hakujinsensei comments

A tragedy, pure and simple... R.I.P. baby doe...

So many posts full of venom and misinformation.

Japan has national health care but it does not cover prenatal care so the odds are this gal had no idea what to do nor any medical care at all. Baby hatches and orphanages are of limited help when a girl is just struggling to get thru the month as it is... a hundred and a half for a visit to a doctor is a lot when you make 750 yen an hour part time. Not to mention the 3 to 4 thousand bucks to deliver the tyke... All in all I would say that society at large is quite criminally negligent in many of these and other similar cases.

Does it really matter how the girl got pregnant? What is with all the blame for the pregnancy in the first place? I had a condom bust wide open last month and it is far from the first time that has happened to me. Shxt happens. What was it that Jesus said? Something about "He who has not sinned.."

Once a baby exists it is all of our responsibility to assure its well being. Does it matter if it is born or not? That is what separates us from the animal kingdom, or at least it should. Viability is at about 21 weeks now with modern technology and yes at 20 weeks it looks just like a full term baby only smaller. Yet literally hundreds of these babies are ripped from their mothers wombs each week here in Japan. Where is the outcry? What hypocrisy.

Certainly a crime against humanity was committed here but the simple knee jerk reactions here do little to address the depth of complexity that led to this tragedy. I would not want that this tragedy is compounded by making this mom a scapegoat and denying her the medical and mental help she is desperately in need of now.

Cool Smith, if they are with their boyfriends, I ask them if they mind their girlfriends showing off. Havent had a black eye, cops havent hauled me off either. Seems like when confronted with the reality of the situation, most people see the lack of sense on their own part.

Seems like a couple people said I was blaming the victim. Seems they missed my point. I dont think there was a victim here at all but I dont have all the facts. If he stuck the camera up her skirt, shame on him. If he didnt have to violate her space to get the shot, no foul. And comparing to the little girl that was raped and shunned by her family? Get real.

And for all the posts claiming that Jossans are more perverse than the rest of the world? Fetish is not a Jword.

At the end of the day, Bamboohat had the best post by far ; )

"That Jbird knew full n well that wearing a miniskirt keeps her 'special area' just a minor angle out of view on stairs n escalators. She knew full well what she was doing when she put on a skirt that short. Who gives an rat if the guy copped a look?

And I am sure some missionary will now tell me that I would not think so if it had been my daughter! Well, I told my girls not to show their 'specal area' to strangers, pure n simple. They can wear shorts under skirts.

Now when we look up to the second floor balcony at the hankyu station and we happen to catch views of the 'special areas' clearly exhibited, are we to trot ourselves down to the koban and turn ourselves in for upskirt viewing?

I am aware that there is a difference but not enough of one in my book to press charges. I don't view this as a crime if he did not touch her nor enter the cylinder of space as established by the with of her clothes. I think all of this is just way out of hand. She has the right to dress provocatively and the guys have the right to look as long as they don't touch. Of course he had to bend down to get it... so we are going to make small children and midgets wears stilts to assure a woman privacy regardless of the clothes they wear?

Passing laws in excess of this crosses the bounds of reason. I routinely compliment the ladies that sit across from me on train on their panties when they show them to me. The more common reaction is 'thank you'. The ones that are offended or shocked can cover up next time. There is no presumption of privacy once you display it."

I have been paying my sweetie for sex for years... any guy that thinks he gets it for free is just fooling himself. Try giving her a 5000 yen bill n see if it makes a difference, knowing jbirds, I bet most would be surprised at the sudden service ; )

what with all the Japan bashing here?

Japan has its idiosyncrasies, but slamming the culture wholesale as immature because a market share would like to use an introduction service to take some of the difficulty and mystery out of hooking up? Sounds like not so bad an idea to me, I met my wife on a bulletin board, sure it was guzen but she turned out nicer than the ones that I picked up at the bar, park, supermarket, 7-11...

