JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION
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- 秘書及び業務サポート
- 加治金属工業株式会社, Tokyo
- Salary: ¥4.0M / Year
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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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- ALT - Mie Prefecture - Yokkaichi City - June start
- NPO法人グローバル教育推進機構（GLAD), Mie
- Salary: ¥230,000 / Month For a full working month. Some months differ.
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originalusername
The glasses were sold out everywhere apparently. And the clouds made it seem dimmer than it was, which explains why many might have thought it was ok.
Posted in: 74 people visit eye clinics after observing eclipse
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originalusername
It isnt so bad since i have a phone contract which comes with a starbucks/mcdonalds/sb wifi plan, but it sucks for visitors; since there is no cheap prepaid data plans here.
For such an advanced country, it is one place that it really lets itself down on.
Posted in: Travelers in U.S. face patchwork of free vs. paid Wi-Fi
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originalusername
Better patchy than the system than in Japan - where there is NO such thing as free wifi - Osaka airport being the only place i can think of.
Even Starbucks/McDonalds require you to have a contract with a paid wifi service
Posted in: Travelers in U.S. face patchwork of free vs. paid Wi-Fi
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originalusername
After seeing this pic, i suddenly got the sleepies and had to take a nap here at work. Dammit its contagious!
Posted in: Taking it easy
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originalusername
Not sure about others, but i never feel wide awake and happy to be at work on the Monday after a holiday. I'd much rather be in the park taking a nap!
Posted in: Taking it easy
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originalusername
Night buses here all have seatbelts, and i wear one every time. But i dont see how a seatbelt could have saved anyone from a wall shearing through the bus like a hot knife through butter!
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originalusername
^^ So true. I used to think i could understand 80% of what was being said around me, but couldnt fully understand the dialogue in a serious movie or understand the news (without relying on pictures). I now know that people around me were dumbing their conversation down for me. It still happens occasionally, but since i can understand so much more (bigger vocab, grammar, and of course kanji knowlege for words that i havent heard before), i can pick it out pretty quickly.
Posted in: Why you must learn kanji
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originalusername
Great article! I really dont think the monk on Mt Fuji was intended to be serious - the whole tone of the article is light-hearted, but with a truthful message (of course kids dont learn kanji before they learn words, but i bet that highschool learning of words is built up on Kanji knowlege).
My learning has been to pick up both at the same time, but these days it is my knowlege of Kanji which drives my progression with new vocabulary. When in conversation and i hear a word i havent heard, i can fairly accurately guess the meaning based on the knowlege of kanji and their onyomi (its not 100% accurate, but fairly close when you filter them out by the context of the conversation)
Posted in: Why you must learn kanji
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originalusername
Night buses here stop every 2 hours, so its definitely not a case of 8-10hrs non-stop as some have suggested. All the night buses i have taken had 2 drivers, and they usually swap every stop (2hr shift).
This is a case of cost-saving (reducing down to 1 driver saves them money), employed by the cheapest of bus companies (i think i heard this trip was a 3500yen fare - thats cheaper than i would risk). The news this morning spoke about the last rest area the busdriver stopped at; apparently when he made the announcement (to announce the time that passengers should return to the bus), he was slurring his words to the point of being barely understandable, and that as the passengers got out they could see him slumped over the steering wheel, sleeping.
I think standing in the shinkansen is looking more appealing
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originalusername
LFRAgain, i was going to comment with "I dont like the concept of tipping", but your argument sums it up with much better. I am now even more against tipping!
Posted in: What do you think of the system of tipping waiters, taxi drivers, etc?
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originalusername
Search for "CamiSecret Dub" on Youtube, by JaboodyDubs... Hilarious voiceover for an infomercial for the same product sold in the US.
I have also wondered why boob cleavage is so taboo here, whereas shorts that dont even cover the butt line are A-Ok. Not that i am complaining on the latter part.
Posted in: Cleavage cover to keep prying eyes away
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originalusername
This is what i dont understand about Apple fanatics. They all go bananas over everything apple releases, and brag, to the point of pressuring, friends, strangers, anyone who will listen, to convince them to get an iPhone/iPad/iTurd I get the feeling they all want a world dominated by Apple alone. They want to see Android, PC, other technology companies crushed so that the everyone in the world uses Apple products. I'm not against Apple products (bought my wife an ipad), but i am a firm believer that competition is healthy, and diversity is a good thing. I dont want future phone shops to just offer ONE phone to choose from!
Posted in: Apple's squeeze hits phone companies, competitors
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originalusername
If the tobacco companies are fighting this so hard, imagine how difficult it would be to pass a ban on cigarettes!
This is purely to stop youngsters from starting smoking from seeing cool packaging etc. The same way the government in Australia has taxed alcopops to be out of reach for young drinkers. For older/already addicted smokers, this will have make no difference as they already have their chosen brand of preferred cigarettes.
Posted in: Japan Tobacco among companies fighting Australia over cigarette pack labeling law
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originalusername
I'm still here and i am already dreading the lack of quality ramen choices i will have when i leave. That and cheap sushi (well, cheap everything really).
The washlet toilet would be top of my list, but I am bringing one with me when i leave; thats for sure
Posted in: Things that foreigners miss about Japan when they return home
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originalusername
"bills" is a restaurant by an Australian called Bill Granger. There are branches in the UK and a couple more in Japan... The ricotta hotcakes are amazing!
Posted in: Opening day
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originalusername
The normal sale fairs are quite reasonable too - 6000yen each way between Tokyo to Hokkaido. A lot of people say that Japanese people wouldnt stand for tardy airlines, but at these prices not many will complain. Australians love to bitch and complain about cheap Jetstar/Tiger air, but at the end of the day, they are popular and sell well.
Posted in: Jetstar Japan sells 10,000 one-way tickets for 1 yen each
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originalusername
No it was legit. I couldnt coordinate a convenient time for both my wife and I to travel in time before the sale ended but there were NO fuel surcharges. 4yen for 2 people return to Hokkaido, extra for luggage/inflight entertainment/food (but on short flights, who needs that, and for a weekend trip you can get away with on-board luggage only)
Posted in: Jetstar Japan sells 10,000 one-way tickets for 1 yen each
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originalusername
Damn i knew i shouldnt have read this article so early. Not even 10am and I am hungry for some hawker food!
Posted in: Penang's famed food hawkers see tradition lose steam
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originalusername
Problem is, this situation is not like Chernobyl. The scale might be the same but Chernobyl went UP and OUT, so they could just put a big sarcophagus over it to effectively stop it going up and out. FukuIchi isgoing DOWN (and also OUT). Even encasing the whole plant in cement would not stop the fuel that is going DOWN (Keep in mind that nuclear fuel can melt through concrete)
Posted in: Very high radiation, little water in Fukushima No. 2 reactor
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originalusername
Cold shutdown doesnt mean the whole thing is fixed/safe/whatever. People need to get that notion out of their heads. Cold shutdown means it is under 100 degrees; it is just a stage of the shutdown process (which is expected to take years). The plant is stable in the sense that there are no more massive explosions, but that doesnt mean Tepco can just pack up and leave (and as you can tell, they arent).
And UTrack, entomb it? Thats like putting deadlocks on your front door, but leaving the windows open. The fuel is going DOWN. Building a case over the top of the reactor does nothing to stop that.
Posted in: Very high radiation, little water in Fukushima No. 2 reactor