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
Kiddyland isn't bad, but I think Hakuhinkan Toy Park in Ginza/Shimbashi is much better. I wonder if they close the shop so Depp can shop in peace. Can you imagine all the shrieks if someone spotted him in the shop?
Posted in: Johnny Depp goes normal - almost
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smartacus
I wouldn't want to sit behind that director in a theater.
Posted in: Deppendable
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smartacus
Why do people want to wear jeans with holes ripped in them? I've never understood it.
Posted in: Avril's here
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smartacus
Exactly. Who needs a prime minister anyway? The bureaucrats have all the power.
Posted in: It’s even more difficult these days because we are in the age of so-called monitory democracy – everything is reported and often amplified in a distorted way. This didn’t start recently – it’s long been like this in Japan. Things work reasonably well without the prime minister.
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smartacus
Banning cell phones would be ideal but hard to enforce without a strip search at the door. A better method would be to change the format of exams from True or false or multiple choice answers to questions that require essays or a couple of paragraphs to answer. Students would actually have to think about what to write.
Posted in: How can universities prevent cheating in exams by students who use cell phones to access sites in search of answers??
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smartacus
I voted yes but with freedom of speech comes consequences. In the examples cited in the question, the speaker has to be prepared to face the consequences, whether that results in getting arrested, beaten up, trampled in a stampede or killed by some angry nut. The same applies to anyone who incites others to violence, which is increasing everywhere thanks to the Internet and cell phones.
Posted in: Does freedom of speech include the right to yell "Fire!" in a crowded theater, yell "Shark" at a beach or joke about having a bomb on a plane, for example?
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smartacus
It was at its best when Billy Crystal was host. They should have made him host for life.
Posted in: What do you think of the Academy Awards ceremony and all its pomp? If a movie wins an Oscar, does that usually make you want to go and see it, if you already haven't?
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smartacus
There is always a possibility that too many well-meaning people will descend on Christchurch to help and just get in each other's way. Even some rescue teams may stand by idly, unless there is heavy machinery to do the clearing work first.
For "ordinary" people, I think the best thing to do is wait. Certainly donate money through reputable organizations. After that, I would like to see more companies get involved and donate whatever is needed in terms of food, bottled water and medical supplies, free cell phones, computers, accommodation and so on for the initial rebuilding period.
Posted in: What do you think about the international response to the earthquake in New Zealand? And what do you think is the best course of action for anyone wanting to help?
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smartacus
I can imagine this goes on in many coffee shops, as well as places like Anna Millers and Hooters. And just imagine what sort of unwanted attention attractive flight attendants have to put up with.
However, I can see how a regular customer at a store or coffee shop might get attracted to a friendly employee. In fact, I have favorite waitresses at many restaurants and eateries and we do chat when the place isn't busy, but it's just friendly chitchat. There is a line you don't cross. I guess this Starbucks customer blurred the line between reality and fantasy.
Posted in: Starbucks customer, told to stop hitting on girls, assaults worker
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smartacus
bentheredonthat
There are lots of American models who come to Japan on short-term and long-term contracts. Please do not make silly statements about topics that you know nothing about. Dizon did not come to Japan as a fashion model.
Posted in: Leah Dizon secretly divorced stylist husband last year
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smartacus
Yukina is a busy girl this week, at least on JT. The other day she was doing a beer ad, then they had her wedding party and now she's with Selena Gomez. What'll she be doing tomorrow - welcoming the pandas at Ueno Zoo?
Posted in: Wizard girl
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smartacus
The delivery service is a good idea if you don't have a car. You can go there by train, bus or taxi, buy as much as you like and it will be delivered. You don't have to carry anything home with you.
But being able to order online would be convenient.
Posted in: Costco reshapes wholesale industry
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smartacus
What has happened to Mexico? It used to be a wonderful country with truly warm-hearted and hospitable people. It breaks my heart to see what is happening there. Even Colombia never got this bad in the 1980s when the drug lords were controlling the country.
It must be frustrating for the tourism and airline authorities in various countries trying to promote Mexico as a destination. They might as well close their offices.
Posted in: 12 taxi drivers, fares killed in Acapulco
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smartacus
These protests make me uneasy because you never know who will step in to fill the power vacuum ... and whoever does, it usually ends up making very little difference to the everyday lives of ordinary people.
I saw on NHK the other night a story about the situation in Egypt. One guy, who was jubilant after Mubarak quit, said that he got caught up in the momentum because the price of wheat had gone up and he was having trouble making ends meet. Well, the price of wheat will stay stay high because weird weather patterns in wheat-producing countries have made prices high, not Mubarak, so whoever takes over in Egypt won't make much difference to that man's life, once the furor dies down.
Another guy demanded a job and a house, as if it was the government's responsibility to provide either.
I prefer the democratic process rather than revolutions, though I admit that rulers in many of the Middle Eastern and North African countries are disinclined toward holding elections.
Posted in: What do you think about the wave of anti-government protests in countries like Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen, Bahrain, Libya and Iran? Should countries like China and North Korea feel uneasy about it?
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smartacus
I often wonder how movie producers deal with 15,000 aspiring actresses when they announce these auditions. Do the girls (and their mothers) all show up at offices in various cities around the country? What then? Do the Coens hire someone in each location to check out all 15,000? Anyone in the industry know how the process works?
Posted in: True Grit
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smartacus
There used to be an elderly man in my previous company and he was an expert at falling asleep in meetings without looking like he was actually asleep.
Posted in: Tokyo's catnap culture
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smartacus
People who were brought up to show good manners will show good manners when they are on the Internet; people who were not brought up to show good manners will be the opposite. Good manners should never be out of place in any form of communication.
Posted in: Do you think that social networking will ever develop rules and etiquette ("netiquette") that most people will respect?
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smartacus
No thank you. What is the tsunami supposed to signify?
Posted in: Where's the beef?
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smartacus
Wish I was there. I hope we get a ton of snow in Tokyo. Perfect for a holiday.
Posted in: Snow white
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smartacus
I remember when "JFK" came out, there was a big outcry in the U.S. mainstream media, insulting Oliver Stone and claiming that he was distorting the facts and misleading the current generation about the assassination. I was totally absorbed by the movie but not for one minute did I think it was a documentary. It did make me think about the assassination and read more and look at other documentaries.
I think filmmakers have a more difficult job if the subject is still alive or recently deceased or if the event is still relatively recent, such as 9/11, but with long-past subjects, who knows what the person was really like. The events of the Alamo have two opposite interpretations, depending on what side of the border you come from.
Posted in: When filmmakers make movies about real people or events, such as "The Social Network," "The King's Speech," "United 93," "Ali," "Nixon," "JFK," "The Alamo," and so on, how much artistic liberty do you think is OK in how they portray the subject?