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
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
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sfjp330
The cultural difference may be overcome, as long as each partner keeps an open mind. The biggest problem can be the family in-laws and their expectation of son-in-law or daughter-in-law. Like anything else, the relationship depends on the people. Typically Japanese who date foreigner are unique onto themselves, much like American who date Foreigners. Both see the world and people in a different ways.
As for problems with a Japanese wife, how the families feel about the marriage? Marriage is a different thing. In Japan especially, being pure Japanese is very important and to be married to a foreigner make you something like being openly gay. In the back of their mind they feel a bit uncomfortable about it. Also, the language is a huge thing. Many have a hard time speaking to in-laws and from time to time you need to translate for your spouse. Some think well he is a washed up guy who could not get a girl in the U.S so he had to go abroad or he want a women who would be his slave girl.
Posted in: How foreigners’ daily lives change when they live in Japan
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sfjp330
The concentration and relative size of big business groups in Korea makes an interesting comparison with Japan’s experience. In Japan, the relative size of keiretsu is not gaining strength. In fact, industrial concentration in Japan has recently fallen as investment and output rose rapidly as a result of technology innovations in industries and companies that are not part of keiretsu, leading to sizable new entry and fast growth of small firms. Koreans believed that business efficiency can be enhanced by dispersing the ownership of large business groups. Strengthening the competitiveness of small and medium size companies is obviously a worthy goal, and much effort has been devoted to it.
Posted in: Japan losing its manufacturing edge to South Korea
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sfjp330
NEC is now a full partner with Lenovo. The reduction of staff was predictable. NEC needs to shed some of the products that are not making profit. NEC is interested in Lenovo who make their own smartphone. One of their smartphone creation was Android handset called LePhone. Lenovo is getting ready to make another smartphone with Android based Operating System.
Posted in: Loss-making NEC to cut 10,000 jobs worldwide
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sfjp330
She might've gone through many years of abuse. Most Japanese women tend to keep quiet and not tell anybody because of shame. Domestic abuse often escalates from threats and verbal abuse to violence. The emotional and psychological consequences of domestic abuse are also severe. Emotionally abusive relationships can destroy your self-worth, lead to anxiety and depression, and make you feel helpless and alone. No one should have to endure this kind of pain and your first step to breaking free is recognizing that your situation is abusive. Once you acknowledge the reality of the abusive situation, then you can get the help you need. The most telling sign is fear of your partner. If you feel like you have to walk on eggshells around your partner, constantly watching what you say and do in order to avoid a blow-up—chances are your relationship is unhealthy and abusive. Other signs that you may be in an abusive relationship include a partner who belittles you or tries to control you, and feelings of self-loathing, helplessness, and desperation.
Posted in: Woman arrested over husband's murder in Hiroshima
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sfjp330
This is a daily ritual event in Japan of youth beating or killing of a foreigner or old men. The Japan should lower the age to 18 as legal adult and let these young people face consequences of their crime as adult. If the crime is severe, even at 16 or 17, some of they should face charges as an adult. These young kids probably just get a slap on the wrist and sent home. The law should change to deter increase in juvenile crimes, else it will not get better.
Posted in: 4 high school students held over attacks on homeless men in Tokyo park
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sfjp330
Obama is simply finding that his vision is unworkable because his vision is unlimited government. The world has changed and that scaling down is the only option that resource limitations allow. With the long term economic contraction, the question becomes one of how much government can citizens afford which then makes us examine what the role of government should be. Compounding the problem is that those in power, the 1%, are not willing to suffer a lower standard of living along with the rest of us, so they demand a greater percentage of the contracting economic pie in order to maintain their opulence.
It is very unlikely that the current level of government spending can be maintained, much less increased. It is currently takes a very high percentage of the economic pie by historic standards. The reality is that taking more of the income of the wealthy would not even solve the problem of deficit spending and politicians only do what the public demands and most of what they hear is give me, give me, give me. This is reflected in the failed struggle that is now taking place in Washington.
Posted in: Jobs, energy, values top issues in Obama's State of the Union address
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sfjp330
yabitsJan. 24, 2012 - 09:46PM JST. Economies that are currently based heavily on oil will need to start shifting away from it -- to cleaner, renewable energy technologies -- NOW.
In a mass scale, you can only work with the existing technology. Problem is U.S. goverment will not tighten the screws on major companies like GM, Ford, Toyota and other manufacturers to accelerate producing more fuel efficient cars. Profit seems to comes first. If the U.S. goverment can put restrictions on the maximum engine size to 2.0 litre (122cid) and the maxium weight of the vehicle to 3500 lbs. By changing the law, the U.S. consumption of the oil will reduce by 25 percent in 10 years. U.S. should adopt the Japanese system for heavy taxation based on engine size and gradually reduce dependency on larger engines. They are adding turbos on the 4 cylinders to get as much power as previous generation V8's and adding more gears on the transmission to reduce RPM and increase gas milage, but this is costly. Price has to come down for wider acceptance. Battery power cars are still years away and has no impact.
