Wednesday February 15, 2012

timtak's past comments

  • -1

    timtak

    When I got my current job the personnel department explained that they could skim an amount I stipulate off the top of my earnings and send it to a different bank account, and that this would not appear on my monthly salary details form. The kind gentleman tried to push the system on me again when I said no, repeating "It will be completely invisible."

    Posted in: Sneaky salarymen scheme, skim and hide cash from their wives

  • 0

    timtak

    And this is the Wall Street Journal Article that combines both http://www-psych.stanford.edu/~lera/papers/wsj.pdf

    Posted in: How language defines us

  • 0

    timtak

    Sorry no, the above Fausey paper only compares Spanish and English. This one below compares Japanese and English. http://www-psych.stanford.edu/~lera/papers/constructing-agency.pdf

    Posted in: How language defines us

  • 0

    timtak

    The original article is here http://www-psych.stanford.edu/~lera/papers/who-dunnit.pdf

    Posted in: How language defines us

  • 0

    timtak

    The other famous paper is Kashima and Kashima http://jcc.sagepub.com/content/29/3/461.short which shows that pronoun drop is more prevalent in "collectivist" cultures.

    In the past Masa Arimori expounded the "You for You" (omae no omae) theory of the Japanese first person. The proliferation of first person pronouns in Japanese and the use of different language forms depending upon the person that you are speaking to means that the Japanese first person is always embedded withing a relationship with second person of communication, such that "I" always only means "you for you." Masa Arimori, who was a Christian living among Parisian Intellectuals, claimed that in the West the first person pronoun is used in contrast to the third person, and "I" (or Je) means always exactly the same thing before that presumed everpresent other. Natty theory, methinks.

    Yohtaro Takano, who thinks cultural psychology is bunkum, points to how, conversely, the Japanese language is more individualistic. Using the research of a linguist Yoko Hosogawa here http://socrates.berkeley.edu/~hasegawa/Papers/Self.pdf points to how 1) In Japanese it is not correct to say that someone is cold, hot, or in any other emotive state since such states are presumed private and knowable only by the feeler. Instead one should say that others are look happy, cold, or hot for which there are special adjective endings (Samutagatteiru etc) that don't exist in English. 2) In English there is confusion in phonetic statements such as <> because the word "I" could refer to either "He" or the Speaker. English speakers must resort to using the quotes in the air gesture to show "He said 'I am stupid'". In Japanese however the word "jibun" refers, they argue, to the private self of the reported speaker, so "He said I (jibun) am stupid" can only mean that he was talking about himself. These linguistic devices suggest, Hosokawa and Takano argue, that the Japanese are more aware of a non-relational, private self.

    Taken together this would suggest that the Japanese language is both collectivist and individualist, a conclusion paralleling recent cultural psychology which argues that the Japanese are aware of the mutual construction of self and society.

    Posted in: How language defines us

  • 1

    timtak

    Terror Management Theorey shows that when people are reminded of their mortality they seek immortality, usually of the symbolic variety, claiming that they are well liked, famous, good, people from a famous well-liked, good society that will be remembered in history forever. All you need to do is ask subjects to predict when and how they will die, and write a short essay about it and the same subjects will, relatively, overclaim their symbolic longetivity relative to the control condition.

    While the Japanese are famous for not giving a hoot about symbolic self-appraisals, in mortality salience conditions they do show a tendency to rate or protect their culture. Recent research has suggested that Japanese may be more inclined to achieve immortality by social embeddedness, and by making an individual name for oneself. http://plaza.ufl.edu/phallman/terror%20management%20theory/7692930.pdf

    One can achieve a measure of immorality another way, by having a long line of progeny that remember you and your effects. I hypothesise that the Japanese may prefer the latter, so when disaster strikes and they are reminded of their mortality they hit the dating agency, enter into a marriage, and make kids.

    Posted in: Match-making agencies in Japan have reported a surge of up to 50% in members since the March 11 disaster. Why do you think the disaster has spurred more single people to consider marriage?

  • 2

    timtak

    People are living a lot longer, healthier so it would be strange if the retirement age stayed the same.

    Posted in: Gov't likely to face strong opposition to raising retirement age: survey

  • -9

    timtak

    I wish phones would stop attempting to be smart and go back to being small. I remember my PHS with fondness. I don't want all that junk on my phone.

    Posted in: Fans flock to Apple's Ginza store for new iPhone

  • 0

    timtak

    While I would very much like to show solidarity with the farmers in Fukushima, I think that it Fukushima branding would simply make me loose my appetite. I probably would not purchase Chernobyl Vodka either. Is there any way around this? Appetites are sensitive things. I think that the folks in Fukushima need to accept this and sell their rice as food ingredients (where at least the consumer is not told), animal feeds (again, no less danger but the consumer will may not be faced with a "Fukushima" brand) or plant biofuels, forrests, or roses. I think that I would purchase some roses from Fukushima, but I may not wish to smell them, I am very sorry to say.

    Posted in: Fukushima rice given all-clear after radiation tests

  • 1

    timtak

    I have had a mother or two point out the fact that "look there's a foriegner" to their children to stare at me, and within ear shot too, but generally the longer I am here the less I get stared at. People hardly give me a glance these days.I think that there is a certain sort of out of place look that one can have on ones face that attracts stares.

    Posted in: 'You lookin' at me?' Fake book soothes race relations

  • 0

    timtak

    Disillusioned is right to be ironic "It must be good if they have to give it away." The fact that free tickets are offered is going to get far more publicity than the impressions of the free travellers. This measure is going to send a negative message about travel.

