tokyochris comments

I meant, "I don't agree with your statement about the result"

(I need some more coffee)

It was a boring match by the way in which Japan should of got a result

I don't agree with the result - Japan were pretty negative for most of the game until they went behind and looked like they just wanted a 0-0... It was only in the last 20 minutes that they started to really try to attack, something they should've been doing from the start thanks to the almost total lack of pace in the Dutch squad

Why don't people who live here learn the language?

Some of us have learnt, or are learning Japanese... Please don't group all foreigners in the 'US military or English teacher' group!

Look at how many Japanese language schools there are in Okubo alone!

Moderator: Back on topic please.

The problem was she didn't specify which hamburger she wanted. Did she want it with cheese? With bacon? The number 2 combo or the Number 3? I don't remember the last time I went into any fast food burger joint and just say, "I want a hamburger" without specifying what kind I wanted

Wouldn't they be different kinds of hamburgers though? A hamburger is just a round piece of meat between 2 buns... not that hard for any McDonalds worker to understand (or at least hazard a guess at when a foreigner is ordering).

As Badge213 said, the clerk probably couldn't speak English well themselves...

No. It could have been taken this year, SOUTH of Tokyo. Or do you assume that where you live is the DEFACTO standard for cherry blossom season?

I'm just going to be honest and admit to my ignorance... I had no idea they bloomed differently across Japan :-/

Was this pic taken last year? Seems a bit early for this??

It would be a little progress in journalism if you would not publish such nonsense as: "tsunamis travel at hundreds of miles per hour"....

What are you talking about? They can hit upto 500mph in deep ocean areas!

When a foreigner speaks japanese it always sounds like the looks of katakana. But when a japanese speaks it is like kanji, you know?

I blame 'Minna No Nihongo' for that...

'TheRat' is probably spot on with what he/she has said... but then, at the same time, I guess it's not always possible to offer the same levels of salary that universities can - simply because of the different business models involved.

There are pretty much no long-term career opportunities available for English teachers and so, naturally, people are going to get fed up and leave at some point - 'dead end job' can be applied in most eikaiwa situations in my opinion. The knock-on effect of this, however, is that usually (language school) English teachers have no teaching qualifications/experience when coming to Japan - the loss/waste of experience through treating employess as a 'disposable asset' is shocking in my opinion!

Is it just me or does it look like she has aged about 20 years over the last few months?

I visited Kenrokuen last Autumn and it's fantastic. I also thought the huge torii gate near the JR station was pretty interesting - I've never seen one like that before!

Guest - I've met teachers who hold teaching degrees or celta/tesol qualifications yet have the personality of a loaf of bread. Eikawa is just as much a sales industry as it is a teaching industry and just because you hold a qualification doesn't mean that you are good at a job... There's only so far you can go with experience gained through studying in any profession!

It would only be 'fraud' if schools were advertising teachers as holding qualifications which they don't have!

I'm surprised that nobody has commented on the statistics in this article - it makes for some pretty harsh viewing for anyone who is an English teacher right now because it probably means another big eikaiwa (everything seems to point towards GEOS as being Japans next casualty) is eventually going to go belly-up in the same way everyones favourite pink-bunny-brand did 2 years ago.

Regardless of which way you view the English teaching industry, this isn't a particularly great time for a lot of people and that suggests it's going to get worse... a lot of GOOD teachers were also hit hard when Nova collapsed so it's a bit unfair to label all teachers as being unskilled and unable to do anything else (although there's no smoke without fire and I'm sure everyone has met at least one muppet only teaching so that they can get a visa to sleep with as many Japanese girls as possible...)

Racist undertones are only there if you want them to be. You can find them in any film if you want to. But why would you want to?

Absolutely spot on in my opinion - I think that the people who actively search for things to find racism within are part of the reason it's still a problem in most countries!

maybe his first and surely last accident

I'm pretty sure you can safely upgrade 'surely' to 'definately' because he's dead!

I've been twice and (in my opinion) the best time is a day or 2 before the festival actually begins... almost everything is on show but there are a lot less people!

If you're in the area, also try and make time for a visit to OTARU... that night view is beautiful!

It's a shame no one is at work on the first business day of the new year.

Maybe these are all people who lost their jobs and are praying for a new one?

why Japanese people love crowds?

They don't.... people in Tokyo have very little choice though

It's about 4 times bigger than San Diego comic con according to Wikipedia (140,000people in San Diego vs 560,000 in Tokyo for summer 2009)

I think America should be proud that they have a president who respects the cultures/traditions of other countries...

Ratpack... are you wearing a t-shirt??

These are the best-dressed people in the country?

best dressed eyes....

Is it some kind of ironic joke that people dress that badly to collect any kind of 'best dressed...' award?!?

every otaku's dream

Only if she likes gundam ;-)

Which means in 2009 she is 11. Old enough for plenty of the perves here

Haven't you seen 'Back To The Future'? People don't age when travelling forwards/backwards in a time machine ;-)

Japanese women seem to have nice skin because they wear so much makeup ;-)

OK GUYS. WHY DON'T WE BECOME ONE AND FIGHT AGAINST IT

Because you won't win and will probably just get deported for trying to cause trouble ;-)

So you are legally required to get your own through Kokumin Hoken but it appears these "teachers" failed to do so hence passing the blame to companies

Exactly right, it's upto the individual to get down to their ward office and sign up to kokumin hoken

Even though it's a legal requirement

There are ways for companies to get around it... For example, the English school I work for has teachers contracted for less than 20 hours a week (or on 'temporary' 12month contracts) and everything else is classed as 'optional overtime' so they have no obligation to pay into the scheme.

I would imagine others are doing the same

Well, some of the manga by foreigners are equally good but nothing like the good manga(minus porn) by Japanese

Isn't most Japanese manga drawn in other Asian countries???