JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION
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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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- Part Time Assistant Language Teacher - Kanagawa Prefecture - late-March start
- Interac, Kanagawa
- Salary: ¥9,000 / Day per 4 class shift
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titian
I guess it's too hard for the police to reason that far...
Posted in: Man stabbed to death in hospital; son dies in apparent suicide afterward
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titian
SamuraiBlue:
I wish you are right. However, according to many marine and nuclear scientists, “Plankton absorbs the Cesium, the fish eat the plankton, the bigger fish eat smaller fish — so every step you go up the food chain, the concentration of cesium gets higher.”
Posted in: U.N. expert: Fukushima not as bad as Chernobyl
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titian
I don't agree with the posters here who believe that the dumped contaminated water will be diluted and not dangerous at all. We could not be sure about this without an extensive research (and so far I am unaware of such). Due to bioaccumulation, the toxic or radioactive substances can be observed in some marine species of the food chain in lethal (for human) doses, even if the concentration in water of these substances is "not dangerous", according to the claims by TEPCO and the Japanese government. There are many examples of bioaccumulation - of mercury (salmon, tuna, whales, dolphins, hijiki, and - the extreme case - Minamata bay disaster (1956)), lead (vegetables grown near the roads before banning the tetra-ethyl-lead in gasoline), DDT, strontium, etc...
Posted in: Japan says dumping radioactive water in ocean doesn't violate law
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titian
Yes, I agree. However, in this context, I think there is a need for additional features of the robots, not pertinent to the car assembly ones:
a) autonomy (or partial one - e.g., remote control),
b) robust locomotion, especially in rough, challenging terrain,
c) intelligence - need to "think" what to do when dealing with a priori unknown or uncertain situation,
d) learning - ability to optimize their future actions based on their own past experience.
etc...
These features are similar to the ones of the real humans, and therefore (probably) we tend to assume humanoid robots in this situation.
Posted in: U.S. sending robots to Japan to help with nuclear plant
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titian
There is a good article in IEEE Spectrum magazine from March 22, 2011: "Can Japan Send In Robots To Fix Troubled Nuclear Reactors?" which explains well why the answer is "No". For me, the reasons are in the hardware (i.e., it's not radiation-tolerant), morphology of the bots (not robust enough in challenging terrains), and in the culture (e.g, Japanese bots have been most of the Japanese bots are designed for entertainment - with the intention to dance "bo", assume sumo postures, play musical instruments, play game (soccer), etc... Sadly, in Japan, most of the autonomous, robust, learning, and adapting robots are @ Universities in a phase of research projects only.
Posted in: U.S. sending robots to Japan to help with nuclear plant
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titian
AdamB and Samuraiblue:
Thanks for comments, you mentioned very relevant points. And there is an e-mail circulating in Naval circles regarding the Russian flyby over the USS Kitty Hawk. Not sure about the lock signals obtained by Russian jets - if my memory is correct, Russian media reported that they were playing with some electronic countermeasures.
"Anyways, 40 min after the CO called away the alerts, a Russian Su-27 Flanker and Su-24 Fencer made a 500 knot, 200 foot pass directly over the tower...it was just like in Top Gun, shoes on the bridge spilled coffee and everyone said,"Holllllllly ****!".
I looked at the captain at this point and his face was red. He looked like he just walked in on his wife getting ***** *by a Marine. The Sukoi's made 2 more high speed, low altitude passes before we finally launched the first aircraft off the deck...an EA-6B Prowler!"
But, again, I was trying to say that this was a good example about the international standards of how to deal with such situations. Not the same as the current case with the Chinese chopper.
Moderator: Stay on topic please.
Posted in: Japan protests over Chinese chopper that neared warship
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titian
The intent could be a provocative, indeed. I doubt the chopper approach itself is a problem however. These things (approach, overfly, escort, ets.) seem to happen often in international waters (and sky). Probably - some references by JT to the relevant international laws would be interesting.
Remember just another, much more serious case which was dealt calmly: "On 9 October 2000, two Russian aircraft, a Su-24 Fencer and a Su-27 Flanker, overflew Kitty Hawk at about 200 ft (61 m) of altitude." The official response from Clinton administration: "In neither case did the [Navy] feel that any protest was warranted, and, therefore, no protest was made to the Russians."
Posted in: Japan protests over Chinese chopper that neared warship
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titian
About Yalta Conference (February 4–11, 1945), From Wikipedia:
"Roosevelt asked for Soviet support in the U.S. Pacific War against Japan, specifically invading Japan"..."Stalin agreed to enter the fight against the Empire of Japan within 90 days after the defeat of Germany"
The Agreement:
"The former rights of Russia violated by the treacherous attack of Japan in 1904 shall be restored, viz.: (a) The southern part of Sakhalin as well as the islands adjacent to it shall be returned to the Soviet Union...The Kurile Islands shall be handed over to the Soviet Union."
