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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user1684
Anyone who hurts a kid should be punished severely.
If this were the US the guy would not last long in prison.
Posted in: Aomori man arrested for allegedly beating 6-year-old son to death
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user1684
whomever they choose. (Sorry for the prematurely sent message, my iBook is freaking out with all this anger about the iPhone)
It is not racism, but just good business.
You guys are complaining about 80,000 per year? You do not realize how good you have it in Japan. You would freak if I told you what I pay AT&T a month and I am perfectly happy with it.
The cool thing is once you are contracted in with them, unless it is written into the K, your prices are locked for the period of the K, and Apple keeps coming out with free upgrades all the time....
You guys are aware the iPhone has a GPS unit that works like a charm in Japan, (anyways mine did when I was there back in March) and will give step by step directions to any location.
You can now sync all of your email, calendar, and contacts (google and yahoo contacts included) automatically and remotely.
For example you meet someone at a cool restaurant or 飲み屋 and you enter it into your contacts on your iPhone, it will now automatically sync with your computer at home and at the office instantly, same for your calendar and schedule changes you want to make; change your schedule while you are riding on the train and your mates back at the office will know about it, provided each other's schedules are accessible....
So quit complaining about 80,000 and enjoy.
Posted in: Apple's iPhone goes on sale in Japan to cheering crowd
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user1684
Movieguy:
It seems you are confusing private entities with government entities. Government entities are bound by constitutional law which protects and ensures the rights of us all. Corporations and private entities to the extent they do not receive funding from big brother, are free to form contracts with
Posted in: Apple's iPhone goes on sale in Japan to cheering crowd
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user1684
Obama isn't any more "unproven" than Bush or Clinton were when they were both elected.
Actually, a senator may be more qualified to be president than a governor. The Senate many times can be the nemesis of the executive branch. So, the experience in the Senate gives the person perspective. While governors are responsible for the health of the state in which they are governor, they are not considered to be Washington "insiders" as some senators are.
This year the three candidates that are left are all senators and all are equally qualified.
So you see, the only thing that all three have "proved" is that they all can be elected to the Senate, and that is the only thing that matters.
With all three being on equal footing the only issue then is whether Americans want another 8 years of war, unstable economy, and one party flushing the environment down the toilet. If they say enough is enough, we want a change, they will elect Obama, because Hillary is history.
Posted in: Obama picks up 9 superdelegates
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user1684
Japan GPS units are overpriced and a huge rip-off.
Has anyone ever seen a J GPS unit for under 2 "man"?
TOMTOM sells for about 125 Euros and can be updated on your PC, allows sharing of info with other members, address corrections etc.
It's a crying shame they won't let TOMTOM into Japan, that and our "shaken" system for autos is another example of the shoddy way the Japanese consumers are treated.
Posted in: Pioneer to introduce new portable car navigation system
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user1684
"Scrooged" tanked maybe because it sucked.
Posted in: Movie titles in Japan: Jack, we understand your frustration
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user1684
"Juicy junior, juicy."
It's gotta be juicy.
Char-broiled tastes better than not
Crust on the outside to seal in those yummy juices.
With or without filler.
Cheese: take it or leave it.
Condiments: for me onions raw or cooked, a little ketchup, tiny bit of lettuce
Bun: has to be fresh and not too hard, toasted or not either way is fine with me.
Posted in: What differentiates a really good hamburger from an average one?
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user1684
Tom Waits
Posted in: Who gets your vote for the greatest songwriter of the last 100 years?
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user1684
I don't think that comparing Yasukuni to Arlington National is ridiculous. The purpose of both of them is to honor the memory of soldiers who have died in defense of their country.
The administration of these memorials should be left to each country as it sees fit. What is wrong with each country being able to choose how it remembers its soldiers who have died in past wars? It helps the families of those who have lost loved ones cope. It is also a source of great pride for many grieving families. What is wrong with that?
I have visited Yasukuni, seen most of the exhibits, read the commentary on the exhibits, watch the movie entitled, "We Will Always Remember What You Guys Did for Us" (My translation. Original title in Japanese, ”私たちは忘れません” or something to that effect.) and have not seen one inaccurate commentary or statement.
"Propaganda" is misleading and sometimes meaningless word. It all depends on what side of the fence you are standing, and what your self-interests are.
In the times I have visited Yasukuni, I have not seen any statements there that are untrue. The folks responsible for reporting the facts may not report everything, but isn't it Japan's right to report whatever they choose to report as long as it is not inaccurate?
It's Japan's memorial not China's, nor Korea's, nor any of the other countries' that can't seem to mind their own business. Do you ever see Japan stick its nose in the internal affairs of another country?
"Class A War Criminal" is equally as misleading a label as the word "propaganda". It all depends on what side of the fence you are standing, or who is holding a sword at whose throat. The United States invented the label, "Class A War Criminals" for the post-war trials in Nuremberg and Tokyo and it is a label that has stuck.
The post-war trials at Nuremberg and Tokyo were a sham. The reason they were a sham was if the so-called "criminals" had something to offer the Allies, (Actually, the United States. They ran the whole show, as rightfully they should have.) then they were released from prison and sent on their way after they gave the Allies what they needed. The Allies took those who could help them fight the next war (against the Soviet Union) and minimized or ignored what some of those individuals did during WWII if it served the interests of the Allies at that time.
Were these mass pardons right? It all depends on what side of the fence you were standing on at that time. The point is, if the guy with the sword in his hand labeled you a war criminal then a war criminal you were. That was true not only at the trials in Tokyo but in Nuremberg as well.
