tranel comments

Posted in: Work-life balance more important than ever See in context

Balanced life = lower stress, good mental balance = higher productivity at work / go home on time = more time with the kids = kids that feel safe, secure and loved

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Posted in: Poverty grows among Japan's young adults See in context

Sorry one more (this one is a MUST):

Set an upper age limit for persons with political power, the maximum age should be 55, maybe 60 if the person is particularly competent.

Sorry but if there isn't enough money to pay pensions.... well, then the country should spend the resources that it DOES have on the young.

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Posted in: Poverty grows among Japan's young adults See in context

A few simple remedies that could be implemented tomorrow:

a) abolish reikin in the Tokyo area, and legalize one month shikikin maximum.

b) raise the minimum wage

c) Institute a law that if a part-time worker stays with a company for six months, (s)he should be offered a full-time job.

d) give prefectures much more control over their budgets and let them create their own taxation systems.

e) give tax reductions/rebates to companies operating/establishing business outside of the big cities (Tokyo, Osaka....)

f) run a long, brutal, very persistent information campaign about how shameful it is for an adult person to live at home with parents. In my country, if you still live at home at the age of 20, you're clearly a hopeless loser.

decisive action to break the apathetic "shoganai" group think that afflict so many people here.

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Posted in: What are some of your candidates for the worst movie of all time? See in context

Sorry... insert "qualifies" between "instantly" and "anybody" above.

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Posted in: What are some of your candidates for the worst movie of all time? See in context

Worst movies of all time and that instantly anybody who actually likes them as a complete idiot? How about the "tortune porn" rubbish that's been hitting us from left and right in recent years: Saw, Hostel....

And it only gets better: Piranha 3D. WTF? Is that what 5000 years of civilization has brought us to?

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Posted in: Australia's Labor Party to form minority gov't See in context

Time to sell my aussie dollars?

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Posted in: Erika Sawajiri: Inside the head of Japan's outspoken star See in context

Well, I'll let all the misers on here have their own opinions. To my mind, she deserves respect for daring to upset the status quo—this country has such great potential for innovation, but is languishing in the doldrums simply because of ludicrously conservative attitudes. Hats off to young people who think for themselves, follow their own dreams and refuse to become clones of Japan.inc.

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Posted in: We youngsters lack passion and ambition? Hardly See in context

As someone here wrote, young Japanese people are taking a different direction than previous generations, but they are not direction-less. All to the good of the country I think.

I applaud young people who dare to express themselves and establish their own identities rather than having Japan.inc dictate precisely who they should be.

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Posted in: E-reading: Revolution in the making or fading fad? See in context

I am quite worried about this—will quiet contemplation with a good book (ie a physical, not a digital object), one of the greatest pastimes mankind has ever invented, go the way of the dodo? To me, e-readers are for the ADD generation.

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Posted in: When the Democratic Party of Japan, led by Yukio Hatoyama, swept to power a year ago, there were high hopes that they would bring about positive change in Japan. What do you think went wrong? See in context

What went wrong? Let's see, a few things come to mind:

a) a party with almost no experience of governing elects an aloof, wishy washy rich boy with zero connection to the Japanese public to be Prime Minister.

b) The rich boy Prime Minister is simply a puppet for a corrupt gangster, Ozawa. When Ozawa's ugly doings are exposed, of course rating plunge.

c) Making promises before thinking them through properly / actually checking whether they are doable or not. A malaise afflicting politicians of all stripes worldwide. Futenma falls under this category.

d) A media-bureaucracy apparatus that is so deeply in bed with the LDP that they were the mortal enemies of DPJ right from the start.

e) A political culture in which the Prime Minister is expected to "take responsibility" and step down after the first cock-up, instead of simply sticking to his guns, learning from his mistakes and providing some continuity.

That said, the DPJ has actually done quite a lot to make things better I think, despite all their flaws. If the LDP comes back, we're screwed.