And just why not borrow to the limits from China, India, etc... Exactly what is the down side of this? I have a sneaking suspicion that those that control the country, ie, those that control the purse strings down at the federal reserve know exactly what they are doing. They are sucking up the cash capital of those countries that think they are getting rich of the US and stringing them along with interest payments. Lets say that America does default on its China debt... Exactly what is China going to do? Are they going to try to repo California? Manhattan Island? They are going say "enough is enough! our political prisoners are no longer going to make mcdonalds happy meal toys"? So what? We are going to lose the Chinese market for say GM? Do you really think that GM can compete with Toyota for that market for the next 10 years? Absolutely nothing will happen if America defaults. Just like when GM goes under and nothing changes. Just like when uncle willy's bike shop goes under and nothing happens.

The Donald did the same thing when he boxed the banks into the corner by borrowing so much that they could only come out by being his cheerleading squad. Welcome to 21st century economics.

great article! after reading this, I had my first cerebral orgasm.

great to know that I can quit wasting money on cologne ; )

hahaha, girls dont care much about age. they just want a guy that treats them kindly, goes down on them, and lasts long enough to get them off. probably much more likely with an older guy.

oh, and harachan rocks. I think she was just spouting off what will charge up her largest market, but she is one highly skilled jbird.

as for the other guy... sounds like a lot of wind to sell his book.

Quite and interesting set of posts. Seems most of the discussion is about wannabe teachers vs. 'papered' teachers in spite of the article being about schools being unable to secure a significant market share.

First, all this talk about highly qualified teachers.... Mothers around the world lead their children to levels of basic conversation far beyond the average Japanese English conversation ability. All without specialized training ; )

Face it, English is a novelty here in Japan and is rarely necessary for career. Any marginal amount of research will find that the wages that an 800 toeic score are far less than commensurate with the amount of effort necessary to attain such a level. Saw some listings just the other day offering a spectacular 1200 yen an hour for such a worker. The average Japanese worker would be far better off mastering mathematics, science or Japanese if they were really serious about a career. The cold reality is that a Japanese worker with a marginal command of English can get the job done by recruiting and managing English speakers from a host of countries.

The reason that Japanese have such pathetic levels of English acquisition is a matter of need and motivation. Nothing more nothing less. Of course there is the odd student that is truly motivated, and they will master the language relative to their personal goals. But lets be honest, how many of our students out there are actually willing to read novels and produce compositions necessary to round out their 'one/two' hours a week? In 15 years of teaching and training teachers I can probably count the number with out having to take off my shoes.

As far as why ECC, Geos, Berlitz etc have been unable to attain a commanding market share? I think it is simply a matter of the product they are selling. I think it is much more of a fashion item, similar to restaurant fare and therefore much more subject to bootstrap level competition. Just like there are not major restaurants that command 70 percent market share and are constantly annoyed by mom n pop shops, an Eikaiwa class can be easily opened in the living room of the housewife graduate of OOOgaidai with little or no investment. And before someone jumps all over that saying how unqualified she is, for a child or a beginner she is most likely more than qualified to bring them up to a level 'This is the pen that my mom gave me.' Lest us not forget, John Adams mother taught him 7 languages at their kitchen table. Even if someone were to manage to really take a huge chunk of the market there would be a huge measure of diminishing returns due to the enormous amount of advertising required.

Add to all that, the fact that the technology of bringing 'native' speakers in front of students has become a non issue, anybody with a credit card and an internet connection can get lessons on Skype for just hundreds of yen an hour with college educated English speakers from a host of 2nd or 3rd world countries.

There is no doubt that the fragmentation in the market will continue to increase. For those that want to continue in the market, I suggest finding a niche and look toward a language boutique. Probably wont get rich but the days of making 25 to 30 man yen a month with marginal responsibility at the local OOOeikaiwa are quickly coming to an end. Regardless of the number of parchments on your ego wall ; )

Right on jonnyboy, Japan was certainly liberated sexually before Xavier landed and brought his repressive religion with him.....homosexuality, child sex, unwanted babies were just tossed in the river.... oh wait, isn't that the problem? I guess all that repressiveness did nothing to stave the trend. Just a little too liberated for those of us that have children whom we would like to not be exposed to sexual predators?

