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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tkoind2
I vote for Karma too. Too many spoiled rich yuppies flaunting their money by buying silly mid life crisis toys. At least they didn't harm anyone but themselves. Probably universal payback for the hands and feet they crushed making enough money to buy those cars.
Posted in: Speeding blamed for pileup involving 8 Ferraris, 1 Lamborghini
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tkoind2
Read between the lines here.
"goal is to start discussions" should read as "we are still thinking, about talking, about thinking about addressing emissions.
"as soon as possible" = Never
"Fair" = What we want and not what you expect us to do.
"effective" = As long as our corporate handlers don't see any dig into their profits.
"international framework" = something to blame failure on once we fail to agree to anything.
"Japan believes extnding Kyoto Protocol emission cuts is not nearly enough..." = Others are not prepared to do enough. But in the end, is Japan?
Posted in: Our ultimate goal is to start discussions and adopt as soon as possible, a comprehensive and legal document which establishes a fair and effective international framework.
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tkoind2
Why build this monster in a flagging economy? Don't they realize that yuppie women will be equally out of work if economy continues in this manner? And doesn't Tokyo already have a lot of vacant space?
Posted in: New commercial complex Shibuya Hikarie to open next April
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tkoind2
The signs of war are growing. I have a great love for Iranian traditional culture and for her people. The tragedy here is that the people of Iran are not represented here. Only their tyrannical and insane current leadership, who I am sure are behind these attacks.
The innocent masses of Iran have tired in vain to remove this current government. They will be the true victims should any war come. And for the world it will be one more nation lost to ongoing, unending war and violence.
I sincerely hope some other solution can be found soon.
Posted in: Britain evacuates embassy staff from Iran
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tkoind2
Serrano, if you are old enough to have been aware of politics in the Clinton era, then you should not have to answer that questions. Gingrich is the worst collection of attributes one could ask for in a president. And would be far worst than you can imagine.
Posted in: Gingrich wins New Hampshire newspaper backing as Romney plugs along
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tkoind2
Kidding aside.
Big, crowded and dangous poor urban centers where the legions of empoverished working class people will compete for tiny spaces. They will be here because there will be no jobs anywhere else. And since their civil rights would have long gone away, they may be compelled to do so.
Resources will be scarce (watch Soylent Green) and global warming will have made the climate too difficult for most rural places to produce much more than dust.
Political freedom will be the ability to work. Social freedom the ability to sleep. And economic freedom the capacity to eat and drink a little of the corporate owned water.
And this if the first world I am talking about. Can't even imagine the poor places.
Posted in: What do you think cities of the future will look like, say, in the year 2050?
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tkoind2
Bangladesh.
Posted in: What do you think cities of the future will look like, say, in the year 2050?
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tkoind2
"Japanese people in general are very unaware of where their bodies are."
Yes! Very true. I am so happy to hear that others have picked up on this too. I am thinking to launch a series of "Spacial Awareness" programs for people who can't seem to understand that their bodies and baggage take up space.
It is a wonder that legions of people are not killed by cyclists, cars, pedestrians and the highly dangerous train Obachans every year.
Posted in: Not all cyclists are mindful of pedestrians and fatal accidents involving bicycles are on the rise. As the number of elderly pedestrians is expected to increase in the future, we decided strong action was needed now.
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tkoind2
One more reason to think Noda is another waste of space in a suit. Where are Japan's real leaders? The sad truth is that the modern culture in Japan does not foster leadership or create leaders, it creates workers and it creates followers.
The innovation and creativity that grew Japan from bombed out and defeated state to #2 economy are gone. Sadly replaced with "leaders" who are only good at creating red tape and failing to do what is required to turn the nation and her industries around.
Noda, we need the Olympics in Tokyo the same way we need to slide off the Pacific plate into the sea. What Japanese people really need. And I do mean really need, is someone to pay attention to growing the nation's economy, putting people to work, and not managing to tax people to death.
So since you fail on all points, I find I am for the first time in agreement with the LDP. You are another waste of space PM destined to accomplish absolutely nothing. I hope you are happy your rushed Kan out of office so you could replace him in incompetent leadership.