Posted in: Obama rejects contested Canada pipeline
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sfjp330
yabitsJan. 24, 2012 - 07:11AM JST. You can try selling that crap somewhere else. TransCanada already acknowledges the pipeline will raise gas prices in much of the area covered by PADD II.
Are you only thinking about possible increase prices? So you don't believe there will be declining oil production from Mexico, Venezuela and other major suppliers? Unfortunately, in the world of oil production, there is no standing still: to stand still is to fall behind and U.S. has to adjust to future consquences. The significant factor on petroleum demand has been human population growth and income growth. The world population in 2030 will be almost double that of 1980. China alone adds 18-20 million vehicles a year. A severe energy crunch is inevitable without a massive expansion of production and refining capacity. While it is difficult to predict what economic, political, and strategic effects such a shortfall might produce, it surely would reduce the prospects for growth in both the developing and developed worlds. Such an economic slowdown would exacerbate other unresolved tensions. At best, it would lead to periods of harsh economic adjustment.
Posted in: Obama rejects contested Canada pipeline
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sfjp330
These people did not know him. Was this maybe a robbery attempt that went wrong? Did he carry large amount of money? Did the restaurant owner tried to fight back as these men trying to rob him and resisted was beaten and killed?
Article Unavailable
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sfjp330
yabitsJan. 21, 2012 - 09:19AM JST. Independent analysts estimate that prices of gasoline will strengthen (read: INCREASE) by the tune of 30 to 40 cents a gallon.
But perhaps the biggest whopper of all is the claim that Keystone XL will raise gasoline prices. The idea that the construction of a pipeline carrying 700,000 barrels of oil per day from Canada to U.S., thus reducing our reliance on OPEC and providing a more stable supply of petroleum, will somehow increase prices is an interesting proposition. It almost requires an individual to abandon logic and rational thought altogether.
The Canadian government say that the project might increase the price per barrel that oil sands producers can charge. But as could be expected, what KXL opponents ignore is more important than what they actually cite. For instance, in its Reasons for Decision filing, Canada’s National Energy Board describes how traditional supply sources of heavy crude for the U.S. Gulf Coast including Mexico and Venezuela are declining. As a result, those refiners are seeking to diversity their supply sources by obtaining access to western Canadian crude. In other words, existing sources are no longer reliable, which in the future will mean increased scarcity and, in turn, higher prices. In the highly complex world that is the nation’s energy supply, the answer is often not as simple as some make it seem.
Faced with declining imports from Mexico and Venezuela, the Gulf Coast refineries will replace these supplies with new crude supplies from either Canada, Montana, and the Dakotas via Keystone XL, or the Middle East via tankers. The choice is fairly simple, get cheaper oil from reliable North American reserves, or more expensive oil from unstable regions subject to disruptions. One needs to look no further than the crisis surrounding the Strait of Hormuz to understand which way we should be going as a nation.
Given the vast implications inherent in Keystone XL’s approval, and the fact that gas prices in 2011 set a record high and are projected to increase in 2012, the American people deserve an open and honest debate about this project. Keystone XL represents an opportunity to reduce U.S. dependence on OPEC, increase price stability and lower prices at the pump for American drivers.
Posted in: Obama rejects contested Canada pipeline
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sfjp330
biculturalJan. 21, 2012 - 10:42PM JST sfjp330, how long will you continue to manipulate statistics? Feliz went 10-6 in the Rangers orginization a couple of years ago?
In 2008, in two minor league team, Feliz had this stats.
Here is a link: http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=feliz-001nef&mobile=true
Posted in: Rangers sign Darvish to six-year $60 mil deal
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sfjp330
Environmentalist made the same claims about the Alaskan pipeline. It was going to destroy everything. Well those were lies thirty plus years ago and they are still lies today. How can you tell when and environmentalist is lying? The lips are moving. This thing has been studies for years. It doesn't need anymore review. It need to be built. This project will be a long term gain. Well I guess they could just load all the oil onto thousands of truck and drive it south. Then you don't need the approval of an idiot. But I don't think that would be safer. But it would still make thousands of jobs. Environmentalist are the worst thing to ever happen to this country. They are destroying jobs and causing the price of everything to go up.
Posted in: Obama rejects contested Canada pipeline
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sfjp330
ExportExpertJan. 21, 2012 - 06:11PM JST. Lexus LF-A blows the corvette to the weeds. And expect more sports cars from toyota soon.
