Posted in: Yamato becomes Japan's 1st city to 'ban' use of phones while walking See in context
pedestrians should stop at a place where they are not obstructing traffic if they want to use their smartphones in public spaces
Right, because people are so good at stopping in places where they're not obstructing traffic, lol.
0 ( +0 / -0 )
Posted in: Japan's top bar association urges authorization of same-sex marriage See in context
No, first review civil partnerships, one step at a time, or there is a endangermnt to succumb, or be construed to activist pressure, insistence to comply to a form of Queer law.
An enforcement of values that discriminate from what society to believe to the norm
The majority of the Japanese population supports marriage equality, so hardly. Maybe it's just because you personally don't like it? I mean, your fearmongering about a "form of queer law" gives that away. By the way, what exactly would you think that a "queer law" entails?
7 ( +15 / -8 )
Posted in: Labor minister opposes banning female dress codes with high heels See in context
Since it's so occupationally necessary, I'll be waiting for the pictures of Nemoto wearing a patent leather pump into the office!
He certainly looks like the type to get off on making women wear high heels too, and he's in the right party for it. Pathetic little man.
4 ( +5 / -1 )
Posted in: Kono to ask foreign media to switch order of Japanese names See in context
OK! You're the boss, Mr. Taro!
0 ( +1 / -1 )
Posted in: Alarm bells sound over 'outings' in Japan's LGBT community See in context
LGBT are even beginning to turn on each other.
Transpeople worldwide are advocating "get the L out" because Lesbians sexually discriminate against transwomen by refusing to consider people with penises as potential sexual partners.
Not even close to the truth. That slogan is being pushed by trans-exclusionary reactionary feminists advocating lesbian separatism because they are against transgender rights - particularly those of trans women. The number of trans women who get angry over rejection on the grounds of genital incompatibility are vanishingly few - I'd say most just feel relieved that a simple rejection was all they experienced.
The vast, vast majority of both lesbians and trans women are in strong support of mutual solidarity.
5 ( +8 / -3 )
Posted in: Virgin territory: Study shows heterosexual inexperience rising in Japan See in context
Socialism and corruption have destroyed ambition.
Socialism? You must be living in some other Japan, mate.
10 ( +11 / -1 )
Posted in: Odd translations found on English websites for tourists in Japan See in context
1 hour translating a text, 3 hours explaining and justifying every single word through countless e-mails to the client who always finds something "incorrect" when checking your translation on google translator
God, the amount of times I've had someone look up every word I've written in a dictionary is astounding. I've also had someone (a translator themselves, to be fair, but clearly a native Japanese speaker) send a document back trying to educate me about my own language and telling me that all of my commas are used incorrectly. I sent them back the document in question with every comma's usage rule explained. No contact since, so I imagine the document went through fine.
7 ( +7 / -0 )
Posted in: Odd translations found on English websites for tourists in Japan See in context
I work in a local government in Japan and a lot of my work involves translation, and I have to say that the amount of machine translation that goes on tourist websites is absolutely depressing. Sometimes I'm asked to check them but what's the point if it's all translated automatically? It's not like I can change the algorithm to give them a decent translation. I'm also asked to promote them through English speaking channels and as you'd expect people either laugh or express disappointment. It kind of kills my mood to continue working here.
And frankly, if they don't just put it through a machine, they give it to the cheapest translator they can find because I can't meet their demand of 15 pages in 2 days.
I've told people until I'm blue in the face that these promotional materials are absolute nonsense and in fact make our area a less attractive place to visit due to the assumed lack of English support and intercultural understanding, but it falls on deaf ears, of course.
5 ( +5 / -0 )
Posted in: 'Killer' cells raise hope of universal flu vaccine See in context
Any medication you take, vaccine you receive will lower your body's own fighting powers against sickness. Immunity like a muscle.
Mate, vaccines work by infecting you with a very very mild form of the illness so that your body builds up an immunity to it in a safe and controlled way. Vaccines literally work through the strengthening of our immune system. Good grief.
2 ( +3 / -1 )
Posted in: 'Killer' cells raise hope of universal flu vaccine See in context
Stop taking the flu shot, it’s written right here. We’re just killing our natural fighting powers.... wait, no. We already have
Really it would have taken fewer keystrokes to say "I have no idea how vaccines work" but go off I guess
1 ( +2 / -1 )
Posted in: IS teen 'shocked' after UK revokes her citizenship See in context
The discomfort I feel at the UK deciding to try and wash its hands of one of its civilians and dump the responsibility onto Bangladesh - a former British colony - aside, this sets a really worrying precedent. Who's to say that countries won't just start revoking the citizenship of people who commit crimes abroad to avoid having to punish them? The UK needs to take responsibility for this girl and punish her appropriately if she finds her way back here.
