JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION
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To be healthy, live in the big city
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Japan's nuclear safety standards flawed, says commission chief
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Why do Japanese change their attitude when they communicate with foreigners?
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Teacher nabbed for using miror to peek up girl's skirt
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From carnivores to herbivores: how men are defined in Japan
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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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sk4ek
I think in the Japanese company it should be a matter not of "what more can I do" but "how can I do what I do, better?" Improved work habits, a corporate culture that emphasizes better use of time and resources, and a focus on helping every employee to reach their maximum potential will produce better results than simply piling more work on people who are already under-motivated and over-stressed.
I also disagree with the observation that young salarymen are not learning--many of the full-time corporate workers I know in their 30s spend a lot of time trying to acquire new skills and qualifications, both to preserve their jobs and to provide ammunition in case they decide--or are forced--to look for something else.
Posted in: Work-life balance more important than ever
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sk4ek
The Fuji TV program "Ainori" has raised tens of millions of yen over the years to build schools in Africa without resorting to nudity and trashy t-shirts.
TBS needs to take a page out of Fuji's book on this issue, at least.
Posted in: TBS turns viewers off with its topless T-shirt project
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sk4ek
A top-class ryokan with hot springs and two resplendent meals generally doesn't run much more than the room-only rate for a night at the Grand Hyatt. It's just a different interpretation of 'luxury'.
Posted in: Ryokan: Japan’s Finest Spas and Inns
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sk4ek
It was a little embarassing to watch Bill Maher trying to plug his so-called documentary in support of "intelligent design." For a man of such supposed intelligence, his backing of this production is truly inexplicable, and his flogging of it--several times in his short time on stage--lacked class.
Posted in: 'Slumdog' gets 8 Academy Awards; Ledger wins posthumous Oscar for Joker portrayal
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sk4ek
This was indeed a more entertaining Oscar show than I've seen in years, and I have little argument with most of the winners...
Did anyone notice the Academy's big blooper during the memorial to those of the industry who passed over the last year? Under the heading of "Ichikawa Kon" (the famed director who died last year) they showed a clip of Mikuni Rentaro (who is very much alive at 86, and probably surprised to hear otherwise)...
Posted in: 'Slumdog' gets 8 Academy Awards; Ledger wins posthumous Oscar for Joker portrayal
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sk4ek
It is true that even the seemingly best-intentioned documentaries on Japanese TV about other cultures and countries seem to present these places and people with a sense of looking down upon them (especially third-world societies, though I make an exception for NHK, which truly does strive for, and usually achieves, a more neutral tone). This attitude of superiority, masked as a false sense of wonderment at the variety of ways of life on our planet, is pervasive enough that it keeps many from ever going to see for themselves, or, having gone, prevents them from appreciating the beauty and value--sometimes far removed from Japanese expectations--of what they are seeing and experiencing. The media needs to move beyond a sort of sociological sensationalism, and start portraying other people and cultures from a less naive point of view.
Posted in: Beyond a world of stereotypes
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sk4ek
Well I suspect those families with children who are looking for support are more likely to be in need of the powedered milk, not the hot water to mix it with--is 7-Eleven going to give away baby formula??
Posted in: Yokohama to build partnership with Seven-Eleven
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sk4ek
Ryo is hardly the typical "androgynous Japanese" boy -- in fact, along with Ma-kun (pitcher Tanaka of the Rakuten Eagles), swimmer Kitajima, and a few other young, hard-working athletes in Japan, he seems the perfect picture of a regular guy, regardless of his talent and the media attention.
I think he lacks the experience to make a real mark in the four tournaments he's got scheduled for the US over the next couple of months, but he will play solid golf nevertheless, providing a good show and building valuable experience for his future game.
Posted in: Japanese prodigy Ishikawa introduced to U.S. PGA Tour
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sk4ek
I can understand people disagreeing with the degree of importance placed (or not placed) on the abductee issue as a matter of policy, but I don't understand the level of negativism and bad will in a lot of these (and related) posts aimed at the parents and family of the abductees themselves. It shows a shocking lack of compassion and a real inability to express any empathy for people who have gone through a truly unimaginable ordeal.
I respect Ms. Clinton for making time to meet with the families, and act--coming as it did in the midst of a fully scheduled day--which cost the American taxpayers no more than if she hadn't made the visit.
Posted in: Clinton has busy day, meeting PM, Ozawa, empress, abductees' kin, students and visiting Meiji Shrine
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sk4ek
I've only been to Fukuoka once, at the very beginning of the shoreline building boom, but it remains a fond memory--relatively compact, lots of interesting architecture, clean, bilingual public transportation, delicious food, and one of the best bourbon bars I've ever been to. Not to mention an utterly charming accent... still has the urban planning problems and aesthetic challenges that plague any Japanese city, but to a much lesser degree, and everything else is pulled off with panache and a forward-thinking attitude that I found refreshing.