I think what should be focused on here is parenting. Preventing whack jobs like this teacher in the first place and taking responsibility to provide enough supervision for junior high boys to keep them out of these kind of unsavory situations.

sometimes I am left practically speechless from these posts.

and amorpheus, hanging around nude and getting blow jobs in the park will ease sexual tensions so people will not pursue underage sex?

Now, I am all for sex in the park, I will see if I can get my girlfriend worked up for it by our date on thursday. But I dont think that even if she puts out under the trees that it will change my sexual proclivities ; )

The guy has inappropriate sexual desires and getting laid in the park, seeing tits by the beach, as opposed to getting it in the love hotel and eliminating sushi from his diet will bring no change.

Major counseling is in order here. Of course it is beyond time but there had to be some problems in his upbringing as well. For god sakes didnt he have a lego set? It is clear which pieces go together. Like size go together and the pegs go in the holes... no matter how much you want it to be unnatural coupling just does not produce viable works ; )

There should definitely be some more competent psychological screening to keep these guys out of the classroom.

Altria thanks for pointing that out. I hope the editor gets that handled asap!

womanforwomen, you have become so understanding ; )

my bad... I meant that if sex workers routinely refuse gaijin, I wonder if they refuse other sorts as well.

the headline says brothel... that is a far stretch from a school girl in a miniskirt teasing the ossan. they put their bodies up for sale, that makes them merchandise for that time. had he paid not a word would have been said so that takes into a far different realm than some little girl that suddenly realizes she is not ready.

I love it... so when you pay a whore it is showing respect? for those of you that occasionally visit japanese brothels, it is a new dawn. better not be slapping anyone on the rear... betsu ryoukin ; ) in fact anything beyond straight missionary style is on the menu and if you skimp on the payment, it will be rape (笑）

the reason that they waited 4 hours was to clean up. they had to hide the crack, the customer names, etc. something to do with their activities being ILLEGAL ; )

any decent jisho has the various kanji and definitions for iku... but I wonder if iku in this context was derived from to die or to exhaust water poured on a fire....

This 'rape' moniker... I am all for empowering women and equal protection under the law but lets call a spade a spade. This guy is not allegedly guilty of rape, he is allegedly guilty of theft. He ate deserts that were in the display without paying for them. Regardless of the posts that will inevitably follow, a woman is responsible for her situation and not presenting a situation where unwanted sexual activity is promoted.

And the girls dont call until 4 hours later? They wanted to make sure their business hours were not interrupted? If they are going to try and sell this one to the judge, I hope they had video cams installed to record nozoku videos ; )

I had heard many gaijin are routinely turned away from soaps and massage here... Maybe he was miffed at his money not being clean enough?

That being said, what an idiot.....

The kid is a Blanks by law. Congrats Billy n Tomoko!

All is fair in love, war, and comedy... unless you are an uptight republican or a knee-jerk democrat. He was just doing his job, trying to get some laughs. Palin was using it to her advantage. Seems like everyone was just jumping on the bandwagon going nowhere.

This is not a japan issue, child abuse is rampant in every country. And most of the cases are just the same as this. Immature man/woman irritated about work/relationships/physical problems...

The solution is simple. Community relationships. And that can start right here today with everybody reading these posts making a commitment to meet their neighbors, invite them to dinner, befriend them and for those with little kids, offer to watch the the kids for a while occasionally so mom/dad can get a break.

The biggest single cause for the increasing rash of child abuse is the breakdown of the extended family. People leave their hometowns to get work etc. and find themselves without any kind of emotional support. Coming to Japan with 3 young children, I can understand the frustration and sense of helplessness that overcomes young parents. Lets all work to see that our young neighbors grow up cared for and healthy.

