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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smartacus
I just saw her in two old Agatha Christie movies last weekend - "Death on the Nile" and "Evil Under the Sun." Didn't realize she was now 64.
Posted in: Jane Birkin performs at free charity concert in Shibuya
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smartacus
Where are all the salarymen and OLs? They must be showing restraint after Tokyo Gov Ishihara asked citizens to tone down their hanami parties.
Posted in: Nice day
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smartacus
Salsero, manfromamerica
Those stories of people fleeing are true. I personally know of three cases - one who fled to Singapore, and the other to New York - and they are getting all their stuff sent over after it has been checked for radiation. The third case was an Aussie woman who panicked and fled home to the Gold Coast. She then called her landlord in Tokyo and said she wouldn't be coming back and he could sell all her stuff. And as I said earlier, my friend at the moving company said there have been many such cases.
I also heard that one of the investment banks - not sure if it was Morgan Stanley or Goldman Sachs - ordered their employees to stay in Tokyo and warned that anyone who left without permission would be fired.
Posted in: Managing employees in times of crisis
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smartacus
I do agree with the part where Ms Takahashi said many people made life-altering decisions without giving it proper thought. One of my friends, who works for a moving company, said they got inundated with calls from foreign workers, some of them managers, who just panicked and took off and then called from their home country to ask the moving company to pack up all their stuff (after checking to see if it was radioactive) and then ship it to them.
I can see how such behavior would leave many companies in disarray. Business goes on as normal, and if some staff take off, the rest do get stressed out, having to do extra work with no notice. It's happened to me, too.
Posted in: Managing employees in times of crisis
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smartacus
Do you guys watch the program because
A) You're aged 3-6? B) You watch it with your kids? C) You have the hots for Jenny?
Posted in: Jenny Periman sparkles in NHK's 'Eigo de Asobo'
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smartacus
warallthetime
Actually, I think you would shake their hands if you met them. Most people, yourself included no doubt, tend not to want to display boorish behavior in public. Their visit means a lot to the evacuees' morale.
Posted in: Cheer up
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smartacus
nothereillegal
You would certainly lose your bet.
Posted in: Safe sushi
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smartacus
Patrick Smash
Younger Japanese may flock to McDonald's but I doubt you can make the claim that "Japanese generally prefer McDonald's." The sushi restaurant near where I work is always packed at lunchtime and used to be full most nights but not now. I thought it was fairly expensive at night but there always seemed to be a steady stream of loyal customers.
Posted in: Safe sushi
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smartacus
Another overreaction. They could have waited a few months.
Posted in: With the many victims of the current disaster in Japan, and ongoing concerns about radiation leaks from the nuclear power station, TV Tokyo has decided not to show the planned final season of '24' and show season five instead.
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smartacus
tkoind2
Actually, I'd say Spa! is doing readers a service this time by pointing out which rumors and stories doing the rounds are false.
Posted in: Should rumor spreading be a prosecutable offense?
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smartacus
She was probably told who to vote for by her manager. I don't think I have ever met a 20-year-old Japanese woman who was interested in politics and who knew the candidates and their policies. Yeah, I know, what policies? We haven't heard the campaign vans blaring their names out yet.
Posted in: First vote
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smartacus
Our company is trying to decide whether to have a hanami party this year. We'll probably have it at lunchtime this year instead of at night.
By the way, RobertCB, hanami is not just about picnics. Hanami does have a deep significance to many Japanese, perhaps not religious, but definitely symbolic of the transience of nature. The camaraderie is important too. Hanami parties are probably as important to many Japanese as Christmas parties are to many overseas.
Posted in: Earthquakes and cherry blossoms: Japan's reminder of mortality
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smartacus
Reformedbasher
I visited the Saitama Super Arena and I also visited a large hall at a Catholic church in Roppongi. I was received very well. You just talk to them, ask them about their families, what their job was and they like it. They don't get that sort of interaction from Japanese officials.
The children were fun to play with but they quickly get bored.