Posted in: Noda to support Tokyo 2020 Olympic bid
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tkoind2
China is more a threat that the media, corporates and others wish us to know and believe. If you live in Asia already you know that they bully neighboring countries, launch cyber attacks and engage in unreasonable practices in the region.
If you are a rational Chinese citizen, you know that they suppress freedom, repress political, religious and ideological movements and you know that they carry our considerable acts of inhumanity against their own people.
Until these things change, China cannot be trusted. And given a choice between influence from the US and influence from China is APAC, give me the US any day. At least we can speak our minds under US influence. Just try that against China.
Posted in: Obama says U.S. to base 2,500 Marines in Australia, rankling China
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tkoind2
Capitalism as it stands today is unsustainable. It is only a matter of time before it collapses and we have a global depression that will make the 1929-30's depression look like a grand old time. We dodged, just barely in 2008 and we are riding the edge still today in 2011.
What really needs to change are consumers and workers standing up to demand that companies stand fast and work solutions to keep jobs and remain loyal to communities. Otherwise we stop buying their products and they fail anyway. It is time that corporations stood in the economic trenches with workers, or we bring them down and replace them with industry that will!
Posted in: 'Made in Japan' brand at crossroads as firms ponder moving production overseas
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tkoind2
Companies enjoy the protection, support and benefits of being a part of a country, until hard times come. Then what? They pack up and leave taking jobs with them and abandoning all the people and the country who supported their business for years.
Working people, who cannot pack up and relocate to other countries are left to fend for themselves. You need only talk to the people of Detroit of Michigan to see how well that has gone for them. Generations of working class prosperous communities leveled to nothing more than slums and pits of despair.
It is the fact that the world is driven by profits first that is the problem in the end. It is why speculation has the yen so high. Why companies choose profits over loyalty to workers and communities. It is a model that can no longer work as the world economy has brutally illustrated over the past several years. And yet, here we are reading about another round of it.
Who do the manufacturers think will buy their products and fuel their new prosperity elsewhere? American consumers cannot because of all the lost jobs. Japanese will join those ranks soon with no spending power. And our newly baptised consumers in India and China will soon find they cannot either. So where is the long term win of moving everything abroad? Sure you get more profits in the near term, but the gutting of jobs from the major economies will eventually come back to haunt these companies as we have seen in the US already.
Posted in: 'Made in Japan' brand at crossroads as firms ponder moving production overseas
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tkoind2
What a pointless article. To the author of the original... do you really think these crimes in any way alter the global perception that crime was a non-issue during the disaster? I mean do you really think these trivial things amount to anything other than minor incidents?
Look to other parts of the world and you will see what real crime is. Where people are killed, raped, abused and robbed of everything. It is pathetic that you would even bother with this list of petty crimes. Especially when there has been talk of more serious issues that have gone uncovered in the media.
More evidence that the media here is just another form of mindless pop entertainment. Shamefully so.
Posted in: Potpourri of post-quake crimes contradicts foreign media's reporting of placid Japanese
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tkoind2
She's a bad copy wanna-be of Madonna using various shock options to make up for her lack of real originality or talent. Can't stand her, won't be buying her "book".
Posted in: Lady Gaga's photo book to be released on Nov 22
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tkoind2
Another cultural low for Japan. This place is increasingly poppy, cute and shallow.
Posted in: AKB48 members to appear on stamps
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tkoind2
I disagree strongly that voicing an opinion does not change the world. Rather it is like the old story of Johnny Appleseed. There is a great deal of planting done when people engage in meaningful conversation. Seeds are planted and in some take root and grow into shared world views. These often manifest as participation, action and the subsequent sharing of ideas.
The problem today is that modern people have the attention spans of nats with Twitter setting the standard for communication length. Everyone wants a short to the point summary which robs them of the complex motivations and ideas that actually formulate meaningful opinions. As well as rendering any possibility to validate an opinion with logic, evidence, intellectual and emotional endorsement. The factors that create shared vision in groups.
Now while I do agree that thoughts must be put into some kind of action, for many that action is limited to sharing of opinions and consensus building. Not all of us are capable of doing additional work. Those of us who do and can, we are fortunate. But many cannot and may be limited to the sharing and distribution of ideas.