It takes a village to raise a child.

What appalling stories of inhumanity. I have really enjoyed my time here in Japan but there is one thing that does stand out to me as lacking more than anything else and that is a sense of social responsibility... The police, judges, city workers are all working for society at large and experiencing what I have, and hearing of such atrocities saddens me deeply. One has to wonder if they have a conscience at all.

Of course I know that in most any country public service lends itself to inefficiency, graft and self service but it does seem to be a major problem here. It is really not much different at all than my experience of living in Mexico. My friend once asked me what Jland was like and I said that it is like Mexico with a good coat of varnish.

I hope that the up and coming public servants can start to get the understanding that they are just that, paid servants to the public that pays their salary.

ya get what you pay for....

tahoochi is right, this is hardly a national news story. there is just no way to protect every tiny finger n toe from all those moving parts out there in our technologically ripe society. for gods sake, how many kids and adults have lost finger nails and the ends of their fingers in car doors over the last century? there is no mention of how far the cell phones were from the escalator, they are usually just kiosks so it is quite likely she was only a few feet from her kid.

of course there needs to be balance. all work n no play makes jack a dull boy... but recently during an interview, I had a young man pull out his cell phone and start replying to mail that he had received. when asked, he said it was a friend and I told him that he should just to talk to him in person because our time was over.

I champion individuality and self initiative as an american but it is easy to see that toyota will not be the pride of the automotive world much longer. just last year they had a record number of recalls and that is a trend I am sure will continue.

japan will get their wake up call in a few years and hundais are outselling mitsubishis, there will be a definite switch coming. it will become painfully obvious that undermining the company that employs you in selfish pursuit of freely expressing oneself will result in an inability to pursue ones goals due to financial restraints.

we have an english expression for that I believe. dont bite the hand that feeds you...

I think it is a matter of perception. In Japan things are integrated vertically so the concept of entrepreneurship is just perceived different. there is plenty of e-ship going on here it is just done so thru relationship and under the umbrella of a large company. this is something that is not bound to change for quite a while so if you are looking for a new business model, be prepared for a long wait... you would be better off trying to create a market for nattou and spoiling the beans locally in the country of your choice ; )

love all these knowitall super parents. just a couple days ago my little girl ( 18 months ) bolted toward the auto door in the hospital where were were attending to her older sister and before I could get there she got her fingers pinched as the door opened and she put her hand on the glass... and I should be charged with negligence? been thru this with 4 previous kids, the oldest in college and all have all their digits n limbs accounted for. vigilance is one thing but kids will be kids. I hope they can do something for the little girl.

murder is murder. the only difference between tiller and his murderer is that tiller got paid for it. at some time our society is going to have to grow up and that is going to include protecting those unable to protect themselves, educating people to the value of life, and instilling values that serve to enhance our humanity and restrain that primitive cortex in the brain that extorts this kind of behavior from zealots and murderers for hire alike. I fear this is going to be a long, long, painful process.

amerijap said it as well as I could have ever.....

This should be every young Japanese girls role model.

Blackops, there are several colors of m&ms in a bag. Diminishing sex drives after marriage is do to many factors, the lest of which is Japanese heredity. Several of my past jgfriends were absolute nymphs. Never 5 times a day mind you... But at least a couple days a week were non stop sex from morning to night. Things have settled into a routine with my wife of a few years n children but it is far from sexless. 3x52 gives us aprox 150 romps a year. It will probably drop over time as I am getting older and I just dont have as much energy or interest left for her sexually after my girlfriends.

I think the bottom line, I read in the bible once.

'you have not because you ask not' was the wise counsel of Jesus to his disciples ; )

And what is with this sillyness that I read in so many posts that insinuate that a healthy sex drive equals getting aids. People that drive a lot dont have to have accidents and Adults can enjoy their sexuality without getting aids.

