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jonnyboy comments

Posted in: English-language teaching industry in bad shape See in context

No wonder 'the Japanese don't like foreigners'. Actually, they do - they just don't appreciate the constant snivelling and funky attitude that are the hallmarks of so many foreigners in the country.

stop applying your opinions to others. in actual fact, most japanese are completely unaware of whether foreigners are happy or not, owing to the fact that the vast majority of them have a grand total of zero interaction with the non-japanese minority.

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Posted in: Teacher, wife busted for filming women in toilet 'just for fun' See in context

i'm wondering if the intent was sexual. sounds more like childish voyeurism. i might be wrong, though, but i have a little trouble understanding how people can get off on watching common ablutions

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Posted in: Sarkozy says burqas are 'not welcome' in France See in context

most shops won't allow motorcycle riders to wear their helmets inside. this is grounds to disallow the burka as well before you even get into religious debate

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Posted in: Police search for Michael Jackson's doctor See in context

jackson was basically bought by an investment company, which paid off his debts and set him up for the 50 concert deal, which would only have been the beginning of a plan to generate maximum income from him. i wonder whether a criminal investigation might be in order to ascertain whether or not they had been exploiting him

he certainly took a LOT of bad business advice in the later part of his life

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Posted in: Japanese urged to take pride in their safe society See in context

@nigelboy - my point is that, whether it's true or not, the notion that japan is a "safe country" is political at its heart. otherwise what would be the point of saying it?

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Posted in: Japanese urged to take pride in their safe society See in context

another problem with the whole "japan is a safety country" is that it's yet another nihonjinrin-inspired tactic of social control. another countries are so dangerous and japan is so safety ergo there is something pure and unique about the japanese spirit ergo if you're japanese you have to stay in japan and stay away from anything dirty, dangerous and foreign

there are lies, damned lies and statistics. i spent 22 years living the uk, supposedly a hotbed of violence and murder, yet was never a victim of crime... statistics mean nothing if you happen to have the misfortune of choosing to do a little electronics shopping in akihabara on the same sunday some lunatic from the countryside decides to go on a knifing spree

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Posted in: Body parts found floating in Tokyo Bay See in context

I was just to about enjoy my home-cooked seafood dinner when I opened up my news page to this story. How can something like this happen in Japan? You'd think this only occurs in Iraq or drug fighting areas of Mexico. Now this is why I don't go swimming around the Tokyo waters...

it seems that you believe the propaganda that the whole of japan is a disneyland-esque paradise of smiley happy cartoon characters who would never think about breaking out a frown, let alone dismembering a debtor or gangland rival and dumping the body parts in a sewer

which is probably what has happened here

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Posted in: Japanese urged to take pride in their safe society See in context

if you are a big foreign bloke then Japan is a lot safer than being among bigger foreign blokes back home on a Saturday night.

quite true. i often feel that the reason i'm so safe in this country is because people are more likely to be frightened of me rather than vice versa. there seems to be little violent crime in japan, however murder and violence within the uchi (families, workplaces, schools) is constantly reported on this site. i think the nature of violent crime is rather different in japan but by no means rare

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Posted in: Japanese urged to take pride in their safe society See in context

Much crime is not reported, I suspect.

i suspect this too. people don't want to be meiwaku by standing up for themselves and going to the police. or they don't believe the police will do anything

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Posted in: Japanese urged to take pride in their safe society See in context

Finally, someone pointing out blatant blame on the media. Even with all the daily "crime" stories we see in JT, you can compare it all to a single day in a single small city in the US. By comparison to the rest of the world, this country (Japan) is like some innocent choir boys.

bear in mind that japan has less than half the population of the US. there are still a pretty constant stream of unpleasant crimes here

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Posted in: It doesn't suit the Japanese temperament. I would not want my own 20-year-old daughter, for example, to have to examine disturbing photographic evidence from a rape-murder. See in context

if wonder if, were his 20-year old daughter accused of a crime, he would still be happy to have her case decided by a bunch of old men. the whole point of a jury system is that you are judged by a group of your peers, not by high-and-mighty judges who have no understanding of the simple lives of normal people who have to struggle to get by

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Posted in: 3 men held for accommodating two 13-year-old runaway girls in return for sex See in context

when you have a stiff, largely age-defined social hierarchy with those at the top (the oldest) having absolute power over those at the bottom (the youngest) this sort of thing is inevitable. elevate some women and younger people into positions of authority and there might be a chance of changing things. as for now the only people with power to change things are exactly those with the least reason to do so (ie. dirty old men)

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Posted in: It doesn't suit the Japanese temperament. I would not want my own 20-year-old daughter, for example, to have to examine disturbing photographic evidence from a rape-murder. See in context

freedom and democracy are such a lot of effort, aren't they. sigh it must be so much easier in north korea

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Posted in: Japanese urged to take pride in their safe society See in context

if it bleeds, it leads. good news is not news.

etc.

