JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION
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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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- FT English Teachers for Kids - Osaka
- Kohgakusha Co., Ltd. （株式会社興学社）, Osaka
- Salary: ¥255,000 ~ ¥275,000 / Month Travel Expenses, Encouragement of Japanese learning*
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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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sfjp330
Wurthington:
2006 Honda Civic Hybid, combine 42 mpg. Source: Y.S. Goverment: Department of Energy
http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/noframes/22643.shtml
Posted in: California woman wins suit over Honda hybrid mileage per gallon
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WurthingtonFeb. 03, 2012 - 09:46AM JST. She paid an extra $5,000 for a hybrid that would get around 50 mpg. She did not get near that number.
Show me a link that states Honda Hybrid gets around 50mpg. The EPA shows 40/43.
Posted in: California woman wins suit over Honda hybrid mileage per gallon
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YubaruFeb. 03, 2012 - 09:34AM JST @330....don't you think that Honda brought those issues up during the lawsuit? And yet they still lost..
Sure but the judge is dumb. If you say that, all manufacturer has the same problem. Example: Let's say you own a Ford Expedition 2wd, with 4.6 engine, a 3.31 rear gear ratio. The factory EPA is 16 city and 21 freeway. On the real world, you get around13 in the city and 16 in freeways. This is 20-25 percent less than what was advertised by Ford. Don't you think this is a false advertising by Ford? Do you think there should be a class action lawsuit against Ford since your getting 25 percent less in the freeways as advertised? This is same as Honda gas milage results in which she expected 50+ but got only 40mpg.
Posted in: California woman wins suit over Honda hybrid mileage per gallon
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YubaruFeb. 03, 2012 - 09:17AM JST it isn't a stupid lawsuit as I see it. Manufacturer's have a responsibility to accurately advertise their products and consumers have a right to expect that the product will function at least as well as advertised. How many times have people purchased things and only found out afterwards that it didnt live up to their expectations or what the advertising said it could do. Honda better start thinking about giving more cash to their customers and not the lawyers. Otherwise it is fraud.
This is a dumb lawsuit by a dumb women and a dumb judge. If this ruling stands, then every manufacturer is in for a lawsuit. The real world gas milage is usually 20-25 less than the actual EPA rating. Here's why: the cars and trucks subjected to fuel economy testing are "driven" without a full complement of passengers, cargo, and options aboard, all else being equal, the heavier a vehicle is, the more fuel an engine will need to burn in order to reach and maintain a set speed. Similarly, the vehicles are tested without the air conditioning and other electrical accessories in use, which also tends to put a greater load on the engine, and thus impacts the vehicle's fuel economy.
Other factors like trip length, traffic conditions, terrain, temperature, and the weather all affect your mileage. Likewise, installing exterior accessories like roof racks and cargo carriers will hamper a vehicle's aerodynamics will take their toll at the pump. The more aerodynamic "drag" that's placed on a vehicle, the more energy it takes to run it, especially at highway speeds. Lead-footed acceleration, heavy braking, high-speed driving, excessive idling, towing, and engaging four-wheel drive will also drain your vehicle's gas tank at a higher than average rate. The jack-rabbit starts and sudden stops alone reduce a car or truck's fuel economy by as much as 33 percent at highway speeds and five percent in the city.
Posted in: California woman wins suit over Honda hybrid mileage per gallon
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Article states: "A Foreign Ministry official in charge of China affairs said later Wednesday that Beijing justified its activity, repeating its claim that China has sovereignty over the area".
If China has sovereignty over the area as claimed by FM official of China, why would they offer "joint development proposal with Japan"? Only reason is that China does not have clear sovereignty. They know it.
Posted in: Japan protests to China over undersea gas drilling
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Few years ago, China offered a joint development to Japan in this area. China knows this is a problem that has not been resolved, but went ahead to drill it to piss of Japan. Is this how China wants to be seen around the world as not playing by the rule? How do you trust China with unacceptable behavior? China does not obey the rules set by UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.
