Samantha Ueno comments

Posted in: Gov't kept silent on worst-case scenario at height of nuclear crisis See in context

Even without this information, people were wearing long-sleeves, hats, and masks, and every supermarket in my area was emptied with people lining up outside for the meat shipment in the morning! I can agree with the government not wanting people to panic!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Posted in: How foreigners’ daily lives change when they live in Japan See in context

tmarie: add me to the list of happily married gaijin (American) women who had no problem with Japanese in-laws! My hubby's parents are from middle of nowhere Ibaraki, not a gaijin in sight and McDonalds are something the "young people" go to. They had no problem with me, they even gave me "otoshidama" on New Year's saying that I was one of their children now. His grandparents who are pretty stiff and traditional have no particular problem with me....the grandmother constantly asks if I can eat Japanese food, LOL, and the grandfather once gave me a stern-talking to because I had breached Japanese manners....but that showed me that he wasn't going to give me a "get out of jail free" card because I'm gaijin. And then when he found out I liked enka and could sing some songs he was ecstatic! That's all he would talk about with me! LOL

Have a question for international couples...how about the American side?? How do your parents feel about you marrying a person from halfway around the world who may or may not speak English? Do your parents know the difference between Japanese and Chinese for that matter? It's not just the Japanese who can be incredibly close-minded. Not that we have experienced any of that in my backwoods town in PA...just that most people who meet my husband will openly say that they've never met a Japanese person before.

And Americans not pushing their culture on others?? How about American companies who send advertising trucks to Africa, South America, and parts of Asia with samples of Coca-cola, Crest toothpaste, Tide laundry detergent, and disposable diapers, "educating" people on how "great" their products are! the natives use the laundry soap to clean their clothes in the river, contaminating the water with harsh chemicals. Then they have to drink Coca-cola which rots their teeth with high amounts of sugar and acid. So then they have to use the toothpaste. Gee, being Western is so great! I think I'll put my kid in diapers until they're 4 instead of toilet training them from birth like people were doing for hundreds of years before! Really...I wish Japan would push some miso and green tea on some of these obese Americans!

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Posted in: 'Tween' lingerie walks Lolita tightrope See in context

Also, in America (and increasingly Japan) a lot of modern parents use the "buy anything they ask for and be their friend" approach to parenting. And then there are the American equivalents to "gyaru-mama" out there who will dress their kid up like a tart because well, that's the way they dress, therefore there is nothing wrong with it. (same girls who refuse to breastfeed because "it hurts" and "your boobs get ugly"

-2 ( +2 / -4 )

Posted in: Buns are fried chicken?! Check out KFC's Chicken Filet Double See in context

Ugh, just looking at the picture makes me feel ill. Processed chemically enhanced "meat" product, grease, fat, oil, and more fat. At least with tonkatsu you can get cabbage and pickled vegetables. Or even a Big Mac, you can get some onions, lettuce, tomato and pickles...

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Posted in: 'Tween' lingerie walks Lolita tightrope See in context

The designers aren't wrong or perverted, they're just supplying what the customers demand. Seriously, at 11 or 12 girls start to develop, and some develop faster than others leading to jealousy, and all everyone wants at that age is to "grow up" and not be a "kid" anymore....well, at least American girls do because there is no "kawaii" culture here and having Mickey Mouse underwear past age 12 will not make you any friends in the locker room.

6 ( +8 / -2 )

Posted in: 1 dead, 2 critical following flu outbreak in Saitama hospital See in context

Influenza is nasty and sneaks up on you so you might have passed it around without noticing.....I was totally fine, working from 9am to 9pm teaching one Friday, and ate dinner, went to sleep at 11 or 12 feeling a bit tired (well I taught for 8+ hours so I was usually tired on Fridays) ....3 am or so my husband woke me up and said "something's wrong." Took my temperature it was 38 and rising. Luckily we lived a 5 minute walk from the sougou byouin and so I got dressed, masked up and shuffled my way over, got tested and had type A, was given some tamiflu and fever reducer and went back and spent an hour or so keitai mailing my boss, coworkers, students, people I was supposed to teach/work with/coach on Saturday and Sunday explaining what was going on, and then started 3 days of 39 degrees....fever reducer did nothing...kept 1l-2l bottles of water, Pocari and juice by the bed and lived on that during the day because I literally was too dizzy from the fever to walk....hubby made yudoufu and soups for me at night and we ate dinner together (could barely stomach anything besides drinks) and he iced me up because my fever wouldn't go down....was better after those 3 days and fine after a week...went back to the doctor 1 week later and got my OK to work again. Funny thing about the hospital....the system is that they have a break in the afternoon, and then from a certain time they start giving out numbers, so you can wait to see the doctor. So I went right when the break ended and checked in and got my number, all masked up, and the nurse was like "Ok, well we will start seeing patients in a half hour, do you want to wait in the waiting room or go outside?" and I was like "um, you see, I've been sick with type A influenza, and I live right over there, so it would probably be best if I don't sit in here with all of these old people...." but that was just me....I imagine some other people wouldn't think about that side of things...

