Thursday February 16, 2012

sydenham's past comments

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    sydenham

    Views are definitely filtered by the media and by tour guides, but I've met so many especially younger people who have studied abroad or traveled enough on their own like the doctor in the article. They tend to have a much greater global outlook than the older generations, and they also tend to speak more foreign languages.

    I'm not surprised the doctor didn't find Canadians overly friendly, as I don't either. And her being mugged in my home town is only slightly surprising.

    Still, the fact that the media plays such an important part is not really that surprising when you figure the average Japanese over 40 probably speaks only Japanese, and has little experience actually meeting and talking with people from other countries. On top of the language divide, the vast majority could probably count on one hand the number they've actually conversed with, as opposed to just seen on tv or passed by.

    Actually, what surprises me most about this article is the kind of naivete with which it approaches the subject. The underlying assumption is that people in the West are just so worldly. Ironically, this kind of looking down on the Japanese is indeed a parallel of how the Japanese tend to view the Chinese. Foreigners living in Japan should always that they are not representative of their own countrymen, the vast majority of whom have never had such a mind broadening experience.

    Canadians may like to think they are global, but the ones who don't live in the biggest 3 cities really are no different from the Japanese in their insular views. Sure, there is a little more cultural diversity due to the history of immigration in Canada, but that's about it. Their "global" view extends about as far as Florida. For many, it extends only to the next town.

    I think the same can be said about many, if not most countries, just to greater or lesser degrees.

    Posted in: Beyond a world of stereotypes

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    sydenham

    yeah, they pretty much suck. no argument here.

    Posted in: Some teed off by Japanese media swarming over Ishikawa

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    sydenham

    UnagiDon, If, by Japanophile, you mean someone who is generally interested in and enjoys living in Japan while, without resorting to mindless stereotyping, maintaining the ability to look critically at the country, and despite no desire to "become" Japanese has integrated fairly well, I would concur with your pronouncement, sir.

    Anyway, Tokyo is a blast. Number 3 in livablility? Sure, I've traveled enough to say that's a fairly accurate assessment.

    Posted in: Tokyo in 2050: Futuristic super-hub or graying has-been?

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    sydenham

    UnagiDon, I concur. I might also speculate that the typical JT type (not all, but many) does not do a good job of integrating themselves into Japanese society in general. I think Gregory Clark uses the term "gaijin ghettos"(although this is the only time I agree with him). There are uncountable local festivals held all year round that welcome people from all over.

    In Tokyo, there are many Japanese from other parts of the country, so while it may not be multi-ethnic, it sure is multi-cultural.

    Also, these faddish flash-mob things are staged nonsense. Their symbolism should be taken with a grain of salt.

    Posted in: Tokyo in 2050: Futuristic super-hub or graying has-been?

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    sydenham

    interesting, but the only conclusion is that no city is perfect. hmm, tokyo needs little more diversity, but without the crime and violence that can come with it.

    Posted in: Tokyo in 2050: Futuristic super-hub or graying has-been?

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    sydenham

    Prolific. I am in awe of this guy.

    Posted in: Nakagawa seen 'misbehaving' at Vatican; Russian official says he acted like 'brain was turned off'

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    sydenham

    What's wrong with criticizing the editor of this article? My post was deleted for saying that it's obvious someone failed in their duties to correct the bad grammar in this article.

    That's about as pathetic as the quality of Mr Ross's writing. It was one of the most important things my high school English teachers taught us: If you want your writing to be taken seriously, you have to be coherent.

    "Extrapolates these trends a little, we are already in a depression."

    This is not a sentence.

    Posted in: Blackmail on an institutional scale

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    sydenham

    likeitis,

    I'm with you on this one. murder is murder. how do you upgrade murder in the first degree?

    Posted in: New York TV exec accused of beheading wife after she files for divorce

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    sydenham

    likewise, Himajin. yours attributed to me by...others.

    Posted in: Glitterball

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    sydenham

    Himajin,

    Hey, more power to her if that's how she wants to be viewed. I just didn't know that dressing like a prostitute made you an artist, or that pole dancing was really Chinese acrobatics, or that you could put lipstick on a pig a call it something other than a pig.

    Thanks for the education.

    Posted in: Glitterball

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    sydenham

    I love squash! I hope it gets a serious bounce. Also hope rowing can someday make a splash here.

    Posted in: Squash poised for a breakthrough in Japan

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    sydenham

    sariri,

    which part of the street-walker attire the woman is wearing should the uninformed like myself regard as "art"?

    Posted in: Glitterball

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    sydenham

    Ok guys, don't get me wrong on this. I'm not saying that temporary work positions are a good thing. I've always been against this trend in employers' behavior.

    However, what changed my opinion about being one-sided in favor of workers, has been the trend of young people of not having ambition, or holding on to standards and dreams that are unattainable. Even with the market in the tank, there is still a surplus of decent-paying work, that just happen not to be in the manufacturing sector. It's a job-searcher's market out there for those with a little post-secondary education and a will to live or put up with the Japanese salary man lifestyle. It seems that there is very little wiggle room between no job and too much job, but the work is there. That sucks, I know, but that's the economy talking. We have to deal with it. Would it be better to ship off the full-time jobs to developing countries too? Companies have to be viable, in order to provide any jobs at all.