China knows there is a continue dispute. China and Japan both claim 200 nautical miles EEZ rights, but the East China Sea width is only 360 nautical miles. China claims an EEZ extending to the eastern end of the Chinese continental shelf which goes deep into the Japanese EEZ beyond the median line. This goes back to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea the stipulation, should act according to the fair principle development negotiations, seeks means which both sides both can accept. Few years ago, China's offers to jointly develop the oil field have been rejected by Japan. China should avoid anything that could undermine an eventual agreement. China's gas field drilling near the median line between the two countries is regarded by Japan as an obvious infringement. Japan's proposal, which has not been accepted by China, has been to divide the sea equally between the two countries, which would put China's Chunxiao claim only three miles from Japanese territory. The latest development by shows how impatient China is.
Posted in: Japan protests to China over undersea gas drilling
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StormsilverFeb. 02, 2012 - 07:21AM JST. Excuse me but what DO YOU know about the situation with immigration in Europe ? If I'm correct, you're living in Japan and thus judging the situation far away from a secured land where immigration is under strict control. I'm suggesting you instead to come and experiment a living near the african-muslim communities over here before expressing a judgement on that matter.
Germany has the same problem as Japan. The number of potential workers in Germany is expected to fall by 6.5 million to 38 million, resulting in severe skills shortages and serious consequences for the German economy. Germany needs to reduce skilled labour gaps by increasing immigration and hiring more women. Just like Japan, Germany needs to integrate more women into the workforce. However, increased immigration will still be needed to provide enough workers for the looming skills shortage. The problem is that German immigration policy makes immigration of skilled workers from outside the European Union difficult. Only 2 percent of immigrants to arrive in Germany were skilled labourers.
I think the biggest surprise to Japanese residents who haven't spent time in Europe is that it is much more multi-cultural, much more multi- ethnic than they think. This idea that Europe is this white protestant Christian place is much more complicated than that. Like Japan, Germany is wrestling with how best to accommodate its changing demographics. Germany has no national history of integration, no melting pot. The country is home to millions of guest workers who came in the 70s & 80's to work, but never became German citizens, and many never left. Many don't speak German, only a fraction goes on to college. Many do not feel welcome. Therefore it is also very difficult for the immigrants to accept themselves as Germans, when the German themselves are in an identity crisis. It is a country taking beginning steps toward multiculturalism. Germany needs immigrants to replenish its workforce. Germany has the lowest birthrate in Europe, and without immigrants, Germany's social welfare system and the fourth largest economy in the world will have difficulty ahead.
Posted in: Japan's population to shrink two thirds by 2110
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Japan has been leaned on by U.S. and in this case the Japan government is somewhat wishy-washy; it is a very weak government. However, since the Fukushima incident of a year ago, Japan really needs to buy oil, so what will they do. If you go, for example, to China and say to them, either you stop buying Iranian oil or you cannot have any financial dealings with the U.S., is that tenable. China has said no and they are very angry. There has been a very angry response from Beijing. They may have reached their limit in terms of taking dictation from the U.S. Also India, which buys a significant amount of Iranian oil, is also basically saying no. So China and India are saying no.
And then you have South Korea, they are ROK, what will they do? Those, too, are sort of up in the air. Certainly, if you tell people in Japan that you have got to choose between China and the U.S. there is a significant part of the Japanese economy that will say, well, we choose China. So, it is very difficult.
So, this whole array of countries that are now being put on the spot by the U.S. with this strong-arm, black mail, secondary boycott approach, which simply shows that the people leading U.S. foreign policy, I would say, are imbeciles. They imagine that they have all of this power, and when Geithner went to China, he basically had a whole series of nonnegotiable demands and I think they basically reacted with a great deal of rage.
Posted in: Japan, U.S. to discuss Iran sanctions
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Konsta Feb. 01, 2012 - 04:43PM JST. Unfortunately, there is no interest from the Japanese side, so it looks like they decided to forget about that weakness altogether.