For example, a few of those who participated in the Wannsee Conference in Berlin in 1942 were given preferential treatment by the U.S. in exchange for information (Hofman & Klopfer et alia) and lived long and productive lives.
Why weren't these guys hanged like the others who participated in the Wannsee Conference? Weren't they equally culpable? They all, (With one exception) participated in the Conference and agreed to support the Holocaust. Don't our rules of Jurisprudence make they just as guilty? Compare the actions of those who participated in Wannsee and the 13 Japanese soldiers labeled, "Class A War Criminals".
I am not trying to excuse the actions of these soldiers labeled "Class A War Criminals" by the United States. (Remember this is the same government that also labeled its own citizens "Non-Alien Residents", rounded them up and sent them to concentration camps based only on their ethnic origin, not on any crimes they may have committed.) I don't know the names of these 13 Japanese soldiers, what these soldiers are accused of doing, nor do I care. Nor do the majority of the Japanese care what they might have done.
The reason this is still an issue is because no Japanese politician is willing to commit political suicide by doing what is needed to be done. What is need to be done is:
Openly denounce the actions of those who ordered the mass murder of Chinese, Korean, and other Asian country's civilians. No need to kick them out of Yasukuni.
Make meaningful reparations to the so-called comfort women who were forced into prostitution and raped by the Japanese soldiers. Make it easy, not hard (As the bureaucracy can well do) for these women to file these claims. Extend a right of survivorship of the claims of these comfort women, to the direct descendants of these women especially if the descendant was fathered by a Japanese soldier in an act of rape. Again, make the evidentiary threshold easy, not hard for those seeking redress.
Recognize that Asian culture in many countries that Japan occupied during WWII views these women with disdain and many of them wrongfully feel shame over what happened to them. To counter this, Japan should let Japanese, Chinese, Korean, and other Asian women not men, run the "Comfort Women Reparations Division" and help these women and their descendants not only receive just reparations, but also help them erase the stigma that has attached to it.
When they denounce those who were guilty of the mass murder of civilians learn to use the words,
"I am very sorry for the terrible things these men did. I am very sorry for all the pain and suffering these men have caused, the people of (Where ever) when these men ordered these terrible acts (name the acts and the dates). We have taken measures that this type of thing will never happen again."
And that should end the whole thing. Because as another fellow-poster has pointed out Japan's post-war record has been stellar, they have through their generous actions said in so many words, I am sorry, the only problem is that there is no politician with enough guts to stand up and say it.
Posted in: 'Yasukuni' opens under heavy security; gets mixed reaction
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user1684
I have never been able to understand why the Japanese cannot have a memorial to their war dead and other countries can.
So what, if they started WWII and enslaved Koreans and massacred Korean and Chinese civilians, including women, children and new-born babies. This is a shrine to the memory of the soldiers, not the despicable deeds of a few. The United States has Arlington National, why can't the Japanese have Yasukuni?
Japan might be better off if they followed Germany's example and denounced those who were responsible, made reparations to the comfort women, and apologized to the Asian countries where they committed these atrocities, especially, Korea and China and put it behind them once and for all.
Absent that, this Yasukuni thing to drag on and on and on with no end in sight. The Japanese government owes it to the memory of the soldiers they purport to honor to end this silly controversy.
These kids, (and they were mostly kids) deserve a lot better, than they are getting from these self-serving, greedy politicians whose only interest is getting reelected while they take take care of their buddies and families at the public expense.
Posted in: 'Yasukuni' opens under heavy security; gets mixed reaction
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user1684
Ron,
Sorry you had to have experienced that. There are obnoxious people like that everywhere, and the fact that the guy ran shows he is just a coward.
Next time take a picture of the offender with your cell phone or iPod Touch. That will definitely put the fear of the unknown into him, and give them cause to think before he pulls a "smack and run" next time.
Your not retaliating was probably wise, not only in Japan but in the States and UK cops are quick to take someone into custody and ask questions later. (I don't know about Canada.)
Getting off of the train and reporting the incident to the nearest Koban might not have been a bad idea, provided you did not reek of alcohol.(I'm not suggesting you were drinking. Just that police take a person a lot less seriously when they reek of booze.)
Having said that, Japanese cops are a good lot, and are duty-bound to report and investigate all legitimate complaints no matter the nationality of the reporting part. The guy might have been waiting in a taxi line or at a bus stop, and you could have nabbed him.
I would still report it to the police and get it on the record. People usually repeat their daily patterns and odds are the guy lives on the Odakyu-ensen and probably in the area of the station he got off at. Therefore you may spot this guy again, on the same day of the week around the time the original incident happened. If you do and the incident is on the record, you can then let the police take care of him. Odds are the guy is a trouble-maker and probably has had some kind of contact with the police before.
You may still be able to catch this guy and even get just compensation. If they do find him and arrest him they can hold him for two periods of 10 days each without releasing him on bail. They usually do this as a means of bringing about "wakai" on the part of the offender to the offended party. This "wakai" arrangement is informal and generally involves the offender agreeing to pay the offended party compensation. This helps both parties avoid civil litigation, and lets the police release the guy without charging him, which saves them time and money. They are satisfied, you get some sort of compensation, and the guy gets off without going to jail. (Although the arrest record and "wakai" agreement are kept as part of the record by the police.)
What would you pay to avoid jail time if you were guilty of a crime against another?
That's my 2 cents for what its worth.
That's my 2 cents for what it's worth.
Posted in: A punching bag on the Odakyu line