JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION
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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
She's not that tall; Ryo is only 173cm.
Good luck to him this weekend.
Posted in: High five
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sk4ek
A definition of Japan's food culture is hardly restricted solely to the whale/dolphin/tuna issue, and in fact, Japanese cuisine as a whole is highly regarded throughout much of the world.
While Japan may be responsible for much of the decline in tuna stocks, the country is hardly alone in its apparent disregard for natural food resources. As noted in "Cheap" (Ellen Ruppel Shell), the love of Americans for inexpensive shrimp (All you can eat! $10.99!)has, directly or indirectly, caused untold misery, environmental and financial damage in more than one country.
Nevertheless, I agree with the general drift of the article, that food self-sufficiency is a pressing issue, and that the current "farm-to-market" trend in Japan is not nearly adequate to solving the problem.
Posted in: Japan's food culture is an endangered species
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sk4ek
Well that pretty much throws the American country-style marketing image out the window, doesn't it?
Posted in: Country Ma'am cookies
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sk4ek
More and more Japanese companies with international operations are hiring career employees with outside experience (for their sokusenryoku or ability to hit the ground running), and many of them have MBAs either domestic or from overseas schools. Still, and MBA is not much help for the typical entry-level university graduate. One school that is exceeding all 4-year universities in placing graduates in major corporations is Akita International University, with a 100% placement rate several years running. Students are taught entirely in English, in a very competitive environment, and the qualities they acquire--critical thinking, flexibility, understanding of international business, etc.--are apparently in great demand.
So yes, I think things are changing at the corporate level, though Japanese corporations have a long way to go before they fully recognize the value of a higher degree of real learning--and before they admit that the traditional university system is not turning out the kind of educated adults they need.
Posted in: GLOBIS aims to create visionary leaders
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sk4ek
Hey, that's my old Noh teacher!! Great to see he's still pushing ahead on all fronts!
Posted in: The Secrets of Noh Masks
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sk4ek
I assume that's a ROOM fragrance they're giving away, and not a cologne.
"Ummm...what's that you're wearing? You smell like a fine hotel!" "Oh, just a splash of Eau de Ritz Carlton..."
Posted in: Ritz-Carlton Tokyo celebrates 3rd anniversary with special room package
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sk4ek
This guy makes some nice--if rather obvious--points.
Posted in: The Japanese media and its Orwellian nature
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sk4ek
I really like the Onyasai chain for their tabehodai shabushabu--good (if not top) quality meats, lots of fresh vegetables and sides, and choice of dashi, all for under 4,000 yen (with a 90-minute limit--more than enough time). Their service is great (especially at the Akasaka branch), too.
But I do wish the cloying, annoying, light-as-helium Ms. Yaguchi would disappear permanently from our TV screens, and the limelight in general.
Posted in: Mari Yaguchi offers Japanese beef at low prices in Roppongi
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sk4ek
You know, Mr. Mori keeps spouting out this altruistic nonsense about wanting to "shorten commutes and provide families with a richer life" by building these tower communities, but none of them are in the least bit suited for the average salaryman family, price- or otherwise. I wish he'd just admit that he's after only the high-end market and isn't interested in making life easier for the hoi polloi 40 floors down and two hours away by train.
Posted in: The rise and fall of the Roppongi Hills 'tribe'
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sk4ek
horiemon, mikitani, and "others who dare" weren't destroyed because they were successful, they failed because they got greedy.
I've been involved in several venture companies here over the years, and have friends who own and run many others. There are hurdles (funding is hard to come by), but they are all moving ahead successfully under their own steam.
Posted in: Japan: A paradise for entrepreneurs
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sk4ek
Personally, I think Japanese architects have done some of the world's best work with concrete (and also some of the worst...). Look at Tange's Catholic cathedral in Bunkyo-ku (I think...), or the Supreme Court building, which looks every bit like what it is, and--to me, at least--what a Supreme Court building should look like. I was in Kyoto last week for the first time in many years, and while I was appalled by the edifice that is the "new" Kyoto station, I was also inspired by the 43-year-old, and meticulously maintained, magnificent work that is the Takaragaike International Conference Center, a design that enables concrete to envelop and soar (my only complaint was the knobbly interior walls which make it uncomfortable to lean one's head back when resting between sessions...).
Posted in: Architecture in Japan
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sk4ek
I like the way the choice of headline can really change the slant on a story. Other sources had this reading "Continental Ends Free Food on Most Flights", a less positive spin on exactly the same content.
Posted in: Continental Airlines to charge for food on some flights
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sk4ek
(correction)
"...has no clue what--or how well--you speak until you open your mouth, and one of the joys (but also one of the frustrations) of learning a new language is that..."
Posted in: Traditional approaches to Japanese language learning are changing
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sk4ek
Simple. Answer back in Japanese. If it's just a store clerk or someone at a fast-food counter, don't worry about it--their responding to you in English (if you can even call it that) isn't exactly going to set your efforts back significantly.
Language learning requires resourcefulness and adaptability. Whatever the language, the rest of the world has no clue what--or how well--you speak, and one of the frustrations (but also one of the joys) of learning a new language is that every interaction is, from a learning point of few, a fresh new opportunity.
Posted in: Traditional approaches to Japanese language learning are changing
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sk4ek
The accompanying Insight article was just... bizarre...
Posted in: The office: As viewed from the other side of the big desk
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sk4ek
that should have been "costume" not "suit"...
Posted in: Traditional approaches to Japanese language learning are changing
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sk4ek
I've never found speaking, reading, and writing Japanese to present any barriers, create any anger or resentment, or lead to my being treated with anything but respect for my efforts. Although I do get tired of being asked if there's a zipper on my back and am I just wearing a white-guy suit.
As for correcting the Japanese of other (Japanese) people, well, it's just common sense--do it when it matters, shut up about it when it doesn't, and be sensitive to the feelings of the person you're correcting.
And call people out on their prejudices! If someone (I don't care who) made a remark in my presence, to the effect of never having gotten used to "hearing foreigners speak Japanese", he would've gotten a witty but pointed earful.
Posted in: Traditional approaches to Japanese language learning are changing
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sk4ek
This is a really interesting idea--and there are lots and lots of consumer products in Japan that would be a hit with individuals in the U.S. if they only knew about them--but I think the reliance on individual effort, and the added costs/margins involved pushing up the sales price, will limit its success. It would be critical for sellers to know exactly how much they stand to make from a particular item before they can even try to price it for overseas buyers.
Posted in: Online marketplace takes off
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sk4ek
Gee, I would hardly call attempting to borrow money a true test of friendship. Most of my friends (the majority of whom I haven't heard from in weeks or months...) would say just the opposite--you do no one any favors by lending them money, and a real friend would find another way to help.
Posted in: Growing number of men have no close friends
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sk4ek
I like CookPad.com, which has been going strong since its days as a tiny volunteer-run effort more than ten years ago.
Kyodo news really needs to find better translators. "Cooking scholars"????
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