Posted in: Fukuoka: Japan's most architecturally forward-thinking city
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sk4ek
Our little start-up was doing this before there was a G-Mail, for corporate groupware (Exchange, Lotus, etc.) and mail on all three Japanese phone networks, regardless of the phone type or network protocol. Too bad the carriers didn't understand what they could have done with it.
Posted in: Free Google email synchs with mobile phones
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sk4ek
I wonder how many screens-full for "War and Peace" ... ???
-- Page 4/17,238 -- CLICK to SCROLL
SIGH
Posted in: Google brings e-books to mobiles
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sk4ek
Maybe they can offer Japan's first same-sex marriages...
"Now let's see, which of you is the pitcher, and which the catcher?"
With uniforms to match, no doubt.
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sk4ek
The vetting process that took place during the transition was exhaustive, but the number of positions to be filled and the quantity of records that need to be checked has resulted in these kinds of "glitches", which have happened with just about every new incoming administration. Worse than the fact of the withdrawals is the general image this is portraying of an elite group of insiders with money to spend on domestic help, car services, and other amenities which are beyond the means of the vast majority of the electorate, Democrat or Republican. Obama may be sincere when he says he thinks of himself as "just one of us", but on a day-to-day level, none of these people are exactly the proletariat.
Posted in: Obama administration shaken by nominee withdrawals
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sk4ek
Actually, I like this ad series, and the "Do It At Home" catch phrase, which has just the right tone of having given up on trying to teach people manners, but nevertheless hoping to remind them of the need to maintain at least some decorum in public.
And the English is generally correct, too.
Posted in: Tokyo Metro
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sk4ek
Sounds like a bucolic way to spend a sunny winter's day! I've never gotten around to riding either this or the Arakawa line...
The restaurant in the Carrot Tower is unfortunately a frighteningly generic experience (and about 20 years behind the times), but the views are nice, and the Setagaya Public Theater, also in the Carrot Tower, is one of Tokyo's great urban cultural assets.
Posted in: Tram tours backstreets of Setagaya
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sk4ek
Cutting payrolls and staff seems to have become a knee-jerk reaction of sorts lately. I wonder how much effort these companies put into other cost-savings measures before they begin costing people their livelihoods?? This goes for companies every--not just Japan (where certainly the gap between executive pay and front-line salaries is considerably smaller than it is as many American companies).
There are many reputable companies which have never had a lay-off in their entire history. They should be brought up as role models and their ways of doing business analyzed. Most of them, not surprisingly, have resisted going public.
Posted in: NEC's loss widens; plans to cut 20,000 workers
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sk4ek
On an individual level, this photographer's intent is admirable, but the lame attempt to tie it into the story of the slums of India, where millions live in abject poverty, is offensive.
Posted in: Kabukicho street child subject of new photo book
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sk4ek
The problem with Aso's proposed economic measures is that he doesn't have any. How is "encouraging people to enter the health care sector" (or worse, become farmers) going to do anything for the economy in the next year or so? Pay in the health care sector at the low end--where special training needs are minimal--is almost laughably low, and at the high end, the work requires two or more years of additional education, and who's going to pay for that.
The country needs an action plan that will begin to wean its larger economy from its reliance on the manufacturing sector--and nothing Aso has proposed thus far seems to move in that direction.
Posted in: Aso takes grilling in Diet over economy
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sk4ek
The problem in many places is that, even with a set of laws such as the ADA provides, it is impossible to "grandfather in" and/or retrofit every old building or facility out there. New York walk-up brownstones don't get elevators, and dozens of restaurants in most US cities aren't accessible, either. The difference is, they are required to make the effort, where reasonably possible, and for public facilities, they MUST retrofit for accessibility.
The 'mobility challenged' understand perfectly well that every 1,000-year-old temple and 50-year-old restaurant in town can't be adapted, in many cases it truly is the effort that counts.
In Japan, in general, the lack of laws means that--for the most part--only public transportation, some government-run facilities, and new construction, attempt to provide full access. Many private facilities still refuse wheelchair users even if the facility is technically barrier-free, on grounds of inconvenience, hygiene, or whatever other flimsy excuse they can think up (I've seen this happen in so-called "super sento", restaurants, hotels, and apartment buildings). And without specific legislation, they are free to do so.
Hats off to JR, Keihin, and other (Kanto-area) rail lines for getting with the program. Razzberries to the architects of brand new restaurants, stores, and other venues who perversely design their entrances and interiors for looks with absolutely no regard to accessibility.
Posted in: Building a barrier-free society