As management, I can relay that I rarely hire those highly skilled in English or that have worked for extended periods overseas for positions in Japan. Those who are skilled in those areas should be seeking work where their talents will be utilized. The market in Japan is for Japanese and foreign marketing, sales and production is best left to people from that country. What a laugh to watch my friend that works in marketing in a mid size Japanese company struggle to put together web and print marketing for overseas English markets ;) The preeminent skill for work in Japan is Japanese communication. That leaves those 'tweeners' stuck in limbo with jobs of marginal responsibility and matching marginal paychecks. That does not mean that good positions for those jobs dont exist for people that live outside the box, it is just far more likely to be with a small company which brings with it little security and no prestige.

Mrs. A? she should marry a Shanghai yuppie n make the best of it there. Young Japanese? Study your asses off n get into a good school and dont waste your time with English beyond 650 on the toeic. If you want to broaden your horizons, get out young and burn your bridges and be committed to succeeding in the country of your choice. Coming back after 10 years is a fools game.

womanforwoman are you as hard on male models? Is this continuing rant just on attractive people? what gives? what does it matter if a girl makes money off her smile or her bum? At least she is doing something and not just sitting on the dole. Everybody cant be a rocket scientist and do you think every company worker has more self respect because they cow tow to the system? I applaud Minako for pulling her self by her thong straps!

His murder was a crime. and I hope the murderer is punished accordingly. There is no place in the christian theology that accepts this kind of behavior and anyone that thinks differently needs to carefully read the words of Jesus as recorded in the new testament.

That being said, Mr. Tiller was no hero, nor was he brave and courageous. He was a murderer in his own right, routinely taking the lives of perfectly viable babies due to the weak and anemic laws of america that fail to protect our most vulnerable members. It is the height of hypocrisy when a society charges the murderer of an unborn baby with 2 murders and allows men like Mr. Tiller to snuff those lights out with impunity.

1 I dont know where Bill lives but Kansai is full of quaint little villages and sight seeing spots so going for a drive in the country here makes a wonderful date. Electric wires? got them in every country I have ever been in...

2 You can get a license by having your license from back home translated, taking the simple written test and then taking the driving test. They are ridiculously hard on people that 'did not go to school' so you may have to take it a couple times, but you can get some time on the actual course with an instructor for just a few thousand yens to practice. You can drive on an international license for 1 year.

3 Yes the truck drivers are insane, especially dump truck drivers. Give them plenty of room and dont provoke them. That being said, ever drive in Mexico?

4 I have not really noticed that many people exhibiting that behavior, I will look more closely.

5 hahaha, after driving millions of miles in america, I am a noobie driver and have to pay the noobie driving tax. Had I thought about the insurance, I would have married an older girl ; ) Our second car is not excessively expensive.

6 Shaken, yes it is expensive, driving in japan is expensive. The same Honda here cost way more than back home... go figure. gas, insurance, shaken... At first it really rankled me but I did my shaken myself, and I am thankful that every dink can not afford a car. If it were as cheap to drive here as back home, there would be no parking and the traffic would be unbearable.

7 Parking, big problem, and expensive... see 6

8 Being american, freedom means everything to me. And freedom = FREE so I hated tolls. After struggling on the low roads for 6 months, I finally decided my sanity had a value as well and started using the kousoku toll roads. Now, I appreciate the tolls. Tolls = choice. When I really need to get there soon, they are available at a price, if I have the time and patience taking the roads more traveled can be fun as well. HOWEVER, Commander Aso really messed up with the 1000 yen max on weekends. First, that money is not free and I have to pay for it in my taxes because NEXCO wants their cut and Aso kun is covering all that discount out of the public coffers. Idiot. Plus of course, it means that the kousoku roads are one giant traffic jam from saturday morning to sunday night. Aso's stupidity = no choice on weekends. How can we get rid of this guy?

9,10 Speed traps are part of the game. Just remember the speed limits here are unreasonable slow in many places. Ever drive in Mexico? ; ) Old = hazard in any language.