I also noticed that many evacuees don't like each other, which is understandable. They are moved around from place to place and in these large shelters, there is no privacy. You sleep about a meter away from your neighbor and there are all sorts of complaints about noise, bad habits, hygiene, etc. You never see this on the TV reports.
At the Roppongi church hall, some of the evacuees started helping the parishioners make rice cakes to feed the homeless people in Tokyo, which the churches have been doing every day for 20 years. It helps the evacuees feel useful and lifts their spirits.
Definitely, the psychological factor is crucial and the sooner they can get a place to live, even a prefab dwelling, and the hope for a job, they can start the long process of healing the trauma.
It has certainly been an eye-opening and learning experience for me.
Posted in: How have the earthquake, tsunami and ensuing nuclear crisis affected your lifestyle?
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smartacus
Reluctantly, I haven't been spending money in places that desperately need business - such as restaurants, shops, etc. I tend to go home earlier.
I had been watching news nonstop but am now getting tired of the same old reports on the nuclear plant, and started watching DVDs again.
At least once a week so far, I have visited an evacuee shelter in Saitama and chatted with evacuees to try and help them mentally. I realized that what they want most of all is not food and clothes; they have tons of that now. They want to know what they'll do; can they find jobs; can their kids go to school? And yet they can't think beyond one day at a time.
It has certainly made me grateful to have a job. A month ago, I was griping about my low salary and how I couldn't afford to buy some new items from Bic Camera. I no longer feel that way.
The tragedy has also tested my faith. As a devout Catholic, I find events like this hard to reconciliate but I still go to church on Sundays and the sense of community remains very strong. In the end, it will probably strengthen my faith.
Posted in: How have the earthquake, tsunami and ensuing nuclear crisis affected your lifestyle?
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smartacus
Pukey2
You don't remember Japanese celebrities "getting out there" to raise money?
How about yesterday's story about Norika Fujiwara standing in the lobby after every performance of her musical to collect donations? Just looking at JT's Entertainment section for the past few weeks, I see stories about Hiro Mizushima, Becky, Horipro talent, Topcoat talent, Superfly, Miho Nakayama, Oscar Promotions, Hiroshi Kume (he gave 200 million yen), AKB48, Gackt, Ken Watanabe, Yoshiki. Those are just the ones JT reported. And I'll bet there are many more that haven't been reported on Japan Today. There have also been several special TV programs. SMAP did one.
In future, please do some research before you post comments like the above.
Moderator: Readers, back on topic please. The subject is the postponement or canceling of concerts by Koda and Hamasaki due to power blackouts.
Posted in: Concerts by Ayumi Hamasaki, Kumi Koda postponed or canceled
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smartacus
Pukey2
Actually, I think that many celebrities will donate big amounts to quake relief, only it won't always be accompanied by press releases, such as what happened with AKB48, Yon-sama, Clint Eastwood and so on. Koda and Hamasaki will probably do their bit by donating the proceeds from a song sale to charities.
It has nothing to do with "getting their nails dirty," as you put it. They'll certainly do more to help than you will. If you'd show a little less cynicism (and bile), you would understand that.
Posted in: Concerts by Ayumi Hamasaki, Kumi Koda postponed or canceled
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smartacus
Poor little girl. She probably doesn't understand what radiation is.
Posted in: Radiation test
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smartacus
Odd camera angle. The girl on the right looks like a cardboard cutout.
Posted in: United Japan
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smartacus
I assume the overalls are meant to give the public the impression that the PM and his ministers are hard at work, getting their hands dirty, so to speak.
Posted in: What do you think of the work overalls that Prime Minister Naoto Kan, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano, State Minister for Consumer Affairs and Food Safety Renho and other cabinet ministers wear when they attend press conferences?
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smartacus
RobertCB
I don't see how you can be disappointed in the U.S. military response. They have provided a tremendous amount of logistical and material support to the Tohoku area. I commend them highly for that. The base issue has nothing to do with humanitarian help in a time of crisis.
Posted in: Disaster aid puts new face on U.S. military in Japan