If you look at nearly every ideological, social, political or revolutionary movement in history, it began with an idea shared with others. The ideas took root and grew into movements that could then engage in action. In our mindless Twitter age, it is important to remember this. Our failing to may well be the reason that nothing changes now. I blame our mindlessly abbreviated form of communication with failing to inspire people to take up change.
Posted in: Opinions don’t change the world
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tkoind2
The "dumbing down" of TV is an indicator of the increasing brainlessness of people world wide. No interest in anything and attention spans limited to "twitter lenght" concepts. It is impacting movies too with young people too braindead to read subtitles resulting in Japanese companies deciding not to import as many foreign films.
For anyone with a working brain, Japanese TV is insipid and mindless at best with endless shows featuring boring "talento" going on about utterly pointless topics. There there is the endless parade of silly game shows and the seemingly unlimited number of times people can say "oishi" on TV in a single hour.
I suspect that many people have migrated to the web or to various portable devices and games. This is no more encouraging than TV in a world where people are losing the capacity to socialize, speak intelligently to any topic or to even care what is going on in the world.
I am often shocked by just how out of touch with world affairs, economics, business, the environment, politics, social issues and most other meaningful topics, the average person I meet is. It is sad and shameful. More and more I think the modern world is breeding mindless consuming worker bees who are fit to work, shop and replace themselves along the way. It is sad that there is not a stronger call in society for people to be intelligent rather than just cute, educated instead of fashionable, socially adept instead of cool and involved in life rather than just working long hours. It does not bode well for the future of Japan or the world.
Posted in: Japanese viewers tuning out, turning off their TVs
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tkoind2
In the US, I often find people in public who are complete strangers who offer gestures of kindness with no expectation other than a thank you and a smile. Likewise with friends and aquaintances, I find exactly the same behavior with friends often going way out their way to show kindness to my wife and I.
Meanwhile in Japan, I rarely if ever experience random public kindness. More often I am shoved, pushed, stared at or even crashed into without any acknowledgement what so ever. While aquantances, most often work or music related, usually expect something or are hoping to sell me something.
Yet when outside of Tokyo, I find profound levels of warmth and generocity from Japanese people. Which I think says a great deal about Tokyo.
I would not generalize all of Japan to be un-generous. And you should not imply that this is some kind of culture difference. When clearly it is a limited experience you are referring too. I submit that some people in Tokyo are not in the least generous. But this does not define Japanese culture any more than the loving generocity of the people in the country side.
I propose that the same is true in the US. Generocity is a person, perhaps even local culture and certainly not a national culture that can be reasonably representative of the whole.
Posted in: A culture shock – generosity isn’t free
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tkoind2
I see very little difference in people who are nice here in Japan and those in my home country. And I have lived a long time in Japan and feel more at home here than in the US.
First of all I rarely have people behave in a warm nice way to me in Tokyo. So rarely that when it does happen I am happily surprised. And when it does happen, it is usually older people who are very generous with their kindness and do not expect anything back.
In the US, when I visit once a year, I find that people are often very nice and I cannot remember anyone ever expecting anything in return. A guy at a local shop may direct me to a competitor when he does not have the item I need. Or someone may let me in line ahead of them at the super when I have two items and they have a huge cart. Or people offer to show me the new great spots in town if I have time, and ask for nothing.
Posted in: A culture shock – generosity isn’t free
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tkoind2
shootandscoot.
I am sorry but cyclists pose a considerable danger to pedestrians. People should not have to dodge bicycles in crowded pedestrian areas. Period. And cyuclists should be 100% responsible for hitting pedestrians if they insist upon riding in crowded areas or on foot traffic areas. Period!
Now that said. It is not a good idea to push the bone headed cyclists who we all dodge everyday into the street to be killed either.
Solution?
Bike lanes where possible. Exceptions for mamachari bikes who should be ok to ride on sidewalks. Mountain bikes, road bikes etc... should be on the road with an exception for children. But new laws that demand that cyclists walk their bikes through crowds and not ride them through should be set and strongly enforced.
Then it becomes simple. Get off your bike when the sidewalk is crowded and walk it. Don't ride through crowded shopping streets like the shotengai in Kichijoji that so often has some genius riding through it.
Posted in: Cyclists feel under siege with new rules