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Posted in: How foreigners’ daily lives change when they live in Japan See in context

I agree with Netninja, that is one of the reasons I want to raise children here. Here, children (and adults) aren't forced to blindly adhere to the status quo like sheep. In American high school, if it's -5 outside and god forbid a girl wants to wear long underwear and long pants and a winter down coat.....SHE CAN! In America we don't send preschoolers to school in t-shirts and shorts with kneesocks either. And yes...no randoseru! If my boy wants a red backpack, he's got it. If my girl wants a blue one, it's done! I don't agree with taking away children's individuality and innocence and making them study 8+ hours a day so they can get a high score on a test. I would rather they learn how to think for themselves and use logic and common sense in their daily lives! So, unlike AmericanForeigner, I will give my children the opportunity to learn and experience as much as they can (we will live in Hawaii so they can experience lots of Japanese culture as well as Chinese, Korean, Hawaiian, and of course American.) and then they can choose and decide for themselves what aspects of which languages and cultures appeal to them, and when its time for them to get married they can marry anyone they like. It's really ironic that AmericanForeigner says being part of a "mainstream culture" will "help" his children but really he is shutting out any influences that HE doesn't like and isolating them.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Posted in: How foreigners’ daily lives change when they live in Japan See in context

AmericanForeigner-- if you don't like it, I'm sure immigration would love to show you the door! Wonder what your wife thinks about you hating the place she was born in? Bet its fun for your kids to live in a bubble too. Sounds like they will grow up to be as open-minded and well-rounded as you obviously are. Oh, and multilingual, just like Dad, right? Never mind that if they learn Japanese and kanji it would make it easier for them to study other Asian languages like Korean and Mandarin Chinese if they choose to. Being raised bilingual also has many other positive long-term effects on the brain. Did you raise your kids American-style by putting them in a separate room to cry it out and sleep alone from infancy? Using formula because your Puritan values can't handle breasts being exposed? What shows do the kids watch? There are so many wholesome reality shows these days! What do you feed the kids? Good old American food laced with HFCS, chemicals and saturated fats? Kool-Aid, Macaroni and Cheese, with a big steak and no green vegetables in sight? Buying only imported food things must cost you a fortune, and you must not really eat fresh, local vegetables. Seriously, Japan isn't perfect, and I will raise my children in America by choice, but I know America isn't perfect either.

5 ( +7 / -2 )

Posted in: 4 high school students held over attacks on homeless men in Tokyo park See in context

JT - gorimaccho means a very buff or muscular guy, not gorilla macho. It's another one of those new words, like hosomaccho, which means a skinny guy with some muscle. Still, I'm sure they'll find out they aren't very "macho" at all if they end up in prison.

Shh!! don't tell them that! I want to see 4 punky Japanese kids with "Gorilla Macho" in big letters on their backs walking around the inner city thinking they're hot sh#t...and run into a real "macho" "gorilla-sized" Bob Sapp clone who could put all 4 of them in the hospital in under 5 minutes! Might give them a reality check! (and it would be a great TV special!)

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Posted in: 4 high school students held over attacks on homeless men in Tokyo park See in context

LOL, they should get custom jackets made for them with the name of the gang in English, and sent on a free trip to the ghetto areas in NY, NJ, or Boston and get a lesson from a real gang!

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Posted in: Man held for attempted murder after stabbing mother in back See in context

That's funny, right now Townwork is listing over 1,000 jobs in Shinjuku for people with no experience or training (mostly cell phone company sales jobs) so I don't see why people refuse to work and mooch off others....unless those people they're mooching off are total pushovers (like a lot of moms tend to be)

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Posted in: Bodies of two sisters found in Sapporo apartment See in context

apparently they asked the town hall for assistance 3 times and were given the paperwork routine.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Posted in: 36-year-old Harvard law graduate elected Japan's youngest female mayor See in context

Here we go, one step in the right direction!

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Posted in: Escaped pigs cause traffic jam on Hanshin expressway See in context

omg I laughed so hard reading this.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Posted in: The importance of blood type in Japanese culture See in context

The diet and exercise sounds like crap. But my husband is type A, and Japanese so he is a super hard worker and fussy about details. I'm O and American so I'm more laid back about the details (the economic stuff was dead on too) and we sometimes do fight because I get irritated with him being all fussy!

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Posted in: Ayumi Hamasaki to divorce husband of 1 year See in context

So her husband wanted to flyjin and she said no way? Understandable. Not the first int'l marriage that broke up after 3/11. I personally know 2 couples who divorced after (already weak marriages on the rocks but it was the last straw when the husband went back to their country WITHOUT the wife) I personally had the parents calling twice a day pleading, literally mouse on the "book" button and still said no, I'm staying with my husband and my family and friends here.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

Posted in: Six things that foreigners feel are overpriced in Japan See in context

Just returned to America last year....fruits here are cheap and tasty for me! In Japan, of course foreign foods like cheese, peanut butter, etc are more expensive but I always shopped at discount places (Gyoumu super, discount vegetable stands, etc) and managed to cook healthy Japanese food, Chinese, Korean, Italian, American, etc. foods using lots of fresh or frozen vegetables and some minimal meat and fish. I almost never threw out food either. I almost never went to the movies in Japan unless it was really worth it. Glad I'll be raising a kid in the US, won't have to pay for k-12 education plus juku...unless I want to.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

Posted in: Examinations begin across Japan See in context

Another 15-20 years we won't even need the exams except for a few prestigious universities in Tokyo....schools will be begging for students.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Posted in: No. of suicides surpasses 30,000 for 14th year in a row in 2011 See in context

Japan and Korea have a higher suicide rate than USA, UK, AUS, NZ, even those "poor" countries like Philippines and Thailand. What is going on?