How many of your friends or associates have this car? None? Why? Is this the best you can do to compare hand built Lexus LF-A that cost $375K to a $49K standard Corvette? If you want to compare, you can get a Lingenfelter Twin Turbo Corvette, 1100hp, 0-60 1.97seconds, 220mph top speed at 1/3 of the cost for your slow Lexus. Even Z06 at $75K can perform equal to your $375K Lexus. Toyota has nothing in performance cars.
Posted in: GM reclaims world's biggest carmaker title as Toyota skids
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sfjp330
J-goverment ought to be lowering taxes right now to encourage more spending instead of attempting to lower the deficit. Unlike many other countries’ debts, 95% of Japan’s debt is owed to its own citizens and not to other countries, which means there is minimal time pressure for Japan to pay the debt off and lower its deficit. Also, Japan is borrowing at a low interest rate, the government can currently borrow from Japanese investors for 30 years at a mere 2% interest rate, which is another reason that paying off the public debt should not be the J-government’s first priority.
Posted in: Gov't says revenue from 5% consumption tax hike to be used only for social security
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sfjp330
Toyota like tell you that their cars have engines with the ultimate in new high technology while American cars are "low tech". This is not true. All the things that Toyota lovers think of as "high tech" and "modern" actually are designs that have been used in cars since the 1930's. In fact, the inline 4 cylinder is actually an older design than the V-8. Things like DOHC and 4 valves per cylinder were used on cars in the '20s and '30s. American cars had them, too, in Auburns and Dusenbergs, just to name two. In the '70s, Americans could buy a compact car with an all-aluminum 16 valve DOHC, EFI engine that could turn 8,000 RPM. Sound's like an Integra of today, doesn't it? Surprise! it was the Chevy Cosworth Vega.
Toyota lovers are constantly critizing American performance cars such as the Camaro and Corvette for having pushrod operated valves instead of SOHC or DOHC. The truth is, the LS1 engine used in these cars makes HORSEPOWER & TORQUE. Much more than any Toyota or Honda engine, and this engine is available in an $30K car, not just the top of the line flagship. Pushrod engines work very well and make power,but since SOHC and DOHC are latest fad these days, all the American manufacturers make them.
Posted in: GM reclaims world's biggest carmaker title as Toyota skids
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sfjp330
Rangers were smart in deferring much of the money after 2015 when they will get additional $30 million from the new TV revenue contract. They might be able to add Prince Fielder with the additional money if Fielder agrees to a similar 5-6 year deferred contract.
Posted in: Rangers spent time getting to know Darvish
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sfjp330
YuriOtaniJan. 21, 2012 - 06:29AM JST. you miss my point. The corvette engine is almost twice the size. Now add solid axles, my guy has movable axles. The only reason the Corvette is still produced is the corvette otaku. My point is GM is not an intervened auto company. It is producing the same old cars and trucks year after year. About the 45k Corvette? You must be joking, it is more like 85k and the stupid thing did not even have a navi.
What is your point. Corvette does not have solid axles, they have independent suspension. Also, MSRP for standard Corvette is $49,525. You can add Navi for $2K more. Even though Corvette looks the same, they made it 7/8 of the size five years ago. it's a great sports car with great motor for under $50K.
Posted in: GM reclaims world's biggest carmaker title as Toyota skids
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sfjp330
She should get minimal child support. They had short marriage. The longer the relationship, the greater the presumption that the parties should have an equal standard of living. The length of the relationship should be taken into account when determining how long spousal support should be paid for. She needs to go get a job.
Posted in: Yu Darvish divorces TV celebrity wife Saeko
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sfjp330
yabits Jan. 21, 2012 - 01:17AM JST. will actually increase the price of gasoline by 20 to 30 cents per gallon in many regions as well as subject a major aquifer to environmental harm, they would be soundly against it -- just as the Republican governor of Nebraska and a majority of people of that state are opposed to it.
Leaving aside the fact that an increase in oil supply of at least 700,000 barrels per day would drastically DECREASE petroleum prices,not increase them. U.S. Department of State conducted a thorough environmental review and concluded that the pipeline poses few environmental risks. DOS studied and addressed risk to soil, wetlands, water resources, vegetation, fish, wildlife, and endangered species. They concluded that the construction of the pipeline would pose minimal environmental risk.
This is not leadership. Somehow Obama believes U.S. will be stronger turning its back on secure supplies of oil that will be needed for decades to come. U.S. will need more oil. They see the benefits of importing more from Canada while also producing more at home. This political decision offers hard evidence that creating jobs is not a high priority for this administration,
Posted in: Obama rejects contested Canada pipeline