JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION
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- Financial Advisor
- Select Asset Management KK, Tokyo
- Salary: ¥100,000 ~ ¥999,999 Paid Training Commission Based
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- Corporate Business English Trainers
- ACT Systems, Inc.（株式会社アクト・システムズ）, Tokyo
- Salary: ¥269,500 ~ ¥280,000 / Month
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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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papasmurfinjapan
So if you want to kill your kid and get off easy, just do the same thing. What monsters are these parents that they can slowly starve their son to death? Five years is a joke. Try life imprisonment for calculated torture and murder of an innocent child.
Posted in: Parents jailed over death of 4-year-old son due to malnutrition
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papasmurfinjapan
Yes, as long as they are willing to accept the consequences associated with being an idiot.
Posted in: Does freedom of speech include the right to yell "Fire!" in a crowded theater, yell "Shark" at a beach or joke about having a bomb on a plane, for example?
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papasmurfinjapan
And here I was hoping it was an anti-government protest... oh well..
Posted in: Full speed ahead
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papasmurfinjapan
@ rainman1
perhaps you are right. I just quickly looked up virgin trains and they looked pretty cheap to me though.. maybe there are hidden fees or the advertised fee is misleading. Even in Australia, rail is more expensive than air travel recently. What is different is in Japan air travel and train travel costs about the same. There is no cheaper option other than buses and until recently, even driving your car on the expressway was extremely expensive.
Posted in: Hayabusa shinkansen offers first class speed and service
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papasmurfinjapan
okey dokey..
London - Manchester (of course rates change depending on the day. This is for 27 Feb)
Air: 56 pounds inc tax.
Train: 17 pounds.
Okayama - Tokyo
Air: 13,100 yen (for the earliest flight at 7am) After that 16,000yen or more
Train: 16,860 yen (shinkansen jiyuseki)
If you don't think Japanese domestic travel is expensive, that is fine. Everyone is in different financial circumstances. Personally I think relative to current Japanese incomes, the price is expensive for many people. But that's just my opinion. I'm not saying I'm right and everyone else is wrong. What I am saying is, I think there are few budget options for travel in this country other than the overnight bus which isn't really that cheap, nor practical for families given the distances involved.
Posted in: Hayabusa shinkansen offers first class speed and service
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papasmurfinjapan
We, perhaps... how about the average Japanese worker though? Part time wages are way below Australia and starting salaries for skilled workers are pretty low... anyway, this is getting a bit off topics. Thanks for the input though :)
Posted in: Hayabusa shinkansen offers first class speed and service
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papasmurfinjapan
Actually buses are not that much cheaper than trains. I live in Okayama - it costs 30,000 yen return to go to Tokyo by shinkansen, about the same by plane. A bus costs about 20,000 return. Multiply that by 3 or 4 for a typical family and things become expensive very quickly - and I don't know many people who would want to ride an overnight bus with toddlers.
In Australia I could FLY to Melbourne or Brisbane for less than half that price. If I was in the UK I could fly to practically anywhere in Europe for about the same.
Posted in: Hayabusa shinkansen offers first class speed and service
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papasmurfinjapan
@ Zenny11
For the cost of hotels etc., true I guess. However many countries at least also have a budget airline such as Ryanair or Jetstar making travel for families affordable.
Posted in: Hayabusa shinkansen offers first class speed and service
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papasmurfinjapan
Honestly though, don't you think prices for domestic travel are a bit high? (not just shinkansen). Sure the service may be great, but for a similar price you can take a vacation overseas including accommodation.
Posted in: Hayabusa shinkansen offers first class speed and service
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papasmurfinjapan
@ Hikozaemon
No worries. I can imagine some people in Europe are scratching their heads too. I guess with Canon the lower the number the better the camera 600D - 60D - 7D - 5D - 1D.
Posted in: A Kiss from Canon
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papasmurfinjapan
oh, you are right about one thing though, the 60D is a completely different camera altogether.
Posted in: A Kiss from Canon
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papasmurfinjapan
Hikozaemon
No, I'm right :). Check your facts...
In the European market it is called the 600D (what I stated in my original post). The US market calls it the Rebel. The Japanese market calls it Kiss. Kiss is the worst name of the three in my opinion, but rebel is not far behind...
Posted in: A Kiss from Canon
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papasmurfinjapan
@ bogva
BCN Ranking placed Nikon's D90 as the top selling camera for 2010, with Nikon's share up 3.6%. Canon's share decreased 8% compared to 2009. The X4 has been a strong seller this year though so perhaps 2011 rankings will be different.
Canon is still the market leader overall however.
And range and quality of lenses, an important factor for many, many people.
Posted in: A Kiss from Canon
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papasmurfinjapan
I'm waiting for someone to publish a "Stress free guide to STAYING in Japan".
I like my life here, but the ineptitude of politicians is so frustrating. I feel like I'm on a sinking ship with a captain who has no idea what to do.
Posted in: The Stress-Free Guide to Leaving Japan
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papasmurfinjapan
I understand the strategy, but Nikon don't resort to childish names or advertising, and have overtaken Canon in DSLR sales in recent years.
Posted in: A Kiss from Canon
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papasmurfinjapan
here = her.
sorry, in a rush... :(
Posted in: Hayabusa shinkansen offers first class speed and service
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papasmurfinjapan
One of my friends from Aomori always complains that it costs here more to get home than it does to visit Korea or Guam. Domestic travel prices are crazy in this country...
Posted in: Hayabusa shinkansen offers first class speed and service
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papasmurfinjapan
The recent incarnations of the Kiss Series (X4 and now X5) are actually pretty hard to fault. ISO is usable up to crazy levels previously only achievable on the full-frame 5D. Even the new "kit lenses" offer quite amazing image quality for the price - not like 5 years ago when the kit lens was a throw-away lens.
The only thing that irks me about the camera is the naming. Why do they insist on calling their camera Kiss and advertising it like a toy in Japan? Can't they call it the 600D like they do in Europe?
Posted in: A Kiss from Canon
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papasmurfinjapan
@monkeyz- I agree, there is a double-standard there.
What we can only speculate on though is what exactly "indecent images" means. According to Japanese law, this is what constitutes child porn: (sorry Japanese only)
一 児童を相手方とする又は児童による性交又は性交類似行為に係る児童の姿態
二 他人が児童の性器等を触る行為又は児童が他人の性器等を触る行為に係る児童の姿態であって性欲を興奮させ又は刺激するもの
三 衣服の全部又は一部を着けない児童の姿態であって性欲を興奮させ又は刺激するもの
Article 1 and 2 state that it becomes porn when the image is of the child having sex (real or simulated), having their their privates touched, or touching those of another person. Article 3 is pretty vague, saying an image of the child naked or partly naked in a position for the purpose of sexual arousal also counts as child porn. I suppose those baby-in-bikini-eating-a-banana photos are treading a fine legal line. Show a nipple and it becomes porn. Cover it up with a skimpy bikini and it's perfectly legal...
This being the law, we must presume that the mum wasn't simply selling naked photos of her kid in the bath or something... it's very sad that the mother sold her dignity, respect and trust for a mere 5,700 yen (not that any amount would make it acceptable).
Posted in: Woman arrested for selling pornographic images of 4-year-old daughter
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papasmurfinjapan
By the time you've paid your premiums for the national health insurance, life insurance, cancer insurance, auto insurance, house and earthquake insurance, dog insurance and now leisure insurance, you'll have no money left to actually go out and enjoy your life.
Of course that is exactly what insurance companies want - take your money then watch you sit at home behind the tv watching more insurance commercials because you can't afford to take a holiday.
Posted in: Extra insurance advisable for leisure activities