Striker10 comments

Posted in: Sick pay in Japan: What you need to know See in context

“if you can walk, you can work”

Like so many other areas of Japan's work culture, this is counter-productive to the assumed goal (maintaining productivity). When a sick worker comes in to work sick, first of all in that miserable state they won't actually be getting much work done, and second, they will likely spread their cold to other employees, thereby exponentially compounding the problem.

Sometimes you run in to people here who pride themselves on never having taken a sick day off - instead of being in awe, it just makes me thing they are really stupid.

6 ( +6 / -0 )

Posted in: Facebook to use photo-matching to block repeat 'revenge porn' See in context

I had the same worries Dan. It's a good move, but they'll have to store all those pictures to compare against and that is a bit of a worry.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Posted in: Stats on entertainment businesses show accelerating pace of decline See in context

Never realized pachinko and mahjong parlors were considered fuzoku (I always thought it mean the sex-industry). Glad to see they are on the decline though!

6 ( +6 / -0 )

Posted in: Petition to boycott Netflix adaptation of 'Death Note' reaches Japan See in context

“It’s like the Hollywood Godzilla. It’s the Hollywood version so having foreigners isn’t a problem.”

First, it's conflating nationality with race, and second, it's a movie made in America so they are not "foreigners" over there. A Japanese person who went to American would be a foreigner (外人/外国人) over there, but many Japanese people just don't understand that concept. To them "foreigner" = non-Japanese person, anywhere in the world.

1 ( +5 / -4 )

Posted in: Foreigners in Japan face significant levels of discrimination, survey shows See in context

I remember, when I was in the US and applied for a credit card, they sent me a letter of refusal saying they have a policy to decline any application by a foreigner unless he/she is a permanent resident. I think the situation is pretty much the same in Japan, too.

It's difficult even for permanent residents. But my unemployed wife has absolutely no problem getting multiple credit cards.

12 ( +14 / -2 )

Posted in: Foreigners in Japan face significant levels of discrimination, survey shows See in context

Ask any foreigner who's tried to get a credit card in Japan about discrimination.

21 ( +29 / -8 )

Posted in: FIFA reveals proposed slots for 48-team 2026 World Cup See in context

Still think the 17th & 18th euro is often/always 'more deserving' of a WC spot than say the 6th concacaf, 8th Asian or 8/9th African

I agree with you that this is true at the moment but I if these emerging countries get the chance to go to the big tournament on a semi regular basis, there's a good chance that they could develop into a better team than one of Europe's minnows who are likely going to remain around the same level. Just look at the development of African teams over the last 20 years or so, or even the USA. They used to be easy games and they'd always go out at the group stage but that's no longer true. I think Africa is the most pressing case, considering they have even more countries than Europe but many less WC spots. I think it's a difficult balance between quality of teams today vs potential of teams to develop.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Posted in: FIFA reveals proposed slots for 48-team 2026 World Cup See in context

@Jimizo - please don't give them any ideas!!

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Posted in: FIFA reveals proposed slots for 48-team 2026 World Cup See in context

@goldarak - the times that the Netherlands miss out are almost always their own fault, not because there aren't enough slots (Netherlands fan here). Looks like we probably will be missing out on 2018 too...

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Posted in: FIFA reveals proposed slots for 48-team 2026 World Cup See in context

@Jimizo - Yeah, I think that's the end goal isn't it, trying to get China and India in so they can really get at those cash cows!

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Posted in: Scientist eyes energy burst from 'typhoon turbine' See in context

I like his thinking. There is MASSIVE energy in a typhoon, if we could harness some of that energy efficiently, it could be a great source of clean energy. I think the biggest issue is storage - you could generate a ton of energy during a typhoon, but if you don't have a good way to store it to use later, it's not going to be particularly useful.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Posted in: For most Japanese, April Fools' Day still no joke See in context

Ugh, Dave Spector. A man who makes a living "reporting" on the gossip of foreign celebrities for Japanese TV... I'd rather be unemployed. Then there's the issue of his hair...

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Posted in: Toshiba execs under fire at shareholder meeting as loss forecast balloons See in context

@drlucifer - I know, I was being sarcastic, in case you weren't sure ;-)

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Posted in: Toshiba execs under fire at shareholder meeting as loss forecast balloons See in context

That scandal laid bare serious problems with Toshiba’s internal controls and governance.

Problems with internal controls and governance at a major Japanese company?? I'm shocked!

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Posted in: China overtakes Japan on S Koreans' worst countries list See in context

If China is so worried about THAAD compromising it's own capabilities, they should have kept North Korea on a tighter leash. They repeatedly declined to restrict North Korea and their missile tests, so this is their just desserts.

