JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION
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1
Why do Japanese change their attitude when they communicate with foreigners?
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2
Confrontation
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3
U.S. Navy investigating how parts fell off aircraft near Atsugi
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4
California court to decide if SeaWorld whales are illegal 'slaves'
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5
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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taiko666
In 'anglo-saxon' countries (why is this guy fixated with race) politicians who are shown to be corrupt rather than merely incompetent are shown the door by the electorate.
As for the Japan being overly criticised (or more accurately, offered advice it thinks it doesn't need); I have a certain empathy here. Britain regularly 'gets it in the neck' from our erstwhile friends in Europe. But the response shouldn't be "shut up foreigners, we're Japanese and we know best." Well intentioned advice is good, and should be welcomed.
Posted in: Japan can do without preaching on how to fix its economy
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taiko666
jeancolmar: You're entitled to your view. Yet all people who differ even slightly from your view are 'religious fanatics? I see 'dogma' from only one group of posters.
Posted in: Abortion foes fear backlash to doctor's murder
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taiko666
jonnyboy: I agree 100% with that sentiment about religion. But what about the non-religious, agnostic/athiest people who think objectively, analytically and responsibly and yet come to a different conclusion from you?
Posted in: Abortion foes fear backlash to doctor's murder
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taiko666
jeancolmar: I think the reason the abortion debate is much more civilized outside America is due to the lack of blinkered, bigotted, hate-filled people like you who make pathetic claims such as that people who don't share you're opinion are 'religious fanatics.' Instead of weighing both sides of the issue with intelligence and decorum, as both the pro and anti camps do in Europe (apart from you of course), you polarise the debate into GOOD and BAD and fan the flames with your crass rhetoric. You are a fanatic.
Posted in: Abortion foes fear backlash to doctor's murder
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taiko666
tokyo34: if that were the only comment I was able to make; a comment that has been trotted out ad nauseum by people incapable of repsonding to criticism or making valid points, I'd be very embarrassed.
On the whole I've enjoyed driving, and especially motorcycling, in Japan. Getting a license was a doddle. I just had to obtain a translation of my British license and pay a few thousand yen. My major gripes are people routinely run red lights; cyclists riding whereever they please (they should be on the left); the apparent death-wishes of most Japanese motorcyclists; having to take the morning off work to go and change a detail on my licence (everything's online in the UK); and the shaken. While I agree that vehicles should be inspected thoroughly every few years, the shaken is confusing, expensive and beset with pitfalls. I've fallen foul of the shaken system because I let my motorcycle's shaken lapse. I thought I could book a session at a shaken centre and then ride there perfectly legally, as one would be able to do in Britain. But no, I need to get the bike transported to a centre. "YOUR FAULT - STUDY KANJI HARDER - RESPECT THE RULES!" I hear all the usual J-adorers cry. It's odd though that when I showed the shaken homepage to a Japanese co-worker and asked him if he could explain it a bit more clearly, all I got was teeth-sucking and 'wakaranai'. So the system is probably confusing for Japanese people too.
Posted in: Why I hate driving in Japan
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taiko666
I've lugged one of those around too, joining the locals in our annual matsuri. Fun, sweaty, noisy and painful! In the weeks preceding your local matsuri, check out the notices explaining where to go if you want to sign up. I wouldn't recommend doing it in Kichijouji though. Most of the mikoshi seem to have fat tatood yaks standing on them, waving their arms around like demented conductors. Fun to watch though!
Posted in: Yushima festival
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taiko666
... an age from which Japan refuses to emerge.
Posted in: Japan urged to sign accord against parental abductions
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taiko666
"...you don't hear them whining as much."
Of course they don't whine, because their host country treats them with dignity, not like some potential criminal to be monitored and fleeced. For example, in the UK a Japanese national on a non-tourist visa:
Posted in: Proposed resident registry card for foreigners creates Big Brother concerns
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taiko666
Ive been regularly downloading software direct to my various Nokias since 2002.
Posted in: Mario blasts games over the airwaves
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taiko666
While peeping and otherwise harrassing people is obviously illegal, I'd be suprised if it was illegal for a man to simply enter a women's toilet. It's obviously perfectly legal for woman to enter a male toilet.