The security environment in the Sea of Japan and Northern Territories area has drastically changed, with China's growing naval powers and the increasingly territorial disputes in the South China Sea. Therefore, it is quite an opportune move for Japan and Russia to cooperate in the matter of safety of the seas. With its military expansion, China is becoming an increasing threat for Russia as it shares its Siberian and Far Eastern borders with China. This is also behind Russia's attempt to modernize its own military in the Far East and Northern Territories. However, it would be detrimental if the naval security talks irritate China. They should proceed so that in the long run, the talks would be inclusive of China as well as the other neighboring countries, and contribute to the stability of the region.
Posted in: Japan, Russia to boost economic, security ties
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Konsta Jan. 31, 2012 - 03:05PM JST. if there will be no peace with Russia, it is really a Japanese problem, as far as I see it. It is really a Sword of Damocles over each Japanese government. You realize, that all those territorial statements and actions are items of propaganda fed to Japanese people, while every J-government struggles to overcome the negative effects of those. Russians clearly said, that there will be no islands. Period. And they don't care about the peace treaty, because Japan "unconditionally surrendered". Is that right or not? Or it didn't surrender? Or not unconditionally?
FM Gemba described the territorial dispute between Russia and Japan as an issue of various agreements and documents in the past and principles of law and justice at a recent meeting (11/11) with his Russian counterpart. The law refers to the 1956 Japan-Russia Joint Declaration. PUTIN ADMITS the declaration, which proposed to return two of the disputed islands to Japan, IS VALID. Therefore the two sides share a common ground.
Russia's problem is that reforms aren't implemented when the country has money and when reforms are needed, the nation lacks funds. Russia's stability throughout the last decade, during which the country's democratization process was postponed, has been supported by surges in energy resource prices. But it's uncertain how long this will continue. Inevitably, economic sectors such as high technology and information technology will need to be diversified and modernized. Putin is focusing on the potential of Japan, which has reduced dependency on nuclear power since the 3/11 Earthquake. Putin is discussing energy cooperation with Japan in sectors such as natural gas. He may be able to build better Japan-Russia relations. Russia sees Japan as a long-term importer of its natural gas.
Posted in: Japan, Russia to boost economic, security ties
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malfupeteJan. 31, 2012 - 09:35AM JST. So really, the statement that Japan's TV industry is "rapidly plummeting" shouldn't bother you since its low tech stuff anyways and of no concern to Japanese industry.
It does concern major Japanese industry. In 2011, Sony and Panasonic poured new money into their businesses long after many analysts warned it was futile. They will now pay a price for their over-investment. Panasonic is to take a Y265bn restructuring charge on its TV business this year, including write-offs of plant and equipment. That, combined with a separate reorganization of its semiconductor business, will drive it into a forecast Y420bn net loss. Point is Sony and Panasonic made big mistake.
Posted in: Japan losing its manufacturing edge to South Korea
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Guillaume VarèsJan. 31, 2012 - 09:11AM JST. Therefore increased immigration is necessary to stabilize the labor force meanwhile.
Increase immigration? In your dreams. Japanese would starve than increase immigration. This is out of question. It will not happen.
Posted in: Japan's population to shrink two thirds by 2110
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Can marriage and having more children be revived in Japan? Maybe, if expectations of those roles of both sexes change, but shifting traditional attitudes is hard. Japan Government cannot legislate away popular prejudices. They can encourage change. Relaxing divorce laws might, paradoxically, boost marriage. Women who now steer clear of wedlock might be more willing to tie the knot if they know it can be untied, not just because they can get out of the marriage if it doesn’t work, but also because their freedom to leave might keep their husbands on their toes. Family law should give divorced women a more generous share of the couple’s assets. Japan Government should also legislate to get employers to offer both maternal and paternal leave, and provide or subsidize child care. If taking on such expenses helped promote family life, it might reduce the burden on the state of looking after the old.
Japan government have long taken the view that the superiority of their family life was one of their big advantages over the West. That confidence is no longer warranted. They need to wake up to the huge social changes happening in their country and think about how to cope with the consequences.
Posted in: Japan's population to shrink two thirds by 2110
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YuriOtaniJan. 31, 2012 - 07:37AM JST. Russia has nothing to offer Japan.