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Posted in: Boy falls onto train tracks while looking at handheld game console See in context

@n3312: completely agree, they're unbelievably dangerous. Fair enough, this was just a kid so I can kind of understand that he wasn't watchful enough. But—this morning, just outside my house, a woman in her mid-30s was almost hit by a delivery van when she crossed the road without checking, completely lost in iPod and Keitai oblivion.

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Posted in: Fixing American 'dumbocracy' See in context

By the way, please remind me: Wasn't it unfettered capitalism...... that triggered the global financial crisis? No, sorry, you're right, it must have been the "socialists". Apologies, my bad.

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Posted in: Fixing American 'dumbocracy' See in context

Very true all of it. "Socialism" never works, it only leads to poverty. And of course, there aren't varying degrees of socialism either—it's full on Soviet coercion or nothing. This is of course why Sweden happens to a) be one of the fastest growing countries in Europe right now b) maintains a good social security system, based on a high taxes, while still achieving that stated under a), and c) is ranked as one of the best places in the Western world for foreign investment and innovation, juuuuuust possibly because wealth is redistributed into a system that makes it possible for people of all walks of life to get higher education.

Guys, just send all Republicans to the Moon with limited food supply. The world would be a much better place if you did.

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Posted in: Ditch the queen: UK public's wild ideas for spending cuts See in context

Making lawmakers work for free (or at VERY reduced salaries) sounds like a good start for me. Actually, it is probably worth implementing here in "egalitarian" Japan too, where the average salary for lawmakers is a paltry 22 million yen a year. Just a thought.

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Posted in: Utada’s blog receives 1 million views in 24 hours See in context

@gurukun: I think it is entirely up to her how much she wants to tell us. I personally respect celebrities who try to maintain a bit of a private life. So she wants to take time off from music and "refocus" a bit, is that a problem? Our celebrity gossip-driven culture is frightening...

@american bengoshi: Obviously there are some who do, deshou?

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Posted in: Jake Shimabukuro speaks to generations through the ukulele See in context

Noted in the calendar: Orchard Hall, Shibuya, August 28!

This guy is good! @alladin: he earns more money than you.

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Posted in: Japanese version of 'Ghost' to be made See in context

The Whoppi Goldberg character will be played by Arnold Schwarzenegger, and the scheming bad guy by Christopher Walken. The "black ghosts" that come to bring the bad souls to hell will be played by Jet Li, Bruce Willis, Jason Statham, Dolph Lundgren and Jesse Ventura. Guys—this is so not the Patrick Swayze version—expect lengthy gunfights with rivers of empty gun shells spewing out of overheated miniguns.

All these actors will be speaking their best Japanese on screen. M Night Shyamalan (who will also direct the movie) will also have an as yet unrevealed cameo.

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Posted in: Each prefecture breeds a different personality type See in context

What's the personality type for Tokyo? More than a few negative traits come to mind, but I thought I'd let your imaginative minds come up with a reasonably accurate stereotype instead... get to work, boys and girls! :-)

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Posted in: If a longtime expat starts offering you advice, walk the other way See in context

"Katakana Kid"—nice one. Right up there with "nama gaijin" ie 生外人.

LOL!

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Posted in: If a longtime expat starts offering you advice, walk the other way See in context

Hmmm... odd formatting there, but I think my message comes through anyway.

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Posted in: If a longtime expat starts offering you advice, walk the other way See in context

Ah yes, the old "I know best, I don't take advice from others" crock. Mr Truitt, let me guess:

you speak no Japanese because you are a "native English speaker, so there is no need for me to learn Japanese—they should learn English".

you absolutely cannot accept the fact that Japanese society is based on other values than your own, and that a conservative "correct" appearance is a mark of respect for your clients (in fact, let me offer you a piece of advice, just because you don't want it: the impression that you give is HUGELY important in this country.)

if your boss asks you to do something (which he is entirely entitled to since he is your boss and he is paying you) you think you are entirely entitled to ignoring it, even though he just might have a good reason (maaaayyybee grounded in experience) for doing so.