    I saw this piece on NHK presented in a pretty one-sided manner sympathetic toward the plight of temp workers. One guy who had been fired was complaining about how tough it was now that he had been fired. I was with him until he said he had turned down full-time offers in the past, in order to work temp at his dream company and have a shot at becoming full-time there, only to be axed when the market went sour.

    This is what I'm getting at. Not the people who have no choices in their lives. But then again, even they are very few in Japan. Public education is free and compulsory until the age of 15. Job training can be got for very little. Again, there is a surplus of jobs out there. Farms are closing left and right for lack of workers.

    If people want money, then they should suck it up. Scrounge for work. retrain for work. sacrifice for work. work a job they hate. put aside their dreams for work. The number of people out there really doing what they want to be doing is a lot fewer than we are led to believe.

    This mentality of people picking and choosing during the good times, and complaining during the hard times is, I think, a symptom of just how spoiled we have become in industrialized nations.

    This is what I think about MOST (but not all) temp workers. On the other hand, I love to diss overpaid corporate management too. I'm just trying to get across why the above quote should be taken with a heavy grain of salt.

    Posted in: The worst thing is that they are treated like they are things, not human beings.

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    sydenham

    By "thrown to the curb", you mean "fired." Nothing more and nothing less. Whether this is a permanent firing or not, nobody knows. The economy could pick up again, and they could get their temporary jobs back, or it could be an omen of the demise of the whole industry.

    If they don't enjoy the temporary nature of their jobs, maybe they shouldn't be in that business. I don't understand why a person who signs up for a "temporary" position is disappointed when it turns out to be just that: temporary.

    Posted in: The worst thing is that they are treated like they are things, not human beings.

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    sydenham

    Hi Mayuki, yeah, I agree with what you're saying. but I actually think we're talking about different sectors of the economy.

    low-paid service sector jobs by nature are part-time, generally speaking, but have longer term job security, if they want it. convenience store clerks are a prime example of this.

    the manufacturing industry in Japan, on the other hand, is a slave to every whim of the export economy. people who sign up for temp jobs in this sector know full well what they're getting into. It's almost the equivalent of seasonal work. so to turn around and complain about the hand that they technically dealt themselves, is either disingenuous, or just plain whiny.

    Posted in: The worst thing is that they are treated like they are things, not human beings.

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    sydenham

    realist, I'm kind of in between on this one.

    on the one hand I feel people should generally treat each other with respect and kindness, and those unable to take care of themselves should be cared for by society. on the other, where is the sense of being responsible for your own welfare?

    It's kind of like the Nova teachers with a twist. temporary workers generally have made a bunch of risky or bad choices to get themselves where they are today. they've been working temp because maybe they didn't study a trade in school or didn't think they needed school(despite the numerous societal messages that they do). Or maybe they didn't want the hassle of working long hours, or wanted to keep their options open, or a number of other self-serving reasons, so they turned down full-time offers. believe me, many, many have done so. the company hired them for their own self-serving reasons, of course, too. but such is business, no matter what country you live in. in what country is employment a right?

    I don't know about your personal situation, but we have all made choices to get where we are, no? i know i have. i've usually gone the safe route, and am glad that i did.

    I wouldn't say human rights in Japan is a joke, just look at all the other industrialized countries now laying off workers left and right, far more than in japan.

    Many (not all) temp workers have wanted to have their cake and eat it too, and are now reaping something else. I feel bad for the ones that really had no choice, but they are in the minority. for the others, i say why didn't you prepare for such a day?

    by no fault of their own, should people unable to take care of themselves be lumped in with the bad decision-makers among us? i, for one, don't think so.

    Posted in: The worst thing is that they are treated like they are things, not human beings.

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    sydenham

    Math.

    To paraphrase Cleo et al, the biggest problem is that English is taught in the same way as math.

    Posted in: What's wrong with the way English is taught in Japan?

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    sydenham

    JapanHusker, if one person hears one thing and another hears another, how are they supposed to put the two together, ESP? Contrary to some claims, Japanese can't communicate THAT well without speaking.

    How would you have reacted if you had been the neighbor? Like this?

    "I hear bumping. It must be a child being slammed head-first into the concrete by her mother. I should call the police because if I don't some guy on JT is going to condemn all 126 million Japanese individuals as cold-hearted killing machines that treat their kids worse than animals."

    I can read fine, and I can read you like a book. It makes you feel better to write off all Japanese as one and the same. That's called racism.

    Posted in: Ibaraki woman held after slamming 2-yr-old daughter’s head into floor

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    sydenham

    JapanHusker, you don't have to be a Japan apologist to point out the obvious. In fact the idea that neighbors ignore seemingly suspicious behavior became clarified in a study originally done in the US in the 1970s.

    People living in cities tend to do this more, quite unconsciously. You have to admit Japan is "fairly crowded.

    But the most important point, if YOU read the article, ONE person heard the crying, and ANOTHER person heard the thumping. Maybe what we have here is not Japan apologist, but Japan basher. you.

    Posted in: Ibaraki woman held after slamming 2-yr-old daughter’s head into floor

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    sydenham

    Here's a suggestion:

    Hang her, except not upside-down, and by the neck...and also using a rope. Oh, and don't let her slam into the ground.

    Posted in: Ibaraki woman held after slamming 2-yr-old daughter’s head into floor

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