Wednesday February 15, 2012

JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION

zaichik's past comments

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zaichikFeb. 03, 2009 - 05:09AM JST

You're far more likely to meet someone suitable through a mutual interest, so it's better to start going to sports clubs, gyms, cultural groups, etc. etc.

Having said that, Mr Zaichik and I met because we were working together. We were also both unhappily married to other people. I wouldn't say that I'd recommend that the author date married guys, but for me an affair turned into the love of my life and we've been together for nearly 7 years. His ex is happily remarried and has recently had twins, so there's ultimately been a good outcome for her as well. I don't know how my ex is these days, but I'd have left him sooner or later - it pretty much went wrong on day 1 and I spent 2.5 years trying unsuccessfully to make it work.

So there we are - a real-life home-wrecker on JT :-) But if I was starting from scratch with the dating thing, I'd want to avoid the married men too.

Posted in: Dating in Tokyo is pretty easy—if you’re not looking for a single guy
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zaichikJan. 30, 2009 - 05:10PM JST

She's so lovely it shouldn't be allowed :-)

I can't blame her about not knowing about the abductions - don't think it's common knowledge among those who don't have an abiding interest in Japan / Northeast Asia.

Posted in: Angelina Jolie
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zaichikJan. 28, 2009 - 04:47AM JST

The home grown crimes beat everything.

I refer the honourable gentleman to my post 5 posts above his. You too, trente sylphs.

Posted in: Bodies of 4 babies found in Tokyo apartment
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zaichikJan. 27, 2009 - 08:07AM JST

I guess some people don't like the inconvenience of having to ask another person for help.

In my own case, there were no escalators available in a lot of the stations I visited at the time and no sign of any stairlifts either. For the sake of fairness, I have to add that things have improved tremendously at many of the Niigata stations since then.

However, with regard to asking people for help, first you have to find someone to ask, which isn't always easy. Plus, for people for whom physical barriers are a way of life, having to constantly ask for assistance is demeaning and deprives them of a right that able-bodied people take for granted - being able to go anywhere (within reason) without having to rely on someone else. It might be OK once or twice, but I would imagine it would become pretty tiresome quite quickly.

Posted in: Building a barrier-free society
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zaichikJan. 26, 2009 - 07:26PM JST

It would be a mistake to view this as indicative of something wrong in Japanese society - there have been similar incidents in Germany and Wales as well to my knowledge. It's not right, but it's not peculiarly Japanese.

Posted in: Bodies of 4 babies found in Tokyo apartment
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zaichikJan. 26, 2009 - 07:21PM JST

@ Shouganaika: I had the same experience when I broke my foot back in 1999 (I broke my foot walking along the road at a local festival, because there was a paving stone missing over a drainage gully and I fell into it). It was just before the term "barrier-free" became more recognised in Japan (partly as a result of the KimuTaku drama Beautiful Life, which featured a heroine who was in a wheelchair).

I stayed at a rather good barrier-free ryokan in Yudanaka Onsen in Nagano a few years back: http://www.avis.ne.jp/~hakura/

There are a number of design/architecture companies now in Japan that focus on barrier-free/universal design, and local authorities are increasingly trying to formulate strategies around this. A few years ago, I was co-opted onto a prefectural committee for devising a strategy for universal design. In the way of these types of committee, I'm not sure how much it actually achieved....

If you want to know more about the types of barriers we are likely to face as we all get older, I'd recommend reading "Disguised" by Patricia Moore, a US industrial designer and gerontologist whom I had the pleasure of meeting at a conference on housing in Niigata back in 2003.

Posted in: Building a barrier-free society
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zaichikJan. 26, 2009 - 07:36AM JST

It's a Shukan Post article - the ambiguity is probably deliberate, rather than due to any deficiencies on the part of JT itself.

Posted in: 'Poverty business' becoming new social problem
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zaichikJan. 25, 2009 - 05:05AM JST

I used to drink happoshu when I was married to my miserly ex, but switched to real beer once I wasn't accountable to anyone for my expenditure.

There are some good beers here in NZ, and near beer doesn't exist - hoorah!

Posted in: Asahi says cheers to cheap beer
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zaichikJan. 25, 2009 - 05:01AM JST

You don't want to be rhesus negative in Japan - apparently it's very rare and so supplies of Rh- blood are extremely limited. If you're Rh- and not in the "probably infected with BSE" category (NZ don't want my O+ blood either), then do go and give blood - it might be you who needs it one day.

Posted in: Fuji TV to broadcast drama on choosing marriage partners by blood type
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zaichikJan. 24, 2009 - 11:06AM JST

Best Bridalist-Jewelleryist.

No more ridiculous than the awards themselves....

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zaichikJan. 18, 2009 - 06:13PM JST

Kakkoii!

V.cool pic.

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zaichikJan. 17, 2009 - 05:36AM JST

I agree with Cleo about the feather duster....

Posted in: Miwa Asao swaps beach volleyball gear for glamour of Paris fashion week
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zaichikJan. 03, 2009 - 08:28AM JST

Nicely written and something we can all sympathise with, I think.

Posted in: It isn’t easy being green in Japan
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zaichikJan. 02, 2009 - 10:27AM JST

Superb idea. This could revolutionise intellectual property management in Japan.

Posted in: Research engine navigates patent jungle
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zaichikJan. 02, 2009 - 10:24AM JST

A seal can right more kanji than I

Could probably write and spell English better than you, too! (Sorry, couldn't resist.)

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zaichikDec. 28, 2008 - 01:15PM JST

Addiu

It's actually "Adieu", meaning "to God" (Dieu being French for God).

The decorations are very pretty, but not sure I'd shell out up to 1 man for one.

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zaichikDec. 25, 2008 - 01:08PM JST

I enjoyed it a lot (some of the designs were excellent, though some of the camera shots moved a bit too fast for one to register what was happening), but Mr Zaichik wasn't that keen.

Was watching Mr Craig yesterday in one of his earlier screen outings, as a thug in season 3 of Drop The Dead Donkey.

Merry Christmas to all of the staff and readers of JT. Hope Santa brought you all that you wanted.

Posted in: The Bond ultimatum
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zaichikDec. 25, 2008 - 04:55AM JST

I thought Munchhausen by Proxy too - sounds like the JT readership would make better doctors than the ones treating this woman's children!

Posted in: Woman arrested for injecting contaminated water into daughter's IV drip
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zaichikDec. 24, 2008 - 10:30AM JST

Reporter knows the Niigata professor or the professor has written a book on the subject

Good thinking, borscht.

This type of honey-trap approach is dangerous enough when the cops try it (c/f the Colin Stagg debacle in the Rachel Nickell case in the UK)

Posted in: Murder suspect's lawyer says female reporter confused him
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zaichikDec. 23, 2008 - 05:22PM JST

These aren't real-time pictures - they're one-off shots. For example, the street view of our house here in NZ was taken months ago, in the middle of winter (I can tell from the mud on the bit where we park our cars). You can't see the registration of the car, and in the shot for our address, you can't even see our house - the views are blocked by a couple of trees in our front garden. In order to find someone you were looking for, you'd have to know exactly where they were at a particular time and hope that the Google pic was taken at the same time. It's certainly not a stalker's friend....

Posted in: Group seeks to scrap Google's Street View