalyst for change. You can't legislate a new social consciousness, but you can get the ball rolling and start people thinking while implementing new policies.
Posted in: Parents arrested for strangling 35-year-old abusive son to death in Chiba
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mnemosyne23
One more thing:
Okay, they'd been neutered, I get that. But what is the point of releasing stray cats back into the streets? They may not be capable of breeding anymore, but they can still carry disease, injure household pets (and children), and cause plenty of aggravation for homeowners and renters. I hate the thought of euthanising the poor things, but sending them out into the streets seems like a pretty half-hearted solution. Are there any rescue shelters in Japan? Adoption agencies for older cats? Something?
Posted in: Serial cat killer on the loose again in Tokyo's Setagaya
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mnemosyne23
I really think this is less a matter of someone being aggravated by misbehaving cats and more about someone getting a sick thrill out of torturing animals. Look at any list of serial killers and you'll find that many of them started out abusing and killing animals before escalating that behavior to people. There's a HUGE difference between disciplining an animal and torturing it, just as there's a huge difference between disciplining a child and child abuse. I hope they catch this sick creep and get him (or her) off the streets PRONTO, before anymore lives (feline or otherwise) are destroyed.
Posted in: Serial cat killer on the loose again in Tokyo's Setagaya
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mnemosyne23
We can go back and forth on the issue of how the police should have handled the situation and never come to a consensus. The man was apparently drunk and disorderly, but that doesn't mean he's a habitual, incorrigible criminal. I don't know the situation in the store at the time so I can't say what the cops could have done differently to avoid being injured by the perpetrator's knife, though it's rather sad that eight officers couldn't subdue ONE man without five of them sustaining injuries. At least no one was seriously wounded or worse.
What I WILL say is good for the store owner! He knew there were break-ins happening in the area and he invested in a security system. Instead of suffering loss of product or cash, the perpetrator was arrested before any further damage could be done. Hopefully this will encourage other businesses to step up their security and maybe lessen the crime rate in the area as a result. :)
Posted in: Liquor store intruder slashes 5 cops in Okinawa
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mnemosyne23
Not knowing details of the alleged abuse, I can't speak to who was at fault. Clearly the boy committed a grievous crime and should receive an accordingly severe sentence. If the father was truly violent and abusive then I hope the investigation reveals those facts and the information is taken into account during the boy's sentencing. If it turns out that he is a rebellious 13 year-old -- is there any other? -- who was unhappy with his father's strict (but not necessarily abusive) household and wanted to lash out, that is something entirely different. The question then becomes: was this murder borne out of self-preservation or selfishness? I would need to see all the facts in the case before I'd make any kind of value judgment one way or the other.
Whatever the case, the fact is a father is dead, killed by his own son. Is it just me, or have there been a god-awful number of familial killings lately? Murder is awful enough, but murder among kin is just that much worse somehow.
Posted in: 13-year-old Shimane boy in police custody wrote notes plotting his father’s death
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mnemosyne23
Such a shame. Drinking and driving is a menace all over the world, not just Japan, and there will never be a 100% effective method to make people refrain from driving while intoxicated. Still, there really needs to be some kind of marketing campaign in Japan about the dangers of over-imbibing, not to mention the dangers of drinking/drugging and then driving. I just feel like there's not enough understanding about how dangerous it can be, and I honestly hate that it has to be fatalities that get the conversation started.
Posted in: 3 killed in hit-and-run on Hokkaido highway
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mnemosyne23
Well done, Yukiko-san!
He was quoted as saying, “Initially, the back of my hand just touched her rear end, but I guess I got a little too excited.”
See, that right there is what seals this guy in my bad books. In a polite society, if his hand brushed her rear end, he should say, "Oh, excuse me," then reposition himself so it doesn't happen again. Even on a monstrously crowded rush hour train, he should make the effort. He certainly shouldn't KEEP TOUCHING HER because he "got a little too excited." I agree that media in general -- Jmedia perhaps especially -- often portrays women as objects, but media portrayals do not a truth make, ne? If more women did what this young woman did -- grab the groper and take him to authorities -- then maybe we'd start to see a change in that portrayal and in society.
Why did she wait 10 mins? I assume -- and I admit it's only an assumption -- that she wanted to make sure it WAS groping and not just the unfortunate realities of a crowded train, and then she wanted to make sure she didn't grab him until they reached a station so he wouldn't have time to get out of her hold.
Posted in: Miniskirt Police singer nabs groping suspect on train