JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION
-
1
To be healthy, live in the big city
-
2
Japan's nuclear safety standards flawed, says commission chief
-
3
Teacher nabbed for using miror to peek up girl's skirt
-
4
From carnivores to herbivores: how men are defined in Japan
-
5
Why do Japanese change their attitude when they communicate with foreigners?
-
- 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
-
- 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*
-
- Translator
- ZAIHON, Inc. (日本財務翻訳株式会社), Tokyo
- Salary: ¥6.0M / Year Negotiable
0
sk4ek
With demand for new condo sales in the metropolitan area down almost 85% in the second quarter, I don't know that the Japanese housing market has weathered much of anything, yet. Tough times ahead.
On the bright side--it's a buyer's market!
Posted in: Japan's housing market weathers subprime crisis
0
sk4ek
I would disagree. If NGOs from countries with domestic problems all stopped participating in global activities, where would we be?? Certainly Japan has issues to address at home, including those you mention--but aren't many of them supposed to be the purview of the government, which collected taxes from the people for those very activities?
The idea that those who have (in a global sense) should reach out to those who do not (or did, but had it taken away through disaster, war, etc.) is fundamental to building and maintaining world order. There are plenty of other sectors (yes, including private enterprise) that are willing and capable of working to address complex domestic issues such as elderly care.
Posted in: Japanse NGOs strengthen presence worldwide
0
sk4ek
PWJ has done some remarkable work in "hot spots" around the world, working hard and fearlessly both in disaster relief and in conflict resolution and post-conflict rebuilding. They number among their collaborators several of the world's leading experts in those fields, and even their front-line workers are known for their extraordinary willingness to take on the most risky and thankless hands-on projects. It's a shame they and other hard-working Japanese NGOs don't enjoy greater prominence and support in their own country.
Government tends to view them as something of a nusiance; corporations are beginning to understand the value of associating with and providing support to these groups.
Posted in: Japanse NGOs strengthen presence worldwide
0
sk4ek
A truly bizarre piece of translation... the mothers are wearing seatbelts and their unborn babies??
It would have sufficed to say "pregnant women," who, by definition, "wear" an unborn baby.
I have seen many cases of children in front-facing child seats placed in the front passenger seat. Aside from the danger of an exploding airbag, this just doesn't make sense, and by law they should be in the back...
Moderator: It has been corrected.
Posted in: Police request pregnant women to fasten their seat belts in cars
0
sk4ek
Can you imagine having to listen to Ishiba every day at PM press conferences??? "Pendantic" is putting it politely--I think the populace would revolt just to get him away from a microphone.
Posted in: Koike, Yosano declare candidacies for LDP presidential election
0
sk4ek
Yes, I actually like mugi-meshi better than regular rice--more flavor, and more nutritional value, too. Not that I'd go to prison to get it.
And the implication of the article that these foreign prisoners intentionally get themselves arrested to take advantage of the monthly stipend is a little bit ridiculous--I think many of them are arrested for crimes that would've netted them a bigger chunk of change in the first place.
Posted in: Cozy prisons coddle foreign inmates
0
sk4ek
One hell of an effort, I thought all was lost after the fourth set... congratulations!!
Posted in: Nishikori reaches 4th round at U.S. Open
0
sk4ek
Yes, this article fails to mention that it was apparently a suicide attempt via prescription cold medicine; the implication that he was a "drug user" appears nowhere in the Japanese articles I've seen.
Posted in: Cannes winner Yuya Yagira, 18, hospitalized after reported drug overdose
0
sk4ek
And how much does anyone really know about the true state of the airlines' operating costs?? That the price of oil seriously threatens their very survival has become kind of a given in the market; are they really at the mercy of oil prices? Are they any more or less efficiently run than other businesses? Are they in such a unique industry operationally that there are no benchmarks for performances that would allow us to understand the true state of their businesses?
The issue of pilot and cabin attendant salaries, for example.
Posted in: Canadian airline removes life vests to save weight and fuel
0
sk4ek
Next they'll be getting rid of the seats altogether and we'll just huddle together on the floor...
Posted in: Canadian airline removes life vests to save weight and fuel
0
sk4ek
And after nearly 20 years of co-producing "News Station", I think he can be viewed as a legitimate journalist, not just a "TV presenter". His subsequent work has been hit-or-miss, but that is as much the fault of the networks as it is a product of his desire to get back on the air.