But these days, if a man even gets seated next to child on a plane he's considered to be 'harrassing' the child and is moved. One day, simply being male will be made illegal. The UK or Sweden will be first to enact that law!
Posted in: Air Self-Defense Force member arrested for trespassing into women's toilet at store
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taiko666
I think you'll find it's the Scottish :-)
Posted in: Tokyo’s St Patrick’s Day Parade – It’s a long way from Tipperary
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taiko666
Thenewfront:
Even the Irish part of me thinks that St Paddy's Day has just become a tacky Guinness PR event (and perpetuates the myth that the Irish somehow invented jam sessions in pubs...) Although I prefer to sup some fine ale on St George's Day instead, I don't begrudge others their Guinness-swilling celebrations, and usually try to block out the tack and hype and join in the fun.
But making any connection between SPD and the renewed Real IRA violence is not sensible at all. The UK and Ireland are fighting the Real IRA. Celebrating Irishness (or rather, fake plastic-paddy Oirishness) does not imply supporting the Real IRA (drunken ranting anti-Brit bigots one may meet in Shinjuku Dubliners notwithstanding.)
Posted in: Tokyo’s St Patrick’s Day Parade – It’s a long way from Tipperary
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taiko666
Had to get in your anti-Brit piece didn't you?
As I've posted before, I've only ever seen one bar fight in my life.
Posted in: Four injured after 10 men brawl in Saitama family restaurant
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taiko666
Sounds like a yak lunch outing.
They'll all be pals again tomorrow, albeit missing a pinky or two. (Assuming the knife victim survives or course.)
As when I witnessed a real, chair-wielding bar brawl in Welsh village while cowering behind a pool table, it's vitally important for spectators to 1) Keeps out of sight 2) Make NO eye contact 3) NEVER, EVER let the semblance of a smile creep across your face.
Posted in: Four injured after 10 men brawl in Saitama family restaurant
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taiko666
You mean like every other developed country in the world?
I saw a sign a coffee shop window a couple of years ago: "staff wanted: must be Japanese woman under 40"
This breaks 3 separate discimination laws in most developed countries.
And I wonder, why does one have to submit a photo with a job application in Japan? (a requirement that is illegal in most developed countries.) How does one's facial features affect one's ability to do a job?
Moderator: All readers back on topic please.
Posted in: Half and haafu
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taiko666
The mirror can't possibly tell, unless he's holding up his passport.
Posted in: Half and haafu
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taiko666
Then I apologise :-)
But had you been American, referring to Flaherty as 'half American' would sound condescending. I doubt if any well-meaning American would refer to him as such. Normal, courteous behaviour would be to call him Canadian-American or half-Canadian. I think it's just as a rude for a Japanese to refer to somebody as haafu-(Japanese).
Although I hope Cleo's explanation is correct.
Posted in: Half and haafu
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taiko666
Exactly! You said she was half German, not just 'half' or 'half English. You're acknowledging her 'exotic other half'.
And the 'something else' is so important that it's not even mentioned, let alone specified?
But you may be right; maybe the 'haafu' does refer an exotic other half, rather than simply half Japanese. In which case many of the posters here who are defending the term 'haafu' are mistaken. But also, the term is not as derogatory as I thought, although if the Japanese would actually acknowledge where this 'exotic other half' comes from, as is the norm in other cultures, I think everyone would be happy, and the 'haafu' debate would simply go away.
Posted in: Half and haafu
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taiko666
WiliB: As an American you're referring to Flaherty as half-Canadian. You're acknowledging his Canadian heritage. Would you ever refer to him as simply 'half-American'? You'd sound incredibly rude and condescending.
Posted in: Half and haafu
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taiko666
completely agree. Just saying 'haafu' implies that the other, non-Japanese 'half' is irrelevant. The only thing that matters is that the person in question is only 'haafu' Japanese, deficient in Japaneseness. I'd be surprised if any other developed country referred to its mixed-race citizens in a such a derogatory way as simply 'half'.
Posted in: Half and haafu