3 ( +6 / -3 )

Posted in: Panasonic integrates solar panel with residential roof See in context

I think the tesla one's look much better.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Posted in: Japan one-ups Scotch with whisky, coveted around the world See in context

Japanese whisky is very good, and used to be a great deal. I started really getting into it about a year before it exploded in popularity and prices shot up. Wish I had picked up more bottles of the old yoichi for 1500 yen back in the day, they're now almost double that!

As it stands now, Japanese whisky has become over priced because of high demand and low supply, so I've switched to foreign brands that have become cheaper, relatively speaking. Btw, Canadian whisky is cheaper here in Japan than back in Canada!

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Posted in: Toshiba crisis shines light on Japan's corporate culture See in context

There are so many problems with corporate culture in Japan, this is just the beginning. Hope this leads to some changes, but like the many scandals up until now, nothing much will change, will it?

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Posted in: Environment minister sees business risk in building new coal-fired plant See in context

Yamamoto-san, please stick to your guns and deny approval for any more coal plants. Economically speaking renewable energy is fast becoming one of the cheapest options, and only going to get cheaper in the years to come, and that doesn't even take into effect the huge health costs of coal plants.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Posted in: Cost of giving birth in Japan See in context

We paid a little under 400,000 out of pocket (after reimbursements), including all the pre and post check ups, but that was for an upscale hospital with a private room. My brother-in-law went to a regular hospital and I think came out about even.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Posted in: Wild boars offer challenge for returnees in radiation-hit Fukushima See in context

In the nearby town of Tomioka, hunter Shoichiro Sakamoto leads a team of 13 assigned to catch and kill the wild boars with air rifles.

Can you really kill a wild boar with an air rifle??

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Posted in: Actress Emma Watson says revealing photo does not undermine feminism See in context

She can choose to show whatever she wants, the same way men can. Isn't that the basis of feminism? More power to her!

13 ( +16 / -3 )

Posted in: Japan's silver-tongued Lotharios sell dreams to lonely women See in context

My friend used to be a host and said he didn't have sex with the customers - that way they keep coming back for more.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

Posted in: Mortgage considerations for non-Japanese in Japan See in context

if you're even smarter you just take out everything in her name because the terms of the credit or loan will be more favorable than for you regardless of how much you earn.

In my experience this is completely untrue. The rates I was quoted were the same as Japanese nationals would receive. This goes for private banks as well as for the government-backed Flat 35 loan. It might be a different story for foreigners without permanent residency though.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Posted in: Mortgage considerations for non-Japanese in Japan See in context

In the process of closing a Flat-35 loan this month. I have permanent residency and I don't think the banks really treated me any differently than a Japanese national. The biggest hiccup was over where to write my middle name on the application forms - there's no space for it of course since Japanese people don't have middle names. Initially I wrote it after my first name in the first name slot, as you usually would in my home country, but they had me rewrite the application with it after my last name in the slot for my last name. It all seemed very strange to me, but that's how they wanted it. However, now whenever they send me a letter they address it Mr. ... oh well, as long as I get the money I'm not too bothered!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Posted in: Japan considers buying more U.S. energy as Abe prepares to meet Trump See in context

I want Japan to focus more on renewables, but one thing I will say is that if they are going to be buying oil and gas from somewhere anyway, better from America than from states that fund terrorism.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Posted in: Diversity in tech: Lots of attention, little progress See in context

Well, there absolutely is a pipeline problem for one. Take a look at any computer science class at your local university and that quickly becomes apparent.

Some 11 percent of computer science graduates were black and 9 percent were Hispanic in the 2013-14 school year, according to the latest data from the U.S. Department of Education. Yet only 4 percent of Google’s 2015 hires were black, and 3 percent were Hispanic.

Google and other top companies want to hire the cream of the crop. Was it an issue that they had a bias against minorities, or that the percentage of minorities that were of the top level was lower than the graduate numbers? Just looking at these numbers it's hard to say.

And once hired, people can get lost in the shuffle given the lack of role models and mentors in higher ranks — and thus find it difficult to advance.

I don't get this... minorities need a mentor/role model of the same gender/race in order to advance? Why do mentors/role models have to be the same gender/race?

The point that more diversity results in better products/avoids some major blunders makes sense, but I'm not sure it's the companies that are really to blame. Like I said at the start, the biggest problem is a pipeline problem, and until that is solved it will be difficult to increase representation - unless these companies start prioritizing gender/race over ability, which would be a problem in it's own right.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Posted in: Survey picks 8 most disappointing sightseeing spots in Tokyo See in context

I've shown friends around in Tokyo a few times but still not sure what I would recommend as a really interesting place to go... what would people here recommend as their favourite site to show visiting family/friends?

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

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