Posted in: Hiroshi Kume to host TBS's new infotainment program
0
sk4ek
The surcharges are also based on retroactive 3-month price ranges for jet fuel, so any major drop in fuel prices now (specifically, the wholesale price of jet fuel on the Singapore exchange) would not be reflected in lower fuel surcharges until the next round of adjustments in January.
If the carriers were more open and honest about how the surcharges are calculated and applied, I think they would have fewer worries about consumer backlash.
Posted in: JAL to raise fuel surcharges from Oct 1
0
sk4ek
What would prevent Apple from including e-wallet functionality in the i-Phone for Japan (and Korea, for that matter)? It's a matter of a single chip and some software, really. I understand that their product development and design is driven by the U.S. market, where there is basically NO current market for electronic payment functions, but considering that for the first time in Japanese mobile services we have a phone the design and functioning of which is determined by the manufacturer, not the carrier, this would seem to be something worth doing from Apple's point of view.
Or is the phone itself already crammed with so many 'innards' that there's truly physically no way to accomodate a Felica chip?
Posted in: Top Japanese cell phone innovator praises iPhone
0
sk4ek
Actually, this technology is in great demand in the corporate and government sectors. Workers who need to document the time, date, and location of construction work (in a way that can't be fiddled with), government agencies that need to record (for example) the location of photographs taken for evidentiary reasons, etc. will all find this useful. While such systems have been in development using mobile phones--which can take the pictures, record location, and even link the photo to a particular map object--the quality of the photos and the relative fragility of the phone itself have been drawbacks.
From the non-consumer point of view, though, this camera still doesn't get it right; without a wireless transmission capability, it lacks the on-site, real time data upload functionality that a phone could provide, and it almost certainly lacks the software needed to make it truly useful for corporate and government applications.
Posted in: GPS digital compact camera
0
sk4ek
Identifying true violations of these complex technology patents is going to be a long, lawyer-filled process, which Nintendo can certainly better afford than relative newcomer Hillcrest Labs. Given that prospect, a settlement is more likely, unless Nintendo truly believes their technology is original (or appropriately licensed, where applicable).
Looking at the Hillcrest technology, there do seem to be areas of overlap in at least the concepts behind their products (though they are being implemented for very different purposes), and at least Hillcrest is not simply another patent troll, looking to make a buck off of technology it has no intention of developing itself.
Posted in: US company sues Nintendo in Wii wand patent case
0
sk4ek
Refrain from alcohol and caffeine prior to departure and when in flight; avoid the temptation to take a "nap" once you arrive, unless you're arriving at night and it's already bedtime. Drink lots of water.
Posted in: How do you deal with jet lag?
0
sk4ek
And how unfortunate he gets tarred with the same brush the media (in cahoots with the management agencies) uses on the lowliest "tarento", since he's a genuinely decent guy and, for someone who got roped into the business almost by accident, is turning into a talented actor as well.
Posted in: First scandal hits actor Eita
0
sk4ek
Not sure exactly what position this article is taking. So the Yakuza are not like the Italian mafia or the Chinese triads--certainly their structure, rules, history, and traditions are not--yet they engage in the same drug-smuggling, money laundering, prostitution, exploitation, fraud, and intimidation schemes as gangsters the world over. In that sense, their cultural attributes, dating back however hundreds of years, hardly matter except in the sense that they need to be understood so that more effective strategies might be developed in dealing with them as agents of lawlessness in civil society.
There are certainly misconceptions among media and the general public overseas, but so what? The fact remains that the Japanese government's policy of control, and not eradication, continues to allow this criminal element to flourish, and steps taken to shut them out of involvement in supposedly legitimate business (real estate, stocks) has only moved them to extend their involvement in drugs, human trafficking, and fraud perpetrated against ordinary citizens.
Posted in: Yakuza 'misunderstood' by foreign media
0
sk4ek
At the same time they announce this cap on surcharges, they announce a 10% increase in international fares effective October. One way or another, they'll find a way to take your money.
Posted in: ANA to set ceiling on fuel surcharges
0
sk4ek
And by all means, raise fares the necessary 20% or whatever--rather than nickle and diming travelers from departure to destination. Air travel should either go back to the days of limited affordability, or travelers should be resigned to taking "something Greyhound in the air" the next time they fly.
Some luxuries are better off remaining just that; witness the environmental havoc wreaked by the appearance of bluefin tuna on every 100-yen plate of sushi, or the $60 cashmere sweaters at Costco.
Posted in: Pillow talk, airline-style