JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION
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To be healthy, live in the big city
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Teacher nabbed for using miror to peek up girl's skirt
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Japan's nuclear safety standards flawed, says commission chief
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From carnivores to herbivores: how men are defined in Japan
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Why do Japanese change their attitude when they communicate with foreigners?
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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
We know nuclear power has to go. But we also know, with equal certainty, the the alternatives do not add up to the anticipated energy production needs of Japan, and that they are expensive to implement.
That said, Squidbert is dead on. We have to leverage every alternative that is out there and use it to full potential. But that will only result in stable energy IF we also move forward on technologies for energy transmission and storage. Both must be better to offset the current waste of power lost to poor transmission or inadequate capacities to store power.
The grid must become universal for Japan wide coverage. Local home use generation from solar grids must be done as well to help reduce demand on the overall grid, and to supply additional energy during peak production days.
All of this will take time and considerable investment. Taxes are not a viable option as the burden will already be significant on working Japanese. So the key here is to encourage the private sector to take on these challenges and to solve these problems. Something that I believe incentives and the removal of barriers will help make possible.
Japan should be marketing itself as a global test case for energy re-invention. Something that could be big for participating companies and could create a Silicon Valley like concentration of cutting edge energy companies. All of this later available for export as expertise, as products produced by companies here and perhaps even the ability to sell teams from Japan to take on this problem elsewhere.
We need to be visionary with the opportunity for energy re-invention that this disaster has provided.
Posted in: Quake expert urges Japan to overhaul nuclear power policy
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tkoind2
My partner and I sometimes go to small Ryokan in a town out on the coast of Chiba. The older ladies in shops there are some of the most friendly people I have ever met.
In my old neighborhood in Ichikawa-shi the older check out ladies at the grocery store became my health monitors and providers of the warm smiles I really needed after Sobu line hellish commutes.
Now in my new area on the other end of town, there is an older man who works at the Fujiya who I stop in and see now and then. He has a smile that won't quit and I love the few moments we are able to chat.
Tokyo is probably the least friendly, most socially cold place I have ever lived. No wonder so many of the Japanese here live in crowded places but feel isolated and alone. Yet if you get outside the core of the city, the older people in the smaller stations can be warm, friendly and welcoming. I find I love the older people of Japan's smaller stops far more, in general, than Tokyo denizens or the often fluffy and unfriendly youth I meet.
Posted in: Land of the rising moms
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tkoind2
This quote has two interpretations that leap out.
Japan is open for business as the AFP quote above says. or
That he sees the shallow, talento driven thinking that has come to dominate in Japan and does not take Japan very seriously.
With so many key issues in Asia Pacific to address, and the obvious need for US/Japanese partnership in resolving and facing these issues, such a comment is rather sad and diminutive to Japan. Japan should care more about putting forward a face that demands greater respect and make the world take Japan seriously again.
Posted in: I had breakfast with some U.S.-Japan think tank experts who said to me, 'Mr Ambassador, what can we do in order to strengthen the strategic, economic and people-to-people relations between Japan and the United States?' And I had one answer. Lady Gaga.
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tkoind2
Ishibashi is right. And I do think that Japan must enact a policy that will lead to the elimination of nuclear power. But a realistic look at the economy and at the technologies available for power generation today, suggest that we are still looking at a 20-30 year time span from now until nuclear power is reduced significantly or eliminated.
In the mean time the government should do two key things. 1. Enact a policy to immediately improve safety redundancies at all nuclear power plants in Japan.
And. 2. Enact a future forward policy to encourage both large and small companies to shift focus to new energy technologies. This includes making it far easier for foreign companies and entrepreneurs to obtain loans and financing to kick off energy related companies in Japan. I believe that Japan can and should become a lead think tank and producer of new energy solutions. It makes sense when looking at the long term opportunities that the world will require. And it makes sense in terms of shifting from an export/information based society to one capable of exporting solutions that will service the world while enriching Japan.
Finally, to the protesters who are asking for an immediate shut down. I sympathize with your objectives, but if you got your way, you would destroy the Japanese economy, put countless people out of work and cause widespread poverty in Japan. You need to have a far more realistic vision of the entire picture. Nuclear power and the risks are on piece of a very big picture that must be changed if we are to achieve our common goals of making Japan safe from nuclear accidents. I encourage you to take more reasonable and realistic view and join us in making change that is achievable and that does not cause more harm.
Posted in: Quake expert urges Japan to overhaul nuclear power policy
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tkoind2
What do people see in her? Bad music, worst fashion sense, "bitchy" girl attitude and makeup my most intense gothic friends would say is too much.
Her one redeeming point has come out in her capacity for charity. Though it will not change my dislike of her as an artist, it has given me respect for her as a human behind all that marking noise.
Posted in: Going gaga
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tkoind2
I strongly agree that a 10% sales tax will harm low income families, small businesses and the economy on the whole. People are already withholding spending and this will just entrench that behavior and amplify the negative impact.
There are very viable alternatives.
First cost cutting in the many areas where spending in Japan is both wasteful and ineffcient. This is unpopular with the politicians because it harms their special interersts and relationships. But we have seen examples, like Osaka's mayor who has been able to cut considerable costs by eliminating nonproducting projects and closing unused services.
If you raise consumption taxes, make them focused so that they do not harm the weakest people in society. Apply luxury taxes on non-essential items. Exempt food(including restaurants), daily necessities, drug store consumables and essential services from the tax increase.
And long term import and integrate more foreign labor to build the tax payer base in Japan.
Otherwise I see very dark results from this tax increase that may render Japan's global ranking to the mid double digit ranks.
