Kalumekenge comments

@ Bullfighter Mar. 06, 2016 - 07:53PM JST - If I confine my observation to salaries in academics, which is what I do, academicians in the UK are lowly paid compared to the cost of living in the country. Even big names institutions like the LSHTM do not pay handsomely even though they charge exorbitant tuition fees. If the salaries in academics reflect salaries in other fields in the UK, then you may be right that Japan pays better than the UK.

The simple truth is that you cannot attract highly skilled workers with a Yen 350,000/month salary and no fringe benefits. Africa and South East Asia pay much better than that. The work conditions in Japan are attractive to unskilled labourers only. I know of some Japanese fellows who are highly skilled who are not ready to work in Japan.

You do not need to break into some Japanese homes. They do not lock the doors. I know of some houses which have doors which do not have locks. My Japanese wife goes out of the house (in a foreign country) and leaves the doors not locked! I have tried many times to educate her of the dangers but it looks like she will understand only after a tragedy strikes. That is if it leaves her/us alive.

"Besides, are the people who would most want to immigrate to Japan the immigrants that Japan would most want?"

Agree. Japan is not competitive enough to attract highly educated people that it needs. Salaries/wages do not vary much from those in middle income countries. Most employers do not offer benefits - housing, education, annual flight tickets to home country, etc. These are benefits that well educated people receive in other developed countries and some middle income countries. To make matters worse for Japan, the cost of living is much higher. And sometimes remuneration is revised downwards! This year I got an offer from a Japanese university - paying salary only, no benefits whatsoever. I also got an offer from an African university - offers salary + benefits + lower cost of living. Then you can tell where I am at the moment.

I am always marveled at how some Japanese fail to anticipate danger. My wife is Japanese and she is one of them. We have two young kids: 1 & 2 years of age. Many times she would leave them alone standing in a bath tub full of water! She would do that when I knew that they were too young to get up from the water if they happened to fall in it. And if I told her about the dangers, she would start crying! The other day, I dropped her and the kids at the lift while I parked the car. When I got out of the car, I found the kids right behind the car. Any mistake that would have made the car to reverse, would have been a catastrophe. Sometimes I find them with small toys that they can choke on. I can go on and on with near misses. And once I tell her, her reaction is to cry. I have a gut feeling that something bad will happen someday. I feel sorry for the loss of life at this day care. Some of these tragedies can be prevented by being a little more careful.

It is sad to have all these avoidable deaths happening. I have an impression that they are cases of negligent parenting. Japanese parents need to be more careful. The reason I am pointing fingers is that I have a Japanese wife at home who manifests similar poor parenting. She is very unsuspecting. She fails to anticipate danger. And she has failed to learn from me. We have two little kids and she showers them with dangerous toys - some too small and can be swallowed and choke the kids. If I throw them away, after 2-3 days she buys more for them. She puts an infant who is crawling on a high bed and leaves him without supervision and the infant falls and she will never learn from it! She is teaching toddlers how to put electric switches off and on! Where I come from that is a big NO because a toddler does not understand the dangers yet. She takes toddlers to play on the tarmac! So when I read about these accident in Japan, I cannot help but think about my Japanese wife. I am very much worried about the kids when she is away with them. I am just lucky that we do not leave on the 8th floor.

To have all these people supporting this sort of "artistic expression" goes a long way to confirm that the world is already twisted.