Mate, spare us all, don't write anything more.

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Posted in: The shrinking state of Japanese salarymen's pocket money See in context

@dracpoo2: Spot on. There's a lot of whining and "dou suru dou suru" going on in this country, but actually if Japanese people were only able to look forward instead of constantly focusing on the past, they could solve quite few problems quite quickly. But, they'll need to reach that conclusion themselves, we cannot dictate things for them.

Actually, many places in the world could benefit from losing a few idiot "traditions"... but no.

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Posted in: Japan's forestry management system a mess See in context

One wonders how Nature managed before humans came along and invented forest management?

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Posted in: What do you think of the decision by major Japanese companies such as Rakuten and Fast Retailing to make English the official language at their management meetings? See in context

... and for me too, apparently, as evidenced by my crappy grammar. Apologies, I have a slight fever.

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Posted in: What do you think of the decision by major Japanese companies such as Rakuten and Fast Retailing to make English the official language at their management meetings? See in context

Hmmm.... I noticed that my above comments sounds quite harsh. Let me just add that I have met many Japanese businessmen who speak excellent English, but for most people in the corporate world here English is slow, cumbersome mode of communication.

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Posted in: What do you think of the decision by major Japanese companies such as Rakuten and Fast Retailing to make English the official language at their management meetings? See in context

It makes sense that the company is trying to incorporate English into its day-to-day business activities, since it is now expanding overseas (with English being the de facto business language of the world, whatever one make think about that...).

But, to me, it seems just a weee bit too ambitious—why should Japanese staff in Japan communicate in Japanese, it's their native tongue so surely communication would be far more efficient/smooth/clear/nuanced that if they stumble along in a second language. "Stumble along" may sound harsh, but the fact is that very few Japanese can think/read/speak English at the level required, by native standards, for effective business communication—it simply takes longer for them to read longer texts, explain nuances etc. It is not a matter of intelligence or studying, it is simply that the two languages are very different. The vast majority of us foreigners also "stumble along" in Japanese, even if we've studied the language.

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Posted in: Asashoryu to kick off showbiz career, doing PR for 'Predators' film See in context

Hmmm.... for some reason only half of my post got submitted. Anyway, nothing to see here folks.

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Posted in: Asashoryu to kick off showbiz career, doing PR for 'Predators' film See in context

They should make "Asashoryu vs Predators." Asashoryu ( taking off the helmet of a fallen but not dead Predator ): Ugh - you are one ugly you-know-wh- Predator ( grabbing Asa by the throat ): Ugly you-know-what! ( throws Asa a few meters with one arm )

Or: <Having just slain the big bad predator, the hero removes the beast's helmet, and sees.... ASASHORYU> — Yarrgh! You are the uuuugliest m-f I have EVER seen! Like ya'know, EVER!

<Predashouruy starts laughing, a chilling, evil laugh> —Fool of a took! By removing my helmet, you have doomed your world! My sumo germs will spread like wildfire, and within days you and everyone else on this pitiful planet will look like..... ME! AHAhAhaaaaaaaaAAAAAA!!

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Posted in: Anzen Chitai gets another groupie for the road: Noriko Aota See in context

Whoever wrote the headline should be fired.

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Posted in: From TV to politics, Renho blazes a trail See in context

"Renho is smart; she is tough; and committed to bringing change to the 'Old System'. . . . Moreover, she is an excellent model for women and for Japanese coming from cross-cultural backgrounds : demonstrating that the glass ceiling CAN BE and IS BEING BROKEN."

I have to agree with this. I think the current Japanese leadership, though flawed in many ways, has many good qualities that just simply didn't exist before. The fact that Kan does not come from a politically privileged background is one of them, and Renho and her determination is another.

If Renho were to run for Prime Minister, I would vote for her if I were Japanese. She's probably the toughest, smartest, most determined politician on the block right now. The old, male, ossified established of this country must be broken down.

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