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Posted in: 'House' is world's most popular TV show See in context

can't say i was particularly impressed with the one episode i watched on a plane a while back. seemed thoroughly generic, reminding me of a medical Cracker (main character is a genius, but such an a-hole). hugh laurie has done such better work before...

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Posted in: MySpace to cut 300 overseas positions See in context

myspace is dead. whilst it was the first site to bring the social networking "revolution" to the world, it was never the best and is now looking horribly dated

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Posted in: English-language teaching industry in bad shape See in context

standard of Engrish in Japan is atrocious. Can only be because the Engrish teachers are so bad.

it is about the smallest factor. most of the reasons the japanese fail to learn foreign languages are to do with the japanese social practices, its concept of communication (if you could call it that) and the stifling restrictions of the japanese language itself

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Posted in: English-language teaching industry in bad shape See in context

cue slagging off of english teachers

i'm well aware that there are bad eggs in the eikaiwa industry. however, if there is an industry where one can work, or whose services one can receive, without the possibility of finding unqualified imbeciles then please could you all tell me what it is because i believe one does not exist.

as has been pointed out in the past, sadly, most eikaiwa students do not really want to learn the english language, what with the hard work involved and necessity of having goals and motivation. in fact, many students study casually with the desire to experience a little "internationalisation" without having to step outside of nice, safe nippon. if you are actually strongly motivated to learn then there is no reason why you can't learn at any eikaiwa. at the end of the day a person is the master of their own education. a teacher if nothing but a facilitator and a guide

as for the poor language abilities of the japanese populace as a whole, surely the responsibility for correcting this matter (if there is such a thing) exists in the hands of the ministry of education. if private language schools exist at all it is because of the inadequacy of existing language teaching provisions

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Posted in: How do you feel about the call by some World War II POWs for Prime Minister Taro Aso to apologize and offer reparation over their wartime forced labor at a coalmine owned by his father? See in context

if you believe that "group responsibility" is, or should be, applied in japan then yes, aso should at least reoongnise the sins of his family. after all, the only reason he is prime minister is one the coat tails of previous family successes. stands to reason that you can't have the pros without the cons.

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Posted in: Driver who hit and killed 3 nurses to face lighter charge of involuntary manslaughter See in context

doesn't the japanese legal system already discriminate between murder and premeditated murder? if so, surely the former is applicable in this case? or does murder in japan have to be premedidated and if so surely all man slaughter therefore must be involuntary? it makes no sense

furthermore shouldn't someone be asking questions about the school that taught this boy to drive? as is often noticed, most driving schools seem to be rackets designed to extract the maximum income from students with little or no attention paid to producing safe and capable drivers

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Posted in: Yokohama school teacher arrested for requesting pictures of young boy naked See in context

actually, japan was traditionally very open about sexuality, you might like to read up on the original version of Momotaro. it was when they came up against the uptight west (well, uptight americans...) that things started to get confused

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Posted in: The most important thing is that the players don’t feel stressed. We will spend a long time in the country so it’s important to create an environment in which the players can relax. See in context

"We will spend a long time in the country so it’s important to not come into contact with any ethnics"

fixed

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Posted in: Sarkozy says burqas are 'not welcome' in France See in context

tolerance only works if the other party is willing to reciprocate

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Posted in: N Korea criticizes U.S. nuclear protection of South See in context

japan shouldn't feel so high and mighty in comparison to n korea. after all, it has the same nepotistic system of government, just with more competition

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Posted in: Television perpetuates outmoded gender stereotypes See in context

i'm all for transgender if that person truly wants it and understand the full physical and emotional implications of the procedure, and especially is not suffering from any emotion trauma (silence of the lambs, anyone?) but i would have to agree that the deception HonestDictator mentions is problematic and quite common (go to thailand and tell me it isn't)

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Posted in: Tokyo is better placed than the other candidates. We have $4 billion set aside for cumulative purposes and there is no chance of us having to resort to asking the central government for funds. In term See in context

more cheque book diplomacy, i see. i'd like to think the games are awarded on a more social/culture basis than just which city has the most cash

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Posted in: World's oldest man dies at 113 See in context

he was probably malnourished

the human body is designed for a bare, subsistence diet. most people in the developed world are dying of over-nutrition

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Posted in: Seiko Matsuda gives nod of approval to daughter Sayaka’s new boyfriend See in context

Not sure if this has been discussed already, under which law does Matsuda Seika has the right to approve or disprove her daughter's partner? Fine her and put some restraining order!

a mother has a right to express her opinion. and a daughter has a right to disregard it!

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Posted in: World's oldest man dies at 113 See in context

He also avoided alcohol and did not smoke

whilst japan can boast a lot of centenarians, and likes to boast about the healthiness of its cuisine, the vast majority of the population would be wise to take note of tanabe and reduce their alcohol and tobacco intake, which is some of the highest in the world

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Posted in: Television perpetuates outmoded gender stereotypes See in context

tv is made to appeal to the oyaji since they control the country. entertain the oyaji, and encourage the women to become that which is pleasing to the oyaji.

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