0 ( +3 / -3 )
Posted in: Olympic volunteers: One-time chance, or exploitation? See in context
I'm all for volunteering for a worthy cause, but you certainly won't catch me giving away my labour to put money into some fatcat's pocket - and that's what volunteering at the Olympics is. Look at all of the sponsors and all of the profits.
Personally, I know the value of my labour, and it's far more than 'free to an immensely wealthy, corrupt and immoral sports event'
2 ( +3 / -1 )
Posted in: Interpreter under fire after calling African runners 'chimpanzees' See in context
I get the distinct feeling that the runners all spoke perfectly understandable English, and her difficulty in understanding them was caused by a... certain visual aspect
2 ( +2 / -0 )
Posted in: 13 same-sex couples file suits for marriage equality in Japan See in context
I'm well aware of these words and how they used to be used. I am aware that the meaning has changed. Guess what! I'm against that. Surprised?
Why are you speaking modern English then? Back to beowulf English for you, because languages change all the time. Linguistics is a science and it documents the changes in languages as living things, it doesn't try to control language.
Anyway, saying that marriage between two people of the same gender shouldn't be called marriage is expressing a belief that a union between two people of the same gender is not equal to a mixed-gender marriage, and indeed, is lesser than a mixed-gender marriage. Separate but equal never ends up being both of those things.
3 ( +5 / -2 )
Posted in: In view of the Brexit chaos, do you think referendums are a good idea? See in context
Depends entirely on the issue and the handling of the referendum. The Brexit vote was a mess because the populace was either uninformed or misinformed, which means that the results don't, in my opinion, reflect the informed will of the people. Add to that accusations of one side or another breaking laws governing referenda and you have a real shambles. An information campaign that lays out unbiased and accurate information is essential.
In addition to this, I don't think it's wise to commit civil rights to a referendum. Looking back at the Australian plebiscite on marriage equality, it basically gave a platform to people who wanted to spread hateful and discriminatory rhetoric against gay people, and it also gave rise to the other side to cannibalise its own supporters through, for example, transphobic attacks. Civil rights should be a given, not something up to the court of popular opinion.
-3 ( +0 / -3 )
Posted in: Liam Neeson denies racism after hunting black men to attack after friend was raped See in context
Gotta ask, for all of the people who think that considering black people interchangeable to the point of going out with the intent to kill a black person at random for a crime committed by another isn't racist...
What do you consider to be racist?
2 ( +2 / -0 )
Posted in: Liam Neeson denies racism after hunting black men to attack after friend was raped See in context
If someone close you to is attacked by a person of a specific race or ethnicity, it's quite natural to want revenge against one of them
What? No it's not. It's absolutely not natural to want to take revenge against any random member of a certain ethnicity because another member of that ethnicity did something wrong.
And besides that, the fact that Liam Neeson was told by his friend that she was raped and his instinct is to ask what colour the attacker is belies his racist thinking.
0 ( +2 / -2 )
Posted in: Abe cabinet rate support rises to 45.6% despite data scandal See in context
So I guess the general consensus is 'His policies? Awful! His behaviour? Reprehensible! His negotiating skills? Non-existent! His government? Useless! I support him :)'
3 ( +3 / -0 )
Posted in: Gov't data show exodus to Tokyo from other parts of Japan continues See in context
If you have an Internet connection you can do translation work anywhere, from home. The companies I do work for are mostly in Tokyo, and I've never been to any of their offices. It's never been a problem.
> There's a chronic shortage of J-E translators. Try sending in your CV, see what happens.
> Good luck!
Thank you for the encouraging words! I would like to be able to work in an office so I'm not sure about working remotely in the immediate future (although I can see it fitting into, hopefully, my short-term plans all the same), and I think I need more experience and something approaching a portfolio before I try freelance work, but I'll definitely consider it as an option and try sending my CV around to some companies! Thanks again!
0 ( +0 / -0 )
Posted in: Gov't data show exodus to Tokyo from other parts of Japan continues See in context
I mean, centralisation is a huge problem in Japan. Of course you're going to see people flocking to Tokyo when it's essentially a city state surrounded by uninhabited wilderness.
Personally, I'd love to work in Sendai, but I'm not optimistic about finding translation work there, so it'll probably have to be Tokyo.
