JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION
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Why do Japanese change their attitude when they communicate with foreigners?
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Confrontation
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U.S. Navy investigating how parts fell off aircraft near Atsugi
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California court to decide if SeaWorld whales are illegal 'slaves'
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Kuroki reported pregnant 2 weeks after denying relationship with Akanishi
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- Assistant Language Teacher (ALT) in Kanto region
- RCS (RCSコーポレーション), Kanto
- Salary: ¥180,000 ~ ¥250,000 / Month includes performance bonus
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- Assistant Language Teacher - TOKYO - late-March start
- Interac, Tokyo
- Salary: ¥230,000 ~ ¥255,000 / Month
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- Assistant Language Teacher - Kanagawa Prefecture - late-March start
- Interac, Kanagawa
- Salary: ¥230,000 ~ ¥255,000 / Month
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sk4ek
About 20 years ago, I lived in an apartment (in the U.S.) that had a combination washer/dryer machine--in the kitchen, European-style--that basically steamed the clothes after the wash cycle. It would take a couple of hours, at least, for them to dry, and shrinkage was horrific. I hope the technology has advanced somewhat since then!!
Posted in: Washing machine with built-in dryer
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sk4ek
(whispering) "Just say your mind's a blank!!"
"My mind's a blank, my mind's a blank..."
If there were a prize for worst damage-control press conference of 2007, that would've been right up there with "Meat Hope"...
But MrDog's right, despite the family/organizational connections, the two restaurants were run independently, and fortunately the loony misdeeds of the Osaka branch did not reflect the practices of the renowned "honke", which suffered only temporary setbacks as a result of the scandal in 2007.
Posted in: Kitcho: Japan's Ultimate Dining Experience
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sk4ek
Uchimura's gotten a little full of himself after being crowned world champion--the last interview I saw with him on Fuji was all about him, and little about the team aspect of the current competition--but there's no denying his electrifying talent. I hope the whole team does well this time around!!
Posted in: Uchimura helps Japan to early lead at gymnastics worlds
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sk4ek
TELEGRAMS???????
Posted in: Hello Kitty telegrams
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sk4ek
This is the same kind of action that was taken up against the construction of the monolithic Kyoto Station building, and while I greatly admire these efforts to stop what is a completely inappropriate use of public lands and funds, they will likely be as unsuccessful... As a former Kyoto resident, however, I will sign the petition...
Posted in: Fury at Kyoto Aquarium plan
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sk4ek
I liked the way Troicki doesn't futz around when he serves--for better or worse, he just does it. Good game by both players.
Posted in: Nadal to face Monfils in Japan Open final
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sk4ek
I've had several calls to my cell phone here in Tokyo, from Hong Kong and (from the sound of it, anyway) India. I always let them introduce themselves, say politely "Sorry, I'm not interested", and hang up. They're barking up the wrong tree, in any case, as I have nothing to invest... :-)
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sk4ek
This is the second time elbudamexicano has made broad, negative generalizations about how non-locals are treated in Hawaii, and I really must say, it's simply not true, whatever his/her personal experiences might be.
As someone who lived and worked most of his life in Hawaii, including 15 years in the tourist industry in Waikiki, I know that, with a few bad-apple exceptions such as you would find in any part of the world, most of Hawaii's people understand the state's continuing reliance on tourism, and a great many of them rely on it for their personal livelihoods, as well. They are in no position to be biting the hands that feed them.
Back on topic, sounds like a great dinner menu at the Hilton! I'd go, but I can probably get the same thing for a lot less on one of my trips home.
Posted in: Hilton Tokyo commemorates launch of Hawaiian Airlines service
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sk4ek
But it's not an American company, it's a Japanese company with a license to sell products under an American company's name. Not the same thing at all.
Domino is alright. They make a better American-style pizza than Pizza Hut Japan does, I think. I'll stick with Costco, though, less than 1,500 yen for a huge pizza that can easily be baked at home.
Posted in: Domino's Pizza launches English website
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sk4ek
Well, this just makes me feel silly for bitching about turning fifty...!!
Posted in: Sonny Rollins at 80 still wows loyal jazz fans in Japan
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sk4ek
After growing up with roaches, centipedes, and all manner of other creepy crawlies in Hawaii, I moved to Yokohama and lived there 10 years without seeing so much as an ant (we were on the 40th floor, which I suppose helped). After moving to Tokyo last year, I've seen a total of three roaches in my apartment, all of which probably came from outside (there's a yakiniku place next door). A generous placement of mini-Combat bait units throughout the kitchen and bath seem to have kept them away, even through this last long, hot summer!