It's the other way around, Japan has nothing to offer to Russia. Now, Russia can get all the technical help from the Chinese. Japan and Russia have never signed a peace treaty formally ending their brief hostilities in the waning days of World War II. That has not stopped the two countries acting the way normal, friendly countries act. It has not stopped Russia and Japan to inaugurate a natural gas deal. Since the end of the Soviet Union in early 90's, Russia eagerly anticipated substantial Japanese investment in the country, especially in Siberia and the Russian Far East. When that did not materialize, the two countries tended to lose interest in each other and that trend continued as revenues from oil and natural gas made Russia wealthier in the 2000s. Under Putin the Russians began to develop and exploit their own natural resources more effectively and didn’t need Japan any more.
Posted in: Japan, Russia to boost economic, security ties
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YuriOtaniJan. 31, 2012 - 05:40AM JST. As for morals... Ask the German 6th army about the high morals of the Russians. More than 100k are captures, less than 4k made it back to Germany.. How about the ethic cleansing of our northern territories another war crime. How about the killing of tens or perhaps 100's of thousands of Japanese POW's.
Sure, by 1947, Russians evicted 17,000 Japanese people that were living in Kurile island. Talk about high morals? By 1945, nearly 13 million Chinese women, children and men who were too old or unable to fight the Japanese were exterminated. The events of WWII forged the way in which China evolved today. Never again would they allow such a high casualty rate to occur by a foreign aggressor. The Japanese invaded most of Southeast Asia and they did it really fast. they set up camps in those countries, and most were brutalized and treated very badly. Japanese propaganda was very successful. they made it seem like they were liberating Southeast Asia from the colonizers, Europe and the U.S., so at first they thought of japanese soldiers as liberators.
Posted in: Japan, Russia to boost economic, security ties
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Russia does not need Japan. Russia seems to have already begun a search for other energy partners. Russia agreed to sell oil from the Sakhalin energy project to China instead of to Japan as originally planned. Russia has also continued to sell military equipment to China. Russia, China, and India agreed on trilateral trade. Taken together, these events suggest that Russia may move closer to China at the expense of its relationship with Japan.
Posted in: Japan, Russia to boost economic, security ties
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But when you add in the 40 percent luxury tax surcharge, that pushes Kuroda's price to around $14 million a season, which may be a bit much to gamble on an aging pitcher with a 41-46 career record (3.45 ERA) who has never pitched in the American League.
Posted in: Yankees complete 1-year deal with pitcher Kuroda
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cleo Jan. 27, 2012 - 08:12AM JST. I read stuff like this a lot on JT, yet in real life I have never once come across it. Most people seem envious that he has a real-live blued-eyed blonde for his wife, and good-looking haaf kids.
Reality is foreigners that are living in Tokyo or other large cities in Japan can say this. For many decades, people in Tokyo are used to interact with gaigin. If you live as a couple in a small town far away from the big cities like Tokyo and Osaka, you will encounter more traditional views. Tokyo is not a true reflections on rest of Japan.
Posted in: How foreigners’ daily lives change when they live in Japan
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The real question is how much of that Korean growth is truly innovation versus simple adoption of existing technologies? For Korea to sustain growth and be a leader in innovation, many will require substantial and fundamental economic and governmental change to support and sustain innovation growth. Short term growth is one thing, a sustained innovation culture is quite another. A long term innovation should also look at how innovation survives economic downturns and its sustainability. Some countries with explosive growth are now looking at their first economic downturn since starting their rapid growth. It will be interesting to see how they weather the economic change.
Posted in: Japan losing its manufacturing edge to South Korea
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yabits Jan. 27, 2012 - 05:42AM JST. Right. Builders should have the right to put up buildings the cheapest way possible. Can the inspections. Who needs structural engineers adding more time and cost to the project? When the things collapse -- like they just did in Rio -- the free market will take care of everyone -- except those under the rubble of course.
That structural costs imposed on U.S. manufacturers including regulation creates substantial cost disadvantage when compared with other major industrialized countries. The issue of cost disadvantage is important by making U.S. business less competitive with foreign industries. The U.S. business is overly regulated and the question of why such regulation is needed in the first place. The free market economic system depends on the exercise of ethical behavior by corporate officials.
Posted in: Obama to protect U.S. goods globally