JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION
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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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- Full-time English Teacher - Osaka
- Epion English Language Schools, Osaka
- Salary: ¥200,000 ~ ¥250,000 / Month Depending on your ability and experience
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- Part-time English Teacher - Osaka
- Epion English Language Schools, Osaka
- Salary: ¥10,000 ~ ¥15,000 / Day Depending on how many days a week are worked
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wanderlust
Looks like most of the board need replacing. Even the new chairman Takayama is denying any wrong, and continuing to bad mouth Woodford...
Reminds me of the old saying, birds of a feather flock together....
Posted in: Olympus chief Kikukawa resigns amid reports of FBI probe
1
wanderlust
Takayama seems to be clean, he's not mentioned by name in Woodford's letter, FBI reports or the Facta report.
But if Kikukawa is out, there are 3 or 4 others involved who should follow rapidly, if Olympus are serious about a full clean out of the rot at the top....
Posted in: Olympus chief Kikukawa resigns amid reports of FBI probe
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wanderlust
So that's where a lot the donated reconstruction money will end up, siphoned off to bars and clubs and hostesses as marketing expenses, as the construction companies vie for contracts...
Posted in: Quake recovery funds bring boom to Sendai
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wanderlust
Looks pretty much the same as any Toyota/ Nissan/ midsized sedan, though the new catchphrase Kodo - Soul of Motion is better than Zoom Zoom. Wonder if they have to pay any royalties to Kodo, that taiko band for that?
Posted in: Mazda to unveil concept car at Tokyo Motor Show
4
wanderlust
Issue is something like 70% of all European bank transactions involve the UK, so it affects the UK in a big way...
Posted in: British PM cancels Japan visit as tempers fray over eurozone debt
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wanderlust
Perhaps they can push their vaunted nuclear village member AREVA to do more to help in the Fukushima area, after all it was their MOX (with a lot of plutonium) that was in reactor 3, heavily promoted by AREVA.
But like others, never heard of the PM doing much. Most of the news out of France of late has been devoted to their campaign to ban the burqa, and getting religion off the streets.
Posted in: French PM visits tsunami-hit Ishinomaki
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wanderlust
The sheer amount of tasteless fat on this meat makes me feel sick when eating it... don't see any appeal in it. Mrs. Wanderlust also can't stand it. Another gastronomic obstacle course....
Posted in: A cut above the rest: Japan's legendary Kobe beef
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wanderlust
First they must decide what to do...
Posted in: Japan to take 'decisive action' against yen's rise: report
1
wanderlust
Boiling does not eliminate radiation at the atomic level - the radioactive material must either be evaporated, in which case it will condense nearby, still radioactive, or it will remain in solution, still radioactive. Wherever it is, it must be collected and disposed of elsewhere by another method. Boiling mushrooms is a third party report, with no evidence of efficacy, other than hearsay.
The algae just bind the radioactive materials into a sticky mass, but they are still radioactive, and must be collected and disposed of elsewhere. They will perform an experiment to see if it works in November - next month. No evidence of efficacy to date.
In both cases, effective decontamination is necessary to remove the actual radiation emitting material. So far, biological methods have proven to be ineffective, such as safflower to remove radioactive materials from soil, presented to the public with a big hullabaloo, then quietly removed as it was shown not to be effective.
Posted in: Greenpeace urges tougher radiation screening, seafood labeling rules
1
wanderlust
zichi - yes, that's a better report. See also: http://www.nisa.meti.go.jp/english/files/en20110315-1.pdf
Posted in: Heroes of Fukushima
2
wanderlust
Blatter and his cronies have probably spent the last few years redacting all references to their names, and his family members from the documents.
He seems to avoid scandals sticking to him better than scrambled eggs in a non-stick saucepan.
Posted in: FIFA to release financial-scandal documents at Tokyo meeting
1
wanderlust
@zichi - according to Nikkei - Tokyo Electric Power Co., which runs the plant, said separately 11 people -- workers at the site and members of the Self-Defense Forces -- sustained injuries. The Defense Ministry said one SDF member suffered broken bones.