6 ( +6 / -0 )
Posted in: More details emerge over fatal abuse of 10-year-old girl by father See in context
Wait! There are two officials at the Child Welfare Center? That may explain, in part, the shocking incompetence in protecting children
It says 'neither [the centre] officials nor the school staff' - I'm assuming there are more than two officials, but neither the centre nor the school followed up.
Anyway, for people blaming the mother, we should consider the possibility of the mother being abused or fearing reprisal from the father. It's rarely as simple as 'she didn't do anything'
2 ( +2 / -0 )
Posted in: Chiba 1st Japanese city to recognize LGBT couples, common-law marriage See in context
Same-sex couples do not have the same legal benefits as married couples. However, no other non-marital relationships between individuals—two sisters , a pair of spinsters, college roommates, et al.—share those benefits, either. Why should they? If same-sex couples face inequality in this area, so does every other pair of unmarried citizens who have deep, loving commitments to each other. Why should same-sex couples receive preferential treatment just because they are sexually involved?
This just sounds like an argument for the abolition of opposite sex marriage.
5 ( +7 / -2 )
Posted in: Court upholds 'sterilization' rule for gender change See in context
Another Question: What do most individuals that are born female and transition to male in terms of gender generally do, regardless of the law?
Essentially, according to this law, a trans woman (assigned male at birth, gender identity is female) would have to undergo a vaginoplasty to change her penis into a vagina. This would render her infertile. Conversely, a trans man would have to have a phalloplasty to create a penis.
There are varying degrees of what trans people do to feel more comfortable with their bodies. Some simply acknowledge that they're trans and leave it there, not doing anything else. Some come out and live as their identified gender without any medical intervention. Some undergo hormone therapy (estrogen with testosterone blockers for trans women, testosterone for trans men) and live as their identified gender, and some also undergo surgical procedures, like vaginoplasty, phalloplasty, double mastectomy, breast enhancement (trans women do grow breasts naturally but some choose to have a breast enhancement), facial feminisation, etc.
Surgery isn't necessary to be valid as a trans person, nor are hormones - there are many reasons someone cannot or will not undergo those procedures. Speaking as a trans woman myself, I'm taking estrogen and testosterone inhibitors, and I'm saving up for a vaginoplasty. I won't be having a breast enhancement or facial feminisation surgery, but I'll probably choose to have a tracheal shave (remove the Adam's apple). I'm fortunate in that I come from the uk, where no surgery is required for trans people to change their recorded sex, and as such I have been able to change all of my documrnts in Japan to female through my passport.
1 ( +4 / -3 )
Posted in: Court upholds 'sterilization' rule for gender change See in context
And remember, it's not only requiring trans people to sterilise ourselves, we also have to do it entirely out of our own pocket. The system here pathologises us and forces us to get surgeries to sterilise ourselves that some don't even want, but it doesn't even insure us for the treatment of the sickness they say we have.
4 ( +12 / -8 )
Posted in: Do you think the corruption investigation of Japanese Olympic Committee head Tsunekazu Takeda by French authorities, involving Tokyo's bid to host the 2020 Olympics and Paralympics, may be in retaliation for the prosecution of former Nissan Chairman Carlos Ghosn, who has French nationality? See in context
Doubtful. It's probably just people finally looking into the corrupt organisation that is the Olympics anyway.
0 ( +0 / -0 )
Posted in: Female imperial family members to be barred from key succession rite See in context
I guess this is part of their campaign to create a society where women can shine?
11 ( +21 / -10 )
Posted in: Survey investigates how Japanese women feel about going Dutch on a date See in context
If it's the first date, and particularly if I'm not feeling a connection, I'll pay half. I don't want a guy acting like I owe him something because he paid for the date. If it goes further than that, then I'd say the person who invites pays, or take it in turns.
0 ( +0 / -0 )
Posted in: Pet black bear kills caretaker See in context
keep a massive black bear in a tiny cage and get mauled to death.
The man that was killed wasn't the owner. He was a caretaker.
1 ( +1 / -0 )
Posted in: Crazy in love? The Japanese man 'married' to a hologram See in context
Ohhhh my god of course he said its just like being gay
Of course the difference is that gay and lesbian people generally want to marry people that actually exist so it's not the same thing at all holy crap Japan
2 ( +2 / -0 )
Posted in: Anger, chaos and confusion in U.S. take hold as federal workers face mass layoffs
Posted in: Another prosecutor resigns in latest fallout from Justice Department turmoil over NYC mayor's case
Posted in: Anger, chaos and confusion in U.S. take hold as federal workers face mass layoffs
I just watched his speech. It was great, he said a lot of things that needed to be said. The…
Posted in: Vance attack on Europe overshadows Ukraine talks at security conference