Posted in: Exterminators lock horns with 'super gokiburi'
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sk4ek
Seconding Klein2's sentiments. Although I will say I had a pretty good idea of what kind of people were out there even without the internet. It certainly reinforced some of my worst fears about them, though.
Posted in: Racist messages pose quandary for mainstream sites
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sk4ek
Sorry, the above message is missing a chunk because JT apparently considers links to NYT articles "potentially offensive". I referred to a recent article in the NYT about how poorly 3400 Americans performed on a questionnaire about religion.
Hmmm... I guess links of any sort are no longer allowed.
Moderator: For the time being, in order to block spam, we are blocking URLs.
Posted in: Racist messages pose quandary for mainstream sites
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sk4ek
What I would have considered a normal, middle-class, public school education (in the U.S., thirty years ago) certainly equipped me to answer all six questions on the little side test correctly. Apparently that's no longer the case. In the great flood of information available to us today, people are indeed getting , cherry-picking statistics, headlines, ideas, events, even ideologies, without taking the time or effort to really learn anything useful.
Posted in: Racist messages pose quandary for mainstream sites
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sk4ek
I find myself increasingly avoiding the comments section of the major U.S. papers I read online (and have stopped visiting CNN.com almost entirely) for many of the reasons noted above. It's not just the blatant racism that can be found there, but the twisting of every story to reflect a vast range of prejudices--political, social, cultural--and the lack of any truly intelligent dialogue, that makes a run through the comments an increasingly depressing exercise. A piece about improving access for the disabled to public facilities becomes fuel for an extended rant on the "lefty liberal agenda"; a tragic story about a family massacred by one of its own, armed with a rifle, is inundated with a string long-debunked "facts" about how America is safer for allowing virtually uncontrolled gun ownership; a review of the recently re-born "Hawaii 5-0" becomes a platform for advocating the expulsion of the tourist industry--and Caucasians, while we're at it--from the islands, etc. This sort of "public discourse" almost always takes a negative tone, and--left unmoderated--quickly spirals down to the basest level of the most vocal participants.
So fine, the forum enables us to choose to avoid what we would rather not see or hear. But I agree, while the comment sections of many sites may provide both the perfect platform and anonymous cover for what an educated public should hope are the opinions of a small minority, they are surely symptomatic of something more seriously wrong in our society than simple bad grammar, spelling, or reactionary fervor.
For the most part, I think media companies are foremost intent on driving traffic to their sites (by claiming to offer unfettered access and exchange of "ideas", if you can call them that). The more altruistic goal of harnessing the power of the internet to educate and enlighten the broadest possible swath of a site's readership, though, falters, overwhelmed by a lack of critical thinking and media literacy, and shouted down by a very vocal, almost comically (except it's not funny) misspoken and misinformed minority.
Even discounting perhaps half of the typical comments on an article on CNN.com, for example (where they may easily number in the hundreds), as the work of gagsters, provocateurs, or the simply terminally bored, a glance through them on almost any typical day presents disturbing portents for the future.
Posted in: Racist messages pose quandary for mainstream sites
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sk4ek
That's "haole", actually.
Posted in: Hawaiian Airlines starts selling tickets on Haneda route
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sk4ek
Ahahahahahahahahahahaha...
Posted in: Paris Hilton leaves for U.S. after being denied entry into Japan
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sk4ek
I like all kinds of art--even giant Brillo pad boxes and things that look, well, flung, and I certainly respect Murakami's right to build (or have built), display, and sell his pop art creations, but sometimes I think art is as much about where and how you view it as it is about the work itself. If he was less commercial, I might be tempted to say he's trying to put across some deep message about the intersection of East and West, or refinement and crassness, or some such thing, but I find it hard to credit him with any deep motivation. Just not my cup of tea...
Posted in: Japanese pop art at Versailles stirs controversy
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sk4ek
A pumpkin is a kabocha, but a *kabocha *is a squash.
Posted in: Pumpkin knife
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sk4ek
An utter fool, who betrays the very name of his own organization. Book-burning is anathema to "peace and outreach"...
Posted in: Pressure builds on Florida pastor who wants to burn Quran on Sept 11