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Posted in: Woman arrested for hitting daughter's head against floor See in context

Maybe the child wasn't listening because the parent wasn't worth being listened to? Too many parents think that kids will just listen to them because they're the parents....But kids are smarter than we think and we need to listen to them and earn their respect too.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Posted in: X Japan drummer Yoshiki to write theme song for Golden Globe Awards See in context

Almost 10 years ago, I discovered X Japan on an mp3 downloading site. I watched videos of them in concert and was mesmerized by Yoshiki's emotional, heartfelt piano performances and drum solos with energy levels off the charts. My parents didn't understand why I would enjoy such "strange" music as they only understand jazz......I read his full biography, 400 pages in Japanese, and was riveted by every chapter. He is an amazing person and I am glad that the world can be exposed to his music, finally.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

Posted in: What children of the future need from schools See in context

here's a radical idea--maybe children need to be children. Instead of having elementary school children who go to school and study as much or more as the average adult, including weekends and even eating dinner at juku every night, how about they socialize and play and learn the skills they need naturally. Then maybe they could be happy adults, meeting partners and getting married through normal social interaction rather than working 12 hours a day in some office, and then realizing that they are nearly 30 and get a quickie marriage through some keitai website so they can produce another child that will spend its life in daycares, schools, jukus, anything that mom can schedule. Maybe this is just a generalization, but from what I have seen Japanese schoolchildren at play usually have a certain game, baseball, catch, soccer, etc, something with an object and set rules, but American schoolchildren can make up elaborate scenarios for games to play without any tools or props except their imagination. I wonder why??

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Posted in: Management deny Aya Ueto and EXILE's Hiro to get married this spring See in context

Look at most of the celebrity marriages in recent news....they all have a common theme. In the past 2 months I can name Koda Kumi, Ogura Yuko, and Kago Ai who got pregnant and then married. I agree that it wouldn't be surprising if they suddenly got married very quickly given the apparent lack of birth control education in their society.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Posted in: Yoshimoto Kogyo president says he hopes Shimada will return to showbiz See in context

No more comparing Kusanagi to Shimada. Shimada beat and spit on a woman, a disgusting, violent act. Kusanagi got drunk off his mind and took off his clothes in a park in the middle of the night. Sure, it was embarrassing, but he never maliciously hurt or defiled another person doing it.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Posted in: Yoshimoto Kogyo president says he hopes Shimada will return to showbiz See in context

He should have been out after he spat on and beat that poor woman. The thought that anyone would forgive him after that, AND being affiliated with yakuza, is an unfortunate reminder of a society stuck hundreds of years in the past.

4 ( +7 / -3 )

Posted in: Lady Gaga to appear on 'Kohaku Uta Gassen' See in context

Those of you who say Gaga hasn't "proved" herself....there are several ballads on her albums, country songs, rock, plus she sings live without autotune and still pulls off a great show, more than you can say for lots of pop artists these days. Plus she did a duet with Tony Bennett!! And held her own!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Posted in: Yuko Ogura announces she is pregnant See in context

Her blog and Japanese news sources state that she is 5 months along and due in June (which would make her pregnant for 11 months? well she's probably not good at math or anything using her brain anyway) So she was probably 2 months pregnant when she got married. Seriously, does anyone marry without getting pregnant first?

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Posted in: Genkai No. 4 reactor shut down; only 6 reactors now operating in Japan See in context

Seriously, if any country can do it, Japan can. Shut down the remaining 6, work on getting nuclear power OUT. 54? seriously....how many nuclear reactors does California have? And while we're at it, airports too! California wouldn't need over 50 commercial airports, Japan doesn't either!

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Posted in: Epileptic crane driver gets 7 years for deaths of 6 children in Tochigi See in context

Well, when he gets out (if he's on good behavior he might even get out early! Yay system!) they should notify the families, and also send out a notice to all DMV offices (the Japanese equivalent of them anyway) to not give this guy a license (with penalty if ignored) And of course make it a huge news story, plaster his name everywhere so its known by every average Japanese person...use the media tricks to turn him into a monster on TV. increase the chance of him never getting a job and living his whole life shamed by society.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Posted in: Two quakes rock New Zealand's Christchurch See in context

And the Ring of Fire burns burns burns, as the flames go higher. Brace yourself, Japan.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Recent Comments

Popular

Articles, Offers & Useful Resources

A mix of what's trending on our other sites


©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.