Posted in: Consumption tax burden will hit the poor
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tkoind2
Bogart. Maybe behind the marketing she is on ok person. I don`t know. But her image and the image she sells to the public, and especially to women, is not one I can support. If she were truly sincere, why not show us her real personality in who she is as a performer too? My guess is, because it would not sell. Which says a lot about the taste and desires of our society doesn't it?
Posted in: Everybody's gaga
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tkoind2
gogogo. Still, is is a priced product that the public can choose to support or not. It isn't up to us to define what other people give. And it isn't fair to compare to others. Charity comes from the heart. And we should be grateful they are giving at all. There are so many out there who are not.
Posted in: Everybody's gaga
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tkoind2
GW. I think they are being honest about how much will go to charity. Can we really demand more? If they wanted to do more that would be great, but we have no right to expect them to do anything at all. I am happy they are doing something.
The public are not foolish, they have read the same thing. If they buy the CD knowing that 200yen will go, then that is a choice for each person to make.
It is far better that other artists are doing more. But again it is a choice.
About Gaga. My main issue with her is the "girl power" thing. To be fair, most of recent pop has been a rip off of the last 30yrs or so. But marketing "bitchy" as empowered is sick. I would not want my daughter thinking she needs to be a bitchy girl in a corset and g-string to get ahead in the world or to demonstrate her independence. I would far prefer to have her emulate a woman who can demonstrate a girl power while being a warm, intelligent and kind person in any clothing she chooses.
Posted in: Everybody's gaga
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tkoind2
Look. SMAP is giving money, enough said. More than you or I am giving. If the logic of that argument escapes you, I can`t help you.
My point about J-pop. That you clearly missed. Was this... I don't like SMAP any more than I like GAGA. I would rather have a root canal than listen to either of these artists. But they both are giving money which is a nice thing to do. And they will both be giving a lot of money, which is even more helpful. Got it now?
Posted in: Everybody's gaga
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tkoind2
Bogart,
My issue with Gaga is that I would not want my daughter emulating her. I would prefer that she look to someone who represents real "girl power", the kind that does not require a g-string and permanently bitchy attitude.
Gaga tries to sell women's empowerment as being able to strap on a corset and dominate men. Really? Is that what women aspire to today? Some sexed up clown who dons meat for national TV shows? Is that what we expect from empowered, intelligent women?
Barnum said "there`s a sucker born every minute" and people like Gaga have long capitalized upon this to sell the world a package so that they can take your money.
Gaga rips off Madonna down to the base melody line and everyone ignores that because of her successful marketing.
Good on her for donating money. But come on, if you really think that this sales package is representative of sincerity, then I have a wonderful bridge in Brooklyn that I can sell you for a killer price. Gaga just wants your money.
Posted in: Everybody's gaga
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tkoind2
Bogart.
"smart and sincere" as illustrated by the meat suit? Or by illustrating "girl power" as a combination of fetish gear and bitchy attitude? I challenge and question your definition of both sincerity and intelligence.
She is a marketing product top to bottom. If you want to admire her ability to sell herself, then you have something to admire. But artistically she is a rip off of Madonna and style wise she is a rip off of all things 1979-to present as pioneered by many other eccentric artists.
There is nothing new here with Gaga. She is the western equivalent of J-pop. Packaged fluff intent upon convincing the masses of some notion of what is "cool" while providing the intellectual and cultural depth of a plastic teaspoon.
Posted in: Everybody's gaga
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tkoind2
Ayler. I dislike J-pop intensely and will not "get scammed", but unless you are donating amounts similar to what SMAP will donate, then I don't think you have much ground to point fingers at them.
Posted in: Everybody's gaga
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tkoind2
gogogo. Why criticize a band for trying to help? They don't have to do anything at all. Any little bit helps. Where your million dollar donation? Until you can match, why not support any band or person who helps out?
Good for Exile. Good for Gaga for donating more. But still good for SMAP to help too. Be grateful for all of it!
Posted in: Everybody's gaga
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tkoind2
realist. They are rooted in the religious conflicts of the late 16th century. Religious issues and political issues in this case are one in the same. Check your history.
Posted in: Northern Ireland police face fresh riots in Belfast
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tkoind2
ihavegreatlegs.
SMAP is probably first on my list of most disliked J-pop bands. But that 200yen per album is likely to generate a lot of money too. Artists here routinely sell a half a million copies of their work. SMAP probably more. Just do the math.
Gaga gets points for her donation too, as should anyone who helps out. It has been the one consolation for having to endure her existence.
Posted in: Everybody's gaga
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tkoind2
One more reason why the change of nuclear power to clean power will take 20-30 years. The anti-nuke movement in Japan wants this done immediately. But it is an economic and energy impossibility that the local governments fully understand.
If we want change, we need a solid long term plan to shift to clean power. And we should start by abandoning the fear based approach and start to address this from an economic and social approach to assure public consent and a foundation of support necessary to pay for the shift.
Posted in: Local governments are not going to insist that nuclear power plants be shut down indefinitely because that would affect tax revenues. Their economies are on the line, so if at all possible, they want to restart.
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tkoind2
Religion too often divideds people. The Protestant/Catholic disagreement of some 500+ years is an excellent illustration of this fact.
In the end, religion is just one more way our tribal instincts lead us to divide ourselves into us and them tribes. Humans have great technology and toys, but we are still pretty much the same emotionally as hundreds of years ago.
Posted in: Northern Ireland police face fresh riots in Belfast
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tkoind2
"she reminds me of a young Iggy Pop"
She does look like Iggy. :)
I think she looks more like a trashy imitation of Madonna.
Posted in: Everybody's gaga
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tkoind2
Lierman2012. Really Lieberman? Who are you calling a fruitcake?
Posted in: U.S. Supreme Court bars mass sex bias case vs Wal-Mart