    Posted in: Japan to offer 10,000 free trips to foreigners to boost tourism industry

  • 0

    timtak

    I got more stares in Italy.

    Posted in: 'You lookin' at me?' Fake book soothes race relations

  • 0

    timtak

    Another idea is that fast food and toys are both popular with children, who are yet to be acculturated. If food chain wanted to be popular with adults, then it would have to sell miso soup and other cultural products, but since Macdonalds and Baskin Robbins appeal to youngsters they can sell the same produce all over the world. SimilarlyTRU can use the same sales technique as it uses in the US because its customers are unculturated and its products to a large extent pan-cultural.

    Posted in: Toys“R”Us Japan

  • 0

    timtak

    Why has a western chain been successful in this field? They only other Western retail chains sell fast food. Is there any commonality between toys and fast food? It is my experience that the toys at TRU are at or near the recommended retail price which is that which corner store toy shops are selling them at. One might hope for a bigger cut from the recommended retail price at a store that sells toys in such volume. But then a large selection of toys means a large selection of unsold toys, because as the boss points out, they have a short TV-influenced shelf life. What does TRU do with the unsold "short shelf life" toys? I note that the culture of throwing things away different in Japan to the West. Perhaps Toys R Us are so successful here due to a different attitude to the their unsold toys. Dolls are given funerals in Japan. I see Japanese corner toy shops attempting to sell stuff from years ago. Perhaps an unceremonious un-animmist, systematic approach to toys allows TRU to keep their shelves up to date with the most popular toys?

    Posted in: Toys“R”Us Japan

  • 0

    timtak

    It has probably become more difficult now that there is only a 4 page explanation for the same 60 page application form (thanks Crazy Joe). Imagine the traumatised, ageing agricultural population being faced with 60 page compensation claim application forms, now with a four page guide. It sounds like an effective way of avoiding paying compensation.

    Posted in: TEPCO creates simpler guide for compensation claims

  • 0

    timtak

    Of the 73,434 learning Japanese, I wonder what percentage might want to come and learn it in Japan. I attempt and usually fail to organise student exchanges. 73,434 students may sound like a lot but almost all Japanese students, of which there were 2.8 million in 2006, study English, and usually to a far higher (?!) level, so there are 40 students of English Japan to every one student of Japanese in America. The colleges that are successful in attracting students are either the very best, or those that do not attempt to stick purely to language student exchange but offer courses in English in Japan, like Jouchi and APU.

    Posted in: Demand for Japanese language instruction in U.S. skyrocketing

  • 0

    timtak

    I read elswhere that of these injuries there were about 2 or 3 deaths per year in recent years. http://www.japanbear.sakura.ne.jp/cms/2011/05/post_40.html And in response to Juan Rodriguez's question, according to the following article in Japanese, no apparently pretending to be dead is not effective, and there are no reports in Hokkaido at least of the effective use of bear spray. The article recommends carrying a bear bell (since about a third of incidents occur when humans and bears happen upon each other accidently), and a "nata" or machete (since about 25% of incidents are hungry bears looking to prey on humans). It also says that there were one death every two years in Hokkaido (12 deaths in the years 1970 to 2001) http://www.yasei.com/jittai.html

    Posted in: Bear sightings reported in Sapporo

  • 0

    timtak

    Every year people are kiiled and injured by bears. There were 149 injuries last year and 50 to then end of August this year, with most incidents in Iwate, Nagano, and Akita http://www.env.go.jp/nature/choju/docs/docs4/injury-qe.pdf I thought would not hunt them with just a club if it were me;-)

    Posted in: Bear sightings reported in Sapporo

  • 0

    timtak

    Another interpretation...The donor says that he or she is alone. Perhaps that person has family members who do not pay the donor much attention inspite of the cultural norms which might have encouraged them to do so. Lacking in filial piety or not, those family members would receive about half of the money as inheritance upon the donors death. The donor might not want to leave money to his estranged relatives, but at the same time he might not want to be actively disliked by the same relatives who might feel they are being deprived of their inheritance.

    These in an attempt to answer the_harper.

    Posted in: Y10 mil 'for Tohoku' left in bag in Saitama municipal bldg restroom

  • 0

    timtak

    If Ruth Benedict is right that Japan should be considered a shame culture, then, one of the characteristics of embarrassment, and perhaps shame is that one feels it when one does something conspiciously good as well as bad. If a child is singled out in class as having written a particularly good essay then she will feel embarassment/shame. Embarrassment and shame arouse when one stands out and behave in a way which confounds peoples expectations. As Tamarama says, the gift was a sensational thing to do, and as such perhaps quite shameful had the donation not been anonymous.

    Altenatively, it may be argued that the Japanese believe in something like 'enlightened self interest' or 'interdependence' wherein it is believed that if people give to those that they care for, if in a sense they give to themselves, for their own happiness then the world will be a happy place. In this world view there is no need to act upon principle, or some high-flown altruism, merely out of love for those around you, in whom you see yourself. Indeed, under this view there is perhaps no such thing as altruism, or principle, it is perhaps seen as being self love under another guise. Under this world-view, if such exists, the donor would have been thought of as someone who wanted a lot of attention had their donation not-been anonymous.

    Alternatively again, perhaps the money was to varying degrees 'black' -- perhaps an un-banked inheritance with tax unpaid for instance.

    All the above sound rather negative but I am a fan of the donor, and Japan. Japan is about the only place where the donor could expect the finder to turn the money in. Wow.

    Posted in: Y10 mil 'for Tohoku' left in bag in Saitama municipal bldg restroom

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