The dates: The defeat of Nazi Germany: May 9, 1945.Soviet invasion to Japan: August 9, 1945 (exactly 3 months later).The **unconditional **surrender of Japan: August 15, 1945.
Few questions: Why Japan did not stand as firmly (as today) against the occupation of the "Northern Territories" before surrendering? How Japan interprets the meaning of " unconditional surrender"? Is there any historical precedent, when the outcome of a major war is reverted in favour of the aggressor and loser (and more recently - the moaner)?
Posted in: Russian FM talks tough to Maehara on dispute with Japan
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titian
The formula for kinetic energy K is K = m * V * V / 2, therefore, if the speed V increases 6 times, the energy K will increase 6 * 6 = 36 times (if the mass m is the same in both cases), rather than 6 times, as the author claims.
Posted in: Hypersonic missiles could challenge U.S. naval supremacy
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titian
Disillusioned:
Yes, hornets are very dangerous social insects, and they do communicate by releasing "alarm pheromones" (not hormones :-). And, they sometimes falsely interpret an unrelated odor as such a pheromone...
Posted in: 8 police stung by hornets in park
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titian
KaptainKichigai:
Yes, me too, and I wondered why this happens. While driving my car I had a deliberate attack by a truck, which could be even classified as failed attempted murder. Probably the driver got mad because my sports car overtook his truck in a double-lane mountain road and he went on a wild revenge. I went to the police immediately and gave my full account, supported by a photo of the truck with the number plate clearly seen. The police quickly found the company, the truck etc., and did ... absolutely nothing, as "no one is injured nor died". Sure, it is understandable (but not excusable) that many truck drivers are overworking, exhausted, and are on drugs to be alert. Also, it is well known that in Japan often truck companies = construction business = yakuza.
Posted in: Truck driver arrested for death of elderly woman in hit-and-run
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titian
HeyLars, it's right that what Elephunk says is his personal experience about Chechnya and Russian-Chechen relations, but it aligns perfectly with what is already very well documented. I am very surprised to see how you persist in you attempts to demonstrate that you have no knowledge at all about it... BTW, there are no excuses for the terrorism.
Posted in: Chechen militant claims Moscow subway blasts
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titian
bamboohat:
The Sauber car, driven by K.Kobayashi, lost its front wing during the opening lap. With a complete loss of control, he collected the Williams car of Nico Hulkenberg (blue livery). Very dangerous accident, but both drivers are fine. The safety standards are very high in the modern F1, as the F1 monocoque is designed to sustain such impacts.
More details about the accident: http://f1.gpupdate.net/en/formula-1-news/231173/kobayashi-expects-contact-caused-wing-loss/
Posted in: Wipe-out
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titian
misoshiro:
I do not understand the link between the Toyota issues with the Japanesness. Do you mean that the Honda, Nissan, Mazda, Subaru, Mitsubishi cars are not Japanese anymore? Or do you want to say that cooking and hiding the relevant data, or misleading the customers are the most important features of the "way Japanese do" the things?
I think Elephunk explained it very well in his post.
Posted in: Toyota shareholders in U.S. sue over fallen stock price
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titian
It seems to be a well done research. At least we know now that DNA is not to blame, as the former internal affairs minister Mr.Kunio Hatoyama claimed. Also, I suspect that March is bad because of the seasonal fluctuations in biological rhythms as both the body and mind are most tired of the winter season. In northern countries, for example, it can be as extreme as the winter (AKA sunlight deficiency) depression. And this may well cumulate with the factors, mentioned in the article.
Posted in: March is worst month for suicides of salaried workers
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titian
jeffrey:
Plain simple: in order to train how to use the Russian-made hardware installed (for whatever reason) in the ISS. And is has nothing to do with the "funding to the Aerospace program in Japan."
Article Unavailable
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titian
Yes, but his spirit is still young :-)
Posted in: Drift gang leader, 19 others arrested
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titian
The police did a very pathetic job against them. Wondering when they will be equally pathetic to the real dangers to normal drivers, passengers and pedestrians - drunk drivers, red signals violators, arrogant dump truck drivers, and those who disobey the traffic priority rules... And yes - the boosozoku which terrorises with their huge dB our danchi almost every night...
Posted in: Drift gang leader, 19 others arrested
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titian
Sounds nice. One more attraction, with a feature not common for Japan: Aizu University (est.1993) which offers to gaijins full-time, permanent positions identical to those of Japanese.
Posted in: Aizu: A castle, sake and red cows
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titian
Richardson:
And your comment is maybe prompted by apparent lack of knowledge about the maker of the umbrella. Wikipedia: "...surreptitious ricin poisoning of the Bulgarian émigré Georgi Markov, shot with an umbrella-gun of KGB design, in 1978".
Moderator: All readers back on topic please.
Posted in: Two women attacked by man with umbrella in Shinjuku