JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION
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- Assistant Language Teacher (ALT) in Kanto region
- RCS (RCSコーポレーション), Kanto
- Salary: ¥180,000 ~ ¥250,000 / Month includes performance bonus
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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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wanderlust
No need for MI6 - the UK has the SFO - Serious Fraud Office to deal with the likes of this crime...
Posted in: Ex-Olympus CEO Woodford heads to U.S. for FBI talks
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wanderlust
*What don't some people understand? *He was never fired, so has never been re-hired; he still receives his salary as a director of Olympus, no factories have closed down, products are still being sold...
Posted in: Fired CEO wants Olympus to come clean; plans to attend board meeting
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wanderlust
@squidbert - you are quite correct - according to a presentation from the Fast Breeder Reactor Research and Development Center, Tsuruga Head Office, Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Monju was supposed to be operational, producing power in 2013, with safety licensing taking place from 2001 to 2003, and the system start up tests from mid-2010 through to mid 2013.
The date 2050 is suggested as the date when Fast Reactors start contributing power. In the meantime, the life of existing reactors was planned to be extended to 60 years, and a new generation of LWRs to be built and run from 2010 through to 2100.
This presentation is published on the web Feb 2011.
Posted in: Gov't review panel says Monju reactor sucking up too much public money
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wanderlust
First it is 2 trillion yen, not 2 trillion dollars @smithinjapan.
Secondly, knowing the way aid from Japan works, it will basically be a massive and promotion exercise for Japanese products and services, as they have always done with ODA and JICA.
Thirdly, Noda is not committing anything, he is just 'prepared to offer'. Who knows what the actual amount will be...
Posted in: Japan offers Southeast Asian nations Y2 tril to build infrastructure
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wanderlust
The nuclear village which gorges itself from the public trough may finally have to go on a diet? Monju has produced one hours worth of electricity over it's life, while it's goal to recycle plutonium has not been achieved, and given the current state of nuclear power development in Japan, may never be.
But expect massive lobbying from the utilities and utility sponsored academics, as well as paid-off local politicians, claiming it is necessary. With such easy money available in the past, no-one wants to go back to being a fisherman or lacquer painter...
Posted in: Gov't review panel says Monju reactor sucking up too much public money
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wanderlust
Maybe the transnational corporations will start to review their out-sourced, minimal stock, just-in-time manufacturing systems. Quake in Japan slows car manufacturing around the world, floods in Thailand create (apparently) a shortage of hard disc drives around the world; disasters in China, Mexico, Dominican Republic, Vietnam, Indonesia, Puerto Rico, and the other cheap manufacturing centres of the world could cause shortages of drugs, clothes, materials, consumer products, etc..
But if measures to minimise this eat into their profits, they are not going to risk 'the bottom line.'
Posted in: Thai floods ripple through global supply chain, hitting Japan hard
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wanderlust
Looks like the Best xxxists awards are decreasing.
A few years ago, this would have been the Best Furrist!
Posted in: Aya Ueto wins Fur of the Year award
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wanderlust
Giant's feud?
Of course, it's a feudal system here.
Posted in: Yomiuri Giants fire general manager Kiyotake over feud with owner
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wanderlust
Michael Woodford has NOT been fired from the company - he is still a director (non-executive) taking home a salary. No employees have lost jobs, no factories have shut down, Olympus products are stil being manufactured and sold. The only losses have been shareholder value and reputation.
Posted in: Former Olympus exec launches petition to reinstate Woodford
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wanderlust
Have any Olympus workers lost their jobs over this yet?
Have any factories closed down?
Other than the 3 execs who resigned, none.
Michael Woodford is still employed as a Director Olympus, albeit non-executive director.
Business is going on as usual, it is just the shareholder value and reputation that have been affected.
Posted in: Ousted Olympus CEO Woodford to return to Japan next Wed
1
wanderlust
@gogogo - because the legal limit is the sum of the two isotopes Cs 134 and Cs 137, which are produced together, which each have totals of 2,500 beq/ kg, giving a sum of 5,000 beq/ kg. The image is just for one isotope.