Another source: Eleven people were reported injured in the blast. TEPCO and NISA announced that four TEPCO employees, three subcontractor employees, and four Self-Defence-Force soldiers were injured. Six military personnel from the Ground Self Defense Force's Central Nuclear Biological Chemical Weapon Defense Unit, led by Colonel Shinji Iwakuma, had just arrived outside the reactor to spray it with water and were exiting their vehicles when the explosion occurred. Iwakuma later said that TEPCO had not informed them that there was a danger of a hydrogen explosion in the reactor, adding, "Tokyo Electric was desperate to stabilize (the plant), so I am not angry at them. If there is a possibility of an explosion, I would be reluctant to send my men there.
Must have been the Colonel, not the Sergeant who withdrew them.
Posted in: Heroes of Fukushima
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wanderlust
@zichi - take care - no SDF members were killed at Fukushima; 6 were injured due to proximity to an explosion, but you are correct that the sergeant withdrew his force due to lack of information from TEPCO.
Two TEPCO employees were drowned in the turbine plant by the tsunami when they went back to check the plant after the earthquake. One man was trapped in the console of a crane during the earthquake, and a clean up worker suffered from a heart attack. Another man reportedly died suddenly in October. Although the company is not revealing the cause of death, they say it was not related to radiation. Heat exhaustion is suggested as a probably cause.
Posted in: Heroes of Fukushima
1
wanderlust
@zichi - there are already many food co-ops in Tokyo and Kanagawa.
Mine requests that we buy 8 items minimum per week, but as they provide small pack sizes, and recycle all the packaging materials, it is easy to do.
They test the food themselves for radiation, and identify clearly where the products were made. Their product info shows them in the fields and in the labs, discusses their methods, and their findings.
Our local supermarket also buys locally, usually within 50 km or so, and clearly marks the location. As it is staffed and managed by the same locals who shop and live there, they have an interest in being honest.
It seems that when distribution and shopping is scaled up, to regional and national levels, and the financial stakes are higher; that is when the abuse and mislabeling start to occur.
Posted in: Greenpeace urges tougher radiation screening, seafood labeling rules
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wanderlust
That's one almighty pork-barrel! The construction companies and their corrupt political allies who award contracts must be drooling over it....
Article Unavailable
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wanderlust
Not even the Zen one-handed clap?
Posted in: Tokyo tech fair opens with clapping robot
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wanderlust
One of the perils of outsourcing your products to a developing country. With the potentially higher profit due to lower costs, there is also potentially higher risk due to infrastructure weaknesses, earthquakes and tsunami not withstanding...
Posted in: Thai flooding halts car production by all 9 Japanese automakers
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wanderlust
Guess she needs a 'warm male'....
Posted in: Mail me
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wanderlust
Mercian and wine should not be used in the same sentence - the watered-down stuff they sell is is awful.
Look like another meaningless award for marketing and promotion, but at least they did not use the 'Best Wineist' monniker...
Posted in: Moe Oshikiri passes sommelier's test
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wanderlust
With some of the better personal geiger counters/ dosimeters, you set them up to determine background radiation over a 60~70 second period, usually gamma, then you can remove a cover over the Geiger/ Muller tube, place it closely over the object to be measured, and conduct the beta flux density measurement. It automatically subtracts the background count. That will give you an indication of whether something is radioactive or not. It is not something you do with waving a wand over a few seconds: leave that to Hollywood, the J-gov or Health Ministry people for feel-good TV propaganda. Unless these have been calibrated, and regularly calibrated, they will not give absolute values, but they are an indicator whether something is radioactive or not, and warrants further investigation, under more controlled conditions.
The sheer number of mislabeling cases and food fraud over the last 10~20 years in Japan have led to people not trusting food labels, agricultural cooperatives and other quasi-official safety groups. This is resulting in people wanting to check foods and materials themselves. They suspect that farmers and food producers want to pass off their products as safe, just to make money.
The usual film-wrapped food packaging will stop the passage of alpha particles, but not beta or gamma radiation, if present.
Posted in: Greenpeace urges tougher radiation screening, seafood labeling rules