Posted in: Parts of Japan too radioactive to farm, say int'l researchers
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wanderlust
@zichi - maybe because this is the first stress test result to be actually completed, and that has been mandated by central J-gov?
From an article on the Tomari reactor in Hokkaido, which has recently re-started, after the adjustment period: According to NISA the reactor could safely be restarted, but Hokkaido governor criticized the operator for submitting the application before it had reached its own decision on restarting (the Japanese law does not require local governments' agreement to restart nuclear reactors, but in practice both government and nuclear operators have always respected their will).
Posted in: Stress test results for nuclear power plant in Ehime released
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wanderlust
Let's hope none of the test results were falsified, like TEPCO did; and that the plant has been built to the proper spec, unlike Fukushima, which had one dryer unit on 180 degrees the wrong way, and a defect/ large dent in one of the reactor pressure vessels, also covered up by TEPCO and the makers.
@zichi - I'm not sure if the governor of the prefecture legally needs to give permission to the Utility to restart a reactor, but the utilities like to ask for it to demonstrate some sort of official support.
Posted in: Stress test results for nuclear power plant in Ehime released
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wanderlust
JT itself has had an interview/ advertising spot with at least one US car dealer in Japan, within the last couple of months. He made the right corporate noises, about support network, dealerships, CSR, etc., but as others have written, they really do very little to advertise promote their cars, especially outside of Tokyo.
However, there's a Chrysler 300 with the gunslit windows down the road from me in Yokohama, while I regularly see a couple of local H3s, a Suburban, 2-3 Jeep Cherokees, a Cadillac Escalade, and a few Ford Explorers/ Escapes ( local Ford dealer nearby), a garishly striped Mustang, while my neighbour has a Chrysler PT Cruiser. The local Yakuza even has a stretched Cadillac Limo for posing in at night.
But the perception remains; they are big, gas-guzzling, unreliable, with a poor support network if repairs are needed, have poor roadholding/ good only in a straight line, and have a low re-sale value.
Posted in: Last year, Japan exported 1.5 million vehicles to the United States, while U.S. automakers exported just 8,000. Why aren't U.S. makers selling more in Japan?
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wanderlust
He's still a Director of Olympus, non-executive, working for them. Those directors who voted him off for what are now seen to be a cover up should all go, and could probably be easily replaced by others who will support him and the company.
Posted in: Should Olympus rehire its ousted British CEO Michael Woodford?
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wanderlust
Looks like a lot of these judges don't come from countries where the local concept of "Justice" is widely recognised or admired; including the representative from Japan, where you are basically guilty until found innocent, forced confessions and falsified evidence not withstanding...
Posted in: Crown Princess Masako's father among 4 members elected to international court
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wanderlust
The Japanese Justice System is .... regrettable.
Posted in: Olympus to correct 20 years of financial figures
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wanderlust
One Japanese newspaper was writing that the problems were caused by a foreign executive who embezzled millions of yen out of the company, and was then fired by the responsible board! It turned out that the writer was connected to an Olympus manager, who paid for a lot of advertising in the newspaper, but the article was lapped up by the locals... No correction has been issued to date.
So much for responsible, investigative journalism...
Posted in: Japan must deal with Olympus issue to win trust: Noda
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wanderlust
These "auditing companies" get massive management fees for their work, and are hardly likely to bite the hands that feed them. At the same time their consultancy arms work hand-in-hand with the company on strategies to minimise taxation, optimise their business, etc.. There are so many conflicts of interest that they are not really independent outside auditors. If they were truly independent, only did audit, and did their jobs properly, we'd see a lot less of this fraud happening.
Posted in: Olympus delays results amid probe; faces delisting
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wanderlust
A woman discovered the body of her husband in abandoned car lot yesterday, identified by driving licence and other factor not disclosed. No-one had bothered to check inside the cars!
Maybe all of those should be checked first?
Posted in: Police, firefighters, coast guard search for bodies along Fukushima coast